Bart De Muynck

Podcasting has become a crowded — and noisy — field. It seems these days everyone has a mic — and a platform. The supply chain really entered the international spotlight during COVID-19, when goods piled up at ports during stay-at-home mandates. The rapid rise in e-commerce kept the focus on the supply chain as consumers demanded to be kept up to date on when all their stuff was going to be delivered. Supply chain-focused podcasts emerged to shed light on shutdowns and disruptions as well as the advancements in moving goods from points A to B — and sometimes C, D, and E. But not all podcasts take a serious look at the supply chain. There was a rash of silly content when an Evergreen container ship got stuck in the Suez Canal, and whenever a critter steals an Uber Eats delivery, the doorbell camera footage airs everywhere. We love a funny squirrel video just as much as everyone else does, but to maximize your supply chain podcast’s reach and impact, you should treat your subject matter with the seriousness it deserves. At Supply Chain Now, we pride ourselves on giving the best and brightest in the industry a voice,…

At the 2025 Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in Denver, Scott Luton met with John Lash, who leads strategy and vision at e2open, a WiseTech Global Group company. E2open is a global platform powering the entire lifecycle of making, moving, and selling goods, with capabilities spanning planning, logistics, global trade, supply management, and procurement. The platform is designed not just for enterprise visibility but for true end-to-end coordination across extended supply chain ecosystems. Lash emphasized that disruptions rarely originate within a company’s four walls. “Your sub-tiers are where most of the risk lives,” he explained. “That’s where your day-to-day operations—and your long-term strategy—are truly shaped.” It’s a lesson sharply reinforced during the pandemic, which reminded leaders worldwide that no one does supply chain alone.   Old Challenges Intensified by New Realities When Luton asked about the biggest challenges facing planning teams today, Lash pointed immediately to constraints—supply constraints, manufacturing constraints, and now, the added layer of global trade volatility. Trade policies that once shifted every few years now change weekly, daily, or even hourly. Lash offered a striking example: Brazilian coffee duties jumped from 10% to 50% this summer—before returning to 0%. “How do you plan through that?” he asked.…