Jaymie Forrest

It has been another busy week for Supply Chain Now! Did you catch all the episodes? If not, no worries! Check them all out here:   We started out the week with a new episode in our Logistics with a Purpose series sponsored by our good friends at Vector Global Logistics. Listen as Scott, Greg, and Enrique have a great conversation with Mickey Horner with Rise Against Hunger.     On Tuesday, Scott and Greg were joined by AIAG’s CR Summit speaker Joerg Walden, CEO of iPoint.     Then we published the new and improved Supply Chain Buzz, with Scott and Greg sharing and discussing the latest news and events in Supply Chain and beyond.     Scott and Greg were joined by Randy Strang with MedShare on Thursday for another episode in the Logistics with a Purpose series, sponsored by Vector Global Logistics.     And to wrap up the week, Scott and fellow host Fred Tolbert with Demand Solutions were proud to host three exceptional Supply Chain students from the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business.  

At the Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in Denver, Scott Luton caught up with Rob Haddock, a seasoned supply chain practitioner and advisor with Demand Chain AI, to discuss the persistent planning challenges organizations face—and why maturity, discipline, and optimization still matter more than buzzwords. Demand Chain AI blends consulting services with advanced supply chain technologies, focusing on optimization across trade promotion management, demand sensing, supply planning, and detailed production scheduling. Haddock’s role centers on helping organizations strengthen business processes—particularly sales and operations planning (S&OP), performance reporting, and the practical application of technology to improve execution on both the demand and supply sides.   A Practitioner’s Perspective on Planning Gaps Haddock’s perspective is shaped by decades spent inside large, sophisticated supply chain organizations. Early in his career, he worked within an iconic, global beverage company where advanced planning environments were already in place—though, in hindsight, he admits those tools were sometimes underutilized. Today, Haddock spends much of his time working with small and mid-sized organizations that haven’t been as fortunate. In many of these environments, planning maturity is still low, foundational practices are missing, and—unsurprisingly—Excel remains the primary planning tool. “Basic business practices that have been around since the 1990s…