Intro/Outro (00:02):

Welcome to Supply Chain Now, the number one voice of supply chain. Join us as we share critical news, key insights, and real supply chain leadership from across the globe. One conversation at a time.

Scott Luton (00:14):

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you may be. Scott Lewton and Jake Barr here with you on supply chain now. Welcome to today’s live stream. Hey, Jake, how you doing?

Jake Barr (00:23):

Trying to recover from the weekend’s events.

Scott Luton (00:26):

Oh yeah? Well, I know one massive event you’re talking about, but did you have any sports, distractions, hopefully?

Jake Barr (00:34):

Obviously had sports distractions. I have four grandchildren, so there’s always a sporting event going on, Scott, come

Scott Luton (00:40):

On. That is good. That is good. And as I’ve shared here before, my son Ben is trying out for his football team, so they’re deep into conditioning right now. So it’s a whole new world, brave new world for one Ben Lewton. But hey, Jake.

Jake Barr (00:53):

I loved his comment about his coach.

Scott Luton (00:57):

We may get to that here today. But folks, welcome. It’s The Buzz every Monday at 12 noon Eastern time. We discuss a variety of news and developments across global supply chain and business. News that matters is what we like to call it. And the buzz today is powered by our friends at Altium, a global software company accelerating the pace of electronics innovation. You can learn more folks at altium.com. Now, Jake, we got so much to get into here today. We’re going to start with the main event that you were talking about earlier, some of the global business impact related to the military strikes on Iran. We’re going to be talking about the industry, how it’s still a buzz with the Supreme Court’s actions on tariffs. Stay tuned for that. We’re going to share some of the trends taking place in the food industry. We’re also going to be diving into the smartphone industry and some of the hurdles at present and ahead.

(01:47):

Plus, on a much lighter note, we’re going to share why Automatic for the People isn’t and wasn’t just the name of a bestselling REM album. So stay tuned for that as well. Now, Jake, as you know, we had a great special guest lined up for today, but folks, Jeff Maturski with Gaines is under the weather a bit. We wish him all the best and we look forward to having him back with this soon. So Jake, you’re stuck with me. You ready to go for the buzz here today?

Jake Barr (02:13):

I am, but this just proves Jeff can occasionally have a problem because he’s brilliant when it comes to mathematical models and actually designing things, but he forgot to design in his own illness.

Scott Luton (02:27):

He can see almost everything is what you’re saying, Jake. Almost everything. Well, folks, stick around. Big edition of the Buzz Powered by Altium, all right here today. The first installment of the Buzz for the month of March. Okay. So Jake, before we get into some outright news items, we want to hit four things on the front end. And we’re going to start with some more difficult topics because in the most recent edition of with that said, which published over the weekend, we led with some of the ramifications, as I’ve mentioned, for global business relating to the ongoing military strikes on Iran. Now, there’s two things I should say upfront. Number one, as everyone knows, this is a fast moving, ever-changing story, both from a geopolitical standpoint, a military standpoint, and a business standpoint. Okay? And then secondly, there’s a lot that we could talk about for hours and we want to hit the right tenor.

(03:16):

So with this front end section, we’re going to really just stick to the sheer business side of things. And we hope we pray for everybody’s safety for sure. So with all that said, those obligatory disclaimers. Now, when you think of the global business implications, Jake, there’s no shortages of items to track, but one in particular that we shared in with that said that really stood out to me as inventory concerns related to US defensive capabilities. So over the last couple of years, whether it’s in Ukraine, Israel, or now countries, really throughout the Persia Gulf, US air and missile defense systems have been critical when it comes to preventing even more damage and casualties related to ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and the like. Now, in foreign voices like West Rombaugh, I think I said that, Rumball, with the Center for Strategic and International Studies were warning of these decreasing inventory levels and associated challenges late last year, long before the current conflict.

(04:09):

Of course, Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at a variety of countries in response to the US strikes, all of which has certainly impacted inventory levels of these critical systems. This deserves its own show for sure, but you got long lead times, you got funding challenges, complexities and aerospace and advanced components, and they were associated supply chains, all those factors and many, many more, plus usage itself. Now, I sure wish demand stayed really low for these items, but that’s a whole different conversation. So Jake, again, we’re referencing with that said and how we led off with some of the business implications related to what we’re seeing take place right at this moment in the Persian Gulf. Your thoughts? Welcome

Jake Barr (04:44):

To the world of the new never normal. I mean, just another. Let’s just throw another bag of crap into the hopper of what we’ve got to be able to deal with. Everything that you hit on is very fundamental, but it has far reaching impacts. So it isn’t just, wait, I’m down on military supplies and I’m going to need … It has a ramification around high-end processing chips, et cetera, for the rest of the industries that were already in a shortage-based condition. So this is not a good situation.

Scott Luton (05:16):

No, it’s not. And of course, we didn’t mention impact on shipping. We didn’t mention impact on the markets and commodities and- Look this

Jake Barr (05:22):

Morning, Scott, at a live update of all the vessel movement in the streets of Hermus, and it does not look good. Okay, let’s just put it that way.

