The confluence of changing demographics, economic factors and customer preferences has the potential to create a long-term disruption across the food-industry value chain that transforms where and how consumers shop for groceries as well as what products they choose.

Etched into the base of Google's new wireless home media player is its most intriguing feature. On the underside of the Nexus Q is a simple inscription: "Designed and Manufactured in the U.S.A."

Mergers and acquisitions are common in the business world, but each move brings its own set of challenges. As a company buys key competitors or suppliers, it is often left with the task of consolidating very different warehouse management systems.

Automobiles are selling again, and executives are confident. The U.S. auto industry is positioned for a global economic recovery - if car manufacturers can avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.

When Sonja Zozula and Jerry Anderson founded LightSaver Technologies in 2009, everyone told them they should make their emergency lights for homeowners in China. After two years of outsourcing to factories there, last winter they shifted production to Carlsbad, Calif., about 30 miles from their home in San Clemente. "It's probably 30 percent cheaper to manufacture in China," Anderson says. "But factor in shipping and all the other B.S. that you have to endure. It's a question of, 'How do I value my time at three in the morning when I have to talk to China?'"

This year, Vermeer Corp. is celebrating the 15th anniversary of its lean journey, a remarkable milestone given one of the words President and CEO Mary Andringa uses to describe the continuous-improvement methodology. "Fragile" is the word.

In Wharton management professor Peter Cappelli's most recent book - Why Good People Can't Get Jobs: The Skills Gap and What Companies Can Do About It - he debunks the oft-repeated argument from employers that applicants don't have the skills needed for today's jobs. Instead, he puts much of the blame on companies themselves, including their lack of information about hiring and training costs, and on computerized applicant tracking systems that can make it harder, not easier, to find qualified job candidates.

Enrique Almanza Hernandez, logistics expert and former central Mexico regional director at Autotransportes de Carga Tresguerras SA de CV, discusses key issues surrounding effective North American supply chain management and explores the state of fully integrated North American logistics - including the evolution of some Mexican carriers into true 3PL providers. Hernandez spoke with Danny Slaton, SMC ³ executive vice president of business and product development.

Eighty percent of manufacturers responding to a recent survey rate reducing overall supply chain costs as the number one supply chain priority in the coming year, according to IDC Manufacturing Insights. Nearly 55 percent suggest supply chain agility is second and 52 percent suggest improving product quality and safety is the third-most important priority.