Sender Shamiss

Special Guest Blog Post written by Jeff Echel and Steve Lykken with e2open   Supply chain planners in high-tech don’t just manage shipments; they’re crisis managers, data detectives, and sometimes, referees in a high-stakes game of inventory tug-of-war. Why do these planners find themselves huddled in “war rooms,” surrounded by spreadsheets and urgent emails? It starts with relentless pressure: customers expect rapid, reliable service, but the reality is a maze of long lead times, outsourced manufacturing, and unpredictable global logistics. Securing critical components can take months, and a single misstep, like overstocking or missing a shipment, can ripple through the business, impacting revenue and margins. The chaos: War rooms and spreadsheet battles Add to that, the complexity of forecasting demand. Planners reconcile noisy, inconsistent data from retailers and distributors, often with little visibility, into . Forecasts are built, torn down, and rebuilt, sometimes manually, as teams try to align bottom-up channel data with top-down financial targets. Meanwhile, supply plans are constantly threatened by shortages, excess inventory, and last-minute changes. When demand surges or supply is disrupted, channels compete for limited stock, sometimes “stealing” from each other, and sometimes winning simply by being the loudest voice in the room. All of…

A British logistician is credited with coining the term “supply chain management” in the early 1980s, but it wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic that the world became familiar with such aspects of supply chain operations as logistics, inventory and supplier management, and procurement. The influence of supply chain leaders also has grown with the understanding of the importance of the supply chain in the global economy. Supply chain management is a complex field with many moving parts, and the need for accurate and reliable information is more crucial than ever. Industry leaders help facilitate discourse and spur innovation to shape the future of the supply chain. In this article, we highlight five of these supply chain leaders, showcasing their extensive expertise and experience in the industry and what they are planning for the future. Making Moves: Five Supply Chain Leaders on the State of the Industry 2024 has been an exciting year so far. The OSRA 2022 ruling went into effect to better regulate demurrage and detention charges; Chinese e-commerce businesses are heating up the airfreight industry; and in dire contrast, the U.S. trucking industry continues to struggle through a lengthened lean patch. In an increasingly volatile ecosystem, the industry…