Survivors on a desert island. If there’s a single role that consistently just figures it out, it’s supply chain professionals.

–Keith Moore
CEO
AutoScheduler.AI

Lost on a desert island companions. If a plane crashes, who do you want by your side? You want someone who is great at math, problem solving, prioritizing, and can get things from A to B. Supply chain professionals are the best executors out there, and like Jeff Bezos famously said, “It turns out ideas are the easy part, execution is everything.”

–Ross Williams
Director
DSJ Global, a Phaidon International brand

Wedding planners.

Our extreme attention to detail, coordination across multiple parties, and ability to foresee and mitigate risks, and solve problems ensure that a supply chain is well orchestrated, much like a seamlessly executed wedding where everyone has a wonderful experience.

–Allen Jacques
Industry Thought Leader
Kinaxis

Both wedding planning and supply chain management require logistical expertise in the sourcing, scheduling, and delivery of various components, management of multiple vendors, focus on customer satisfaction, ability to stay within budget, adherence to timelines, troubleshooting all manners of problems quickly, and meticulous attention to detail.

–Rebecca Wilson
Group Vice President, Human Resources
Kenco

Crisis negotiators. This work demands a profound ability for optimizing outcomes, maintaining adaptability in light of emerging information, adeptly executing strategies (maximizing time and risk vs. reward analysis), fostering intrinsic motivation for improvement, and embodying negotiations expertise.

–Evan Rago
Sales Director
Gather AI

Social workers help individuals, groups, and families prevent and cope with problems in their everyday lives. Supply chain professionals constantly do the same work with a host of different companies to prevent and cope with delays in the everyday movement of cargo.

–Stephen Lyman
Executive Director
Maritime Association of the Port of NY/NJ

Soccer athletes. Both professions demand team players and require strategic thinking, team coordination, and agility to pivot when faced with unexpected obstacles. Superior communication skills and a focused drive to achieve their goals are also essential qualities shared by both.

–Jose Barahona
VP Sales
Magaya

Game designers. Supply chain professionals’ knack for problem-solving, optimizing processes, and foreseeing outcomes makes them adept at creating engaging, strategic games or puzzles that challenge and intrigue players.

–Dennis Moon
COO
Roadie

Band members possess unique skillsets and manage complexity while adapting as a team to deliver on the customer experience. This requires deep expertise, a strong familiarity with what is being performed, and maybe most important, a quality of service and devotion to the craft. At our best, supply chain professionals create great music together.

–Laura Sheehy
Chief Human Resources Officer
Odyssey Logistics

Movie producers due to supply chain professionals’ adeptness in coordinating and orchestrating complex processes. Just as they manage the flow of goods and services efficiently, they can oversee the intricate logistics involved in film production, from sourcing equipment and materials to coordinating locations, schedules, and budgets. Their ability to anticipate and mitigate potential disruptions aligns with the unpredictable nature of filmmaking. They also excel in collaboration and communication, essential qualities for leading diverse teams of cast and crew.

–Inna Kuznetsova
CEO
ToolsGroup

Army generals because they constantly weigh their strategies against risk and reward. They also know all about combined operations.

–Tom Moore
CEO and Founder
ProvisionAi

Historians because origins, tracking, and transparency are vital for business growth. With B2B customer demands for digital compliance, ensuring digitally enabled origin and supply chain data is crucial.

–Sebastiaan Verhaar
CEO
Sana Commerce

Aviation control tower chiefs. Like chief controllers who must consider vast amounts of data from multiple sources to make timely, critical decisions, supply chain managers possess the unique ability to oversee complex networks to ensure the seamless flow of goods.

–Lilian Bories
Chief Marketing Officer
TradeBeyond

NBA general managers, handling player transactions, contracts, coaching hires, and serving as a link to ownership. Likewise, supply chain pros oversee all aspects of supply chain operations, from procurement to production, ensuring efficiency and communication with upper management. In both roles, seamless execution is key to success.

–Itamar Zur
Co-Founder, CEO
Veho

Chefs. You have to ensure the right ingredients get to the right place at the right time. A complex dish can require a lot of different processes, and one bad egg can spoil the batch. These are realities that everybody in a supply chain closely understands. Everything is about timing.

–Bryan Gerber
Founder and CEO
Hara Supply

Acrobats. In the supply chain, we constantly seek balance for our customers from beginning to end. Not only are flexibility and speed vital to success in both professions, but we have to be daring and innovative while working interdependently with a low margin for error.

–Sarah Damschroder
Vice President of Human Resources
GEODIS in Americas

Chess players. Like chess champions, supply chain professionals must think a few steps ahead to get inventory in and out of the warehouse and to their final destinations in a timely and efficient manner.

–Steven Hyman
COO
Global Messenger and Logistics

Adventure tourism leaders. Supply chain professionals possess the skills to lead adventure tourism and expedition planning services. Their attention to detail and strategic planning abilities make them ideal leaders for orchestrating high-stakes expeditions. For example, trekking up Mt. Everest, a supply chain pro could coordinate how exactly to get you and the supplies to the peak.

–John Donigian
Senior Director–Supply Chain Strategy
Moody’s Analytics

Parents. Parenting is problem solving in the face of constant change, many unknowns, and zero chance of perfection. Raising resilient children and managing supply chains have many parallels. Supply chain professionals are constantly applying capabilities such as generalization, abstraction, and subjectivity to complement technology.

–Elton Brown
Consultant
DMS

Space ship controllers because we are used to real-time events, with constant changes, and “failure is not an option” mindsets. We move all of the goods that are around us, day by day, decade upon decade.

–Danny Schnautz
President
Clark Freight Lines

Backpackers. Supply chain professionals are amazing problem solvers, even when hindered by limited resources. We’re also used to moving and working under weighty conditions. Whether we’re loaded down with gear and supplies, or carrying the even heavier expectations of our customers and fellow departments, we know how to keep moving forward when the going gets tough.

–Jessica Windham
CEO
Solving Work

Robot programmers. When programming a robot, you need to do so with an eye on what the ultimate endgame is. You need to plan from the start where you want things to end up, before you direct each of the steps it takes to get there. Supply chain professionals do this every day—coordinate several moving parts to reach the ultimate goal of getting something from A to B.

–Alejandro Suarez
Director of Strategic Engagements
Realtime Robotics

Magicians.

They have to deliver what some would think is impossible every day. They must seamlessly coordinate complex processes, anticipate challenges, and adapt to changing circumstances. They need to juggle multiple elements at the same time and perform flawlessly or their organization fails.

–Stephen Dombroski
Director, Consumer Markets
QAD

Because they make the impossible seem possible. Crafting a magic act involves careful planning to ensure each trick flows seamlessly. Supply chain pros are strategic planners, designing and executing plans. The behind-the-scenes “magic” of supply chain makes complex processes look effortless.

–Karin Stevens
EVP, Chief Marketing Officer
Overhaul

Both require logistical expertise, with the former strategizing the movement of goods similar to how magicians plan their tricks. While supply chain professionals may not use sleight of hand in the literal sense, they do need to be skilled at efficiently handling goods and managing items with precision to keep customers happy.

–Eric Allais
President & CEO
PathGuide Technologies, Inc.

Air traffic controllers.

Both jobs require exceptional critical thinking and decision-making abilities to solve complex problems in high-pressure situations. The stakes differ, but the skill sets are very similar.

–Carlyn O’Hanlon
Senior Talent Acquisition Manager
Arrive Logistics

Each profession orchestrates complex operations to reduce disruptions. In addition, each must anticipate and respond to changes with safety and efficiency as their top priority. Precision, strong communication, and planning are critical skill sets in both roles.

–Mike Trudeau
Executive Vice President of Business Development
Montway Auto Transport

Supply chain professionals must have the aptitude to see the big picture and detect deviations in the orderly flow of goods and services. For this, they need visibility—provided by a business network and sometimes a very tall control tower. They also need to make timely mid-course corrections to mitigate risk and keep the components of their respective cargoes safe.

–Tony Harris
SVP & Chief Marketing and Solutions Officer
SAP Business Network

Event planners. The skill set required in supply chain management parallels the expertise needed in event planning. Both roles demand meticulous planning, coordination, attention to detail, and organizational abilities. Both fields also demand working under pressure to ensure seamless coordination and mitigate potential issues.

–Fernando Correa
CEO and Co-founder
Cargobot

Customer experience strategists. Their deep understanding of the intricacies of supply chains allows them to identify critical touchpoints and leverage these for enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty. By optimizing these areas, they can significantly impact the overall customer experience, driving retention, and fostering positive brand perception.

–Nishith Rastogi
Founder and CEO, Locus.sh

Business leaders as many possess a unique skill set equipping them for leadership success. Their proficiency in managing resources, optimizing processes, and navigating complexities allows them to lead with efficiency, strategy, and resilience in dynamic business environments—which is particularly crucial in today’s uncertain economy.

–Joe Galvin
Chief Research Officer
Vistage

Supplier marketers. In an era of global instability, the need for enterprise to be the “customer of choice” for its suppliers is urgent. By applying marketing ideas to suppliers to build strong relationships and create value to capture value, pros can become a guiding force in a complex procurement ecosystem. As technology continues to explode, one outcome will be the rise of supplier marketing.

–Anthony Payne
Chief Marketing Officer, HICX

Innovators. Amid complex logistics, rising shipping costs, port congestion, labor shortages, and fluctuating unloading rates, supply chain experts benefit greatly from leveraging the latest robotics technology. Robots excel at hazardous and labor-intensive tasks like truck unloading freeing resources to focus on other priorities, thereby enhancing operational agility and predictability.

–Mike Fair
Director, Product Management
Boston Dynamics

Emergency room physicians. They are proactive and constructive but also have to be great in the face of chaos. They are also problem solvers with agility and the ability to pivot when faced with challenges, all while leaning on their training and experience to manage critical opportunities.

–Mark McEntire
CEO
Princeton TMX

Crisis managers. They need strong problem-solving skills, the ability to work under pressure and the dexterity to collaborate with a diverse set of stakeholders.

–Nina Reinhardt
Chief Communications Officer
RXO

Orchestra conductors.

“Conducting” suppliers, “rehearsing” logistics, and “tuning” end products to match demand. Similar to musicians in an orchestra, raw materials and manufacturers must harmonize and synchronize to create the desired end products and ensure on-time in-full deliveries.

–Nirav Patel
CEO
Bristlecone

In both roles, there are an incredible amount of moving parts that all have to be coordinated and “played” at the same time in order to be successful. Many specific actions may seem out of place when viewed alone. But when all of those actions are integrated, and “played together” a supply chain can sound like a beautiful symphony.

—Josh Dunham
CEO and Co-founder
Reveel

Just like conductors harmonize the various sections of an orchestra for a flawless performance, supply chain pros expertly coordinate logistics, inventory, and replenishment to keep the business symphony playing smoothly. Plus, they’re always ready to improvise when necessary!

–Laurence Brenig-Jones
VP of Strategy & Marketing
RELEX

Because of their knack for orchestrating complex systems. Like conductors interpreting a composer’s vision, they understand overarching goals and coordinate diverse talents within teams. Their leadership skills allow them to harmonize individual elements into a cohesive symphony of efficiency, ensuring flawless execution and desired outcomes.

–Omer Abdullah
Co-Founder
The Smart Cube

☒ The supply chain should reduce cost. It can, but more importantly the supply chain should help reduce time—the amount of time that anything in stock is ordered, pulled from inventory, and delivered to the end consumer.

–Steven Hyman
COO
Global Messenger and Logistics

☒ The most important supply chain metric is cost savings. Many supply chain professionals believe doing more with less and finding “leverage” is the key to success. Operating efficiently, not the cheapest, is paramount to delivering value in the form of responsiveness, sustainability, and innovation. You cannot thrive internally and expect your customers to feel the value.

–Mark McEntire
CEO
Princeton TMX

☒ People will become less important with increasing automation and AI in the supply chain. While technology boosts efficiency, it cannot replace the unique human skills necessary for collaboration and strategic decision-making. An optimal supply chain requires a balance of both technology and human expertise.

–Mike Trudeau
Executive Vice President, Business Development
Montway Auto Transport

☒ Digitalization replaces human expertise. While technology does enhance decision-making, the human touch remains crucial for tackling disruptions and maintaining partnerships. Digitalization doesn’t negate the need for human skills; it complements them.

–Fernando Correa
CEO/Co-Founder
Cargobot

☒ Technology will fix everything. Technology is not a panacea. Enterprise resource planning systems are coming into their third decade now, and we still see the same data-quality issues crop up. Investing in our people and processes is the most efficient and effective way to build resilient supply chains—ones that can utilize everything the artificial intelligence revolution has to offer.

–Jessica Windham
CEO
Solving Work

☒ The supply chain sector will continue to be male dominated. More women are entering the supply chain workforce than ever before. Our 2023 Voice of the American Workforce survey shows 42% of supply chain respondents are female, and Gartner’s Women in the Supply Chain data finds 25% of supply chain C-suite roles are now filled by women—statistics not seen a decade ago.

–Kim Vindrine
Sales Excellence Manager
Employbridge

☒ Supply chains are necessarily becoming more resilient by shifting production out of China toward countries that have better relations with the United States and its allies. Shipping lanes between China and the U.S. West Coast are comparatively secure when compared to routes that require ships to pass through the Suez or Panama Canals regardless of the disposition of the country of origin.

–Robert Reavis
Vice President
ButcherJoseph & Co.

☒ Temperature-controlled environments are only suited to protect from heat or freezing. There is additional value; they reduce humidity while food products are stored or handled. Humidity can impact food quality and the shipping and inner carton stability.

–Frank Hurst
Executive Vice President – LTL
Echo Global Logistics

☒ Transportation causes major delays (i.e. OTIF penalties) in manufacturing. This is overblown. More than 80% of the time, the reason something is late to a customer destination is because it didn’t leave the source distribution site on time.

–Keith Moore
CEO
AutoScheduler.AI

☒ Negotiations are a zero sum game. Conversations with suppliers, partners, and even competitors should center around opportunities for shared value creation, instead of an ultimately shortsighted “I win, you lose” approach. As Simon Sinek says, it’s an infinite game. Adopting binary mindsets will ultimately leave us shorthanded.

–Jason Hehman
Vertical Lead for Industry 4.0
TXI

☒ Supply chains are linear. Supply chains are nonlinear fluid processes that operate continuously. They are dynamic and consist of multiple chains that comprise a supply chain ecosystem. They are interconnected and living processes that do not start and end. Understanding this will make you more adaptable to change.

