What does it take to overcome the logistics challenges of serving customers in emerging markets?

Analyst Insight: Keeping talent has risen to be a concern for managers, directors and CEOs across the country. It's even caught the attention of academics. What policies employed at the DC level gets the most out of the money spent on training, and gets the best results? Our 2014 study starts to answer that question. – Karl B. Manrodt, Professor of Logistics, and Donnie Williams, Assistant Professor of Logistics, Georgia College and State University

Analyst Insight: The pharmaceutical industry is finally sharpening its focus on profitability and efficiency. 2014 saw continued mergers and acquisitions, but more importantly, the acceleration of business focus on core sectors. Now that the impacts of the Affordable Care Act are better understood, the ability to streamline operations into sectors is driving spin-offs, sell-offs and renewed operational pressures. Two key drivers this year involving supply chains will be inventory reduction and control and lean cost reduction. – Brian Hudock, Partner, Tompkins International

SupplyChainBrain and JobsInLogistics have joined forces in 2015 for the specialized purpose of:

Analyst Insight: The pressures faced by the pharmaceutical industry are well known. These include the increasing cost of healthcare, the aging of the population in the developed world, market entry hurdles in many emerging markets, excess manufacturing capacity, reimbursement decisions based on comparative effectiveness research, and the continued adoption of generics and bio-similars. Another well-known about the industry: change occurs at a glacial pace. What role does the supply chain have in helping the industry transition to a solution-oriented approach to healthcare? – Barry Blake, Vice President, Research, SCM World

In 2014, organizations were caught off guard by the increase in advanced threats targeting vulnerabilities within business-critical applications running on SAP platforms. Everything from malware being loaded up on RFID devices and being inserted into the manufacturing process, to high-risk "denial of service" vulnerabilities are challenging organizations to re-think their current approach to protecting critical data.

Analyst Insight: There are exciting developments in technologies and processes in the area of network design. Currently, both processes and technologies are rapidly evolving, offering exciting opportunities. It is one of the most critical investments for supply chain leaders in 2015. – Lora Cecere, Founder of Supply Chain Insights

Global companies are wasting more than $30bn (£20bn) a year because they do not share information about suppliers, according to business information provider Achilles.