Alicia Washkevich

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. Ozdag leads the firm’s supply chain practice with a focus on planning from detailed forecasting through detailed scheduling. As a former practitioner himself—having led planning operations at large global enterprises—he brings a grounded, real-world perspective to the challenges facing today’s supply chain leaders.   Old Problems Persist—and New Ones Are Emerging When asked about classic and emerging challenges in planning, Ozdag didn’t hesitate: firefighting isn’t going away. From supply planning disruptions to last-minute schedule changes, firefighting remains a daily reality. “Life happens,” Ozdag noted. Plans rarely match reality, and organizations must constantly adjust. But today, a new layer has been added: AI uncertainty. Everywhere he goes, leaders are asking the same questions: “Is AI the right investment?” “Will the ROI materialize?” “Are we adopting the right tools, or just chasing hype?” This blend of enduring complexity and emerging skepticism has become a defining…

Stay up to date on all the latest conversations, interviews, and episodes we released this week here at Supply Chain Now! We started our week off with a conversation on Supply Chain Now with not one, but two Allisons! Scott and Greg had the opportunity to talk with Allison Grealis the President of the Women in Manufacturing Association and Education Foundation, and Allison Giddens the Co-President of Win-Tech and Treasurer of the Georgia Chapter of Women in Manufacturing. Scott focused on the history of Labor Day in Monday’s This Week in Business History’s episode. Scott talks about the history of the holiday and the part that everyone plays when it comes to the global workforce. On Tuesday, we published a new episode of TEKTOK with host Karin Bursa featuring Greg White, host of TECHquila Sunrise. During this episode Karin talks with Greg about his perspective on how to be successful in today’s HOT Supply Chain Tech market. On Wednesday’s episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott and special co-host Mike Griswold, Vice President of Research at Gartner, interviewed Scott Mann. Scott Mann is known for being a Green Beret, Retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army, and President of Rooftop Leadership.…