–Stephen Dombroski
Director of Consumer Markets
QAD

☒ Blaming the supply chain for products not being delivered on time and timelines being delayed. This is a cop out. It’s easier to place blame instead of understanding the requirements for the supply chain to flow correctly.

–Chip Barth
Managing Director, Global Supply Chain Practice
TBM Consulting

☒ You need to be an expert in supply chain. In a recent piece of research every interview started with “I’m not an expert on supply chain,” yet what followed was a rich discussion that often ran over time. Start a conversation with a team you don’t normally talk with.

–Anthony Monaghan
Transportation Leader
WTW

☒ A “lights out” supply chain. The value technology can bring is not to eliminate humans but elevate them, by automating the obvious and minimizing the mundane, so people are freed to work on higher-order, complex problems requiring contextual understanding and judgment.

–Polly Mitchell-Guthrie
VP, Industry Outreach and Thought Leadership
Kinaxis

☒ Pressing pause on innovation and continuous improvement in a down market. This can actually be an opportune time to take action for the future. A company’s budget may not currently support launching new sites or fully automating an existing site, but there are lower-cost options to remove bottlenecks and improve operational efficiencies.

–Bryan Perkins
Senior Vice President, Engineering
Tompkins Solutions

☒ Supply chain disruption can be measured just by looking at the amount of stock in the supply chain. While volatility matrices may tell us we aren’t experiencing disruption based on measures of stock, we also need to look at logistics indicators like the Baltic Dry Index and the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI). Also, container imports and exports, and purchase, producer, and manufacturing indices.

–Gordon Donovan
Global Vice President Research
SAP Procurement and Supply

☒ The shortage of truck drivers is a systemic issue. This is just not the case. What we have seen are temporary fluctuations in capacity based on the demand for shipped goods vs. the supply of trucks available, often due to drivers leaving or entering based on the strength of the market.

–Eric Masotti
President of Logistics
Trailer Bridge

☒ Disruption is an aberration. It’s a state of mind. Agility isn’t something that happens just once or twice a year or when a crisis hits. It’s an ongoing capability and it’s business critical. The era of “this is how we do things, no need to adjust” doesn’t exist anymore.

–Tony Pelli
Practice Director, Supply Chain Security & Resilience
BSI

☒ Companies’ supply chain challenges are unique. We all face similar issues. By connecting and discussing our shared challenges, we open the door to collaborative problem-solving and can create shared value. Partnership and transparency are essential to building a smarter, more sustainable supply network.

–Dan Ahrens
Director, Customer Solutions
CHEP

☒ The supply chain will return to “normal.” While supply chain disruptions that first arose in 2020 have been dissipating, new uncertainties have been arising at almost the same pace. From global tensions to artificial intelligence, continuous new challenges will keep us from our prior normal.

–Felix Vicknair
Vice President of Supply Chain Solutions
Kenco

☒ You need an overly complex or resource-intensive process to obtain a complete picture of your spend across your supply chain. By integrating artificial intelligence with procurement best practices in classifying spend data, businesses can quickly gain insights, identify savings, and uncover risks.

–Scott Macfee
CEO
SpendHQ

☒ Today’s supply chain technology focuses exclusively on automating people out of the process. While this may be the goal for some, many logistics firms build technology that enables their teams to deliver customer solutions faster and more efficiently rather than replacing human interaction altogether.

–Noah Sidenberg
General Manager of Canada Sales Operations
Arrive Logistics

☒ Artificial intelligence can replace human expertise. While it is an excellent resource for enabling the workforce to be faster and more efficient, it is a supplement, not a replacement.

–Melissa Somsen
Chief Commercial Officer
AFS Logistics

☒ The supply chain is a linear progression from raw materials to finished goods. However, the modern supply chain defies such simplicity, functioning more like a dynamic web of interconnected events orchestrating the creation and distribution of end products.

–Nirav Patel
CEO
Bristlecone

☒ The terms “returning to normal” or “returning to the new normal.” They can be confusing. The last few years have exposed such unpredictable risks affecting the supply chain that any deterministic forecast is doomed to fail given that long lead times coupled with multiple risk factors can rapidly change the situation. Factoring risks into a probabilistic forecast model and ensuring the ability to mitigate them during the execution stage, such as deploying robust tools for in-season inventory optimization, becomes crucial for success.

–Inna Kuznetsova
CEO
ToolsGroup

☒ AI is a one-stop solution to remedy all supply chain challenges. While it is undeniably a critical asset in enhancing supply chain efficiency, its success hinges on a robust foundation of underlying technologies, well-defined processes, and skilled personnel. AI excels when it complements these elements, rather than replacing them.

–Martyn Verhaegen
CTO
Magaya

☒ The supply chain is made up of silos of planning, transportation and warehousing. It’s a chain

–Tom Moore
CEO and Founder
ProvisionAi

☒ Traditional, large-scale logistics networks are always the most efficient for last-mile delivery. In reality, flexible, crowdsourced delivery models have proven highly effective, especially for urgent or same-day deliveries. These models offer scalability and adaptability, crucial for meeting dynamic consumer demands and coping with fluctuating supply chain pressures.

–Dennis Moon
COO
Roadie

☒ Only big companies can have effective supply chains. While being big ostensibly brings resources and capabilities, a company of any size can optimize their supply chain by focusing on the right fundamentals and may be better positioned to move faster on market innovations than the big players.

–Joe Adamski
Senior Director
ProcureAbility

☒ The driver who picks up the shipment is the same who will deliver. This is an old but reoccurring perception in LTL, predominantly from novice shippers. They assume any verbal instructions need only be kept in the driver’s memory. Include shipment instructions not only on the BOL but electronic records as well.

–Kevin Day
President, LTL
AFS Logistics

☒ The supply chain is a series of independent steps. Reality: It’s an ecosystem of interdependent activities serviced by multiple parties. Technology innovations have enabled a seamless exchange of information, access to real-time status of resources, and process alignment within the ecosystem for on-time delivery and customer delight.

–Nagendra Rao
President, Sales
Trigent Software

☒ You can optimize one aspect of your supply chain—transportation, inventory, shipping, e-commerce—without impacting the others. Today, every aspect of your business is so connected that optimization in one area may have unintended consequences in another. Modeling and simulation of the end-to-end supply chain can help you identify any issues and prevent these consequences.

–Josh Dunham
CEO and Co-founder
Reveel

☒ Sustainability is cost-prohibitive. Too many retail brands are still beholden to this outdated notion. Through digitalization, companies can ensure socially and environmentally responsible sourcing while not only enhancing operational efficiency and increasing profit margins, but also growing loyalty among consumers who increasingly prioritize ethical practices in their buying decisions.

–Lilian Bories
Chief Marketing Officer
TradeBeyond

☒ AI is replacing the supply chain workforce. In fact, quite the opposite is true. An AI-powered supply chain enhances teams by providing more accurate data and previously inaccessible insights to inform smarter, more confident decisions. By providing accurate forecasts and optimization recommendations, AI also empowers teams to work more collaboratively and strategically to drive results.

–Alex Jobin
Senior Solution Principal, Forecasting and Replenishment
RELEX Solutions

☒ Brokerages are best suited for overflow demand. In reality, brokerages are core strategic carriers for shippers, who can offer massive capacity and specialized capabilities, including advanced technology. They’ve become integral players in the for-hire-truckload market, a trend that will continue, revolutionizing supply chain dynamics and meeting evolving industry demands.

–Jared Weisfeld
Chief Strategy Officer
RXO

☒ Technology alone can solve all supply chain challenges. While technology plays a crucial role in supply chain visibility, focusing solely on it neglects the criticality of people and processes. AI offers innovation, but it’s our people who truly deliver its value via quality processes.

–Omer Abdullah
Co-founder
The Smart Cube

☒ GenAI will quickly alter the course of supply chains. Yes possibly. However, there are two challenges to overcome—the underlying data infrastructure must be AI-ready, requiring a different technology approach, and supply chains must evolve their decision-making processes to combine human expertise with AI capabilities to realize GenAI outcomes.

–Ram Krishnan
Global Head, Customer Success
Aera Technology

Yes. Since the pandemic, supply chains have undergone a shift from being perceived primarily as a cost center to an opportunity for competitive advantage. Organizations have built resilience by shifting to a more modern, digital supply chain and leveraging technology like artificial intelligence (AI) to support planning, procurement, and logistics.

–Nirav Patel
CEO
Bristlecone

Nearshoring and ally shoring have improved supply chain resilience since the pandemic, with nearshoring reducing dependency on overseas suppliers and shortening lead times, while ally shoring fosters collaborative alliances for shared risk mitigation and agile responses to disruptions.

–Mark McCullough
CEO
Gebrüder Weiss North America

No. Companies built additional infrastructure during the pandemic for more capacity. Now they need capacity in different parts of the country for different things. They need to be more efficient and instead of building even more infrastructure, utilize that unused space to save on costs, transportation, and emissions.

–Bill Thayer
Founder & CEO
Fillogic

Critical supply chains in food, health, defense, and technology are being studied and reinforced. Companies are expanding data analysis, deepening industry coordination, and enhancing resilience through disruption wargaming. Numerous global private/public partnerships are also forming.

–Alberto Toribio del Pilar
Managing Director
ButcherJoseph & Co.

Companies have adapted their supply chains to be more resilient. By incorporating risk into the optimization of stock levels, increasing frequencies of reviewing and updating system parameters, and simplifying product portfolios, businesses can continue to adapt to disruptions.

–Chip Barth
Managing Director, Supply Chain
TBM Consulting Group, Inc.

Companies diversified their supply base, increased in-region sourcing, and revised their inventory policies. They still need to address the shortage of talent in supply chain management, especially in tech innovation and advanced planning systems.

–Shamini Martin
VP Marketing
Trigent Software

Companies were single-piecing and single-sourcing, which made for a fragile platform, prior to 2020. Companies are now looking to multi-piece and multi-source, and we are seeing the confluence of planning and execution capabilities that allow for inventory sourcing decisions to match order reality.

–Andy Dyer
President, Transportation Management
AFS Logistics

Companies emerged with a focus on helping keep the supply chain flexible and adaptable to sudden shocks. By supplementing labor with robotics, advanced technologies, and new labor sourcing strategies, the supply chain is more resilient to unexpected challenges.

–Jason Minghini
Senior Vice President, Operations
Kenco

The industry has made leaps in supply chain resilience, notably through diversifying logistics networks and accelerating the adoption of digital technologies for better inventory management and demand forecasting.

–Dennis Moon
COO
Roadie

Companies are advancing supply chain resilience with automation and AI, creating enhancements and increasing productivity during periods of high demand that were otherwise manually unachievable. To mitigate long-term supply chain risks, businesses must consider other tactics like regionalization and workforce training alongside automation and robots.

–Annie Noel
Chief Operating Officer
Vention

Our clients have been more actively exploring resiliency. One method is scenario modeling, which helps companies explore the most efficient and cost-mitigating network structure by identifying where facilities should be, how many are needed, service level performance, functionality, advantages of shoring initiatives, ESG considerations, product mix, and inventory policies.

–J.C. Renshaw
Senior Supply Chain Consultant
Savills

COVID has gone from pandemic to endemic and the same has happened to supply chain disruptions; economic, geopolitical, cyber, and environmental disruptions dominate. Supply chains have become more resilient; however they have not recovered to their pre-pandemic performance with too many being bottom line—not resilience—focused.

–Matt Spooner
Industry Thought Leader
Kinaxis

Companies have made significant strides through further diversification of suppliers and more supply/product redundancies. Businesses were also forced to reevaluate and strengthen their operations where vulnerabilities became readily apparent including asset controls and employee policies.

–Michael B. Wilson
CEO
Consolidated Chassis Management (CCM)

One, businesses realized they lacked real, accurate, timely information about their shipping operations—what they were spending, what was driving expenses, how costs were increasing each year. Two, many realized diversification of carriers was important to give them the redundancy they needed in case of delays. These moves have resulted in real progress and improved resiliency across the industry.

–Josh Dunham
Co-founder and CEO
Reveel

Yes for some. Some companies have significantly leveled up their supply chain visibility so that they can react in real time with high accuracy. However, there’s still quite a few companies that need to invest in supply chain and inventory visibility to stay resilient.

–Sankalp Arora
CEO & Co-Founder
Gather AI

Companies moved toward vendor diversification, automation, nearshoring, creative staffing, and risk mitigation solutions. Many were able to test and improve contingency plans. Many will return to the old ways, but the overall industry will learn and evolve.

–Jim Heide
COO
Loadsure

The supply chain bent but never broke during the pandemic, largely due to the incredible resilience of our transportation system, and due to the risk mitigation actions taken by logistics companies. There was never a day—ever—where we were not able to locate a truck to move a shipment.

–Anne Reinke
President & CEO
Transportation Intermediaries Association

Most companies are proactively identifying alternative products in case of supply issues like delays or manufacturing bottlenecks. It’s crucial to evaluate supply chain and inventory management activities and collaborate with suppliers to ease burdens, safeguard against supply disruptions, and mitigate future pain points.

–Dakonya Freis
VP, Commercial Development
Nelson-Jameson

Overall, I would give it a C-. There have been some signs of risk mitigation, reshoring, and increasing inventory levels, but collectively we are still suffering a hangover from COVID that will take more years to resolve. It will take time to undo 40+ years of rampant offshoring.

–Joe Adamski
Senior Director
ProcureAbility

Yes and no. Since 2020, many shippers have grown more resilient by reevaluating their ordering and inventory levels, diversifying vendor relationships, investing in nearshoring, and leveraging systems or partners that provide greater visibility into supply chains performance.

However, a softening transportation market over the past 12-15 months has provided a false sense of security for companies who have not taken the time to shore up their processes, and they may struggle to adapt when cheap and reliable capacity is less abundant in a tighter market.

–Ben Steffes
VP, Managed Services
Coyote Logistics

Yes. An increasing number of C-suite executives and board members are now requesting updates on resilience readiness, but this is only part of the equation. A truly resilient organization can prepare, respond, and learn from impacts of any size and scope—which happens when resilience is ingrained into everyday operations. It’s critical that companies quickly make the investment into an all-hazards, all-assets resilience program because the frequency of impacts is not slowing down.

