As a supplier, you're constantly looking for ways to reduce costs in the payment cycle. While many suppliers think that corporate cards result in higher costs to them, in reality, card acceptance can actually positively impact the bottom line through a combination of cost savings, reduced bad debts and increased revenue.

After years of historically low interest rates, the Federal Reserve has started to execute on its strategy to raise rates. As a result, procurement teams will need to scrub their policies and plans to find interest rate sensitivities in a way they haven't in almost a decade.

Analyst Insight: As technology platforms become more sophisticated, affordable, secure and widespread, they are poised to become useful tools in spurring collaboration along the supply chain. In fact, when coupled with collaborative buyer-supplier agreements, it could become a primary factor that makes collaboration a reality instead of just an aspiration. - Kate Vitasek, faculty member of the University of Tennessee's College of Business Administration

Reversing years of steadily increasing prices, the cost of beef is expected to decrease between 10 percent and 17 percent across all primal cuts in 2016 in what amounts to "the biggest story of the year" for chain restaurant operators, said DeWayne Dove, vice president of risk management for supply chain management firm SpenDifference.

It is the human rights abuse that everybody likes to maintain is not happening. But within corporate supply chains across the developing world – from the cocoa-growing lands of the Ivory Coast to the seafood sector of Thailand – human trafficking and modern day slavery is still commonplace, with people being made to work and live in appalling conditions with little or no pay.

Low profitability has undermined commodity producers and brings high risks to the supply chain, according to IHS Inc.

Industrial buyers have long needed to negotiate the specifications and prices for key purchases. Now, more than ever, consumers expect a personalized experience from product configuration all the way through fulfillment preferences. It is not surprising, therefore, that organizations today are facing increasing challenges with the management of their quote-to-cash (Q2C) process. These challenges include the ability to deal with the intricacy of personalized product offerings as well the complexity of the fulfillment processes and closing out the transaction through the settlement process. By embracing and streamlining the Q2C process, organizations can create strong customer loyalty and increase the bottom line.