Analyst Insight: Too many retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers are in a race to the bottom, when it comes to what they charge for shipping. This is not sustainable over the long run. Those that create their own granular, real-time intelligence about where they hold inventory, understand total fulfillment costs, and have the ability to dynamically steer customers to the most profitable options, will be able to satisfy and attract customers, while creating profitable order deliveries. - Bill McBeath, Chief Research Officer, ChainLink Research

Analyst Insight: Over the next few years, numerous new regulations are coming into effect worldwide, requiring pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, dispensers and others up and down the chain to build serialization, verification, and traceability into their supply chains. While there is tremendous potential ROI and added value from these investments, right now all the focus is on the race to comply before the deadlines hit. Those who get there first will likely have a head start in finding additional value from these newfound capabilities. - Bill McBeath, Chief Research Officer, ChainLink Research

Analyst Insight: The growth of IoT (the Internet of Things) will impact supply chains dramatically in the long run. Increasingly instrumented and connected manufacturing plants, warehouses, vehicles, and the products themselves will provide very precise, real-time 'X-ray vision' into what is happening in the plant, on the road, and in the field. - Bill McBeath, Chief Research Officer, ChainLink Research

Analyst Insight: Not only is the supply chain market in the cloud growing, but a growing element in the portfolio is the supply chain network. Today, supply chain processes that call for collaboration such as transportation management, track and trace and procurement rely on the cloud to get the job done. But the supply chain network is a unique approach that facilitates complex multi-party supply chain processes and transactions. - Ann Grackin, CEO, ChainLink Research

Today, omnichannel is so much broader than just the technology platform the customer uses for purchases - web, store, mobile, catalogue and so on. At its heart it is really about fulfillment - the customer's choice of fulfillment.

Over-the-top headlines and estimates of the size of the IoT market create more confusion and skepticism about hype than a real understanding of how big the market really is. There needs to be a framework for understanding IoT market size.

The times they are a changin' for the players across pharmaceutical supply chains, from API suppliers to CMOs, to manufacturers, packagers, distributors, dispensers/pharmacies ... just about everyone across the chain.

Transportation management software providers have been in a race in the last few years to build out their software and capture more business. ERP players have also been building or buying TM. A profusion of new modules, emerging players, new niches and acquisitions are reaching a fevered pitch. And we are certainly not at the heights yet.