As off-price stores moved upscale in recent years with the creation of attractive, shopper-friendly outlet malls, the demands of consumers and value retailers changed. Low prices were still expected, but shoppers also wanted a better selection of style and colors. To meet this need, Levi Strauss revamped its value-channel logistics.

Rapid growth, acquisition of a company with different distribution characteristics and a troubled ERP implementation created supply-chain problems for Hershey Foods in the late 1990s. A new strategy that focused on fulfillment speed and agility helped turn things around.

The pioneer of the office-products superstore has big plans to boost sales and market share in Europe by increasing stores, catalog orders, contract stationery business, and internet retailing. But it must balance growth with the challenge of a multi-channel supply chain.

For 20 years, the high-end data storage system and server assembler had used DCs on each coast. But a self-imposed $1m penalty for unavailability of parts required a faster logistics network. Indianapolis was the answer.

Key Amazon.com executives in Seattle and Europe - including founder Jeff Bezos - talk about how the company's supply-chain strategies and fledgling European operations are shaping its prospects.

Webvan Corp., with the help of its technology partners, has broken the code on guaranteed, self-scheduled home delivery. Here's how it gets the goods delivered within a promised 30-minute window and where it plans to take that achievement.

As Kodak's European business changed in response to economic union and various internal factors, the company needed a logistics solution that would provide greater flexibility and lower overhead costs at key facilities. It opted for outsourcing with a shared-use approach, a concept that was given an unusual and innovative twist in the U.K. with partner MSAS Global Logistics.

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most widely recognized and well established retailer, but in the early 1990s the company realized its aging stores and out-of-date replenishment system were costing it business.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.