A new industrial revolution is upon us, characterized by "smart devices", which are part of an "Internet of Things" or IoT that can actually direct machines on the shop floor by communicating autonomously "device-to-device" to man-age manufacturing operations and distribution.

Optimization technology allows manufacturing companies to become more flexible and to more efficiently manage their supply chains by accounting for real life constraints and business rules. They can review "what-if" analyses of various scenarios, tied to key performance indicators that measure success on an ongoing basis. They can generate near optimal plans from the virtually infinite number of possible options. And with a clear set of future-oriented KPIs they can measure tomorrow’s performance before it happens.

Eighty-five percent of companies with global supply chains experienced at least one supply chain disruption in the previous 12 months. Risk is inherently unpredictable. Fortunately, the current workforce is undergoing its own transformation to be able to identify and manage risk on a global basis.