W. Kyle Hooper, MBA, CQE, CQA, LSSGB

Another great week here at Supply Chain Now! Have you listened to all the episodes this week? If not, we’ve got it covered! Check them all out here: We took Monday off in observation of Memorial Day, and on Tuesday we welcomed Ward Richmond with SupplyChainRealEstate.com back to Supply Chain Now, and he gave Scott and Greg a supply chain real estate industry update.   Supply Chain Now · “Industry Real Estate Update: Ward Richmond & SupplyChainRealEstate.com”   On Wednesday, Mike Wasson and Aubree Duncan with Tosca joined Scott and Greg on Wednesday to talk about food safety and a supply chain update   Supply Chain Now · “Food Safety & Supply Chain Update: Mike Wasson & Aubree Duncan with Tosca”   On Thursday we published our popular Supply Chain Buzz, and Scott and Greg welcomed Jon Davis, Chief Meteorologist with Riskpulse to the podcast, who shared a weather update and how it affects the global supply chain.   Supply Chain Now · “The Supply Chain Buzz for May 26th with Special Guest Jon Davis with Riskpulse”   And on Friday, we welcomed MIchael Darden with DFM Data Corp to Supply Chain Now.   Supply Chain Now · “Michael Darden:…

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…