–Frank Shultz
Founder and CEO
Infinite Blue

Yes. Progress in supply chain resiliency has been made post-pandemic, even while we continue to adapt to new global challenges. Shippers are implementing diversification strategies around sourcing markets, with real impacts being felt in Mexico and the Caribbean. We’ve also seen a strong focus on visibility, flexibility, and clear communication between shippers and suppliers.

–Jeff Vaughn
Chief Commercial Officer
Trailer Bridge

Yes. Many companies have introduced secondary suppliers to reduce risks from single sourcing. However, prioritizing product availability over massive assortments remains crucial, as seen during the pandemic. Excessive assortment is a major contributor to out-of-stocks. Lastly, collaboration between trading partners, including sharing accurate forecasts and promptly communicating potential shortages, is crucial for enhancing the overall resilience of supply chains.

–Jeff Bornino
President, North America
TMX Transform

Yes. Post COVID we have more positioning partners developing their spot equipment options. “One-way” leasing is one option to remain viable when trade lanes become out of balance. In part the reasoning for the industry’s investment in this solution stems from tough lessons learned during the pandemic—it’s a resilient minded idea!

–Richard Kohn
Director, Global Logistics & Optimization
SeaCube Containers

Yes. Since the pandemic, companies have enhanced supply chain resilience by prioritizing efficient planning and execution, leveraging data and technologies like AI. However, it still has leaps and bounds to go. Companies must commit to customer-focused innovation and strategic diversification to enable swift response times and prepare for unexpected business fluctuations.

–Fernando Correa
CEO and Co-founder
Cargobot

Looking at our small to medium sized customers in the ecommerce fulfillment space, we hear throughout that solid planning facilitated another amazing peak season around Black Friday/Cyber Monday and the holidays. Having data to drive the right fulfillment decisions gives shippers the ability to scale warehouse operations for extreme (10x and more) sales spikes when they occur.

–Johannes Panzer
Head of Industry Solutions, Ecommerce
Descartes

Yes. Many now understand the direct link between supply chain resilience and everyday life, which is ultimately beneficial as it centers the attention on the most critical “asset” in the supply chain: the thousands of trucks, cranes, and forklifts operators who keep the supply chain running. Companies have understood that increasing safety and productivity through the right automation approaches is imperative to make those jobs, and eventually their business models, future-proof.

–Hendrik Kramer
CEO
FERNRIDE

Yes, companies have made progress toward supply chain resiliency by paying more attention to the data that monitors industry trends and the health of their supply chain network. Many companies have adopted efficiencies to better exploit their domain expertise, resulting in an overall competitive advantage and delivering a better experience to their customers.

–Eric Allais
President & CEO
PathGuide Technologies

Yes. One way I like to think about supply chain resilience is by dividing it into two factors: internal processes and external interventions. An easier way of putting this might be: operations improvement and risk mitigation. In general, supply chain companies saw the pandemic as a wake-up call that our approach to both needed to be tightened up considerably. One of the easiest legs-up is upgrading technology; good supportive tech allows you to improve your operations and risk exposure because data provides better visibility.

–Mike Ziomek
Chief Operations Officer
Odyssey Logistics

Yes. From a strict logistics perspective, most of the COVID capacity has greatly improved, including product lead times, transport times, and cost. But many customers are exploring alternatives for ingredients, packaging, chemicals, and PPE to have viable backup options. This has been a HUGE effort from customers and suppliers.

–Shawn Kitchner
VP of Operations and Logistics
Nelson-Jameson

Yes. Companies have made strides in enhancing supply chain resiliency post-pandemic. Many adopted technology for real-time monitoring, diversified suppliers, and embraced data analytics to predict disruptions. However, continuous improvement is vital, including further digitalization, collaboration, and risk mitigation strategies to address evolving challenges and uncertainties.

–George Maksimenko
CEO
Adexin

Yes, progress has certainly been made. In the automotive industry, dealerships are leveraging new tech within their transportation management systems to gain visibility into their shipments and improve reaction times. This ensures sales continuity during times of disruption and provides insights to help them work more efficiently.

–Mike Trudeau
Executive Vice President, Business Development
Montway Auto Transport

Progress has been made, but more remains to be done. An uptick in cloud adoption is enabling greater flexibility in working locations and hours, and better visibility for all stakeholders. But, we still see too many underinsured shippers and logistics service providers. With new threats emerging, it’s wise to review coverage regularly.

–Heider Santander
COO
Magaya Insurance Services

Yes. Following the pandemic, we’ve seen incredible interest in solutions that provide resiliency in supply chains around the globe. Automating how inventory is tracked with technologies such as Bluetooth and cellular gives greater transparency, creates information redundancy, provides accountability to customers, and reduces human error.

–Brian Krejcarek
Co-founder and CEO
Reelables

More retail businesses are recognizing improved resiliency hinges on supply chain digitalization. They’re moving beyond outdated, mostly manual processes and more widely adopting multi-enterprise platforms.

–Lilian Bories
Chief Marketing Officer
TradeBeyond

Yes. Companies now tangibly appreciate its value and have begun leveraging the plethora of digital tools available to navigate potential disruptions. However, they still need to be aggressive with their digital roadmap, strategizing how to best evolve in the long term in what is a rapidly evolving landscape.

–Omer Abdullah
Co-founder
The Smart Cube

Yes, but there’s still much to achieve. The pandemic prompted organizations to reassess and evolve strategies to enhance resilience, for example shifting from “just-in-time” to “just-in-case” approaches. Technology plays a pivotal role; companies must build a technology roadmap including AI/ML, digital twins, and scenarios, to foster greater supply chain adaptability and resiliency.

–Alex Pradhan
Global Product Strategy Leader
John Galt Solutions

You’re Walking a Tightrope But Who has the Net? This chapter explores risk management—the balancing of what we can control along the supply chain in the face of what we cannot control. I will start by quoting Burns’ 1785 warning about best-laid plans; and, after a 240-year romp, end off in 2025 with where we are post-COVID and pre-net zero 2050.

–Dr. Darren Prokop
Professor Emeritus of Logistics,
College of Business & Public Policy
University of Alaska Anchorage

Automation—Why It’s All About the Good Data. Managing supply chains in 2025 will be all about automation. The longest chapter would explore the limitations of the hype and discuss why a focus on the data building blocks is core for successful automated supply chain system deployments.

–Brian Krejcarek
Co-founder and CEO
Reelables

Not So Happy Returns? With the return of physical retail and record-setting online commerce, returns could hit an all-time high. Building agile inventory management through artificial intelligence-based assortment and allocation planning, fulfillment, returns, and pricing based on real-time data will be crucial for retailers to stay competitive. Taking this approach, retailers can optimize their inventory position without sacrificing margin.

–Inna Kuznetsova
CEO
ToolsGroup

Prevailing with Alternatives. The focal point is adeptly handling and capitalizing on alternatives—a top supply chain strategy. Spanning across raw materials, production, logistics, freight contracts, and 3PL providers, the emphasis lies in managing these alternatives for enhanced flexibility, strategic negotiation leverage, and comprehensive risk mitigation.

–Chris Dodd
Head of Operations
Gelmart International

True Partnership. This would be even more essential in 2025. You see supply chain cycles happen every 4-5 years; this puts us due for another spike in rates and lack of capacity in 2025 and 2026, for both land and ocean movements. I’ve seen this time and time again in my 26+ years in this industry.
Many supply chain managers choose the lowest cost carrier that doesn’t have crappy service. When the supply chain shifts, these carriers immediately look for the highest paying freight or tell you their new high rates are effective tomorrow. What kind of partnership is that?

Managing supply chains is about finding true partnerships that will be with you when the (well, you know what fits here) hits the fan, and in turn, you will be there for them when your freight volumes dip.

–Mitch Luciano
CEO
Trailer Bridge

People Are the Missing Piece. While technologies allow practitioners to rethink supply chain management and add value from data, the real value comes when people—the practitioners themselves—effectively leverage these tools. The emphasis is on developing progressive leaders, the key driver of success.

–Omer Abdullah
Co-Founder
The Smart Cube

India, the New China? As companies diversify manufacturing away from China to build more resilient supply chains, India is one of the primary options for friendshoring as it offers low geopolitical conflict and a low cost base. However, the lack of infrastructure support poses another significant challenge that takes time and resources to address.

–John Donigian
Senior Director,
Supply Chain Strategy
Moody’s Analytics

The Bottom Line of Sustainability. Before long, sustainability will be just as critical as pricing to our partners. We’re teetering on that tipping point now. But we need to internalize that sustainability isn’t illusory—it’s measurable, actionable, and a close cousin to efficiency—i.e., it has power over your bottom line.

–Glenn Riggs
Chief Strategy Officer
Odyssey Logistics

Preserving the Human Element in an Automated Supply Chain. Despite the increasing use of automation in the automotive supply chain, the human touch is significant in a service-focused industry. Regardless of how technologically advanced the process becomes, personal relationships hold immense value that benefits the end user experience.

–Mike Trudeau
Executive Vice President,
Business Development
Montway Auto Transport

Breaking the Brittle. Learning lessons to identify hollow supply chains and blind spots in critical component supply. Taking the lessons of the greatest disruption of the past 70 years to apply to steady state operations to better identify and manage risks to build resiliency.

–Joe Adamski
Senior Director
ProcureAbility

Navigating the Digital Labyrinth. The chapter would emphasize the merging of technology with tangible processes, crucial for orchestrating the advanced, interconnected supply chains of 2025. This is vital due to its complexity and impact on future supply chain resilience and efficiency.

–Spencer Steliga
Founder and CEO
shuddl

Adaptive Resilience: Navigating Global Disruptions. The chapter explores strategies to address unforeseen challenges in the evolving supply chain landscape. With a proactive approach to risk management and technological integration, businesses can thrive despite uncertainties.

–George Maksimenko
CEO
Adexin

Honey, I Shrunk the EOQs! Anticipate a decline in the economic order quantity (EOQ) for many SKUs in 2024. This shift will be driven both by evolving demand patterns and a proliferation of retail channels by which inventory is allocated (resulting in lower expected demand for any given stock-keeping location) and high carrying costs from stubbornly high interest rates.

While we expect some relief on interest rates at some point, demand and inventory planning aren’t going to get any easier. The winners will be those that build flexibility and agility into their supply chains and transportation strategies.

–Chris Pickett
COO
Flock Freight

Near and Onshore Manufacturing Resurges. With wars and trade disruption, we’re seeing a decline in global manufacturing. This makes near and onshore manufacturing economically favorable, which is great for our planet and sustainable commerce startups. Cities, universities, and startups are reclaiming manufacturing for the United States through collaborative multi-sector approaches built around advanced sustainable manufacturing.

–Al Sambar
General Partner
XRC Ventures

Hype to Reality: The Real Impact of AI in Supply Chain. The chapter would focus on the tangible changes that AI brings to analytics and decision-making, while addressing the hype of AI being the magical solution to all problems.

–Mingshu Bates
Chief Analytics Officer
AFS Logistics

Welcoming Our New AI Overlords: Harnessing AI for Good. This chapter delves into how to effectively integrate artificial intelligence into supply chain management. AI systems will be sufficiently advanced by this point to intelligently make supply chain decisions, and humans will need a guide for how to oversee and steer them.

–Tony Pelli
Practice Director,
Security and Resilience
BSI

The Evolution of AI in Warehouses: Actuation, Digitization to Optimization. The industry needs to know that applying AI to warehouses and supply chains has become significantly easier in the last couple of decades with the proliferation of technology. AI adoption costs have reduced significantly, and the ROI has increased. It’s important to educate supply chain professionals on this evolution so they can reap the benefits of AI in their warehouses.

–Sankalp Arora
CEO & Co-Founder
Gather AI

Harnessing Data to Drive Better Supply Chain Decisions. The chapter—and pretty much every chapter—would be about data visibility and informed decision-making. Leveraging data throughout your organization, in all of your supply chain and related processes will be the most important task for years to come.

–Josh Dunham
CEO and Co-founder
Reveel

Knowing Your Supply Chain: From Vendors to Bottlenecks. As we’ve seen from global pandemics, to wars across the world, it is critical to know your vendors, their capabilities and back-up plans to unforeseen issues. Knowing your business, partners and capabilities, enables you to act with resilience.

–Aaron Galer
Senior Vice President,
Strategic Partners
Arrive Logistics

Bringing the Supply Chain Back to the United States. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States has been reeling from supply chain issues involving sourcing, manufacturing, and transportation, driving the need for more control. Plus, recent national security issues have created concerns about reliance on other countries for critical materials and parts.

–Dave Snider
Vice President of Marketing
Advantive

Embracing Robots to Minimize Climate Disruptions. As warehouses and distribution centers struggle to remain productive amid extreme weather events, a promising solution is the widespread adoption of robots. Take the humanoid robot, Digit for example—it was designed to handle dangerous tasks at warehouses such as unloading boxes from a tractor-trailer in 100-plus-degree heat. By leveraging robots, employees are free from repetitive or challenging labor and can focus on higher-value tasks that require human action.

–Brandon Black
SVP and General Manager
Ivanti Wavelink

Elements of Supply Chain Integrations: People, Process and Technology. I would focus on evolving logistics technologies and supply chain players’ adoption of these technologies. This topic constantly impacts organizations’ revenue generation, cost containment, and human capital management. The ubiquity of new platforms and applications creates an ongoing dilemma for organizations due to the need to integrate them with existing resources.

–Raziel Bravo
Senior Vice President of Strategic Management Office
GEODIS

Plan for Disruption. In 2023 alone major supply chain companies were involved in bankruptcies, system cyberattacks, and a possible strike. Prepare for disruptions.

–Micheal McDonagh
President of Parcel
AFS Logistics

GenAI’s Revolutionary Impact on Global Sourcing. The chapter would explain the radical change that AI has introduced. Most repetitive tasks have been automated and GenAI is guiding better decisions at every stage. Supply chain managers now oversee a control tower with a full view of their supply chain to the Nth level.

–Eric Linxwiler
Senior Vice President
TradeBeyond

Beyond Paperwork: The AI-Driven Shift Toward Intelligent Documentation and Routing. The massive amounts of data we now collect will deliver actionable value, transforming day-to-day efficiency. Artificial intelligence will play a pivotal role, with generative AI being used in exciting new use cases, dramatically reducing manual paperwork and making intelligent routing decisions.

–Kristjan Lillemets
VP Product
Magaya

A Journey from Descriptive Analytics to Generative AI: How Artificial Intelligence Enables Decision Support to Improve Supply Chains Understanding AI’s evolution from descriptive to predictive analytics will help improve supply chain management, simplify applying analytics at the edge, accelerate speed, and improve decisions in real time.

