Supply Chain Now

On this episode of The Buzz, powered by Toyota Automated Logistics, hosts Scott Luton and Karin Bursa welcome Philip Vervloesem, Chief Commercial and Markets Officer at OMP, for a wide-ranging conversation on the forces reshaping global supply chains. From extreme weather and transportation disruptions to China's rapidly expanding automotive industry, the team explores today's biggest supply chain headlines before diving into AI, decision velocity, always-on planning, and the evolving role of supply chain professionals.

Supply chain leaders have more data, technology, and intelligence at their fingertips than ever before, but the real competitive advantage comes from turning those insights into the right decisions faster. Scott, Karin, and Philip examine how organizations can use scenario planning, external market signals, AI agents, and connected decision-making to respond more effectively to disruption and uncertainty. They also explore why successful AI adoption isn't simply about automation or replacing people. Instead, the future belongs to organizations that combine intelligent technology with human judgment, collaboration, trust, and business context.

Key Takeaways

Resilience happens before disruption. Scenario planning and decision intelligence give organizations more options while there is still time to act.

External signals matter. Weather, climate patterns, market conditions, and other syndicated data can help companies anticipate disruptions and continuously refine supply chain plans.

Decision velocity is becoming a competitive advantage. Leading organizations aren't simply collecting more data—they're connecting data to decisions and executing those decisions across the enterprise faster.

Agentic AI's greatest opportunity is augmentation. AI agents can identify issues, evaluate scenarios, coordinate information, and recommend actions, while people provide judgment, context, governance, and leadership.

Always-on planning is changing traditional planning cycles. Planning isn't disappearing, but waiting for weekly or monthly cycles to respond to change increasingly will.

The planner of the future needs strong human skills. Business knowledge, communication, influence, collaboration, storytelling, and the ability to navigate trade-offs will become even more valuable as technology advances.

The future of supply chain planning isn't simply about moving faster—it's about making better decisions with greater confidence. As AI, intelligent planning platforms, and always-on capabilities continue to evolve, successful organizations will be those that connect technology with human expertise and turn complexity into action. Tune in to hear how leaders can prepare now for a more adaptive, resilient, and decision-driven supply chain.

Additional Links & Resources:

Toyota Automated Logistics: https://toyota-automated-logistics.com/

Enterprise Unleashed: The Biggest Lessons from 2026 So Far: https://streamyard.com/watch/CBk6F4Dgtwk3

The Peak Readiness Index Report 2026: https://bit.ly/Peak-Readiness-Report

Low Rhine levels disrupting German industry: https://reut.rs/45BdaL8

Corporate concern over El Nino hits multi-year high: https://reut.rs/4xPGVnI

There Aren’t Enough Ships to Handle China’s Booming Car Exports: https://on.wsj.com/4bXfZd8

OMP: https://omp.com/

Connect with Philip on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipvervloesem/

Upcoming Live Programming: https://supplychainnow.com/upcoming-live-programming/

Supply Chain Now Resource Hub: https://supplychainnow.com/resource-hub/

Learn more about our hosts: https://supplychainnow.com/about

Learn more about Supply Chain Now: https://supplychainnow.com

Watch and listen to more Supply Chain Now episodes here: https://supplychainnow.com/program/supply-chain-now

Subscribe to Supply Chain Now on your favorite platform: https://supplychainnow.com/join

Work with us! Download Supply Chain Now’s NEW Media Kit: https://bit.ly/3XH6OVk

WEBINAR- SAP AI Inside the Supply Chain: From Silo to Orchestration: https://bit.ly/4bvpz6K

WEBINAR- Operational AI in the Supply Chain: How context empowers agents and humans to operate side by side: https://bit.ly/4x7Vd2Z

WEBINAR- You Can't Manage What You Can't See: Using Visibility, KPIs, and AI to Optimize Logistics Operations: https://bit.ly/4ql6iem

This episode was hosted by Scott Luton and Karin Bursa, and produced by Trisha Cordes, Joshua Miranda, and Amanda Luton. For additional information, please visit the dedicated episode page at: https://supplychainnow.com/buzz-decision-velocity-ai-agents-future-supply-chain-planning-1628

The content in this episode, including all audio, videos, visuals, and graphics, is the property of Supply Chain Now and is protected by copyright law. Unauthorized use, reproduction, distribution, modification, or re-uploading of this content in any form is strictly prohibited without explicit written permission from Supply Chain Now.
For licensing inquiries or permissions, please contact us at production@supplychainnow.com
© 2026 Supply Chain Now. All rights reserved.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Soft freight demand would normally suggest plenty of available trucking capacity. Q2 2026 told a different story.

