Donald Ratliff

At the Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in Denver, Scott Luton caught up with Rob Haddock, a seasoned supply chain practitioner and advisor with Demand Chain AI, to discuss the persistent planning challenges organizations face—and why maturity, discipline, and optimization still matter more than buzzwords. Demand Chain AI blends consulting services with advanced supply chain technologies, focusing on optimization across trade promotion management, demand sensing, supply planning, and detailed production scheduling. Haddock’s role centers on helping organizations strengthen business processes—particularly sales and operations planning (S&OP), performance reporting, and the practical application of technology to improve execution on both the demand and supply sides.   A Practitioner’s Perspective on Planning Gaps Haddock’s perspective is shaped by decades spent inside large, sophisticated supply chain organizations. Early in his career, he worked within an iconic, global beverage company where advanced planning environments were already in place—though, in hindsight, he admits those tools were sometimes underutilized. Today, Haddock spends much of his time working with small and mid-sized organizations that haven’t been as fortunate. In many of these environments, planning maturity is still low, foundational practices are missing, and—unsurprisingly—Excel remains the primary planning tool. “Basic business practices that have been around since the 1990s…

We continued this week on Supply Chain Now with more great interviews, conversations, livestreams, and episodes! Did you miss any episodes? On Monday, Scott and Karin Bursa introduced our newest Supply Chain Now program, TEKTOK, to our audience!   On Tuesday, Scott and Greg welcomed Dan Reeve with Esker back to Supply Chain Now for a conversation about increasing supply chain visibility and cash flow.   We published our Supply Chain Buzz on Wednesday, where Scott & Karin discussed the top news in supply chain for the week, and also welcomed featured guest, Lora Cecere with Supply Chain Insights to the podcast.   On Thursday, we continued with the second half of Greg’s interview with Sarah Barnes-Humphrey for TECHquila Sunrise.   And to wrap up the week, Scott and Greg welcomed Ashfaque Chowdhury, PhD with XPO Logistics to the podcast for a great conversation. Which was your favorite episode this week? Never miss an episode by subscribing to Supply Chain Now! Make sure you tune in next week for more great conversation, timely topics, and exceptional guests.