The consumer packaged goods sector is a giant with global sales exceeding $550bn. The markets that make up this global sector are diverse in character and research for Ti's latest report, Global CPG Logistics 2015, has identified the key differences between them.

Sometimes city governments issue zoning requirements prohibiting the construction of giant retail stores. The latest: Swansboro, North Carolina, where town residents are hotly debating an ordinance that, in effect, would ban construction of a Walmart.

Last year Target opened 124 stores across Canada, with disastrous consequences that are only just starting to be felt financially. Items were coming into the distribution centres sporadically and then piling up in storage, partly due to the barcodes not corresponding with the warehouse management system.

In the next two years Amazon, the world's largest retailer, will use its own logistics network to deliver nearly every product sold on its Indian portal.

Efforts to increase supply chain transparency should include closer collaboration and partnerships with suppliers.