George Wheeler, senior director of the Lucena Group, explains why it's critical to have an effective supply-chain security program, and where many existing efforts are falling short.

The Ariba sourcing and procurement network, now part of SAP AG, is moving to the SAP HANA in-memory platform for real-time computing.

ThomasNet.com, provider of a free supplier-discovery and product-sourcing platform, has launched a new version of its Supplier Discovery application.

JDA Software Group Inc. has released JDA Flowcasting, an application for supply-chain management and collaboration among manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

Netwin Solutions Inc., a provider of applications for supply-chain security and global trade management, has launched a software module to help companies comply with new rules for reporting on the presence of conflict minerals in their products.

Some authors have suggested that strategic sourcing is often done in a win-lose style, without true collaboration between buyer and seller. Nothing could be further from the truth, as a win-lose relationship is the antithesis to strategic sourcing done the right way. Strategic sourcing, done right, can become a real competitive advantage.