Supply Chain Now

Supply Chain Now is the #1 voice of supply chain: a media platform & community dedicated to global supply chain. SCN has received awards & accolades from across industry, including Listen Notes naming our podcast in the top 1% of all 3.5M+ podcasts in the world.

In any good supply chain, important information flows freely, and we take that principle to heart at Supply Chain Now. From podcasts to live streams, vlogs, virtual events and articles, Supply Chain Now digital media unites everything you need to know about the latest in global supply chain performance in one place. Whether you prefer to listen in, read on or speak up, we have a format that fits your schedule. Discover media that connects you directly to the supply chain leaders most frequently sourced for insights as we spotlight the people, technology, best practices, critical issues and opportunities impacting global supply chain performance.

Find Supply Chain Now wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

Founder, CEO & Host

National Supply Chain Day℠

National Supply Chain Day®, is a celebration and a spotlight on the industry professionals of Supply Chain: the people that connect the world. From the intricate logistics that power your morning coffee to the complex networks ensuring critical medical supplies reach their destinations, supply chain professionals are the backbone of our connected world. Join us every year on April 29th as we delve into the stories, breakthroughs and technologies of the global supply chain. 

Learn more:  https://supplychainnow.com/nscd/

Board Member

TalentStream

TalentStream specializes in helping organizations find top talent in the Engineering, Manufacturing & Supply Chain space. With almost 70 years of combined industry experience, we provide talent on both a Direct Hire and Contract basis. Our proven STREAMline for Success© program ensures a successful candidate that meets our clients’ needs.

To learn more about TalentStream and our team, please visit us at: www.talentstreamstaffing.com  

Scott Luton joined TalentStream as an owner & Managing Partner in January 2016. He departed from the day-to-day operations of the organization in May 2019 and served as an advisor through December 2019.

Former Managing Partner & Advisor

APICS Atlanta

APICS Atlanta has been serving the Metro Area for over 50 years and currently serves almost 700 members. We are a non-profit industry association that is dedicated to the world of end-to-end supply chain management. Our Atlanta Chapter is affiliated with the international Association of Supply Chain Management (ASCM). Learn more here: https://www.ascm.org/

Scott Luton has served on the APICS Atlanta Board of Directors for over 10 years, including two years as President. Learn more about APICS Atlanta at www.apicsatlanta.org

Board Member (Volunteer)

Serving as President of Atlanta Chapter of APICS for two years. In 2014, APICS Atlanta celebrates 50 years of serving the Metro Atlanta market.

APICS Atlanta is recognized as the leading professional services organization in the field of Operations & Supply Chain Management for Metro Atlanta. We are the premier source of professional education and career development programming dedicated to advancing productivity, innovation, and competitive success. We serve our members, affiliates, and partner companies as the preeminent resource for furthering industry knowledge and best practices.

The Atlanta Chapter of APICS serves almost 600 local members.

President

Serving on the APICS Atlanta chapter Executive Board of Directors for the 2010/2011 program year (VP/Programs) and the 2011/2012 program year (EVP)

APICS—The Association for Operations Management is a not-for-profit international educational organization respected throughout the world for its education and professional certification programs. With more than 70,000 individual and corporate members in 20,000 companies worldwide, APICS is dedicated to using education to improve the business bottom line.

VP/Programs & EVP

Georgia Logistics Summit

Created in 2009 as an event to bring together all aspects of the logistics industry for lunch, the Georgia Logistics Summit has grown over the last eight years from 400 attendees in its first year to nearly 1,500 in 2017. Each year, the Summit brings together nearly 50 speakers from prominent shippers in the industry, leaders in the state’s infrastructure and economic development community, and a keynote speaker from large corporations like Caterpillar, The Home Depot, and Walmart.

