Analyst Insight: Slow post-recessionary recovery has fostered uncertainty in many markets, but few have felt the effects as strongly as deep sea cargo transportation. The market's emblem - an ancient, laboring ship that is slow to adapt to obstacles in its path - has become an apt metaphor for the market itself. Financial risk, absent demand and volatile inputs indicate that container shippers may be caught in a bubble - one that IBISWorld anticipates will burst by 2020 unless shippers change course. – Ashley Cruz, research analyst, IBISWorld Inc.

Analyst Insight: In 2016, Amazon subsidized the cost of shipping to their customers by about $7bn, setting a very high bar for customer expectations of cheap or free shipping with rapid delivery. Most competitors don't have the same options as Amazon to buy market share this way, putting enormous pressure on them to squeeze every penny out of fulfillment and transportation costs (as well as to differentiate in other dimensions). Omni-mode integration is one tool that can help companies lower shipping costs to effectively compete. – Bill McBeath, chief research officer, ChainLink Research

Analyst Insight: Developing supply-chain strategy as a process versus a project has become critical to make necessary strategic decisions in today's dynamically changing e-commerce environment. As digital disruptions continue to evolve in the marketplace, leadership faces numerous challenging decisions to maintain and/or improve market share. Agility and creative thinking is required for you and your supply-chain evolution. – Dale Pickett, director, Tompkins International

Analyst Insight: With companies reshoring their manufacturing facilities back to North America in today's market and in the future, leading industrial manufacturing companies are striving to enhance factory performance and improve plant productivity to maintain a competitive edge. Industrial manufacturing is in the midst of a technological renaissance that is transforming the systems and processes of the modern plant. Companies can't afford to ignore these advances or they will be left behind. – Brian Neuwirth, VP of Marketing and Sales, UNEX Manufacturing

Analyst Insight: In a time of rapid political and economic change, uncertainty and tight budgets, R&D and education can often get short shrift. Perversely those are the times when the latest ideas are needed the most - especially for professionals wanting to learn and implement new techniques. – Kate Vitasek, faculty member, University of Tennessee's Haslam College of Business Administration