Let's Talk Supply Chain

Stephen Dyke of FourKites talks about inbound logistics: fragmentation; manual work; data siloes; AI; & why the receiving dock is such an under-invested area.
IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:
[03.25] An introduction to Stephen, his background combining computing and supply chain and, as a self-confessed 'passionate practitioner,' what he loves about supply chain.
[07.05] An overview of FourKites – who they are, what they do, and how they help their customers.
"Over the last five years, we've really become a supply chain orchestration control tower… and embedded persona-based AI agents."
[10.33] Why 2026 MIT research found that fragmented inbound logistics is still wreaking havoc across organizations, what that fragmentation typically looks like, the big impacts coming from it, and what that all means for businesses.
"On average, a common inbound operation can have anywhere between six and eight different internal applications that teams need to be able to plan and execute against. That's created siloes… and fragmentation naturally spirals."
[14.38] Why the transfer of data is central to the issue of fragmentation and siloes, the core business disciplines that need access to historically logistics-owned data, and how they're actually getting it.
"Data is everywhere… But it's not distilled and harmonized into one connected language."
[19.41] The type of manual work inbound teams are still doing daily, the problem with human validation, and why a shift from reactive to proactive action is critical.
[22.31] From manual status updates and delay notifications to document processing, what supplier communication typically looks like and why it's so hard.
"Since EDI, every operational team has been chasing standardization, compliance and reliability. But there's not going to be a perfect standard format, a perfect technology."
[24.47] The first thing you should do if your inbound process still runs on spreadsheets and phone calls, and why transformation and innovation is more than just an operational benefit.
"Qualify and quantify the level of pain, challenges and tolerance that you have across the whole execution ecosystem."
"I've never been around an operational team that doesn't look for that thrill of modernizing – there's a great mental and emotional benefit that comes from trying to drive ones destiny forward."
[30.13] Why the receiving dock and yard don't get as much attention as areas like outbound delivery, and the business cost of not looking at them equally.
[33.02] The power of AI within your ecosystem, and how it can change the way teams make decisions.
"When AI is placed within the broader supply chain planning and execution capability, a lot of great opportunities arise."
[37.05] The key tenants of gold standard inbound logistics, and the potential benefits from achieving it.
[40.27] The one thing listeners should take away from this conversation.
 
RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED
Head over to FourKite's website now to find out more and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with FourKites and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn, Facebook or YouTube, or you can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn.
If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more from FourKites, check out 235: Use Real-Time Visibility To Transform Your Entire Supply Chain, with FourKites.
Check out our other podcasts HERE.

Darin Brannan talks about Terminal Industries & what they do; building the industry's only Yard Operating System; & reinventing the future of logistics.
IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:
[03.25] An introduction to Darin, his background, the recipe for business success that led to the founding of Terminal, and why Top Gun might just have inspired his University degree.
"I started, deep in Silicon Valley, as a VC investing in start-ups. And there was a point at which it looked like it could be more fun across the table as an entrepreneur, taking big ideas and revolutionizing the industry."
[08.59] What Darin has learned from advising and investing in companies at the intersection of AI, logistics, and vertical SaaS, and the power of being AI native.
"These businesses are disruptive. We're delivering products that are 10 to 20 times the capabilities of the market, at half to one third of the price, with one third of the deployment time, that are three times easier to use."
[12.39] The big inhibitors to success in the yard logistics market, why SaaS doesn't work, and an overview of Terminal Industries – who they are, what they do, and how they help their customers.
"There's been a massive adoption problem with technology in the yard logistics sector. It's a headscratcher given it represents a third of all supply chain movement! Why is yard logistics such a laggard?"
"We're on a bold mission to make goods flow better, faster, cheaper and cleaner every single day. It will help businesses thrive, and consumers live better."
[17.18] Why Terminal is 'not a typical start-up,' and why a commitment to co-creation with industry sets them apart.
[21.18] The ideal customer for Terminal Industries.
[23.36] The biggest challenges in yards right now, and how the issue of yard blindness and fragmentation is creating big problems downstream.
[27.32] How Terminal reinvented a customer's yard logistics and reduced check-in time from 14 minutes to 34 seconds, which in turn had a transformative downstream effect in the warehouse, and a closer look at the modular, configurable, AI-native yard operating system that makes it possible.
"It was designed with industry titans for high velocity complex sites all the way down to mini sites… And it's end-to-end, which is unlike any system in the market."
"Fancy tech is great, but it's all about solving problems in an economical way."
[34.16] The difference between a Yard Operating System and a Yard Management System, and why the Yard Operating System is the future of logistics.
"The minute a new transformational wave comes out, the incumbents say 'we're just going to bolt that on.' Within the last 12 months, every SaaS company has said they're agentic. But 99% of them are just bolting a chatbot onto their system."
[41.00] A case study detailing how Terminal helped a big customer, that was losing 15% of their gate and yard capacity leading to big costs and downstream impacts, improve throughput and accuracy, boost gate capacity, reduce costs and improve employee experience, delivering three to six times ROI within 12 months.
"A lot of what we sell is change management. How do you go from how you did things in the past to how you're going to do them in the future? It has to make people's day better and make them champions, and have a real cost benefit – not in three years, but in 12 months."
[47.01] Terminal's focus for 2026, and the next big transformation they're driving for yard logistics in the future.
 
RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED:
Head over to Terminal Industry's website now to find out more and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with Terminal and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn, X (Twitter) or YouTube, or you can connect with Darin on LinkedIn.
Check out our other podcasts HERE.

Alexia Vitali of Colibri S&OP talks about what they do; why most mid‑market companies still run on Excel; & making planning simple, collaborative & impactful.
IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:
[03.55] An introduction to Alexia and her journey moving from Europe to Canada to build Colibri's American presence.
"It's a bit like building a company inside a company… so the beginning was just about listening to planners and supply chain teams."
[06.37] An overview of Colibri S&OP – who they are, what they do, and how they help their customers – and what makes them different.
"Our co-founders were used to implementing solutions like Colibri, but they were so tired of long implementations and never-ending projects..."
[10.19] The ideal customer for Colibri S&OP.
"It's not really the size that matters – it's the mindset."
[11.41] The biggest macro and micro challenges Colibri regularly see with their customers in 2026, and how their technology helps address these issues.
"We're seeing market volatility, margin pressure, supplier disruptions, and shorter decision cycles."
[16.17] What ROI looks like for Colibri customers, and why it goes deeper than simply cost savings.
[18.51] With 80% of mid‑market companies still running their S&OP on Excel, why businesses need to make a change, and Excel's key limitations.
"Excel is great! It's flexible, familiar. But it's great for what it was built for – and planning isn't what it was built for."
[22.53] Despite the challenges with Excel, why most of that 80% think they're 'not ready' for a planning tool, and the common misconceptions and fears Colibri often see around the alternatives, from failure to security.
"A lot of times people are traumatized by previous ERP implementations that went wrong!!"
[26.43] How Colibri are leveraging simulation to help organizations build better supply chain strategies and understand their business-wide impacts.
[29.58] A closer look at Colibri's supply and demand planning solutions – how they work, what teams can do with them, and what they look like versus Excel.
[33.38] How Colibri solutions can make people's jobs simpler and more collaborative, and drive impactful results at a business level.
"Everyone is working better together, but also better by themselves."
[37.52] Why AI is changing supply chain planning, but not in the way many people expected.
[40.10] A case study exploring how Colibri helped a cosmetics brand still using Excel, despite an international network and high complexity, reduce time spent on planning from 3 days to 3 hours, improve accuracy and service levels, and streamline processes.
[44.00] Alexia's final words of advice
 
RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED:
Head over to Colibri S&OP's website now to find out more and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with Colibri S&OP and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn or YouTube, or you can connect with Alexia on LinkedIn.
Check out our other podcasts HERE.