The 2018 Georgia Logistics Summit was held April 9th through April 12th, 2018 - - and was co-located with MODEX. Scott Luton moderated the "Women in Logistics" breakout session and led two initiatives for the 2018 Summit:

- - Joint industry association initiative that led to 7 leading industry associations serving as a Host Sponsor for the event

- - Veterans Initiative that led to over 100 Veterans & military members attending the Summit/MODEX on a complimentary basis

Executive Committee Member

APICS Southeast District

APICS is the leading professional association for supply chain and operations management and the premier provider of research, education and certification programs that elevate end-to-end supply chain excellence, innovation and resilience. APICS Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) and APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) designations set the industry standard. With over 37,000 members and more than 250 international partners, APICS is transforming the way people do business, drive growth and reach global customers.

I served on a voluntarily basis with the APICS Southeast District as a Staff Member.

Staff Member (volunteer role)

Riverwood Associates

Riverwood Associates is an Operational Excellence Training & Consulting firm, dedicated to helping individuals and organizations improve their performance. We founded the company in 2013 to continue our passion for sharing best practices, knowledge and expertise for continuous improvement. We primarily help companies by providing Lean Six Sigma certification training and targeted process improvement consulting.

Scott sold the company in December 2015 to his former partner, Peter Sherman.

Partner

Georgia Manufacturing Expo

Honorary Advisory Board member

Clairon Metals Corporation

Founded in 1989, Clairon Metals Corporation has grown into a leading Southeastern metal stamping company. We are ISO 9001-2008 certified with complete in-house tool and die construction capabilities.  From up-front engineering assistance to subassembly and special packaging, we are your full service metal stamping source.

Our 114,000 square foot air-conditioned facility houses the latest in metal stamping equipment, with an additional 33,000 square feet of warehouse space.  Our press sizes range from 1,100 tons to 35 tons.  Secondary capabilities include:  robotic MIG welding, resistance welding, machining, tapping, assembly, and special packaging.

Director of Sales

Special Olympics Georgia

Special Olympics Georgia provides year-round sports training and athletic competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.Our goal is to help bring persons with intellectual disabilities into the larger society under conditions whereby they are accepted, respected, and given the chance to become useful and productive citizens.

Honorary Board Member

Passionate about sharing stories from across the global business world

Scott W. Luton is the founder & CEO of Supply Chain Now (SCN), the #1 voice of Supply Chain. SCN is an award-winning global digital content platform and robust community. At the heart of the platform, is the almost daily Supply Chain Now podcast, which has hit podcast leadership charts in over 60 countries. Scott has worked extensively in the end-to-end Supply Chain industry for almost 20 years, appearing in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, CNN and USA Today. He's been named a Supply Chain thought leader by a variety of organizations, including RateLinx, Thinkers 360, ISCEA, Supply & Demand Executive and others. A Veteran of the United States Air Force, Scott is passionate about finding ways to give back & serve the Veteran community. He's also served on a variety of executive boards and industry initiatives. Follow Scott Luton on X at @ScottWLuton and learn more about Supply Chain Now here: https://supplychainnow.com

While out in Las Vegas for a terrific industry leadership event last week, I ran into my friend Danny G., who is truly changing how the world views manufacturing. 

Danny joined us on Manufacturing Day back in October, where we spoke about his new documentary series "American Makers", where he & his team shine a light on the people, ideas, and innovations shaping manufacturing in the United States. The first episode is out & focuses on a purpose-built manufacturer of custom shot blast machines based in Alpharetta, Georgia: Blastec Inc. Check out the episode via the link below in the comments - as Danny is delivering a ton of Good News out in the market place.

A few other recent items on my radar lately:

👉  Here's a recent Vin Vashishta golden nugget: "Stop buying AI and start buying outcomes." If you aren't following The Vin yet, change that today!

👉  Régine Honoré Villain has published her latest thought-provoking piece, which includes this headline: "In a world that rarely slows down these days, I believe that gratitude is the pause that helps us lead with clarity and humanity." Check it out via the link in the comments below. I'm honored to be collaborating with this supply chain hall of famer, who will be joining our incredible team of hosts here at Supply Chain Now.

