The cookware company says it can now start with a smaller initial inventory of new items because it can react quickly to changes in sales patterns.

A conversation with Richard Herrin, forecasting and planning manager-NAFTA region, for Syngenta, a global agribusiness based in Basel, Switzerland.

A conversation with Richard Haugen, chief operating officer at Yak Pak, a New York-based designer and manufacturer of fashion bags and packs.

A conversation with Hector Granda, director of global procurement policies and learning and development within the Integrated Supply Chain at IBM, Armonk, N.Y.

Castrol's European operation faced a common supply-chain conundrum: excess inventory and poor customer service. A new planning department separate from execution, coupled with technology from ToolsGroup, got the company's supply chain back on track.

A conversation with John Nafis, manager of the supply chain at Cannondale Bicycle Corp., headquartered in Bethel, Conn.