With 2016 coming to a close, it's time for another helping of supply-chain predictions for the year ahead, courtesy of the San Francisco Roundtable of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.

Rather than highlighting how far India's economy has come under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pro-growth administration, a new gross domestic product report underscores just how much there is to lose from his shock clampdown on cash.

Forget about trade friction between the U.S. and China. Now it's a global trade war.

Two months after a similar move by FedEx, UPS has announced changes to its dimensional weight pricing schedule. FedEx plans to decrease its DIM divisor from 166 to 139 as of Jan. 2, effectively increasing the shipping costs on millions of e-commerce parcels. UPS is also lowering its divisor to 139 as of Jan. 8, but is exempting domestic air and ground parcels that are less than one cubic foot (1,728 cubic inches).

You can't optimize your logistics network if you don't know how much you're spending on it.

Spending by manufacturers on plant and machinery is expected to slow over the coming two years, according to research. Manufacturers' organisation EEF said "elevated levels of uncertainty are clouding the ability of businesses to forecast future demand," though this was an underlying trend not altered by June's Brexit vote.

Waste in the use of high-value medical devices amounts to some $5bn year. No wonder healthcare costs are soaring.