The Supply Chainer

A $127 billion tariff refund program may look like a financial correction. For supply chain operators, it is something else entirely: a large-scale operational stress test. The launch of CBP’s CAPE system creates a new layer of execution risk across trade, finance, and data. On paper, the process appears structured. In practice, it is fragmented, phased, and uneven. Cash Is Coming Back - But Not Cleanly Companies that absorbed tariffs now face a delayed and uncertain recovery

What started as a temporary rerouting decision is quietly becoming the new operating model. Attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea have forced carriers to divert around the Cape of Good Hope, with Reuters reporting that “rerouting a ship around Africa adds roughly 10 days and $1 million in fuel costs.” Bloomberg has also noted that “the diversions are stretching global shipping capacity and driving up freight rates.” In practice, this has extended typical Asia–Europe tr

Trump’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has pushed one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors to the edge of a logistical paradox: ships are waiting, but they still need to be fed. At any given moment in recent weeks, dozens and likely hundreds of vessels - oil tankers, product carriers, bulkers - have been idling across the Gulf, some inside, some outside the narrow choke point. Traffic has not fully stopped, but it has slowed sharply. The result is not just a shipping d

Over the past 24 hours, the situation in and around the Strait of Hormuz has shifted from controlled access to what operators increasingly describe as a de facto maritime siege. Direct pressure from Donald Trump, including explicit public threats toward Iran, has coincided with a sharp drop in vessel movement and a growing backlog of ships unable or unwilling to transit the corridor. Traffic that had partially resumed under a fragile ceasefire framework is now deteriorating a

In the latest episode of the Resilient Supply Chain Podcast, host Tom Raftery is joined by Cynthia Lai, a governance and financial literacy advisor and former banking executive director. The conversation centres on a shift many supply chain leaders have not yet fully internalised: carbon data is moving beyond reporting and into the core of financing, insurance, and operational risk. As banks and insurers face tighter regulatory expectations around financed and insured emissio

On February 20, 2026, a U.S. federal appeals court issued a decision that did not make front-page news outside legal and compliance circles. There were no dramatic headlines, no immediate market reaction. But inside procurement teams, compliance functions, and supply chain leadership groups, it landed differently. The case involved Rubicon Resources, a U.S.-based seafood distributor. The facts went back more than a decade, to processing facilities in Thailand that relied on m

In a special roundtable hosted by Tom Raftery, three supply chain technology leaders examined a core question shaping the industry: are companies truly optimizing operations, or simply coping with growing complexity? The discussion, featuring Gonzalo Benedit (Aera Technology), Keith Moore (AutoScheduler), and Mor Peretz (CaPow), pointed to a clear shift toward decision orchestration as the next frontier. Listen to the full discussion on Resilient Supply Chain Podcast Roundtab

By 2030, Gartner predicts e-commerce retailers and consumer electronics companies will spend twice as much on managing reverse and returns logistics compared to outbound orders and deliveries. The shift underscores the urgent need for logistics leaders to prioritize circular processes to manage risk, reduce complexity, and gain better visibility. For some specialty retailers, only 35% of what is returned is resold at full price, according to Gartner research. These companies

Governments and infrastructure authorities across Europe and Asia continue to launch large procurement processes aimed at expanding logistics capacity and modernizing freight infrastructure. Recent media coverage points to a steady pipeline of tenders tied to port terminals, freight corridors and multimodal logistics hubs - projects designed to reduce bottlenecks, support trade flows and strengthen supply chain resilience. Many of these procurements rely on concession or publ

Global supply chains are being forced into structural change as disruption across major trade routes moves from episodic to constant. Ongoing attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea have pushed carriers to reroute via the Cape of Good Hope, adding 7–14 days to transit times and sharply increasing costs on Asia–Europe lanes. “Rates have at least doubled from a month ago on the most affected routes,” Reuters reported. For operators on the ground, this is no longer a tempor

As supply chain leaders face mounting pressure to move from experimentation to execution, the gap between early-stage innovation and enterprise-scale deployment is becoming more visible. Technologies often stall in pilot phases, unable to navigate operational complexity, regulatory friction, or lack of access to real-world environments. This challenge is intensifying as companies look for faster ways to test and implement solutions across transportation, construction, and log

As supply chains stabilize at the macro level, pressure is shifting into last-mile operations, where performance is determined in real time. First-time delivery success, cost control, and service reliability depend less on planning accuracy and more on how well systems adapt once conditions change. In response to a query from The Supply Chainer, Rico van Leuken, CEO of Bluerock TMS , outlined three operational shifts driving improvement: “First, the integration of customer-le