“Even though the world’s advanced economies are largely considered post-industrial, chipmaking is an area where domestic manufacturing is now being treated as a high priority for economic and national security reasons.”

• Jon Martin, Writing for the ‘More than Moore’ substack

The CHIPS and Science Act, which took effect in August of 2022, is an ambitious Federal program that will inject $52.7 Billion into U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, research and development, and workforce training.

As we look back nearly 3 years later, there has been more talk than action, but no one party or entity bears all of the blame. Forming productive partnerships between the public and private sectors is always complicated - even when everyone’s interests seem to be aligned, and a change of Administration has also brought changes in how the program will be run.

In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly Barner reviews the law as an example of joint public-private reshoring:

• Reviewing the commitments that have been made to date
• Unpacking the roadblocks to progress that we’ve seen so far
• Considering what the Trump administration is doing to facilitate the process of rebuilding semiconductor manufacturing capabilities in the United States

Links:

• Does the CHIPS Act provide the Helpful Incentives the U.S. needs?
• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter 
• Art of Supply on AOP
• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement

Global supply chain leaders and consumers alike have watched for months as the U.S. tariff rollercoaster starts and stops, impacting imported goods. While these policy changes are expected to directly impact supply chains, what about their impact on the cost and availability of freight?

As companies hold their breath and wait to see if and/or when their imports will be subjected to tariffs, many have been doing their best to plan as far ahead as possible and get stock in well before seasonal demand hits. Even so, concerns still exist over tariff timelines and the availability and cost of domestic goods. Most preparation comes down to data–which is where this episode’s guest comes in.

Judah Levine, Head of Research at Freightos, recently joined Kelly Barner to offer his insight into what he and his team are seeing in the ocean and air shipping market.

In this episode of Art of Supply podcast, Kelly and Judah cover:

• The strategy shippers are taking in response to tariffs
• The extended impact these trade wars will have on global shipping
• The challenges brought on by the pausing of de minimis exceptions

Links:

• Judah Levine on LinkedIn
• Trump’s April Tariffs - Rundown, Implications, and Freight Impact
• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter 
• Art of Supply on AOP
• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement

In recent years, a lot of work has been done to raise awareness about the massive problem of human trafficking as well as to start to attack that problem.

In this week’s episode of Art of Supply, Kelly Barner interviews two women engaged in an important part of that fight through an organization called Gift of Freedom: Sharon Siar and Nicole Glenn. 

Sharon Siar is the Founder and President Gift of Freedom, and she is also the Vice President and CFO at Talon Freight Services

Nicole Glenn, is a Board Member for Gift of Freedom, the Founder and CEO of Candor Logistics Management, and a host of the Ladies Leadership Coalition Podcast.

Unlike organizations focused on raising public awareness, or rescuing victims of trafficking, Gift of Freedom is focused on aftercare. They provide the funding for counseling, a need that can extend years or even decades after a rescue is complete.

Even though this is a hard topic to hear about, it is a challenging reality for far too many people - children especially - in the United States and around the world.

In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Sharon and Nicole share their perspectives on:

• Why aftercare counseling has been overlooked as an area of need in the past
• The connection between human trafficking and supply chains
• Why social statistics fail to capture or represent the scope of this problem

Links:

• Sharon Siar on LinkedIn
• Nicole Glenn on LinkedIn
• Gift of Freedom
• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter 
• Art of Supply on AOP
• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement

“Between 2008 and 2013, China’s fledgling solar-electric panel industry dropped world prices by 80 percent, a stunning achievement in a fiercely competitive high-tech market.” - John Fialka, Scientific American

In March, Corning, Suniva, and Heliene announced a partnership that will allow them to build a U.S. supply chain for solar panels, from polysilicon to wafers to cells to panels.

In a global solar industry worth $100 Billion, the opportunity is massive, but so is the risk. The path to the present moment is littered with companies who failed operationally or found themselves tangled up in controversy because they were trying to compete with China on cost.

With a history of tariffs, concerns about forced labor, and imbalances between supply and demand, the solar supply chain offers many lessons for other manufacturers looking to reshore.

In this episode of Art of Supply, Kelly Barner examines:

• Unique challenges facing the solar supply chain and how they ironically created an additional incentive for this partnership
• Why it is essential that more than just final assembly take place in the United States
• The role of government incentives and regulations in making this possible 

Links:

• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter 
• Art of Supply on AOP
• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement

Economic commentators often look at consumer spending as a barometer for confidence and outlook - how good or bad financially do individuals and families think the broader economy is, and how profitable it will be for them?

The same can perhaps be said for companies and hiring managers. How confident are they that they will be able to keep people employed in uncertain times, and what skills are they most eager to invest their scarce dollars in?

In this week’s Art of Supply interview, Kelly Barner speaks with Christine Corson, Managing Director of Supply Chain, Manufacturing, and Engineering Recruitment at DSJ Global. She is focused on manufacturing labor at the management level in a way that allows her to form her own opinion of industry outlook, confidence, and planning horizon.

