As a supply chain professional, you’re probably scratching your head about the whole Big Data thing, that is unless you’re an early adopter and have already reaped its benefits or suffered through start-up issues. I bet you’re questioning how and when you should stick your toe into the water.

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Gartner’s ‘Hype Cycle’ is a pretty handy little tool. It’s not exactly Moore’s Law, but as far as providing insight into where hot technologies are in the public conversation, it does a great job. If you know where your technology sits on the cycle’s pathway, you can pretty much predict where it’s going, at least from a hype standpoint.

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Whether you consider the ‘last mile’ challenge a customer service, supply chain, or logistics issue, it’s a topic that could be the next frontier for competitive advantage in the retail space. But what exactly are we talking about? Is it same day delivery, the use of ‘valets’ to provide immediate delivery at a premium, or the attempt to get a product in the customer’s hands when he wants it at the least cost? When I read through recent articles on the topic, it seems like they’re all considered ‘last mile’ issues. Heck, delivery-to-store and to storage lockers can even be thought of in the same vein.

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