–Andre Luecht
Global Strategy Lead,
Transportation, Logistics and Warehouse
Zebra Technologies

Impact & ROI of AI in Supply Chain. Through predictive analytics, AI hones logistics, slashing transportation costs by optimizing routes and schedules. Supplier management benefits from AI’s data-driven insights, ensuring optimal choices and bolstering relationships. AI fortifies product integrity, efficiency, and customer satisfaction, thus cementing its indisputable ROI.

–Abishek Bhat
Vice President,
Business Development
Trigent Software

Managing the Supply Chain with AI. AI data can enable real-time processes for demand forecasting, inventory optimization, new product introductions, network design, and other business functions. AI can help businesses proactively manage the expanding value chain to stay ahead of competition and become agile enterprises.

–Stephen Dombroski
Director, Consumer Markets
QAD Inc.

Balance Service Quality and Cost While Planning for Uncertainty. We’re coming off one of the greatest freight cycles post-COVID, shippers understand there’s no “normal” and they must always be prepared for unplanned volatility. And now the market can inflect at a faster rate, constantly testing the strength of shippers’ support system.

–Jamie Harris
CFO
RXO

Connecting Digital Supply Chains. I’d explore how tools like AI forecasting can enhance decision-making. Supply chains have evolved into dynamic, interconnected systems, challenging traditional one-way thinking. It’s crucial to recognize them as an interconnected system for optimal planning, acknowledging their non-linear, ever-changing nature.

–Nick De Klerk
Associate Director, Supply Chain
TMX Transform

Interested in participating in upcoming Good Questions? Please feel free to share your answers here to upcoming prompts: Inbound Logistics Good Question

TRUE. Geopolitical tensions create unpredictability, impacting global supply chains profoundly. Trade barriers and shifting alliances force companies to continuously reassess and adapt their strategies, seeking alternative routes and suppliers, increasing complexity and costs.

–Mark McCullough
CEO
Gebrüder Weiss North America

FALSE. Modern digital platforms are making supply chains more efficient, facilitating seamless communication and connecting new buyers and suppliers worldwide.

–Grigoris Lamprou
CEO
Procureship

TRUE. The intricacies of modern supply chain management require a constantly evolving strategy to identify areas for improvement and implement continuous initiatives to enhance efficiency and reduce costs—all while continuing to provide a comprehensive set of solutions for customers.

–Mike Rindy
President
Nelson-Jameson

BOTH TRUE AND FALSE. During the pandemic, the industry faced significant disruptions, leading to major transformation initiatives across supply chains with the intent of reducing challenges. However, the post-pandemic environment is highly complex and arguably equally challenging as organizations implement new technology and work hard to upskill.

–Geoff Coltman
Vice President, Client Engagement
Catena Solutions

TRUE. Due largely to the rise in ecommerce, brands are experiencing new challenges to keep up with customer service demands, which impact operations inside the four walls. Demands like speed, quality management, and low shipping costs have always been important, but it has intensified because consumers now have more options than ever.

–Anthony Jordan
EVP & Chief Operating Officer
GEODIS in Americas

FALSE. Supply chain management is just as tricky as it has always been. What’s different is the number of tools at our disposal to do it well. Making the leap to data-driven decision-making generates the most impactful results in the trucking and transportation industry.

–Chris Jamroz
Executive Chairman and CEO
Roadrunner

TRUE. In addition to managing the standard flow of business and doing more with less, managers are faced with more data being created and provided to them than ever before. Efficient processing of this data drives success in operations and forecasting, while ignoring or focusing on the wrong data leads to inefficiency and failure.

–Bill Wappler
CEO
Surgere

TRUE. Supply chain management will become more complex in the future as new countries like Vietnam, Kenya, Turkey, Costa Rica, and Mexico join China as supply points. This will require logistics operations teams to adapt to different trade lanes, ports, and carriers.

–Bryn Heimbeck
Co-Founder and President
Trade Tech Inc.

Supply chains are more challenging than ever to manage because of the increased speeds they operate at, greater customer expectations for higher shipment precision and real-time information, their global nature and heightened security risks, and labor shortages. However, some of these challenges can be mitigated by employing digitization strategies.

–Chris Jones
EVP of Industry
Descartes

TRUE. There’s a decrease in goods flowing from Asia to North America, which is creating rapid, once-in-a-lifetime shifts in global trade flow. There are very few supply chain professionals who aren’t facing this on a day-to-day basis. On the other hand, artificial intelligence offers new ways to run your business and huge economic opportunities.

–Al Sambar
General Partner
XRC Ventures

FALSE. To manage today’s increased demand for end-to-end supply chain visibility, supply chain practitioners have access to more information than ever before. By using predictive analytics, control towers, and other emerging technology, these leaders can better manage and make more informed decisions.

–Felix Vicknair
Vice President, Supply Chain Solutions
Kenco

TRUE. Geopolitical and economic factors have heightened existing hurdles, and the increasing emphasis on sustainability has many enterprises rethinking their manufacturing and supply chain strategies. Inbound logistics processes have been significantly impacted by high costs, unpredictable lead times, and uncertain delivery dates.

–Shashank Mane
Go-to-Market Leader, Manufacturing
Capgemini Americas

Supply chains will always face challenges. What is vital is that logistics providers adapt their services. That level of service can make the difference between success and failure for customers, both big and small.

–Gaurika Gurugamage
Operations Manager
GAC North America – Logistics

TRUE. Recent geopolitical tensions are another stark reminder that supply chains need to adopt effective risk management tools. Economic instability, coupled with changes in consumer buying behavior, requires supply chains to be increasingly agile to adapt quickly, all of which are managed in an environment that is experiencing dramatic change.

–Colm McElroy
VP, Global Accounts
PSA BDP

FALSE. While managing supply chains is still challenging, it is not nearly as bad as 2021-2022 during the height of COVID. At that time suppliers could not deliver predictably, resulting in key components not being available, which cascaded into stoppages.

–Dave Snider
Vice President, Marketing
Advantive

TRUE. Orchestrating the supply chain is like being Santa on Christmas Eve but doing it 24/7/365 and doing it through demand uncertainties, global complexities, and disruptive world events. But doing it with the magic of technology today, we are more responsive and adaptable than ever.

–Mike Wilson
CEO
Consolidated Chassis Management

TRUE. Customer demand is more varied and volatile than ever. While supply chains continue to elongate globally at a time of rising geopolitical uncertainty, supply chain leaders must orchestrate across a host of disparate data, relationships, and events to deliver certainty of outcomes for their organizations.

–Ryan Lynch
SVP Strategy & Marketing
Concentric

The answer is dual-faceted. True, managing supply chains has become more complex due to a confluence of external uncertainties such as intensified competition, climate change implications, fluctuating regulations, and geopolitical dynamics. Internally, companies are also grappling with changing business models, omnichannel demands, and cost pressures.

That said, it’s also a transformative era. Advanced data and technology have ushered in unprecedented maturity levels for supply chain management. The pandemic, for all its challenges, spotlighted the supply chain, reframing it from being just a cost center to a strategic differentiator. The pre-COVID status quo is behind us, making adaptability and leveraging best-fit tech solutions non-negotiable for supply chain success.

–Marc Koehler
Director of Product Strategy
RELEX Solutions

TRUE. Supply chains now grapple with rapid technological evolution, climate change impacts, and increased consumer demands for transparency and sustainability—making management a more intricate and demanding task.

–Spencer Steliga
founder and CEO
shuddl

TRUE. Managing supply chains is now increasingly challenging due to evolving global dynamics, sustainability initiatives, and changing consumer preferences. What were once periodic disruptions, have now become frequent, almost daily interruptions that demand agility and adaptability. Organizations must navigate complex supply and value chains to remain competitive in a volatile market.

–Stephen Dombroski
Director Consumer Markets
QAD, Inc.

TRUE. Managing today’s supply chains is exceptionally challenging due to a shifting landscape. Teams seek to optimize cost in procurement, freight, inventory, and unit costs, though these goals can conflict. Finding the right balance can be challenging so flexibility and responsiveness are paramount in navigating this complexity.

–Dakonya Freis
VP of Commercial Development
Nelson-Jameson

TRUE. The rapidly evolving technology landscape, economic turmoil, and instability in an interconnected global economy, the ever-changing consumer demands and trends driven largely in part by ecommerce and social media, and the ever-growing talent and labor shortage in the supply chain industry has made supply chain management more challenging than ever.

–Nilay Parikh
CEO
Arvist

TRUE. Although we now have technology that helps us increase efficiency and accomplish more with fewer resources, the sheer complexity of modern supply chains combined with elevated expectations from customers makes it incredibly challenging for managers to stay on top of their many commitments.

–Martyn Verhaegen
Chief Technology Officer
Magaya

TRUE. Uncertainty surrounding geopolitical realignment, stagflation, climate change mandates, and the deployment of artificial intelligence are things that supply chain managers cannot easily be proactive about. Worse, some of these things work against each other. But on the bright side, meeting these diverse challenges should be exhilarating.

–Dr. Darren Prokop
Professor Emeritus of Logistics
College of Business & Public Policy
University of Alaska Anchorage

FALSE. Supply chains have always labored under the tension between efficiency and resiliency. In the past few years, we have over-indexed efficiency. Constructing the supply chain of the future is just as difficult as building a highly efficient one of the past. While the issues change, the complexity doesn’t.

–Joe Adamski
Senior Director
ProcureAbility

Managing supply chains has never been easy. Innovations in technology and data management have increased supply chain visibility, which, while beneficial, can also create the illusion of additional complexity in the form of newly available data. However, with connected, unified tools, supply chain management actually becomes much more streamlined.

–Ryan McMartin
Product Marketing Manager
Parsec Automation

TRUE. COVID-19 raised consumer, business, and supplier expectations. While technologies, collaboration tools, and AI/ML capabilities are becoming mainstream, key areas are still a challenge with the wrong approach, disruption, and disconnected solutions. Improving service levels, costs, margins, inventory in-stocks, and competitiveness is a moving target that requires technology investments.

–Ann Marie Jonkman
PMP, Senior Director
Global Industry Strategies
Blue Yonder

TRUE. Although the supply chain has become leaner and more modernized, supply chain management remains more challenging than ever, due to factors that include driver shortages, inflation, and continued shifts in consumer demand and behaviors as we emerge from the pandemic.

–Diron Bell
National Accounts Manager
iGPS Logistics

FALSE. This may be counterintuitive. Yes, today’s supply chain challenges are huge. But the tools we have to overcome these challenges are better than ever. Big data, machine learning, AI, cloud-based inter-company collaboration have all emerged in solutions that are readily accessible for nearly every part of the supply chain. These tools make complex, global supply chain problems easier to prevent and to solve.

–Tony Harris
SVP & Chief Marketing and Solutions Officer
SAP

FALSE. Despite new complexities popping up seemingly every day, supply chain management has always been about increasing efficiency, reducing risk, and lowering costs.

Even through rapid inflation, lingering effects from COVID-19, and global labor shortages, we’re now able to uncover granular insight and build smarter systems that weren’t fathomable a decade ago.

–Jason Hehman
Client Partner and Industry 4.0 Vertical Lead
TXI

TRUE. Supply chain management is increasingly challenging due to factors like global expansion, rising customer expectations, digitalization, and the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. Balancing efficiency, resilience, sustainability, and ethical concerns adds complexity, making it more challenging than in the past.

–George Maksimenko
Chief Executive Officer
Adexin

TRUE. New challenges are presented to supply chain managers every day. Changing global climates, new technologies, and evolving customer expectations ever increase the demands on us. Stay informed, plan for contingencies, and leverage the talents of the people around you to excel in our ever-changing world.

–Jim Heide
COO & Co Founder
Loadsure

TRUE. Ever-tightening global ESG regulations have necessitated greater transparency and more rigorous supplier management than ever before. Implementing compliant and sustainable sourcing processes adds layers of complexity to supply chain operations, which is more than retailers can manage without the aid of a sophisticated multi-enterprise platform.

–Lilian Bories
Chief Marketing Officer
TradeBeyond

FALSE. It is true that managing supply chains is more important than ever. That said, suppliers across the globe have higher awareness of sustainable supply chain goals and regulations, and there is a growing list of technology providers who can help brands engage suppliers to achieve these goals.

–Joe Schloesser
Vice President
ISN

FALSE. Managing supply chains will always be tough because the challenges are ever-changing. Today, the biggest challenge is risk management and making smart bets. Capital and labor market fluctuations must be considered in the context of consumer expectations, sustainability, and geopolitical changes. Not easier or harder, just different.

–Eric Lien
Executive Vice President, Strategic Accounts
Arrive Logistics

TRUE. Supply chains are more challenging and complex than ever. Retailers and their supply chain partners are balancing market uncertainty and labor shortages with higher consumer expectations. There is also pressure to meet ambitious ESG targets and to automate and digitize their networks. Collaboration is essential to navigating these dynamic challenges.

–Heather Stuart
Vice President of Retail Supply Chain Solutions
CHEP U.S.

TRUE. While managing the supply chain has always been a complex issue, the evolving intersection of tech, extreme weather events, geopolitics, and cybersecurity has introduced new challenges. As these new dynamics are introduced, the supply chain struggles to adapt and effectively shift gears. Take the pandemic for instance, it exacerbated all the existing challenges. While these challenges help force the supply chain industry to innovate, it will take time for the industry to address its challenges.

–Brandon Black
SVP and General Manager
Ivanti Wavelink

TRUE. The combination of supplier disruptions, unpredictable demand, and volatile freight rates have never been greater. The good news is companies have found that experts with advanced technology and access to multimodal capacity can take those headaches away and help companies drive efficient and effective supply chain management.

–Dave Menzel
President and COO
Echo Global Logistics

TRUE. From a retail perspective, consumers now expect omni-channel shopping experiences, and retailers struggle to position inventory across their supply chains to meet online and offline demand. Fortunately, innovative AI technology can get the right inventory to the right place, at the right time, to satisfy customers—and maximize profit.

–Gurhan Kok
Founder & CEO
Invent Analytics

TRUE, especially when you can put your decisions into a financial domain. In retail, current inventory management systems require planners to start with a human input metric. With modern AI-based systems, you can optimize based on profitability to allocate inventory at the right time, every time.

