Challenges in Global Supply Chains

Every cloud provider faces the same AI infrastructure challenge: chips need to be positioned close together to exchange data quickly, but they generate intense heat, creating unprecedented cooling demands. We needed a strategic solution that allowed us to use our existing air-cooled data centers to do liquid cooling without waiting for new construction. And it needed to be rapidly deployed so we could bring customers these powerful AI capabilities while we transition towards facility-level liquid cooling. Think of a home where only one sunny room needs AC, while the rest stays naturally cool – that’s what we wanted to achieve, allowing us to efficiently land both liquid and air-cooled racks in the same facilities with complete flexibility. The available options weren't great. Either we could wait to build specialized liquid-cooled facilities or adopt off-the-shelf solutions that didn't scale or meet our unique needs. Neither worked for our customers, so we did what we often do at Amazon… we invented our own solution. Our teams designed and delivered our In-Row Heat Exchanger (IRHX), which uses a direct-to-chip approach with a "cold plate" on the chips. The liquid runs through this sealed plate in a closed loop, continuously removing heat without increasing water use. This enables us to support traditional workloads and demanding AI applications in the same facilities. By 2026, our liquid-cooled capacity will grow to over 20% of our ML capacity, which is at multi-gigawatt scale today. While liquid cooling technology itself isn't unique, our approach was. Creating something this effective that could be deployed across our 120 Availability Zones in 38 Regions was significant. Because this solution didn't exist in the market, we developed a system that enables greater liquid cooling capacity with a smaller physical footprint, while maintaining flexibility and efficiency. Our IRHX can support a wide range of racks requiring liquid cooling, uses 9% less water than fully-air cooled sites, and offers a 20% improvement in power efficiency compared to off-the-shelf solutions. And because we invented it in-house, we can deploy it within months in any of our data centers, creating a flexible foundation to serve our customers for decades to come. Reimagining and innovating at scale has been something Amazon has done for a long time and one of the reasons we’ve been the leader in technology infrastructure and data center invention, sustainability, and resilience. We're not done… there's still so much more to invent for customers.

Excel failures in planning = Disaster This document shows where Excel fails for demand & supply planners and what to do: ↳ Combining Data from Multiple Sources ❌ Manually merging forecasts, inventory files, and supplier schedules can be a nightmare of copy-paste and version errors ✅ Centralize data with Power Query; automate import and cleaning steps so you can focus on analyzing ↳ Scaling Beyond ‘One Planner, One Workbook’ ❌ Handling thousands of SKUs or multiple distribution centers can slow down Excel or crash it ✅ Switch to tools like Power BI, which can handle large datasets ↳ Real-Time Collaboration Limitations ❌ Emailing spreadsheets back and forth causes version confusion; who has the latest forecast? ✅ Switch to tools like Power BI, which can handle large datasets ↳ Minimal Advanced Analytics ❌ Basic formulas and pivot tables are not enough for sophisticated forecasting or multi-echelon inventory optimization ✅ Adopt specialized forecasting tools (for example, R/Python scripts) for nuanced demand patterns or planning software ↳ No Automatic Alerts or Workflows ❌ Missed re-order points because of no alerts? If a forecast changes drastically, there's no built-in workflow to notify procurement ✅ Integrate automation and alert systems that send notifications or trigger recalculations when key metrics shift ↳ Difficult End-to-End Visibility ❌ Each planner maintains their own tracker: production, inventory, demand; no single “live” view of the entire supply chain ✅ Implement a unified S&OP with Power BI dashboards with real-time data and different aggregation levels ↳ Fragile Macros and Error-Prone Processes ❌ Macros break when files or format change or a teammate leaves. Manual steps easily introduce errors ✅ Migrate critical automation to planning systems or use Office Scripts/Power Automate with clear ownership and version control Any others to add?

