Gretchen Smith

From Grocery Innovator to Global Tech Enabler At Manifest 2026, Scott Luton spent time with David Scheffrahn, Vice President of Sales with Ocado Intelligent Automation, to explore how fulfillment technology is evolving in an era defined by volatility. While Ocado is widely known in the UK and Europe for its e-commerce grocery leadership, Scheffrahn explained that the company’s North American focus is different. Over 25 years of building its own advanced grocery e-commerce and fulfillment operations, Ocado developed a powerful technology stack to drive efficiency. “What we’ve done in the last five years,” he shared, “has taken the tech stack that we built for our own use, and now we’re offering it to other companies to buy and use for their operations.” Today, Ocado supports 3PLs and global brands with end-to-end automation solutions that enable companies to maintain greater control over their omnichannel fulfillment, especially those looking for alternatives to marketplace giants.   Volatility Hasn’t Gone Away When asked about dominant supply chain themes heading into 2026, Scheffrahn was direct: “Volatility has not gone away.” He described 2025 as “a massive shock in the system,” with tariffs and shifting trade policies forcing customers to pause projects and reassess strategy. “Almost…

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…