–Tav Tepfer
Chief Revenue Officer
Invent Analytics

TRUE. In today’s globalized and complex landscape, companies navigate volatile commodity markets, inflation, and intricate supplier networks. Multi-tier visibility is often lacking with suppliers, and internal stakeholders demand increased value. Despite these challenges, this era offers unprecedented opportunities for supply chain professionals to significantly enhance their impact, especially through the use of emerging technologies. By harnessing technology, they can transform and elevate their roles to create value in ways previously unattainable.

–Omer Abdullah
Co-Founder
The Smart Cube

TRUE. The combination of global operations, increased competition, evolving customer demands for faster time-to-market, and technology integrations make supply chain management complex. Successful operations require a strategic approach and leveraging futuristic technologies like quantum computing to manage fleets and processes effectively.

–Rohail S Qadri
President, Professional Services
Trigent Software

TRUE. The world has come to realize the criticality of supply chains and they have become more complex. The combination of constituent pressures, complex and lengthening networks, and regulatory oversight makes managing supply chains more complex than ever.

–Tom Nightingale
CEO
AFS Logistics

TRUE! It’s more difficult as you need to understand all modes of transportation and know how to use your own data to make solid business decisions.

–Melissa Somsen
Chief Commercial Officer
AFS Logistics

TRUE. Although supply chains are more complex with more nodes spanning multiple geographies, customer expectations amplified the focus on supply chain management. Same-day deliveries require inventory visibility and accurate counts, making supply chain management mission-critical. The key task today is delivering accurate, real-time decision-making with a reduced margin of error.

–Andre Luecht
Global Strategy Lead, Transportation, Logistics and Warehouse
Zebra Technologies

TRUE. Labor shortages continue to be a major hurdle. In warehousing and distribution, workforce gaps negatively impact everything from order speed to customer satisfaction to the quality of perishable products. Companies need to focus on diversifying the labor pool and attracting young jobseekers. Automation is a great place to start. Not only does it drive high-impact ROI and gains for your network, it also creates an exciting work environment that helps attract skilled young talent into your organization.

–Adam Gurga
Sales Manager
Cimcorp

TRUE. Heightened geopolitical risks, economic pressures, and various market disruptions are hitting simultaneously, which is straining supply chains. Strengthen resilience by anticipating and addressing disruptions now. Get a clear view of all the risks lurking within your supply base—IT security, financial health, ESG, and more.

–Jim Wetekamp
CEO
Riskonnect

FALSE. Supply chains have certainly become more global and complex—introducing volatility and complexity—in recent years. However, technological innovations over the past two decades (e.g., advancements in data analytics, real-time tracking, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence, to name a few) have made managing supply chains easier and much more efficient than ever before.

–Eric Allais
President & CEO
PathGuide Technologies

TRUE. Supply chain management has become increasingly complex. For example, the automotive supply chain lacks visibility and efficiency, leading to potential disruptions. But by leveraging technology like AI, centralizing suppliers and regularly evaluating logistics partnerships, managers can better prepare for unexpected challenges.

–Mike Trudeau
Executive Vice President of Business Development
Montway Auto Transport

TRUE. Post COVID, we are in uncharted territories, making it more critical than ever to have a setup that allows market volatility and adaptability. Globalization, increased competition, evolving customer expectations, sustainability, disruptions, and regulatory changes contribute to the heightened complexity. Businesses must navigate these challenges to ensure efficient and resilient supply chain management in today’s dynamic environment.

–Mauricio Lozano
Director, Marketing & Business Development
SeaCube Containers

Intrinsic motivation, the desire to continuously improve for self-fulfillment. This creates a continuous improvement mindset. A result of intrinsic motivation is curiosity, which is insanely important. Ask questions about everything; just because your organization has done something the same way for 20 years does not mean it’s the best way to do things now.

–Evan Rago
Sales Director
Gather AI

Empathy. Seeing and listening through the eyes and ears of your supply chain partners speeds the pace of negotiations, trust building, and handling crises. And if empathy isn’t reciprocated, it’s a good signal it’s time to consider looking for a new partner.

–Dr. Darren Prokop
Professor Emeritus, Logistics, College of Business & Public Policy
University of Alaska Anchorage

Composure. Circumstances can turn on a dime and require not only quick, but also clear, thinking when it feels like all options are lost. Those with composure—who can collect themselves, stay calm, and rely on the processes and tools they’ve put into place to handle the unexpected—will excel in managing their supply chain.

–Tony Harris
SVP & Chief Marketing and Solutions Officer
SAP Business Network

Resilience. Changes and setbacks are inevitable. It’s important to know how to anticipate, deal with, and recover from those challenges. Resilience requires the commitment to stay the course, keep a positive attitude, and forge a path even when the future is uncertain.

–Heidi Ratti
Chief Human Resources Officer
RXO

The skill of patient listening. A wise person said, “I never learned anything while talking.” Listening to the needs of the entire supply chain ecosystem and comprehending the issues before reacting improves the decision making process. Communication is improved and solving problems becomes inclusive, allowing for intelligent solutions.

–Steve Dombroski
Director, Consumer Markets
QAD

Customer service skills are underrated. Those include empathy, clear communication, problem solving, patience, active listening, and adaptability, and allow people to excel in supply chain management.

–Anar Mammadov
CEO
Senpex Technologies

Perspective. When I can shift my perspective to the point of view of my customers, stakeholders, or employees, that is how I can understand and meet their expectations. And that helps to build trusted and sustainable relationships.

–David Anderson
Quality Systems Engineer
TA Services

Check and Doublecheck

Checking to see what shutdowns are going on all over your destination cities and countries is the most underrated thing. Although the pandemic has all but gone in the United States, it’s not the same around the world. To be able to re-route a transshipment or notify the customer of a possible delay is crucial in the oil field business.

As a shipper, I constantly have equipment on the water. Many of my shipments are time sensitive to meet launch dates of platforms. Keeping my customer abreast of what is happening in transit is vital. I also make sure my company is always listed as a “notify” party on all bills of lading (BOLs).

With all the vessel sharing there could be multiple BOLs: an in-house BOL with the freight forwarder, a BOL with the ship line they booked with, and the vessel it is being carried on. If you are not listed with all of them as a “notify” party, you would not be able to communicate directly with the ship line.

–Ronnie T. Evans
International Logistics Coordinator
Oil States Industries

The ability to forecast strategically. With the daily obstacles that one will face in the management of supply chain functions, it can be difficult to see 3 to 6 to 9 months down the line. But being able to solve for future problems with solutions that also impact today’s business is imperative to success.

–Joe Parisi
Strategic Account Executive
Aerotek

Creativity. People think managing a supply chain is analytical and focused on managing the minutiae. And it is, at times. But when problems occur, the individual who can think outside the box and devise innovative solutions will be the unsung hero.

–Joe Adamski
Senior Director
ProcureAbility

Understanding the seasonality of each customer’s business. Depending on factors that include time of year and business climate, demand may ebb and flow. By becoming more attuned to this, we can do a better job of filling gaps and meeting customer needs.

–Diron Bell
Regional Account Manager
iGPS Logistics

The ability to quickly analyze short- and long-term impacts. Overanalyzing wastes time and money. In operational excellence models, it’s called overprocessing. To analyze quickly, use data, your inner experience circle, ask for full opinions and full judgment, then go. Stop wasting time.

–Ann Marie Jonkman
PMP, Senior Director, Global Industry Strategies
Blue Yonder

The capacity for product innovation. This involves channeling relentless curiosity into problems, having meaningful dialogues with users—warehouse managers, last-mile delivery folks, or suppliers across the globe—and implementing hardware and/or software solutions that solve those problems.

–Jason Hehman
Client Partner and Industry 4.0 Vertical Lead
TXI

Resourcefulness, the ability to find creative solutions and make the most of available resources to overcome challenges and optimize supply chain processes. It fosters problem-solving, adaptability, and collaboration, helping you thrive during disruptions and difficult market cycles.

–Melissa Jordan
SVP, Enterprise Operations
Coyote Logistics

Being comfortable with discomfort. Being able to ride the ups and downs without hitting the panic button is a common trait of those who love and thrive in this industry.

–Lisa Aurichio
President, BSYA
Executive Director, Containerization and Intermodal Institute (CII)

Taking a long view of your organizational strategy and grounding your decision-making in data. Too often, organizations make emotional or anecdotal decisions and respond reactively to short-term shifts in the supply chain, losing sight of their long-term goals.

–Ryan McMartin
Product Marketing Manager
Parsec Automation

Risk management. This skill turns uncertainty into an asset and optimizes resource allocation, in turn improving efficiency and maximizing output. Elevated efficiency inherently creates a more resilient supply chain.

–Spencer Steliga
Founder and CEO
shuddl

Resilience. The changing post-COVID-19 supply chain landscape has no playbook and, to a certain extent, defies conventional wisdom surrounding trends and markets. Resilience is the ability to continuously bounce back in the face of unknown and changing conditions, viewing failures as learning opportunities instead of calamities.

–Shannon Leffler
EVP, HR
GEODIS in Americas

Adapt or Be Trapped

The ability to take charge of a problem and make it a business enabler. Be adaptable, open to change, and able to influence cross-functional activities.

–Bill Thayer
Founder and CEO
Fillogic

Adaptability is crucial. In the face of unforeseen challenges, the ability to creatively and pragmatically adjust networks and processes is paramount. Being innovative and flexible ensures goods keep flowing despite changing circumstances, securing a resilient supply chain.

–Helen Scurfield
Innovation and Development Director
Asendia

Supply chain management requires constant adjustments and flexibility to accommodate changing circumstances. Those who can quickly adapt to new technologies, market trends, and unforeseen challenges can pivot their strategies as well as optimize their operations.

–Nilay Parikh
CEO
Arvist

Change management. While we can have the best analytics in the world, if we don’t have the ability to implement change, it’s all for nothing.

–Melissa Somsen
Chief Commercial Officer
AFS Logistics

Relationship building. People skills are paramount to success in supply chain management. Nurturing strong relationships with stakeholders is essential, even more so when things don’t go to plan. Clear and honest communication fosters trust and collaboration, making it easier to navigate challenges and achieve common goals.

–Nomar Ramis
Chief Customer Officer
Magaya

Effective communication. While it may seem basic, clear and timely communication is essential for coordinating with suppliers, logistics partners, and internal teams. It ensures everyone involved is on the same page, reducing the risk of errors, delays, and misunderstandings.

–George Maksimenko
CEO
Adexin

Work hard and hustle. This work ethic motivates us to take action when we have big ideas and maintain our tenacity in the face of adversity. Together, we do what we set our minds to until we reach our goals.

–Paula Frey
Chief Human Resources Officer
Echo Global Logistics

Quick and effective decision making for your customers is vital for modern logistics service providers. Having people and expertise permeate throughout your business, from management to warehousing experts, that are able to make informed decisions on behalf of customers will take supply chains to the next level.

–Gaurika Gurugamage
Operations Manager
GAC North America – Logistics

The ability to understand and utilize data effectively in managing supply chains is critical. Procurement relies on data more than ever and unreliable and inconsistent data can lead to inefficiencies and poor decision making. Being able to align that data is a vital skill for those in today’s supply chain.

–Carsten Schmidt
VP of Sales
Procureship

The ability to define and enforce governance structures. We see programs that fail due to lack of oversight and structure—not necessarily within the program itself, but where that program intertwines with other corporate business groups and functions. High performers and leaders of governance structures enable successful management that is proactive and scalable.

–Rusty Coleman
VP of Digital Transformation
Surgere

The ability to handle objections with poise and confidence, to not take things too personally.

–Jon Mindelli
VP of Business Development
TA Services

The ability and willingness to effectively share your knowledge is a vital skill not only to your business but the supply chain industry as a whole. What sets the supply chain industry apart is its inherent uniqueness—no two experiences are identical. By actively sharing insights gained from our diverse experiences, we empower each other to extract greater value from the products we invest in, make better operational decisions, and innovate existing solutions.

–Brandon Black
SVP and General Manager
Ivanti Wavelink

Being proactive. This skill is often overlooked and underrated but critical to excelling in any area of supply chain management especially for brokers. From helping shippers prepare for peak seasons and major market shifts to adding new carriers to our network, being proactive is essential in everything we do.

–Matthew Culp
VP of Carrier Sales
Arrive Logistics

Communication. The supply chain has a lot of moving parts, often involving multiple teams and outside sources. It is important to communicate to avoid any major issues. Strong communication is one of the most beneficial skills you can have.

–Joseph A. Schlossberg
VP of Global Sales
Sourcing Solutions International

The ability to look at your whole operation and rapidly assess the consequences of every decision is essential. Add to this the numerous, challenging ESG regulations across the world and you must become a real control tower, with a deeper understanding of all aspects.

–Lilian Bories
Chief Marketing Officer
TradeBeyond

Adaptability and good communication. As the supply chain continues to evolve and we face worker shortages, we should be open to talent—even from other industries—who possess these skills; they not only fill gaps but also inject fresh ideas and enhance our resilience.

–Laura Sheehy
Chief Human Resources Officer
Odyssey Logistics

Communication. Speak to your customers and vendors on a regular basis. Don’t take your relationships for granted. Active communication is key to awareness of potential issues and responding to challenges.

–Jim Heide
COO & Co Founder
Loadsure

For founders and business owners, the key skill is hiring people who have done it before. That means hiring people with experience managing larger or more complex supply chains, which will allow the company to handle future growth in the supply chain.

Another key skill in supply chain management is negotiating. For example, if you can get net terms from vendors, that will help cash flow, and owners can invest more aggressively in scaling up supply chain efforts (new warehouses, bigger inventory buys, etc.).

–Dawson Gant
VP of Store Partnerships
Ecom Authority

Stakeholder management. You cannot excel without building strong cross-functional relationships and effectively translating them into specific supply chain needs. Success often hinges on becoming an internal “consultant”—and strong relationships mean more transparency, better understanding, and enhanced efficiency when solving issues. While often underestimated, strong relationship management is truly crucial.

–Omer Abdullah
Co-Founder
The Smart Cube

Effective communication, paired with the ability to influence across other functions in the business, stands out as a crucial yet underrated skill in supply chain management. As technology streamlines operations, professionals can focus more on root-cause analysis and proactive strategy development. This shift means they’re not just reacting to crises but actively steering business strategies, making their collaboration and negotiation skills increasingly vital.

