Analyst Insight: S&OP is much more of a journey than a destination. After getting the supply/demand match process established, the question becomes "what is needed to move the process beyond the supply chain function and get ownership across the organization?" A good place to start is the front end of your business. - Bryan Ball, Vice President and Group Director, Supply Chain and Global Supply Management Practices, Aberdeen

Analyst Insight: Data analytics is playing a bigger role in supply chain analysis and consulting practices. According to a Deloitte study, "big data" and advanced analytics are being integrated into optimization tools, demand forecasting, integrated business planning, supplier collaboration and risk analytics at a rapid pace. - Traci Doenitz, Vice President of Information Systems, Spend Management Experts

Analyst Insight: Key to driving performance and achieving your business strategy is choosing KPIs that clearly align with that strategy. This usually involves identifying three or four areas where the company needs to excel, and then defining a "balanced scorecard" of metrics that shows progress toward the business goals, as well as the trade-offs necessary to achieve those goals. - Rodger Howell, Principal, PwC's Strategy&; Derrick Austring, Director, PwC's Strategy&

Analyst Insight: Cost cutting by itself is not fun for most employees and does not inspire them. But getting lean and cost cutting in some areas to make the company "Fit for Growth" is motivational because the goal is to reallocate resources and invest in capabilities that will help the company win. Once supply chain professionals embrace that the purpose of the cost cutting is smarter investment to become more competitive, they will rally around the cause. - Rodger Howell, Principal, PwC's Strategy&; John Plansky, Principal, PwC's Strategy&

There's a rumor going around, centered in Germany, that we're now in our fourth Industrial Revolution.

An efficient supply chain is one of the most crucial predictors of a company's success. The supply chain affects almost every marker for industry leadership, including costs, delivery performance and overall customer satisfaction. It's understandable then that the majority of supply chain executives consider visibility to be the most important aspect of any supply chain solution.

Analyst Insight: The greatest gap between performance and satisfaction of supply chain applications is in the area of demand planning. The reasons are many, but many are rooted in organizational and processes issues causing many people to throw in the towel too early. – Lora Cecere, Founder of Supply Chain Insights

Standards group GS1 US has released its Tagged-Item Performance Protocol (TIPP), a guideline that includes a scale for grading the performance of EPC ultrahigh-frequency RFID tags when used on specific products and in specific environments, as well standardizing the testing conducted to identify that grade.

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.