GOODQUESTION Readers Weigh In
What’s One Supply Chain Problem We Should Address With More Urgency?
THE LACK OF REAL-TIME VISIBILITY across global supply chains. As customer expectations continue to rise and as supply chains face disruptions, organizations must be able to monitor and respond to changes in real time, and that starts by integrating hardware, software, and analytics into their workflows. –Andre Luecht Global Strategy Lead, Transport, Logistics, and Warehouse, Zebra Technologies CONGESTION AT PORTS has become the norm lately. If supply chain managers aren’t paying attention to how long their freight is spending at the ports and rail yards, fees can add up quickly. Congestion has also caused significant delays to rail loading times, leading freight to be behind schedule by up to two weeks. This can be the dierence in manufacturing lines shutting down vs. not. –Justin McIntur International Logistics Manager, Jarrett CAPABLE, EMPOWERED WORKERS ARE DISAPPEARING. We used to call a long-tenured and engaged person with authority who would fix things that delayed an order. Now we email via a portal and get a reply that our message will be answered within 24 hours. Or get on an automated chat with o-track answers. –Danny Schnautz President, Clark Freight Lines THE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS is often severe and costly due to the fragility of far too many supply chains.
How to Solve Fragmentation
Supply chain fragmentation —siloed systems, poor visibility, and weak coordination—slows down decisions and raises risk. In today’s volatile world, fragmentation isn’t just inecient—it’s a major vulnerability that drives up costs and hurts agility. –Bryan Gerber Co-Founder & CEO, Hara Supply Transportation operates as a highly fragmented ecosystem where shippers, consumers, logistics providers, and technologies all have interdependent roles to play in optimizing a transportation network. To unlock the full potential of AI applications, urgency should be placed on building large, clean, integrated data sets that capture the critical inputs needed to make relevant, high-value decisions. –Brian Cupp VP Operations & Strategic Initiatives, IntelliTrans Every partner speaks a dierent data language. 60% of business data still arrives in formats incompatible with our systems whether it is in EDI format that changes or PDFs, scanned documents, and files. It’s like building a superhighway but forgetting the on-ramps. Until we achieve universal data fluency across partners, every other innovation is hobbled. –Deepak Singh Chief Innovation O cer, Adeptia
Analyst firm Gartner indicates that 63% are in a fragile state. Our internal data showed flash flood-related incidents surged 41% in 2024, making them the year’s top disruptor. Supply chain leaders need proactive plans to build resilient supply chains that can navigate weather-related disruptions. That includes scenario planning, identifying weak spots in their operations, and diversifying suppliers. –Scott Lehman VP Operational Risk Management & Supply Chain, Sphera
ADAPTING TO A DYNAMIC GLOBAL FOOTPRINT amid shifting taris. Companies must stay agile to avoid cost spikes and delays. At the same time, they should leverage artificial intelligence more aggressively to optimize operations— especially in scheduling, routing, and safety—to boost resilience and eciency. –Dr. Stefan Heck CEO & Founder, Nauto
6 Inbound Logistics • September 2025
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