–Tom Charlton
VP Product, Forecasting & Replenishment
RELEX Solutions

Collaboration, because it can form stronger cross-functional, supplier, and customer relationships and also foster data sharing and innovation. With a collaborative mindset and relevant skill development, industry professionals can better navigate the complexities of modern supply chains, respond to challenges more effectively, and ultimately drive greater value in their operations.

–Jennifer D’Angelo
Vice President
Catena Solutions

Adaptability and agility are crucial to success when dealing with disruptions and changing market demands in the supply chain industry. Whether it’s adding new technologies or making process adjustments on-the-fly, being adaptable can enhance efficiencies, reduce costs, and help you maintain a competitive edge in a dynamic marketplace.

–James Kelley
President
OSM Worldwide

Thinking about how supply chains can help customers is an underrated skill that allows people to excel in supply chain management. The true breakthroughs occur when customers can do more with their business because of the service you offer. For example, providing contractors with real-time ETAs and delivery tracking allows them to maximize the utilization of their crews because the contractor knows exactly when materials will arrive to keep the crew productive.

–Chris Jones
EVP of Industry
Descartes

Soft skills like communication, discernment, and (especially) listening are often undervalued in supply chain management. Universities have tended to make supply chain management more about formal modeling (which is no doubt important), with less focus on how to build lasting and meaningful internal and supplier relationships. Supply chain management is a team sport.

–Tony Pelli
Practice Director, Security and Resilience
BSI

Situational awareness is a significant skill that allows individuals to excel in supply chain management. Being attuned to changes in opportunities and obstacles within an operating environment facilitates prompt, well-informed, effective actions that can help mitigate risk and provide optimal performance for the individual, team, organization, and clients.

–Steve Blust
President
Containerization and Intermodal Institute (CII)

Understanding supply chain tradeoffs. Neglecting to grasp supply chain trade-offs can harm a business. Failing to acknowledge these trade-offs can lead to inefficiencies, higher costs, and missed opportunities. Adapting to changes and investing in data analysis, modeling, and scenario planning are crucial for effective supply chain management, ensuring optimized decisions while considering trade-offs.

–Annie Noel
Chief Operating Officer
Vention

–Peter Jaumann
Senior Manager and AI Captain, Data and Artificial Intelligence
Capgemini Americas

We are increasingly becoming pilots in an AI cockpit—in supply chain management and virtually all fields. We need to get used to this. This change is touching all areas of supply chain management.

–Norma Steller
Chief Product Officer
German Bionic

AI will transform supply chain management by enhancing demand forecasting, quality control, inventory management, risk assessment, and cybersecurity. This shift toward proactive optimization will underpin efficient decision-making in supply chain management.

–Mark Vo
CTO
Resilinc

AI will predict demand, enhance inventory management, and automate logistics. Automation-based analytics has the ability to provide real-time insights, enabling faster decision-making and reducing overall costs. This will help supply chains become more efficient, resilient, and responsive to market conditions.

–Doug Waggoner
CEO
Echo Global Logistics

The change will be cataclysmic in both good and bad ways. Supply networks will move at warp speed, but with speed will come a host of additional issues and they will be harder to fix when they occur.

–Michael Johnson
CEO
Metrc

AI will absolutely revolutionize global supply chain management. By employing generative AI and its next evolutions, complex sourcing operations can be streamlined into a control-tower model, allowing teams to oversee planning, producing, and shipping in real time while accurately predicting trends and proposing alternative actions significantly more efficiently than today.

–Lilian Bories
CMO
TradeBeyond

Machine learning will take the supply chain to the next level. It will make day-to-day operations more efficient and cost-effective by seamlessly connecting buyers and suppliers. It will alleviate administrative burdens and manual processes from departments, allowing them to refocus on core business matters.

–Grigoris Lamprou
CEO
Procureship

93% of B2B companies plan to invest in generative AI in the next 12 months, with the most anticipated impact being improvements in business operations. The B2B customer journey is incredibly complex, both for buyers and supply chain managers. These new technologies have significant implications for enhanced automation, simplified supply chain management, and data-driven decision-making.

–Mike Sinoway
CEO
Lucidworks

AI’s power lies in its ability to leverage exponential variables from diverse data sets, regardless of size and frequency, supporting accurate forecasting and decision-making in the face of ever-changing conditions.​ Supply chain organizations will progress to leverage this real-time information to unlock hidden patterns and optimize inventories.

–Brandon Thornell
Executive Vice President
Advantage Solutions

Human decision-making will always be superior. A collaborative approach that blends human expertise with AI predictive suggestions is vital. This synergy is the key to unlocking AI’s true potential in supply chain management.

–Geoff Coltman
Vice President, Client Engagement
Catena Solutions

As AI advances in supply chain management, market strategy will shift from reacting to major consumer and ecosystem changes to become a more proactive, predictive model. We can also expect to see robotics and machines enabled to perform detailed and highly variable tasks.

–Kristi Montgomery
Vice President, Innovation, Research and Development
Kenco

AI will enhance global risk management by predicting potential disruptions from factors like political unrest, natural disasters, etc., allowing faster mitigation and minimizing impact. AI will also help firms better navigate complex international trade regulations.

–Eetu Laaksonen
Chief Technology Officer
Valona Intelligence

Generative AI breathes life into data, while large language models streamline inventory management, and conversational AI enhances collaboration. AI in supply chain management is set to optimize operations, enhance responsiveness, and create robust supply chains for evolving market needs.

–Dr. Paul Pallath
Vice President, Applied AI Practice
Searce

AI will make supply chains more resilient and adaptive, rerouting resources in case of disruptions. But two points are clear: First, this is a space race, and second, the efficacy of AI will only be as good as the data it’s trained on.

–Maneet Singh
Chief Information Officer
Odyssey Logistics

Traditional data algorithms will trump AI. Process automation based on traditional data algorithms rather than artificial intelligence will be the big driver of efficiency in supply chain management over the next five years. A different approach but still machine driven efficiency.

–Bryn Heimbeck
Co-Founder and President
Trade Tech Inc.

AI is set to revolutionize supply chains by allowing businesses to make more informed decisions and elevating sustainability. It will do this in several ways, allowing for: 1) accurate demand forecasting, 2) inventory optimization, 3) more efficient routes and logistics, 4) management of supplier relationships, and 5) data analytics utilization.

–Ann Marie Jonkman
PMP, Senior Director, Global Industry Strategies
Blue Yonder

Chief executives must identify the best AI applications for their team and then invest in extensive training in the next five years. Organizations that embrace AI and adapt to these changes gain a competitive edge in the evolving supply chain management landscape.

–Joe Galvin
Chief Research Officer
Vistage

Uncertain & Unpredictable

The true capabilities and risks associated with AI are still unknown. We are a data and operations company, so platform and information security are critical. Right now AI is seen as a productivity amplifier, but as more responsibility is handed over, vulnerabilities and risk are on the horizon.

–Salvatore DiDonato
Chief Technology Officer
STG Logistics

It’s hard to predict the impact of AI, specifically generative AI. It is exciting to consider the potential impact on demand planning, supplier governance, and logistics to name a few. What is clear is that reliable data and better visibility to the entire value chain will be essential.

–Joe Schloesser
Vice President
ISN

The industry has only scratched the surface of automation and robots which will gain efficiencies and reduce costs by handling tasks like load matching, warehouse automation, tracking and routing. For example: Generative AI acts as an assistant to support strategy by assessing different scenarios, highlighting risk factors, and making recommendations.

–Yoav Amiel
CIO
RXO

AI’s ability to analyze real-time and historical data can add tremendous efficiency to route planning and fleet management efforts, among other benefits—when implemented effectively to an existing operation. This enhanced efficiency should lower shipping costs and fuel consumption, making supply chains more competitive and eco-friendly.

–Maciej Ciupa
Director of Business Intelligence
OSM Worldwide

AI is already making itself known—through route planning, yard management, and attempting to connect and make inferences where data does not or cannot exist, such as in forced labor validations. AI’s greatest challenge will be availability of data—companies will be reticent to share unless they will benefit commercially.

–Scott Case
Founder, Chief Storyteller
Position Global

AI will integrate behavioral and supply chain data and then analyze hundreds of thousands of constraints and variables across disparate systems. This will transform supply chains by circumventing disruptions and providing prescriptive actions to optimize outcomes which will seamlessly align all forward and reverse processes, while providing ideal course corrections instantaneously.

–Tom Martin
Director of Product Strategy
Inmar Intelligence

AI presents significant opportunity within supply chain. Leaders can expect to see cognitive computing automate dynamic processes, including forecasting, inventory management, and route optimization, while organizations may choose to build their own generative AI tools to inform planning, forecasting, and risk management—moving decision making from predictive to prescriptive.

–Omer Rashid
VP of Operational Excellence (automation/innovation/analytics)
DHL Supply Chain

Supply chain management is ripe for AI adoption. As AI advances, organizations that don’t digitally transform won’t survive. Meanwhile, AI adopters will accelerate human output and increase supply chain resiliency. They will uncover millions in cost savings from insights and avoided risks, increasing speed-to-market, productivity, and job satisfaction.

–Keith Hartley
CEO
LevaData

AI adds predictive data and proactive decision-making opportunities to supply chain operations. While more data is generated, we need to identify why that data matters and operationalize it. Turning on AI-enabled programs does not immediately solve the problem—rather, use it as a component in the solution and as an accelerator of outcomes.

–Bill Wappler
CEO
Surgere

In supply chain design, AI will help analysts interpret massive amounts of data across thousands of scenarios to determine what’s different, identify relationships between inputs and outputs, and suggest how to improve cost, service, and risk. Interactive conversations with “design bots” will help analysts build scenarios to improve KPIs.

–John Ames
VP Business Development
Optilogic

The potential of AI in the next five years is limitless. Since the launch of ChatGPT and generative AI, there has been a rush to incorporate more of this technology into supply chain solutions. With the ongoing labor shortage in the supply chain industry, adopting advanced solutions like this will be a make or break going forward given demand continues to rise.

By leveraging AI, ChatGPT or Generative AI, supply chain management companies gain end-to-end visibility that enables better decision-making, reduced costs, improved efficiency, and a stronger customer experience while alleviating the workload on the workforce.

–Brandon Black
SVP and General Manager
Ivanti Wavelink

Artificial intelligence in the supply chain is not new–generating new artifacts to support it, is. Decisions impacting supply chain performance—order quantities, routing, inventory allocation–are limited. AI will improve the impact with real-time data from external and/or internal sources to augment the models and drive a better outcome.

–Andre Luecht
Global Strategy Lead for Transportation, Logistics and Warehouse
Zebra Technologies

AI is poised to impact every attribute of the supply chain, including demand forecasting, fleet utilization, load management, route optimization, driver wellness and safety, warehouse operations, multimodal shipments, fraud detection, and more. Besides, self-driving trucks and delivery vehicles rely on AI tech today.

–Nagendra Rao
President – Sales
Trigent Software

AI will likely play a role in real-time flagging of potential shipping issues, whether it’s due to weather, airport delays, road blockages, etc., and be able to immediately reroute to find a quicker route. Unforeseen issues happen all the time, and until recently, there was little to nothing to do about that. AI could change the game and provide a whole new landscape to ensure supply chains maintain the highest level of efficiency.

–Bryan Gerber
Founder & CEO
HARA Supply

As blockchain technology advances, AI’s capacity to leverage it for supply chain management will grow. Their synergy will enhance the ability of software to utilize smart contracts and IoT sensors for improved transparency, demand forecasting, and real-time tracking. This will streamline operations, cut costs, and prevent fraudulent claims.

–Ramon AB
CEO, Nova Technology

Supply chain management will change because of AI, which enhances visibility, tracking, and preventative maintenance while bolstering demand forecasts. AI helps with automated warehouses, autonomous deliveries, supplier risk analysis, chatbot communication, sustainability efforts, quality control, and procurement efficiency. AI will also boost productivity, cut expenses, and boost performance, but there are still concerns about data quality, worker adaptation, and privacy.

–Denise Thomas
CEO
WTC Arkansas

Artificial intelligence is already a valuable tool. By analyzing historical data and market trends, AI is enhancing decision-making and improving inventory management. It will grow beyond just data analysis and be used to automate routine tasks, identify cost savings, and add transparency, increasing efficiency in supply chain management.

–Mike Trudeau
Executive Vice President, Business Development
Montway Auto Transport

Dynamic pricing through AI will have a huge impact on supply chain management—it will ensure transportation rates are truly based on supply and demand, similar to airlines and hotels. AI tools will also assist with shipment recognition and dimension/weight determination to ensure pricing accuracy.

–Heather Hoover-Salomon
CEO
uShip

AI will significantly enhance brokerages’ customer service capabilities in the next five years. For example, rather than working with the loosely integrated APIs available today, AI will automate manual tasks to help shippers reduce support costs and deliver a more personal customer experience.

–Alex Schwarm
Vice President of Data Science
Arrive Logistics

Generative AI is set to transform workplace training: GenAI facilitates rapid knowledge transfer and retention and gives organizations the capabilities to create more effective, personalized, and engaging training experiences for their employees.

This technology will continue to bridge the gap between traditional training methods and the demands of a dynamic, digitally driven world, ultimately fostering a more skilled, adaptable, and competitive workforce.

–Sam Zheng
CEO
DeepHow

AI will become extremely instrumental in keeping supply chains agile with real-time fulfillment and routing. Increased efficiency and automation usually mean fewer people are needed to do the same tasks, so the potential impact on employment needs to be monitored.

–Eric Morgan
Senior Manager
Risk Services
Atradius

–Jonathan Starck
Senior Manager
U.S. Buyer Underwriting
Atradius

Artificial intelligence will:

• Automate tasks, reducing costs and freeing up workers for more strategic roles.
• Improve forecasting and visibility, enabling companies to respond more quickly and efficiently to disruptions.
• Optimize transportation and logistics, reducing waste and improving delivery times.
• Create new business models and opportunities, such as predictive maintenance and personalized product delivery.

–Tom Nightingale
CEO
AFS Logistics

Here’s a look at 20 AI applications in the supply chain.

Perfect order ratio measures the ability to deliver products and services as promised. It is the percentage of orders delivered on time, in full, undamaged, and defect free as a percentage of the total orders delivered. And I like to add: No billing errors from your carrier.

–Nicole Glenn
Founder & CEO
Candor Expedite, Inc.

The time it takes to empty a container at a warehouse. The ability to make sure containers are emptied in time results in less exposure to fees like per diem.

