🚨 Canada Railroads Halted: Supply Chain Impact + AI in Action, and Top Logistics Brands Revealed

What's happening in the Supply Chain world this week?

🚨 Canada moves to end rail shutdown quickly; CN, CPKC prepare to resume services

Canada's top two railroads, Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP.TO), had locked out more than 9,000 unionized workers earlier in the day. This triggered a simultaneous rail stoppage that business groups said could inflict hundreds of millions of dollars in economic damage. Read the entire article here.

⛓️ Embedded Finance and the Great Supply Chain Reset

The state of logistics reflects the state of commerce, with spotty demand, inflation, and geopolitical tensions affecting supply chains. Digital innovation is seen as necessary for a reset. Inflation, driven by various factors like supply chain bottlenecks and energy price hikes, is squeezing profit margins, while unpredictable demand makes supply chain planning challenging. More here!

In other news:

🤖 How J.C. Penney is using AI and machine learning in its supply chain

👗 Shein Sues Temu Over Claims of Copyright Infringement, Stolen Designs

🚚 UPS, FedEx and DHL Ranked as Most Valuable Logistics Brands

🎙️ PODCAST: Women In Supply Chain™, Kiran Mann

When Kiran Mann took on a new role, it involved breaking into the very close-knit community of the dairy industry. 🐄 And every time she went to a meeting, she’d be asked which dairy company she came from, what experience she had. Spoiler: she didn’t. 😬

Quickly, she could see people’s expressions change, feel them closing down, the conversations cooling. And she didn’t know how to get on their wavelength.

Until she looked at the problem from a different perspective. She remembered her childhood in India, her Grandfather raising buffalo, feeling warm milk spray on her face as she wandered past a cow being milked. And there it was. Her legacy. Her connection. Her key to unlocking the hearts and minds of an industry that was previously closed to her. 🔑 All from simply looking inside herself. Get inspired by today’s episode of our women in supply chain series and learn: ✨ The one question that drove Kiran to quit her job and found her own business – and why you need to be asking yourself the same question ✨Why multi-tasking is NOT a good thing ✨How to take control of your mind, and the importance of living in the moment

Listen to episode 422 here!

What’s your supply chain legacy? How do you connect with what you do? We’d love to hear your stories 🎤

🎙️ PODCAST: You’re fired! Working from home, and the emerging trend of promotion bias

The 5-day, 40-hour workweek was popularized in 1926 and, despite the wealth of changes we’ve seen over the last 100 years, we’re still trying to conform to it!

For Srividhya Vaidyanathan, and many others like her, that approach makes working impossible. With two young children and four elders to care for, flexibility is the only thing that kept Srividhya in the workforce – and kept her sane!

Because for people with children or households to manage, being able to work from home has changed their lives. It’s made them more productive, given them time back.

And time is energy, freedom, and power. 💪

Yet, despite the incredible positives, these people are being penalized time and again for working from home, passed over for promotions because they’re not in the office.

Promotion bias is, sadly, alive and well.

Tune in to this month’s Blended to hear:

• The importance of re-designing management styles and KPI’s, so we measure success, not time
• The psychology of proximity bias, and how to tackle it
• Parkinson’s Law – and how to stop wearing busyness as a badge of honor  

Listen to episode 47 here!

Have you been impacted by promotion bias? How flexible is your organization when it comes to work from home versus work from office? We want to hear your experiences!

Upcoming Events:

Live Events:

📆 August  27th Thoughts and Coffee: Generative AI in Procurement 🕵🏼

📆 September 18th  Supply Chain Unfiltered: Summit Packaging - A Journey of Innovation and Customer Excellence

In-person:

✨ September 9th - September 11th: IANA - Intermodal EXPO | Long Beach, CA

✨ September 25th - September 26th: Gains | Chicago, IL

✨ September 30th - October 2nd: Inland24 Conference  | Chicago, IL

✨ October 28th: Supply Chain Excellence Awards 2024

✨ November 12 & 13th: Women in Supply Chain Forum.

✨ February 10 - 12, 2025: Manifest Vegas!

In case you missed it:

☕️ Thoughts and Coffee

Did you miss our latest episode of Thoughts and Coffee? Catch the replay! Sarah Barnes-Humphrey sat down with Ari Ashe and William Cassidy, Senior Editors at the Journal of Commerce, to discuss:

🚚 The rise in cargo truck hijackings 🏭 Tupperware Brands closing manufacturing plants 👫🏻 Must-attend 2024 supply chain conferences

Grab your coffee and tune in for key insights you won’t want to miss!

Supply Chain Unfiltered

Did you miss our episode on navigating the contract manufacturing landscape? Catch the replay! We covered:

• Unique challenges and opportunities in contract manufacturing, and how to become a preferred vendor.
• Strengthening customer and supplier relationships for mutual growth and efficiency.
• How a leader in the space leverages digitization, AI, and ML to stay ahead of the competition.

Tune in for unfiltered insights to help you navigate the ever-evolving FMCG supply chain!

📩 Women in Supply Chain Blog

We’re excited to spotlight Brenda Brajkovich, Marketing Director at Polaris Transport, in our latest Women in Supply Chain™ blog! 🙌 Brenda is breaking down barriers, fighting hunger, and redefining gender norms in the supply chain industry. Ready to be inspired? Dive into the full story and see how Brenda’s journey can motivate us all to overcome traditional gender barriers and make a profound impact. 🚀

📆 Innovating Order Orchestration in Supply Chains ✈️🚢🚚

Did you miss our LinkedIn Live event on collaborative visibility in the $24 billion supply chain industry?

Catch the replay now! Hosted by Sarah Barnes-Humphrey, with insights from Padmanabhan Raman, Jitin Prashar, and Paul Boothe of Osa Commerce, we explored:

✅ Breaking down silos in the supply chain ✅ Reshaping supply chains to drive business growth ✅ Transformative technology across the supply chain

Don’t miss out—watch the replay for insights that could transform your supply chain!

🚀 Why Attend Evolve 2024? 🚀

🔍 Why Evolve 2024? It’s not just about learning—it’s about connecting. This year’s event is packed with expert-led educational sessions, interactive workshops, and panels that will keep you informed and entertained. Plus, you’ll build stronger relationships at exciting networking events designed to connect you with peers facing the same challenges.

💬 Ready to shape the future? Bring your team, invite your suppliers, and join us for an unforgettable experience at Evolve 2024. Let’s create a more sustainable future for manufacturing—together.

🎟️ Get your tickets now: https://lnkd.in/gbnkwKyr

That is it for today!

As always, thank you for reading and being with us this week!