Managing the multiple relationships in today's supply chains requires a new level of cross-functional business processes, says Doug Lambert, director of the Global Supply Chain Forum at Ohio State. He identifies eight critical processes and explains methods for implementing them.

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.

If one had to choose a single word to describe the M&A market in 2013, it would be disappointing, and indeed many market participants have used this very term. But the exasperated deal makers have had little time to cry in their beer - they've been too busy. The M&A market took off like a rocket in 2014, fueled by the return of the megadeal (transactions with a value of more than $10bn), which has been in hibernation for the last several years. The momentum of the first quarter carried into the second, setting up 2014 as a potential bellwether for the market's longer-term evolution.

Trevor Schick, senior vice president for the global supply chain enterprise group at Hewlett-Packard, explains the importance and challenges involved in eliminating "conflict minerals" from the supply chain and HP's commitment to this goal.

Companies continue to lose money by shipping air as a result of packaging that doesn't fit the product, says Tom Blanck, leader of the packaging optimization practice at Chainalytics. Blanck discusses optimization techniques that can save money and improve productivity.