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 87 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts Speaking of Supply Chain, a business show with 87 episodes published.

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  Speaking of Supply Chain

  Technology Alone Never Transforms a Supply Chain

  Sep 17, 202636 min

  Most planning transformations don't stall because the technology fails. They stall because nobody built the ecosystem around it.Every supply chain leader eventually asks the same question: why not just build this ourselves, or bolt together a few point solutions? In this episode, Christine Barnhart is joined by Chris Singerman, Global Commercial Alliances Manager at OMP, to talk about what actually separates a planning investment that pays off from one that quietly underdelivers. They get into why proof-of-concepts are shrinking, why AI is adding as much confusion as clarity right now, and why no single technology provider or consulting firm can carry a transformation alone, no matter how good the software is.In this episode: Why customers are demanding proof before trust and what that's doing to the sales cycle The real reason "why not build it ourselves" is the wrong question to ask How to tell whether a technology and consulting partnership is complementary or just crowded What separates incremental improvement from an actual transformation

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  Speaking of Supply Chain

  Design the Process With the People in Mind

  Aug 20, 202630 min

  Everyone is talking about AI, analytics, and the next planning platform. Far fewer are talking about the reason two teams can sit in the same meeting, look at the same data, and walk out with completely different conclusions. Process design assumes people will read it the same way. They don't, and that gap is where most transformations quietly stall. In this episode, Christine Barnhart is joined by Eric Wilson of IBF, author of Beyond Borders, who spent a year on research and hundreds of global interviews after realizing his own S&OP framework was missing the layer underneath it. His argument: structure is necessary, but structure is not the same as inflexible, and the sequence most companies use: build the process, then hand it to the people, is backwards.In this episode: Why the number one missing skill in forecasting and S&OP isn't analytics, it's communication and business acumen What it means to design a process with people in mind, instead of designing one and assigning people to it Why trust is the golden thread across every cultural dimension and why "do I trust the person or the output" is a different question in every region Where the framework transfers beyond national culture, to generational and functional divides inside your own building

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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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