The Supply Chainer

For more than a century, industrial electric motors have leaned on permanent magnets containing neodymium, dysprosium and terbium - rare earth elements concentrated in one country. Procurement teams have priced that exposure into their long-range plans for EV traction motors, wind turbines, factory automation and warehouse robotics. Researchers at the Institute of Science Tokyo have now demonstrated a motor that runs on a different physical principle: ferroelectric fluids and

Warehouse operators are surrounded by data. Every movement, order and inventory transaction is recorded somewhere across warehouse management systems, labor platforms, and automation equipment. Yet one question continues to surface inside distribution centers: can we be certain the system reflects what is happening on the warehouse floor right now? That uncertainty shows up in everyday situations. Inventory appears available but cannot be found, a location marked as full is o

Supply chain visibility used to mean knowing where a shipment was. Today, that definition feels increasingly outdated. As supply chains absorb geopolitical uncertainty, sustainability mandates, unpredictable consumer behavior and growing operational complexity, companies are discovering that tracking freight is only one piece of a much larger puzzle. The new challenge is understanding what is happening across suppliers, warehouses, carriers and fulfillment operations before p

AI chip demand diverts memory production. Procurement teams in manufacturing, retail and tech face lead times that swing wildly. A delayed component shipment misses a receiving window. Detention charges mount at the dock. Warehouse labor sits idle. Cash flow forecasts collapse because finance lacks real-time signals on supplier commitments. Operations directors juggle daily firefighting while trying to protect margins and customer orders. This volatility turns routine plannin

The diesel yard truck is being retired across North American logistics hubs, not because operators have gone green, but because the economics of keeping it are getting harder to defend. As energy costs remain volatile, maintenance complexity compounds, and sustainability reporting requirements tighten across supply chains, the electric yard truck has moved from innovation to expectation — at least for operators large enough to absorb the upfront investment. For the rest, the

The latest episode of the Resilient Supply Chain Podcast, hosted by Tom Raftery, features Leo Rodriguez, Vice President at River Plate Inc., a Southern California-based third-party logistics provider

Supply chain leaders have invested heavily in warehouse automation, transportation management systems and control towers over the past decade. Yet many organizations continue to struggle with costly disruptions that originate outside the traditional warehouse environment. According to the MHI annual industry report, visibility and real-time operational data remain among the top priorities for supply chain executives despite years of technology investment. The findings suggest

For freight brokers, the operational risk is no longer limited to finding capacity at the right price. Increasingly, the challenge is proving that the carrier moving the load was properly vetted before the freight ever left the dock. That pressure has intensified following recent legal and regulatory developments in the U.S. trucking market. The Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II ruling, combined with heightened scrutiny of commercial driver licensing and carrier compliance, h

Procurement teams at large multinational manufacturers and retailers continue to hit operational friction when deploying intake-to-pay platforms. A common scenario involves a sourcing requisition that clears the new intake layer but stalls during approval because supplier data fails to sync correctly with the existing SAP ERP or Ariba environment. Manual workarounds multiply, exception queues grow, and compliance flags trigger additional reviews. Early payment discounts slip

Warehouse and transportation operators generate more data than ever. Yet many still struggle to turn visibility into consistent execution at enterprise scale. The core dilemma is the persistent gap between knowing what is happening and acting effectively in real time on labor shifts, exceptions, inventory issues, and operational disruptions. Visibility Falls Short Amy Dean of SC Codeworks replied in writing to The Supply Chainer. SC Codeworks delivers warehouse management sys

Logistics operators electrifying heavy commercial fleets in 2026 face a widening gap between vehicle acquisition timelines and the infrastructure needed to charge them. The friction is not technological. Charging hardware exists, vehicle pl...

When a fresh produce truck misses its scheduled departure window, the cost stacks up within hours. Perishable inventory ages in staging. Store replenishment slips. Shelves at receiving outlets sit short on high-velocity SKUs by morning. For operators running automated picking systems across hundreds of stores, the warehouse control system carries most of that weight. Pressure is sharpest during peak periods, when seasonal demand compresses inbound scheduling and outbound disp