Trends and Innovation

In today's business landscape, supply chain sustainability isn't just a goal—it's a necessity. This University of Tennessee Global Supply Chain Institute white paper examines how top supply chain executives navigate sustainability challenges through enhanced supply chain transparency. From efficient product design to ethical labor practices, this paper explores strategies leading companies use to build resilient, sustainable supply chain systems. Learn how utilizing these supply chain best practices delivers long-term value and supply chain integrity.

The role of third party logistics (3PL) providers has significantly evolved beyond traditional transportation and warehousing. Today's 3PLs encompass a broad range of supply chain services. While historically, third party logistics companies focused on physical distribution and logistics, now they are seen as strategic partners offering customized solutions across the entire supply chain. This white paper serves as a checklist for addressing selecting and managing a provider as well as 3PL-related supply chain best practices.

Though certainly not a new hurdle, today’s supply chain leaders face increasing challenges in maintaining profitability. As supply chains become more complex, businesses can struggle to adapt efficiently. To navigate this complexity, some leading organizations turn to a supply chain strategy known as Platform Life Cycle Management (PLCM) to simplify and standardize supply chain operations. The Global Supply Chain Institute (GSCI) conducted research with 14 top-performing companies to explore PLCM supply chain best practices. This white paper, part of a Supply Chain Innovation series, offers practical insights and examples from companies successfully implementing PLCM strategies. 

Global supply chain organizations are facing an unprecedented talent crisis. Rising complexities increase the demand for skilled professionals while talent supply remains low. With labor shortages across roles—from drivers to executives—organizations are pressured to rethink their talent management strategies. The most successful supply chain professionals view their talent as their most critical asset. Organizations can turn supply chain talent management into a competitive advantage for long-term success by adopting supply chain best practices and addressing key talent challenges.

Explore eleven essential themes for effective Distribution Center (DC) Management, including metrics and planning, warehouse optimizations, sustainability considerations, and people management. The future of DC management will require leaders with strong innovation, technical expertise, and employee engagement skills to meet the growing demands of logistics and supply chain operations. By combining industry expertise with data-driven insights, this white paper provides practical recommendations and supply chain best practices for managing cost-efficient, responsive, and secure DCs.

In today's complex global environment, effective supply chain management is more critical than ever. This white paper provides actionable insights for supply chain leaders, focusing on Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) over short-term cost-cutting and introducing the EPIC framework for global location assessment. Key takeaways include the importance of considering hidden costs, optimal supply chain network design insights, leveraging regional supply-demand hubs, and adopting best practices to enhance supply chain resilience and responsiveness. Whether you're navigating offshoring, nearshoring, or reshoring, this paper is a must-read for staying competitive in a dynamic global market.

For decades, supply chain leaders have focused on performance issues emerging from a lack of business alignment with supply chain operations. With significant business integration improvements and systemic processes like Integrated Business Planning (IBP) and Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP), our research has uncovered a new opportunity for supply chain optimization within the traditional supply chain functions. Firms that do not align purchasing and logistics are missing an opportunity to create value. Our team worked with hundreds of companies to identify supply chain best practices your business can implement, as well as to illustrate how high performers are “bending the chain” to better align these two key functions.

Drawing on two decades of research and industry insights, this white paper highlights transformative trends redefining the field of supply chain management, including shifts toward agile strategies, customer-centric approaches, and enhanced information sharing.