Supply Chain Management Review

10/19/2026

Purchase price savings tell only part of the healthcare supply chain story. What about the time nurses spend searching for supplies? Or the hours procurement teams spend correcting transactions and working around fragmented systems?
Gartner’s Bruce Gilmore argues that this hidden labor burden belongs on the performance scorecard.
His article examines why health systems should redesign workflows before automating them and evaluate technology by whether it reduces the work employees must do.
Read more: https://www.scmr.com/article/the-hidden-cost-healthcare-supply-chains-need-to-measure

10/16/2026

A supplier stops shipping and your team locates an alternative. But can production actually use it?
The answer depends on more than availability. Is the part interchangeable? Is the source qualified for the current revision? Did the latest engineering change reach the supplier?
Akarshan Gulhane explains why reliable product data, not just product availability, is essential to manufacturing supply chain resilience and offers four questions leaders can use to test their readiness.
Read the article: https://www.scmr.com/article/supply-chain-resilience-product-data

Manufacturing supply chain resilience depends on reliable product data that…

10/15/2026

An unfavorable shipping contract clause is easier to challenge before the agreement is signed.
But reviewing dense maritime documents takes time and confidential agreements can complicate the use of cloud-based AI.
An MIT capstone research project explores another approach: AI running on a compact local workstation to retrieve contract terms, compare proposed agreements with approved templates and link findings to the original text.
The application focuses on demurrage exposure. The broader lesson concerns how companies prepare documents, preserve negotiated terms and make AI findings verifiable.
Read how the proof of concept works: https://www.scmr.com/article/local-ai-shipping-contract-review-demurrage

10/14/2026

On this episode of Talking Supply Chain, host Brian Straight speaks with Archita Prasad, president of UPS Capital, and Ashley Hillman, vice president of product at UPS Capital, about connecting fraud prevention, shipping protection and claims management across the customer journey. Their conversatio...

10/14/2026

What would a port closure, demand spike or capacity shortage do to your supply chain, and which response would work best?
Supply chain digital twins can help leaders test those questions before committing resources. But useful answers require reliable data, validated models and clear accountability.
Souraj Roy and Samriddha Basu examine how digital twins can support planning decisions and what leaders should evaluate before investing.
Read the article: https://www.scmr.com/article/supply-chain-digital-twins-planning

10/13/2026

What will make your 2027 supply chain priorities stronger?
Next week’s NextGen Supply Chain Conference offers an opportunity to explore that question with practitioners from Wayfair, Eli Lilly, Nordstrom, GE HealthCare, Amazon and more.
The agenda connects technology investments with operating decisions and workforce needs—with small group discussions that give attendees room to ask questions.
Join us Oct. 21–23 at the W Nashville.
SCMR readers: Use NGReader25 for 25% off registration.
Explore the agenda: https://www.nextgensupplychainconference.com/agenda/
Register: https://ngsc.regfox.com/nextgen-supply-chain-conference-2026

https://www.scmr.com/article/nextgen-2026-2027-supply-chain-priorities

10/13/2026

Some useful supply chain tools never make it onto a technology roadmap.
They address a local constraint, a recurring analysis or a decision that matters to one facility but struggle to compete for development resources.
In this contributed perspective, Priyank Kumawat explores how generative AI can help operations managers turn those ideas into working prototypes and gather evidence before seeking a larger investment.
Read the article: https://www.scmr.com/article/ai-operations-managers-digital-tools

10/12/2026

Geopolitical volatility leads ASCM’s supply chain trends outlook for 2027, with agentic AI and autonomous orchestration ranked second.
But the practical lesson from the CHAINge discussion extends beyond the ranking: These priorities depend on one another.
AI investment requires reliable data, governance and workforce readiness. Supplier diversification requires visibility and responsive decision-making. Cybersecurity requires coordination across supply chain, IT and connected partners.
Report authors Matt Talbert and Armand van Oostrom explored the report and what it means.
Explore the article: https://www.scmr.com/article/ascm-2027-supply-chain-trends-geopolitical-volatility

ASCM’s 2027 supply chain trends place geopolitical volatility first while…

10/12/2026

A logistics network’s design shapes how quickly products reach customers and how many handoffs occur along the way.
In a new SCMR article, CEO of Knight-Swift Supply Chain, Brant Seaton examines how Outdoor Cap and a seasonal retailer coordinate transportation, warehousing, and fulfillment through an integrated logistics network.
One practical example: Outdoor Cap fulfills selected orders directly from California rather than routing every shipment through Arkansas.
For supply chain leaders, the useful questions are where freight takes unnecessary trips, where handoffs create delays, and how well capacity matches seasonal demand.
Explore the article: https://www.scmr.com/article/integrated-logistics-networks-faster-fulfillment

10/09/2026

A predictive AI model can perform well in a pilot and still struggle to become part of everyday supply chain decisions.
A curated dataset may support one location. Expansion brings different systems, inconsistent records and more people who need to agree on what happens next.
In this SCMR article, Kishan Kumar examines three issues leaders should address before scaling:
• Data readiness across the operating network
• Ownership of recommendations and decisions
• Performance measures that connect insights to action
The practical question: What must change in the organization for the model’s output to become useful at scale?
https://www.scmr.com/article/beyond-the-pilot-why-most-predictive-ai-investments-in-supply-chain-still-fail-to-scale