Analyst Insight: The retail industry is undergoing massive transformations as a result of three megatrends: technology, globalization and supply chain. New technologies have changed the definition of the word "shopping." Globalization has resulted in products designed for international consumption and manufactured in the country with lowest total delivered cost. Supply chain's role is to support the desires of global customers with an efficient flow of goods, information and cash. The omnichannel supply chain is critical to these transformations, and it should evolve through a Strategy-Structure-Implementation process. – Jim Tompkins, CEO, Tompkins International

Analyst Insight: The shale gas revolution has fueled a resurgence of domestic manufacturing, driving rail shipments up over 6 percent and a two-year backlog for new cars. Maximizing fleet utilization is now a key management issue for most shippers. While current rail management tools are effective at tracking rail cars, an important gap exists with accurately predicting the usage and location of the cars over the entire planning horizon. – Alfred Sherk, CEO, SherTrack LLC

Speed, Efficiency, Optimization. For many companies, actualizing this powerful trio can seem more like a dream than a concrete, achievable supply-chain goal. There are ways to realize all three, and the evolving excellence of supply chain technology is providing more and more opportunity to do so. Enter Big Calculations: the act of optimizing your business in real time, to create fast and efficient results.

Randy Curran, CEO of OHL, talks about the impact of e-commerce on the 3PL industry today and in the future and discusses how the omnichannel customer is changing logistics operations.

Doug Waggoner, CEO of Echo Logistics, talks about Echo's rapid growth and shares insights on growth strategies that transcend changing economic conditions.