Carlos Ghosn, CEO, Renault and Nissan

Talk about a one-man testimonial for world trade and the global supply chain! Carlos Ghosn, 52, runs not just one global automobile company, but two-Renault and Nissan. As if commuting some 150,000 miles a year (he spends the first week of every month in Paris, focusing solely on Renault; the third week in Japan focused on Nissan) weren't enough, of late there has been serious talk about selling a big chunk of General Motors into the alliance to let turn-around genius Ghosn take charge of the troubled U.S. giant.

Who is this wonder star, the likes of which has rarely been seen? Born in Brazil of Lebanese parents, educated at one of France's elite schools (Ecole Polytechnique), he came to fame at Michelin (running its South America operations out of Brazil), then to Renault. In 1999, when the French automaker acquired 37 percent of Nissan by making a life-saving capital infusion of $5 billion, Ghosn was the man they sent in to make things work.

Which was no slam-dunk. Ford had first turned down the deal, prompting vice chairman Bob Lutz (now vice chairman of GM), to remark that sinking $5 billion in Nissan was like dumping gold bullion into the bottom of the sea.

Wrong! Since Ghosn arrived, Nissan has gained nearly 2.5 percent market share in the critical U.S. market, its profit margin is the highest in the industry (9.2 percent before taxes and interest), and its stock has tripled. Last year, sales grew by 10 percent (to $83 billion) and the company netted $7.7 billion.

In 2005, he became President of Renault, with ambitious plans to similarly improve performance there (one goal: bring the line back into the United States).

One of the keys to Ghosn's success, observers agree, is his savvy and skill in assembling global enterprises. Which, as the first non-Japanese to run a major Japanese company, was no small feat (his example prompted Sony to do likewise a few years later). For starters, he made English the official company language at Nissan (forging a linguistic 'neutral ground'). Then he turned the organizational structure inside-out, aggressively implementing cross-functional/cross-national teams and decision making.

Supply chain strategy plays a critical role in Ghosn's approach. At Nissan he slashed through the ensconced, clubby supplier networks-cutting by half the 1,100 vendors. And, in the process, closed five plants in Japan. To build value into the supply chain, production bases were expanded into such countries as China, Thailand, Egypt and Turkey. Why did Ghosn diversify production worldwide? “We plan to take a more efficient global sourcing approach to maximize the opportunities and to minimize our overall costs as we grow,” he explains.

North America received particular attention, where the logistics supply chain to dealers was operating at only 95 percent efficiency (vs. the industry average of 98 percent-plus). Which meant that service stocking bins were empty 5 percent of the time, forcing delays in repairs and resulting in customer dissatisfaction. Over a period of several years, Nissan set up a Control Tower supply chain process, bottlenecks and problems were identified, and the number of North American suppliers reduced to a fraction of its previous number. Dealer fill rates ceased to be an issue and return on investment in this project is expected to run upwards of 65 percent.

Cummins, Inc.

U.S. companies heading for Asia have learned-Cummins, the Indiana-based manufacturer of diesel engines-got there first. Cummins opened its first operation in India in 1962; in 1975, its long-time chief, J. Irwin Miller, was among the first western businessmen to visit China. Today, China and India combine for about $1.9 billion of Cummins' $8.4 billion in revenues. Cummins' approach is notable. Where many U.S. firms have sought dominant ownership of Asian operations, Cummins establishes 50/50 partnerships-for example, with China's DongFong Motor Company, now Cummins' second largest customer. And, Cummins seeks out local talent-recently, seven of its ten top executives in China were native Chinese. Cummins has relocated technical work, as well: with lower engineering costs, the Cummins Research & Technology India center investigates technical questions that can not be cost effectively addressed at home.

Representative Jim Kolbe

For years, the dominant view has been that the key to Third World development was direct foreign aid from the developed world. Now, a counterview argues the answer is “trade, not aid.” Congressman Jim Kolbe [R-Arizona] has been a leading advocate of this approach, which was embodied in the proposed Trade-Related Assistance for Developing Economies Act, which would provide tariff relief for fifteen of the world's poorest nations, including Bangladesh, Cambodia and Nepal. Although not running for re-election this year, Kolbe has been a voice for the transformative power of trade.