Scott Luton (05:31):

I’m with you. And just my opinion here, we’ll see the strikes. But all this began early Saturday morning Eastern time, right? And the chapter we’re moving into, I think complexity is going to be heightened. So we shall see, but stay tuned folks and give us your take. This is a fast moving, ever evolving story, and we will keep our finger on the pulse. So folks, back to with that said, on a much, much lighter note, check it out. We dropped it over the weekend as we typically do. You’re also going to find tools, resources, upcoming live program. We’ve got some great shows coming up in the next few weeks. And as always, let us know what you think. Okay. So Jake, I got some really good news that I’m going to share next. I’m so glad we got this next after that opening because folks, April 29th, it’s that time again, National Supply Chain Day.

(06:15):

Plan to join us. 12 noon here at supply chain now for a virtual event. That’s going to feature a wide range of supply chain leaders. And just confirm, Jake, over the weekend, because we’ve been hard at it, the one only Billy Ray Taylor is going to be our keynote speaker. His take on leadership is always on point and is very timely. But hey, we also have some few other tricks up our sleeve. So folks make plans to join us on April 29th and we hope to see you there. Jake, are you ready for National Supply Chain Day?

Jake Barr (06:45):

I want to echo your comment around the importance of the day. Look, it’s been yet again, another very difficult year for your teams and operations to navigate their way through. And if for no other reason than a mental break, I’d encourage you to use that day as a way of being able to refocus and re-energize, recognize the contributions of the team members and the importance of the months ahead.

Scott Luton (07:12):

Well said, Jake. Well said. So folks, mark your calendar because as someone told me probably 30 years ago, you only know what’s important to you based on how you spend your money and how you spend your time. So if this isn’t circling your calendar, you’re going to miss it. April 29th, we’re starting at 12 noon Eastern time. Come on and join us. All right. Really quick, Jake. And then we’re going to get to a big event that you’re helping to facilitate. I want to call out a few folks starting with, hey, Tricia, who says happy Buzz Day, inviting folks to let us know where you’re tuned in from. Alan Jacques is back with us. Great to see you, Alan. Let us know you may be on the road this week, but hope the Rodney Dangerfield of global supply chain is doing well. Trisha dropped a link to Altium earlier.

(07:52):

Folks, make sure you check that out. She also dropped the link to, with that said, which we touched on just a second ago. Gino Pledger, the supply chain rock and roll drummer from North Alabama is with us. Great to see you, Gino. And of course, Trisha also dropped a link to national supply chain dates. So folks, check that out. But more good news, Jake. I really enjoy the great role you play for the global supply chain industry. And you’ve got this great event coming up at the University of Kentucky. Tell us more.

Jake Barr (08:18):

Well, Scott, it’s the 16th consecutive year of actually bringing together executives from all over the globe to do the same thing you were talking about on National Supply Chain Day. It’s a give back day as we refer to it. It’s bringing high level talent together from various multinationals across industry verticals and actually helping to create a forum, as we call it. We call it the supply chain forum for actually not only idea exchange, but also best practice exchange. This year, we’ve got folks from the likes of 3M that own Nestle, P&G, among others, Microsoft, et cetera, coming together to actually do that share.

Scott Luton (08:56):

Okay. Outstanding. And let’s see here. I had the date for that, March 24th. And folks, if you want to learn more, Trisha’s dropped link right there for the University of Kentucky Supply Chain Forum 2026. As Jake mentioned, there’s a long track record. This is the 16th year in a row. So come join us on March 24th. And Jake, I bet your creative ways that folks can help engage and support and make the students day on that March 24th even cooler. Is that right, Jake?

Jake Barr (09:22):

Absolutely. Yep. So there’s breakout sessions with breakthrough projects that a number of masters of supply chain candidates have led for different companies that’ll be on display as well.

Scott Luton (09:35):

Okay. And I think I saw that the supply chain whisperer is going to be their in attendance. She

Jake Barr (09:39):

Is indeed. She’ll be on one of the panels.

Scott Luton (09:42):

Outstanding. So big shout out to Christine Barnhart. Appreciate what they’re doing and really all the leaders that give time to this great session. So folks, check it out. Before we dive into the news, Jake, I got one more. We’d love to share resources around here at supply chain now. And I got to ask a question, folks. Can you relate to any of these things? Lost assets, idle equipment, your teams losing productivity while they search for missing containers. Oh man, the headaches, right? Well, as we all know, when you lose visibility across your warehouses or your yards or your facilities, it becomes a bottleneck to your growth and a big hit on your margins. Our friends at Juxta deliver affordable submeter asset and personnel tracking that covers anywhere on earth and their solutions are deployable within the hour. Deployable, I should say it a little better, deployable within the hour.

(10:26):

And you don’t have to figure out how to use expensive beacons or cameras, GPS, or other hardware. We invite you to book a demo with Juxta today to unlock a hardware-free end-to-end location visibility for your logistics team. So check it out. Trisha’s dropping the link and let us know what you think. All right. So Jake, we got to get to work. We got some more news stories here on the buzz powered by our friends at LTM First Up. One of our favorites has weighed in on what was the big story a week or so ago, right? That’s changed a little bit, but still a big story. But Kevin Omar weighed in on the recent decision by the US Supreme Court on the Trump administration’s ability to implement tariffs. Now, Jake, I’m going to unpack this a little bit. This is a really great read, folks.

