
Sustainable Supply Chain
Welcome to the Sustainable Supply Chain podcast, hosted by Tom Raftery, a seasoned expert at the intersection of technology and sustainability. This podcast is an evolution of the Digital Supply Chain podcast, now with a laser-focused mission: exploring and promoting tech-led sustainability solutions in supply chains across the globe.Every Monday at 7 am CET, join us for insightful and organic conversations that blend professionalism with an informal, enjoyable tone. We don't script our episodes; instead, we delve into spontaneous, meaningful dialogues about significant topics, always with a touch of fun.Our guests are a diverse mix of influencers in the field - from founders and CxOs of pioneering solution providers to thought leaders and supply chain executives who have successfully implemented sustainability initiatives. Their stories, insights, and experiences are shaping the future of sustainable supply chains.While the Sustainable Supply Chain podcast addresses critical and complex issues, we aim to keep the discussions accessible, engaging, and, most importantly, actionable. It's a podcast that caters to a global audience, reflecting the universal importance of sustainability in today’s interconnected world.We are always eager to hear from our listeners. Your feedback and suggestions are invaluable to us, helping shape the podcast into a platform that truly resonates with its audience. Feel free to reach out via email or connect with us on social media to share your thoughts, ideas, or just to say hello.Subscribe to the Sustainable Supply Chain podcast and be a part of this crucial conversation. Together, let's explore how technology and innovation can lead the charge in creating more sustainable, responsible, and efficient supply chains for a better tomorrow.
Latest episodes

Feb 10, 2020 • 25min
The advantages of Digital Supply Chains - a conversation with Dr Johannes JD Drooghaag (@DrJDrooghaag)
Send me a messageIn this episode of the Digital Supply Chain podcast I interviewed Dr Johannes Drooghaag (aka JD and @DrJDrooghaag on twitter)We had a wide ranging discussion about Manufacturing, Industry 4.0, and toward the end touched also on the importance of cybersecurity.Check out the transcript of our podcast over on my TomRaftery.com siteIn the meantime, if you want to get in touch with JD his details are:Web: https://johannesdrooghaag.comMail: Johannes.drooghaag@johannesdrooghaag.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johannesdrooghaag/Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrJDrooghaagFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrJDrooghaagInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjdrooghaag/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYdGpS83G1abPhHFL-zxrywAnd if you want to know more about any of SAP's Digital Supply Chain solutions, head on over to www.sap.com/digitalsupplychain and 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.Elevate your brand with the ‘Sustainable Supply Chain’ podcast, the voice of supply chain sustainability.Last year, this podcast's episodes were downloaded over 113,000 times by senior supply chain executives around the world.Become a sponsor. Lead the conversation.Contact me for sponsorship opportunities and turn downloads into dialogues.Act today. Influence the future.Support the showPodcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's generous supporters: Alicia Farag Kieran Ognev And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent episodes like this one.Podcast Sponsorship Opportunities:If you/your organisation is interested in sponsoring this podcast - I have several options available. Let's talk!FinallyIf 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 text 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.

Feb 3, 2020 • 9min
Digital Supply Chain and fleets - a conversation with @Geotab EVP Colin Sutherland
Send me a messageMy guest on this episode of the Digital Supply Chain podcast is Colin Sutherland, EVP Sales and Marketing for fleet tracking platform Geotab. Geotab invited me to give the closing keynote at their Geotab Connect 2020 event this year in San Diego. I took the opportunity to bring my recording equipment with me to talk to Colin about Geotab, what it does, how it is connected to Digital Supply Chains, and how Geotab can help companies become more sustainable.At the event Geotab launched their Electric Vehicle Suitability Assessment tool which is a tool that allows fleet managers to analyse their fleets of vehicles across dimensions like workloads, trip profiles, and so on to recommend which vehicles in the fleet can be best replaced by Electric Vehicles, so I was anxious to hear more about this from Colin.To kick off I asked Colin to introduce himself, which he did at 00:34Then at 00:51 I asked Colin how Geotab can help organisations' supply chainsAt 02:32 I asked Colin if people were averse to the solution because it is cloud based, or was this an issue at allAt 03:20 I asked Colin how this can help company's with their sustainability initiativesAt 04:25 I brought up the newly announced EVSA and asked Colin to talk about thatThen at 06:20 I asked Colin what is the next thing Geotab is concentrating onFinally at 07:38 I asked Colin where people can find out more about Geotab and Colin strongly recommended people check out their interesting and insightful blog.Support the showPodcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's generous supporters: Alicia Farag Kieran Ognev And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent episodes like this one.Podcast Sponsorship Opportunities:If you/your organisation is interested in sponsoring this podcast - I have several options available. Let's talk!FinallyIf 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 text 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.

