Josh Pendrick

At the jampacked MODEX 2026 in Atlanta, Scott Luton sat down with Brian Devine, President & CEO of Ignite Industrial Professionals, for a grounded and timely conversation about one of the most pressing issues in global supply chain: the workforce. While automation continues to dominate headlines, Devine makes one thing clear: people are still at the center of it all. And finding them is getting harder by the day.   “Fingerprints on Every Box” Despite rapid advancements in robotics and automation, Devine emphasizes a fundamental truth that often gets overlooked. “There’s still… fingerprints on boxes. Somebody’s putting their fingerprints on tons of boxes to move it to the next phase of the supply chain,” he explains. Even in many highly automated environments, human labor remains essential. Devine shares an example of a cutting-edge facility where autonomous forklifts handle part of the process, but still rely on human operators to complete the job. The takeaway? Automation is largely augmenting, rather than replacing, the workforce. And that makes the labor shortage even more critical to address.   A Shrinking Labor Pool One of the most compelling parts of the discussion centers on simple supply-and-demand economics. The labor pool isn’t just tight. It’s…

This week on Supply Chain Now, we released our 500th episode, gained key insight into the latest industry news, & heard from featured guests who shared their journeys into supply chain. Make sure you’re up to date on all the latest episodes, interviews, conversations, and livestreams! On Saturday, Brandon Mason, a lead analyst for Eaton’s Global Market Intelligence group shares with Scott his insights into automotive industry trends, including emerging technologies & economic trends.   On Monday, the Supply Chain Now team got together to celebrate 500 episodes and look back on the journey so far.   On Tuesday’s podcast episode, Scott & Greg welcomed Hank Picken and Jeff Picken, the father-son team leading Beaumont Products. Listen up as they share what its like to be part of a family business as well as key insight into manufacturing.   For Veteran’s Day on Wednesday, we featured the Veteran Voices podcast where Scott welcomed Rear Admiral Casey W. Coane, U.S. Navy (Retired) to talk about his military service and the mission he’s on now.     On Thursday, Karin Bursa & Sofia Rivas Herrera joined Scott & Greg on the Supply Chain Buzz. Listen up as they dive into giving forward…