(11:05):

We’re going to drop the link. Check it out for yourself, but I’m going to unpack this a bit and then I’m going to invite your commentary here. So again, Kevin Omar with 0100 opined in a recent edition of the signal from 0100 that, one, organizations and business leaders that can play politics in an era of activist trade and industrial policy will find success more often. But it’s critical to those same business leaders to focus at all levels of government, not just the executive branch, right? Get into local politics, regional politics, you name it. Kevin also sees the Supreme Court decision somewhat counterintuitively as an accelerant to the demise of unrestrained globalism, as he put it, as regional and even local closed loop supply chains will continue to gain traction. In fact, when it comes to global trade shifts and its ensuing economic impact, Mark Zandi, who serves as the chief economist over at Moody’s Analytics is quoted in this article as saying, “The US is pulling away from the world.

(12:00):

The rest of the world is now pulling away from the US. Deglobalization is a weight on the economy and ultimately the end state is a weakened economy.” The article also points to consumer sentiment, including one survey that pulled 14,000 consumers in October 2025. Two of the big findings, 48% of US consumers say they would pay more for products made closer to home, and 73% of Chinese consumers said the same. And that’s going to be interesting to monitor and see how much it carries over from the survey responses to actually opening your wallet and making those purchasing decisions. When it comes to talent, one final note here, Kevin writes, “0100 analysis of supply chain talent data shows a big uptick in recruitment of political skills with tariffs and trade policy hiring up by 51% and 115% respectively over the past two years.” So Jake, there’s a lot here.

(12:53):

It’s a great read. If folks aren’t signed up for the signal, they got to be. Your thoughts, Jake.

Jake Barr (12:57):

Look, I love Kevin’s opinions. He’s one of the top five strategists around supply chain on the globe. He’s an unparallele of capability. I think you could actually misread perhaps some of what Kevin is there based on some of the phrases. He really wasn’t implying to play politics. What he was really implying was, look, you need to get your house in order. You actually need to take an aggressive position of actually, we’ve been preaching and pounding the table around the need to look at various scenarios and options around the implications of certain dynamics and things that would impact your business, your business operations. And what he’s suggesting is that you actually become more aggressive in providing those who are in those positions with solid, defendable information that actually suggests, “Hey, this would be a bad policy to take up and here’s why.” So equipping people with knowledge is power, right?

(14:01):

So I wanted to make that point. The second is, look, he’s stating the obvious. Look, local for local capability makes sense for certain verticals, right? Because there are certain verticals where that just simply isn’t going to be the case. So it’s going to be a mix forever of regionalized, localized and/or combination of global supply chains, right? Just simply because of scarcity of goods or technology or whatever you need to be able to make your operation run. But a lot of solid points, I would suggest one of the big takeaways there is really saying, “Hey, you’ve got to be more aggressive in getting out in front instead of acting it more now today in a reactionary point.”

Scott Luton (14:46):

That’s right. And two things there. So it probably depends on anyone’s definition when you hear play politics for some that might take them to the good old boy approach, which is not so savvy, not so savory for many folks. Or to a coin you’re talking about, Jake, which is get informed, get aggressive, inform, educate, leverage your influence that you do have and levels of government at all levels. So it’s a great call out there, Jake. And then secondly, kind of going to one of the points you made, and I think it’s in the subtitle here, which I like, that was a big theme. See there, politics has made a wait and see approach, a losing strategy, which is on the tail end of your comments there. So folks, check it out. Tricia’s dropped a link to this. And again, I would encourage you, just my vote, sign up for the signal because it’s usually very thought provoking and on point and share it with your teams.

(15:33):

See where discussions take you. All right. So Jake, hey, one quick question, Jake, before I leave and go to the food industry, that last note about hiring for talent that has political skills and the ability to decipher and probably communicate on tariffs and trade policies and the like, that hiring is shooting up. Any comments there, Jake? I mean, we probably should expect it, but your thoughts-

Jake Barr (15:55):

You’ve got to be able to translate your data into a business case and then into a language, just like you are in the boardroom that makes business sense, right? Hiring the people with experience to actually go over and explain to legislative bodies or committees or individuals, what is the implication if you were to drift left or right on these kinds of policies? Let me give you the data of those companies that you represent and here’s what will happen.

Scott Luton (16:23):

So folks, that’s just like the reason 1,227,483. Why it’s so important to tell a story. And the types of stories that we’ve got to tell are only growing. So stick around for more on that. Jake, let’s shift over to a industry food industry story that’s going to make me hungry, very hungry. But it’s an interesting story. And it relates to, it’s a food dive article that reports on how flavoring Giant McCormick and its supply chain team is working overtime to stay on top of old and new trends taking place in the food industry. Let’s see if any of y’all can relate to this. So some of those trends that companies are coming to McCormick to help them with is eliminating artificial ingredients and colors out of different products, reducing salt, fat, and sugar, that’s not fun. Or adding trendy ingredients such as new spices and flavors.

(17:12):

2024, article points out was all about the dill pickle flavor, lots of dill pickle chips and spicy dill pickle chips. Yeah, I’m thumbs up there too. And then it also points out McCormick holds that black current was the 2026 flavor of the year, which I find to be interesting. Younger consumers love to experiment with new flavors. A study by Chicory showed that more than 90% of Gen Z and millennials say that they actively seek out new flavors, both in foods and beverages. All of this, of course, puts a priority on reformulation and innovation and manufacturing and production, so new products or twists on current products can be rolled out in an expedited fashion to the marketplace. So McCormick’s wonderful supply chain team certainly has its work cut out for it. Jake, get your comments. But first, you are your two thumbs up for the spicy dial pickle flavor.

