I was recently invited to speak with students in the Supply Chain and Logistics Organization at Georgia Tech, and it reminded me why I still find this industry so energizing.
Author Archives: Amanda Luton
Why Can’t America Train Workers for a Trillion-Dollar Industry?
Inside the reverse logistics education gap and the economic blind spot keeping it invisible
Tony Sciarrotta has been asking the same question at industry conferences for years. As the Senior Director of Circularity and Reverse Logistics at the National Retail Federation, he knows what answer he’s going to get. But he keeps asking anyway.
AI in Global Trade Compliance: What Works Now, What’s Next, and How to Govern It
AI is no longer an experiment in global trade compliance. It’s already being applied in product classification, document-to-declaration workflows, risk targeting, and sanctions screening. At the same time, regulators and customs authorities are adopting AI themselves. This is raising expectations for data quality, transparency, and governance across the entire trade ecosystem.
Kinaxis’ Fred Baumann on Continuous Disruption, Adaptive Planning, and Turning Turbulence into Opportunity
At the 2025 Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in Denver, Scott Luton sat down with Fred Baumann, Senior Industry Principal at Kinaxis, one of the world’s most recognized leaders in supply chain planning and orchestration. Kinaxis has spent over four decades shaping the planning landscape and has been named to the Gartner Leaders Quadrant an extraordinary 11 consecutive times—a testament to its execution strength and long-term vision.
Demand Chain AI’s Rob Haddock on Raising Planning Maturity and Helping Companies Outgrow Spreadsheets
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.
Breaking Down Silos and Gaining Speed: Manhattan Associates on Unifying Planning and Execution
At the Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in Denver, Scott Luton sat down with two leaders from Manhattan Associates—Brett Lindner, Director of Product for Supply Chain Planning, and Ryan Gifford—Senior Director of Strategic Business Development. Together, the conversations painted a clear picture of one of the most persistent challenges in supply chain—and one of the biggest opportunities ahead: unifying planning and execution to drive agility, visibility, and better outcomes.
Lyric’s Stephen Musciano on Why the Plan Is “Dead on Arrival” — and Why Supply Chain Must Flip the Script
At the Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in December 2025, Scott Luton sat down with Stephen Musciano, a former practitioner turned technology leader who now helps transform supply chain organizations through Lyric—a fast-growing, math-first, AI-native platform redefining what supply chain technology can be.
John Galt’s Justin Siefert on Planning, Uncertainty, and Making AI Practical for Everyone
At the 2025 Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in Denver, Scott Luton caught up with Justin Siefert, a familiar face in the supply chain community and a leader at John Galt Solutions, a global provider of end-to-end supply chain planning software. From demand and supply planning to inventory and S&OP, John Galt supports organizations across industries with the holistic capabilities needed to thrive in an increasingly unpredictable landscape.
ToolsGroup CEO Sean Elliott on Embracing Uncertainty, Probabilistic Planning, and Preparing for an Agentic Future
At the Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in Denver, Scott Luton sat down with Sean Elliott, CEO of ToolsGroup, to discuss why uncertainty is no longer something supply chain leaders should fear—and how the right technology can turn volatility into advantage.
How a Supply Chain Management Data Gateway Benefits Almost Every Industry
A data gateway provides unified access to supply chain data from various sources, including enterprise systems, supply chain applications, data feeds, data warehouses, data lakes, data marts, and business entities. It helps companies meet their supply chain challenges head on and be ready for supply chain disruptions.
ZS’s Caglar Ozdag on Firefighting, AI Skepticism, and Why Data Must Come First in 2026
At the Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in Denver, Scott Luton sat down with Caglar Ozdag, a supply chain leader at ZS. Known for its deep analytics and technology expertise across industries such as life sciences, airlines, consumer goods, and agriculture, ZS has become a trusted partner for organizations looking to elevate their planning and manufacturing performance.
Supply Chain Now Announces Leadership Advancement and Showcases Industry-Leading Advisory Board to Fuel Growth in 2026
ATLANTA, GA — January 6, 2026 — Supply Chain Now, the award-winning global digital media platform recognized as the #1 Voice of Supply Chain, today announced the promotion of Mary Kate Love to President, effective January 1, 2026, alongside the continued engagement of a distinguished Advisory Board composed of proven leaders across supply chain, technology, strategy, and media.