👉  Speaking of collaboration, our SCN team is delighted to be kicking off a new partnership with LogiSYM, designed to elevate thought leadership, expand regional engagement, and strengthen #supplychain knowledge-sharing across ASEAN and the global community. It has been rewarding to get to know Raymon Krishnan, Brett Marshall & the team - - and we look forward to working together with their wonderful organization. FYI: make sure the LogiSYM APAC Symposium 2026 is on your calendar for next year! Link below.

👉  I thoroughly enjoyed co-hosting "The Buzz" yesterday with my friend & industry leader Allison Giddens. But you may not know something about Allison: she and the non-profit The Dave Krache Foundation have been helping almost 2,000 kids play sports by picking up those expensive fees & equipment costs; otherwise, these kids would go without. If you are looking for an extraordinary non-profit to support here at EOY, I wholeheartedly recommend The Dave Krache Foundation (where almost every penny goes to serve families in need). You know - link below.

👉  Have you checked out our latest edition of "With That Said"? We shared some terrific takeaways from my time at the WISE Future Leaders Symposium, led by the one & only Dr. Stephanie Thomas. It was one of my favorite events of the year. And love this sentiment that Stephanie shared with me: Belonging is a competitive advantage, not just kindness. People stay where they feel seen, supported, and connected. Belonging isn’t nice-to-have, it’s how you keep talent. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all those that celebrate. Stay tuned for more Good News, as we're building out a new warehouse network to inventory it all.

Scott Luton

It’s a wrap! The Innovation Summit North America 2025, which was powered by our friends at Schneider Electric, was an incredible, thought-provoking experience.

As I share in this video, one of the highlights of my time at the event in Las Vegas was touring the Innovation Park (three times, I think!). The Innovation Park was a large, 45,000-square-foot exhibit space where attendees could engage in hands-on demonstrations and explore cutting-edge technologies and solutions related to energy management, automation, AI, and sustainable infrastructure. Industry leaders and experts provided insights and practical strategies within this interactive environment. I am pretty sure I left the Park with 3 new certifications. 😀 

However, two of my favorite themes that emerged from #ISNA2025 weren’t necessarily technology-focused - - and they really reinforced what I already know to be true:

⚡ The most successful companies in the world know that one of the best ways of optimizing innovation & resilience is by investing in their supply chain ecosystem. I think Schneider Electric illustrates that perfectly. As just one example, the company is working closely with thousands of its suppliers to explore new supply chain decarbonization approaches. Innovations & outcomes certainly come out of these investments, but more importantly, they build trust. And you can move mountains with trust.

⚡ Digital transformation starts with the powerful human factor. And there are tremendous opportunities available, especially to those who are willing to: Learn, Apply, & Volunteer. Those amongst us who are willing to learn and apply something new every day, as well as volunteer for new projects & initiatives: the sky is the limit. As Tom Wilk with Plant Services mentioned to me, the theme of this golden age of supply chain tech should be the lyrics from a John Fogerty song: “Oh, put me in, coach! I'm ready to play today.”

Stay tuned for upcoming interviews, details & perspectives via Supply Chain Now in the weeks ahead. We’ve got a lot of good stuff coming up, including my sit-down with Mourad TAMOUD, CSCO at Schneider Electric, where, amongst many things, I get his proven perspective on how to build supply chains that perform under pressure. Mourad’s response would make David Bowie & Freddie Mercury proud! 

#ad #schneiderelectric #SchneiderElectricInnovationSummit #ISNA2025 #InnovationSummitLasVegas #EnergyTechLeaders

As I wrapped Day 1 of the Innovation Summit North America 2025, powered by our friends at Schneider Electric, I have been pondering some of the data points that have been part of my conversations here:

💥  The U.S. alone will need to find some 200 GW of new energy capacity by 2030.

💥  HALF of that new demand is driven by AI (you knew that already!)