 

In this episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott W. Luton is joined by Karin Bursa, Bobby Holland, Director of Freight Business Analytics at U.S. Bank, and Dr. Jason Miller, Eli Broad Endowed Professor of Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University, to unpack the latest U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index. They examine why shipments remained subdued while shipper spending climbed sharply, including a nearly 28% year-over-year national increase in spending.

 

The conversation covers regional freight conditions, tightening capacity, housing weakness, import activity, fuel costs, and the surge in physical infrastructure supporting AI and data centers. Bobby and Jason also share what supply chain leaders should watch as the market moves through the second half of 2026.

 

Jump into the conversation:

(00:00) Intro

(06:51) The central theme of the Q2 2026 Freight Payment Index

(09:29) How the Freight Payment Index works

(11:29) National freight market outlook

(16:40) West region: Strongest annual growth

(20:49) Southwest: The largest volume-spending disconnect

(23:59) Midwest: Data centers offset softer freight demand

(27:18) Housing market headwinds

(30:10) Northeast: Flat volume and rising spending

(33:41) Southeast: Data centers drive freight growth

(37:14) AI’s rapidly expanding physical supply chain

(44:42) Freight market predictions for the months ahead

(48:55) Where to find the Freight Payment Index

(50:34) Karin’s biggest takeaway for supply chain leaders

 

Additional Links & Resources:

Connect with Dr. Jason Miller: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-miller-32110325/

Connect with Bobby Holland: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobby-holland-4a9355/

Connect with Karin Bursa: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karinbursa/

Learn more about Eli Broad College of Business: https://broad.msu.edu/

Learn more about U.S. Bank: https://www.usbank.com/index.html

Learn more about U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index: https://www.usbank.com/corporate-and-commercial-banking/industry-expertise/transportation/freight-payment-insights.html

Learn more about our hosts: https://supplychainnow.com/about

Learn more about Supply Chain Now: https://supplychainnow.com

Watch and listen to more Supply Chain Now episodes here: https://supplychainnow.com/program/supply-chain-now

Subscribe to Supply Chain Now on your favorite platform: https://supplychainnow.com/join

Work with us! Download Supply Chain Now’s NEW Media Kit: https://supplychainnow.com/media-kit/

WEBINAR- SAP AI Inside the Supply Chain: From Silo to Orchestration: https://bit.ly/4bvpz6K

WEBINAR- Operational AI in the Supply Chain: How context empowers agents and humans to operate side by side: https://bit.ly/4x7Vd2Z

WEBINAR- You Can't Manage What You Can't See: Using Visibility, KPIs, and AI to Optimize Logistics Operations: https://bit.ly/4ql6iem

 

This episode was hosted by Scott Luton and Karin Bursa and produced by Trisha Cordes, Joshua Miranda, and Amanda Luton. For additional information, please visit our dedicated show page at: https://supplychainnow.com/analysis-q2-2026-us-bank-freight-payment-index-1627

The content in this episode, including all audio, videos, visuals, and graphics, is the property of Supply Chain Now and is protected by copyright law. Unauthorized use, reproduction, distribution, modification, or re-uploading of this content in any form is strictly prohibited without explicit written permission from Supply Chain Now.
For licensing inquiries or permissions, please contact us at production@supplychainnow.com
© 2026 Supply Chain Now. All rights reserved.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

AI adoption in supply chain is moving from curiosity to business-critical execution. The companies pulling ahead are not chasing shiny tools. They are finding root causes, cleaning up messy data, and using technology to reduce wasted time across procurement, planning, inventory, and fulfillment.

 

In this episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott W. Luton and Karin Bursa speak with Wiley Jones, co-founder and CEO of DOSS, about the Enterprise Unleashed series and what leaders should take from the first several conversations. Wiley shares why culture, clarity, and leadership ownership are central to successful AI programs.

 

The conversation also covers touchless procurement, master data, decision support, workflow redesign, and why the best companies are willing to question how work gets done.