Jan 17, 2020 • 17min
Digital Supply Chain delivering people's desires - a chat with Dorit Shackleton (aka @DoritShackleton)
Send me a messageWelcome to the first episode of the Digital Supply Chain podcast for 2020. My guest on this show is Dorit Shackleton (also known as @DoritShackleton on Twitter). Dorit is Global Head of marketing and Communications for Digital Supply Chain at SAP and as such Dorit has been responsible for bold new messaging around Digital Supply Chain namely calling it Desires Delivered, and so I was anxious to get her on the show to have her discuss this.We hadn’t had someone from the logistics side of Digital Supply Chain on the show to-date so I was interested to hear what Philipp had to say.To kick off I asked Dorit to introduce herself, which she did at 00:27Then to level set, I asked Dorit what her definition of a Digital Supply Chain () DSCat 01:15 - Dorit responds that everything that surrounds you today is part of a supply chain, and a digital one is one that is capable of responding to the digital worldThen at 03:12 I asked Dorit to talk a little about being a change agent for Digital Supply Chain and Dorit talked about humanising DSC, the Experience Economy, and the messaging associated with itAt 05:38 I pointed out that the term "Desires" can be a loaded one, and so I asked her to expand on that. Dorit replied that the terms we use should be Bold, Memorable, and TrueAt 08:42 I asked how we go about the Delivery part of the Desires Delivered messagingAt 10:30 I asked Dorit how the messaging testing for Desires Delivered has been received and Dorit said that while there had been some pushback, we have to be a little bit different to be remembered and so the response to Desires Delivered has been very positiveAt 14:00 I asked Dorit if there was any question I didn’t ask that she wished I hadIf you want to know more about any of SAP's Digital Supply Chain solutions, head on over to www.sap.com/digitalsupplychain and 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.Support the showPodcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's generous supporters: Alicia Farag Kieran Ognev And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent episodes like this one.Podcast Sponsorship Opportunities:If you/your organisation is interested in sponsoring this podcast - I have several options available. Let's talk!FinallyIf 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 text 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.

Dec 13, 2019 • 23min
Digital Supply Chain and Logistics - a chat with InstaFreight co-founder Philip Ortwein
Send me a messageMy guest on this episode of the Digital Supply Chain podcast is Philipp Ortwein. Philipp Ortwein is Co-Founder and Managing Director of InstaFreight (aka @InstaFreight_en on Twitter), a digital forwarding company. He graduated with a Master in Management from the University of Mannheim and did his executive education at Harvard and Stanford. During 9 years of work experience at Bain & Company and 2 Startups, he gained expertise in digitization and Industry 4.0.We hadn’t had someone from the logistics side of Digital Supply Chain on the show to-date so I was interested to hear what Philipp had to say.To kick off I asked Philipp to introduce himself, which he did at 00:27Then to level set, I asked Philipp for his definition of a Digital Supply Chain at 00:55At 02:25 I asked Philipp if InstaFreight is a startupAt 04:18 I asked what it is that InstaFreight doesAt 06:21 I asked if everything was done on paper before InstaFreight came alongAt 13:50 I asked Philipp how you solve the chicken/egg problem that all platforms have at the outsetAt 16:57 I asked Philipp where InstaFreight is going in the coming yearsAt 20:04 I asked Philipp if there was any question I didn’t ask that he wished I didIf you want to know more about any of SAP's Digital Supply Chain solutions, head on over to www.sap.com/digitalsupplychain and 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.Support the showPodcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's generous supporters: Alicia Farag Kieran Ognev And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent episodes like this one.Podcast Sponsorship Opportunities:If you/your organisation is interested in sponsoring this podcast - I have several options available. Let's talk!FinallyIf 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 text 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.

Dec 10, 2019 • 10min
Digital Supply Chain and the most important supply chain on the planet - a chat with Richard Howells (aka @HowellsRichard)
Send me a messageA few years back my colleague Richard Howells (aka @HowellsRichard) wrote a great (albeit lighthearted) blog post about Santa's supply chain.With the holiday season rapidly approaching I invited Richard to come on the show to talk about one of the most important supply chains on the planet - Santa's Supply Chain and I must say we had great fun making this episode as you'll hear.If you want to know more about the Design to Operate process, you can register for the IDC whitepaper on www.sap.com/D2OSupport the showPodcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's generous supporters: Alicia Farag Kieran Ognev And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent episodes like this one.Podcast Sponsorship Opportunities:If you/your organisation is interested in sponsoring this podcast - I have several options available. Let's talk!FinallyIf 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 text 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.

