Here are five more predictions for 2013 and beyond, from a panel of five well-informed (and well-fed) Silicon Valley business executives. (See my previous post for the first five.) Assembled in Santa Clara, Calif., by the San Francisco Roundtable of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, these individuals took part in the group's fourth annual effort to answer that age-old question: What does the future hold for supply-chain management?

We are living in a world of speed, immediate accessibility and instant gratification. To keep up with the demand, manufacturers have to procure raw materials, build components, assemble finished goods and physically ship them across the world. Yet they are challenged with shorter and shorter lead times, an unlimited range of finished goods SKUs, selling goods and procuring materials globally and the unending pressure to do more with less. This concept of speed when applied to material replenishment has come to be known as "Inventory Velocity". There are some principles and practices on how to improve inventory velocity in this complex environment.