Shippers need to work more closely with carriers and even their closest competitors to optimize transportation lanes in order to drive down transportation costs. Software vendors need to pursue relationships with carriers more actively to reduce the number of holes within their visibility applications. Customers will need to demand that software vendors include more robust analytic functionality within their applications to allow better evaluation of the deficiencies in their supply chains. 2002 may ultimately represent the year in which the supply chain vendors officially recognize both operational and analytical components, something that has been a requirement by CRM vendors.”]