 

Jump into the conversation:

(00:00) Intro

(03:52) Favorite outdoor adventures

(06:36) How the enterprise landscape is changing

(09:54) From AI curiosity to AI of consequence

(11:51) Solve root causes, not symptoms

(15:16) Major AI developments in supply chain

(20:39) Lessons from Enterprise Unleashed

(21:44) Putting people and culture first

(25:16) Leadership’s role in transformation

(28:28) Defining success and increasing decision velocity

(32:07) What to do when leadership doesn’t embrace AI

(34:14) What the most innovative companies do differently

(37:48) Challenging legacy processes and assumptions

(40:56) Doss and the impact of touchless procurement

(44:39) Using AI to drive growth

(46:00) The future of the AI-native enterprise

 

Additional Links & Resources:

Connect with Wiley Jones: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wileycwjones/

Learn more about Doss: https://www.doss.com/

Connect with Karin Bursa: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karinbursa/

Learn more about our hosts: https://supplychainnow.com/about

Learn more about Supply Chain Now: https://supplychainnow.com

Watch and listen to more Supply Chain Now episodes here: https://supplychainnow.com/program/supply-chain-now

Subscribe to Supply Chain Now on your favorite platform: https://supplychainnow.com/join

Work with us! Download Supply Chain Now’s NEW Media Kit: https://supplychainnow.com/media-kit/

WEBINAR- SAP AI Inside the Supply Chain: From Silo to Orchestration: https://bit.ly/4bvpz6K

WEBINAR- Operational AI in the Supply Chain: How context empowers agents and humans to operate side by side: https://bit.ly/4x7Vd2Z

WEBINAR- You Can't Manage What You Can't See: Using Visibility, KPIs, and AI to Optimize Logistics Operations: https://bit.ly/4ql6iem

 

This episode was hosted by Scott Luton and produced by Trisha Cordes, Joshua Miranda, and Amanda Luton. For additional information, please visit our dedicated show page at: https://supplychainnow.com/enterprise-unleashed-biggest-lessons-2026-1626

The content in this episode, including all audio, videos, visuals, and graphics, is the property of Supply Chain Now and is protected by copyright law. Unauthorized use, reproduction, distribution, modification, or re-uploading of this content in any form is strictly prohibited without explicit written permission from Supply Chain Now.
For licensing inquiries or permissions, please contact us at production@supplychainnow.com
© 2026 Supply Chain Now. All rights reserved.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Buzz, powered by Toyota Automated Logistics, is back with another timely look at the news and trends shaping global supply chain. In this episode, host Scott Luton is joined by Paul J. Noble and special guest Lora Cecere, founder of Supply Chain Insights, for a wide-ranging conversation on agentic AI, supply chain fraud, manufacturing, forecasting, lead times, and why decades of technology investment still haven’t delivered better results for many organizations.

From the growing role of AI agents in commerce to the increasing sophistication of supply chain fraud, this episode tackles some of the biggest challenges and opportunities facing supply chain leaders today. Scott, Paul, and Lora explore why trust and data verification will become even more critical in an agentic world, what current manufacturing data really tells us about the economy, and why organizations need to rethink long-standing approaches to forecasting and inventory management.

Lora also challenges the industry to move beyond so-called “best practices” that may actually be outdated historical practices. The conversation digs into the importance of dynamic lead-time data, predictive analytics, balanced scorecards, and cross-functional decision-making and asks a critical question: If supply chain technology has advanced so dramatically, why are so many supply chains still underperforming?

Additional Links & Resources:

Toyota Automated Logistics: https://toyota-automated-logistics.com/

With That Said: https://bit.ly/WTS-15-Aug-2026

Paul Climbing Mt. Rainier: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pauljnoble_climbing-the-vertical-equivalent-of-everest-ugcPost-7480348179654275073-cwS1/

The 2026 MHI Annual Industry Report: https://www.mhi.org/annual-industry-reports

Vitol, Cargill, Glencore cut ties with Radiant World - report: https://reut.rs/3UBBEkZ

The AI Buildout and the Economy: Publicly Available Data to Assess AI's Impact: https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/the-ai-buildout-and-the-economy-publicly-available-data-to-assess-ais-impact-20260717.html

Manufacturing PMI® at 55.6%; July 2026 ISM® Manufacturing PMI® Report: https://prn.to/4xHjigG

Syncing to Market Actuals: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/syncing-market-actuals-lora-cecere-ukgqe/

What Have We Learned Thus Far From AskLora.Ai? https://streamyard.com/watch/fxjWYRFvdfHe

Blame Follows the Messenger: https://supplychainnow.com/blame-follows-the-messenger/

AskLora: https://asklora.ai/

VDSAI: https://www.vdsai.net/

Connect with Paul on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauljnoble/

Connect with Lora on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loracecere/

Upcoming Live Programming:  https://supplychainnow.com/upcoming-live-programming/

Supply Chain Now Resource Hub: https://supplychainnow.com/resource-hub/

Learn more about our hosts: https://supplychainnow.com/about

Learn more about Supply Chain Now: https://supplychainnow.com

Watch and listen to more Supply Chain Now episodes here: https://supplychainnow.com/program/supply-chain-now  

