Supply Chain Now

Supply chain performance is still being measured by outdated assumptions. Lora Cecere argues that optimizing individual functions for lower cost does not necessarily improve the business. In fact, it can throw the entire supply chain out of balance. Better performance starts with understanding what is actually feasible within an industry, focusing on the metrics that drive value, and recognizing that supply chains are complex systems that cannot be improved one function at a time. In this episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott Luton speaks with Lora Cecere, founder of Supply Chain Insights, and Wael Abdelmalek, CEO at Uthereal, about the research behind Supply Chains to Admire and how that work is being brought into Ask Lora, an AI-enabled benchmarking and advisory platform. They explore why traditional supply chain rankings and generic AI tools can reinforce conventional thinking, how verified research and industry-specific data can create better benchmarks, and why leaders need a more balanced view of growth, operating margin, inventory turns, and return on capital employed when evaluating performance. Lora and Wael also explain how Ask Lora combines 10 years of research and benchmarking data with a private large language model designed specifically for supply chain decision-making. Rather than serving…

Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling has spent a decade getting to a place most operators never reach: labor performance that drives financial outcomes, not just an operations metric. In this webinar hosted by Scott Luton & Kim Reuter, John Ferrell, Field Operations Manager at Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling, and Richard Knight, Senior Director of Solutions at Easy Metrics, will share what that looks like in practice, and what other leaders can learn from it. The conversation centers on cost and margin rather than throughput alone, and on how leading operators are reframing labor performance as a financial lever rather than a productivity one. At Reyes, that reframe took both: unified data practices, where integrating labor and workflow data exposed exactly where time and cost were going each day, and the mindset shifts and phased rollout that made it hold. John and Richard will get into why the financial outcome depended on the second as much as the first. A firsthand story rounds out the discussion: using efficiency gains to support and strengthen the workforce, with less overtime and more normalized workdays, not just a better balance sheet. The discussion will also touch on how sustained labor performance can inform bigger-picture decisions, including how…

SAP AI Inside the Supply Chain: From Silo to Orchestration Supply chain leaders are uniquely positioned to drive transformation. Advances in agentic AI have opened a window to reimagine how supply chains operate — moving from reactive firefighting to intelligent, autonomous orchestration. This Supply Chain Now webinar presents SAP’s vision for Autonomous Supply Chain Management — where AI agents, rich business data, and end-to-end applications work together to anticipate change, unify planning and execution, and unlock continuous value. Built on Joule and the SAP Business AI Platform, the Autonomous Suite spans the full supply chain lifecycle across Design, Plan, Buy, Make, Deliver, and Operate. Join us to explore real-world agent capabilities, industry-specific outcomes, and how governance and sustainability are built into every process from the ground up. Webinar Key Takeaways: Why standalone AI fails supply chains — and what makes SAP’s approach different How Joule and AI agents coordinate intent, data, and action across the enterprise Industry-specific autonomous capabilities and real-world performance benchmarks How governance, compliance, and sustainability are embedded — not added as an afterthought

Most transportation companies talk about technology, efficiency, and growth. But after more than 50 years in the industry, the lesson is simpler: people, relationships, and the ability to adapt are what keep a business moving forward. Scott Luton speaks with Marcia Taylor, owner and CEO of Bennett Family of Companies, about resilience, leadership, entrepreneurship, and the evolution of transportation. They explore how Bennett grew from 15 trucks and 30 trailers into a diversified transportation and logistics organization, why listening to customers shaped its expansion, how the company has preserved its family culture through decades of growth, and where AI and emerging technology fit into the future of trucking. Marcia explains why diversification helped Bennett navigate changing markets, why AI should support people rather than replace customer and driver relationships, and why leaders must always be developing the next generation. She also shares why professional drivers deserve more recognition, how strong values guide difficult decisions, and why staying close to customers remains one of the best ways to understand what comes next.   This episode is hosted by Scott W. Luton. Produced by Trisha Cordes, Joshua Miranda, and Amanda Luton.   Additional Links & Resources Check out all the great resources…

Supply chains used to be built primarily around cost and efficiency. Abe Eshkenazi says that era is over. Today’s leaders have to balance AI, resilience, geopolitical risk, talent, cybersecurity, and a level of disruption that makes predicting what comes next nearly impossible. In this episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott Luton speaks with Abe Eshkenazi, CEO at the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM), about how the supply chain profession is changing. From what organizations need to get right before scaling AI, to the reshaping of globalization, the growing importance of optionality, and the evolution of the chief supply chain officer into an enterprise strategist, Abe breaks down the forces redefining supply chain leadership. Abe explains why AI success depends less on the technology itself and more on data, talent, governance, and strong processes; why globalization is not disappearing but being redrawn around resilience and regionalization; and why supply chain leaders can no longer focus solely on operations. He also shares how ASCM is preparing professionals for jobs that do not yet exist, what leaders can expect from CHAINge 2026, and why his book, “The Chain: Links That Bind Us”, starts the supply chain story with the consumer rather than…