India's Critical Mineral Paradox: Sitting on a Goldmine While Importing at Premium Prices I’ve spent time building businesses across consumer tech, telecom, and industrial sectors. Reading Alkesh Kumar Sharma’s strategic analysis on critical minerals was a wake-up call: India is racing toward clean energy leadership while dangerously dependent on imports for the very minerals that make it possible. Here’s the link: https://lnkd.in/dpjKHMsb This isn't just policy. It's national security and controlling our destiny in the 21st century economy. The vulnerability: India is 100% dependent on imports for lithium, cobalt, and nickel, over 90% for Rare Earth Elements. China controls 60% of global REE production and 85% of processing. We're targeting 500 GW renewable energy and net zero by 2070, while handing veto power over our clean energy future to geopolitical competitors. Having run P&Ls across markets, I know 100% import dependence isn't a supply chain. It's a strategic chokepoint. But India is sitting on untapped wealth. Geological Survey identified 5.9 million tonnes of lithium in J&K, significant REE deposits in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Yet mining contributes just 2.5% to GDP versus 13.6% in Australia. We have only 1% of global REE processing capacity. The government launched the National Critical Minerals Mission with ₹34,300 crore and auctioned 20 mineral blocks. The 2023 Mines Act opened private exploration. But execution determines everything. The urban goldmine: India generates 4 million tonnes of e-waste annually, only 10% formally recycled. Inside? The same minerals we're importing at massive cost. Attero proves what's possible. This Noida-based deeptech company achieves over 98% extraction efficiency in recovering rare earths like neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium, the exact elements we currently import. With over 200 patents filed and strong profitability, Attero’s revenue crossed approximately ₹1,000 crore in FY25, growing more than 50% year-on-year. The company works with all leading auto and battery manufacturers and is now expanding capacity sixfold to process 3 lakh tonnes annually, backed by significant capital infusion across India, Poland, and the US. India banned black mass exports, powder from shredded batteries we exported as cheap scrap to China, Korea, Japan who sold it back at 15-20x the price. This ban forces domestic refining. Attero proves we have the technology. The window is closing. If we don't build resilient supply chains through domestic mining, processing, and recycling, we're building our clean energy future on someone else's foundation. We have deposits, waste streams, and companies like Attero proving Indian technology competes globally. What we need is execution speed. #CriticalMinerals #CleanEnergy #AtmanirbharBharat #Sustainability #India

Relatively small amounts of critical minerals underpin trillions of dollars in economic value globally. New IEA analysis highlights growing risks, including export controls, although countries are also taking steps to make supply chains more secure 👉 https://iea.li/4aTpQ33 The geographic concentration of critical mineral supply chains continues to grow, particularly for refining. Rare earths are the exception. The top supplier's share fell from 90% in 2023 to 85% in 2025, showing progress is possible with strong policies. Read more in the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2026 👉 https://iea.li/4bNpwDh While critical mineral projects are being announced & developed across the globe, we see a structural imbalance in diversification efforts. Investment outside the dominant supplier remains concentrated in mining, while efforts to expand refining & downstream capacity lag behind. In a complex geopolitical environment, critical minerals have moved to the forefront of countries’ energy, economic & national security agendas. This is making a difference: public finance commitments more than quadrupled between 2023 and 2025, reaching $65 billion. New IEA analysis also sees a major opportunity to diversify supplies of strategic minor minerals. The investment needed is much smaller than the potential risks of disruption and can be seen as economic insurance. Since #CriticalMinerals account for a small share of final product prices, the cost of diversification could have a limited impact on consumers. For example, critical minerals account for around a quarter of battery cell costs but only about 3% of the price of an average EV. Diversified supply is not only a matter of investment: it also means tackling gaps in technology, equipment & workforce skills. Our new Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2026 includes guidance for policymakers on this & more. Read it in full on our site 👉 https://iea.li/4bNpwDh

Every company has one person whose spreadsheet is functioning as their real operating system, and nobody has documented why. The file forecasts demand. Flags exceptions. Reconciles numbers that never quite match the ERP. Nobody remembers why half the formulas exist. Nobody touches the tab labeled "master_v14_DO_NOT_EDIT." When that person takes two weeks off, the team runs on guesswork instead of a plan. Here's the uncomfortable part. That spreadsheet isn't clutter waiting for AI to clean it up. It's an undocumented operating model. Every override, every manual adjustment, every "I just know this number is wrong" judgment call, none of it written down anywhere else. The instinct is to replace the file because it looks outdated. Wrong instinct. The real work is pulling the logic out of it before the person who built it leaves, retires, or just has a bad week. I've watched a forecast quietly break for two quarters after a planner left, not because the model failed, but because nobody knew the adjustment they'd been making by hand for years. → Document the exceptions, not just the standard process → Interview the spreadsheet before you retire it → Treat every undocumented file as one resignation away from a live incident AI can absolutely take over the calculations in that file. It can't yet take over the judgment for why those calculations needed fixing in the first place. That still has to come out of someone's head, on paper, while they're still around to explain it. What's still living only in someone's head on your team, not in any system? 👇 Follow me Gary von Allemann for more End-To-End Supply Chain Insights #SupplyChain #SupplyChainManagement #DemandPlanning #S&OP #DigitalTransformation #OperationsExcellence

