The Supply Chainer

Escalating geopolitical tensions in the Gulf are forcing governments to reassess how energy policy underpins broader supply chain resilience. With maritime chokepoints, regional infrastructure, and cross-border energy flows exposed to disruption, continuity planning is increasingly treated as an operational discipline rather than a strategic abstraction. Why Energy Policy Matters For Supply Chains Now Energy availability remains a foundational input for logistics, manufacturi

Global freight markets entered February under renewed pressure as winter weather disruptions, easing pre–Lunar New Year demand, and persistent trade policy uncertainty combined to weigh on both ocean and air cargo dynamics. While operational disruptions mounted across key regions, pricing trends underscored how fragile demand remains across major trade lanes. Disruptions Rise As Rates Continue To Slide Severe winter weather has complicated logistics on both sides of the Atlan

As logistics, materials handling, and industrial services companies grapple with skills shortages, apprenticeships are increasingly viewed as a practical pipeline for building long-term technical capability. For many employers, the challenge is not just attracting young talent, but offering training paths that translate quickly into real operational contribution. Choosing Skills Over University In response to a query from The Supply Chainer, Harvey Swan, a newly qualified pai

Procurement teams are under growing pressure to deliver savings faster while managing volatility across energy, industrial, and manufacturing supply chains. As cost pressures persist and sourcing cycles remain slow in many organizations, interest is rising in AI-driven procurement tools that promise not just visibility, but execution speed and measurable financial impact. Why Speed And Savings Matter Now Traditional sourcing processes often stretch over weeks, limiting how qu

Rising labor constraints, tighter service-level expectations, and persistent execution gaps are pushing warehouse operators to move beyond visibility and toward real-time decision automation on the warehouse floor. As distribution environments grow more complex, the ability to translate frontline data capture directly into automated actions is increasingly viewed as an operational necessity rather than a technology upgrade. Why Decision Automation Has Become Urgent The pressu

The past few weeks have made one thing unmistakably clear: 2026 will not be the year global supply chains “settle down.” What we are seeing instead is the normalization of friction. Not a single shock, not a temporary disruption, but a system being continuously reshaped by geopolitical tension, climate constraints, labor realities, and uneven technology maturity - all at once. Nowhere is this more visible than in ocean freight. The prolonged rerouting of vessels around the Ca

Fast-moving consumer goods brands are under constant pressure: innovation cycles are accelerating, consumer loyalty is increasingly fluid, and the ability to spot early signals from the market often determines whether a product succeeds or fails. In a conversation with The Supply Chainer , Ester Marchetti, Co-Founder and Head of Innovation at Bolt Insight, explained why she believes AI-powered qualitative research is becoming central to how brands adapt. “Traditional qualitat

Every supply chain leader knows the pain of forecasts that miss the mark. Single-point predictions fail in the face of volatile demand, leaving teams stuck with either excess stock or costly shortages. Planners lose hours chasing down exceptions, executives lose trust in the numbers, and customers lose patience when product availability slips. The industry has long tried to patch over these failures with manual overrides, buffer stock, or IT workarounds—but these fixes only b

Escalating tensions involving Iran are translating into measurable pressure on supply chains across the Gulf, with direct implications for Iran itself and for its two largest regional trading counterparts, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Unlike earlier periods of rhetorical instability, recent developments have produced quantifiable impacts on shipping costs, insurance premiums, transit times, and trade flows, forcing logistics planners to move from contingency planning to active m

Global container shipping remains under strain as uneven demand, rate volatility, and higher operating costs continue to reshape carrier performance. Even as trade volumes stabilize on some routes, the gap between capacity deployment and sustainable pricing has kept financial pressure high across much of the liner sector. Results Reflect A Difficult Operating Environment For the third quarter of FY2025 , covering October to December 2025, Ocean Network Express reported revenu

As supply chain organizations pour investment into artificial intelligence, many are discovering that better forecasts and smarter dashboards do not automatically translate into better decisions. Despite advances in models and compute, planning teams often remain stuck in manual judgment, slow consensus cycles, and brittle execution when disruptions hit. The gap matters now because volatility has become structural. Demand swings, supplier fragility, and geopolitical shocks re

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