AI Defining a Middle Ground Between Custom and Packaged Applications in Supply Chain Planning
Supply chain planning has evolved technologically, but its underlying processes...
Read MoreReflection and Celebration for the Supply Chains to Admire Methodology
The Supply Chains to Admire to is an objective, data-driven...
Read MoreFive Things I Don’t Understand
Solutions that we never imagined years ago are emergining, but...
Read MoreMy Answer to Joe. The Future of APS
Traditional Advanced Planning Systems (APS) are unlikely to become true...
Read MoreNavigating Supply Chain Economic Downturns
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Read MoreWarning: Sidestep the Narrative of the Misguided Goldiggers
Ten years ago, I started writing a book titled Stories...
Read MoreThe Myth of End-to-End Planning
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Read MoreLead Time: A Broken Gossamer
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Read MoreIs your Supply Chain AI Ready?
A simple quiz to assess an organization's AI readiness. The...
Read MoreCase Study: A Scrappy Demand Management Approach
This study of Franklin Sports shines a light on the...
Read MoreCan We Side-Step the AI Spin Cycle?
When it comes to combining tech, 1+1+1 should equal more...
Read MoreSupply Chain Health Check: The Power of an Orbit Chart
An orbit chart is a powerful tool for understanding the...
Read MoreIndustry Solutions Should Drive Value Networks: They Don’t Today
Today, companies require industry-specific supply chain solutions. The performance of...
Read MoreAre You Writing a Check You Cannot Cash?
Don't let a well-intending, but ill-informed consultant or technologist set...
Read MoreThe Sad Demise of the Food Industry
For the period of 2016-2025, the industry average was 11%...
Read MoreLet’s Form a Coalition to AI Smart
The supply chain is knotted. It is unruly. It is complex....
Read MoreDon’t Forget To Question First Principles and Design the User Experience
The industry need state requires the redefinition of the current...
Read MoreThe Re-Tread Dance with Late Adopters
Building innovation in supply chain requires a new approach and...
Read MoreBeyond Rabbit Ears on a Black & White TV
When I was a young girl, we received one television...
Read MoreDigital Transformation: Where Was the Beef?
Where is the Beef? is now a colloquialism. The phrase...
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Lora Cecere is the Founder and CEO of Supply Chain Insights , the research firm that’s paving new directions in building thought-leading supply chain research. She is also the author of the enterprise software blog Supply Chain Shaman. The blog focuses on the use of enterprise applications to drive supply chain excellence. Her book, Bricks Matter, published in December of 2012.
As an enterprise strategist, Lora focuses on the changing face of enterprise technologies. Her research is designed for the early adopter seeking first mover advantage. Current research topics include the digital consumer, supply chain sensing, demand shaping and revenue management, market-driven value networks, accelerating innovation through open design networks, the evolution of predictive analytics, emerging business intelligence solutions, and technologies to improve safe and secure product delivery.
She comes to the stage with over thirty years of diverse supply chain experience. She spent nine years as an industry analyst with Gartner Group, AMR Research, Altimeter Group and is now the founder of her own firm Supply Chain Insights. Prior to becoming a supply chain analyst she spent fifteen years as a leader in the building of supply chain software at Manugistics and Descartes Systems Group, and twenty years as a supply chain practitioner at Procter & Gamble, Kraft/General Foods, Clorox, and Dreyers Grand Ice Cream (now a division of Nestle).

AI Defining a Middle Ground Between Custom and Packaged Applications in Supply Chain Planning
Supply chain planning has evolved technologically, but its underlying processes remain rooted in historic practices that no longer fit today’s volatile, complex environment. Packaged applications promise faster, lower-cost, lower-risk business outcomes, yet extensive customization, fragmented data, and rigid workflows often undermine that promise. Cloud data and AI platforms like Databricks and Snowflake offer an alternative: build interoperable applications on top of existing planning systems to address gaps in direct procurement, plan consumption, bullwhip reduction, operational planning, and dynamic master data. The opportunity is not simply to automate existing processes with AI and agentics, but to redefine how work gets done through end-to-end orchestration, value-based trade-offs, and clear decision governance.

Reflection and Celebration for the Supply Chains to Admire Methodology
The Supply Chains to Admire to is an objective, data-driven standard for measuring supply chain excellence and moves beyond industry reputation, anecdotal evidence, and technology claims. Using revenue growth, operating margin, inventory turns, and return on invested capital (ROCE, the research evaluates how companies perform relative to industry peers over time. Here Lora shares information on an upcoming event to celebrate the Supply Chains to Admire Award Winners.

Five Things I Don’t Understand
Solutions that we never imagined years ago are emergining, but I pause when companies are unwilling or unable to roll up their sleeves and redefine work. Historic practices are not best practices, and there is a wealth of opportunity for those that do challenge the existing status quo. .