On March 25, 1911, fire swept through the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in New York City. One hundred and forty-six garment workers perished in the blaze, many of them trapped in the building because management had locked the exit doors. The youngest of the victims were 14. It was a horrifying tragedy, not atypical of working conditions during the so-called Progressive Era. Can we not, however, take comfort in knowing that those times are far behind us?

Export regulations were - and are - anything but straight-forward. One reason is that they reflect political pressures and interests. And these pressures and interests change with the wind.

The 2012 MAP-21 bill provides highway and transit funding through FY 2014. Janet Kavinoky of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce provides insight into how this law will impact logistics and discusses other transportation issues before Congress.

Each disruption in global supply chains seems to bring a new surprise. On March 31 of this year, it was an explosion and fire at a chemical plant in Marl, Germany. The incident at the factory of Evonik Industries resulted in the deaths of two workers and caused damage that will take all summer to repair.

A year after adulterated heparin caused deaths in the United States and Europe, inspectors in California were still finding contaminated product in hospitals throughout the state, even though the manufacturer had sent out multiple recall notices, and the issue with the product was well known. As the pharmaceutical industry responds to regulatory mandates to address such weakness in the supply chain, it's important to ask, "Could this same thing happen in a 'serialized' world?"