Stacey Schroeder

BIG THINGS happening here at Supply Chain Now! Have you listened to all the episodes from this week? If not, no worries! Check them all out here:   We started out the week wrapping up our last episode from MODEX 2020 with supply chain visionary Diego Pantoja-Navaja with Oracle.   Supply Chain Now · “Supply Chain Visionary: Diego Pantoja-Navajas with Oracle”   On Tuesday, Scott and Greg were joined by Enrique Alvarez and Adrian Purtill with Vector Global Logistics as they continued the Logistics with Purpose series with special guest Patrick Plonski with Books for Africa.   Supply Chain Now · “Logistics with Purpose: Patrick Plonski, PhD with Books for Africa”   Then we published the new and improved Supply Chain Buzz, with Scott and Greg sharing and discussing the latest news and events in Supply Chain and beyond.   Supply Chain Now · “The Supply Chain Buzz: Week of April 27th”   Scott and Greg were joined by Bobby Holland with U.S. Bank and Lee Klaskow with Bloomberg Intelligence on Thursday as they discussed the key takeaways from the Q1 2020 U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index.   Supply Chain Now · “Analysis of Q1 2020 U.S. Bank Freight Payment…

At the Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in Denver, Scott Luton sat down with Nari Viswanathan, a veteran innovator in the planning and procurement technology space and a key leader at Coupa. The two reconnected after several recent collaborations—including webinars, industry sessions, and conversations in Dallas—and discussed the new realities of supply chain planning and how organizations are embracing technology like never before.   Coupa and Autonomous Spend Management For those less familiar with Coupa, Viswanathan explained the company as the global leader in autonomous spend management—a framework that brings together direct and indirect spending to help organizations manage total spend more intelligently. Direct spend, of course, is where supply chain operations come into focus, making planning, design, and cost optimization central to the value Coupa delivers. Viswanathan leads Coupa’s global supply chain strategy, shaping how the company positions and scales its solutions across the market. After years spent in supply chain planning technology, he now sits at the intersection of procurement, supply chain, and advanced analytics—an area he believes has never been more exciting or more critical.   Old Problems, New Pressures—and a Greater Willingness to Innovate When asked about the biggest challenges facing planners today, Viswanathan emphasized a…