Jim Tompkins

Another great week here at Supply Chain Now! Did you catch all the episodes? If not, you can check them all out here: We kicked off the week with This Week in Business History, where Scott looks back at some of the biggest historical events in business history for the week ahead. Supply Chain Now · “This Week in Business History for June 29th: The U.S. Interstate Highway System”   Then on Tuesday, Scott and Greg welcomed Cynthia Curry with the Metro Atlanta Chamber and Jasmine Crowe with Goodr to the podcast for a conversation about redirecting excess prepared food and so much more.   Supply Chain Now · “Feed More & Waste Less: Jasmine Crowe with Goodr”   On Wednesday, we continued our new series, TECHquila Sunrise with Greg White, where Greg shares the latest investments, acquisitions, innovations, and glorious implosions in Supply Chain Tech every week.   Supply Chain Now · “Top 25 Startup Ecosystems, Inclusive Investing, & Big Deals: TECHquila Sunrise with Greg White”   On Thursday we published the Supply Chain Buzz, where Greg and Scott discussed the top supply chain news of the week.   Supply Chain Now · “Supply Chain Buzz for June 29th:…

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…