Challenge: Spending two to three hours daily making as many as 60 check calls to 30 drivers was limiting the time company could spend working with customers and generating new business.

Challenge: A large Midwest C-store distributor was tasked with utilizing an outdated system to manage their inventory and short shelf products resulting in low user productivity and less than desirable customer service levels. With over 60% of the inventory investment in short shelf life products, the management of obsolete product was ever increasing as the business grew.

A lean operation with a brilliant idea - caffeinated club soda - wants to crack the L.A. market during the spring. Sounds like a slam dunk, but they don't want to commit to a long warehouse lease while they're still getting a foothold. Meanwhile, a Christmas-decoration warehouse sits largely empty. It's a classic missed connection - and it’s common.

For about a decade now, policy makers and the soda industry have been fighting about the idea of a big soda tax. Proponents say it would fight obesity by reducing consumption of sugary drinks. A leading objection by the industry is that the tax simply would not work.

When George Zimmer, the founder and former CEO of Men's Wearhouse, looked to launch a new men's formal wear rental company this year, he wanted to create something that would set his company apart from its competitors. The result is Generation Tux, which can provide tuxedo rentals to consumers without requiring them to ever leave their homes.

Challenge: An online fashion retailer's model for distributing product from Europe to end customers in the U.S. created high shipping costs that made it impossible to ship returns back to Europe. The retailer was forced to sell returned merchandise to discounters for a fraction of its value.

Challenge: A large 3PL supports the distribution efforts of one of the largest candy manufacturers in the world. Processing sales requests previously for samples and displays involved a text-based ordering system that required the use of a printed catalog to look up order numbers. The sales team needed a mobile option that simplified the process and integrated with the WMS.

With supply chain collaboration becoming a hot topic for even the most independent, self-sufficient organizations, it's no wonder that more attention is being paid to the relationships between distributors and their suppliers.