When newcomer TheraSense decided to market its glucose monitoring technology in a field already crowded with brand-name players, its executives figured that order management and fulfillment were the last things they needed to worry about.

In many cases, manufacturers, distributors and warehouse managers already have squeezed just about all the costs out of the supply chain. Now labor management strategy software can help measure the productivity of the work force itself.

Increasingly, customers call on logistics providers to do much more than move or store goods efficiently. Clients are demanding creation and management of truly worldwide logistics networks.

As third-party logistics providers bring e-fulfillment programs into their facilities alongside more traditional warehouse activities, they must find ways to meet new requirements.

Unifi's integration project began with an ERP implementation, but ended up reaching deep into the textile giant's manufacturing and supply-chain activities. So much was learned in the process, the company spun off a technology subsidiary that already is earning profits.

It's the ultimate entrepreneurial dream: Only after the customer pays up do you buy or build anything and send it on its way. The technology is there to make yours a truly 'pull-driven' company, but you have to share inside data. Are you ready?

When conductor Kurt Masur strikes up the band on world tours, 12 tons of freight - from musical instruments to sheet music to wardrobe trunks - are in place because of the efforts of this third-party logistics provider.

When retail discount giant Kmart set out to remake itself into a tighter, more streamlined company, it found a significant opportunity for savings in its inefficient system for handling returns. The solution: centralizing and outsourcing reverse logistics operations.