What Supply Chain Tool or Strategy Is Your Most Valuable Player?
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are the unsung MVP of the modern supply chain. They connect transportation, insurance, compliance, and analytics into one real-time system.
–Johnny McCord
CEO and Founder
Loadsure
AI-powered process intelligence. By using data to map the flow of supply chain processes, organizations can uncover bottlenecks and delays, automate tasks, and measure performance in real time. The result is a supply chain that learns, adapts, and improves.
–Heidi Benko
VP Product Management and Strategy
Infor
Teamwork For the Win
Our MVP in 2025 isn’t a tool, it’s our people. Putting the right talent in a strong culture drives everything we do. We’re focused on hiring curious, collaborative people who understand that logistics depends on teamwork. When your workforce is aligned around serving customers, innovation follows naturally.
–Lisa Yankie
Chief Human Resources Officer
Odyssey Logistics
Having the right people in the right seats is critical. While technology, process, and customer engagement are foundational, a true differentiator lies in aligning individuals with roles that unlock their unique talents.
–Craig Remley
VP – Truckload Operations
Evans Transportation
Integrated platforms unify fragmented data and workflows, giving AI something to work with and giving teams and supply chain stakeholders the visibility, consistency, and control they need to move faster and smarter. AI might be the headline of the year, but it’s nothing without connected systems underneath.
–Kristjan Lillemets
Chief Product Officer
MAGAYA
Consolidated clearance service for U.S. imports. As tariff rules tighten, retailers need faster, smarter customs solutions. By consolidating multiple shipments under one entry, we’re helping customers cut costs, stay compliant, and keep trade flowing.
–Tim Robertson
CEO
DHL Global Forwarding, Americas
Strong synergy between carriers, brokers, and warehouses. Partnering with warehouses improves loading times and cuts detention. Teaming with carriers lowers costs and boosts service. Together, this creates a more efficient supply chain.
–Chad Hage
Account Manager
TA Services
The AI-powered digital twin. Enabled by IoT sensing and computer vision, a digital twin creates a live, virtual replica of physical operations like warehouses or yards. This provides unprecedented visibility, allowing AI to run predictive simulations to preempt bottlenecks and optimize workflows.
–Mat Gilbert
PhD, Director, Head of AI & Data
Synapse, part of Capgemini Invent
Strategic intelligence. A trusted research and advisory platform helps us make smarter decisions in cybersecurity and IT supply chain vendor management by supporting risk assessments, aligning with industry standards, and aiding partner selection. This reduces uncertainty, boosts vendor performance, and strengthens supply chain security and resilience.
–Mike Crumpler
VP, Information Security
Kenco
Data science and predictive analytics to aid in speed and quality decision making. Global events and industry constraints evolve quickly. Dynamic toolsets and deep utilization of data are required to be agile and deploy mitigation strategies. Our ability to respond with speed and intelligence is paramount to building resiliency.
–Chad Stecker
Chief Supply Chain Officer
Incora
Supply chain and procurement tools that didn’t just bolt on Agentic AI as a gimmick; but actually had access to and were embedded within multiple contextual data sources that industry professionals need to trust that the AI is providing the right options for a human to confidently make informed decisions about sourcing, contracts, and other important areas.
–Anders Lillevik
Founder and CEO
Focal Point
The private fleet is our MVP—driving flexibility, safety, and control for our customers. By operating their own trucks, they achieve higher safety standards, faster response times, and more consistent service that builds trust and boosts sales.
–Adam Putzer
National Sales Director
CPC Logistics
Our Margin Recovery Index produces a clear picture of a company’s logistics health. This tool combines 8 different key indices to show their overall net impact on freight expense. Coupled with the tools mentioned, implementing the results of our MRI is an unbeatable combination.
–Eric Elter
VP of Sales, Marketing and IT
KDL Logistics
An AI-powered Resource Management System (RMS) application to optimize all warehouse resources with intelligent forecasting, planning and analytics—all in a single environment. An RMS that provides real-time forecasting and planning to control labor costs, maximize resources, and improve visibility into capacity will earn MVP status in any warehouse!
–Si-Mohamed Said
Chief Product Officer
Generix
Tackling Global Trade
Tariff management. Building a clear picture of tier 1, 2, and 3 suppliers and the country-of-origin risks associated has been essential in managing costs in a rapidly changing trade environment. While the courts are still analyzing the applicability of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), supply chains have been stressed and modified to accommodate the new reality.
–Joe Adamski
Senior Director
ProcureAbility
Trade strategy is the 2025 MVP. Frequent trade policy shifts create uncertainty and inject risk into shippers’ planning and execution. Leaders apply scenario planning to evaluate options, anticipate impacts, adapt sourcing, and optimize networks—driving intelligent decisions and unlocking value through foreign trade zones and duty drawback.
–Tara Buchler
Principal of Strategy
JBF Consulting
An operations command center with total awareness of equipment and operational flow is the resounding MVP of 2025. Our COFE (Continuous Order Fulfillment Engine) Command Center synchronizes all activities in a fulfillment center with one solid purpose: To continuously, relentlessly optimize flow.
