LLamasoft Inc. the vendor of supply-chain design software, has joined with CLX Logistics LLC, a provider of logistics management, technology and supply-chain consulting services, to provide LLamasoft customers with data on European truckload, global ocean and global parcel shipments.

LLamasoft Inc., a vendor of supply-chain design applications, has expanded operations in the Asia-Pacific region with a new venture based in Tokyo, Japan.

LLamasoft Inc., a vendor of supply-chain design software, has developed a new release of Transportation Guru, its application for transportation network design.

LLamasoft Inc., a vendor of supply-chain design software, has introduced Data Guru.

Analyst Insight: Supply chain complexity and turmoil is on the rise due to growing global markets, increasing customer expectations, rising costs and more intense competitive pressures. Progressive companies understand that supply chain performance has a significant impact on the bottom line and shareholder value, and they must reinvent their supply chain networks on a regular basis in order to remain competitive. However, the traditional way of designing supply chain networks with a focus on cost optimization is giving way to more progressive thinking. - John Spain, Executive Vice President, Tompkins International

Analyst Insight: Network planning suffers from an abundance of inappropriate technology, coupled with far too little pragmatic, common sense. Everyone is familiar with the optimization tools that are routinely applied; all are based on long-term shipment forecasts by SKU, by zip code or even finer measurement. Now wait a minute! We can't even forecast next month's demand; how in the world can we forecast demand detail five years in the future? The skills and skepticism of the millennials just may have the solution. - Robert Sabath, Principal Essentialist SCM, Trissential

Distribution center design has always been a key aspect of supply-chain management. Now it's becoming a "science." Russ Meller, vice president of research and development with Fortna, explains what that means.

The U.S. Department of Defense has issued an interim rule allowing the agency to consider supply chain risk in certain procurements related to national security systems, citing an "urgent need" to protect such programs from sabotage.

As manufacturers consider shifting production from China back to the West, the U.S. could become an economically viable alternative faster than you think.