Brazil

Brazilian companies have been increasing their direct investments abroad to a substantial degree, with total foreign investments now nearly $14 billion (U.S.). Of special interest has been India call-in centers, where English-speakers are being trained to imitate the accents used in the regions of the United States from which calls originate.

According to Henrique Meirelles, president of the Brazilian central bank, an important aspect of this foreign investment is risk-hedging, which is currently a global phenomenon, with exchange rates becoming more efficient and damping imbalances in international trade and capital flows. In this sense, investments abroad serve as a hedge inasmuch as they act to cushion the effects of domestic crises. “This provides us greater security and stability. We are realizing what globalization allows us to do, not to try to go backwards in time, but to help eliminate the normal volatility of the economy.”

BNSF Railway

The global supply chain moves goods, but it is also moved by expertise-for example, in China, where Burlington Northern Santa Fe is working to provide technical and other assistance to the Chinese national rail system. Such assistance is greatly needed. While China continues to pour forth a torrent of manufactured goods, that torrent can be more than the nation's rail system can handle. China has only one-third the rail mileage of the United States; to address that, the country will by 2020 expend the stupendous sum of $242 billion. BNSF is heavily engaged in providing the know-how, through a broad-based exchange program that includes best practices on railway management, operations, logistics and technologies. The exchange is providing BNSF with a track of its own-the inside track on the world's most vibrant economy.

Utah

Even states which typically haven't focused on trade are getting with the program. Like Utah. Governor John Huntsman, Jr. has taken the lead, identifying the state's top target markets (Canada, China, India and Mexico) and even hosting Mexican President Fox to a two-day visit to discuss trade. There is even talk of establishing a World Trade Center in Salt Lake City. Meanwhile, local companies like Provo-based Champion Safe have shown the way, opening a 100-worker plant in Mexico. “Five years ago, Provo was the 'safe' capital of the world,” says Champion's Ray Crosby. “Now, it's Shanghai because of the lower wage and steel costs there. We can't compete with China in Provo, but at Nogales, we can.”

Stephanie Harkness, Chairperson and CEO, Pacific Plastics & Engineering

Trade isn't just for giants nor does it have to eliminate U.S. jobs. California-based Pacific Plastics & Engineering, manufactures precision plastic injection molding for medical devices, biotech, telecommunications and electronics. Since beginning to export in 2004 and establishing a joint venture in India, the company has doubled its U.S. workforce to nearly 100 to accommodate overseas markets (even as foreign employees were added overseas).

“A misconception,” says Stephanie Harkness, “is that America's small- and mid-sized manufacturers can't sell in world markets.” She and her colleagues are disproving that, along with some 60,000 other small- and mid-sized U.S exporting manufacturers.

Gary Petty

President and CEO, National Private Truck Council

The biggest global supply chain challenge, warns Gary Petty, is the “footrace” between the tremendous surges in cargo volume and the looming limitations of highway infrastructure to service that volume. By 2020, he warns, we'll have hit crisis levels (when volumes are expected to triple) if problems like inhibitory regulations, access restrictions, driver shortage and highway congestion don't get resolved now.

The National Private Truck Council, Alexandria, Virginia, is developing national standards, benchmarking, optimization programs and best practices to raise the performance bar across the private fleet transportation sector, the economy's largest trucking sector. As a first step, the Council is working to convince the government of the critical need for a standardized national system allowing heavier, larger vehicles using HOV lanes.

Frederiek Toney

Executive Director, Material Planning & Logistics, Ford Motor Company

As top logistics executive at Dearborn-based Ford, the world's second largest automaker, Frederiek Toney manages more than $20 billion in annual operating expenses. Toney made his name at Ford improving a complex parts and service supply chain. One program, the Daily Parts Advantage network, for example, speeds delivery to dealers by segmenting inventory: most-needed parts are distributed across the country while rarer components remain in a single, central warehouse. The result: dealers order and receive parts daily rather than weekly, cutting order-to-delivery time from as much to five days to a little as ten hours. Total costs dropped ten percent.

