Speaking of Supply Chain

Welcome to Speaking of Supply Chain – your go-to podcast for real-world insights and forward-thinking strategies in logistics and operations. Whether you’re a supply chain leader, industry innovator, or operations professional, this show delivers expert perspectives and actionable ideas to help you stay ahead. Each episode dives into the most pressing challenges and exciting opportunities shaping the future of supply chain, from risk mitigation and automation to sustainability, digital transformation, and beyond. Featuring conversations with top minds in the industry, you'll gain the clarity and inspiration needed to navigate a rapidly evolving logistics landscape. Subscribe now and join us as we speak with the people who are shaping tomorrow’s supply chain.

Speaking of Supply Chain is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 84 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts Speaking of Supply Chain, a business show with 84 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Speaking of Supply Chain

  Building the Foundation for AI Success: Real Lessons from SCLA 2026

  Aug 6, 202631 min

  Everyone is talking about AI—but the biggest lesson from the Supply Chain Leaders in Action Conference wasn't about technology. It was about the leadership, trusted data, standardized processes, and cross-functional collaboration required to make AI successful. Christine Barnhart and Cate Davis reflect on the conversations, customer stories, and practical insights that emerged throughout the conference, sharing why organizations should focus on building strong operational foundations before chasing the next technology trend. If you're wondering how to move from AI experimentation to measurable business value, this episode offers practical guidance grounded in real-world supply chain experience.In this episode, you'll learn: Why AI capability is built through experimentation—not perfection. How leadership, governance, and trusted data determine AI success. What one participant's transformation reveals about building the right foundation. Why human expertise remains essential as AI becomes more embedded in supply chain planning.

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  Speaking of Supply Chain

  Two Miebach Chiefs Read Between Gartner's Lines

  Jul 9, 202648 min

  Every system integrator, software vendor, and blue-sky strategy firm now calls itself a supply chain consultancy. Before you sign anything, it's worth asking who actually gets paid once you say yes.In this episode, Christine Barnhart is joined by Jorge Motje, Chief Growth Officer for Miebach globally, and Nick Banich, Chief Revenue Officer for Miebach North America, to dig into Gartner's first-ever Magic Quadrant for specialist supply chain consulting. They make the case that the real differentiator in a crowded market isn't AI or proprietary tooling — it's having zero financial stake in which system, vendor, or integrator a client ends up choosing. In This Episode •Why the sharpest conflict of interest in consulting is the one most firms never say out loud •How a simple question about loading-dock space turns into a five-whys exercise that exposes a much bigger supply chain problem •What “outcome-oriented” actually means once you strip out the consulting jargon •Why thinking in decades and moving fast aren't actually in conflict — you just need both clocks running at once

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  Speaking of Supply Chain

  Half of Outsourcing Projects Never Pay Off

  Jun 18, 202612 min

  For years, outsourcing came down to a cost decision. Run the numbers, pick a provider, move on. The easy math no longer holds: companies are outsourcing more than ever, and most of them still aren't happy with the result. In this episode, Ellen Wood sits down with Bernd Müller-Dauppert of Miebach, who co-authored the firm's new outsourcing study, Outsourcing Under Pressure. He makes the case that the real risk today isn't cost or quality. It's how dependent you become on a provider once the contract is signed. He also gets into why automation and data demands have changed the math, why only about half of these projects actually pay off, and what the companies that get it right do differently. In this episode: • Why dependence and the lock-in effect now rank as the single biggest outsourcing risk — well ahead of cost • How automation and data-quality demands quietly rewrite the economics of the outsource-or-not decision • Why most of a project’s success or failure is locked in before operations ever begin • When a hybrid model — insource what’s critical, outsource what scales — beats betting on either extreme

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  Speaking of Supply Chain

  Automation Will Not Fix a Broken Process

  Jun 4, 202629 minS0

  <b>Everyone is talking about warehouse automation. Far fewer are talking about whether they actually need it.The headlines suggest warehousing is racing toward dark stores, lights-out operations, and full robotics. The reality on the ground is quieter and a lot more careful. Companies are introducing automation in stages, weighing real labor and service pressures, and sometimes discovering that the smartest move is not to automate at all. Because if the underlying process is broken, automation just makes it fail faster.In this episode, Ellen Wood is joined by Sophie James from Miebach's UK team to cut through the noise...

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  Speaking of Supply Chain

  Why Pharma Cannot React Its Way Out of the Next Crisis

  May 21, 202619 minS0

  Risk used to be something pharmaceutical companies responded to. Now it is something they have to design for.<br /><br />For decades, pharma optimized for scale and cost. APIs and starting materials moved to India and China, manufacturing capabilities in Europe quietly disappeared, and intense price pressure became the unquestioned baseline. Then came the Suez blockage, COVID, tariffs, and conflict-driven disruptions. Each one was treated as a singular event to react to, not as a signal that the underlying network itself needed to change.<br /><br />In this episode, Ellen Wood is joined by Stephan Gotthardt, fresh off moderating a...

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