The United Nations Global Compact recently released its Global Corporate Sustainability Report 2013. The report provides a snapshot of the actions taken by business to embed responsible practices into their strategies, operations and culture.

Findings show that companies are moving from good intentions to significant actions. Companies indicate that they see the big picture of how addressing sustainability issues – from human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption, to broader societal goals such as education, poverty and health – is good both for business and the societies in which they have a presence. However, while progress is being made, there is a long journey ahead for companies to fully embed responsible practices across their organizations and supply chain.

A fire at a giant Chinese factory making almost one sixth of the world's supply of a key high-tech component shows how vulnerable global manufacturing chains can be to an unexpected event, analysts say.

The vast SK Hynix facility in Wuxi city produces dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, used to store data in personal computers and mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

Confident or complacent, German business executives are bullish about their chances of profiting from China's transition to an economy fired by consumption rather than investment.

As China deliberately dampens its long boom in capital spending, Germany will no longer be able to count on windfall gains from exports of the high-quality machinery for which it is renowned.

What's more, Chinese manufacturers are likely to pose a growing competitive threat to Germany in some sectors as they abandon low-value-added production and march up market.

The U.S. business environment ranks as the 11th in the world for dynamic growing businesses, according to the Grant Thornton Global Dynamism Index. 

The United States, down one spot from 10th in last year’s index, sits ahead of Japan, Germany and France.

Whether it’s upgrading, renovating and replacing existing buildings, or building new from the ground up, the refrigerated and frozen food industry continues to experience an increase in demand for automation, sustainability and sanitation.

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods interviewed several architectural, engineering, construction and design-build firms to learn more about the trends behind cold storage construction and what factors play into deciding whether to renovate an existing facility or just build anew. Here’s the latest from inside the construction zone:

Healthcare executives around the world are investing in their supply chains as they prepare for continued global growth in an increasingly complex and dynamic environment, according to data from the fifth annual UPS "Pain in the Supply Chain" healthcare survey.

The top two planned investments for healthcare companies globally - as cited by 83 percent of decision-makers - are tapping into new global markets and investing in new technologies. Survey respondents plan to employ both strategies over the next three to five years to increase their competitiveness, maintain product integrity and gain efficiencies. The top four countries where companies will focus expansion efforts over the next three to five years are China, the United States, Brazil and India.

Supply chain volatility, stemming from demand and yield uncertainty and generating shifting lead times and product obsolescence, is something the electronics manufacturing industry must deal with on a daily basis. Because of its fast pace, the electronics sector could benefit from the application of predictive analytics to identify supply chain risks and increase agility.

A number of companies are introducing products claiming to apply predictive analytics to supply and demand risk problems and to logistics management. These tools can provide early warnings of shortages and overstocks, and, optimally, assign manufacturing tasks and shipments routing in order to reduce stock levels, increase revenue, and decrease manufacturing costs. 

The world is still trying to figure out how to classify, identify, and ultimately work with the Millennial Generation. With 80 million Millennials vs. 79 million Boomers in the U.S., the corporate world needs to figure it out. The world of supply chain is no different.

The issue is raised very often in today’s media about the dwindling numbers of younger professionals coming into the supply chain space. Mostly, this conversation is regulated to a discussion on trucking alone, yet the supply chain touches all facets of logistics — from load planners to transportation managers to supply chain analysts.

They may not like higher energy prices and stricter emission standards. They may feel government policies place too much value on perceived environmental gains and too little on economic growth. 

Nonetheless, the forecasts and business strategies of carriers and manufacturers of transport-oriented capital goods indicate: the industry is braced for an era of higher energy prices.

Will 2013 be the year the economy finally gets over the blues and gets in gear? At the moment, I’m watching business experts debate that point in my hotel room at CNBC. Many of the commentators believe the economy continues to just stumble along. 

Marci Rossell, a self-described optimist and the former chief economist for CNBC, had a different view. "I believe 2013 will be the year the US consumer starts to feel the effects of a recovery that started four years ago," Rossell said this morning in Park City, Utah, at the Material Handling & Logistics Conference sponsored by Dematic.

Global trade management has begun to outgrow most companies’ largely manual processes, according to research conducted in April 2013 by SCM World, a global community of senior supply chain professionals from 150 companies. 

According to the researchers, where globalization once meant low-cost country sourcing, today goods must move in all directions at once – east to west, north to south, rich country to poor country and back again.

In recent years, companies have been expanding lean concepts deeper and deeper into the supply chain to protect margins and achieve more streamlined operations. Some companies and industries are further along than others, but this process has forced executives to objectively evaluate how they are delivering value to their customers. 

Customer value encompasses all of the processes and people involved throughout the supply chain, from concept to product delivery. One of the most important areas in which a lean approach can make a considerable difference is the manufacturing process.

Your produce and frozen foods could soon arrive at grocery stores in trucks that release fewer emissions. Researchers are developing a clean technology to keep your food cool while it travels.

Engineers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are working to replace refrigerated trucks' diesel-burning cooling system with fuel cells. These fuel cells mix hydrogen and air to create energy; the byproduct is water. Researcher Kriston Brooks says that means fewer greenhouse gas and particulate emissions than from diesel engines. 

Dwight Klappich, vice president of research with Gartner, reports on the firm's latest findings about the intersection of supply-chain management processes and technologies.

Gartner’s sixth annual study focused on the intersection of supply-chain management processes and technologies. Among the most notable trends, says Klappich, is the continuing adoption of cloud technology, or software as a service. Companies are being driven to the model by economics, the importance of time to value, and the need to free up limited I.T. resources.