David S. Ortiz, PhD

Rand Corporation

To Dr. David S. Ortiz-engineer and policy analyst at Rand Corporation-freight transportation is really all about integrated systems that cross modes throughout the global supply chain. Optimizing the performance of such disparate components is 'Mission Critical.' To do so, Ortiz (and colleagues) are applying systems theory and networks that push the envelope, building on logistics innovations first undertaken for the military.

The next 'big' thing: integrating trade and transportation into international trade policy that identifies common issues, risks and opportunities. To date, current analyses cannot support that depth of decision-making but over the next five years Rand expects to.

Susan Collins

United States Senator

Maine Republican Susan Collins makes World Trade's Fabulous 50 + 1 list for her hard work on the GreenLane Maritime Cargo Security Act, which aims to increase port and cargo security, thereby minimizing the chance of costly closures. How to focus resources on suspect cargo? Establish a “GreenLane,” which speeds inspections for experienced shippers submitting origin and delivery data before loading cargo and implementing above-mandate container security and supply chain visibility procedures. “Our nation's economy relies on an open and efficient trading system built around cargo container,” Collins summarizes. “This container trading system helps the American people lower the costs of trade and create jobs.”

The National Retail Federation and Global Insight, co-developers, “Port Tracker”

The National Retail Federation represents more than 1.4 million U.S. retail establishments employing about one in five American workers. Global Insight, meanwhile, forecasts the economic, financial, and political future of over 200 countries and 170 industries for some 3,800 worldwide individual and institutional, corporate and governmental clients. Together they publish “Port Tracker,” a monthly logistics executive must-read on global shipping trends. With key data on each port's container import volume, vessel traffic, inland trucking capabilities, gate operations, rail system performance, and labor availability, the report includes monthly benchmarks and a predictive “Congestometer,” projecting intermodal traffic bottlenecks at nine major ports.

John T. Joseph

Senior Manager, International Transportation, Limited Brands

The latest Fortune survey ranks Limited Brands-Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works, Express, and Limited Stores, among others-the world's most-admired specialty retailer. Key cause for the applause is the hard work of John T. Joseph on public policy issues affecting the entire retail supply chain. “The Limited Company has a very fast supply chain, so we're very sensitive to the problems of the industry,” Joseph told a recent conference of state and federal transportation officials. Among his advice: expand the use of alternative ports, focus officials on the entire end-to-end, rather than state-to-state flow of cargo, and educate the public on the importance of freight.

Ron Brunton

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Spirit Aerosystems

Ron Brunton needn't bite his nails. Almost every time an airline announces whether its next plane will be Boeing or Airbus, world-class supply chain operations at Wichita, Kansas-based Spirit Aerosystems wins. Spirit, the world's largest independent supplier of structures for commercial aircraft, designs and produces wings for the Airbus A320, A330 A340, A380, and the fuselage, outer engine casing and pylons for the Boeing 737, the nose sections and wings for the Boeing 747, and the floor beams for the Boeing 777. In all, more than eighty percent of its European unit's revenue is earned on Airbus airplanes while the American unit designs and builds part of every Boeing commercial aircraft currently in production.

Greg Sargis, President

US Carload Consolidators

Constrained capacity and rising transportation costs are the twin bugaboos plaguing schedules and budgets. US Carload Consolidators is a leader in working out solutions. The Boise, Idaho transportation broker focusing on rail and intermodal, specializing in the critical cold supply chain.

Sargis' approach is to identify the right transportation mode for each product, factoring in its unique characteristics including order lead times, packaging configurations, loading and off-loading requirements and safety-stock levels. Recently, the company developed a national LTL refrigerated and frozen foods consolidation program with a major TL carrier, allowing retailers to receive more frequent deliveries.

Angel Mendez

Senior Vice President, World Wide Manufacturing, Cisco Systems

“Cisco products range from a Linksys box that you might buy for $29 at Circuit City all the way to million-dollar routers that are extremely complex,” Angel Mendez told World Trade earlier this year. “The lion's share of what we sell is a configure-to-order product. One of the challenges of our supply chain is the variety that we need to tackle every day.” Mendez meets that challenge by telling his team to design modularly for configurability and convert manufacturing plants worldwide to the low-inventory, rapid-response 'pull' model of lean manufacturing. Responsiveness to customers is top priority. “We're driving to be far more flexible and adaptable to volatility,” Mendez summarizes. “We care less what we and our suppliers are carrying and more on being customizable for our customers.”

