The heart of a global business has always been the operations by which it buys, makes and moves what it sells to customers. Yet only 45 percent of supply chain and 40 percent of procurement executives at U.S.-based global companies say they are extremely or very confident that their supply chain organizations have the competencies they need today, according to the 2015 Supply Chain Survey from Deloitte.

PakSense Inc. has launched the AutoSense Real-Time, a standalone device that provides temperature and location information for perishable products in real time.

Panera Bread Co. said it is progressing on its commitment to remove artificial additives by publishing a list of artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners and preservatives it has eliminated or intends to remove from its Panera Bread and St. Louis Bread Co. food menus by the end of 2016. Panera reportedly is the first national restaurant company in the U.S. to publicly share a comprehensive list of ingredients that will be removed from or never appear in its menu items.

There are many articles about the problem of America's "skilled worker shortage" and why we need advanced training; but most don't define or explain what they mean by "advanced training."