William O’Donnell

What a week at Supply Chain Now! If you missed an episode, get a quick summary and listen here. On Monday, we published an excellent episode with Jon Gold, the VP of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation. Supply Chain Now · “The Voice of Retail: Jon Gold with the National Retail Federation”   On Tuesday, Scott & Greg welcomed two APICS legends to the podcast, Anthony “Z” Zampello & Fred Tolbert, for a lesson in S&OP fundamentals and best practices.   Supply Chain Now · “S&OP Fundamentals & Best Practices: Anthony “Z” Zampello & Fred Tolbert”   On Wednesday, we published this week’s Supply Chain Buzz, with an update on Hurricane Laura from Riskpulse Chief Meteorologist Jon Davis, and then covered the top news in supply chain with Kara Brown and Will Haraway with Lead Coverage.   Supply Chain Now · “The Supply Chain Buzz for August 24th Featuring Jon Davis, Kara Brown, & Will Haraway”   On Thursday, Greg welcomed Flourish CEO Colton Griffin to the TECHquila Sunrise podcast for a great conversation on the ins and outs of founding a tech company, the start-up life, and the cannabis industry.   Supply Chain Now…

At the Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in Denver, Scott Luton caught up with Rob Haddock, a seasoned supply chain practitioner and advisor with Demand Chain AI, to discuss the persistent planning challenges organizations face—and why maturity, discipline, and optimization still matter more than buzzwords. Demand Chain AI blends consulting services with advanced supply chain technologies, focusing on optimization across trade promotion management, demand sensing, supply planning, and detailed production scheduling. Haddock’s role centers on helping organizations strengthen business processes—particularly sales and operations planning (S&OP), performance reporting, and the practical application of technology to improve execution on both the demand and supply sides.   A Practitioner’s Perspective on Planning Gaps Haddock’s perspective is shaped by decades spent inside large, sophisticated supply chain organizations. Early in his career, he worked within an iconic, global beverage company where advanced planning environments were already in place—though, in hindsight, he admits those tools were sometimes underutilized. Today, Haddock spends much of his time working with small and mid-sized organizations that haven’t been as fortunate. In many of these environments, planning maturity is still low, foundational practices are missing, and—unsurprisingly—Excel remains the primary planning tool. “Basic business practices that have been around since the 1990s…