Charles Walker

Special Guest Blog Post written by Bernadine Henderson Ms. Henderson, senior director of procurement at Protolabs, lifts the lid on buying in manufacturing and why relationships are central to it.   Simply put, the job of a buyer is really about buying the right thing at the right time for the right price. It sounds simple, but it really is very complicated because everything that’s going on in the world impacts the timing, the availability, and the price of the product. This means that buying has recently got a lot more complicated. World events have very real consequences on global supply chains. Just one example is the way in which buyers have responded to tariffs in the U.S. by re-routing sourcing locations. It takes a certain amount of agility to be a buyer in 2025, and this quick responsiveness is helped along by one key ingredient, and that is strong relationships with suppliers. Relationships Built on Trust A widely held misconception is that buyers are only interested in getting to the lowest price possible. In fact, the most important thing to a buyer is for suppliers to bring solutions that deliver overall value. In my experience, a really strong supplier…

BIG THINGS happening here at Supply Chain Now! Have you listened to all the episodes from this week? If not, no worries! Check them all out here:   We started out the week wrapping up our last episode from MODEX 2020 with supply chain visionary Diego Pantoja-Navaja with Oracle.   Supply Chain Now · “Supply Chain Visionary: Diego Pantoja-Navajas with Oracle”   On Tuesday, Scott and Greg were joined by Enrique Alvarez and Adrian Purtill with Vector Global Logistics as they continued the Logistics with Purpose series with special guest Patrick Plonski with Books for Africa.   Supply Chain Now · “Logistics with Purpose: Patrick Plonski, PhD with Books for Africa”   Then we published the new and improved Supply Chain Buzz, with Scott and Greg sharing and discussing the latest news and events in Supply Chain and beyond.   Supply Chain Now · “The Supply Chain Buzz: Week of April 27th”   Scott and Greg were joined by Bobby Holland with U.S. Bank and Lee Klaskow with Bloomberg Intelligence on Thursday as they discussed the key takeaways from the Q1 2020 U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index.   Supply Chain Now · “Analysis of Q1 2020 U.S. Bank Freight Payment…