(18:02):

Is that right?

Jake Barr (18:03):

I am.

Scott Luton (18:04):

Okay, good. Make sure we’re on same team dial pickle there. But in a broader sense, your thoughts on what’s going on in the food industry?

Jake Barr (18:12):

Actually, it’s the age of personalization, right? It’s the ability to say, look, I’m into the nuance of me being able to formulate or see what the flavors that actually make me interested as a consumer of it. I want to give a big huge shout out to the McCormick team and Whitney Schlesinger as an example, executive there who’s really helping to move the dial. I mean, this is a great … McCarmick, in my opinion, is one of those great stories over the last 18 to 24 months of a company that really has gotten it, understood that the supply chain can be an engine to growth for them and have really stepped back and reassessed what levels of agility do they need in order, whether it’s packaging, the ingredient sourcing, being able to do the formulations, getting them out into the marketplace, and actually sensing the information that’s coming from the new gen.

(19:08):

So McCormick is an age old company, right? AKA over a hundred plus years. So you’re talking about needing to shift a lot of things. So they deserve a lot of credit for what they’ve been able to accomplish already.

Scott Luton (19:22):

Well, said, Jake, so folks, go check out the read and give us your take, not just with McCormicks, but what you see taking place across the food industry. And to Jake’s second point, I was able to sit down thanks to Jake at Gartner Supply Chain Symposium last year and talk with Whitney. And that was a great interview. You can find that over on our YouTube channel. Maybe if Tricia and Amanda can bring that link and drop it into comments, that would be terrific. And that reminds me too, we’re going to be talking with other movers and shakers like Whitney at Gartner Supply Chain Symposium this year. And that is just about two months and a week or so away. Jake, you’re going to be there too, right?

Jake Barr (19:58):

I am. In fact, Whitney will be there again. Actually, she’s a great person for those in the audience that really want to connect with the leader that gets it on how to engage and role and motivate their folks. So she’s one of those folks I can guarantee that it’ll be celebrating National Supply Chain Day at the end of it.

Scott Luton (20:13):

Outstanding. Folks, go check out that great sit down with Whitney. Very fascinating. I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since we did that. Let’s see. Amanda says, “Ms. Vicky’s spicy deal pickle kettle chips are so good. Got to keep the bag away from me. ” Those aren’t good. Amanda also drops. There we go. Linked to Whitney’s interview right there from last year. So folks check it out. Hey, before I leave McCormick, I got to say Jake, because McCormick has a really big portfolio of folks. You may not be aware of that, but one of our favorites here is Frank’s Red Ot. And I think they had a commercial campaign for quite some time. I put that stuff on everything. Well, my son does put that stuff on just about everything, especially our breakfast sandwiches we make around here. Jake, what’s one of your favorite McCormick’s products?

Jake Barr (20:58):

Actually, the Deal Pickle’s my favorite.

Scott Luton (21:00):

Okay. All right. You’re keeping it real. Okay. All right. Well, folks, go check out those links. Let us know what you think. I want to share. Let’s see here. Got another great resource. We had a great webinar last week with our friends at EasyPost, and a great resource that came out of that was right here. Folks, you know, LLMs and shipping, as we all know, are already here and being used every day, but a lot of teams, well, they haven’t quite caught up. Organizations are using them from ops triage to Wismo responses. Some shipping teams are even using large language models to think faster, X smarter, and deliver big outcomes. We invite you to check out this practical guide where they keep it real as well in terms of what’s actually happening, where the real opportunity is, and some of the limitations that LLMs are going to have.

(21:47):

So go check that out and check out the title here, LLMs and shipping, what teams are already doing with or without permission. All right. So Jake, up next is an interesting read when it comes to something we use every day, maybe every hour. If you’re my kids, perhaps every single minute. We’re talking about smartphones, right? But smartphones may be heading to all time highs when it comes to their prices. I was checking earlier as I was getting ready for this story. I’m finding the current iPhone, in some cases, 11, 1,200 bucks. Wow. And one of the big factors there is because there’s quite a shortage of memory chips as AI data centers are depending heavily on these type of semiconductors. So the demand has gone through the roof. And some analyst firms such as IDC for this article here see this current shortage to quote, permanently affect smartphone manufacturers, including pushing some out of business.

(22:36):

In fact, as the article reports for AI to continue to improve, the technology requires larger and larger amounts of both processing power. It’s obvious, but also memory storage, right? Many industry insiders see this constraint to persist into 2027 at the least. All right. So Jake did not give into some of the hyperbolic comments sometimes that the media puts out there. I think they called it a tsunami sized constraint or something. I didn’t give into that. But Jake, your take on what we’re seeing here and just how palpable is it going to be for consumers out there, you think? Well, first and

Jake Barr (23:10):

Foremost, it is a tsunami size constraint.

