Carol Ptak, CPIM-F, CIRM

Listen up! We’re kicking May off with some great conversations you won’t want to miss. Take a look back on the latest episodes, interviews, conversations, and livestreams from this week right here. On Monday, we released 3 new episodes! In this episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott welcomes JD Redmon back to the podcast for a frank conversation about accessing the marketing solutions you need, the trend towards diversity marketing and hiring, how to use your voice to achieve what you need, and so much more. On This Week in Business History, Scott Luton explores the genesis of The Clorox Company, from the early entrepreneurial struggles to their international expansion, innovation & growth. On Supply Chain Now en Espanol, Enrique Alvarez welcomed Alex Meza with RioRev Partners to the podcast to talk about growing up in Mexico and the United States, Alex’s professional experience, and trade between the two countries. On Tuesday, we released 2 new episodes! On this episode of TEKTOK Digital Supply Chain Podcast, powered by Supply Chain Now, host Karin Bursa welcomes Jason Tham with Nulogy to the podcast to tackle the question- is your supply chain agile or fragile? On TECHquila Sunrise, host Greg White dives…

At the jampacked MODEX 2026 in Atlanta, Scott Luton sat down with Brian Devine, President & CEO of Ignite Industrial Professionals, for a grounded and timely conversation about one of the most pressing issues in global supply chain: the workforce. While automation continues to dominate headlines, Devine makes one thing clear: people are still at the center of it all. And finding them is getting harder by the day.   “Fingerprints on Every Box” Despite rapid advancements in robotics and automation, Devine emphasizes a fundamental truth that often gets overlooked. “There’s still… fingerprints on boxes. Somebody’s putting their fingerprints on tons of boxes to move it to the next phase of the supply chain,” he explains. Even in many highly automated environments, human labor remains essential. Devine shares an example of a cutting-edge facility where autonomous forklifts handle part of the process, but still rely on human operators to complete the job. The takeaway? Automation is largely augmenting, rather than replacing, the workforce. And that makes the labor shortage even more critical to address.   A Shrinking Labor Pool One of the most compelling parts of the discussion centers on simple supply-and-demand economics. The labor pool isn’t just tight. It’s…