Supply Chain Now

Enterprise technology has long promised to unlock operational potential, but the trade-offs between monolithic ERP systems and fragmented best-of-breed stacks continue to slow organizations down in ways most leaders don’t fully account for. In this episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott W. Luton and Wiley Jones (Co-founder at DOSS) are joined by Jindra Zitek(Partner and Head of Scale at Stripes), a former McKinsey consultant and C-level operator whose career spans Chobani, HelloFresh, and a range of board and advisory roles across industry. Together, they unpack what it actually takes to build operations that are truly AI-ready, and why the answer starts with people long before it reaches technology. Jindra draws on firsthand experience leading through hypergrowth and crisis to make the case that both ERP consolidation and best-of-breed ecosystems carry a hidden coordination tax, one that only gets more expensive the longer organizations avoid naming it. He challenges leaders to stop framing AI as a job automation tool and start treating it as a lever for dignity and purpose, giving people the ability to focus on the work that actually requires human judgment. The conversation lands on what separates organizations that experiment successfully from those stuck in pilot purgatory: shared…

From rising diesel prices and China’s evolving economy to Boeing’s continued turnaround and the growing role of AI in logistics, this week’s episode of The Buzz covers the biggest stories shaping global supply chains. Scott Luton is joined by special co-host Blythe Milligan (Everything is Logistics) and featured guest Matt Yearling, CEO of YMX Logistics, for a timely conversation on freight markets, infrastructure, innovation, and what leaders should be paying attention to now. The discussion begins with the latest freight and economic headlines, including diesel price volatility, shifting global trade patterns, China’s export performance, and what these trends mean for supply chain professionals. Scott and Blythe also explore Boeing’s ongoing recovery and why trust remains one of the industry’s most valuable currencies. Later, Matt Yearling joins the show to discuss an often-overlooked area of supply chain operations: the yard. He shares why yard management has become a strategic differentiator, how AI is driving measurable operational improvements, and why successful digital transformation requires more than simply adding new technology. Throughout the conversation, the panel emphasizes practical innovation, operational excellence, and the importance of people in every supply chain. Key Takeaways Diesel prices, freight rates, and geopolitical uncertainty continue to pressure transportation…

The AI hype cycle is over. The scaling race has begun. In this episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott W. Luton welcomes special guest co-host Marina Mayer, Content Director of Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive and Co-Founder of the Women in Supply Chain Forum, for a wide-ranging conversation on how AI is actually reshaping global supply chains, manufacturing, and the workforce behind them. Marina unpacks data showing the AI in logistics and supply chain market is set to grow from just over $20 billion to nearly $196 billion by 2034, and explains why the real driver isn’t AI adoption itself but companies learning to target it to the specific parts of the business where it belongs. From there, the two dig into a 2026 AI Skills Enterprise Benchmark from Workera, revealing that manufacturers committed to structured upskilling are hitting 79% workforce readiness scores, and why employee confidence, not just capability, is the missing piece in so many transformation efforts. The conversation builds into how KPMG research shows 73% of businesses are now planning a comprehensive overhaul of their supply chain operating model within the next three years, up from just 11% a year prior, and what that…

Freight audit is one of supply chain’s most stubborn cost centers, and the traditional model of catching errors months after the fact is no longer good enough. In this episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott W. Luton and Marty Parker are joined by Jason Murray, CEO at Shipium, and Tim Meester, Vice President, Network Performance & Intelligence at Shipium, to discuss the shift from reactive freight audit to always-on, AI-native monitoring. The panel explores why the freight audit industry keeps growing at a 14.2% CAGR even as billing errors persist at 2 to 6% of all parcel invoices, and why every dollar lost to those errors can take 19 to 20 new revenue dollars to recover. They address how delayed, after-the-fact reconciliation lets small pricing mistakes snowball into major margin loss, outlining a vision for continuous, agentic auditing that catches issues before invoices even arrive. By leveraging live data, simulation, and autonomous AI agents, shippers can detect root causes in real time and act on them immediately rather than weeks later. Jason Murray concludes by challenging operators to start building a data-first culture now, before the competitive gap becomes impossible to close.   This episode is hosted by Scott W.…

On this episode of The Buzz, hosts Scott Luton and special guest co-host Amber Salley are joined by Rich Carey of MFG.inc to break down the biggest headlines shaping global supply chain. From the future of the USMCA and the health of U.S. manufacturing to separating AI hype from real-world value, this conversation delivers practical insights for supply chain leaders navigating constant change. What does the latest manufacturing data really tell us? Is AI bringing meaningful transformation to supply chains or just creating more noise? And how can organizations build resilient operations while developing stronger leaders? Scott, Amber, and Rich tackle these questions by exploring North American trade policy, manufacturing growth fueled by AI infrastructure investments, energy challenges, and the realities of autonomous supply chains. Rich also shares actionable leadership lessons from decades of operational excellence work, emphasizing servant leadership, trust, quick wins, and developing frontline leaders who can successfully lead change. If you’re looking for practical strategies, not just buzzwords, this episode is packed with valuable takeaways. Key Takeaways Why the annual review of the USMCA matters for supply chain planning and business certainty. What recent U.S. manufacturing data reveals about growth, hiring, and AI-driven demand. The difference between…

