Sean Kelly

Special Guest Blog Post written by Bernadine Henderson Ms. Henderson, senior director of procurement at Protolabs, lifts the lid on buying in manufacturing and why relationships are central to it.   Simply put, the job of a buyer is really about buying the right thing at the right time for the right price. It sounds simple, but it really is very complicated because everything that’s going on in the world impacts the timing, the availability, and the price of the product. This means that buying has recently got a lot more complicated. World events have very real consequences on global supply chains. Just one example is the way in which buyers have responded to tariffs in the U.S. by re-routing sourcing locations. It takes a certain amount of agility to be a buyer in 2025, and this quick responsiveness is helped along by one key ingredient, and that is strong relationships with suppliers. Relationships Built on Trust A widely held misconception is that buyers are only interested in getting to the lowest price possible. In fact, the most important thing to a buyer is for suppliers to bring solutions that deliver overall value. In my experience, a really strong supplier…

Stay up to date on all the latest conversations, interviews, and episodes we released this week here at Supply Chain Now! On Monday we started the week off with an episode of Supply Chain Now with Scott Luton and TEKTOK host Karin Bursa! The two welcomed COO of SAPICS, Jenny Froome, and the Business Development Executive at SAPICS, Tonya Lamb. On Tuesday, we published a new episode of This Week In Business History with host Kelly Barner. On Tuesday, Scott reflects on the 2021 global summit with Lora Cecere, Kelly Barner, and Kevin L. Jackson. These four talk about some of the most impactful conversations that happened during the event, including effective leadership and how it goes hand in hand with supply chain planning, and more. On Wednesday we released an episode of Logistics With Purpose. This episode features Henok Berhanu, Founder & CEO of Carry 117, and Ashley Bohinc, Executive Director of Carry 117. On Thursday we published a new episode of the Freight Insider with host Page Siplon. Page welcomed Christian Fischer, President and CEO of Georgia Pacific, to the show. On Friday, we published the podcast version of our Monday Supply Chain Buzz livestream, with special guest,…