John DeSarbo

At the Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in Denver, Scott Luton sat down with Sean Elliott, CEO of ToolsGroup, to discuss why uncertainty is no longer something supply chain leaders should fear—and how the right technology can turn volatility into advantage. Elliott brings decades of experience across supply chain execution and planning, a background that shapes his pragmatic leadership philosophy. As he noted, bad plans can cripple even the best execution environments, just as poor execution can undermine well-crafted plans. ToolsGroup’s mission sits squarely at that intersection.   What Makes ToolsGroup Different Elliott described ToolsGroup as one of the few truly probabilistic planning providers in the market. While many vendors claim probabilistic capabilities, most stop at probabilistic forecasting. ToolsGroup goes further by embedding probabilistic thinking across the full breadth of its planning technology. The company’s belief is simple but powerful: uncertainty is not the enemy—it’s an asset. Rather than chasing forecast accuracy for its own sake, ToolsGroup focuses on business outcomes. What planning organizations really care about, Elliott argued, is having the right inventory in the right place at the right time to satisfy customers. Customer satisfaction—driven by availability, pricing, and service—is the ultimate goal. Probabilistic planning enables organizations to…

First, it was print, then radio and television, but with the advent of the internet, the effect of mass media multiplied a hundredfold. Today, information reaches the ends of the globe instantly, and some of the main drivers of that are video and podcasts, albeit aided by different social media platforms. Both are powerful mediums for communicating trends and news in any industry. Supply chain podcasts play a crucial role in disseminating information, serving as a powerful tool for enlightening the public. Delivering Authentic Expertise in a Cluttered Digital Landscape Industry professionals and even the general public seem to have an insatiable appetite for news, trends, and analysis of events impacting the supply chain, businesses, and the economy at large. Podcasts and videos offer people deep insights into the minds of industry experts and decision-makers on such topics as manufacturing, sourcing, supplier management, warehousing, logistics sustainability, and inventory management. Despite its many great qualities, social media can get noisy. For instance, on LinkedIn, many claim to be experts, sharing verified and unverified information about the supply chain industry. Finding the right source can be confusing, especially with the prevalence of irresponsibly published content and clickbait journalism. For stakeholders in the…