Having completed 16 acquisitions of small logistics companies in the past seven years, Echo Global Logistics knows something about successful takeover strategies. CEO Doug Waggoner talks about the company's growth-through-acquisition initiatives.

A new reform-minded government, a stable economy and sound infrastructure are among the factors combining to make Mexico a good market for logistics operations, says Eric Markeset, who is based in Mexico City as principal of consulting firm Tsol.

Third-party logistics will not become a commoditized service as long as providers continue to add value and differentiate their product offerings, says Greg Spudic, vice president of marketing and sales at Dimerco Express.

Having spent most of his career as an executive in the chemical industry, Marv Schlanger, new CEO of CEVA Logistics, has a unique perspective on the global 3PL industry. He shares his views as "the new kid on the block" and explains why he is optimistic.

Long waiting lines of incoming trucks at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach create an unacceptable drag on productivity, says Mike Stark, president and CEO of Pacer Distribution Services and an active member of the Harbor Trucking Association. Stark explains how adaptive appointment software could help remedy this situation.

Big data can be a powerful enabler of better business decisions, but getting the right data to the right person in an actionable form presents huge challenges. Richard Sharpe, CEO of Competitive Insights, helps demystify the subject and explains why mastering big data is worth the effort.

Comfort with the status quo is the biggest barrier to supply chain transformation, which makes sense since true transformation is both painful and difficult, say Trissential's Rich Sherman and Robert Sabath, two long-time supply chain evangelists.

Ulf Harring, head of the global supply chain at Electrolux, discusses the strategy behind Electrolux's global sales and operations planning process and the challenges of rolling S&OP out across a globally diversified company.