Ten best practices in supply-chain planning, culled from conversations with leading supply-chain executives, analysts and vendors - the first of a series of six "Best Practices" articles to be presented this year.

Terrorists are well aware of the opportunity that global supply chains present to deliver a devastating attack on the U.S. It's up to both the government and U.S. importers to protect us all.

Privacy concerns have prompted many companies to develop private exchanges to deal with suppliers, but both models should survive in some form.

Major ERP players are poised to give best-of-breed vendors in supply-chain management and execution a run for their money as the economy gains steam and companies once again begin to invest in technology.

With a re-energized effort under way to formalize Collaborative Transportation Management, lots of people are looking at ways to make carriers part of the collaborative process.

The morning after the high-tech boom, a lot of expensive software is sitting around unused. But companies are starting to wake up to its potential.

The first generation of SCEM vendors did not offer enough value to earn a permanent place in the marketplace, but a new wave of vendors with expanded capabilities promises to do a lot better.

Transportation and distribution providers could benefit from the use of customer relationship management tools, experts say. But some don't seem to want to hear about the technology.

Supply-chain plans tend to collapse when demand spikes, supplier failures and other problems at the execution level radically change the underlying assumptions. But better planning techniques, event management tools and a new generation of web-based collaborative solutions can keep these plans on track.