Yossi Sheffi

Director, MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics

“Making stuff-that's easy,” says Yossi Sheffi, MIT Professor and author of The Resilient Enterprise: Overcoming Vulnerability for Competitive Advantage. “Supply chain, now that is really hard.” Through his research on systems optimization and risk analysis, the Center for Transportation and Logistics director aims to make such management a little easier. Business disruption may derive from a natural disaster, labor strike, terrorist attack, or other forces altogether, Sheffi teaches, but companies not only can anticipate and plan for unknowns-they must. Can't book the busy speaker himself? Try one of his students: in 1998, Sheffi started MIT's masters program in Engineering in Logistics.

Steve Miller

Vice President, Strategic Sourcing and Procurement, Parks & Resorts, The Walt Disney Company

When his resort ride sings, “It's a Small World,” Steve Miller must agree. As the executive behind Disney Parks' global strategic sourcing and supply chain continuity, Miller makes sure each aspect of Disney's business is efficiently conducted and connected. “If a consumer is calling Disney because they want to buy a Pooh plush toy or for a reservation at Walt Disney World, they don't care if it's a common call center leveraging common processes and systems; they only care that the customer service is great and the agent on the other end of the telephone has all the information about the Pooh plush toy or vacation packages,” colleague Bill Patrizio told InformationWeek. “It's a delicate balance to give our guests a positive experience [while] leveraging supply-chain assets, processes, and systems to drive enhanced experiences, costs out, and efficiencies up.”

Jeff Flagel

Director of Supply Chain Management, Boeing Connexion

Connexion by Boeing provides high-speed Internet service to airline passengers while in flight-but it can't work alone. Key to the system is an antenna maintaining connectivity by bouncing signals between planes to satellites. To develop that antenna, Jeff Flagel turned to Mitsubishi, which invested its own money, cuts costs and development time, and helped Boeing Connexion reach market well ahead of the competition. To date, customers include Lufthansa, SAS, Japan Airlines, ANA, Singapore Airlines, China Airlines, Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, El Al Israel Airlines, Etihad Airways, Austrian Airlines and Air China. Next up: a similar service for maritime vessels. “Nobody has ever had a broadband satellite communications system like it,” Flagel says. “It's cutting edge.”

Toyota

Every manufacturer wants to cut costs. Few but Toyota work with suppliers to that end before the design process even begins. “Let's take nuts and bolts, for example,” says Mitsuo Kinoshita, Toyota senior managing director and chief purchasing officer. “What if we were to develop components that don't require screws? That's the kind of thinking we're after.” The company calls the strategy Value Innovation, and believes it can cut per vehicle costs as much as $350 a year. “We've pretty much reached the limits of what we could do under the previous strategy,” Kinoshita says. “Under the next method, we're taking a brand new approach and asking our engineers (and suppliers) to go back to the basics of vehicle development.”

Jeff Lamoreaux

Vice President, Management Information Systems, Reebok/adidas

Jeff Lamoreux impresses for implementing his product lifecycle management system in a $9 billion dollar corporation that doubles, in effect, as one of the world's major fashion houses. As sporting goods trends change, Lamoreux's system cuts critical time to market by compressing the product development cycle, tracking and managing development projects and resources, and sharing information with material suppliers and manufacturing partners. In all, the system manages two dozen different footwear and apparel “seasons” with daily updates and customized reports, line plan views, and workflow assessments sent to over fifty key employees. On the horizon for the world's number two sporting goods source: sponsorship to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Dan Adelman

Professor, Operations Management, University of Chicago

Dan Adelman's publication titles-“Price-Directed Control of a Closed Logistics Queueing Network,” “Duality and Existence of Optimal Policies in Generalized Joint Replenishment”-sound entirely academic. In truth, his research on the logistics of production, inventory, and distribution has already changed the way industries as disparate as telecommunications and industrial gas distribution, basic manufacturing and intermodal transport operate. Consider that “Price-Directed Control” paper. In it, Adelman says, “an internal pricing mechanism for managing a fleet of service units (shipping containers)… (creates) policy that is computationally efficient and produces superior economic performance as compared with other policies.”

