For this year's Supply Chain Innovation Award, first place goes to Ahold USA and its partners - ES3 and Del Monte Foods - for a distribution system that streamlines order-to-store deliveries from days to hours.

The innovative maker of smartphones applies the concept of sales and operations planning to its supplier relationships. The result is a better link between product supply and demand.

The company turns to a concept developed at Ohio State University to buffer itself against any number of potential disruptions that might affect customer service and the continuous flow of product.

ADT Security Systems joins with Inmar Reverse Logistics to revamp the company's method for the receipt, management and disposition of returned parts, an opportunity that it had previously overlooked.