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Resilient Supply Chain — How Leaders Keep Business Moving

Resilient Supply Chain is for supply chain, operations, procurement and technology leaders who need practical ways to manage disruption, reduce risk and keep business moving.

Each Monday, technology and sustainability analyst, keynote speaker and former SAP Global VP Tom Raftery speaks with the executives, operators, founders and innovators redesigning how goods, information and decisions move through global supply chains.

These are candid conversations about what works in practice—not polished PR narratives or vague predictions. Guests explain how they are responding to supplier failures, geopolitical shocks, volatile costs, capacity constraints, changing regulations and rising pressure to improve both performance and sustainability.

The podcast examines:
Faster planning and decision-making under uncertainty
Supplier risk, sourcing strategy and business continuity
AI, automation, visibility and operational intelligence
Warehousing, logistics and fulfilment performance
Scope 3 emissions, circularity and responsible sourcing
The systems, incentives and organisational changes needed to turn data into action

The central question is simple: what helps a supply chain withstand disruption, adapt quickly and continue serving the business?

New episodes are published every Monday at 7am CET. Resilient Supply Chain+ subscribers also receive bonus analysis, highlights and briefings on emerging industry trends.

Follow Resilient Supply Chain for practical lessons from the people solving real operational problems—and building supply chains that perform when conditions do not go to plan.

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Resilient Supply Chain — How Leaders Keep Business Moving

Smart Supplier Relationships: The New Engine of Sustainable Supply Chains

September 08, 2025 • Tom Raftery • Season 2 • Episode 84

0:00 | 40:55

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In this week’s episode of the Sustainable Supply Chain Podcast, I sit down with Sam Jenks, Chief Revenue Officer at Kodiak Hub, to explore why supplier relationship management (SRM) is no longer a “nice-to-have” but a mission-critical capability.

Sam shares his journey in procurement technology and explains why traditional supplier management approaches, spreadsheets, siloed systems, tick-box compliance, are no longer fit for purpose in today’s volatile, uncertain, and sustainability-driven landscape. He makes a compelling case for treating supplier relationships as strategic assets, not transactions, and shows how stronger data, collaboration, and lifecycle thinking can unlock resilience, innovation, and measurable sustainability impact.

We talk about how poor quality directly undermines sustainability, why procurement must think beyond ROI to the “cost of inaction,” and how AI, particularly agentic AI, will reshape the way organisations capture insights, manage risk, and reduce emissions across complex supply bases. Sam also points out that most procurement teams still only secure a fraction of the technology they need, and offers advice on building the business case for smarter SRM.

If your organisation is serious about Scope 3 emissions, resilient sourcing, or extracting real value from supplier collaboration, this conversation is for you. It’s about moving past compliance checklists and building supplier partnerships that deliver long-term advantage.

Tune in and discover why SRM might just be the most powerful lever in your supply chain strategy.

If disruption hit tomorrow, would you know where your supply chain was most exposed? In 15 minutes my free scorecard helps you assess 27 resilience statements, calculate your score, and turn the result into three priorities and a 30 day action plan. You can download the scorecard free at tomraftery.com/scorecard.

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