Following a boom in commercial aircraft orders in 2011, a year which saw the successful launch of the Airbus A320 NEO and the Boeing 737 MAX, the aerospace industry is now faced with having to deliver a huge backlog. According to a study of the aerospace and defense industry released by global business advisory firm AlixPartners, the industry must increase production rates by 45 percent in volume by 2015 if it is to meet demand, representing the industry's biggest challenge in the coming years.

The confluence of changing demographics, economic factors and customer preferences has the potential to create a long-term disruption across the food-industry value chain that transforms where and how consumers shop for groceries as well as what products they choose.