Guest: Manish Kapoor of Growth Catalyst Group on how supply chains are handling back-to-school season; Where Girl Scouts and supply chains intersect: Encouraging robots to get along

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Jul 25, 2025

In this insightful discussion, Manish Kapoor, Founder and CEO of Growth Catalyst Group, dives into the complexities of supply chains during the back-to-school season, highlighting the challenges faced this year. He emphasizes the need for innovation in inventory management amid shifting consumer behaviors. Kapoor also explores an inspiring initiative by Girl Scouts and DHL aimed at empowering young girls with supply chain skills. Plus, he discusses advancements in robotics and how integrating various automated systems can lead to a more efficient future in logistics.

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INSIGHT

Unusual 2025 Back-to-School Season

The 2025 back-to-school season is highly unusual due to economic factors and shifted buying behavior.
Companies who bought inventory early face risks of demand misalignment and consumer spend caution.

ANECDOTE

Back-to-School: Family Experience vs Delivery

Manish reflects on the family experience of back-to-school shopping with kids.
He notes while in-store remains meaningful, consumer preference for fast, convenient delivery steadily grows.

INSIGHT

Risks of Early Inventory Buying

Buying inventory early can lead to either surplus or product shortages due to forecasting errors.
Both overstock and stockouts financially impact businesses and customer satisfaction.

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Our guest on this week's episode is Manish Kapoor, founder and CEO of Growth Catalyst Group. Since we have passed the mid-summer mark of 2025, retailers are now focused on the next dates on the retail calendar – and that’s back to school season. This is traditionally the second busiest season of the retail year. But like everything in supply chains in 2025, this year has not been normal. Our guest helps us find out how retail supply chains are coping and what we can expect over the coming weeks.

A new industry-sponsored program is designed to inspire next generation of supply chain leaders. Girl Scouts of the USA and contract logistics provider DHL Supply Chain have launched the "Solutions Superstar" program to advance critical thinking and problem-solving skills for K-12 girls and to introduce them to supply chain careers.

A modern distribution center or fulfillment center is often full of automation at many different levels. It might have robots like AMRs and AGVs, dense storage like an AS/RS, and software platforms like an ERP or WMS system. But often, each of those units operates by itself, or it takes orders from just one source, like the WMS software. And that can make it hard for them all to work together as a team. But lately, we’ve been seeing progress in the industry toward fixing that situation.

Supply Chain Xchange also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. A new series has just started on Top Threats to our Supply Chains. It covers topics including Geopolitical Risks, Economic Instability, Cybersecurity Risks, Threats to energy and electric grids; Supplier Risks, and Transportation Disruptions Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes. The podcast is also available at www.thescxchange.com.

Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:

Podcast is sponsored by: Zebra Robotics Automation

Other links

Join the Logistics Matters team at CSCMP EDGE 2025, October 5-8 at the Gaylord in Washington, D.C. Go to CSCMP.org to find out more.