It's no surprise that supply chain efficiencies remain a challenge to companies. So what's the trouble? A survey presented at the Accenture/Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum has identified a few obstacles.

Forty-three percent of executives responding cited a "lack of core supply chain management knowledge and skills" at their own organizations as the greatest challenge. That number went to 54% when talking of their suppliers and customers. And to top it all off, 53% cited the "cost and complexity of integrating systems across companies" as a key impediment to more efficient supply chains.