Subscribe to Supply Chain Now on your favorite platform: https://supplychainnow.com/join  

Work with us! Download Supply Chain Now’s NEW Media Kit: https://bit.ly/3XH6OVk

WEBINAR- SAP AI Inside the Supply Chain: From Silo to Orchestration: https://bit.ly/4bvpz6K

WEBINAR- Operational AI in the Supply Chain: How context empowers agents and humans to operate side by side: https://bit.ly/4x7Vd2Z

WEBINAR- You Can't Manage What You Can't See: Using Visibility, KPIs, and AI to Optimize Logistics Operations: https://bit.ly/4ql6iem

This episode was hosted by Scott Luton and Paul Noble, and produced by Trisha Cordes, Joshua Miranda, and Amanda Luton. For additional information, please visit our dedicated episode page at: https://supplychainnow.com/buzz-fixing-supply-chain-performance-ai-era-1625

The content in this episode, including all audio, videos, visuals, and graphics, is the property of Supply Chain Now and is protected by copyright law. Unauthorized use, reproduction, distribution, modification, or re-uploading of this content in any form is strictly prohibited without explicit written permission from Supply Chain Now.
For licensing inquiries or permissions, please contact us at production@supplychainnow.com
© 2026 Supply Chain Now. All rights reserved.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How will AI reshape supply chain teams, technology investments, and the future workforce?

In this episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott W. Luton is joined by Mike Griswold, Vice President Analyst at Gartner, for another conversation in the Supply Chain Today and Tomorrow series.

Mike shares his perspective on AI strategy, supply chain technology, inventory management, and the decisions leaders must consider as business expectations continue to change.

The conversation explores why organizations should be careful about replacing entry-level roles with AI, how supply chain teams can balance technology with human expertise, and what future leaders need to learn about data, decision-making, and operational excellence.

Listeners will learn how to think differently about AI adoption, why high-tech companies offer valuable lessons for supply chain teams, and what skills may define supply chain leadership in the years ahead. 

Jump into the conversation:

(00:00) Introduction

(08:36) Why more data does not always create better decisions

(09:48) The future of just-in-time inventory strategies

(11:31) Building alignment across business, supply chain, and AI strategy

(15:36) Supply chain technologies worth investing in

(18:31) Mike’s supply chain hot take on AI and workforce changes

(24:44) What supply chain can learn from high-tech companies

(28:10) The moments that shape supply chain transformation

(31:31) What future supply chain leaders will study in 2050

(33:34) How supply chain education programs need to evolve

 

Additional Links & Resources:

Connect with Mike Griswold: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-griswold-6a68922/

Learn more about Gartner: https://www.gartner.com/

Gartner Announces 2026 Rankings of the Global Supply Chain Top 25: https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-06-17-gartner-announces-2026-rankings-of-the-global-supply-chain-top-25

Learn more about our hosts: https://supplychainnow.com/about

Learn more about Supply Chain Now: https://supplychainnow.com

Watch and listen to more Supply Chain Now episodes here: https://supplychainnow.com/program/supply-chain-now

Subscribe to Supply Chain Now on your favorite platform: https://supplychainnow.com/join

Work with us! Download Supply Chain Now’s NEW Media Kit: https://supplychainnow.com/media-kit/

WEBINAR- From Disruption to Stability: Building Resilient Logistics Solutions in a Rapidly Changing Global Market: https://bit.ly/3TguZMt

WEBINAR- SAP AI Inside the Supply Chain: From Silo to Orchestration: https://bit.ly/4bvpz6K

WEBINAR- Operational AI in the Supply Chain: How context empowers agents and humans to operate side by side: https://bit.ly/4x7Vd2Z

WEBINAR- You Can't Manage What You Can't See: Using Visibility, KPIs, and AI to Optimize Logistics Operations: https://bit.ly/4ql6iem

This episode was hosted by Scott Luton and produced by Trisha Cordes, Joshua Miranda, and Amanda Luton. For additional information, please visit our dedicated show page at: https://supplychainnow.com/lightning-round-returns-9-key-questions-1624

The content in this episode, including all audio, videos, visuals, and graphics, is the property of Supply Chain Now and is protected by copyright law. Unauthorized use, reproduction, distribution, modification, or re-uploading of this content in any form is strictly prohibited without explicit written permission from Supply Chain Now.
For licensing inquiries or permissions, please contact us at production@supplychainnow.com
© 2026 Supply Chain Now. All rights reserved.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.