Scott Luton (23:13):

Okay,

Jake Barr (23:14):

Darn. It is. I’m sorry, Scott. You just can’t walk down the street and buy these high-end chips. There is a fundamental constraint in availability. Now, it’s true. It’s having a ripple effect. And if you hadn’t already bought your capacity, you’re in a world hurt right now. Now, as you think forward, is it going to cause some fallout? I call it consolidation of the players that are there and fitting into space. Absolutely. Because I can promise you that within one or two versions, your phone is actually going to have, I’ll call it a gentix super apps, right? Where wait, I’m late for a meeting. And so without even it knows running behind, it’s going to actually find me an Uber to get me to the place I need to be or to reschedule my airline flight without me giving the first command to it. And it’s going to bring me options for being able to do that.

(24:10):

So we’re in a spot we’re in an arms race for both the capacity and there’s multiple needs for that available capacity. So tighten your belt, the prices are not coming down.

Scott Luton (24:24):

Buckle up folks. Buckle up. And I bet we’ll see, Jake, like we have seen for years, creative pricing where they can kind of embed it in the service and it makes it a little more palpable, but you’re locked in for a little while. That’s been interesting to see over the last … It’s been going on for quite some time.

Jake Barr (24:37):

Well, the phone device itself, the purpose it serves is going to be changing, right? So that’s the way you have to think about it. It isn’t just audio connection. It’s a super brain for accomplishing a number of tasks for me just like my computer is.

Scott Luton (24:52):

That’s right. So we shall see just how increased these prices skyrocket, but more importantly, perhaps where the supply and demand go for these, for all tips for that matter. So Jake, before we continue on, we got a great B block here on the Buzz, the first buzz of March 2026, powered by our friends at Altim. And before we move on, we want to share this message from our friends at Altium. Hey folks, Scott Lewton with supply chain now here. I want to share a terrific resource for all the fast-moving, hardworking SMB teams out there making it happen. Altium Develop is a unified platform for engineers that collaborate on electronic design without enterprise complexity or clunky overhead. This innovative platform provides all participants continuous insight into the end-to-end development process so that they can co-create products together with the power of peer-to-peer collaboration. Now, Altium developed was purpose-built for small and mid-sized organizations, and the platform helps every discipline, electrical, mechanical, software, sourcing, manufacturing.

(26:02):

It helps them all connect and co-create on an unlimited basis, all in a shared environment that aligns data, context, and purpose, and in continuous real-time fashion. And we’ve got to find new ways to remove the friction, cost, and silos that slow talented teams down. Here’s an opportunity to unleash your organization’s full technical creativity, production velocity, and overall performance. To learn more and to take Altium develop out for a test drive, click on the link in the comments, and as always, let us know what you think.

(26:39):

All right. Good deal there. And folks, Trisha’s making that really easy. Appreciate that, Trisha. We’ll drop a link right there. You can learn more about that offering from our friends at Autimm. Okay. So Jake, all of that, we’re building up to an important segment of our show here right this moment. We’re going to get a supply chain leadership pulse check from the John Wayne Global Supply Chain. So Jake, when you survey and going back to the top of the show, we’re talking about what’s front and center for so many right now at this very hour, or so many other priorities that get kind of pushed into the backseat, or at least become 1B to that 1A. What’s a couple of top priorities you’re seeing supply chain leaders act on here in March 2026?

Jake Barr (27:21):

Those that have been lost by the wayside have started trying to get into the boat and start trying to row on putting legitimate scenario analysis on the table for either looking at permutations of the implications of certain potential changes. And I’m going to say we’ve got a lot of folks that have been late to the game and getting in and getting on with it. Kevin’s piece earlier today was all about that. I mean, in essence, he’s literally beseeching you. Look, grab the bull by the horns, get into the game, get ahead of the game, and go use the information that you are able to decipher to help productively shape decisions instead of waiting for them to hit you between the eyes. And so that honestly is front and center, Scott. So there’s a ton of folks that I will assure you are missing the episode today because they’re behind and they’re trying to go, “Holy crap, we’ve got several more vessels and implications of stuff that we didn’t expect the strengths to get shut down again.

(28:26):

We didn’t expect that kind of delay. Okay, where are we going to pivot? Do we have enough material?” You should already know those answers. You shouldn’t be waking up to say, “Let’s go figure it out. ”

Scott Luton (28:36):

So Jake, first off, you get a cool point. You used the word besiech and that’s the first time anyone’s ever used that word on the history of the buzz. So tip to your vocabulary. Secondly, when it comes to, you mentioned scenario modeling and really, is there any excuse for not leaning into how we’ve got to use technology so that we can not only be more prepared, but be able to better predict and be better prepared for all the various contingencies that we may and our supply chain teams may find themselves in. Jake, what’s the last excuse folks are using out there?

Jake Barr (29:08):

I’m stupid. Okay. I mean, seriously, it’s just called, I’ve got my head buried in the sand and I think that I can buffer my way through the uncertainty. I’m sorry, we’re in the period of new never normal. There is no level of certainty today around virtually anything. You better be modeling the hell out of your supplier constraints, the supplier going down another geopolitical situation, a reduction in your production capacity, a supplier that just decided to merge with another supplier. I mean, they’re endless, Scott. And so we’re in a spot where from a financial and a just simply understanding of what your business needs to be making decisions about, you cannot afford to not get in the game and get on with this. I literally was looking forward to having the chat with the game team today because there are one other players out there that actually plays in that space.

