PRTM, well-known Management consulting firm, has recently published the results of a new research on the supply chain trends during 2008-2010 period.

You can read the whole report here, but in the case you are interested to know some the main trends, here comes a summary:

- China and India continue to emerge as major targets for globalization, while Eastern Europe is catching up as a top offshoring destination. Investments in North America and Western Europe also remain strong as companies look to secure access to local markets and key resources.

- Despite average cost reductions of 17% per globalization initiative, many companies have difficulty realizing savings in management costs. The gap between planned and actual benefits is caused by internal barriers that prevent full support of globalization efforts, and external network partners that fail to achieve expected performance.

- Product quality and safety, as well as supply chain delivery and security, are the most critical concerns when expanding the supply chain globally. Four major risk mitigation strategies including the deployment of company resources at supplier locations - are employed.