Predictability Over Speed: What Retail Supply Chains Need Now

Supply chain used to be treated as a cost center. Hans Elmegaard, who has held leadership roles at Agility, DSV, Maersk/Damco, Panalpina and Scan Global Logistics and is now co-founder and CEO of Moddule, explains why that has changed. Renee Hartmann and Chris Baker talk with him about why knowing when inventory will arrive now matters more than how fast it moves, where AI is delivering value in logistics and where it is still hype, and why retailers need their executives closer to supply chain decisions.   n this episode of Commerce Beyond Borders, hosts Renee Hartmann and Chris Baker speak with Hans Elmegaard, co-founder and CEO of Moddule and a global supply chain executive with experience across Asia, Europe and North America. Hans explains how retail supply chains have shifted from a back-office cost to a strategic advantage, why end-to-end visibility matters more than speed in an unpredictable world, and what it takes for AI to be useful in logistics. Key takeaways - Supply chain is now a competitive advantage in retail. Retailers that invested in supply chain technology and flexible formats can keep stock available during a short selling window, while competitors selling the same product cannot. - Predictability matters more than speed. Retailers that know where their goods are and when they will arrive can plan. Many still track this manually in spreadsheets, which is costly. - Supply chain complexity feels harder partly because it is more visible. Hans notes that supply chain has always been about managing disruption. COVID, tariffs and port delays put it in front of consumers and executives. - Chief supply chain officers are joining core decisions. Every organizational change affects the supply chain, so it needs to be part of the decision from the start. - AI creates value when it works across fragmented systems. Logistics technology is spread across many systems, and AI can orchestrate workflows between them. Much AI in the industry is still fluff until it is tied to a concrete outcome. - Data trust decides how much AI can decide. Today most AI output is a recommendation for a person to act on. Letting AI act on incorrect arrival data is costly. - Siloed retail teams hurt the whole chain. Purchasing, shipping, sales and online teams often run on different KPIs. Hans recommends managing end to end, from factory floor to consumer door. Topics covered - How retail supply chains changed with e-commerce, new sales channels and global access - What COVID taught retailers about their dependence on supply chain - Speed versus accuracy and resilience in sourcing - Spreading sourcing risk across countries - Supply chain as a retail competitive advantage - AI, data quality and decision-making in logistics - Why executives need to be closer to supply chain operations Frequently asked questions Is supply chain getting harder, or does it just feel harder? Hans Elmegaard says it mostly feels harder because it is more visible. Supply chain has always been about managing disruption, but the public now follows container ship updates. Has supply chain moved from a cost center to a competitive advantage in retail? According to Hans, yes. Retailers that invested in technology and flexible supply chain formats can keep products available when demand is highest. What matters more in retail logistics, speed or predictability? Hans argues predictability. Knowing when inventory will arrive lets retailers plan stock for stores and online, and lets them plan sourcing across multiple countries. Where does AI help in retail supply chains? Hans sees the most value in orchestrating workflows across the many separate systems used in logistics, and in analyzing which data sources are most reliable. He cautions that data quality determines whether AI can make decisions or only recommend them. What is Hans Elmegaard’s advice for retailers? Bring executives closer to supply chain operations, and align purchasing, shipping, sales and online teams on shared end-to-end objectives. About the guest Hans Elmegaard is co-founder and CEO of Moddule, a supply chain visibility platform. Born and raised in Denmark, he previously held roles at Agility (including time based in Hong Kong), DSV (commercial leadership for Asia-Pacific), Maersk/Damco (global head of the retail sector), Panalpina (supply chain solutions) and Scan Global Logistics (CEO of its Scandinavian fulfillment and distribution business). About the hosts Renee Hartmann is a retail strategist, author of *Next Generation Retail* and a Top 100 ReThink Retail expert. Chris Baker is her co-host on Commerce Beyond Borders.  www.renee-hartmann.com Related topics: retail supply chain, end-to-end supply chain visibility, supply chain as competitive advantage, AI in logistics, chief supply chain officer, global sourcing, ocean freight visibility, retail inventory planning