Nov 25, 2019 • 32min
Digital Supply Chain and Business Networks - a chat with Paige Cox (aka @weicox_paige)
Send me a messageMy guest on this episode of the Digital Supply Chain podcast is Paige Cox (aka @weicox_paige on Twitter). Paige is Senior Vice President and Head of Digital Supply Chain Networks development at SAP. We have talked about business networks on the podcast in previous episodes (the one with Marcell Vollmer and more recently the show with Josh Greenbaum), but with Paige leading SAP’s Business Network development, I was very keen to get her perspective on the topic. I asked Paige to introduce herself, which she did at 00:29Then at 02:17 I asked Paige to set the context by telling us how she defines a Digital Supply Chain and she gave a great, comprehensive responseSo then at 06:46 I asked Paige to explain what a Business Network is and for a couple of examples At 13:37 I asked Paige how to overcome the fact that growing networks is challenging because the Network Effect means that networks become more valuable with every additional node. But how to grow to a big enough size to be of value…At 21:46 I asked Paige if now finally after many years in the making, are Business Networks finally coming into their own…Finally, at 26:10 I asked Paige if there was any question I didn’t ask her, that she wished I had and she told me about Desire Delivered!If you want to know more about any of SAP's Digital Supply Chain solutions, head on over to www.sap.com/digitalsupplychain and if you liked this show, Elevate your brand with the ‘Sustainable Supply Chain’ podcast, the voice of supply chain sustainability.Last year, this podcast's episodes were downloaded over 113,000 times by senior supply chain executives around the world.Become a sponsor. Lead the conversation.Contact me for sponsorship opportunities and turn downloads into dialogues.Act today. Influence the future.Support the showPodcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's generous supporters: Alicia Farag Kieran Ognev And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent episodes like this one.Podcast Sponsorship Opportunities:If you/your organisation is interested in sponsoring this podcast - I have several options available. Let's talk!FinallyIf 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 text 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.

Nov 11, 2019 • 30min
Digital Supply Chain, changing business models and customer success stories with John McNiff (aka @JohnMcNiff_SAP)
Send me a messageMy guest on this episode of the Digital Supply Chain podcast is John McNiff (@JohnMcNiff_SA). John is head of SAP’s Digital Supply Chain and Industry 4.0 business across EMEA North so I wanted him to come on the show to talk about customer stories - customer successes and new business models he’s come across powered by Digital Supply Chain. John, affable as ever, didn’t disappoint.I asked John to introduce himself, which he did at 00:27I then asked John to set the context by telling me how he defines Digital Supply Chain and at 01:22 John gave one of the most comprehensive definitions of Digital Supply Chain that any guest has given to date At 04:36 I asked John for some of the more interesting customer stories he has come across and John answered with some excellent stories about successful customer Digital Supply Chain projects At 13:40 I asked John how customers figure out where to start in a Digital Supply Chain project At 18:14 I asked John if he has any examples of where a customer has seen a major challenge sorted by moving to a Digital Supply ChainAt 20:18 John talked about fascinating new business models being enabled by the move to Digital Supply ChainAt 24:37 I asked John if there was any question I hadn’t asked him that he wished I didIf you want to know more about any of SAP's Digital Supply Chain solutions, head on over to www.sap.com/digitalsupplychain and 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.Elevate your brand with the ‘Sustainable Supply Chain’ podcast, the voice of supply chain sustainability.Last year, this podcast's episodes were downloaded over 113,000 times by senior supply chain executives around the world.Become a sponsor. Lead the conversation.Contact me for sponsorship opportunities and turn downloads into dialogues.Act today. Influence the future.Support the showPodcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's generous supporters: Alicia Farag Kieran Ognev And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent episodes like this one.Podcast Sponsorship Opportunities:If you/your organisation is interested in sponsoring this podcast - I have several options available. Let's talk!FinallyIf 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 text 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.

