The focus of RFID in the supply chain has shifted from case tagging to item tagging, says Ann Grackin, CEO of ChainLink Research. Grackin explains why this is so and details other areas of the supply chain where RFID is being embraced.

Retailers, particularly big box stores, are demanding more customized packaging of products, which increases demand for contract packaging services, says Dave Mabon, president of contract packaging at Genco. With margins that average 30 to 40 percent, this presents a huge opportunity for service providers.

Providing parts and sub-assemblies to automotive production lines is a highly complex activity, requiring rapid, automated sequencing and sophisticated error proofing. Bo Cheng, director of the automotive business at Comprehensive Logistics, explains how his company is keeping pace as automotive volumes return to pre-recession levels.

Picking in a frozen environment with heavy gloves, paper and pencil impaired the productivity and accuracy of operations at Perry's Ice Cream in Akron, N.Y. A voice-picking system from Vocollect enabled Perry's to solve these problems and gain other benefits.

Manufacturers are becoming more diverse in their product mixes and geographic reach. But they haven't necessarily responded with the kind of initiatives that drive total integration across the supply chain, says Ben Yokell, principal for demand planning with Chainalytics.

Manufacturers are becoming more diverse in their product mixes and geographic reach. But they haven't necessarily responded with the kind of initiatives that drive total integration across the supply chain, says Ben Yokell, principal for demand planning with Chainalytics.

Faced with new challenges in serving global markets, Amgen set out to improve its supply-chain resiliency with the help of a system from Resilinc. Patricia Turney, executive director of supply chain, tells the story.

What is distributed order management? What has changed in global markets that makes it a desirable capability? Satish Kumar, vice president of client services and technology with Softeon, has the answers.