Along with its warning that delaying action on climate change would cause enormous economic losses, the White House has announced a series of data-related initiatives to prepare U.S. food and water supplies - along with the industries and jobs that rely on them - for climate challenges.

Trevor Schick, senior vice president for the global supply chain enterprise group at Hewlett-Packard, explains the importance and challenges involved in eliminating "conflict minerals" from the supply chain and HP's commitment to this goal.

Supply chain performance has a big impact on consumers' perception of a company and its brand, says Bill Tomasi of IBS. He suggests that companies need to more actively incorporate SCM into their brand protection strategies.

Companies continue to lose money by shipping air as a result of packaging that doesn't fit the product, says Tom Blanck, leader of the packaging optimization practice at Chainalytics. Blanck discusses optimization techniques that can save money and improve productivity.