The SupplyChainBrain Podcast
by Bob Bowman
Latest episode
AI in Supply Chain Planning: Separating Reality From Hype
AI in Supply Chain Planning: Separating Reality From Hype
About this podcast
The SupplyChainBrain Podcast features in-depth conversations with industry practitioners, academics, consultants and other experts on every aspect of supply-chain management and international trade. Available for streaming or downloading.
Episodes
The newest 50 of 825 episodes
- AI in Supply Chain Planning: Separating Reality From Hype · 23 minWhen it comes to assessing the value of artificial intelligence in supply chain planning, what's real, and what's hype?
- How Physical AI Is Transforming Human Roles in the Warehouse · 22 minAI is getting physical in the warehouse.
- Why Do So Many AI Initiatives Stall? · 23 minWhy are so many efforts to implement artificial intelligence falling short of expectations?
- Rethinking Visibility: Keeping Tabs on Your Ocean Container, and Beyond · 23 minWhat does shipment “visibility” really mean? Depends on where the shipment is.
- How AI Can Fix the Lead-Time Guessing Game · 23 minCan AI fix the frustrating lead-time guessing game?
- How Quickly Can Supply Chains Recover From a Major Disruption? · 21 minWith the end of a supply chain disruption, you might breathe a sigh of relief. But don’t hold your breath waiting for things to get back to normal.
- The Rise of Physical AI: Is This the Era of the Autonomous Warehouse? · 22 minIs physical artificial intelligence the key to creating autonomous warehouses?
- ‘The Great Fracturing’: A Whole New World of Trade Relations · 25 minThe world is fractured, and it’s not healing anytime soon.
- Protecting Against Malware in Open-Source Software Libraries · 24 minHow do we stop malware from infecting open-source software libraries?
- ‘Too Hot to Ignore’: A Report on Extreme Heat in Garment Factories · 27 minThe heat is on in garment supply chain factories. Why aren’t brands taking action?
- PepsiCo’s Big Sustainability Push in APAC · 20 minThe latest edition of PepsiCo’s ambitious Greenhouse Program aims for “proven solutions” in Asia-Pacific and potentially beyond.
- Why Aren’t We Getting Our Money’s Worth From Transportation Spending? · 22 minBillions of federal dollars committed to building and maintaining the nation’s transportation infrastructure — and what do we have to show for it?
- How Geopolitical Strife Is Fueling Nearshoring Strategies · 21 minEven supply chains that are largely confined to one region are affected by global events.
- A Big Step Toward a U.S. Domestic Battery Supply Chain? · 18 minA new agreement aims to scale lithium-ion battery cell production in the United States.
- A New Project to Build AI ‘From Scratch’ · 25 minWhat does it mean to “redesign AI from the ground up”?
- How AI Is Reshaping Procurement: Hype or Reality? · 25 minA 170-year-old manufacturer is on the cutting edge of AI.
- 25 Years of ‘Vested’: Crafting Effective Relationships With Supply Chain Partners · 24 minThe “vested” model for creating successful supply chain relationships is more than 25 years old. How’s it holding up?
- The Tariff Conundrum for Supply Chains: Pass Along, or Absorb? · 20 minWhen tariffs are slapped on supply chains, who pays the tab?
- A ‘Genetic’ Algorithm for Warehouse Network Inventory Strategy · 23 minA new platform draws on the principles of genetics to supercharge inventory decisions across warehouse networks.
- Renegotiating USMCA: A Preview · 21 minWhat’s going to happen to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement?
- Podcast | The State of Retail and CPG, in 2026 and Beyond · 20 minHow are retail and CPG weathering the storm?
- Due Diligence in Supplier Management: What Companies Are Missing · 24 minSupply chain success depends on visibility into the entire supplier base.
- UN Report Sounds the Alarm: We Are in ‘Global Water Bankruptcy’ · 21 minWelcome to the dawn of global water bankruptcy.
- The Challenge of Getting ‘First-Mile’ Visibility of Soft Commodities · 24 minGetting “first-mile” visibility of soft commodities is a hard problem.
