Supply chain performance is still being measured by outdated assumptions. Lora Cecere argues that optimizing individual functions for lower cost does not necessarily improve the business. In fact, it can throw the entire supply chain out of balance. Better performance starts with understanding what is actually feasible within an industry, focusing on the metrics that drive value, and recognizing that supply chains are complex systems that cannot be improved one function at a time. In this episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott Luton speaks with Lora Cecere, founder of Supply Chain Insights, and Wael Abdelmalek, CEO at Uthereal, about the research behind Supply Chains to Admire and how that work is being brought into Ask Lora, an AI-enabled benchmarking and advisory platform. They explore why traditional supply chain rankings and generic AI tools can reinforce conventional thinking, how verified research and industry-specific data can create better benchmarks, and why leaders need a more balanced view of growth, operating margin, inventory turns, and return on capital employed when evaluating performance. Lora and Wael also explain how Ask Lora combines 10 years of research and benchmarking data with a private large language model designed specifically for supply chain decision-making. Rather than serving…

Less Waste, Better Outcomes: Rethinking Transportation with BNSF Logistics Transportation may be essential to global supply chains, but that doesn’t mean more movement, more technology, or more complexity automatically creates better results. Sometimes the smartest transportation strategy starts by asking a much simpler question: What is the customer actually trying to accomplish? In this episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott Luton and Tevon Taylor welcome David Ivan, President and CEO of BNSF Logistics, for a conversation that challenges conventional thinking around transportation, customer experience, lean principles, technology, and the role of rail in today’s supply chain. With more than 25 years of experience on the manufacturing and customer side of logistics, David Ivan brings a unique perspective to leading a logistics organization. He shares why transportation providers need to move beyond selling modes and capabilities and instead focus on solving the customer’s underlying business problem. The conversation explores the trade-offs between simplicity, certainty, and cost, why predictability can be more valuable than shippers realize, and how lean thinking can help organizations identify and eliminate unnecessary transportation waste. David, Scott, and Tevon also discuss the growing complexity of logistics, opportunities for rail, the right role for AI and automation, and why…