Hau Lee

Many consider Hau Lee to be the world's thought leader on supply chain management. A professor at Stanford Business School and the co-director of its Global Supply Chain Management Forum, Hau is also a prolific writer, sought-after speaker, and frequent commentator on the role that information and technology play in the “value chain”-that is, the ways in which supply chains not only move goods to market, but increase their value along the way. Relying on complex computer-modeling programs, Hau is transforming how we envision the movement of goods-not along a chain, but through networks of manufacturers, distributors, retailers and customers. The key, he says, is for all firms in the supply network to share decision and demand information-the better everyone understands what their partners need and what they are doing about it, the better off everyone is.

W. Ralph Basham

Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection

“The Customs and Border Protection's job-protecting America's borders from intruders, aliens, agricultural diseases, drug traffickers-and now terrorists-has always been important, but never more important-or more difficult-than it is today,” says new commissioner W. Ralph Basham. “We need to do this while still facilitating legitimate trade.” Basham, well known in both industry and law enforcement circles, is a veteran of such balancing acts. At the time of the September 11 attacks, he directed the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, afterward serving as chief for the new Transportation Security Administration before being sworn to head the Secret Service. The new job, he knows, is his biggest yet. “Failure is not an option,” Basham promises. “The stakes are too high.”

Catherine A. Novelli

Former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative, Europe and the Mediterranean

When three years ago last May, President George W. Bush proposed the establishment of a Middle East Free Trade Area, Catherine A. Novelli served as lead strategist, negotiating directly with representatives of Jordan, Morocco, Bahrain, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. Early successes led the President to broaden her mandate to the coordination of U.S. trade and investment policy for the more than 65 countries of western and central Europe, Russia, the newly independent post-Soviet states, and Northern Africa. “Across the globe,” said Bush, “free markets and trade have helped defeat poverty, and taught men and women the habits of liberty.” The Association of Women in International Trade agreed, naming Novelli, now a Washington lawyer in private practice, their 2005 “Outstanding Woman of the Year.”

Bharti Airtel Limited

When BusinessWeek and the Boston Consulting Group ranked the world's most innovative companies this April, Bharti Airtel Limited may have been the best most Americans have never heard of. As the ranking describes, India's leading telecommunications company “outsources everything but marketing and customer management, charges two cents a minute for calls, and is adding a million customers a month.” Ericsson, for example, maintains and expands Bharti's entire telecom network, while its information technology is the domain of IBM. Both outside firms receive incentives to keep Bharti growing-in IBM's case, payment based on profits rather than time and materials. Together, says IBM head Sam Palmisano, Bharti and its partners are “on a rocket to the moon.”

Thomas P.M. Barnett

Senior Managing Director, Enterra Solutions

More than weapons, the U.S. military needs new “maps,” argues strategic planner Thomas P.M. Barnett. Wielding maximum influence in the era of globalization means refocusing resources each time power and influence in the world economy shifts. Barnett, until 2004 the Senior Strategic Researcher and Professor in the Warfare Analysis & Research Department, Center for Naval Warfare Studies, U.S. Naval War College, has authored The Pentagon's New Map: War and Peace in the Twenty-First Century to make his once-top-secret conclusions public. The result, says the Washington Post, combines “Tom Friedman on globalization and Karl von Clausewitz on war.”

Agricultural Bank of China

As the second largest of China's big four commercial banks, the Agricultural Bank of China could maintain its multi-billion dollar valuation and Fortune World Top 500 ranking on peasant micro-loans alone. Instead, Agricultural is going global, opening branches and offices in Singapore, Tokyo, London, and New York to supplement over 31,000 outlets at home. Experts expect annual deposits to continue fifteen percent annual growth, boosted by 200 million bank cards already occupying Chinese wallets. “On the boundless land of China,” a spokesperson rhapsodizes, “we can feel the existence of Agricultural Bank everywhere.”