Oct 29, 2019 • 19min
Digital Supply Chain and the advances in warehousing - with Neil Patel of MSCG (aka @mscg_llc)
Send me a messageMy guest on this episode of the Digital Supply Chain podcast is Neil Patel. Neil is the Managing Partner at My Supply Chain Group (@MSCG_LLC on Twitter). So far on this Digital Supply Chain podcast series, we haven’t really talked about warehousing, and the huge changes we have seen in this area in the last few years so I wanted Neil to come on the show to talk about this key aspect of supply chains.I asked Neil to introduce himself, which he did at 00:27Then at 00:55 I asked Neil to set a bit of context by telling us how he defines a digital supply chain At 01:43 I asked Neil to outline the tumultuous changes he has witnessed in warehousing in the last decade At 4:30 I asked Neil if the changes are happening in any one space more than any otherAt 06:11 I asked Neil what were the options companies have to speed up their warehousingThen at 08:04 I asked how much the automation of warehouses is hardware, and how much is softwareAt 10:11 I asked Neil to talk about some of the other interesting innovations he has seen in the warehouse spaceAt 12:55 I asked if this implied organisations are increasing their warehouse footprint At 14:31 I asked Neil to do my Futurist job for me and to tell me what the next 5-10 year hold for the warehouse industryFinally, at 16:21 I asked Neil if there was any question I hadn’t Neil that I should have If you want to know more about any of SAP's Digital Supply Chain solutions, head on over to www.sap.com/digitalsupplychain and 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.Support the showPodcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's generous supporters: Alicia Farag Kieran Ognev And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent episodes like this one.Podcast Sponsorship Opportunities:If you/your organisation is interested in sponsoring this podcast - I have several options available. Let's talk!FinallyIf 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 text 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.

Oct 14, 2019 • 23min
Digital Supply Chain and Manufacturing - a chat with Mike Lackey
Send me a messageMy guest on this episode of the Digital Supply Chain podcast is Mike Lackey. Mike is the Global Head of Solution Management for Digital Manufacturing at SAP. So far on this Digital Supply Chain podcast series, we haven’t really talked about manufacturing, so I wanted Mike to come on the show to talk about this key aspect of the supply chain.To set the context at 00:38 I asked Mike for his definition of a Digital Supply ChainThen I asked Mike at 02:08 what is Smart ManufacturingAt 04:43 I asked Mike how all this automation affects factory workers And then at 08:46 I asked if all this automation justified people’s belief that the robots are coming to take all the worker’s jobsAt 11:56 I asked Mike if smart factory technologies were only for large global manufacturers, or if smaller organisations could also benefitAt 15:52 I asked Mike what are the biggest changes we will see in factories in the next 5-10 years At 2010 I asked Mike if there was any question I hadn’t asked, that he wished I hadIf you want to know more about any of SAP's Digital Supply Chain solutions, head on over to www.sap.com/digitalsupplychain and 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.Support the showPodcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's generous supporters: Alicia Farag Kieran Ognev And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent episodes like this one.Podcast Sponsorship Opportunities:If you/your organisation is interested in sponsoring this podcast - I have several options available. Let's talk!FinallyIf 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 text 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.

Sep 27, 2019 • 21min
Digital Supply Chain and Business Networks - a chat with Josh Greenbaum (aka @JoshEAC)
Send me a messageMy guest on this episode of the Digital Supply Chain podcast is Josh Greenbaum (or @JoshEAC on twitter). Josh is the principal at Enterprise Applications Consulting, the CTO of the US Vote Foundation, and the CEO of ProQ.Josh recently published an excellent in-depth white paper called Business Networks for the Digital Supply Chain: A New Model for Success (link to follow), so I was anxious to get him on the show to talk about that.At 00:28 Josh introduced himself. Then at 01:05 I asked Josh what he defines as a Digital Supply Chain.Then at 02:58 I brought up the subject of Josh’s white paper and asked him to explain the concept of business networks.At 07:20 I asked Josh if there were any good examples of business networks that he could point to.At 08:48 I asked Josh why we are not seeing more business networks given the significant advantages they bring to organisationsAt 11:17 I asked Josh what technological barriers exist to the development of business networksAt 13:37 I said with all these challenges, are business networks ever likely to really take-offAt 14:58 I brought up the idea that we can now have smart connected devices connected to networks and josh agreed talking about how this enables things like digital twinsAt 15:52 I asked what is needed for business networks to really take-off in the next 5 years or so…At 18:18 I asked if there any question I hadn’t asked that I should have… If you want to know more about any of SAP's Digital Supply Chain solutions, head on over to www.sap.com/digitalsupplychain and 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.Support the showPodcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's generous supporters: Alicia Farag Kieran Ognev And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent episodes like this one.Podcast Sponsorship Opportunities:If you/your organisation is interested in sponsoring this podcast - I have several options available. Let's talk!FinallyIf 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 text 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.