Patrick Kelly

Another great week here at Supply Chain Now! Have you listened to all the episodes? If not, no worries! Check them all out here: On Monday, we welcomed Dan Reeve with Esker to the show to talk about how organizations can leverage AI effectively to win in uncertain times. Supply Chain Now · “Leveraging AI Effectively to Win in Uncertain Times: Dan Reeve with Esker”   We continued our Today in Manufacturing series on Tuesday, and welcomed Rebecca Bowman with The Clorox Company to Supply Chain Now, along with special co-hosts Jason Moss with Georgia Manufacturing Alliance and Laura Madajewsli with HLB Gross Collins.   Supply Chain Now · “Today in Manufacturing: Rebecca Bowman with The Clorox Company”   On Wednesday we published our popular Supply Chain Buzz, with Scott and Greg sharing and discussing the latest news and events in Supply Chain and beyond.   Supply Chain Now · “Pharma Supply Chain, Reshoring, & TP: The Supply Chain Buzz for May 18th”   Thursday we welcomed back Latia Thomas via livestream as she shared what the future of supply chain has in store. A bright future indeed!   Supply Chain Now · “Latia Thomas: Leading the Charge into the…

Inside the reverse logistics education gap and the economic blind spot keeping it invisible Special Guest Blog Post written by Deborah Dull   Tony Sciarrotta has been asking the same question at industry conferences for years. As the Senior Director of Circularity and Reverse Logistics at the National Retail Federation, he knows what answer he’s going to get. But he keeps asking anyway. “Anybody in here go to school for returns management, reverse logistics, circularity? Any degrees in those fields the room?” It’s rare that anyone raises their hand. “That’s what’s wrong with our industry,” Sciarrotta told me at NRF Rev this January, the first conference under NRF’s new reverse logistics banner. “We still need to fix it.”   The Numbers That Should Make Headlines Here’s what makes reverse logistics so fascinating: the scale is staggering, but the infrastructure to support it needs to be stronger. According to the National Retail Federation, American retailers processed approximately $890 billion in returns in 2024 which is roughly 17% of all retail sales – and it’s higher for ecommerce. But that number almost certainly understates reality. “We have a fragmented industry,” Sciarrotta explained. “Where are all those returns going? It has to be…