Analyst Insight: Pressure is mounting on logistics infrastructure in China due to increasing domestic consumption. As Chinese consumers become more sophisticated, distribution networks will have to respond with greater accuracy, efficiency and speed. The same supply chain principles that have been tried and proven in the West will, out of necessity, become more accepted in China. - Jim Serstad, Managing Director, Asia, Tompkins International

Port and city officials have called for expediting planned upgrades at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to stave off the threat of losing cargo traffic when the $5.25bn Panama Canal expansion is completed next year.

Analyst Insight: Simply stated, the marketing mission of any business is to profitably create "something" that a customer will buy. The operational objective of the business is to deliver the "something" to the satisfaction of the customer. The financial objective is to charge a fee equivalent to the customer's perceived value while generating a return on the capital investment the business made to create "something." - Rich Sherman, Supply Chain Discipline Expert at Trissential

Analyst Insight: The corporate goal is to drive profitable growth. Growth happens through success in new products, capturing market share in emerging markets or brand building in existing regions. To make these initiatives successful, the supply chain matters more and more; however, the greatest success happens when companies shift from marketing-driven to market-driven value networks. In market-driven value networks, companies build the capabilities to listen, test and learn in vitro with zero data latency to maximize market opportunity. - Lora Cecere, Founder of Supply Chain Insights

Mike Perkins, vice president of fulfillment and manufacturing with L.L. Bean, explains how the company was able to postpone building a new distribution center, despite an increase in sales.

President Barack Obama is trying to persuade the United States to adopt a cap-and-trade system to curb greenhouse gas emissions. But the European Union's Emissions Trading System "” the world's flagship effort "” is sputtering. European carbon permits, which traded at about €30 ($40) per ton a few years ago, are now hovering at about €5 per ton or less.

Supply Chain Management is a "tale of two cities", Leader City and Laggard City. Residents of Leader City, according to benchmarks from APQC, outperform their median competitors with an overwhelming cost and performance advantage. As you navigate the journey to Leader City, at some point, you are going to have to obtain management commitment as evidenced by the fact that we've all been to dozens of case study presentations at conferences over the years. What do they all have in common? You have to have management commitment to be successful. What they never tell you is how to get it! Here's one of the secrets to gaining management commitment that Rich Sherman reveals in his new book. Material excerpted from Supply Chain Transformation: Practical Roadmap to Best Practice Results, by Richard Sherman, 2012. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

Labelmaster, a manufacturer and distributor of items for complying with regulations on the movement of hazardous materials, has added reusable crates to its product line.