Keeping it Real with Retail Leadership: A Chat with Bill Thorne

In this episode of Supply Chain Now, hosts Scott W. Luton and Kevin L. Jackson sit down with Antonio Bustamante, CEO of bem, to explore how automation is reshaping the supply chain landscape in 2025. Together, they unpack the hidden costs of manual workflows, the pitfalls of outdated systems, and the massive opportunity in eliminating data friction. Antonio shares how bem helps teams move away from time-consuming email and PDF-based processes toward self-healing, AI-powered systems that learn from every operator input. He discusses why the freight world is especially burdened by unstructured data, and how automation can free up teams to focus on serving customers, not fixing typos. The conversation also covers the limitations of RPA and email triage, the challenge of achieving interoperability across legacy systems, and why meeting operators where they are (even if that means faxes and handwritten notes) is key to meaningful digital transformation. Plus, Antonio offers a peek at bem’s upcoming Command Center, a tool that gives ops teams the power to correct, route, and improve workflows without relying on engineering.   This episode is hosted by Scott Luton and Kevin L. Jackson, and produced by Trisha Cordes, Joshua Miranda, and Amanda Luton.   Additional…

Human trafficking is one of the most urgent, and often hidden, crises of our time. In this powerful episode of Logistics with Purpose®️, we shine a light on the realities of modern-day slavery in recognition of National Human Trafficking Awareness Month.