Cristina Aleixendri

At the 2025 Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in Denver, Scott Luton sat down with Fred Baumann, Senior Industry Principal at Kinaxis, one of the world’s most recognized leaders in supply chain planning and orchestration. Kinaxis has spent over four decades shaping the planning landscape and has been named to the Gartner Leaders Quadrant an extraordinary 11 consecutive times—a testament to its execution strength and long-term vision. Baumann’s role at Kinaxis centers on helping chief supply chain officers and senior leaders shape their strategic transformation roadmaps, quantify value, and build the business cases necessary to achieve breakthrough outcomes.   From Episodic Disruptions to Continuous Turbulence When asked about old and new challenges facing supply chain planning teams, Baumann observed a major shift: disruption is no longer episodic—it’s continuous. Historically, companies faced major disruptions every few years. Today, volatility and constraint-related challenges—whether driven by tariffs, sourcing changes, geopolitical shifts, or supply shortages—are unfolding weekly or even daily. This environment demands a new way of working. The speed of global business is accelerating, and uncertainty is at historic highs. As Baumann noted, organizations must now adjust their supply chains “much faster than they had to even last year.” The shift isn’t only…

Supply Chain Now is the voice of the supply chain industry, and our hosts are experts in the field. Podcast listeners tune in to hear the words of wisdom from host Marty Parker, whose practical advice is taken everywhere from the classroom to the C-suite. An Educated Voice in Supply Chain Parker certainly has the supply chain chops to back up his advice. He has 30 years of experience in the supply chain C-suite (COO, CMO, CSO), is the founder and CEO of Adæpt Advising, and is an award-winning senior lecturer in supply chain and operations management at the University of Georgia. He also founded and leads UGA’s Supply Chain Advisory Board, is the academic director of the university’s Leaders Academy, and serves on multiple advisory boards, including the Trucking Profitability Strategies Conference, Zion Solutions Group, and Carlton Creative Co. Mentoring on Campus and in the C-suite Parker’s mentoring carries supply chain stakeholders from their student days to the C-suite. At UGA, he helps his students network and land internships and post-graduation jobs. Through Adæpt Advising, he works with C-suite executives to improve their skills, become better leaders, and develop strategic plans with detailed action steps and financial targets. He…