Inbound Logistics | July 2025

that make traditional planning obsolete overnight,” he says. With that in mind, the most effective approaches to managing global supply chains focus on operational excellence rather than dramatic sourcing overhauls. “Companies are discovering they can offset several tariff impacts through better execution of existing operations,” Ravindran says. For instance, connected data systems are a key way to strengthen operations. “Linking purchase orders to transportation planning to customs clearance eliminates blind spots and reduces expedited freight costs,” Ravindran says. “When systems talk to each other, you can pivot quickly rather than react after problems emerge.” Scenario-based planning is also invaluable to shippers, including testing multiple variables simultaneously rather than planning for single-point failures. “For example, the most resilient companies prepare for their primary supplier to fail during a port strike while currency volatility spikes during peak season,” Ravindran says. Companies may obsess over easily quantiable risks while ignoring systemic vulnerabilities. “They diversify suppliers geographically but use the same shipping routes, or track supplier concentration while missing port concentration,” Ravindran says. “Similarly, their investments in technology are often misaligned with where and how their supply chains are most likely to break down. “For instance, investing in demand forecasting while managing critical supplier relationships through spreadsheets creates blind spots where exibility matters most,” he notes. 6. BALANCE INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS WITH COMPANY PERFORMANCE Supply chain leaders tend to have an addictive mindset, thinking “more is better” and adding technology when

value of international 3PLs with deep local expertise. “As supply chains decentralize across Asia, understanding local regulations, infrastructure, and customs becomes a key advantage in managing complexity and avoiding delays,” Shih says. “Local execution delivers real speed and resilience.”

the tech they already purchased does not do what is needed. Few companies have been able to balance infrastructure

improvements with company performance, Koepke says.

“Master data is almost always shelved for new features, products, or launches, regardless of the pain it causes across nearly all supply chain systems,” he says. “More customization and band- aids are built on top of band-aids,” Koepke notes. “This leads to poor data availability, off-line databases that only a few have access to, and forecasting models that produce great theoretical models, but the actual plan varies greatly.” What should companies do? Strategy often ignores what’s under the hood, Koepke notes. “Supply chain leaders and executive teams need to thoroughly assess their current systems, processes, and talent, and adopt a balanced scaling approach,” he adds. Shippers cannot control external volatility, but they can control their adaptive capacity. “The most successful organizations have moved beyond traditional risk management to ‘uncertainty as a competitive advantage’—using their ability to navigate ambiguity as a differentiator in markets where their competitors are paralyzed by unpredictability,” Ravindran says. 7. CONCENTRATE ON TECH BASED DECISION MAKING Many global companies today are still trying to contend with 2025 volatility using aged tools, outdated KPIs, and a mindset about global risk built in the 1990s. “Today, uncertainty doesn’t just punish the unprepared—it rewards the exible, transparent, and anticipatory,” says John Carrico, vice president of product management at Epicor, a business software company based in Austin, Texas. Articial intelligence is among the most prominent ways for shippers to get ahead in global trade.

Global businesses can help o set tari implications by using connected data systems to strengthen operations.

5. FOCUS ON OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE The current uncertainty in global trade “differs fundamentally from traditional supply chain risk management,” notes Anand Ravindran, vice president of customer operations and success for supply chain technology provider FourKites. “Shippers are dealing with rapid, unpredictable changes in trade rules

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