Rapid growth, acquisition of a company with different distribution characteristics and a troubled ERP implementation created supply-chain problems for Hershey Foods in the late 1990s. A new strategy that focused on fulfillment speed and agility helped turn things around.

One of the world's most complex automotive supply chains has been tamed with an optimization tool that links thousands of suppliers and service providers with the component requirements of Ford plants all over the globe.

The pioneer of the office-products superstore has big plans to boost sales and market share in Europe by increasing stores, catalog orders, contract stationery business, and internet retailing. But it must balance growth with the challenge of a multi-channel supply chain.

Costly automation and price cuts weren't working. A new approach centered on increased outsourcing, flexible manufacturing and distribution, and establishing operations in Mexico. Now, Master Lock is saving money and getting new products to market faster.

For 20 years, the high-end data storage system and server assembler had used DCs on each coast. But a self-imposed $1m penalty for unavailability of parts required a faster logistics network. Indianapolis was the answer.

Key Amazon.com executives in Seattle and Europe - including founder Jeff Bezos - talk about how the company's supply-chain strategies and fledgling European operations are shaping its prospects.

Webvan Corp., with the help of its technology partners, has broken the code on guaranteed, self-scheduled home delivery. Here's how it gets the goods delivered within a promised 30-minute window and where it plans to take that achievement.