Most companies go through some form of portfolio planning, whether they use that term or not, says Eric Symon, principal with Digital Tempus. He defines it as a strategic effort to determine "what products you're going to sell to whom, and what businesses you're going to invest in." The model can help businesses to understand which products are growing in demand, and which need to be phased out.

BT Global Services provides managed networked IT services for business and government organizations around the world. Its expertise begins at home, says Keith Sherry, the company's general manager of supply chain solutions. BT procures some $16bn in products and services for 30,000 engineers and 1.3 million customers.

LogFire, a provider of warehouse-management system (WMS) software in the cloud, has created new transload and deconsolidation functionality, designed to meet the warehouse-management needs of third-party logistics providers.

Webgistix Corp. has unveiled SmartFreight, a package of software and services aimed at mid-sized electronic-commerce retailers.

Rosslyn Analytics, a provider of business-intelligence software, has made available a new tool for conducting analyses of supplier risks. RA.Pid Supplier Risk Profile allows finance, procurement and supply-chain organizations to collaboratively evaluate, monitor and mitigate supplier-centric risks in real time in five business days, all from a single screen, the vendor claimed.

LeanLogistics, a vendor of transportation-management system (TMS) software, is releasing version 12.1.0. of its On-Demand TMS package.

There has been a recent renewal of interest in collaboration among supply-chain partners, according to Ann Grackin, chief executive officer of ChainLink Research. Reasons include a greater reliance on outsourcing and the general trend of globalization of trade. Yet another element is the desire to draw on sophisticated technology, including video, teleconferencing and social networks, to link all players throughout the chain. With such factors in mind, says Grackin, "you need working relationships with trading partners to be successful."

Zonar Systems has added fuel as an additional dimension to its suite of tools for electronic fleet inspection, tracking and operations management. Up to now, Zonar's vehicle telematics platforms have utilized four dimensions - latitude, longitude, time and odometer - of global positioning system (GPS) reporting.