Every year, a small number of articles break through the daily noise and become reference points. They get shared internally, forwarded to leadership teams, cited in meetings, and bookmarked for later. In 2025, the most-read pieces on Logistics Viewpoints shared a common trait: they focused less on technology as novelty and more on how large, […]
The Supply Chain People Don’t See Google’s supply chain is often described as “mostly digital.” That description understates where the real operating risk sits. Alphabet runs a large, capital-intensive physical system built around data centers, servers, networking equipment, and the facilities required to deploy them. Consumer devices and first-party retail exist, but they are not […]
Amazon is still widely cited as the supply chain benchmark. That assessment is not wrong, but it is increasingly incomplete. Too many discussions focus on the visible outcomes of Amazon’s network while missing the underlying logic that produces them. For years, Amazon’s advantage was explained in terms of speed, scale, and cost efficiency. Those attributes […]
Venezuela’s Oil Return Is a Supply Chain Reconstruction Problem, Not a Production Decision In an earlier piece, we argued that Venezuela’s oil challenge is fundamentally a supply chain problem. This article examines what that means in operational terms. Discussions about Venezuela’s potential return to global oil markets often focus on reserves, production targets, or price […]
The early headlines around Venezuela’s post-Maduro moment focus on geopolitics and oil diplomacy. Beneath that surface is a broader issue that supply chain leaders should pay attention to. What is unfolding is not simply a restart of oil production. It is an attempt to rebuild a national industrial supply chain that has steadily deteriorated over […]
Warehouse automation continued its steady maturation in 2025. After years of intense investment and uneven results, companies shifted from experimental deployments to more disciplined, predictable automation strategies. The focus moved away from individual technologies and toward orchestration, integration, reliability, and the balance between human labor and machine capability. The year did not bring dramatic breakthroughs. […]
Call to Action: Download the full guide to gain in-depth insights and practical frameworks that will help you lead the transformation towards a resilient supply chain. Part 10 Over the past nine sections, we have explored the threats, architectures, governance models, data protections, human factors, response strategies, and partnerships required to secure today’s global supply chains. But […]
Transportation management underwent steady but meaningful change in 2025. While dramatic innovation was limited, organizations made progress in modernization, connectivity, and decision support. The theme of the year was not transformation. It was alignment—aligning TMS capabilities with the realities of volatile markets, cost pressure, emissions requirements, and customer expectations for more reliable service. As companies […]
Call to Action: Download the full guide to gain in-depth insights and practical frameworks that will help you lead the transformation towards a resilient supply chain. Part 9 Supply chains are ecosystems, not islands. A manufacturer may secure its own network, but if a supplier is compromised, malware or data manipulation can flow downstream. Conversely, a cyberattack […]
AI drew enormous attention in 2025 across supply chain operations. Some organizations approached it with caution. Others attempted rapid transformation. The most successful teams focused on smaller, well-defined operational bottlenecks where AI could reduce ambiguity, surface risks sooner, and compress decision cycles. As companies prepare for 2026, a clearer picture emerges of where AI delivered […]
Learn from the stories of your peers and the successes of those leading the charge in digitalization, the energy transition, and competitive excellence, whether it’s through AI and cognitive analytics, digital twins, or predictive technologies. The ARC Industry Forum is the place to be for those ready to dismantle constraints and lead with both agility […]
ARC Industry Leadership Forum • Orlando, FloridaFebruary 9–12, 2026 • Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld Artificial intelligence is reshaping how industrial organizations run their operations and supply chains. The shift is real. The early experiments are gone. Today, companies are redesigning their planning, logistics, reliability, sourcing, and production workflows around systems that can think, react, and […]
Call to Action: Download the full guide to gain in-depth insights and practical frameworks that will help you lead the transformation towards a resilient supply chain. Part 8 No matter how robust the defenses, breaches are inevitable. Phishing emails will be clicked. Zero-day vulnerabilities will be exploited. Suppliers will fall short on their cyber obligations. The true […]
