Analyst Insight: Let's start at the very beginning. Supply chain DNA is focused on costs while providing acceptable service to customers. Marketing DNA is focused on revenues that come from the sales and services. As a result, the only shared value between marketing and supply chain people is the recognition that "stuff has to get to customers." To marketing, the term "minimize" only relates to the number of times a customer is dissatisfied, whereas to supply chain, "minimize" is the Holy Grail. – Robert Sabath, Principal Essentialist SCM, Trissential

Behind the scenes the electronics industry is leaping into brave new worlds of printed electronics, electronic inks, and laser Nano and other innovations. Quite frankly we don’t think any of these innovations will mightily impact the current trajectory of RFID as we know it today. But in our life time there will be radical changes.

Analyst Insight: Consumers now demand that their software solutions be flexible, configurable and are able to accommodate business changes without much business impact. Enterprise software vendors have been forced to shift their dated SOA and legacy-based architecture to more adaptable and configuration-friendly solutions that allow consumers to adjust to changing business practices and processes. – Dylan Persaud, Managing Director, Eval-Source

It looks as though we're in for a year of continued economic recovery and job growth, however gradual. That should be good news for ocean carriers - assuming they don't undermine their own success by flooding the market with capacity, then engaging in rampant discounting to fill it.

Anheuser-Busch InBev has laid out a five-year path to sustainability.

Analyst Insight: The sales and operations planning process has fairly deep roots in most companies. Research by SCM World shows that many have been able to extend the process across most internal functions. However, few companies have extended the process externally to trading partners. The incentive structure of buyers and sellers tends to set these groups at cross-purposes. Flexibility pricing can shift the incentives in a direction that forces companies to negotiate the value of flexibility. - Barry Blake, Vice President, Research, SCM World

Analyst Insight: The titans of business, Amazon and Walmart, are doing an awesome job of growing their companies and transforming the way the marketplace functions. They're innovating supply chain operations and how they are responding to the needs of the customer. They're creating tremendous disruptions that are forcing everyone to play catch up. Lastly, they are on the offensive. They are creating benefits for their customers at such a rate that all other companies are playing at a disadvantage. - Jim Tompkins, CEO, Tompkins International

Analyst Insight: The issue of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indian retail has been in the headline news over the past few years. However, little media attention has been paid to the supply chain aspects of foreign retailers setting up shop in the country. The entrance of new foreign retailers into India will have a positive impact on domestic retail supply chains, bringing in global best practices, technological know-how and strengthening the position of local small suppliers. - Viktoria Sadlovska, Managing Director, Prameya Research, & Lead Author of the Pragmatic Value Chains Blog