Breaking down functional silos to create transparent and responsive end-to-end supply chains has long been an intractable supply chain challenge, but many companies are finding success using a control tower concept that gets everyone working off the same plan and focused on the same outcome. To learn more about this approach, SupplyChainBrain convened a Power Lunch"”a roundtable discussion"”with four experts in the field: Paul Bittinger, former supply chain transformation manager, Procter & Gamble (now retired); Lora Cecere, founder and CEO, Supply Chain Insights; Don Gaspari, director, global materials and inventory, NCR Corp.; and Kirk Munroe, vice president of marketing, Kinaxis.

NetSuite Inc. has acquired Retail Anywhere, a provider of multichannel retail-management services.

BNSF Logistics LLC, a multimodal transportation and third-party logistics services provider, has acquired Albacor Shipping, Inc., a global project and general cargo services entity based in Toronto, Canada.

CaroTrans, a global non-vessel operating common carrier, has created a door-to-port rate application.

In 2012, more and more analysts and pundits pronounced the return of manufacturing onshore to the U.S. or near-shore to Mexico (or the Caribbean). Is this real and lasting, what is causing it, and what does it mean for supply chain managers?

Noha Tohamy, research vice president with Gartner, identifies the proactive strategies that leading companies are using to manage supply-chain risk today.

Sinergy Cargo, the Italian member of the FPS network of independent freight forwarders and consolidators, has opened a multimodal container, bulk cargo handling and storage center near the Port of Genoa.