While the personnel who show up at your door might not be wearing actual white gloves, the term “white glove delivery” conveys the impression of a premium service delivered with concierge-like professionalism and attention to detail. It is defined less by speed and more by service depth, especially for high-value, bulky, or complex products.
In this episode of Supply Chain Chats, Lisa Anderson talks with Michael Koeppel, director and founder of Lakelet Advisory Group, about the growing role supply chains play in business valuation. As supply chains have become more complex with tariffs, geopolitical risk and increased customer requirements, valuation models have evolved.
There are significant opportunities for companies to grow as they expand manufacturing in the U.S. to mitigate risk in the global supply chain, support the significant rise in mining and commodity businesses to fuel electronics and artificial intelligence and take advantage of rising consumer sentiment, reduced tax rates, and the improving economy.
U.S. labor productivity soared at a 4.9% rate in the most recent quarter as compared to the typical annualized rate of 2% during the current business cycle. We are seeing productivity gains across the board as manufacturers utilize predictive processes such as SIOP and advanced technologies such as AI, robotics, and the automation of processes and better utilization of ERP.
Manufacturing has been in contraction for the last few years, while geopolitical risks are heightened and tariffs have created additional uncertainty, yet the future is starting to look bright. Investments and expansions are picking up. The most successful manufacturers will position for success by preparing for opportunities, mitigating risks and building resiliency and capabilities.
Global supply chains started a full transformation in 2025 spurred on with geopolitical risk and encouraged by tariffs, and the pace accelerates as the New Year kicks off with geopolitics dominating the conversation and fundamentals making a comeback. We review learnings from the prior year and priorities for success in 2026.
A holiday message from Lisa Anderson and LMA Consulting Group. We expect significant opportunities for manufacturing and proactive executives with agile, regional supply chains, proactive processes such as SIOP, artificial intelligence and a focus on talent will thrive.
Continuous improvement has been the backbone of operational excellence for decades—but today’s pace of change has surpassed it. In this Supply Chain Byte, Lisa Anderson explains why manufacturers must move beyond traditional continuous improvement and embrace collaborative innovation.
In this Supply Chain Byte, Lisa Anderson highlights the growing skills gap among early-career professionals and explains why and how investing in developing the next generation of supply chain talent is essential for long-term success.
Medical products manufacturing is gaining momentum as companies want to build resilience to mitigate risk in the supply chain. Executives have realized that they must better control their end-to-end supply chain to ensure supply as geopolitical risks, vulnerabilities, and disruptions continue to arise while tariffs also push companies to build domestic capacity.
