Canadian Tire is perhaps Canada's most widely recognized and well established retailer, but in the early 1990s the company realized its aging stores and out-of-date replenishment system were costing it business. A major renovation of stores and re-engineering of the supply chain yielded impressive results.

Partnerships are the key to introducing supply-chain innovations, reducing inventory and coping with a shortage of modern infrastructure.

The Japanese car maker, which once held almost eight months' worth of aftermarket parts at its Belgian logistics center, is well on its way to keeping only a little more than two months' of spares on hand. In doing so, it has relied on surprisingly little in the way of information technology.

A thriving logistics partnership between Dutch frieght forwarder Frans Maas and a Portuguese auto plant is giving new meaning to the term "just in time."