Steve Lovejoy, senior vice president for the Starbucks global supply chain, discusses initiatives that the company has under way to meet the "whenever, wherever" demands of today's consumers as well as projects aimed at understanding the consumer of tomorrow.

A supplier review process at Chick-Fil-A has grown from a simple, manual exercise to a robust collaborative initiative involving numerous internal departments and high-level sit-down meetings with suppliers. Mike Walpole, senior manager of distribution and logistics, explains how the process has evolved and where it is going.

Redbox has an unusual supply chain, with 10 new product introductions a week and no replenishments. An algorithm effectively allocates new DVD's among 43,000 kiosks, but this allocation is quickly skewed when customers use different kiosks to rent and return. Matt James, vice president, explains how the company solves this problem.

MBM Corp. is a customized food products distributor to 28 restaurant chains in the U.S. and abroad. Because truck drivers are a critical part of MBM's operations and its primary customer contact, driver recruitment and retention are crucial strategies, says Mark Luttrell, vice president.

Same-day and next-day delivery are not services normally associated with furniture stores, but City Furniture is changing that in South Florida. City's fast delivery program, which began 12 years ago, has become a key competitive advantage and is changing customer expectations for the industry.