John McKay

Special Guest Blog Post written by Jeff Echel and Steve Lykken with e2open   Supply chain planners in high-tech don’t just manage shipments; they’re crisis managers, data detectives, and sometimes, referees in a high-stakes game of inventory tug-of-war. Why do these planners find themselves huddled in “war rooms,” surrounded by spreadsheets and urgent emails? It starts with relentless pressure: customers expect rapid, reliable service, but the reality is a maze of long lead times, outsourced manufacturing, and unpredictable global logistics. Securing critical components can take months, and a single misstep, like overstocking or missing a shipment, can ripple through the business, impacting revenue and margins. The chaos: War rooms and spreadsheet battles Add to that, the complexity of forecasting demand. Planners reconcile noisy, inconsistent data from retailers and distributors, often with little visibility, into . Forecasts are built, torn down, and rebuilt, sometimes manually, as teams try to align bottom-up channel data with top-down financial targets. Meanwhile, supply plans are constantly threatened by shortages, excess inventory, and last-minute changes. When demand surges or supply is disrupted, channels compete for limited stock, sometimes “stealing” from each other, and sometimes winning simply by being the loudest voice in the room. All of…

Stay up to date on all the latest conversations, interviews, and episodes we released this week here at Supply Chain Now! Kelly Barner and Scott Luton brought in the week with an episode of Dial P for Procurement on Supply Chain Now. For this episode, the P in Dial P is for payments. Kelly and Scott welcome Kris Lance with Una and Jim Luff with Chosen Payments, to the show. For Monday’s This Week In Business History, Scott covers the many hats that Ray Kroc wore as he built the Mcdonald’s global brand. On Tuesday, we released another episode of TEKTOK with Karin Bursa and special host Kevin L. Jackson. This episode is all about BLOCKCHAIN, from the basics to process improvements. On Wednesday’s episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott and Greg welcomed Tim Holland, Contingent Workforce and Talent Acquisition Leader and Barb Sexton Vice President, Partner Development for Corporate Services with OMNIA Partners, LIVE to the show as they broadcast from the OMNIA Partners 2021 Connections Event in Miami. Scott and Greg had another opportunity to chat with OMNIA Partners leaders at the 2021 Connections Event as they welcomed Stephen Laratta, Vice President of Partner Development, MRO and Facilities…