Supply chain teams entered 2025 facing persistent volatility across capacity markets, energy availability, labor, and environmental conditions. By the end of the year, certain patterns became clear. Technology investment shifted away from broad digital transformation rhetoric toward narrower, more predictable tools that improve stability, compress decision cycles, and reduce operational ambiguity. As organizations plan for […]
Call to Action: Download the full guide to gain in-depth insights and practical frameworks that will help you lead the transformation towards a resilient supply chain. Part 7 For all the billions invested in firewalls, encryption, and AI-powered monitoring, the weakest link in supply chain cybersecurity remains unchanged: people. Employees click on phishing emails, use weak passwords, […]
Call to Action: Download the full guide to gain in-depth insights and practical frameworks that will help you lead the transformation towards a resilient supply chain. Part 6 In today’s hyperconnected supply chains, data is the currency of trust. It drives procurement decisions, inventory planning, shipping schedules, customs clearance, customer communications, and financial transactions. Yet as data […]
Call to Action: Download the full guide to gain in-depth insights and practical frameworks that will help you lead the transformation towards a resilient supply chain. Part 5 Cybersecurity in supply chains is often portrayed as a policy issue, but in practice, architecture determines resilience. Governance and compliance set the rules; architecture enforces them. For executives, this […]
Download the full white paper – AI in the Supply Chain Supply chain management is undergoing a permanent structural shift. The traditional model, built on disconnected systems, manual workflows, and deterministic rules, is giving way to an intelligent, adaptive framework powered by AI. This transformation is not about one-off automation or smart dashboards. It’s about […]
The AI ecosystem shifted again this week in ways that will influence how supply chains access compute, build intelligent applications, and scale advanced planning models. NVIDIA, Microsoft, and Anthropic announced a set of coordinated agreements that reshape where frontier AI runs and who controls the infrastructure underneath it. While the headlines focus on tech sector […]
Today’s supply chain leaders face a landscape defined by decarbonization pressures, volatile energy markets, the rise of connected fleets, and the rapid expansion of digital twin technology. To help practitioners navigate this transformation, Logistics Viewpoints is launching a focused four-part webinar series designed to translate emerging trends into practical strategies you can implement immediately. 👉 […]
Call to Action: Download the full guide to gain in-depth insights and practical frameworks that will help you lead the transformation towards a resilient supply chain. Part 4 Cybersecurity in supply chains is no longer just a best practice, it is a regulatory obligation and a fiduciary duty. Around the world, governments and regulators are tightening expectations, […]
Download the full white paper – AI in the Supply Chain Part 8 Implementing AI in the supply chain is not a single technology decision, it’s a long-term architectural shift. It involves laying foundational infrastructure, adopting new protocols, and reshaping organizational processes to support intelligent, autonomous operations at scale. To build a networked AI supply […]
Download the full guide to gain in-depth insights and practical frameworks that will help you lead the transformation towards a resilient supply chain. Part 3 You cannot secure what you cannot see. That maxim defines the central challenge of modern supply chain cybersecurity. Today’s networks are so digitally entangled, across ERP systems, cloud services, IoT devices, […]
Download the full white paper – AI in the Supply Chain Part 7 While artificial intelligence offers operational advantages to the modern supply chain, its adoption is not without friction. The transition from deterministic software and manual processes to adaptive, autonomous systems introduces a new category of technical, organizational, and strategic risk. Understanding these challenges […]
Sustainability has moved beyond corporate responsibility. Today, it’s a core element of supply chain performance and brand value. Organizations across every sector are rethinking how materials are sourced, products are moved, and data is managed to reduce emissions, improve efficiency, and strengthen resilience. Join us for an in-depth Logistics Viewpoints webinar on Sustainability in the […]