💥  Data centers that power AI can create up to 10x more heat - requiring all sorts of new cooling requirements & management technology

But I want to go back to those 200 gigawatts we’ve gotta find somewhere by 2030. Just what the heck is a gigawatt?

💥  To put it into some sort of perspective, as shared a while back by the DOE: Marty McFly drove Doc Brown’s supercool DeLorean back to the future, which required 1.21 gigawatts per trip.

💥  But that aside: one gigawatt-hour of energy would power roughly 750,000 homes for an hour. It’s not a perfect science, and has lots of variables, but that is a good general rule of thumb.

To meet these colossal energy needs (that grow by the hour), we must embrace a different approach. That’s where Schneider Electric comes in, as this trusted energy technology partner for industry is driving innovation and transformation out across global business. Stay tuned, as the organization is rolling out exciting new developments to help businesses, big and small, find a more successful, scalable, sustainable path forward.

Stay tuned for upcoming interviews, details & perspectives coming via Supply Chain Now in the weeks ahead.

#schneiderelectric #SchneiderElectricInnovationSummit #ISNA2025 #InnovationSummitLasVegas #EnergyTechLeaders #ad

Yesterday, I enjoyed one of the coolest openers to a keynote session that I’ve ever been part of. My video won’t do it justice, but I’ll try. 😄

Prior to Aamir Paul of Schneider Electric taking the stage, we enjoyed a mesmerizing three drummer and digital voyage experience, which set a perfect tone. And the ensuing day 1 of Innovation Summit North America 2025 did not disappoint. 

So far, I’ve enjoyed terrific conversations with business leaders driving real change in industry, such as Jay Timmons with the powerful National Association of Manufacturers - NAM, supply chain hall of famer Kathryn Wengel with Johnson & Johnson, and Steve Wilhite with SE Advisory Services.  

And we’ve enjoyed outstanding, hands-on demonstrations in the Innovation Park, where I could’ve spent 3 weeks learning and comparing notes with movers & shakers.

Stay tuned for a lot more, folks, as we drop key takeaways and interviews over at Supply Chain Now.

#InnovationSummitLasVegas #ISNA2025 #supplychain #leadership

We're entering Day 2 at Amazon Business Reshape 2025, after a jam-packed full Day 1. Lots of good stuff and actionable conversations. 

One of my favorite sessions was led by Doug Gray, VP of Technology at Amazon Business. Doug conducted a terrific panel session with Jeff Austin, VP of Global Procurement at Jabil and Emma Chontos, CPO and Head of Global Sourcing & Procurement at Intuit. As an Intuit customer for 20+ years, I was particularly interested in Emma's POV - - and I thought she really delivered intriguing perspective.

I'll paraphrase a few of her points here:

👉  Emma described the need to eliminate all the "drudgery" out of her team members' days, by leveraging AI & innovative technology. I've used a lot of words to describe the mundane work that tech is freeing humans from, but "drudgery" may be my favorite word yet!

👉  I've long used the phrase: "Simplify. Standardize. Automate." I stole it from someone somewhere, I'm sure. 😀  But Emma drove home the point of how incredibly important it is for leaders to simplify before they automate. Why automate needless complexity? (And pay for it?)

👉  Instead of waiting for the CIO and the IT team to share resources to fuel their digital transformation, Emma shared how she designated a few of her procurement pros as part of a special task force. They trained the task force up in AI, coding and other tech upskillings - - and charged the task force with driving innovation. Not only did this create value, impact & innovation sooner for Emma's organization within Intuit, but it was a powerful pairing of procurement expertise with digital transformation know-how.

👉  Emma also shared that one of their highly-impactful secret weapons when it comes to driving digital transformation: "early career" professionals. She spoke about how valuable their ability is to identify stale processes that are ripe for disruption - - and how talented they have been at being able to sustainably transform them. Loved this. And it has been my own experience too.