Trace Haggard of TSG Fleet talks about the freight downturn; what 2026 will bring; converting what you already own into opportunity; & building partnerships.
IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:
[04.07] A re-introduction to Trace and TSG Fleet.
[05.07] An overview of the prolonged freight recession: where it started, the factors driving it, and the impact on the industry.
"During the pandemic, the smartest brains in the industry were saying: "It's ecommerce forever, now!" We were proven wrong again, and fleets took another big hit. They had to pull back, but had all this equipment. There were more trucks, trailers, and containers than there was freight to move."
[09.14] Why businesses weren't prepared for just how long the freight recession has lasted.
[11.54] What the freight recession has meant for TSG Fleet, and how it led Trace to look at his business in a different way to review what was and wasn't working, and pivot.
"We lost track of what we were founded on."
[19.28] The evolution of technology in fleet management, and what TSG's investment in maintenance and repair visibility solutions means for customers.
[24.58] How TSG converted what they already own into their next big opportunity, why communication and collaboration is critical, and the importance of challenging the status quo to position for the future and identify new opportunities, without huge investments in time and money.
"It all starts with constant communication with our customers, and always being willing to collaborate."
[27.52] TSG's approach to creating impactful, long-lasting strategic partnerships.
"The key is to talk less and listen more!"
[31.25] Trace's advice for other businesses, looking at their operations in a tough landscape, for how to start identifying opportunities to pivot.
"Figuring out 'how did we get here?' was the eye-opener for me."
[33.33] What businesses with aging assets need to do next to keep their fleet moving, when budgets and new equipment availability are tight and replacement lead times are long.
[36.30] The future for TSG Fleet, and what we can expect from the market in 2026.
"There's been a huge surge in volumes in domestic freight. Usually, when the tide changes and we're on an upward swing, we see a lot more port activity and we haven't seen that yet. But that could be tariff uncertainty. I'm optimistic."
RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED:
Head over to TSG Fleet's website now to find out more and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with TSG and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn, or you can connect with Trace on LinkedIn.
If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more from TSG Fleet, check out 431: Fleet Logistics Made Easy, with TSG Fleet.
Check out our other podcasts HERE.

Aadil Kazmi of Infios talks about purposeful innovation; intelligent execution; tech readiness; and turning AI into measurable business outcomes.
IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:
[02.14] An introduction to Aadil, and an overview of Infios.
"Supply chains run best when operators can execute them on a single stack."
[03.20] How Aadil's experience at Amazon sparked an entrepreneurial journey that ultimately led him to Infios.
"When retailers and shippers offered faster shipping to their end customers, cart values and repeat rates went through the roof. That led me deep into supply chain..."
[05.17] Aadil's focus in his role as Head of AI, what excites him, and what keeps him up at night.
"We're using our own tools internally to produce what our customers will eventually use."
[08.32] What purposeful innovation means to Infios, and the big unlock that happened three years ago that changed the game for AI.
"We partner with customers to develop only use case driven AI workflows."
"Purposeful innovation is looking at what workflows within our business depend on unstructured data and reasoning, and focusing on those for AI automation... Not everything is a fit for Gen AI."
[12.08] What AI agents mean in the context of supply chain, how they're being used now, and how we can understand automation through a three-level phased framework.
[15.31] How AI agents compare to traditional automation, and how businesses can decide which is the right fit for each challenge or workflow.
"When companies embark on their automation journey, they should start with the highest leverage ROI workflows that have the lowest risk factor."
[19.15] The challenge of organizational debt, and leaning into AI readiness by connecting people's tribal knowledge to contextualize AI decision-making.
[21.41] How Infios are meeting customers where they are to overcome technology debt with intelligent orchestration.
[24.55] What Aadil's Executive Roundtable at Manifest uncovered about intelligent supply chain, and how to get the most from AI adoption.
"You can't just throw AI at a problem… The best way to adopt AI is to actually pull the workflow and, from a first principles perspective, re-engineer it from the ground up to be AI native."
[28.31] Why technology readiness is still a big constraint on connected execution, and why AI ambition is yet to meet execution reality.
[29.23] How businesses can move toward intelligent connected supply chain execution to turn purposeful AI into business outcomes, and how to measure success.
[33.17] What teams should do now as they plan for the year ahead.
 
RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED:
Head over to Infios' website now to find out more and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with Infios and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn or YouTube, or you can connect with Aadil on LinkedIn.
If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more from Infios, check out 520: Enter the New Era of Supply Chain Management, with Infios.
Check out our other podcasts HERE.