John Reichert, director of supply chain execution solutions at Tecsys, discusses factors driving increased demand for 3PL services and describes the type of provider best positioned to leverage this growth environment.

Several years ago SanDisk realized that its build-to-forecast model was causing excess inventory and poor on-time delivery. The company decided to transform to a pull supply-chain model based on actual demand and postponement. Kehat Shahar, vice president of operations and supply chain planning at SanDisk, talks about this journey.

Eliminating supply chain risk is the primary driver for sustainability initiatives and industry collaboration is the biggest opportunity according to a recent report published by Ethical Corporation titled "Sustainable Supply Chain Trends 2015." The report features insight from 415 CSR and supply chain professionals primarily based in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.

Reshoring is delivering wide-ranging benefits for an increasing number of U.S. manufacturers, who see it as a way to maintain (or regain) global competitiveness. According to the Reshoring Initiative, in 2003 about 140,000 jobs were lost to offshoring. In 2014, for the first time in two decades, the U.S. realized a net gain of 10,000 reshored jobs.

SmartCentres, the largest shopping center developer in Canada, has launched a popular drive-in pickup service for e-commerce customers. Located at existing shopping centers, Penguin Pickup accepts deliveries from any online retailer.

Tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold, also known as 3TG, are essential for manufacturing in a number industries, including electronics, jewelry, industrial manufacturing, automotive and aerospace.

Mergers and acquisition in the 3PL industry are on the upswing, with deals in the first two quarters of this year outpacing all of last year, says Ronald Lentz of G2 Capital Advisors. Lentz looks at factors driving this trend and other issues impacting the industry's financial health.