High above the red dirt and evergreen trees of Kemper County, Mississippi, gleams a 15-story monolith of pipes surrounded by a town-sized array of steel towers and white buildings. The hi-tech industrial site juts out of the surrounding forest, its sharp silhouette out of place amid the gray crumbling roads, catfish stands and trailer homes of nearby De Kalb, population: 1,164.

China is cracking down on pollution like never before, with new green policies so hard-hitting and extensive they can be felt across the world, transforming everything from electric vehicle demand to commodities markets.

Slowing growth, intensifying competition and rapidly changing consumer preference are creating rising cost pressures, driving major focus to reduce supply chain costs across industries. However, companies are stuck in an endless death spiral of cost cutting with little impact to the bottom line. Leading companies are breaking this cycle with ZBSC (zero-based supply chain)— a way to drive profitability by looking forward, continually improving bottom line results in a rapidly changing world. –Gary Hanifan, Managing Director, Accenture Strategy, Supply Chain & Operations Strategy