All customers want a perfect order but few really understand what that entails, how to measure it or the trade-offs that may be necessary to make it an affordable goal. Third-party logistics providers help their clients identify and measure the key performance indicators that lead to success.

Toledo, Ohio, is where the BAX international hub-and-spoke system links with the global network Schenker has based in Hahn, Germany.

As in 2006, GL&SCS this year partnered with Aberdeen Group, Boston, to conduct a comprehensive technology survey of a cross-section of our readership. The purpose was to assess corporate spending plans and priorities for supply chain technology and to see how these plans differ among innovators, best-in class, and average performers. The results, summarized below and in a soon-to-be-published Aberdeen report, should help companies benchmark their own technology road maps.

For many companies, after-sales activities are money in the bank as they may account for anywhere from 10 percent to 40 percent of revenue.