Chain Reaction Ep. 27: Fixing Broken Supply Chains: Rob Field's Playbook

Rob Field, Supply Chain and Logistics Leader, walked into JLA's operations and found a problem disguised as complexity. The business carried 17,500 SKUs. Actual demand supported perhaps 8,000. The inventory wasn't strategic - it was historical. Products inherited from acquisitions, never evaluated. Obsolete items kept in stock out of habit. The turnaround started with something unsexy but essential: honest data work. What are we actually selling? What's genuinely moving? What's just sitting? Once you have honest data, supply chain decisions become obvious. The playbook from there is straightforward but demanding: consolidate range, optimise procurement, realign logistics to actual demand patterns. Most organisations skip the data honesty part because it's uncomfortable. Cutting SKUs means admitting past decisions were wrong. Marking inventory obsolete means writing off investment. Rob's experience suggests that supply chain performance is trapped behind this uncomfortable first step. Until you're willing to be honest about what you actually need, optimisation is just rearranging a broken system. For supply chain leaders inheriting complicated operations, Rob's clarity on diagnosis before treatment is essential. The conversation covers not just what he fixed but how to think about identifying what's genuinely broken versus what just looks complicated.