Call to Action: Download the full guide to gain in-depth insights and practical frameworks that will help you lead the transformation towards a resilient supply chain. The cyber threat environment is evolving at a pace that supply chain executives cannot afford to ignore. What once was the domain of amateur hackers experimenting with viruses has become an […]
The ongoing divergence between the United States and China in artificial intelligence hardware is no longer limited to export regulations or semiconductor innovation. It has become a critical factor in global supply chain strategy. As U.S. export restrictions continue and China reinforces its own procurement limitations, the structure of a divided logistics environment is becoming […]
In today’s interconnected world, the supply chain is no longer just a linear system of movement and storage. It is a living network of data, assets, and decisions. This week’s announcement of a deep partnership between Palantir Technologies and NVIDIA represents a pivotal moment in the maturation of that idea. Together, these two companies are […]
Donald Trump’s Asia tour this week may be remembered less for its political theater and more for its impact on the rare earth supply chain. In a series of visits to Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, and most importantly a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump signed or framed agreements that could reset the logistics architecture […]
The Year in Infrastructure 2025: Bentley Systems Charts an AI-Driven World Amsterdam has always been a city of engineering audacity. As one speaker noted, “The city floats on wooden piles sunk deep into marshy ground, an infrastructure of faith that water could be ordered and that chaos could be channeled into canals.” That reflection on […]
Download the full whitepaper Supply chains have always been complex, global, and vulnerable to disruption. But in the last decade, the nature of that vulnerability has fundamentally shifted. Where executives once worried primarily about physical shocks, strikes, hurricanes, geopolitical conflict, today’s most existential threats are digital. Cyberattacks targeting the arteries of global commerce have made […]
Industrial AI is beginning to alter how factories, logistics networks, and capital assets are managed. Schedulers are using AI generated production plans, maintenance teams are acting on AI derived failure forecasts, and supply chain leaders are using AI to rebalance service, cost, and risk in near real time. At the same time, many organizations are […]
Download the full whitepaper Global supply chains are no longer just physical networks of goods, trucks, ships, and warehouses. They are digital ecosystems, stitched together by ERP systems, IoT sensors, AI platforms, cloud applications, and partner data feeds. That digitization has unlocked new efficiencies, but it has also created new vulnerabilities. A ransomware attack in […]
Download the full white paper – AI in the Supply Chain Even the most advanced AI systems, A2A agents, MCP memory layers, RAG pipelines, and graph-based reasoning, are only as effective as the data they operate on. In fragmented, inconsistent, or siloed environments, these systems become unreliable, brittle, or outright useless. Data harmonization is the […]
Download the full white paper – AI in the Supply Chain Even the most advanced AI systems, A2A agents, MCP memory layers, RAG pipelines, and graph-based reasoning, are only as effective as the data they operate on. In fragmented, inconsistent, or siloed environments, these systems become unreliable, brittle, or outright useless. Data harmonization is the […]
Download the full white paper – AI in the Supply Chain While Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) improves the accuracy and relevance of AI output by connecting it to structured knowledge, it still treats that knowledge largely as disconnected chunks, pages, paragraphs, or entries retrieved for context. But supply chains are not flat; they are complex, interrelated […]
Download the full white paper – AI in the Supply Chain Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG): Smarter AI with Domain-Specific Memory Even with A2A and MCP in place, AI systems still face a significant limitation: the boundaries of their internal training data. Most language models and forecasting tools only know what they’ve been trained on, and that […]
Ingka Group, the largest IKEA retailer, has acquired Locus, a U.S.-based logistics technology company specializing in AI-powered route optimization and delivery management. The deal, announced October 7, 2025, gives IKEA greater control over the final step of its customer journey—home delivery. Locus provides an advanced logistics platform that uses artificial intelligence to plan, track, and […]
