The Supply Chainer

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

The recent sale of Convoy's technology platform from Flexport to DAT tells a story that every supply chain executive should pay attention to. Less than two years after acquiring the defunct digital brokerage's tech stack, Flexport decided it needed to go. As CEO Ryan Petersen candidly admitted, the platform "needed to be a neutral infrastructure layer" to succeed long-term. Petersen's admission reveals something most executives already suspect but rarely discuss openly. When

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

Global fashion retailer ASOS  has selected Swedish traceability platform TrusTrace  to overhaul how it manages supply chain compliance and risk, a move that underscores the mounting regulatory and reputational pressures facing apparel brands worldwide. Governments on both sides of the Atlantic are tightening rules around forced labor, environmental reporting, and product claims. The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) will require companies to map th

A growing number of forward-thinking businesses in e-commerce and other fields are enjoying the economy, productivity, flexibility and sustainability of ‘right-size’ automated packing lines, whereby every consignment, be it a single item or an assortment of goods, is given a bespoke box of just the right size to hold the goods without unnecessary voids and the need for void fill. But one sector in particular stands to benefit the most from this advanced, highly-flexible techn

When DHL says it’s doubling down on the UAE, it’s not just PR fluff — the company’s latest moves include swallowing the last piece of its joint venture with Danzas and constructing a Middle East & Africa Innovation Center in Dubai. In a region where trade ambitions are sky-high and infrastructure is no longer the bottleneck, these investments signal more than expansion — they’re a recalibration. According to a DHL spokesperson, the expansion “enhances logistics efficiency for

The scale of PFAS exposure in global supply chains is deeper than many manufacturers realize. New analysis from Assent Inc.  has identified 695 unique PFAS in supplier declarations, a 30% jump in just six months. The findings highlight how “forever chemicals” are not only widespread but also increasingly traceable, raising pressure on companies to identify and replace them before new bans, lawsuits, and part obsolescence hit. From over 4.5 million supplier declarations, Assen

For decades, logistics systems promised visibility. Dashboards, alerts, and track-and-trace platforms showed where goods were, but rarely told managers what to do next. The result: operations teams buried in manual procurement, reactive firefighting, and rising costs. As global supply chains remain under pressure, the industry is now asking whether AI can step beyond monitoring and into active decision-making. Nitin Jayakrishnan , CEO of Pando , says the greatest near-term op

GUANGZHOU, China, Jan. 13, 2026 - XPENG is taking a decisive step in its global expansion by establishing dedicated, localized supply chain teams in Europe and ASEAN in 2026. This move deepens the company's "In Local, For Local" strategy, building on its existing overseas production, R&D, service, and data infrastructure to form a complete operational closed-loop in key international markets. Following the launch of localized production projects in Europe and Southeast Asia i

Food recalls remain one of the most visible risks in supply chain management, carrying consequences that extend far beyond compliance paperwork. Contaminated products put consumers at direct risk of illness, and every link in the chain—from supplier to distributor—faces the fallout. For companies, recalls can mean lost revenue, fractured trust with customers, and heightened regulatory scrutiny. For supply chain leaders, the reality is stark: food safety is not simply a regula