Buyers and sellers appear generally optimistic about the prospects for trade and the economy this year. Let's hope they're not whistling in the dark.

Sustainability has for many years been growing in importance, but until recently was largely seen as a sideshow meant to burnish the image of a company and its brands. Early efforts by supply chain leaders to integrate concepts of sustainability into their operations were often meant to test notions of cost savings that align naturally with reduced environmental impacts. The results are beginning to show. - Kevin O'Marah, Chief Content Officer and Head of Research, SCM World

Analyst Insight: Customer relationship management evolved from contact management, a sales-focused process for suppliers. In many cases, CRM must be rethought; it should be stood on its head, starting with customers' needs and working back to suppliers. Because most companies lack sufficient resources to satisfy every customer, this approach initially leads to frustration. But "every customer totally thrilled" is the wrong objective. To the contrary, it's critical to focus: to "wow" the most profitable customers, and serve them perfectly. Supply chain responses must match segmented and targeted relationships to build satisfaction and profit. - Robert Sabath, Principal Essentialist SCM, Trissential

The Highway Trust Fund is broke. And the nation's transportation system is broken.

Analyst Insight: The consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry is in the midst of a supply chain talent shortage across all functions, but particularly in planning roles. CPG companies have had to adapt many strategies to maintain an adequate level of supply chain talent in their organizations. Today, it is more important than ever for these companies to place a premium on retaining and finding supply chain talent. - Bruce Tompkins, Executive Director, Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium

Analyst Insight: In the world today, there are 6.8 billion people; 4 billion have mobile phones. Only 3.5 billion use a tooth brush! There are more U.S. mobile subscriptions than people; 70 percent use their smartphones during their in-store experience! Why should we care in CPG? One fifth of searches are for CPG products. Online-to-offline (O2O) commerce is expected to grow 50 percent over 5 years, outpacing offline commerce and exceeding online ecommerce by over 400 percent (!), according to Forrester Research. - Rich Sherman, Principal Essentialist, Trissential