Most wine drinkers picture a boutique vineyard. Andrew Rice says the real story is scale: hundreds of rail cars, thousands of truckloads, and a regulatory maze most consumers never see. In this episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott Luton and special guest co-host Wanda Johnson speak with Andrew Rice, senior ERP technical product manager at Gallo, about the wine supply chain. From grape to glass, government regulation and the three-tier system, harvest and weather risk, inventory and aging complexity, and how technology like agentic AI is transforming operations. Andrew explains why wine supply chain complexity comes down to regulation and aging, how Gallo balances luxury and commercial brands against the unpredictability of nature, why most wine should actually be consumed within one to five years rather than aged indefinitely, and how Gallo’s tech-forward culture is helping the company scale one of the world’s oldest industries.   This episode is hosted by Scott W. Luton with special guest co-host Wanda Johnson. Produced by Trisha Cordes, Joshua Miranda, and Amanda Luton.   Additional Links & Resources Check out all the great resources and information mentioned during the show: Connect with Andrew Rice Connect with Wanda Johnson Learn more about Gallo Learn more…

Most organizations understand their direct suppliers. Far fewer understand the suppliers behind them. As supply chains become more complex, the greatest risks often originate well beyond Tier 1, from critical sub-tier suppliers, shared manufacturing dependencies, geopolitical exposure, raw material shortages and single points of failure that remain invisible until disruption occurs. Join Sphera and Supply Chain Now to explore why leading organizations are adopting an N-tier approach to supply chain risk management. We’ll discuss how greater supply chain transparency enables organizations to uncover hidden dependencies, understand the true impact of supplier risk on products and operations, and make faster, more informed decisions before disruption affects the business. Whether you’re responsible for procurement, sourcing, supply chain operations or enterprise risk, you’ll gain practical insights into how N-tier intelligence is helping organizations move beyond reactive risk monitoring towards proactive supply chain resilience. You’ll learn: Why taking a product-first approach to supply chain intelligence delivers more actionable insights than monitoring suppliers alone. Why understanding your supply chain beyond Tier 1 is becoming essential for managing operational and business risk. How to uncover hidden supplier dependencies, concentration risk and single points of failure before they lead to disruption. How to connect supplier intelligence to…

The digital economy may get the headlines, but behind every AI breakthrough, electric vehicle, automated warehouse, and data center is a complex physical supply chain making it possible. In this episode of The Buzz, hosts Scott Luton and Karin Bursa welcome Gaurav Singh Chaudhary, founder and editor of Silicon and Steel, to explore the infrastructure, materials, energy, and global trade relationships powering some of today’s biggest transformations. From Walmart’s massive investment in automated fulfillment to dramatic shifts in the Southern timber industry, Scott, Karin, and Gaurav break down the connections between changing consumer demand, automation, trade policy, and supply chain strategy. They examine the potential impact of semiconductor tariffs on AI infrastructure, why nuclear energy’s fuel supply could become a critical bottleneck, and how AI and EV manufacturers are increasingly competing for the same electronics and manufacturing capacity. Along the way, the conversation highlights an important reality: the AI economy isn’t purely digital. Its growth depends on chips, energy, batteries, data centers, manufacturing capacity, logistics networks, and resilient global supply chains. Key Takeaways Speed must be designed into the network. Walmart’s next-generation fulfillment investment demonstrates why companies can’t simply compensate for poor network design with more expensive transportation. Automation is…

95% of enterprise agentic AI pilots never deliver ROI (MIT, 2025). The gap isn’t ambition — it’s the jump from a model that works in a sandbox to an agent trusted to act on the plant floor, inside the systems your team already runs on. This session, with host Scott Luton and featured guests Vika Smilansky and Marc Amarillas with DataRobot, breaks down what that jump actually takes, and what it looks like solved, with agents orchestrated across the value chain, not in isolated silos: – Supply chain: multi-tier supplier risk and tariff exposure caught before a single-source failure becomes a line-down event – Plant operations: bottlenecks and downtime caught before they hit the shift report – Aftermarket: warranty leakage and reactive dispatch turned back into retained margin We’ll ground our conversation in real use cases, including a tariff signal that put $2.5B in revenue at risk, resolved in 72 hours instead of weeks, with a human signing off at every step. Not a pilot. Not a dashboard. A production-grade agent workforce — connecting planning, operations, and service to move manufacturers from reactive to proactive. Webinar Key Takeaways: Understand why 95% of agentic AI pilots fail — and the specific…