Scott Luton (30:05):

Well said, first off. And secondly, we’re going to get Jeff Matursky back soon. I wish him well. Tell you, it’s easy. We’re all moving and traveling and making it happen. It’s easy for our immune systems to take the day off, right? So we’ll get Jeff back soon. Okay. But Jake, one other thing I was going to touch on because you mentioned kind of access to information. Well, folks, if you don’t know, some folks view us live here on the buzz every Monday, as we know, we kick off at 120 Eastern time, usually for about an hour. Well, then if you don’t know, because if you can’t make it live, you can join us. We usually restream the buzz at 11:45 PM Eastern time for other parts of the world where it’s more convenient, right? If you miss it there, you can always catch it on Friday where we drop the buzz replay into our podcast channel.

(30:46):

So we try to make it very holistic as we look to serve everyone, all of our SEN, global FAM, wherever they are. Okay. Moving past the … Speaking of, Galtham, great to see you joined in from India via LinkedIn. Great to see you here today. Let us know your thoughts on any of the topics we are talking about. All right. So Jake, we did the supply chain leadership pulse check where you kept it real as you always do. Now I’m going to shift over to a few things I shared last week. First, I shared a Wednesday morning rundown. Now folks, what that means when I say rundown, it means I’m going to share a lot of topics, a little bit on a lot of topics. Okay? And one of the things we talked about is the government of Panama is making some moves to seize a couple of key ports related to the overall Panama Canal complex.

(31:29):

This could possibly be related to how the US has been attempting to assert more influence in this region to counter other forces. And if you look at these cargo numbers that send before published, it’s easy to see why. And folks, if you can’t see the graphic, I’ll just share this to anyone that might be listening. If you look at Panama Canal Cargo about origin and destination in long tons, the US tops and origin, 116 million long tons, and in the US also tops and destination with 67 million long tons. So that is quite a lot of cargo, quite a lot of risk, right? And so no wonder some of the moves, some of the pressures, some influences being brought to bear there. Now on the same Wednesday morning rundown, take you like this. I touched on Corinne versus blog, which we published in the resource hub.

(32:13):

And let’s see, it included this quote. Gartner says supply chain decisions are becoming 71% more complex, happening 52% more frequently and need to be made 57% spreadsheets that just won’t cut it folks. And finally, I can’t wait to hear Jake’s comments here, but finally, we also included this Trinity research blog post that focused on really a short term AI fueled future. This has actually been rattling markets. And as they say, it’s not a prediction, it’s a scenario, a deep dive scenario, and you want to check this out. I’ve met some very smart people in this realm that have not, this has not been on their radar yet. So be sure we’re going to drop a link to this, I believe, and you can check out all these items. So Jake, Panama Canal, planning, AI, Skynet, your thoughts, Jake.

Jake Barr (32:57):

Where to start, Scott? Oh my God. Let’s start with the more obvious one. The move by the US honestly could be just said as call it domestic protection, right? Didn’t like the way the management of the canal had been managed over the last several years and definitely from a security standpoint, right? So you’ve got a situation where that was going to come to some kind of head to begin with. Now, what’s more important about that at the moment is that the canal is operating. So it is operational. So I don’t need to add that on top of the straits or moves at the moment in terms of two blockades. Well, look, the intrinsic element of it, if you peel the onion back one layer, there are a large number of US firms who have gotten to the point of doing dynamic repositioning of inventory in float stage.

(33:49):

So as it’s coming from Europe to the States, or as it’s coming from Asia to the US, because they are making these investments in how to position what I need based on changes in the market demand. And as such, the canal is actually playing a multipurpose role. It’s always been there to move cargo left or right, right to left. But cargo on a just in time basis has been a bit of a nuance that’s been a late addition to that where folks are beginning to use the AI tools, take advantage of the fact that I can reposition stuff and get it to the East Coast faster than overland if I need to write based on the balancing of what’s inside the containers, right? So that’s one. So AI is going to only enhance that number of companies that are looking at alternate opportunities like that.

Scott Luton (34:44):

And speaking of AI, have you read this? And this has been a couple weeks now, but have you read this article, this blog here from Citrini Research Jake? I did. And so I’m sure we could talk about this for hours and hours, but what I was really interested in is some of their scenarios that looked at business models, longstanding business models and how AI’s continued. And folks, by the way, the angle that kind of comes in is not that how AI has been unsuccessful. They really look at this generally speaking, my take at least, is they kind of imagine a scenario where AI is really, really good and gets better and better and better. And perhaps, just my take, perhaps our business, societal, longstanding business norms just aren’t quite ready just yet. Or we may be surprised with just how efficient some of these industries and some of these aspects of business life are completely transformed.

(35:39):

But Jake, what’d you get out of this at a high, high level?

Jake Barr (35:42):

Look, the development that’s occurred just in the last three years is speeding up. It’s not slowing down. So you are correct. I think one of their assessments of, “Hey, it’s going faster than societal norms of what I’m used to be comfortable with. ” It’s outpacing that, Scott, and I think it’s not slowing down. If anything, it’s accelerating. And so a lot of the ways that we think about how we get served service and/or insights of what we’re going to do or take action on are significantly changing, right?

Scott Luton (36:17):

Yes.

Jake Barr (36:18):

I would love to say that even with what we’ve done in the last six months alone on Agentich is going to stable. No, it’s actually, I’ve worked enough with folks out in the valley. I’ve seen where that’s being trumped by yet again, another piece of agenta capability that’ll make that look like elementary school. So we are going at a pace that is far faster than the way we think about business process re-engineering today.