AI’s Power Problem: The Supply Chain Behind the Hype Most of the discussion around OpenAI, AMD, and the rapid growth of artificial intelligence focuses on finance and technology. The more important story is about supply chains, infrastructure capacity, and the limits of the electric grid. The Physical Footprint Each new data center is a major […]
For years, Flex, Jabil, and Foxconn stayed mostly behind the curtain. They built the phones, servers, and circuit boards that defined the digital age but rarely shaped the conversation around how those products reached the market. Their role was clear: manufacture efficiently, quietly, and at scale. That clarity has disappeared. In a decade defined by shortages, […]
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and OpenAI jointly announced a strategic partnership focused on scaling compute capacity for artificial intelligence systems. The agreement outlines OpenAI’s plan to deploy up to 6 gigawatts of AMD Instinct™ GPUs, beginning with an initial 1-gigawatt deployment using the MI450 series in the second half of 2026. This development reflects a […]
In the months leading up to the 2026 midterm elections, the Trump administration has launched a broad initiative to negotiate agreements with companies across as many as thirty industries. According to reporting from Reuters and other outlets, these deals involve a range of mechanisms, including tariff relief, equity stakes, revenue guarantees, and regulatory adjustments. The […]
Breaking: U.S. Government Shutdown Brings Immediate Strains to Supply Chains Washington, Oct. 1, 2025 — The U.S. government has officially shut down after Congress failed to agree on a funding bill, triggering furloughs for hundreds of thousands of federal employees and requiring many others to work without pay. For the logistics and supply chain industry, […]
At InterSystems READY 2025, a recurring message resonated across sessions: the most significant barriers in supply chains today are not futuristic, nor are they rooted in the complexity of AI models. Instead, they lie in the foundational issues of fragmented, inconsistent, and unreliable data. The session “Solving Supply Chain Challenges with Data, Driven Intelligence” focused […]
Modern supply chains face rising volatility—unpredictable lead times, shifting regulations, and higher customer expectations. Traditional tools can’t keep up without intelligent augmentation. In this ARC Advisory Group webinar, Jim Frazer outlines how AI is changing the game: Agent-to-Agent (A2A) communication for faster, automated decisions Model Context Protocol (MCP) to give AI memory and continuity RAG […]
China is reviewing Nvidia’s 2020 acquisition of Mellanox Technologies for potential violations of antitrust laws. This follows earlier approval of the deal under conditions that regulators now say may not have been met. The review is not new, but its timing matters. It comes as China places greater control on access to advanced semiconductors and […]
Download the full white paper: AI in the Supply Chain – Architecting the Future of Logistics with A2A, MCP, and Graph-Enhanced Reasoning Why Context Is the Missing Link Today’s supply chain technology is fragmented. Planning systems optimize demand, ERPs control orders, TMS tools optimize transportation, and WMS platforms manage warehouses. Each system does its job, […]
Apple has always maintained a disciplined approach to supply chain management. The company’s operations are global, complex, and deliberately structured to balance control, flexibility, and resilience. As artificial intelligence becomes more embedded in both production and logistics, Apple has begun to apply these capabilities to its own supply chain. The result is not a radical […]
SpaceX has taken another step toward eliminating mobile dead zones worldwide. The company has entered into a $17B purchase agreement with EchoStar for 50 MHz of exclusive S-band spectrum in the U.S. and global MSS spectrum licenses—an acquisition that positions SpaceX to deliver its next generation of Starlink Direct to Cell services with significantly expanded […]
A2A: Agent-to-Agent Coordination Is Already Here Download the full white paper: AI in the Supply Chain AI isn’t coming to supply chain coordination. It is already here. In pilot projects across leading organizations, software agents are beginning to communicate and act autonomously across core systems, without requiring direct human input. This is the rise of […]
Download AI in the Supply Chain Why Supply Chains Need a New Operating System Modern supply chains are straining under constant pressure. Global sourcing models are more intricate, lead times less predictable, and disruptions—whether geopolitical shocks, climate events, or trade disputes—are no longer rare exceptions. At the same time, customers expect speed, low cost, and […]
