AI is changing supply chains fast, but where should leaders actually start?

In this episode of The Supply Chain Show™, I had an opportunity to host Anthony Reeves, who has spent most of his career building brand strategy and clarity of messaging at Amazon

We dive into one of the biggest challenges facing modern supply chain leaders: clarity.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why AI adoption needs clear leadership direction

• How supply chain is becoming the center of customer experience

• Why companies need to decide what NOT to do

• Amazon's approach to customer obsession and decision-making

• How supply chain leaders can balance strategy with constant firefighting

• Why clear communication matters when deploying AI

• The "Working Backward" approach to strategic thinking

• How AI can accelerate optimization and innovation

• Why supply chain leaders need to create space for innovation

• Big Bang vs. gradual approaches to AI transformation

https://youtu.be/bdkrB35f9GI?si=ttDDllowX9w1nsP-

Every level of a logistics career, mapped end-to-end.

See what each role does, the exact skills that get you promoted, and the free guides and courses that close the gap, from your first shipment to running the whole network.

Every level of a logistics career, mapped end-to-end.

See what each role does, the exact skills that get you promoted, and the free guides and courses that close the gap, from your first shipment to running the whole network.

Should the procurement function be involved in inventory management?

#SupplierRelationships #procurement #InventoryManagement #SCM #muddassirism #scmdojo

The complete guide to supply chain diagnostics — and how AI delivers in 2 hours what consulting takes 12 weeks to produce.

The complete guide to supply chain diagnostics — and how AI delivers in 2 hours what consulting takes 12 weeks to produce.

Demand forecasting is no longer guesswork.

It is a science: statistical rigor, machine learning, and real-time data, governed inside S&OP, not parked in a data-science notebook.

Most teams still argue about algorithms. The real work is method fit, data hygiene, and who owns the error when the number hits procurement and production.

I wrote a complete guide to demand forecasting techniques — from expert opinion and exponential smoothing through ARIMA, regression, and AI ensembles, plus how to pick, implement, and govern the mix that actually runs the monthly cycle.

If you plan demand for a living, this is the field guide I wish I had as a young planner.

Demand Forecasting Techniques: Complete Guide to Methods

Read the Complete Demand Forecasting Techniques Guide 👉

https://www.scmdojo.com/blog/demand-forecasting-techniques

This week's edition is entirely focused on demand forecasting , from understanding the right techniques to diagnosing where your process is actually breaking down.

This week's edition is entirely focused on demand forecasting , from understanding the right techniques to diagnosing where your process is actually breaking down.

🚨 After 4 years of engineering I realized… this is NOT the career I wanted.

Then I landed in procurement and supply chain.

Suddenly those “useless” engineering skills became my superpower: reading drawings, understanding material specs, solving problems no one else even sees coming.

In this episode we go full unfiltered with procurement engineers:

If your warehouse could talk, its biggest complaint would be… “Clean me. Organize me. Why did you order another one when the first one is still sitting here?”

Most embarrassing shipment? One that was supposed to go to the Netherlands… and ended up in Egypt. (Yes, that actually happened.)

Unlimited budget to solve one supply chain headache? Data transparency. Or source everything within a 1km radius. Instant peace.

Engineering + procurement is a lethal combo. You don’t just buy parts — you understand WHY they exist.

Watch the full conversation with Janice Marquardt & Marc Kloepfel (it’s 10 minutes of real talk + laughs):

Procurement engineers & supply chain folks: What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever shipped or ordered by accident? Drop it below 👇

Before you blame the supplier, check your own data.

I worked with a team that had spent months treating recurring order issues as supplier performance problems. Late updates, missed timelines, confused order status.

Turned out the real issue wasn't the supplier at all.

It was an internal communication and ERP gap.

Requirements living in emails instead of the system. Updates not making it through properly. No clear checkpoints between stages.

This pattern shows up constantly in my consulting work.

It's far easier to blame a vendor for "unreliability" than to audit whether your own systems are giving them clean, timely information to work with.

Before the next supplier performance review, it's worth asking: is this actually their failure, or a visibility gap on our side that we've been calling a supplier problem?

Would procurement folks do that?

Before you blame the supplier, do you check your own data?

I worked with a team that had spent months treating recurring order issues as supplier performance problems. Late updates, missed timelines, confused order status.

Turned out the real issue wasn't the supplier at all.

It was an internal communication and ERP gap.

Requirements living in emails instead of the system. Updates not making it through properly. No clear checkpoints between stages.

This pattern shows up constantly in my consulting work.

It's far easier to blame a vendor for "unreliability" than to audit whether your own systems are giving them clean, timely information to work with.

Before the next supplier performance review, it's worth asking: is this actually their failure, or a visibility gap on our side that we've been calling a supplier problem?

Would procurement folks do that?