Starbucks

Not so long ago, every Starbucks received roasted beans shipped from company headquarters in Seattle. Though today the world's top specialty coffee retailer operates approximately 11,000 shops in over 30 countries, concerns for consistency and quality still underlie every logistics effort. “As a fully vertical integrated company, they are one of few retailers that manufacture and distribute their own products,” explain the University of Southern Alabama's Arthur A. Thompson and John E. Gamble in a case study. “Starbucks believes the whole concept of supply chain management can be found in the term 'value added.'” Once opened at any store, for example, coffee must be used within the week-or discarded or donated.

Dr. Harry Lee

Managing Director, TAL Group

Top apparel producer TAL fulfills $600 million in customer orders from Jos. A. Bank, Ralph Lauren, Talbots, Nordstrom, DKNY, Eddie Bauer, and others from factories in Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Mexico, Macao and the United States. Managing Director Harry Lee keeps TAL on top by tightening relations with core customers, helping each partner meet demands and manage inventory. An on-demand trade platform, for example, automates transactions with supplier's factories, reducing costs and increasing operational efficiency and visibility. Another innovation: unlike most of its competitors, TAL ships customer orders directly to stores, cutting the costs typically associated with warehouse middlemen.

Brenda C. Barnes

CEO, Sara Lee Corporation

Brenda C. Barnes, at the helm of Sara Lee for 18 months, is well into her plan aimed at streamlining global operations and improving supply chain efficiencies within three years. Part of the plan calls for moving more production offshore, but unlike some companies who chase cheap labor around the globe only to discover higher logistics costs offset gains in the overall landed costs, Sara Lee has been able to remain focused on the big picture. The company was one of a select group chosen by U.S. Customs to participate in the Operation Safe Commerce project from 2002-2005, which monitored security within each company's supply chain from the overseas factory through the ports of Seattle/Tacoma, Los Angeles/Long Beach, and New York/New Jersey.

Karl Braitberg

Vice President of Global Operations, Palm

Palm continues to rebound on the strength of its new Treo line, thanks in part to renewed supply chain operations that helped bring the company back from the brink a few years ago. Karl Braitberg, who joined Palm five years ago as one of the key executives charged with managing the turn-around, heads all aspects of the supply chain including demand and supply planning, factory execution, customer fulfillment and reverse logistics. That translates into more than 5 million PDAs and smart phones across five regions of the world. Prior to Palm he held key supply chain management jobs in the high tech sector.

Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods gets the nod for operating a superior perishable supply chain. Given that two-thirds of the company's sales are comprised of perishable products, it's imperative that products move 'fast and fresh' from the farms to the 175 stores Whole Foods operates in 30 states, Washington, D.C., Canada and the U.K. The world's number one natural foods chain also boasts a successful marketing strategy that is based on products that are free of pesticides, preservatives, sweeteners, and cruelty. This summer, Whole Foods announced it would stop selling live lobsters immediately because of the inhumane treatment the crustaceans endured [in many instances the animals were held in storage facilities for several months at a time].

The Export-Import Bank of the United States

Everybody talks about the importance of bringing the world's poorest continent, Africa, into the world trade community. ExIm is taking steps to help make it happen by launching a 'win-win' program in Nigeria, Africa's prime market, intended to strengthen that country's banks. Political will was required the past few years by Nigerian reformers to clean up the banking sector but, in light of considerable progress, ExIm recently approved $300 million to be allocated among 14 Nigerian banks to support financing to local entrepreneurs to buy U.S. goods.

Panama Canal Authority

The biggest container ships may eventually be able to pass through the Panama Canal, now that the Panama Canal Authority has embarked on an ambitious plan to add a third set of locks, which would accommodate the new generation of 10,000-TEU post-panamax vessels. These big ships only make up about 10 percent of the global fleet today, but by 2011 that number could swell to 50 percent. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports are planning to build more terminals for the big ships, which makes the expansion of the Panama Canal a priority.

Switzerland's Gotthard Base Tunnel

The Alps might be a roadblock for European traffic; but for faster and flatter north-south transit, Switzerland is building a 35-mile long Gotthard base tunnel through its heart, for completion in 2015. With 95 miles of tunnels, shafts and passages, it will hail as the world's longest railway tunnel cutting through the Gotthard Massif below the existing railway tunnel. Currently, only limited freight trains can haul up to 2,000 tons through the narrow mountain valleys and spiral tunnels of the old tunnel. But once the new tunnel is completed, standard freight trains carrying up to 4,000 tons will be able to pass as if the Alps did not exist.

