The Supply Chainer

Organizations struggling to translate procurement visibility into operational outcomes face a problem that has little to do with access to information. The core challenge is volume, fragmentation, and the inability to convert intelligence i...

# 3PLs Sequence Robotics Under Client-Mix Volatility as 2026 Peak Approaches A missed labor forecast during a weekend flash sale can turn a profitable fulfillment contract into a service-level failure in less than 48 hours. When autonomous ...

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...

This week’s episode of the Resilient Supply Chain Podcast examines why direct procurement remains a critical blind spot in many manufacturing organisations. Host Tom Raftery speaks with Spencer Penn, CEO and co-founder of LightSource, about the gap between formal enterprise systems and the real work of supplier selection, negotiation and cost control. "The first time you really touch a digital system is when the battle is already won or lost” - Tom Raftery and Spencer Penn, L

In the supply chain world, marketing managers fight for organic attention amid a sea of press releases and webinars. Influencer TikTok viral creators who come directly from Supply Chainers – floor operators, drivers, and field teams – prove that the strongest content does not look like marketing. It is real, visual, and speaks the language of those who actually move the goods. The result: high-quality organic traffic, strong engagement with a precise target audience, and auth

Procurement teams at manufacturers and large operators face mounting pressure from slow requisition cycles, sourcing delays and compliance complexity that inflate costs and tie up capital. These execution gaps have grown more acute as organizations scale spend management across fragmented systems and supplier networks. Operational Bottlenecks in Spend Management Visibility into transactions exists but often fails to translate into faster decisions at the point of execution. D

When fleet operators evaluate electric forklifts, chargers, or other industrial electric equipment, the conversation usually starts with technology. Battery performance, charging speed, maintenance requirements, operating costs, and total cost of ownership dominate procurement discussions. Increasingly, however, technology is no longer the factor determining whether an electrification project moves forward. The real differentiator is incentives. A growing network of federal,

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