More predictions for the future of supply-chain management, courtesy of a panel of industry insiders at the fifth annual seer-fest sponsored by the San Francisco Roundtable of the Council of Supply-Chain Management Professionals:

"Multinational" doesn't necessarily mean global. IBM saw the need to apply rigorous analytics to virtually every function that makes up its supply chain - and in the process, harmonize business processes across the organization.

A conversation with Jonathan Gross, vice president and legal counsel for Pemeco Consulting.

Cloud adopters face serious risk in the next two years because of the strong possibility that their provider will be acquired or forced out of business, according to Gartner.

As businesses increasingly become more mobile, integrating different devices, applications and data into a single, seamless network is a significant challenge. In this Power Lunch roundtable, conducted at the annual user conference sponsored by Barcoding Inc., three experts discuss the keys to a successful integration project and identify common mistakes to avoid. They are: Martin Jack, chief technology officer at Barcoding Inc.; Kerry Kulp, network systems consultant at Cumulus Consulting Group; and Kelly Harris, director of program management at Barcoding Inc. The conversation is facilitated by SupplyChainBrain Editor Emeritus Jean Murphy.

A position paper from the Global Air Cargo Advisory Group (GACAG) says that effective air cargo screening technologies are an essential part of a multi-layered, risk- and threat-based approach to air cargo security.

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.