To address supply chain threats, 28 percent of respondents in a recent survey said they have shifted from overseas to domestic suppliers in the past 12 months, according to BBK, an international business advisory firm with roots in the automotive manufacturing industry. Nearly 70 percent of these respondents cited transportation, shipping and logistics costs as the most significant factors in decisions to re-shore.

According to a 2012 survey from CAPS Research, nearly 72 percent of organizations expect their total supplier diversity program spend to increase by 2014. To better position minority and women business enterprises to capitalize on this growth, Cintas Corporation is sharing its top five strategies for supplier diversity success.

Many manufacturers that have applied lean concepts to their operations find that although they do achieve significant savings, their production costs remain high. This is, in most cases, attributable to material costs, which, depending on industry can range from 60 to 80 percent of total production costs. The challenge for these manufacturers is to discover how to extend lean concepts and practices beyond the walls of their own factories.

The chip manufacturing story has some compelling and awkward moments. For instance, Samsung managed to land Apple as its first massive computation chip customer when the original iPhone was heading to market. Apple needed someone to make the ARM chip that would give the iPhone its low-power consumption and zip, and Samsung said it was up to the task. Of course, the two companies are competitors now.