Zahir Palanpur

It’s Monday morning. A shipment of specialized components is headed to an aerospace OEM when your screening workflow flags a potential “denied-party match” on one supplier. Now you’re digging into records, cross-referencing databases, and your carrier is waiting. If the match is false, the shipment stalls anyway, the team burns time on triage, and the customer’s production line waits. The issue with due diligence screening: is how to keep it from grinding your shipping operation to a halt. The problem: compliance steps that slow shipments In global trade, compliance screening is non-negotiable. Denied-party screening, export controls, trade restrictions—regulations have teeth, and they’re tightening in aerospace, defense, high-tech, medical devices, and telecom. But many teams still screen shipments the hard way: manually, ad-hoc, and late in the fulfillment cycle. The friction is predictable, especially when a shipper verifies a partner’s name against screening lists manually. They get false positives: names that match sanctioned entities but aren’t actually them. A supplier named “Chen Technologies” gets flagged because “Chen” appears on an export-control list. Now your team can’t tell quickly whether this is a real hit. Escalations pile up, shipments stop moving, and your compliance team drowns in tickets. Three patterns of an…

Written by Karin Bursa, Founder and CEO of NIRAKIO and Supply Chain Now Host If you know me, you know I’m a supply chain nerd. I love talking about it, thinking about what’s next, and sharing success stories to inspire others who may feel overwhelmed or unsure where to start. So, when I stepped into the moderator’s chair for our recent Supply Chain Now livestream, I knew we were in for a powerful conversation. Five extraordinary women — each leading global supply chains at some of the world’s most iconic brands — came together to share how they are navigating disruption, embracing innovation, and shaping the future of supply chain leadership. As a fellow Woman in Supply Chain for over 30 years, I had to resist acting like a true ‘Fan Girl’ — I could have talked with them for hours. The world we live in is the “Never Normal.” Volatility is constant. Technology is advancing faster than our operating models. Yet, what struck me most during our panel was the optimism and resilience each leader displayed. These women are proof that even in the face of complexity, supply chains can be transformed into engines of business growth, agility, and…