Gartner

What’s top of mind for most life sciences CEOs today? Sustaining business growth, especially with the tidal wave of blockbuster branded pharmaceutical products coming off-patent.

In essence, supply chain segmentation is the dynamic alignment of customer channel demands and supply response capabilities optimized for net profitability across each segment.”

During a visit to Finland, Gartner director Peter Sondergaard said that Microsoft will be looking to exploit Nokia’s recognized expertise in materials and supply chain management.

“By 2015, 4.4 million IT jobs globally will be created to support big data, generating 1.9 million IT jobs in the United States,” said Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president at Gartner and global head of Research.

Each year, our analysts talk to and research the supply chains of hundreds of companies. Through these discussions, we note the trends: What are the leaders focusing on, where are they investing time and effort and what can be applied broadly? Three key trends stand out this year.

The 2013 ranking of supply chain leaders from Gartner highlights the best of the best—large, global companies that are furthest along on the journey toward demand-driven supply chains. While the mix of companies is diverse, there are lessons to be learned from these supply chain leaders.

How relevant is this ranking given that most of these companies outsource their manufacturing to suppliers and contract manufacturers plagued with CSR issues in Asia?

Emerging markets have been identified as the primary business growth area for the next century, and Gartner said that organizations with strong demand planning capabilities and segmented supply strategies are better positioned to capitalize on market opportunities, as well as to mitigate risks.

The market for supply chain management software continued to grow in 2012, with strong growth predicted for the future, too.

An Interview by Dustin Mattison with Edith Simchi-Levi, VP of Operations at OPS Rules Management Consultants, who discussed The Role of Analytics in Supply Chain and Operations Strategy.

Despite all the talk about WCS, warehouse management systems are playing an expanded role in distribution.

Having something to base a wide amount of criteria in the 3PL sector can be challenging for shippers. The Gartner Group’s recent release of its Magic Quadrant for Global Third-Party Logistics Providers aims to help alleviate some of those challenges, which can help shippers to better understand 3PLs and their capabilities when evaluating and selecting a set of providers to meet their needs, according to Gartner.

An increasing number of logistics managers are using labor management systems to monitor productivity, identify bottlenecks, and optimize the workforce. Here’s how they’re getting it done.

Global poll of over 1,000 executives reveals that the e-commerce giant is more admired than its Californian rival on all major supply chain attributes except innovation.

2012 marks the eighth year of our annual Supply Chain Top 25 ranking. The list includes some perennial leaders, but also offers up four new companies from which to learn, including two industrials, and an interesting newcomer to the top five.