The Partnership aligns OPC UA Standardization and Cross-Industry Data Interoperability to Comply with Regional Regulations like the EU Digital Product Passport Scottsdale (AZ), USA / Berlin, Germany, August 19th, 2025 – The Catena-X Automotive Network e. V. and the OPC Foundation have announced a strategic collaboration to accelerate standardized, cross-company data sharing across the manufacturing industry. […]
Wireless connectivity is foundational to modern logistics. From handheld scanners to autonomous vehicles, most systems rely on Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or cellular to keep information flowing. These radio-based networks work well in most environments, but not all. That’s where Li-Fi enters the picture. Li-Fi, or Light Fidelity, uses modulated LED light to transmit data. It operates […]
The shift toward zero-emission freight is underway, but it’s not moving in a straight line. It’s happening incrementally, route by route, fleet by fleet, guided less by ideology than by operational fit. Two technologies are starting to matter: battery-electric trucks and hydrogen fuel cell trucks. Each comes with trade-offs, and each is suited to different […]
The conversation around sustainability in supply chain management has shifted in recent years, from compliance to efficiency, and now increasingly toward circularity. While traditional supply chains move materials in a linear fashion, make, use, dispose, circular models seek to extend the life and value of resources by designing waste out of the system entirely. In […]
Modern logistics relies on more than trucks, containers, and warehouses. Increasingly, it depends on data, not just from central systems, but from the edges of the operation, where assets move across regions, idle in yards, or sit unattended for days or weeks. In this environment, LoRaWAN has quietly become one of the most practical technologies […]
Tesla Commits $16.5 Billion to Samsung for Advanced Chip Supply Tesla has entered into a $16.5 billion supply agreement with Samsung Electronics for the production of autonomous driving and AI chips. The multi-year deal will rely on Samsung’s 4-nanometer manufacturing process and will utilize fabrication facilities in both Taylor, Texas, and Hwaseong, South Korea. The […]
Yesterday, U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a trade agreement between the United States and the European Union. The agreement introduces a standardized 15% tariff on most EU exports to the U.S., includes specific sectoral exemptions, and outlines a commitment by the EU to invest in U.S.-based industrial […]
The modern warehouse is no longer just a storage facility, it’s a living, intelligent ecosystem. Increasingly, logistics operations rely on connected devices, real-time analytics, and automation to reduce cost, increase throughput, and meet sustainability goals. Central to this evolution is the use of wireless sensor networks and IoT platforms. While early deployments often relied on […]
On July 22, the U.S. and Japan finalized a trade agreement that lowers tariffs on Japanese vehicles and parts imported into the U.S. from roughly 25% to 15%. The adjustment comes after months of negotiation and removes uncertainty for automakers that had been planning around steeper costs. Direct Implications for Supply Chains Japanese OEMs, most […]
On July 23, 2025, the White House issued a formal directive to implement the “AI Action Plan,” accompanied by three executive orders. The stated objective is to increase domestic capacity for artificial intelligence development and deployment. This policy shift includes adjustments to federal regulations, infrastructure planning, and export control frameworks—all of which have direct operational […]
Octave’s Mission: Building Systems That Don’t Break At Hexagon’s recent global leadership event Hexagon LIVE, Mattias Stenberg, who was appointed in October 2024 to lead Octave, a strategic spinout from Hexagon, delivered a keynote that was both grounded and far-reaching. His talk offered a clear-eyed assessment of the state of critical infrastructure today, and what […]
For years, supply chain professionals have talked about visibility, resilience, and efficiency. The tools we have used, ERP systems, spreadsheets, and siloed databases, have served us well, however as complexity increases, and the margin for error narrows, there has been a growing recognition that patchwork systems are no longer enough. What is needed is a […]
Supply chains do not just move products, they move promises. Promises of origin, safety, compliance, sustainability. And in 2025, keeping those promises has never been harder. Counterfeit goods still fill markets. Paper trails remain vulnerable. Disparate systems fail to communicate. Trust, the currency of global trade, is stretched thin. Blockchain, despite the early hype and […]