Scott Luton (36:47):

Very, very true. And folks, go check it out. Gotham, you’re asking for the link. I don’t have the direct link to this handy. I will have it just not right here in a moment, but what you can do is Trisha has dropped the link to my Wednesday morning rundown, which includes in the comments, a direct link to the blog article, the extensive blog article we’re talking about. And one last thought, Jake, there’s so much here with this Citrini research piece. But one of the fascinating vignettes within the blog was its projected or its ideations around how credit card processing fees, which is a massive industry, how that can be completely turned on its head through a mix of AI crypto markets and some other exchanges. It really is fascinating. So folks, go check it out.

Jake Barr (37:31):

AI is going to unleash a number of category killers that we haven’t even thought of.

Scott Luton (37:37):

Very true. Whether this is accurate in terms of some of their observations here or in many, many other moving parts of the global business world, for sure. So moving along, and David Schilling for it, if you’re tuned in, I am not an A, I put this on one of his daily updates and he mentioned AI doomerism. So David and anyone else out there, I am not a doomer and gloomer. But as I shared with David and many others, we got to be very clear-eyed when it comes to the good and the bad and all points in between. Going back to the front end, there’s some very interesting conversations going on right now in the industrial military complex as it relates to where AI fits and where it doesn’t. So moving right along, I want to share some good news, folks. I think this is largely good news, even though I really got there by bemoaning the demise of a wonderful eatery in Athens, Georgia.

(38:22):

We were D’s of delicious, fine foods. Probably say that seven times fast. We were D’s delicious, fine foods right there at Athens has been running and serving soul food and comfort food for about 40 years. But I want to call your attention to the sign you see up on top there, right? Automatic for the people. Now maybe you’ve heard that before, but as the legend goes, Dexter Weaver, the chef of the entrepreneur behind, he’s the Weaver D’s behind Delicious Fine Foods. Well, he came back to his hometown of Athens after spending time as a young man in Baltimore. And he came back here with a new car and enough money, Jake, for exactly three car payments. And that’s it. He didn’t have another dime to his name. And he quickly went into the food industry where he became an icon, really. So this automatic for the people was a phrase that was so tied to his view and his business.

(39:10):

And here’s where it comes from evidently. So automatic seemingly comes from his long proven track record of learning and applying instantly to drive sales success, but also to delight his customers. It’s been said, he comes across an idea and he don’t plan to do it for months, he did it next day. So I love that. And then for the people stems from his days where Weaver would be a manager in the food industry and would work double shifts in the hard, hard, fast food business to cover for his people who wanted to take some time off or they were sick. So eventually all that would come together automatic for the people would be found on his sign. So then in 1992, arguably at the height of REM success, the alt rock and roll band that was founded in Athens, well, they needed a new name for a new album, Jake.

(39:55):

Well, they evidently brokered a deal with Mr. Weaver and they named that album that sold 18 million copies automatic for the people. Now, I would argue, going back to its roots, at least as it relates to Mr. Weaver’s story, that we all need to operate with more automatic for the people baked into our approach. So Jake, your thoughts are automatic for the people and would you agree, disagree beyond celebrating what’s been an incredible career that Dexter Weaver has enjoyed?

Jake Barr (40:23):

Well, first I want to give him props because I’ve been there multiple times. Unfortunately, in most cases after I’ve sustained a Georgia ass whipping of my favorite college team with my son. But what you can say is that the people are engaged that work there. They are hypersensitive to what you want. They are upbeat and a joy to interact with and he delivers on his promise of a good quality meal. So when you think about it and put it in business context, what do you want? You want to engage people that have the same vision that you have for the business that actually are encouraged to look for change and opportunity and then embrace that change so that I’d love coming to work at a place like that, right?

Scott Luton (41:12):

It’s so true. And you know what? We didn’t get to how tasty the food is. Food that I grew up on for sure. Chicken and gravy and cornbread. I’ll call them lima beans. Amanda and her family calls them butter beans, have a little fun with those rivalries. Collard greens, you name it, right? Food really often says that some food out there sticks to your ribs, but this will brighten any day and stick with you for quite some time. So folks, we’re just scratching the tip of that iceberg and the story they related, but check out that message there that Trisha dropped a link to automatic for the people and we’re celebrating a business that has had quite an impact on people in a variety of ways. Okay. So speaking of impact and great recent sessions, Jake, you and I had a great session last week where we featured Todd Stanger and Dr. Laura Tatso with SAP and we focused on one of our favorite topics, supply chain planning, but really re-imagining supply chain planning, especially with AI in mind.

(42:09):

And Jake, I enjoyed your perspective throughout this session. You joined me as a co-host for this great session. If you had to give the Reader’s Digest version or if you had to give the TikTok version of some of your takeaways from that session, what would they be?

Jake Barr (42:20):

Well, first and foremost, you’re talking about, again, an age old leader that is reinventing themselves in terms of their capabilities. So that’s first and foremost. It’s called, wait, I can still be an old company, but find new ways to compete, right? The second is just a recognition of the importance of putting AI in the hands in an operation sensitive way to actually help navigate through change, right? So your folks are bombarded with a ton of information and can you process it in context and quickly enough to gain the insight, to derive that funneled insight so that I can do something with it. And so what they spent time walking us through was how they’re now doing that and enabling folks to actually get ahead.