In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly and Christine discuss:

• The current supply of - and demand for - manufacturing labor
• Whether hiring is being impacted by the uncertainty around tariffs
• Her advice for the candidates hoping to secure mid- to high-level positions in manufacturing companies

Links:

• Christine Corson on LinkedIn
• USA Supply Chain Talent Report 2025: Hiring, Careers & Compensation
• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter 
• Art of Supply on AOP
• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement

In October of 2024, McDonald’s sued four of the world’s largest meat producers – Tyson, JBS, Cargill, and National Beef Packing – for allegedly conspiring to inflate the price of beef by creating artificial scarcity in the market.

This is not the first time McDonald’s has sued these meat producers, and it is not the first time these meat producers have been sued. Over 200 cases have been brought by restaurants, retailers, wholesalers, and ranchers. Some are still pending and others have been settled - with high payouts but no admission of wrongdoing.

In this week’s episode of Art of Supply, Kelly Barner reviews the case McDonald’s is making against the Big 4:

• The price setting power associated with controlling 80 percent of the U.S. beef market
• The complexity associated with trying to track cost and price data in a highly concentrated market
• Why being the largest beef buyer in the world isn’t enough to tip the scales in McDonald’s favor

Links:

• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter 
• Art of Supply on AOP
• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement

Everything runs in trends, supply chains included. What was once considered a critical strategy can be cancelled in a heartbeat if conditions change - only to be rediscovered and reapplied to great advantage a couple of years later.

In this week’s Art of Supply interview, Kelly Barner welcomes back Professor Thomas Goldsby. Tom is the Dee and Jimmy Haslam Chair of Logistics at the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. He is also the Co-Executive Director of their Global Supply Chain Institute. 

Tom rejoins the show to make a case in support of lean thinking and just-in-time inventory management. 

With reshoring becoming an increasing part of the supply chain conversation, the timing may just be right for lean thinking to rebound and once again occupy its rightful place in the supply chain strategy toolkit.

In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly and Tom discuss:

• How we need to understand lean thinking before we can apply it successfully
• Whether companies are starting to apply lean thinking again, or just discussing it
• How our supply chains would change if we optimized them to create customer value

Links:

• Thomas Goldsby on LinkedIn
• Supply Chains as Business in Action
• Tennessee on Supply Chain Management
• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter 
• Art of Supply on AOP
• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement

On May 8th, at Ford Motor Company's annual shareholder meeting, they will face a proposal focused on how they report their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on their way to being carbon neutral by 2050.

The proposal was made by Green Century Capital Management, a sustainability-focused activist fund that regularly challenges recognizable companies about their emissions reduction efforts, using the threat (or promise?) to mount a shareholder vote if necessary.

Companies like Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, and McDonald’s have faced similar challenges, all intended to change how they manage their Scope 3 emissions.

The Ford Board of Directors has advocated for shareholders to reject the proposal, saying it is unnecessary and expensive to create another report in addition to their Integrated Sustainability and Finance report.

In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly Barner covers:

• The unique requests Green Century has made of these publicly traded companies in pursuit of lower Scope 3 emissions
• How these companies have responded to Green Century’s ‘asks’ and proposals
• The idea of reporting as a weapon in addition to being a tool for tracking and accountability

Links:

• Ford asks investors to vote down supply chain emissions proposal
• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter 
• Art of Supply on AOP
• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement

A few weeks ago, rumors started to swirl that Amazon might be standing up their own for-hire less-than-truckload (LTL) operation to compete with the likes of FedEx Freight, Old Dominion, XPO, and Saia.

So what are these rumors based on, and how likely are they to be true? More importantly, what would such a move mean for other national LTL carriers?

In this episode of Art of Supply, Kelly Barners digs into the details of this buzzworthy supply chain news story:

• Where the rumors started and how Amazon might take the first steps to move into the LTL space
• The current LTL business landscape and why Amazon making that move would be such a big deal
• How likely they are to be successful should they move ahead by either building or buying an LTL operation

Links:

• Will FedEx Freight hit the open road?
• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter 
• Art of Supply on AOP
• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement

The Panama Canal is a 51 mile long waterway that allows ships to cut about 8,000 miles off of a trip from New York to San Francisco around the route around Cape Horn.

The country of Panama owns the canal, which is operated by the Panama Canal Authority, an agency of the Panamanian government, but who owns the ports located on either side of the canal?

Until now, it has been CK Hutchison, a Hong Kong based firm - raising concerns about China’s interest and influence in the supply chain critical Panama canal. On March 4th, it was announced that CK Hutchison had decided to sell two of the largest Panama Canal adjacent ports to BlackRock. 

In this episode of Art of Supply, Kelly Barner looks at this story up close:

• The critical role that the Panama Canal plays in global supply chains
• The details of the deal that will transfer ownership of the ports: Balboa (on the Pacific side) and Cristóbal (on the Atlantic side) 
• The diplomatic policy shift this represents with regard to China’s presence in the area and relationship with the country of Panama

Links:

• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter 
• Art of Supply on AOP
• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement