With a policy of keeping large amounts of inventory on hands, Parts Town was ready for any supply disruption. But it was also aided by having previously installed a goods-to-person system in the warehouse.

Neither the supply chain nor the customer benefits from masses of data without the right visibility that enables true collaboration, says Krenar Komoni, chief executive officer and founder of Tive

U.S. importers and exporters are bracing themselves for the possibility of a strike — or, at the very least, a damaging worker slowdown — by dockworkers at West Coast ports, as management and labor seek accord on a new longshore contract.