As costs of production and labor continue to increase in China, U.S. manufacturers are increasingly focused on product and process innovation and supply chain efficiency to boost productivity and manage costs. This was according to top executives from leading U.S. companies in China at the AmCham Shanghai 2013 Manufacturing Summit on October 17.

In today's globalized economy, supply chain professionals work together to deliver products to the end customer while working with different organizations and different business units within the same organization. During this process, supply chain managers face a challenge in controlling inventories and costs while maximizing customer service performance.

When it comes to public sector procurement, the federal government is the big kahuna, over $500bn-a-year large. Yet, when it comes to managing this massive amount of taxpayer dollars, there's really no one in charge to direct how best the feds can spend and manage this money.

Nearly half (43 percent) of UK businesses regard reducing the cost of running warehouse operations as their most critical challenge for business improvement - even more critical than speed of fulfillment.