Supply chain benchmarking has been evolving rapidly, but the biggest shifts in driving true organizational value may still be unfolding. In this episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott W. Luton and Lora Cecere (Founder of Supply Chain Insights), are joined by Dave Winstone (Global Director, Supply Chain Excellence at Dow) and Wael Abdelmalek (CEO of Uthereal). Together, they explore what it truly means to define and measure supply chain excellence, moving from rigid historical spreadsheets to data-driven, dynamic benchmarking and human-AI partnership. The panel highlights how 32 top-performing companies outperformed the market by focusing on metrics that correlate directly to market cap rather than a simple popularity contest. Dave draws on nearly four decades of global leadership to make the case for focusing on portfolio rationalization and network design while bypassing traditional distractions like massive ERP implementations. Meanwhile, Wael shares how agentic AI platforms can condense 15 years of industry-leading research into minutes, creating a powerful learning engine that works alongside humans to scale organizational insights. The guests share the core operational pillars that separate top performers from the rest of the market: leadership alignment, clear strategic direction, customer focus, and balanced performance scorecards. By embracing data objectivity and the…

E-commerce order volumes are climbing, but bottom-line profits aren’t keeping pace. In this episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott W. Luton and Tevon Taylor are joined by Lori Boyer, Head of Content Marketing at EasyPost and host of Unboxing Logistics. They explore how to protect margins by moving away from broad averages and toward customer precision and AI-driven routing strategies. Lori explains how unmanaged growth creates a hidden operational tax for businesses. She makes the case for focusing on order quality over pure volume, calculating the true contribution margin per order, and using technology to treat delivery as a customer retention tool rather than a standard cost center. She also shares a case study where an operator leveraged practical AI tools to save $2 million annually and drastically cut late deliveries without changing carriers or contracts. Tevon and Lori discuss core operating principles for winning organizations; breaking free from baseline defaults, segmenting customers by economic value, and building multi-carrier optionality to safeguard against rate spikes. They highlight how moving past standard averages helps operators stop losing money and ensure top customers receive the elite experience they deserve.   This episode is hosted by Scott W. Luton and Tevon Taylor. Produced…

What should supply chain leaders be focused on as the second half of the year begins? This week’s episode of The Buzz, powered by Zebra Technologies, delivers practical leadership advice, industry news, and expert insights to help organizations prepare for what’s next. Supply Chain Now hosts Scott Luton and Kim Reuter explore the supply chain stories making headlines, from July 4th supply chain facts and rising food costs to the growing impact of GLP-1 medications on cold chain logistics and healthcare distribution. They also discuss why now is the time for supply chain leaders to conduct a mid-year operational review and begin planning for peak season. Later in the episode, Scott sits down with Todd Heimes, Vice President and General Manager of Amazon Business Worldwide, for an insightful conversation about AI, procurement transformation, automation, and Amazon Quick. Together, they discuss how organizations can reduce manual work, improve visibility, and use AI to build more agile procurement operations. The episode wraps with predictions for the remainder of 2026, including rising transportation costs, ongoing geopolitical disruptions, cargo theft, and what leaders should do today to stay ahead. Key Takeaways Conduct a mid-year operational review to compare projections against actual performance. Begin holiday…

The real problem isn’t that organizations don’t have resilience plans. It’s that those plans sit on paper, never operationalized, never tested, until the next disruption forces their hand. In this episode of Supply Chain Now’s Never Normal series, Scott W. Luton is joined by regular Supply Chain Now hosts Karin Bursa, CEO of NIRAKIO, Scott DeGroot, Managing Director of the Global Supply Chain Institute at The University of Tennessee, and Jake Barr, CEO of BlueWorld Supply Chain Consulting, for a candid, experience-driven conversation on what it actually takes to lead through continuous disruption. Drawing from decades of collective experience across manufacturing, consulting, and academia, the panel unpacks why the pace and amplitude of today’s disruption demands a fundamentally different leadership model, one built on adaptive intelligence, structured decision frameworks, and cultures that reward learning over blame. From separating reversible decisions from irreversible ones, to building teams with cognitive flexibility, to understanding why perfection is the enemy of progress, the discussion cuts through the noise on what separates organizations that thrive from those that stall. Together, they explore why supply chain deserves a permanent strategic seat at the C-suite table, why resilience must be woven into culture rather than sprinkled on…