Analyst Insight: It's been another year of exciting times within supply chain management, especially with regard to S&OP - as we continue to improve upon a 35-year-old process of balancing demand and supply. Approximately 85 percent of supply chain management professionals around the globe say they are exercising the S&OP process (informal polling of approximately1,000 execs over the past year). About 65 percent of those professionals are positioned in Stage I or II of AMR's (now Gartner) S&OP Maturity Model. While this is positive news, it's clear that globalization of our supply chains requires more than just S&OP basics. - Gregory L. Schlegel, adjunct professor, supply chain risk management, Lehigh University Graduate Program

Analyst Insight: There were more than 2,000 supply chain disruptions for publicly held companies in 2011. That, coupled with PRTM's 2010 global survey stating that over 90 percent of all companies plan to grow market share by manufacturing and selling in overseas markets, it goes without saying that our global supply chains will experience additional uncertainty, complexity and risk in 2012. And yet, the vast majority of manufacturers are fully unprepared for the complexity of manufacturing and servicing global customers with regionally customized products. - Gregory L. Schlegel, adjunct professor, Supply Chain Risk Management, Graduate Program, Lehigh University