Rob Lopez

Special Guest Blog Post written by Bart A. De Muynck   The past few years have exposed just how fragile our supply chains can be. From tariff shocks to pandemic disruptions, from inflationary pressures to mounting parcel surcharges, the landscape has shifted beneath our feet. Companies that once managed logistics as a back-office function are now grappling with its role as a front-line business risk.   What’s often missed in this conversation is the role of freight audit and payment (FAP). Long considered a tactical necessity, FAP has quietly become a strategic imperative. And as I explored in the Better Supply Chains Market Radar: Freight Audit & Payment, the companies that treat it that way are the ones best equipped to weather today’s volatility.   Why FAP Has Become Mission-Critical   When tariffs can add 15–20% to input costs almost overnight, or when the elimination of the U.S. de minimis exemption threatens to reshape cross-border e-commerce, companies need more than visibility. They need real-time intelligence and agility.   Traditional FAP approaches—manual audits, siloed spreadsheets, reactive error correction—are no longer sufficient. Modern FAP platforms, powered by AI and advanced analytics, enable shippers to:   Audit with precision at scale, uncovering hidden…

Stay up to date on all the latest conversations, interviews, and episodes we released this week here at Supply Chain Now! We started this week off with an episode of Digital Transformers with host Kevin L. Jackson. During this episode, Kevin sits down with three digital experts to discuss new approaches to establishing trust and provenance within a supply chain that is increasingly both digital and physical. This episode features Dustin McIntire the CTO of COMSovereign Holding Corporation. Eric Adolphe the CEO of Forward Edge-AI and Joshua Pendrick the CEO and Co-founder of Rypplzz. For Monday’s This Week In Business History episode, Kelly Barner talks about the political act that led to an increase in organized crime and the end of the Great Depression. On Tuesday, we released a new episode of Supply Chain Now with host Scott Luton and guest host Allison Giddens. They welcomed the head of Global Supply Chain for Peloton, Jennifer McKeehan, to the show. They discussed how the hybrid work environment is allowing the best leaders to shine by continuing to build strong, meaningful relationships, and much more. This week we released an episode of Logistics With Purpose with hosts Enrique Alvarez and Kristi Porter.…