This year’s annual study examines the trends and issues facing transportation, logistics and supply chain professionals during these unprecedented times. This examination enables us to provide an assessment of the current state of practice and to identify opportunities for improvement. More importantly, the study makes it possible for us to examine the five fundamental capabilities – optimization, synchronization, profitability, adaptability and velocity - that firms must develop in order to build sustainable supply chain management practices.

The first report from the 2009 annual study provided an overview of the drivers, a second report explored how “optimization” of supply chain resources facilitates the success of the respective members, and the third report examined the role of synchronization in enabling the supply chain to function as a single entity. This report, the fourth in the series, provides a more in-depth look at the next key driver, “Profitability.”