Scott Luton (43:08):

Yes. Well said, Jake. And folks, there’s so much there. In an hour, we made so much ground. And one of my favorite topics we touched on was as we talked about freeing up time for human planners, right? So they can make even a bigger impact. We even touched on some of the ways that folks that want to be planners are currently planners, how they can continue to optimize for their career and continue to unlock how they pose even more value to organizations. It was a very holistic discussion. Folks, go check it out. We dropped a link right there in the chat. You can check it out on demand. It was live just last week. We just conducted it live last week, so it’s still very fresh. Okay. Jake, on a related note, you kept saying never normal. And that happens to be one of our most popular series as it shares the name, the Never Normal Supply Chain Leadership Series.

(43:51):

And I stole a snackable from a recent edition of that series where we featured your dear friend and industry colleague, Rodrigo Alponte. And check this out what he says here, folks. I’m quoting. “As company scale and skew complexity explodes, the real competitive edge in 2026 won’t just come from better systems or AI-driven planning. It will come from empowered, highly skilled planners who can forecast risk, make faster decisions and prevent the supply chain from becoming a bottleneck to growth. “Jake. That is supply chain poetry, if you ask me your quick comments there.

Jake Barr (44:28):

He’s one of the disciples, so I’m big believer in what Rodrigo was doing with the Soto team.

Scott Luton (44:33):

Well, folks, we got a link to that. Rodrigo and Mike, and we had an incredible panel. Come check out the panel we conducted there. We make a drop a link, but get ready. We’ve had three installments of this very popular series between Jake and Corinne, and I hosted a session. Really good stuff. Must see TV for sure. All right. So Jake, man, I really wish, but I’ve been having too much fun. I wish we had a couple more hours here today.

Jake Barr (44:56):

We didn’t talk to Braves one time.

Scott Luton (44:59):

That’s because I’m not sure what we got yet. So once I have a better sense of that, I’ll be ready. Either talk trash or take my weapon. We’ll see. Really quick, I missed someone earlier. We try to recognize as many folks as we can. Emmanuel from Lagos right here on LinkedIn. Great to see you Emmanuel. Hope this finds you well. And again, as always, we enjoy anybody’s take on anything we’re talking about here today on the buzz. Trisha came through. Here’s a never normal series that we were just referencing. Go check that out, folks. It’s on demand. You’re going to enjoy that conversation where Rodrigo and friends really brought it. Speaking of Jake, we’re going to be at Modex. We’re going to be at Gartner Supply Chain Symposium, and that’s just on the short term horizon. We’re also going to be at American Supply Chain Summit and plenty of others.

(45:44):

I think we’ve got close to a dozen events we’re going to be at this year. You can find all of our event related programming, as well as our live programming like the Buzz right at our live programming tab at the newsupplychainnow.com. And I also would love to invite you to come check out our resource hub. Folks, we referenced Corinne versus great blog earlier. You’re going to find about a dozen written interviews we just released from conversations we had at Manifest two weeks ago, white papers, eBooks, blogs, you name it. Go check it out at the resource hub, and you’re going to find that right there at supplychainnow.com. Okay. And Trisha’s also dropping a link. Thank you, Tricia, you and Amanda. Big shout out to you both. Thanks for all the great support and production. All right, so Jake, you stay on the move. Simple question as we wrap here today.

(46:30):

How can folks track you down and connect with the Jake Barr?

Jake Barr (46:34):

Well, I’ve got a client conflict upcoming that’ll keep me from Modex this year for the first time, but I will be at the Gartner event on the floor of the expo and obviously networking with several hundred folks around the bar area at the upcoming Gartner event in Orlando.

Scott Luton (46:52):

That is the biggest supply chain happy hour. And folks, I’m wearing protective gear. I’m going to have my goggles and my helmet and my body vest as I venture into the fray this year at the biggest supply chain happy hour that you’ve ever seen. So beyond what Jake shared, you can also connect with Jake on LinkedIn and many other places. I would definitely encourage you to follow, connect, you name it. And I should also say, so Jake Barr, always a pleasure. Thank you for joining us here on the first buzz of March 2026. Jake, great to have you here today. The pollen is out. It is, folks, especially, gosh, if you live down south, and goodness knows you live in Georgia where pond trees contribute to most of the pollen. We’re entering into our yellow everything zone for the next few weeks probably. But hey, it also brings golf, it brings baseball, it brings March madness.

(47:43):

So I’ll take all that. I want to thank also our friends of Altium who powered the buzz here today, who are also accelerating the pace of electronics innovation. You can learn more at altium.com. And big thanks again, Amanda and Trisha. Big thanks to everyone that showed up. I know we couldn’t hit everybody’s comment, but y’all while we do this, big thanks to our SCN Global FAM. And you got homework though, folks, as you always do. Jake and I covered a lot of ground here today. Take one thing that the fearless John Wayne of Global Supply Chain said here today. Share it with your team. Put it into practice. Do something with it, right? It’s all about deeds, not words. And with that said, on behalf of the entire supply chain now team, Scott Lewton challenge you do good to give forward. Be the change that’s needed.

(48:27):

Good luck Dodge in the pollen, and we’ll see you next time right back here on Supply Chain Now. Thanks for bye.

Intro/Outro (48:33):

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