Reducing supply chain barriers could increase global GDP and world trade much more than reducing all import tariffs, according to a new report released by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Bain & Company and the World Bank.

A new global survey of IT decision-makers by Dell Quest Software reports that 70 percent of companies believe bring-your-won-device (BYOD) will improve or already has improved their work processes and 59 percent believe they would find themselves at a competitive disadvantage without BYOD.

Sun Lieu, head of supply chain engineering at the Electronics Measurement Business Group of Agilent Technologies, talks about the supply chain challenges of a high-mix, low-volume business and describes Agilent's two-level supplier collaboration model.

Four years ago, Caribou coffee's supply chain was managed with spreadsheets. Their only method of gauging demand was the order-fill numbers of product leaving the warehouse - basic replenishment. The team knew they were missing a big opportunity - accurate visibility to drive a more efficient operation, right-size inventory, improved customer service, as well as the expansion of product sales. The supply chain team also knew they were faced with a lot of risk. Could they respond to demand variability?

Ikea Group, the world's biggest furniture retailer, will double its investment in renewable energy to $4bn by 2020 as part of a drive to reduce costs as cash-strapped consumers become more price sensitive.