The Buzz is Supply Chain Now’s regular Monday livestream, held at 12 noon ET each week. This show focuses on some of the leading stories from global supply chain and global business, always with special guests – the most important of which is the live audience! In this week’s episode of The Buzz, hosts Scott Luton and Elba Pareja-Gallagher discuss the latest news and developments in the global supply chain industry. They touch on the ongoing crisis at the Port of Baltimore, the potential resurgence of the manufacturing industry, and the importance of sustainable sourcing and packaging. The episode features a special guest, Patricia Coan, COO of Pura, a smart home fragrance company. Coan shares her insights on building high-performing teams, the complexity of the fragrance industry, and Pura’s sustainability efforts, including a partnership with an Aboriginal tribe in Australia for sustainable sandalwood sourcing.

Allen Jacques knows a thing or two about the world of life sciences and the various nuances that characterize the medical and pharmaceutical supply chains. Today, he serves as a Thought Leader at Kinaxis, a cloud-powered supply chain insight platform that combines human intelligence with AI and concurrent planning to help companies plan for the future, monitor risks and opportunities, and keep up with the speed of change. In this episode, sponsored by Microsoft, Allen sits down with hosts Scott Luton and Kevin L. Jackson to offer his take on a range of trends, issues, opportunities, and challenges relating to supply chains, drawing on his experience from the biopharma world. Listen in and learn more about the complexities of the pharmaceutical industry- including manufacturing challenges, regulatory constraints, and how these contribute to lengthy lead times- and how technology is helping supply chain professionals within the sector. Allen highlights the evolution of various digital and AI-powered solutions in improving supply chain transparency and efficiency, and the value of data-driven decision-making, and also offers some sage advice for those seeking to advance their careers and develop leadership credentials. Want to hear what else Allen has to say? Tune into the full discussion…