–Robert Nilsson
Chief Commercial Officer
VARGO
AI-powered demand planning. Not just for predicting demand, but for spotting disruption before it hits. The best systems learn, adapt, and surface what matters so humans can focus on strategy. Resilience amid shifting trade policies is the theme of the year… and it’s not going away.
–Dag Calafell
Director of Technology Innovation
MCA Connect
Detailed solutioning simulation tools. They let us test, validate, and optimize workflows before bringing AI-driven robotics on site. This way, we spot bottlenecks early, reduce costly trial-and-error, and get to faster, smoother deployment.
–Ben Gruettner
VP, Revenue
Robust.AI
AI is emerging as the DC’s MVP, uniting people, equipment, and processes to boost efficiency. Through AI-driven drones, cameras, and sensors, managers gain real-time visibility and predictive insights. Machine learning interprets this data to prevent errors, optimize workflows, and automate repetitive tasks—turning AI into the DC’s trusted operational partner.
–Brian Carlson
Founding Partner
Cornerstone Edge
Intelligent supply chain software that connects data, people, and automation in one seamless ecosystem. By combining real-time visibility with predictive analytics and AI-driven orchestration, it reduces downtime and keeps supply chains running. The result: greater efficiency, lower costs, and customers who notice the difference.
–Ryan Kirklewski
Director, Software Product Management
Dematic
AI-powered supplier risk monitoring. Most companies rely on quarterly supplier reviews and scramble when disruptions hit. AI monitors financial reports, news feeds, and regulatory filings continuously—flagging supplier problems before they impact operations. When tariffs change or suppliers face financial trouble, you know immediately vs. finding out when shipments stop.
–Shaz Khan
CEO and Co-founder
Vroozi
Global data standards that enable millions of businesses to identify, capture, and share information. Without them, operations are inefficient and siloed. With them, supply chains are interoperable, with a common language that connects every product, location, and partner and delivers a foundation for AI-driven decisions.
–Melanie Nuce-Hilton
SVP
GS1 US
Ship-to-home solutions where patients scan an indicator that tells them their medicine survived the journey. That information is then sent to the supply chain. For example, if a medicine had an unacceptable excursion, the pharmacy can immediately begin processing a replacement. Most important is that the patient knows their medicine is ok to use.
–Tony Fonk
President & CEO
SpotSee
Flexible shifts and on-demand staffing have defined 2025’s supply chain workforce strategy. Talent gained more scheduling control and employers were able to fill roles in real time. Current initiatives now focus on aligning with worker preferences while building a resilient talent pipeline to meet shifting demand.
–Christina Parker
SVP, North Central, Randstad USA
Effective cost management requires a focus on network design, not just incremental planning. With up to 80% of supply chain costs are fixed by facility location. Tools like Cosmic Frog (Supply Chain Design Software) are vital. These solutions allow organizations to model the optimal network structure, securing substantial, long-term cost benefits that operational planning alone cannot deliver.
–Brad Barry
Partner and Director, Supply Chain Services
St. Onge Company
Dedicated truckload. The MVP is a supply chain solution that ensures reliability, offers flexibility, and drives efficiency and value. So, shippers are turning to a dedicated truckload solution—or a mix of dedicated and private fleet—that scales with demand, optimizes backhaul opportunities, and aligns with goals.
–Erin Van Zeeland
SVP, Operations, Truckload
Schneider
Real-time route optimization powered by AI. In the last-mile delivery industry, it enables dynamic dispatching, adapts to traffic and weather, and improves delivery speed and reliability. This tool is key to reducing costs, enhancing customer experience, and scaling operations efficiently.
–Arthur Axelrad
Co-Found and CEO
Dispatch Science
Centralized inventory management. Consolidating inventory in one strategic location boosts speed, resilience, and cost-efficiency for suppliers. This is reinforced by Harvard’s Square Root Law which states that this strategy creates the most effective route to retail by eliminating scattered inventory and redundant costs at multiple warehouses nationwide.
–Kevin Williamson
Chief Executive Officer
RJW Logistics Group
Changing the Game With Orchestration
Real-time orchestration platforms can transform warehouses into intelligent command centers by turning operational data into insights that can drive quick decisions. These tools help companies see and act across their entire supply chain network.
–Nicolas Odet
CEO
Hardis Group
Hyper-speed orchestration—using AI to transform fragmented tasks into intelligent, real-time workflows across departments, partners, and customers. It replaces manual coordination with instant, insight-driven collaboration, aligning people, processes, and technology around shared goals to drive precision, agility, and measurable impact.
–Ann Marie Jonkman
VP, Global Industry Strategies
Blue Yonder
Real-time optimization powered by agentic AI. By combining task-specific AI agents with larger orchestration systems, we can dynamically allocate people and robots, rebalance resources, and maintain throughput even in volatile conditions.
–Oscar Mendez
Director, Head of AI & Data Science
Locus Robotics