Competition within the supply chain industry is fierce. Internal executives, third-party providers and industry consultants all have their own special sauce strategies to navigate the twists and turns of the supply chain. Touting a company's strength is important for shareholders and marketing efforts. But value can be generated by recognizing operational deficiencies, and seeking out partner companies with complementary competencies. By this initiative, both companies capture or retain the ultimate prize - the customer. Sometimes a company's best choice for a partner is the least expected or desired - a competitor.

European occupier appetite for industrial and logistics property is expected to rise significantly in the next two years, according to a survey of senior property investors, developers and occupiers conducted by CBRE.

Big data may seem to promise big insights to users, but more isn't always better, cautions statistician Nate Silver, who became one of America's most well-known faces of data analysis after his FiveThirtyEight blog accurately predicted 2012 presidential election results in all 50 states.

This month, the Supply Chain Insights team will announce the Supply Chain Index, a formulaic representation of supply chain excellence based on market valuations. It will be launched during a webinar on April 25, 2013, and through a series of reports that will run in our May newsletter and throughout the summer. Here, I would like to share some background information on the Index and how I intend to use it in developing a higher level of research.