The home-appliance giant needed a way to satisfy valued customers in its niche markets, even though they account for a relatively small percentage of sales.

Challenge: A major retailer was experiencing rapid growth combined with increased customer demands.

Challenge: For this agricultural spare parts distributor, each country was served by its own separate supply chain. While strategically placed near customers, it presented challenges with stock availability at each distribution center and in dynamically organizing and fulfilling across multiple distribution centers. In addition, the distributor's own organic growth and strategic acquisitions had left it with fragmented IT infrastructure that was hard to extend.

Imports by retailers are estimated to rise 1.5 percent in December, indicating that companies are expecting strong sales through the holiday season, according to industry group National Retail Federation (NRF).