Exporters can get into serious trouble if they lack an effective trade-compliance program. Attorney Christos Linardakis, senior counsel with the Braumiller Law Group, shares some real-life stories of international sales gone wrong.

Enrique Castillo, president and chief operating officer of Fast Logistics Group, relates how the lead logistics provider adopted a sales and operations planning (S&OP) process to improve the reliability of delivery for major consumer-goods brands. A finalist in the SupplyChainBrain/CSCMP Supply Chain Innovation Award for 2014.

Challenge: This global food manufacturer and distributor is one of the world's largest companies, exporting to over 70 countries. With an eye toward sustainable growth, the company realized their global trade process needed a transformation – manually intensive processes would often lead to inaccurate duty payments, documentation errors, and shipment delays.

Aljex Software Inc., a vendor of cloud-based software for third-party logistics providers and carriers, has integrated its offering with FourKites, Inc., provider of a shipment-tracking application for shippers and brokers.

Challenge: On July 30, 2014, 11 months after trumpeting its plan to invest $25 million in Myanmar's Asian Wings Airways, All Nippon Airways walked away. From the start, local media had reported Asian Wings' alleged ties with Tay Za, a connection the airline denied. Japan’s All Nippon didn't mention those ties when it canceled the deal, citing instead the small Myanmar market and, as MGO highlighted two months earlier, rising competition.

Steve Geary, president of Supply Chain Visions, shares stories of "extreme" supply chains in Afghanistan – and tells how those strategies and lessons can be applied in the U.S.