Industry experts offer their views on how the discipline of warehouse management, including the deployment of new software applications, will evolve in the years ahead.

Analyst Insight: The overall market for U.S. 3PL providers has surpassed $116bn after six consecutive years of expansion. The 3PL market has expanded in all but one of the last 10 years, with a recession-fueled decline in 2009 the only blemish. At the same time, global corporations are striving to consolidate the number of logistics providers they work with to obtain more services from fewer providers. - John Johnson, Senior Content Specialist, Gartner Supply Chain

Analyst Insight: In 2015, I predicted that the healthcare industry was finally sharpening its focus on profitability and efficiency. While I was writing this Walgreens moved on Rite-Aid and further consolidated the retail pharmacy market, but more importantly strengthened their negotiating leverage on price breaks. If the cost of the supply chain from sourcing to production to distribution was not a priority, it just became critical to profit margins and customer service. - Brian Hudock, Partner, Tompkins International

Analyst Insight: Network design, network planning, network analysis, network optimization, or network studies - these terms have been used over the past 25 years to represent the work to determine how to set up logistics networks, how to analyze them for cost reductions, and how to re-plan them when something important changes. - Gene Tyndall, Executive Vice President, Tompkins International

Analyst Insight: The U.S. trucking industry is experiencing unprecedented change that is spurring consolidation in the fragmented market. For shippers, the upheaval can be both good and bad news. Acquisitions can offer shippers the opportunity to expand operations to new areas without the need to change carriers. Conversely, consolidation reduces competition in the marketplace and may have a negative impact on rates or service levels. Throughout this shakeout, shippers will need to determine how the market adjustments will fit into their strategic growth plans. - Brian Broadhurst, Vice President of Transportation Solutions, Spend Management Experts

Analyst Insight: Your target customers have completed their research and are ready to purchase your product. Then comes the final step in the purchasing process - selecting the delivery method (logistics channel) that best fits their immediate needs. In today's world, whether customers realize it or not, they are driving companies to become more flexible in their logistics capabilities. - Thompson Brockman, Partner, Tompkins International