Paperwork Errors Still Break Supply Chain Resilience Artwork

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, former SAP Global VP and technology futurist 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.

All Episodes

Resilient Supply Chain — How Leaders Keep Business Moving

Paperwork Errors Still Break Supply Chain Resilience

December 08, 2025 • Tom Raftery • Season 2 • Episode 97

0:00 | 28:52

Send me a message

What if the biggest threat to your supply chain isn’t a typhoon, strike, or cyberattack, but a mistyped HS code?

This week I’m joined by Yeelen Knegtering, Co-Founder and CEO of Klippa, a company tackling one of the most underestimated risks in global trade: the explosion of paperwork, compliance demands, and manual processes that quietly delay planes, stall ships, burn carbon, and drain margin. With regulations tightening and documentation growing faster than teams can manage, this matters more than ever for anyone trying to build a resilient, low-risk, low-carbon supply chain.

In this conversation, you’ll hear how tiny admin errors cascade into multi-million-euro failures, and why most organisations still don’t see the danger until it hits them. We break down why specialised AI (not generic LLMs) is starting to transform document-heavy workflows, cutting delays, cost, and emissions at the same time. You might be surprised to learn how many shipments are returned or destroyed simply because paperwork wasn’t processed in time - and how automating even part of that work unlocks resilience far beyond compliance.

We also dig into workforce impact, reskilling, and the uncomfortable truth: paperwork volumes are rising, not falling, and companies who ignore this layer of risk are already paying for it.

🎙️ Listen now to hear how Yeelen and Klippa are reshaping the future of supply chain resilience, sustainability, and operational truth.

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.

Support the show

Podcast supporters
I'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's generous Subscribers:

Alicia Farag
Kieran Ognev
Gary Lynch

And remember you too can become a Resilient Supply Chain+ subscriber - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent episodes like this one and give you access to bonus episodes of topical, timely supply chain resilience analysis.

🎤 Looking for a keynote speaker on supply chain resilience, AI, and sustainability?
I help leaders understand the forces reshaping global supply chains, from geopolitical disruption and climate risk to AI and real-time decision-making.

Download my Speaker Pack: https://tinyurl.com/spkrpck

Finally
If you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - feel free to just send me a direct message on LinkedIn, or send me a message using this link.

If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover it.

Thanks for listening.