How we love our information systems, our management theories, our best-laid plans. And how often they fail us. It reminds me of what the playwright and novelist Samuel Beckett once said about his work. "Each time one thinks one starts fresh, new," he mused. "Yet each time one reaches the same impasse. There are many ways to begin, many roads to it, but always the same impasse at the end."

You could call inventory and warehouse space the twin evils of the supply chain. Both are big drags on the balance sheet. So it should come as no surprise that the two categories are lagging the recovery - or what's passing for one.

Like death and taxes, volatility has now become a fact of life. The aftermath of the 2009 recession reinforced the importance of defensive strategies against volatility in order to survive, but winning in an increasingly uncertain world requires that we learn to thrive in volatility, harness it and use this strength as a competitive advantage.

Aiming to specialize in the outdoor sports industry, ITS Logistics finds it essential to swap out its WMS, while simultaneously retooling key processes at two Nevada distribution centers.