With advancing technology and the short electronic product lifecycles that come with these innovations, the electronics industry is ever-evolving and changing to meet the needs of consumers globally. While there are a number of best practices to follow and supply chain trends to be aware of when planning for the product development and launches of the next phone, computer, tablet or other electronics device, there are four that top the list, according to the Change in the (Supply) Chain survey that IDC Manufacturing Insights conducts each year on behalf of UPS.

As an industry, global consumer products companies have historically underinvested in plants and manufacturing capabilities. In fact, a significant number of organizations may still be running their operations on equipment and processes that were last updated in the prior millennium. Under these circumstances, throughput can rarely keep pace with current needs. At the same time, many of these same companies have made one or more large acquisitions that slow the supply chain down even more: duplication and redundancy at the plant level; disparate operating and ERP systems that cloud visibility; and manual processes that consumed valuable resources.

There was a continued modest improvement in air cargo markets in August, according to the International Air Transport Association. August airfreight demand was up 3.6 percent year over year, which is considerably better than the year-to-date performance of a 0.7-percent expansion.

ABI Research forecasts that the total number of software-as-a-service or SaaS-based subscriber units will increase from 1.06 million at the end of 2012 to 16.8 million on a global basis by the end of 2018.

APICS has adopted a new global brand platform that management feels will position the organization for continued growth and success.

A note of caution was sounded recently after some intensive discussions between the EU Commission and various bodies who are stakeholders with regard to air cargo security.

More than 80 percent of the world's population resides in what is known as "emerging markets". This group of countries represents a diverse collection of economies from China to Peru and Ethiopia to Kazakhstan.