Were You Ready for Holiday Season 2013?

That means more goods will be bought and shipped in a shorter time than ever before. And it means more intense pressure on retail supply chains than ever before, raising the stakes for having real-time command visibility. Let's take a look at how that plays out in the real world.

Inventories will turn over faster. Therefore, they'll need to be more aggressively and accurately managed. Shipping, trucking and delivery schedules will have to be tightened up considerably. Communications up and down the supply chain between customers, forwarders, procurement managers, manufacturers, marketing managers, warehouse managers, logistics managers, customer service managers and finance departments will have to be more precise and quicker than ever.