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supply chain planning
January 7, 2026
ToolsGroup CEO Sean Elliott on Embracing Uncertainty, Probabilistic Planning, and Preparing for an Agentic Future
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…
April 17, 2020
This Week on Supply Chain Now: April 11-17
It has been a big week (as usual) for Supply Chain Now! Did you miss an episode? Check them all out here: Listen as Daniel Studdard with the Atlanta Regional Commission, talks with Greg and Scott from MODEX 2020 about keeping freight moving: Rodney Apple with SCM Talent Group joins Greg and Scott from MODEX 2020 to chat about securing top supply chain talent: On Tuesday, Scott and Greg were joined remotely by Jan van Niekerk with SpotSee, to talk about leveraging technology to protect your shipments during transit: Scott and Greg were joined by Bob Bova with Accuspeech Mobile from MODEX 2020 and discussed voice automating workflows: On Thursday 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: And to finish out the week, Mark Messina and Rick DeFiesta with Geek+ joined Scott and Greg for a discussion about COVID-19’s impact on consumer behaviors, warehouse operations, automation initiatives, and more: Make sure you subscribe to Supply Chain Now so you never miss an episode and we will see you next week with all new livestreams and…