Motorola

Another great global enterprise goes supply chain centric. Motorola announced that it will invest $60 million over the next two years to establish a Global Supply Chain Control Tower, consolidating supply chain management of all its business groups in one operation based in Singapore. This will entail responsibilities across the entire value chain, from R&D and software development to volume manufacturing, and supply chain management. “Our vision of Seamless Mobility is also about being seamless on the inside-where we leverage and build upon existing strengths to provide seamless support to our customers,” says Chairman/CEO Ed Zander. That this Schaumburg, Illinois company chose Singapore to headquarter its $10 billion worth of annual buys underscores how globalized supply chains are becoming.

The Hydraulic Hybrid Diesel Truck

A prototype of the first hydraulic hybrid diesel truck will undergo road tests this August. The truck-developed by Navistar International Corp., hydraulic equipment maker Eaton Corp., the U.S. Army, and the Environmental Protection Agency-is up to 70 percent more fuel efficient than regular trucks. UPS will be the first to conduct the road tests, which will take place in Detroit. The hydraulic hybrid diesel truck will store energy in hydraulic pumps and tanks, rather than in batteries like some hybrid passenger cars. The EPA says that fuel economy is improved by using brakes to recover energy from stropping, a more efficient diesel engine, and the ability to shut off the engine when the truck decelerates.

Sue Welch

CEO, TradeStone Software

Maybe the world is getting flatter but sourcing goods globally remains complex and time consuming. Retailers manufacturing and shipping goods in Asia find the process tough and demanding. Buyers spend more time dealing with international phone calls, faxes and detailed documentation than ever before-often with limited certainty that the information they get is accurate-a nightmare scenario in the era of Sarbanes-Oxley requirements. The mission of TradeStone Software, Sue Welch's third tech company, is to make it easy to buy goods anywhere in the world and ship them to stores all over America.

Sarbanes-Oxley

Enacted in response to corporate scandals, the Sarbanes-Oxley Law is having the unintended positive consequence of forcing public enterprises to re-appraise their supply chains. Section 404 mandates management to assess the internal controls associated with financial results, effectively forcing companies to verify supply chain design, integrity and reporting measures. By focusing on supply chain risks, managers have become more conscious of opportunities for improvement. In more than a few instances, this is driving initiatives to replace outmoded silo approaches to logistics with horizontal supply chain processes running across the breadth of the enterprise.

John Engler

President, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)

President of the largest industry trade group in America, this former three-term Michigan governor is committed to educating the public and policymakers that manufacturing is critical to the future of the United States. Under his leadership, the NAM Campaign for Growth and Manufacturing Renewal advocates policies that seek to level the international playing field and reduce the cost of doing business at home. The Campaign emphasizes that manufacturers are driving innovation and productivity growth in the economy, providing the bulk of U.S. exports.

E-Seals

The technology that promises to deliver spot-on tracking and tracing as well as aid in preventing container tampering has finally started to get some 'legs.' An industry standard for the e-seal technology and the infrastructure is beginning to take shape. Earlier this year, an International Organization for Standardization working group comprised of ocean carriers, terminal operators, and technology companies, agreed to work out the operational standards for the e-seal, which should be finalized by the end of this year. In the meantime, the Department of Homeland Security is expected to roll out new regulations regarding containers seals. It's likely that e-seals may not be required initially (a steel bolt seal will most likely be required), but experts say the government is heading that direction. Indeed, the e-seal's potential is significantly enhanced when combined with the 'smart box,'-another technological advancement that would provide notification when a container has been tampered with.

Wallonia, Belgium

Wallonia is keen on becoming Europe's top logistics hub. Although the region offers only an inland seaport, already the region is Belgium's fastest growing logistics center. It reels in foreign investors with its fiscal incentives, transport infrastructure and readily available supply of land and labor. No longer is Wallonia known for decaying steel mills and coal mines. Wallonia offers low-priced tracks of undeveloped land in large and well-equipped industrial parks with highway access and many with multi-modal capabilities. A plus, Belgium has lowered its corporate tax from 40 to 33 percent. TNT, which bases operations from Liege-Bierset Airport, is expanding its own volume of activities in the Walloon region.

