A large percentage of companies continue to experience supply chain fraud and many of those may not be doing enough to address the problem, according to a new survey by Deloitte.

The product return process has long been neglected at companies, written off as a necessary expense that adds no value. The returns function and any process related to it is often given the bare minimum of time and consideration. Typically, once an item is returned, it's thrown into the back of a warehouse and forgotten about while a new product was shipped to the customer.

In today's competitive global marketplace, manufacturers face a daunting challenge: ensuring production moves seamlessly within integrated supply chains while improving compliance and minimizing costs. To do so, plant managers need a complete view of operations, inventory and resource allocation - and that's exactly what business intelligence dashboards deliver.

Big Data has led to a discussion of predictive analytics in supply chain management. I'm not sure we have a good understanding in the field of how predictive analytics differs from forecasting.

Analyst Insight: Manufacturers are under greater pressure to improve product reliability and reduce cost-of-quality non-conformance, while increasing product functionality. This can be done through increased use of software, mechatronic systems, new materials and manufacturing technologies. Still, more pressures await, as manufacturers struggle to reduce a product’s time-to-market, all while keeping capital investment low. Doing more with less requires manufacturers to reduce the time from detecting a product issue to correcting it, known as detection to correction (D2C). - Kevin Reale, Senior Manager, Advisory, Ernst & Young LLP

Analyst Insight: Not too long ago, many supply chain professionals were skeptical of adopting a SaaS delivery model for their solutions. There was a hesitancy to move their solutions off premise, into the cloud and pay a subscription. How times have changed. Supply chain solution providers are all moving to the model or designing native solutions that are cloud-based. - Guy F. Courtin, Vice President & Principal Analyst, Constellation Research

We're always forecasting - thinking about what will happen, assessing its likelihood, and contemplating the implications. For CFOs, the stakes are especially high when it comes to the difference between accurate and inaccurate forecasts.

A major focus of consumer electronics now is the Internet of Things, but what consumers don't know about data policies around the latest technology trend could hurt them.