Atul Vir

At Manifest 2026, Scott Luton caught up with Marina Mayer, Editor-in-Chief of Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive, and Co-Founder and Content Director of the Women in Supply Chain Forum, for a conversation that cut through the tech buzz and landed squarely on what matters most: people. Marina leads two influential digital publications covering the full spectrum of supply chain — from temperature-controlled cold chain logistics to e-commerce and retail — along with four major industry awards programs and the rapidly growing Women in Supply Chain Forum, now entering its fifth year. But amid all the innovation on display in Las Vegas, her message was refreshingly grounded.   Disruption Is the Baseline. Proactivity Is the Shift When asked about dominant themes shaping the industry, Marina didn’t hesitate. One common theme linking 2025 and 2026 is that “disruptions obviously still exist,” she said. From tariffs to trade wars to Mother Nature, the hits keep coming. What’s different in 2026 isn’t the disruption itself; it’s the response. Instead of dwelling on what’s gone wrong, companies are getting proactive. Leaders are “acting on it and being proactive about getting in front of it,” she noted. Since COVID, organizations have learned that…

A shipment delayed at sea can become a financial problem before it ever reaches the warehouse. A routing decision can change exposure to cargo theft. A technology investment can improve visibility while raising expectations for how quickly teams should respond. For supply chain leaders, geopolitical, technological, and economic disruption rarely arrive as separate challenges. They overlap, creating decisions that affect transportation, compliance, customer service, and profitability all at once. In the recent Supply Chain Now webinar, hosts Scott Luton and Jake Barr were joined by Henrik Holm, Vice President of Ocean Freight for the Americas at Apex Logistics International, and Linda Moran, Customs Compliance Senior Manager at Apex Logistics International, to explore how companies can adapt. Their discussion offered a practical perspective on what Barr calls the “never normal”: leaders need strategies that help them operate confidently even when the conditions around them keep changing.   Building Stability Through Preparedness Stability can feel like an ambitious goal when trade policies shift, shipping routes change, and transportation capacity becomes unpredictable. Yet the panel’s discussion suggests that companies can create greater stability through the decisions they make before disruption occurs. Holm emphasized understanding when and where goods are needed, planning earlier, and…