Raleigh Wilkins

At the Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in Denver, Scott Luton caught up with Rob Haddock, a seasoned supply chain practitioner and advisor with Demand Chain AI, to discuss the persistent planning challenges organizations face—and why maturity, discipline, and optimization still matter more than buzzwords. Demand Chain AI blends consulting services with advanced supply chain technologies, focusing on optimization across trade promotion management, demand sensing, supply planning, and detailed production scheduling. Haddock’s role centers on helping organizations strengthen business processes—particularly sales and operations planning (S&OP), performance reporting, and the practical application of technology to improve execution on both the demand and supply sides.   A Practitioner’s Perspective on Planning Gaps Haddock’s perspective is shaped by decades spent inside large, sophisticated supply chain organizations. Early in his career, he worked within an iconic, global beverage company where advanced planning environments were already in place—though, in hindsight, he admits those tools were sometimes underutilized. Today, Haddock spends much of his time working with small and mid-sized organizations that haven’t been as fortunate. In many of these environments, planning maturity is still low, foundational practices are missing, and—unsurprisingly—Excel remains the primary planning tool. “Basic business practices that have been around since the 1990s…

The logistics and transport sector contributes about 24% of global CO2 emissions. Considering the push for supply chain sustainability across different sectors, the need for lower emissions has been heating up in recent years. With roughly a quarter of the world’s emissions tied to logistics, this industry will possibly be the final frontier to tackle regarding sustainability. While different strategies can be leveraged to reduce the impact of logistics operations on the environment, integrating eco-friendly practices and reducing Scope 3 emissions are some of the most pressing initiatives at hand. This article serves as a guide that will provide actionable steps for companies to embrace innovative solutions and navigate the transition toward a greener future. Scope 3: Understanding Supply Chain Emissions Modern supply chain management outsources different parts of the operation to leverage the expertise of different suppliers and stakeholders. Logistics operations are usually outsourced to third-party providers, and exercising control over their operations and monitoring their sustainability practices and emissions can be challenging. Here’s the harsh reality: no matter how well an organization manages to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions, the unaddressed Scope 3 emissions can bring the entire process to a screeching halt. This is especially true…