Analyst Insight: It's surprising yet true that not many professionals in supply chain or S&OP are aware of Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC), a critical success factor metric. Many in finance are well aware of the metric. The elements are simple - Inventory Days of Supply + Accounts Receivable Days of Supply - Payables Days of Supply. Why is the metric so foreign and why doesn't everyone in SCM and S&OP use it to measure success? - Gregory Schlegel, executive-in-residence, Center for Supply Chain Research, Lehigh University

Analyst Insight: Robotic process automation has the potential to transform organizations by helping to optimize back-office and repetitive functions. It can increase productivity and quality while reducing costs, and in many cases it requires minimal investment. In fact, organizations are finding that it can pay for itself in less than a year. - Sean Harapko, principal, Ernst & Young LLP

Analyst Insight: There are a few risk-mitigation methods that can improve the bottom line, and they have been around for some time. They are Product Portfolio Management (PPM), Customer Value Management (CVM), Total-Cost-to-Serve (TCS) and Gross Margin Return on Inventory Investment (GMROII). - Gregory Schlegel, executive-in-residence, Center for Supply Chain Research, Lehigh University

Analyst Insight: As technology solutions providers improve their offerings, companies are taking another look at integrated business planning (IBP). New scalable workflow and collaboration tools are automating the capture and integration of data across functions, allowing for the development of actionable insights that link day-to-day decisions to overall business strategy. - Can Dogan, principal, Ernst & Young LLP

Analyst Insight: As consumers' relationship with retailers changes, supply chains need to become more agile and responsive to fulfill the promise of an omnichannel world. Wholesale, retail and e-commerce supply chains, which have grown independently over the years, are merging - but significant transformation is necessary to help make omnichannel execution more profitable. - Parag Jategaonkar, performance improvement principal, Ernst & Young LLP

Analyst Insight: Outsourcing continues to grow, yet the news is full of outsourcing agreements that didn't work as planned. Far too often firms rely solely on power to get what they want. This leads to confusion, resentment, lost productivity, and at times, missed market opportunities. Suppliers and buyers need to better understand the use of power, and how this relationship will impact performance. - Karl Manrodt, professor of logistics and supply chain management, Georgia College and State University

Analyst Insight: The key to supply-chain risk management is a predictive model that uses enhanced analytics to identify potential risk. This model would allow companies to move beyond historical metrics so they can determine risk for every part and supplier. It also would identify the appropriate response, promoting consistency within the organization. - Sven Dharmani, performance improvement principal and global automotive sector supply chain leader, Ernst & Young LLP