For this year's Supply Chain Innovation Award, first place goes to Ahold USA and its partners - ES3 and Del Monte Foods - for a distribution system that streamlines order-to-store deliveries from days to hours.

After voice-directed picking replaced its paper-based system, a retailer in western Canada found that it was no longer shorting deliveries to its stores.

Polo Ralph Lauren is good at a lot of things, but it's international airfreight operations were clearly out of style: inefficient and costly. A transportation management solutions provider gave the fashion retailer a complete makeover.

Polo Ralph Lauren is good at a lot of things, but it's international airfreight operations were clearly out of style: inefficient and costly. A transportation management solutions provider gave the fashion retailer a complete makeover.

The innovative maker of smartphones applies the concept of sales and operations planning to its supplier relationships. The result is a better link between product supply and demand.

The innovative maker of smartphones applies the concept of sales and operations planning to its supplier relationships. The result is a better link between product supply and demand.

The company turns to a concept developed at Ohio State University to buffer itself against any number of potential disruptions that might affect customer service and the continuous flow of product.

The company turns to a concept developed at Ohio State University to buffer itself against any number of potential disruptions that might affect customer service and the continuous flow of product.