–Toni Ann Careccio
Chief Customer Officer & Board Member
PortPro

On-time delivery, always. The entire goal of the supply chain is to create a delightful customer experience.

–Michael Johnson
CEO
Metrc

Fuel surcharges. Prices are volatile and can fluctuate significantly, affecting shipping costs. By tracking fuel surcharges via getting quotes from carriers, monitoring prices, and negotiating with carriers on lower surcharges, shippers can save money on shipping costs.

–Chella Palaniappan
President, Client Services
Trigent Software

Missed appointments. Shippers who drive more than 97% of all activity through a transportation management system can see scheduled load fulfillment rates of over 90%, implying missed appointments are less than 10%. This reduces labor, improves inventory accuracy, minimizes detention fees, reduces CO2 emissions, and improves retail on-time and purchase order fulfillment scores.

–Barak Bar-Cohen
Founder and CEO
Sojo Industries

First-pass yield is the number of shipments that cycle through without further handling. If a shipment is rebooked/rescheduled, or the corresponding documentation must be revised/resent, it’s considered a defect. If your overall rolling throughput yield is low, a shipper will be challenged to leverage automation or enjoy handling costs from 3PLs.

–Andrew McLoone
Executive Director
PSA BDP

Rate of land consumption. It is critically essential to sustainable operation because excessive land use for transportation infrastructure can lead to environmental degradation, habitat loss, and increased carbon emissions.

–Giorgio Ferdinandi
Head of Procurement
Linnea SA

Your carbon footprint. Incorporate sustainability into carrier selection. Partner with providers who offer dashboards or applications that track emissions so you can identify and act on opportunities to reduce environmental impact.

–Phil Sullivan
VP, NA Enterprise Managed Services
Odyssey

Your customers’ satisfaction with the carriers you are selecting. There can be assumptions the receiver/customer is happy, but if the carrier is not doing a good job on delivery (product condition, driver attitude, on-time, etc.) then you may lose that customer to another supplier.

–Mitch Luciano
CEO
Trailer Bridge

It needs to be on-time delivery performance if shippers can only focus on one transportation metric. Customer experience is foundational for every business. Delivery performance is the last thing that customers see and heavily influences their perception of the entire buying experience and the overall relationship with the business.

–Chris Jones
EVP of Industry
Descartes

Location of Inspection and Fumigation Services. Streamlining regulatory processes through efficient dockside USDA and Customs inspections not only accelerates clearance but also minimizes unnecessary transportation distances and wait times. This optimizes shipment costs by avoiding offsite cargo transfers and reloads.

–Carla Stone
President
World Trade Center Delaware

Shipment quality. Poor shipment quality requires excessive manual labor for unloading—needlessly adding time and costs. Similarly, damaged goods, having absorbed order acquisition, fulfillment, and transportation costs, exacerbate shipment quality issues by further eroding margins.

–Rob Small
Senior Solutions Expert, Supply Chain
Inmar

Tender lead time to ship date. Provide carriers ample time to meet your expected ship date, which includes scheduling appointments, confirming shipping details, arranging drivers, and finding backhauls. In general, more lead time results in better service and pricing.

–Michael Link
Chief Supply Chain Officer
RJW Logistics Group

Time to book. Faster booking—via services like autobooking—enables a better shipper experience and more transparency with buyers, ultimately resulting in better customer retention.

–Heather Hoover-Salomon
CEO
uShip

That’s So Yesterday

While traditional transportation performance metrics have a place in process improvement, relying on them alone is a bit like reading yesterday’s newspaper.

Shippers today have an opportunity to leverage global positioning in predictive analytics, enabling more accurate estimated arrival times than ever before, and integrating comprehensive risk assessments of financial, social-political, and climate risks.

–Tony Harris
SVP & Chief Marketing & Solutions Officer
SAP Business Network

On Time in Full. It is a combined metric bringing together two key variables, which when fully executed upon brings an optimal customer experience. When either variable is below expectations, it can equate to significant losses in revenue.

-Theo Bielowicz
Director of Sales,Transportation & Logistics
Brother Mobile Solutions

On-time pickup percentage of their carrier partners. Scrutinizing this critical yet often overlooked metric can improve production planning, reduce dwell times, and increase on-time delivery percentages, all of which will drive greater supply chain efficiency.

–Tyler Brown
Director of Business Development
Arrive Logistics

Chain of custody completeness. Amid recent ESG regulations like the UFLPA and German Supply Chain Act, missing product information documenting chain of custody is leaving shipments vulnerable to lengthy port detentions and hefty fines. Retailers must make sure these records are complete before shipping.

–Eric Linxwiler
Sr. Vice President, Retail Solutions
TradeBeyond

Perfect order delivery is a valuable metric that analyzes data points which can measure the performance of the entire process of the movement of goods throughout the supply chain from manufacturer to end customers. It looks at performance indicators such as on-time delivery, order fulfillment, production efficiency, and other critical data elements that can help identify where a failure occurred. This can help create procedures and processes that can be implemented to minimize disruptions and interruptions in the future.

–Steve Dombroski
Director of Food and Beverage Markets
QAD

Optimized turnaround times remain essential as delays can create unnecessary costs, disrupt supply chains, and hurt customer satisfaction. Shippers can tap on the skills, network, flexibility, and resourcefulness of established logistics service providers to overcome transportation issues and ensure the seamless and timely movement of goods from origin to destination.

–Shanaka Fernando
Managing Director
GAC North America – Logistics

On-time pickup metric. If the product does not ship in time to hit the carrier’s linehaul schedule from origin, regardless of mode, the shipment has a high likelihood of not meeting the consignee’s delivery expectation.

–Melissa Somsen
Chief Commercial Officer
AFS Logistics

Carbon emissions. As the world becomes more conscious of environmental sustainability, measuring and reducing carbon emissions in transportation is crucial. It helps mitigate climate change and supports the adoption of greener practices within the supply chain.

–George Maksimenko
Chief Executive Officer
Adexin

On-time delivery. Depending on your sector, you can be fined if something arrives late. Specifically, visibility into that last mile of delivery is key. Further, your customer experience should be a major, if not the ultimate priority—the ability to enhance on-time delivery adds value from that perspective as well.

–Bryan Gerber
Founder & CEO
HARA Supply

Digital isn’t really digital. Most digital platforms lack skilled employees with deep logistics knowledge to back up their work. Digital is wonderful when you have the human intelligence to adapt and understand the always-moving freight industry.

–Drew Herpich
COO
TI & NTG

On-time delivery rate is a key metric more shippers should be paying attention to. Situations occur daily that delay a shipment, but communication is key and delivery times can be adjusted.

–Eric Vasquez
Owner
Veterans Logistics Group

Freight policies/freight recovery. Unmanaged freight cost recovery can quickly erode profit margins. Smart companies revisit their policies frequently. Without doing so, macro-economic climate changes can create a revenue wave without carrying margin with it. This was the case for many companies in 2022.

–Eric Elter
Director of Information and Technology Services
KDL Logistics

Shippers should be tracking their carbon footprint. While the SEC has tabled their earlier Scope 3 emissions proposal, it is highly likely to come back in some form.

–Joe Adamski
Senior Director
ProcureAbility

Average transportation costs. Not just the rate, but understanding how transportation costs impact a dealer’s inventory turn, customer satisfaction, and even the floor plan, can help improve a dealer’s bottom line.

–Mary Bartlett
Director of Business Development
Montway Auto Transport

Tender acceptance/rejections. This can give shippers an idea on if the market is trending in favor of carriers or shippers. If tender acceptance is high, then that can be a good time to do annual bids.

The shipper can use their own shipment data to track this metric, but if they do not have a nationwide network then it may be best to use publicly shared information from industry data sources.

–Eric Masotti
President, Logistics
Trailer Bridge

Supply chain flexibility is essential as market conditions can change rapidly. Drivers, dispatchers, trucking companies, and brokers all discuss dwell time as it impacts the entire network, and often not just that single trailer or truck. All too frequently, one delay pushes out the entire network.

–Sean Burke
CCO
Echo Global Logistics

Driver parking.While it may seem like a simple answer, this shortage affects many links of the supply chain. From driver hours (being wasted to find a legal truck stop) to shipper bottlenecking (an issue made worse by missed appointment times), the men and women moving America and beyond would become more efficient if this obstacle were greatly diminished or eliminated.

–Evan Wheeler
VP of Brokerage Operations
TA Services

Invoicing accuracy. While most invoices will match what a shipper had been quoted, some will not. Those invoices that don’t, can represent systemic issues, either with the shipper or carrier, that will warrant a deeper dive into root causes.

–Kevin Day
President of LTL
AFS Logistics

On shelf availability (OSA) from the store and product utilization/consumption in the home but visible not just to retailers but everyone in the supply chain (using ambient IoT). Demand chain metrics should be accessible and used to orchestrate the next generation of supply chains.

–Antony Yousefian
VP Climate & Circularity
Wiliot

Network emissions are an emerging metric in goals across forward-looking organizations. While each organization is at a different stage in its decarbonization process, logistics leaders can show their c-suite the potential emissions reduction opportunities in their network today. A trusted partner can accelerate setting science-based targets and decarbonizing transportation networks.

–Jenny Vander Zanden
Chief Operating Officer
Breakthrough

Delivery and delivery-to-promise dates. Are we delivering on customer service demand at the risk of spending more on transit, cost per case, CO2 emissions, human energy, or electrical power? Provide a choice to the consumer, retailer, and distributor then deliver to that model.

–Ann Marie Jonkman
PMP, Senior Director, Global Industry Strategies
Blue Yonder

Average cost per shipment impacting their COGS (cost of goods sold). Then dependent on the mode, LTL ($/Lb), parcel ($/Pkg), truckload ($/mile) and international ($/container).

–Dean Jones
Chief Channel Development Officer
AFS Logistics

Dwell on This

Dwell time is clearly the one thing shippers need to dwell on. On port containers, the dwell cost is at times as much as the final mile cost. Per the Department of Transportation report, dwell time at shippers’ docks costs carriers $1.1 to 1.3 billion per year. Essentially it shows a lack of planning at various levels in an organization and creates an impact on future RFPs in the form of increased carrier rates. And while the penalty cost is bad, the greater impact is on the reputation of the shipper.

–Reo Hatfield
VP of Corporate Services
TA Services

Paying more attention to dwell time can give shippers early warning of potential backups in the supply chain, allowing them to work with logistics partners to identify and reduce bottlenecks. Container dwell times at ports or railyards can be a useful indicator for overall supply chain health as well.

–Tony Pelli
Practice Director, Security and Resilience
BSI

High dwell times indicate inefficiencies in logistics processes, leading to potential delays and increased costs.

–Srini AV
Transportation and Global Trade Practice Director
Gaea

Considering dwell time information at the very start of a shipper/carrier relationship results in stronger overall plans.

–Kelly Williams
Enterprise Product Lead
Trimble

By reducing dwell time, you can reduce detention and demurrage charges, improve your capacity utilization, streamline operations, and overcome driver shortage issues, ultimately improving your overall performance. It also has a positive impact on all aspects of the supply chain, reducing environmental impact and supply chain imbalances.

–Amit Prasad
Chief Data Science Officer
Transportation Insight

Getting drivers in and out of pickup facilities efficiently is critical. Ensure the carrier receives accurate information regarding service requirements, shipment details, and capacity needs. Check each shipment for proper in-transit packaging, stage the freight for convenient access, and have the driver’s paperwork complete and ready.

–Chase Smith
Vice President, Carrier Services
MODE Global

The current global supply chain is unsustainable. A sustainable model embeds environmental, social, and governance best practices into how raw materials are sourced, turned into products, and delivered to market. Global supply chains have been focused on achieving financial efficiency. The result is messy and fragile supply chain systems.

–Abishek Bhat
Vice President, Business Development
Trigent Software

Forced standards, even if imperfect, make more sense. While historically standards have been determined by the free market (VHS vs. Betamax, etc.), the pandemic demonstrated alarming gaps in all supply chains. We need to act quickly and we do not have enough time for the free market to crown a winner.

–Michael Johnson
CEO
Metrc

Manufacturers and logistics providers face a crucial choice: They must either (1) engage in candid discussions with their economic development and governmental leaders to invest in the supply chain workforce or (2) embrace an accelerated adoption of automation. The challenges in the supply chain workforce cannot be left unattended.

–Craig Turner
President
World Trade Center Buffalo Niagara

Nearshoring will not be around for the long term. It’s a short-term reaction to turmoil in overseas sourcing points. In the long term, raw materials will always be sourced from wherever demand can be met at the lowest cost.

–Eric Elter
Director
Information and Technology Services
KDL Logistics

Things would run smoother if more governing organizations intervened when major bottlenecks occurred. I don’t believe any single company or union should have the power to control a process when it hinders the entire supply chain.

–Eric Vasquez
Owner
Veterans Logistics Group

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent war have been tipping points in weakening global supply chains—but climate change has been undermining their resilience since long before that. War might get resolved, but climate change is still the biggest long-term threat to supply chains and is excluded from decision-making.

–Himanshu Gupta
CEO and Co-Founder
ClimateAI

In the next 10 years we will see a heavy unionization of roles due to automation and artificial intelligence standards becoming the norm. Based on the impact of these technologies, I see governments enacting laws to ensure the future of work is sustainable, equitable, and beneficial for all mankind.

–Ann Marie Jonkman
PMP, Senior Director, Global Industry Strategies
Blue Yonder

The billions of dollars spent by startups on technology with the intent to completely automate the brokerage industry won’t prove to yield a high return on investment. The billions of dollars spent by large incumbent brokerages on technology to create efficiencies and better serve their clients and carriers is where real value will be created in the industry.

–Zach Jecklin
Chief Information Officer
Echo Global Logistics

Nearshoring or ally-shoring will prove difficult if not impossible. As much as companies would like to decouple from certain countries, there are powerful reasons (manufacturing expertise and scale) why they will simply have to deal with sourcing from higher-risk countries.

–Tony Pelli
Practice Director, Security and Resilience
BSI

We need to take a hard look at port disruptions and labor shortages. These issues won’t go away by conducting business as usual. What’s at the heart of work slow-downs? Why aren’t the jobs we have to offer attractive? Finding answers to tough questions will keep global supply chains moving.

–Jason Totah
President
International & Alaska
Odyssey Logistics

California’s AB5 and CARB decisions are having a significant and deleterious effect on the American economy. They are causing driver shortages, owner-operators to exit, and will massively increase costs by forcing electric truck utilization and slowing the supply chain due to long charging times versus fuel pumping.

