With the global economic outlook still far from certain, companies across all industry sectors are focused on delivering efficiency gains across their supply chains. This means that today's forklift trucks - for so long the workhorse of any well executed logistics operation - are expected to work harder for longer and with minimal downtime.

The first real estate investment trust to focus on logistics is set to float on the London market and raise £200m to invest in a new breed of e-commerce warehouses.

The National Retail Federation issued says worker safety has been boosted in garment factories in Bangladesh, yet notes that greater effort is needed.

Consider supply chain management a large puzzle comprised of many pieces. One major piece that many organizations find essential to form a complete picture is strategic sourcing, which involves the ongoing evaluation of purchasing activities and a commitment to look at all qualified solutions for both direct spend (costs associated with raw materials and parts for goods) and indirect spend (costs necessary for supporting production).

As we move into the heart of the holiday shopping season, consumer packaged goods (CPG) providers are once again faced with the challenge of matching supply with uncertain demand. How can they avoid the twin threats of stockouts and excess inventory at this crucial time of the retailing year? It's a delicate balance indeed.

The National Council of Chain Restaurants issued the following statement from NCCR Executive Director Rob Green on the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volume mandate for 2014: The Environmental Protection Agency's proposed adjustment to the Renewable Fuel Standard volume mandate is an implicit recognition that the ethanol mandate is out of sync and out of touch with current market realities. With this proposal, the EPA is essentially saying, 'if you like your 15-billion-gallon corn ethanol mandate, you can keep it.'