The U.S.-China trade spat is cutting into the flow of soybeans, pork and other commodities from U.S. farms to one of the world’s biggest markets.

Procurement teams needs to create a vision for how they are going to deal with digital transformation.

Challenge: A company's engineering and sourcing departments were siloed and lacking access to historical information and accurate market data (pricing, availability and risk). The engineering department partially designs based on performance, but the bills of materials (BOMs) sent to the sourcing department were not procurable. The company needed access to the right data to increase contract negotiating power and reduce product launch risks due to inventory and manufacturing issues.

Truck maker AB Volvo beat first-quarter expectations thanks to strong demand for trucks and construction equipment across most markets but cautioned that its supply chain was coming under pressure.

Maersk and Rockstart, a European startup accelerator, have partnered in an initiative called FoodTrack to foster startups with ideas for tackling global food loss.