Key Amazon.com executives in Seattle and Europe - including founder Jeff Bezos - talk about how the company's supply-chain strategies and fledgling European operations are shaping its prospects.

Webvan Corp., with the help of its technology partners, has broken the code on guaranteed, self-scheduled home delivery. Here's how it gets the goods delivered within a promised 30-minute window and where it plans to take that achievement.

Canadian Tire is perhaps Canada's most widely recognized and well established retailer, but in the early 1990s the company realized its aging stores and out-of-date replenishment system were costing it business. A major renovation of stores and re-engineering of the supply chain yielded impressive results.

The Japanese car maker, which once held almost eight months' worth of aftermarket parts at its Belgian logistics center, is well on its way to keeping only a little more than two months' of spares on hand. In doing so, it has relied on surprisingly little in the way of information technology.

The cosmetics and fragrances manufacturer significantly reduced order-cycle times by assigning production and logistics operations to the same manager, and by implementing ISM's SPEX export documentation system.

To meet changing retailer requirements and sales growth demands, tableware designer Mikasa built a new, highly automated distribution center in Charleston, S.C., adopting an unusual design that conserves both energy and space.