–Joe Adamski
Senior Director
ProcureAbility

The ripple effects of the pandemic have ultimately left logistics and procurement in a better place. Yes, they have made for the toughest operating conditions in a generation—but have also shaken up the industry, forced us to embrace innovation and agility, and provided the infrastructure to tackle future challenges.

–Matthias Gutzmann
CEO and Founder
DPW

The recent rise in fraud in the domestic truckload market will lead to more consolidation of power by large 3PLs and trucking companies that also have large brokerages.

• Smaller companies have a higher likelihood of going out of business if they are hit by these schemes.
• The costs to ensure compliance will continue to rise, which will more negatively impact providers with smaller shipment counts.
• Customers will look to lower the number of carriers they work with to have less exposure to potential fraud schemes that negatively impact their business.

–Eric Masotti
President, Logistics
Trailer Bridge

AI-powered supply chain solutions should never strive for 100% automation. In the event they do, organizations will fail to uncover new opportunities that are exposed via human interactions, and progress will stagnate. People fuel growth and expansion, AI powers efficiency.

–Alyssa Myers
VP Technology
RXO

Blaming the supply chain for what ails us is no longer in vogue. It’s a worn-out cliché customers no longer find acceptable. Some would even say it’s insulting. Establishing and maintaining an impactful comeback means better forecasting, demand planning, and multi-sourcing products.

–Eric Allais
President & CEO
PathGuide Technologies

Most companies don’t look at inventory in the right way. I recall reading an article back in the late 1980s entitled J.I.T.–Just in Time or Just Inviting Trouble? I worked for a Japanese consumer giant at the time. That article stuck with me right up to the present day, and the dilemma should resonate with all of us.

The answer is not simple, and it can be vastly different depending on the complexity of the supply chain. It’s also important we recognize the following:

• The companies hit worst by recent events were the leanest (e.g. automakers; were they “just inviting trouble?”)
• These shortages will come again. Demand and supply will forever be at odds. Understanding where the risks are in advance is everything.
• OEMs will again panic buy and jam orders for way more than they need. This will cause supply chains all around the world to swell and potentially burst, wreaking havoc on the ecosystem around them.

–Andy Pepper
VP, Global Supply Chain, Diversified Manufacturing Services (DMS)
Jabil

The question is not whether or not companies will incorporate artificial intelligence. It’s a matter of when, in what capacity, what platform, and how much to invest. AI also will create new cybersecurity issues that will need to be addressed and combated.

–Salvatore DiDonato
Chief Technology Officer
STG Logistics

Companies should prioritize sustainability over cost efficiency. While cost reduction is important, environmental concerns and social responsibility should also be given equal weight in decision-making to ensure a more sustainable and ethical supply chain.

–George Maksimenko
Chief Executive Officer
Adexin

U.S. logistics companies who ignore, delay, decry or deride the importance of having an ESG roadmap or program will find themselves without invitations to RFPs for large domestic and international cargo owners. They see logistics companies as mandatory partners in helping them reduce carbon emissions and meet their sustainability goals.

–Scott Case
Founder
Position : Global

Exchanges should not be the highest priority for customer returns. Amazon has proven that providing convenient drop-off options with quick refunds is what drives long-term trust, loyalty, and profit.

–Dan Nevin
GM
Inmar Post Purchase Solutions

Sustainable delivery is not more expensive. Many retailers fail to understand that sustainable home delivery costs less. Consumers are interested in sustainable delivery options and ones that combine or slow deliveries down or increase delivery density are lower cost alternatives. It’s up to retailers to present sustainable delivery options and let consumers pick them.

–Chris Jones
EVP of Industry and Services
Descartes

Now is the time to automate supply chains. Pressure to automate has subsided with slack demand. Yet automation is best done during down cycles as slack demand reduces implementation risk and prepares firms for the next cycle.

–Paul Asel
Co-founder and Partner
NGP Capital

To combat the labor shortage in the logistics industry, many leaders rush to automate. However, this can be a mistake if companies do not first involve all necessary company departments, establish clear objectives, and know their warehouse processes inside and out. Preparation is key to successful automation.

–Felix Vicknair
Vice President of Supply Chain Solutions
Kenco

Reaching out to receive quotes from all of your vendors at least quarterly could lead to much cheaper rates and big savings in the long run. Rates change for existing partners regularly, and it’s important to compare and contrast a variety of freight companies. At the end of the day, simply taking the time to do your due diligence and ask questions on a regular basis can go a long way, even making or breaking an entire operation.

–Bryan Gerber
Founder & CEO
HARA Supply

There is some confusion in the marketplace on the various supply chain forecasts for the remainder of 2023 and into 2024. Some organizations are saying the issues are resolving for them and others are saying challenges will continue to be a burden and may increase through 2024. So, what is the right answer? Is it dependent on the industry? Is it preparing for the worst and hoping for the best? Answering this question is critical to success and planning for businesses that rely on the supply chain for operational success.

–Ravi Panjwani
President
Brother Mobile Solutions

Most warehouse management systems can’t get the job done in today’s high-volume direct-to-consumer environment. These legacy systems were built for yesterday—when purchases were made in stores. A better architected, flexible DTC fulfillment solution is required to connect today’s complex ecosystem to fill and deliver orders fast and meet consumer expectations.

–Erhan Musaoglu
CEO/Founder
Logiwa Inc.

Communication with supply chain partners is shifting away from EDI and towards B2B-via-APIs. EDI will remain, but APIs offer simplicity, quicker onboarding, and data modularity that will motivate logistics organizations to adopt and promote APIs whenever possible. Real-time data connectivity helps businesses efficiently capitalize on these API-based benefits.

–Jerod Johnson
Senior Technology Evangelist
CData

The future is about a transition to serialized, real-time visible demand chains, with carbon and even better biodiversity as an important quality. Every item will be tracked with a digital twin or passport. Drivers to this transition will be food safety compliance in the United States, and the EU’s Carbon Border adjustment tax (CBAM), which will transform the flow of materials around the world. Through the standardization by wireless carriers of ambient IoT technology, which will decrease the cost of tracking 100x, borders and compliance will be automated and frictionless.

–Antony Yousefian
VP Climate & Circularity
Wiliot

Rising freight prices and extended lead times have posed challenges, and exploring alternative transportation modes, fostering local production, and embracing digital solutions may not fully address the underlying issues. Relying on suppliers and optimizing stock inventory will contribute to more sustainable and resilient long-term solutions.

–Giorgio Ferdinandi
Head of Procurement
Linnea SA

Several trucking and logistics companies made decisions around maximizing profits for the past few years and are now paying the price for that. Shippers tend to remember companies that only took spot freight and didn’t protect their contracts. How this plays out in the coming years is going to be very interesting. Who will be standing?

–Mitch Luciano
CEO
Trailer Bridge

In our interconnected global economy, the traditional notion of “supply chain” falls short in capturing the complexity and interdependence of modern business networks. Companies, regardless of size or geographic location, now operate within expansive supply networks that include contract manufacturers, contract packaging, and outsourced warehousing. While you may agree, I would argue it’s time to replace “supply chain” with “supply network” in our day-to-day.

–Tony Harris
SVP & Chief Marketing & Solutions Officer
SAP Business Network

Retailers must embrace the circular economy by reframing returns and overstock items as valuable resources. Leveraging reverse logistics and partnerships in the secondary market enables sustainable solutions, unlocking hidden value and creating a resilient supply chain ecosystem.

–Girish Jaguste
Vice President of New Business Development
Liquidity Services

Most supply chain software on the market is far too narrow in the problems it addresses. Brands and retailers need to start thinking far more comprehensively about digitalization. That means adopting software that considers all supply chain workflows and integrates them into one platform for maximum accuracy and efficiency.

–Eric Linxwiler
Vice President
TradeBeyond

Poor supply chain integration can be a deal breaker, literally. Costly delays, disruptions, and frustrated employees can quickly turn a promising deal on its head. To secure long-term value from a merger or acquisition, companies must prioritize a plan for effective supply chain integration prior to closing to gain a competitive edge.

–Geoff Coltman
Vice President, Client Engagement
Catena Solutions

Tony Fadell. He was the creator of a number of critical software and hardware technologies—including the iPod and Nest thermostat—which makes him qualified to understand both elements that generally exist in logistical crises. Tony was hired to design and build what became the iPod and shipped the first one to customers 290 days after beginning the project.

–Michael Johnson
CEO
Metrc

Elon Musk. He is never satisfied with the current way of things. He always has a plan for the future and is not afraid to tell the truth as he sees it. Finally, he has the resources.

–Reo Hatfield
VP, Corporate Services
TA Services

A historic military leader who identified logistics as one of the most critical success factors and elevated the profession:

• Dwight D. Eisenhower: “You will not find it difficult to prove that battles, campaigns, and even wars have been won or lost primarily because of logistics.”
• Napoleon Bonaparte: “Amateurs discuss tactics, professionals discuss logistics.”
• Alexander the Great: “My logisticians are a humorless lot. They know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.”

–Andre Luecht
Global Practice Lead, Manufacturing, Transportation & Logistics
Zebra Technologies

My Dad. I was lucky to work with him to help grow his company Canyon State Courier when I was fresh out of college. I remember thinking how lucky I was to spend time with him daily, sitting in his office and working through the crazy challenges this industry brings our way.

–Tim Cocchia
CLDA Treasurer
Board Member and COO
Xcel Delivery Services

Dr. John Coyle from Penn State, though sadly he passed away. In his absence I would say that any of the logistics professors in Penn State’s Smeal College of Business could serve as a tremendous resource in a bind. I have alumni bias, but they have always been at the forefront of new research and trends related to the profession.

–Eric Elter
Director, Information and Technology Services
KDL Logistics

Sam Walton. As the founder of Walmart, his extensive experience in building and managing a retail empire with a strong focus on logistics and supply chain management would be invaluable in navigating and resolving the crisis effectively.

–George Maksimenko
CEO
Adexin

Ulysses S. Grant. He won the U.S. Civil War based on excellence in supply chains.

–Antony Yousefian
VP Climate & Circularity
Wiliot

Laura Lane, chief corporate affairs and sustainability officer at UPS. During the pandemic I saw firsthand her ability to navigate through unprecedented government regulations. She kept UPS operating, both domestically and internationally.

–Melissa Somsen
Chief Commercial Officer
AFS Logistics

Ray Kroc. The McDonald’s founder was driven to maintain consistency. He drove efficiencies and delivered a high-quality customer experience while maintaining costs. His innovative practices more than three quarters of a century ago, are still influencing how supply chains are managed today.

–Stephen Dombroski
Director, Consumer Products and Food & Beverage Markets
QAD

The Allied logisticians who engineered victory for the United States, UK, Soviet Union, and their allies in World War II.

They had to move hundreds of thousands of people and vehicles to every part of the world—from remote Pacific islands to the deserts of North Africa—in extreme circumstances in very short periods of time. I think they could figure out how to move couches or clothes.

–Tony Pelli
Practice Director, Security and Resilience
BSI

Frederick McKinley Jones, a revolutionary inventor in the transportation industry. In the early 1900s, he patented the mechanical transport refrigeration unit, making it possible to transport food around the world, all while battling discrimination.

His insight and leadership would be tremendously valuable for leveraging temperature-controlled technology to simplify transportation.

–Sean Burke
Chief Commercial Officer
Echo Global Logistics

The leaders responsible for the movement of goods at the largest companies in the United States. These experts are actively utilizing technology to solve real-world supply chain issues. Hearing how they handle the obstacles they face daily would be inspiring.

–Eric Vasquez
Owner
Veterans Logistics Group

A long-term mentor who is always eager to listen, share, and challenge points of view to get to the root cause of a problem. With creative solutions, she has helped me overcome problems, threats, and challenges in the face of disruption.

–Ann Marie Jonkman, PMP
Senior Director, Global Industry Strategies
Blue Yonder

George Washington was a surveyor by profession. I remember the photo of him in my middle school history book looking through his trusty theodolite.

He understood the value of visibility and recognized the inherent challenge of fixing and reacting to what you can’t see, and improving what you can’t measure.

This notion resonates strongly in the context of logistics visibility, which is crucial in avoiding disruption or minimizing impact, even for the best-laid transportation plans.

–Douglas DeLuca
Business Network Solution Marketing
SAP

The leadership at Coca-Cola. They have the best distribution network in the entire world, getting products onto shelves incredibly soon after launch. With the ability to navigate and thrive within international supply chains, while dealing with a diverse set of regulatory requirements, they are an ideal source for dealing with a complex logistics crisis.

–Bryan Gerber
Founder & CEO
HARA Supply

Pep Guardiola, the Spanish coach who just led English soccer team Manchester City to the treble, would be an ideal advisor. Guardiola is a meticulous planner—leaving no stone unturned. He would have 360-degree visibility of his supply base and identify potential problems long before they became an issue.

–Matthias Gutzmann
Founder & CEO
DPW

My co-founder, Daniel, the guy needs a lot of caffeine, but he can solve any logistics problem I throw at him.

–Troy Lester
CRO, Co-Founder
WARP

My co-founder, Troy Lester, the guy drinks no caffeine and can still keep up with me.

–Daniel Sokolovsky
CEO, Co-Founder
WARP

Just like pilots in a crisis—in logistics, we turn to the control tower. It brings visibility and agility— when paired with a best-in-class 4PL solution, multi-modal infrastructure, and advanced reporting technology, every partner in the supply chain benefits. Better visibility = better, quicker, decisions, especially during times of uncertainty or doubt.

–Robert Boyle, PMP
President, Managed Services
Odyssey Logistics

The truck driver. Not the broker, not the salesperson, not the dispatcher, but the driver. When the shipment is critical, the truck driver’s commitment is the only one that counts.

–Kevin Day
President of LTL
AFS Logistics

I would call Perry Falk the head of NTG’s Carrier Sales department. His ability to leverage relationships with NTG’s carrier partners in a fast nimble manner would allow us to solve the most complex crisis.

–Ian Hess
EVP, Customer Sales and Operations
Nolan Transportation Group

In a logistics crisis, my lifeline would be Ian Hess, EVP of Brokerage Sales and Operations at NTG. His deep industry knowledge, proven crisis management skills, innovative problem-solving, and extensive professional network make him an invaluable resource in navigating and resolving complex logistical challenges swiftly and efficiently.

–Perry Falk
EVP, Carrier Operations
Nolan Transportation Group