Venkat Gopalan

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…

Listen up! We’re kicking May off with some great conversations you won’t want to miss. Take a look back on the latest episodes, interviews, conversations, and livestreams from this week right here. On Monday, we released 3 new episodes! In this episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott welcomes JD Redmon back to the podcast for a frank conversation about accessing the marketing solutions you need, the trend towards diversity marketing and hiring, how to use your voice to achieve what you need, and so much more. On This Week in Business History, Scott Luton explores the genesis of The Clorox Company, from the early entrepreneurial struggles to their international expansion, innovation & growth. On Supply Chain Now en Espanol, Enrique Alvarez welcomed Alex Meza with RioRev Partners to the podcast to talk about growing up in Mexico and the United States, Alex’s professional experience, and trade between the two countries. On Tuesday, we released 2 new episodes! On this episode of TEKTOK Digital Supply Chain Podcast, powered by Supply Chain Now, host Karin Bursa welcomes Jason Tham with Nulogy to the podcast to tackle the question- is your supply chain agile or fragile? On TECHquila Sunrise, host Greg White dives…