From Fire Drills to Engineered Resilience: Supply Chain Strategy for 2026
After years of operating in constant crisis mode, supply chain leaders finally have an opportunity to shift from emergency response to engineered resilience. In this episode of ExecutiveEDGE, we explore why success in 2026 won’t come from software alone—but from stronger, more transparent relationships across the supply chain.
Industry experts discuss how intimacy, trust, and collaboration are replacing gatekeeping and transactional thinking. From balancing AI-powered insights with old-fashioned phone calls to rewarding suppliers for resilience instead of just price, this conversation reframes what “edge” really means in modern supply chain strategy.
Key Topics Discussed
- Why supply chain strategy has felt like a constant fire drill—and how to move past it
- The growing importance of supplier intimacy, transparency, and trust
- Shifting from transactional relationships to long-term collaboration
- Balancing AI-driven visibility with proven, human-first communication
- Why gatekeeping information now creates more risk than protection
- How deeper supplier integration supports resilience, innovation, and market share growth
- A powerful mindset shift: managing suppliers as if they were internal divisions
Notable Quotes
“The edge isn’t just better software—it’s better relationships.”
“Transactional relationships are in the past, completely.”
“If your suppliers were a division of your company, you’d manage risk very differently.”
Who Should Listen
- Supply chain and operations leaders
- Procurement and sourcing professionals
- Manufacturing and logistics executives
- Enterprise leaders planning for long-term operational resilience
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About the Author
Geert De LombaerdeGeert De Lombaerde
Contributor
A native of Belgium, Geert De Lombaerde joined EndeavorB2B in September 2021 to cover public companies, markets, and economic trends primarily for IndustryWeek, FleetOwner, Oil & Gas Journal, T&D World, and Healthcare Innovation. His work focuses on strategy, leadership, capital spending, and mergers and acquisitions, and he also works with Endeavor Business Intelligence on surveys and data projects.
Geert has been in business journalism since the mid-1990s. With a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, he began his reporting career at the Business Courier in Cincinnati, initially covering retail and the courts before shifting to banking, insurance, and investing. He later was managing editor and editor of the Nashville Business Journal before being named editor of the Nashville Post in 2008. He led a team that helped grow the Post's online traffic by an average of more than 15% annually before joining Endeavor.
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