Vicki Bachmann

At the Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in Denver, Scott Luton sat down with Caglar Ozdag, a supply chain leader at ZS. Known for its deep analytics and technology expertise across industries such as life sciences, airlines, consumer goods, and agriculture, ZS has become a trusted partner for organizations looking to elevate their planning and manufacturing performance. Ozdag leads the firm’s supply chain practice with a focus on planning from detailed forecasting through detailed scheduling. As a former practitioner himself—having led planning operations at large global enterprises—he brings a grounded, real-world perspective to the challenges facing today’s supply chain leaders.   Old Problems Persist—and New Ones Are Emerging When asked about classic and emerging challenges in planning, Ozdag didn’t hesitate: firefighting isn’t going away. From supply planning disruptions to last-minute schedule changes, firefighting remains a daily reality. “Life happens,” Ozdag noted. Plans rarely match reality, and organizations must constantly adjust. But today, a new layer has been added: AI uncertainty. Everywhere he goes, leaders are asking the same questions: “Is AI the right investment?” “Will the ROI materialize?” “Are we adopting the right tools, or just chasing hype?” This blend of enduring complexity and emerging skepticism has become a defining…

It has been a big week (as usual) for Supply Chain Now! Did you miss an episode? Check them all out here: Listen as Daniel Studdard with the Atlanta Regional Commission, talks with Greg and Scott from MODEX 2020 about keeping freight moving:   Rodney Apple with SCM Talent Group joins Greg and Scott from MODEX 2020 to chat about securing top supply chain talent:   On Tuesday, Scott and Greg were joined remotely by Jan van Niekerk with SpotSee, to talk about leveraging technology to protect your shipments during transit:   Scott and Greg were joined by Bob Bova with Accuspeech Mobile from MODEX 2020 and discussed voice automating workflows:   On Thursday 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:   And to finish out the week, Mark Messina and Rick DeFiesta with Geek+ joined Scott and Greg for a discussion about COVID-19’s impact on consumer behaviors, warehouse operations, automation initiatives, and more:   Make sure you subscribe to Supply Chain Now so you never miss an episode and we will see you next week with all new livestreams and…