It's common practice for companies to view cold-chain management systems for pharmaceutical and bio-technology products as point solutions, whether related to packaging, training or carrier services, says Gary M. Hutchinson, president of Modality Solutions. Integration of all those elements, however, results in a "much more holistic system," he says. "You maintain product quality all the way from manufacturer to point of use. Until you integrate it into one system, you're not tackling it properly."

Honeywell has been involved in supply chain activities for some time, but with its acquisition of LXE, it's become quite active in the AIDC market as well, says Bill Roeder, director of product management at Honeywell Scanning & Mobility.

Among the ways technology is evolving to bring greater productivity to the DC is in providing ergonomic features to forklifts and other equipment, says Bill Pfleger, president of Yale Distribution.

Small-item fulfillment continues to grow, especially with e-commerce orders, but a lot of traditional sortation technology was never designed to handle smaller and lighter pieces, says John Park, product manager, Accu-Sort Systems.

Temperature-controlled technology for airfreight logistics can be a valuable means of achieving sustainability. Douglas Wettergren, regional sales manager with Envirotainer, explains how.

Brian W. Hagen, managing director of the Decision Empowerment Institute, explains why supply-chain risk management has failed as a decision-making tool for many companies.

Costly coding requirements have limited adoption of voice technology, but that is changing, says Steve Gerrard, vice president, marketing and strategy, Voxware. The technology is truly adaptive now, which is a key buying criterion.

Dr. Chaman L. Jain, professor of economics in the Tobin College of Business at St. John's University, talks about how the demand-planning function has changed in his decades of observing global supply chains.

Too many companies are still plagued by a "siloed" mentality which keeps various functions from collaborating fully on demand planning. But Arnold Mark Wells, principal of End-to-End Analytics, sees reason for hope.