Steve Koenig

Another BIG week at Supply Chain Now! If you missed an episode, get a quick summary and listen here! We published a great Logistics with Purpose episode on Saturday the 8th, featuring Shane Buerster with Z Beans Coffee. Supply Chain Now · “Logistics with Purpose: Shane Buerster with Z Beans Coffee”       On Monday, Scott and Greg spoke with Keith Saunders, Vice President of Direct Materials and Sourced Finished Goods at Zep Inc.   Supply Chain Now · “Supply Chain Front & Center: Keith Saunders with Zep Inc.”     Stephanie Thum talked about relentlessly focusing on the customer on the podcast on Tuesday with Scott and Greg.   Supply Chain Now · “Relentlessly Focused on the Customer: Stephanie Thum with Practical CX”     On Wednesday, we published this week’s Supply Chain Buzz, which featured an excellent interview with Andrew Kelley, the CCO of Boxlock.   Supply Chain Now · “The Supply Chain Buzz for August 10th with Featured Guest Andrew Kelley from BoxLock”   On Thursday, we shared another great episode in the TECHquila Sunrise series with Greg White, where Greg shares the latest investments, acquisitions, innovations, and glorious implosions in Supply Chain Tech every week.…

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…