Avnet provides leading-edge supply chain visibility solutions to OEM customers that have extended global supply chains and significant contract manufacturing operations. These supply chains often are highly complex and very geographically dispersed.

For owners and managers of commercial truck fleets, real-time information on vehicle and driver performance not only helps manage operations and reduce costs, but also ensures compliance with new safety regulations, says Bobby Miller, vice president of product strategy and industry relations at Ortec.

Sysco Corp. has operated very successfully for many years as a decentralized company, distributing $40bn annually in food and associated products to restaurants, schools and other meal-serving organizations. The company felt that it could do better in terms of logistics, however, and decided to centralize inbound transportation operations that previously were distributed among its 70 business units.

Freeing data from functional silos and making it available to decision-makers throughout the supply chain in real time is the elusive key to true, end-to-end supply chain optimization, says Kristi Montgomery of Kenco Management Services, a third-party logistics provider.

Traceability always has been important to dairy cooperative Agri-Mark, but it has become even more of a focus since passage in 2010 of The Food Safety Modernization Act, which gives the Food and Drug Administration the right to make product recalls mandatory, rather than voluntary.

International transportation management, value engineering and strategic collaboration are three cornerstones of Menlo Worldwide's 4PL service offering, says Nick Caragher, director of 4PL operations.

Briggs Healthcare develops and markets products that are designed to improve clinical outcomes and reduce operating costs for more than 50,000 customers in the senior care, home care, acute care, physician and retail markets. "Having the right product at the right place and time and at the lowest cost is very important to us," says Brad Mueller, vice president of supply chain solutions.

In addition to technical and functional skills, supply chain managers need to hone their "soft" skills in areas like project management and change management, says Bill Seliger of R.R. Donnelly Logistics Services.

As a tier one automotive supplier, Active Tools International knows the importance of avoiding and mitigating supply chain disruptions. Bill Keller, president of global operations, says the company has developed written risk mitigation plans that emphasize the use of dual sourcing of parts.