💡 Doug shared a variety of AI-driven tools that the Amazon team is rolling out this week. And I think the one that is generating the most buzz thus far: "Amazon Business Assistant – an AI-powered guide that helps U.S. buyers find answers to their procurement questions instantly, from setting up workflows to choosing the right Business Prime plan." I'll drop a link below in the comments.

Great session Doug, Jeff & Emma! 

#supplychain #procurement Supply Chain Now

Scott W. Luton is the founder & CEO of Supply Chain Now (SCN), the voice of Supply Chain. SCN is an award-winning global digital content platform and robust community. At the heart of the platform, is the almost daily Supply Chain Now podcast, which has hit podcast leadership charts in over 60 countries. Scott has worked extensively in the end-to-end Supply Chain industry for almost 20 years, appearing in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, CNN and USA Today. He's been named a Supply Chain thought leader by a variety of organizations, including RateLinx, Thinkers 360, ISCEA, Supply & Demand Executive and others. Scott founded the Atlanta Supply Chain Awards in 2019, which has since grown into the 2022 Supply Chain & Procurement Awards, a global event. A Veteran of the United States Air Force, Scott is passionate about finding ways to give back & serve the Veteran community. He's also served on a variety of executive boards and industry initiatives. Follow Scott Luton on Twitter at @ScottWLuton and learn more about Supply Chain Now here: https://supplychainnow.com

Amazon Business

Intuit Chief Procurement Officer and Head of Global Sourcing & Procurement

Intuit

Siddharth Venugopal

Meanwhile, in the supply chain war room...

ABC Company's logistics manager, Shana M. O'Hara (better known as Agent Scarlett) ponders all the real work she postponed, to make time for this last-second, hastily-called cross-functional supply chain meeting. 90 minutes of wide-ranging, rambling discussion later, just as Shana had predicted, it all could've been avoided. Now she's gotta find that extra hour & a half from somewhere.

According to some estimates - and there are a BUNCH - in the U.S. alone, over 35 million meetings take place every day. And unproductive meetings may be costing the U.S. economy over $250B a year.

Emails, Slack or phone calls don't solve everything, but they've been preventing unnecessary meetings & saving valuable, finite time for years. As a recovering "meeting addict", I know first hand. 😎 

BTW: if you must conduct the meeting, be sure to ask the usually silent team member (like Snake Eyes below) what they think about a particular problem or topic. Some of the absolute BEST ideas come from those quiet, reserved team members that may not get the opportunity to share their perspective.

#supplychain #leadership

DYK: “Data centers consumed about 4.4% of total U.S. electricity in 2023 and are expected to consume approximately 6.7 to 12% of total U.S. electricity by 2028.” – U.S. Dept of Energy in a 2024 study

The future is bright indeed, but it’ll need a lot more juice! 😉

Innovation powered by AI & other technologies all comes at a cost, doesn’t it? One big component of that cost: significantly increased demand for energy, especially electricity. Our aging infrastructure in the United States simply was not purpose-built with big consumers of energy like AI in mind. To meet that demand (and more), as well as unlock the art of the possible, we must change our approach in terms of how we generate, manage & distribute electricity and energy in general.

To that end, I love seeing how major leaders like Schneider Electric are contributing to that bold new approach. For example, did you know that according to the US DOE, buildings account for 75% of electricity use in the U.S. and 40% of total energy. Well, Schneider Electric has introduced new technologies and initiatives that will make buildings much more energy-efficient, which will have a major impact on our world. On a related note, last week I was able to take a closer look at EcoStruxure™ Foresight Operation, a unified, AI-powered building-energy platform that brings power, energy and building systems together for real-time optimization and predictive control. And that’s all just the very tip of the iceberg!

From the first fuse to the future of quantum computing, Schneider Electric has been a trusted energy technology partner for industry, with a legacy of serving as an industry leader in the U.S. for over 135 years. Learn more about the cool things that Schneider Electric has been up to via the link in the comments below.

#ad #schneiderelectric #SchneiderElectricInnovationSummit #ISNA2025 #InnovationSummitLasVegas #EnergyTechLeaders

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