- How to Survive Another Semiconductor Shortage · 20 minAnother memory chip shortage? How soon we forget.
- Government Subsidies for Shipbuilding: A ‘Misplaced Obsession’? · 21 minShould the federal government prop up the ailing U.S. commercial shipbuilding sector with subsidies?
- You Say Your Product Is ‘Made in USA’? Prove It! · 17 minWhat’s it take to prove that your product was “Made in USA”?
- How to Stop AI From ‘Running Loose’ in the Supply Chain · 21 minIs agentic AI “running loose” in your supply chain?
- Cybersecurity in Manufacturing: Is AI the Solution, or the Problem? · 21 minWhen it comes to ensuring data security and compliance, manufacturers’ AI systems are woefully unprepared for hostile threats.
- Is This the ‘Year of the Humanoid Robot’? · 20 minAre we experiencing a god complex — obsessed with creating things in our own image?
- More Than Labor: Today, Global Sourcing Is All About Total Cost · 19 minIn decades past, manufacturers fled the U.S. for Asia in search of lower production expense. But sourcing decisions today are a lot more complicated than that.
- Raw Materials: The Biggest Breaking Point in Global Supply Chains · 22 minHow can manufacturers manage the risk of depending on a single supplier for critical raw materials?
- Can U.S. Manufacturing Meet the Needs of Defense and Aerospace? · 23 minCan a domestically based manufacturing industry meet the needs of the defense sector?
- The Power of Mentorship in Supply Chain Organizations · 23 minIn an era of dazzling technology, are we forgetting what really makes supply chain organizations run?
- Psychological Safety in the Workforce: Where Companies Are Falling Short · 23 minWhat are companies getting wrong about psychological safety in the workplace?
- What E-Commerce and Retail Execs Get Wrong About Last-Mile Costs · 18 minWhen it comes to meeting customer expectations for delivery in the e-commerce era, the shortest distance can be the biggest challenge.
- K-12: The Key to Bringing Advanced Manufacturing to Rural America · 23 minAdvanced manufacturing promises to transform rural America. But the primary education system must step up to support it.
- Alternative Delivery Networks: Can They Compete With the Big Parcel Carriers? · 26 minE-commerce is responsible for an explosion in the number of alternative parcel delivery networks.
- Where Is Logistics Real Estate Headed in 2026? · 20 minWhen it comes to assessing business health, is the logistics real estate market a mirror for the economy at large?
- What’s the (Buzz) Word? The Curse of Corporate Language · 19 minWhy is corporate language so empty, vague and unoriginal?
- The New Supply Chain Paradigm: Putting Geopolitics Ahead of Profit · 25 minSupply chains are becoming the new frontlines of geopolitics.
- What Will It Really Take to Reshore Manufacturing Back to the U.S.? · 20 minHigh tariffs aren’t enough to bring manufacturing back to the United States. What will it really take to make that happen?
- It’s Time to Automate the B2B Order-Management Lifecycle · 22 minThe order-management lifecycle is ripe for automation — especially in the form of artificial intelligence.
- A Conversation With Industry Thought Leader Bart De Muynck · 15 minOn this bonus episode of The SupplyChainBrain Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Bob Bowman is joined by industry thought leader Bart De Muynck, to tackle the eternal question in supply…
- How Procurement Is Making Category Management ‘Intelligent’ · 22 minArtificial intelligence — especially agentic AI — is making traditional category management smarter.
- Can the U.S. Ever Stop Relying on China for Critical Minerals? · 23 minThe United States’ dependence on basic minerals from China and other foreign sources is a huge problem, both from an economic and defense perspective.
- BONUS EPISODE: A Conversation About Decision Intelligence With Gary van Tassel of INFORM · 17 minOn this bonus episode of The SupplyChainBrain Podcast, SupplyChainBrain editor-in-chief Bob Bowman speaks with Gary van Tassel, director of terminal and distribution center…
- Economic Warning Signs: Debt, the Dollar and AI · 17 minThe U.S. economy appears to be in decent shape – but there could be some dark clouds massing on the horizon.