Ted Stevens

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman (R-Alaska)

Along with fellow colleagues, Senator Stevens wins kudos for introducing the Maritime, Rail, and Public Transportation Security Act of 2006, which combines the port, cargo, and rail security provisions of the Commerce Committee's Transportation Security Improvement Act and the Banking Committee's Public Transportation Terrorism Prevention Act. If made into law, the bill would make significant improvements to the framework now in place to secure the maritime, port, rail, and transit environments.

Dubai Logistics City (DLC)

ubai is at it again, constructing a mammoth urban aviation community at Jebel Ali in the UAE. When operational next year, the 1.7 million square meters DLC will offer its own specialized aviation area geared to meet the specific needs of aviation industry suppliers. As part of the giant World Central project being built at Jebel Ali, tenants will benefit from World Central's single-bonded, customs-controlled free zone that also includes the new JXB international airport and Jebel Ali Port and Free Zone regarded the world's first truly multi-modal transport platform. DLC is being designed to handle 12+ million tons of air cargo in up to 16 air cargo terminals.

Dr. C. John Langley, Jr.

Professor of Supply Chain Management, Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. C. John Langley, Jr is a former President of the Council of Logistics Management [now known as the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals], and was a recipient of CLM's Distinguished Service Award. He has also co-authored several books and his research has appeared in leading professional journals. In addition to academia, Dr. Langley serves on the boards of directors of Averitt Express, Inc., and Landair Transportation, Inc., and on corporate advisory boards for several firms in the e-commerce business.

ADTRAN

Supply chain management is a must have for Huntsville, Alabama-based ADTRAN. Since 2000, this global manufacturer of high-speed telecommunications systems has aggressively been revamping its corporate culture to integrate supply chain innovation to more effectively roll out multiple products for fast changing markets. In doing so, upper management recognized the need to add appropriate executive staff to get the job done-not just add an operations component. By adopting a tight, responsive supply chain as its competitive weapon, ADTRAN succeeds by creating well-engineered products, controlling costs, and satisfying its worldwide client base.

U.S. House of Representatives

In a leap of bipartisanship, World Trade applauds the U.S. House of Representatives for overwhelmingly approving in May a bill calling for the screening of most incoming cargo for nuclear hazards at U.S. ports by next year. This despite Bush Administration warnings of inadequate funds to put detectors at all 22 major ports by next year as the legislation requires. The 421-2 vote capped months of debate over how to make the nation's 140 seaports less vulnerable to terror threats without curbing commerce. The Homeland Security Department, which currently opens 6 percent of the 11 million cargo containers for inspection that enter U.S. seaports annually aims to screen 65 percent for radiological materials by October.

Kip Hawley

Director of Homeland Security for TSA

Sworn in on July 27, 2005, Kip Hawley brings extensive transportation experience in both the private and public sectors, and proven policy leadership to TSA. Following 9-11, Hawley was called to assist with the start-up of TSA, the single largest agency mobilization in recent history. Prior to TSA, security checkpoints were operated by private companies with under-trained staff who had little formal law enforcement or police training.

Thomas Pellington

Senior Director of Transportation Services at David J. Joseph Co.

Thomas Pellington with Cincinnati-based scrap metal brokerage firm David J. Joseph Co., has engineered a turnaround at the National Industrial Transportation League under Vision 2020. NITL's Vision 2020 provides the framework to collaborate in the development of economically sound and viable solutions to address the myriad of issues facing those involved in global and domestic supply chains.

Bernard J. La Londe

Emeritus Professor of Transportation and Logistics, The Ohio State University

Logistics guru Professor La Londe gets high marks for advancing logistics as both a field and a profession. La Londe is especially known for studying career patterns in logistics with OSU's annual survey prepared for the Council of Supply China Management Professionals. He has served as North American editor of the International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management and is the founding editor of the Journal of Business Logistics.