Sixty percent of supply chain managers say their organization is too focused on internal, tactical concerns to be able to collaborate effectively with external partners, at a time when globalization is forcing companies to view and use their supply chain more effectively.

Manufacturers frequently ask themselves, "What if...?". What if a typhoon hits a major supplier in Asia and disrupts shipments? What if port workers go on strike in Long Beach? What if customers have expectations of order fulfillment within two days and you're losing sales to competitors? What if my inventory levels aren't sufficient to meet future demand for a product? What if I'm carrying excessive amounts of inventory that may turn to waste?

LLamasoft, a vendor of supply-chain design software, has acquired Barloworld's Supply Chain Software Division.

LLamasoft has partnered with Chainalytics to offer an application for providing freight market information to supply-chain designers, modelers and analysts.