Supply Chain Radio

Business models collide! As retailers turn to private labels and manufacturers go direct-to-consumer, both industries are repositioning their supply chains to serve an increasingly influential customer base. An industry veteran who founded two e-commerce companies and helped Amazon build its billion-dollar Kindle brand, Jon Reily knows a thing or two about creating compelling consumer experiences. Live from the NRF 2018 podcast studio at Retail's Big Show in New York, Jon joins Matt Gunn and Guy Courtin to talk about brand convergence, the latest digital technology, and how he's working to help clients evolve as a vice president of commerce at SapientRazorfish.

We all value visibility as an ideal. The more you see, the better informed you are. But what supply chain issues can we tangibly fix by seeing better? In this episode of Supply Chain Radio, Greg Kefer and John Nadvornik discuss the applications of visibility, from reducing transportation costs, to in-transit inventory, to making better commitments to customers.

Frequently discussed and often misunderstood, companies have been trying to achieve end-to-end supply chain visibility for decades. However, many still struggle to define exactly what that means. In part one of our new series on supply chain visibility, Greg Kefer and Jon Nadvornik discuss why companies still struggle to get real-time information on their inventory, and how networked, cloud technology is paving the road toward a brighter, more connected future.

When you can deliver toys to an entire planet full of girls and boys in just one night, odds are you've got a pretty good supply chain. But even the jolliest of elves knows there's room for continuous improvement. So what's on Santa's wish list this year? Matt Gunn, Brittany Brown, Suhas Sreedhar, and Jen Susa read St. Nick's list and check it twice to see which suppliers are naughty or nice.

Guy Courtin and Matt Gunn look into the crystal ball and predict the technologies and business challenges that will shape the year ahead. Will we see more consolidation or increased competition? Are AR and VR finally ready for prime time? Which industries are ripe for disruption? And when will 3D printing and additive manufacturing finally bring us those cool in-home replicators we saw on Star Trek? Find the answers to all of these questions and more in this week's episode of Supply Chain Radio!

These days it seems you can't go to a supply chain conference without hearing about blockchain. The hype is real, but the evidence of success is still scarce. But that's not so uncommon with new and emerging technology. The Internet of Things (IoT) was in a similar place a couple years ago - all hype, little action. But today it's taking off, and having a direct impact on supply chain. In this episode we explore the hype cycle of new technology, and how to identify the difference between buzzwords and reality.

In this episode, Brittany Brown, Matt Gunn, and Suhas Sreedhar discuss the most dreadful time of the supply chain year: contracting season. As we look ahead to early 2018, the ordeal of negotiating transportation contracts for the year looms large. But is there a way for shippers and carriers to ease the anxiety and the pain?

It used to be that Black Friday was the biggest shopping event of the year. But the growth of e-commerce and mobile gave shoppers more power to choose when, where and how they wanted to shop for the holidays, and today the holiday deals run from late October all the way through the New Year. In this episode, we discuss how the evolving shopping season puts a strain on supply chain, and how businesses can get smarter about seasonal demand.

Communications tools like Slack have transformed the way teams collaborate within a business. But can that same type of connectivity and interaction also apply to the worlds of operations and supply chain? Or are we doomed to rely on the age-old techniques of phone calls, faxes and emails? Find out, as Guy Courtin and Eric Johnson of American Shipper explore the power of communication in this episode of Supply Chain Radio.

Whether you think digitization is a buzzword or a new way of doing business, it's hard to argue that new technology is transforming the supply chain. But what does it mean for the world's largest carriers? Mike Riegler offers perspective on how digital technology is transforming the industry, and how 3PLs are positioned to connect new business models with real-world results.