Bit odd innit? 👀 Pablo Ylarri 🎯 just dropped a great piece on this on the Product Marketing Alliance Pablo leads PMM for LATAM out of Buenos Aires, working across 14 countries in three languages. Pablo lives this problem daily so I trust his pov on this! The problem: Fragmentation pulls you apart Markets demand localization. Sales reps on the ground know their prospects better than anyone. They want messaging that feels local, tailored, and relevant. and... Leadership demands consistency. Product positioning, brand promise, and strategic narratives must be unified, or the company risks confusing customers, analysts, and investors. As a PMM, you sit in the middle of that tension. And in fast growing orgs, fragmentation can happen quickly: AKA... - Regional decks multiply - Translations lose nuance - Sales collateral drifts from the agreed narrative - Teams spend more time debating "what we say" than actually selling So, how do you solve this big challenge? Pablo says start here: 1) Single source of truth One core messaging framework. One transparent process for updates. No silent edits floating in Slack threads and old presentations. Sales can localize, but they start from the same base. 2) Align across languages, not markets Translation isn't mechanical, it's strategic. English emphasizes directness. Spanish requires precision in formality. Brazilian Portuguese favors conversational tone. Treat each translation as adaptation, not copy. 3) Build partnership with Sales Regional reps will improvise if materials don't reflect their reality. Involve them early in message testing. Establish regional champions. Celebrate when local input improves global narrative. 4) Flexibility within a framework Define non negotiables: core value prop, strategic narrative, differentiators. Give regions room to adapt delivery: local examples, nearby case studies, tone adjustments. 5) Communicate relentlessly with PMM peers Weekly syncs. Shared document reviews. Quick check-ins to avoid duplication. Silence creates inconsistency. Two PMMs can accidentally create two PMM philosophies. 6) Codify lessons into playbooks Every time you solve a fragmentation issue, document how to prevent it next time. Messaging frameworks. Enablement guidelines. Localization rules. Playbooks scale trust. P.S. What else would you add PMMs? Make sure you give Pablo a follow btw!

Yesterday, a reel flooded my DMs, featuring someone boasting about a fabricated production issue as if it were a badge of honor. For any college student or aspiring developer reading this, here’s a glimpse of how a typical production release works in a large organization like Amazon, especially for a customer-facing feature: - Feature Flags: Any new feature or change you push is almost always behind a feature flag. If the flag is enabled, the new code executes; otherwise, it defaults to the existing behavior. - Bug Bash: The team conducts a rigorous bug bash to identify and fix any glaring issues. - Quality Assurance (QA): Dedicated QA engineers test the feature across all critical user journeys, ensuring stability and functionality. - Gradual Rollout: The production rollout is phased: • Initially, only 1% of users experience the feature. • If no critical bugs are reported, the rollout progresses to a higher percentage (e.g., 10%, then 50%, and finally 100%). • In some organizations, this process involves releasing to alpha, beta, and general users, which follows the same principle. - Logs and Deployment Tracking: Every change or deployment is logged. This eliminates any ambiguity—no one needs to call or ask if a deployment occurred. A simple search in the deployment history provides all the details. - On-Call and Incident Management: In the event of an issue, on-call developers are the first to respond. If the new feature is causing the problem, they can disable the feature flag, instantly rolling back to the previous stable state. Key Takeaway: A proper production release is a systematic, collaborative, and well-monitored process. It’s not a playground for recklessness or boasting about mishandled issues. Be proud of delivering quality, not chaos. Keep learning, stay humble, and remember—the goal is to solve real problems, not create them. #striver #engineering

Never judge a business by its front office but by its back-end logistics. Managing sourcing across India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh has taught me that logistics isn't just about moving boxes—it's what makes or breaks a retail operation. Here's why: The global logistics market hit $9.2 trillion in 2023, with Asia-Pacific contributing 42% of this value (McKinsey Global Institute). Yet, companies lose 20-30% of their logistics costs to inefficiencies. (McKinsey & Company) The real cost of weak logistics shows up in: → Inventory Stockouts: 8.3% of retail sales are lost to out-of-stock situations, costing retailers $1 trillion annually (IHL Group)  → Dead Stock: The average retailer ties up 25% of working capital in excess inventory (Gartner)  → Broken Promises: 69% of customers won't shop with a retailer again after a late delivery (Retail TouchPoints)  → Emergency Shipping: Rush shipping can cost 5-10x more than standard rates (Deloitte) In 2024, due to various disruptions in logistics caused by war, instability, and climate change-induced natural disasters, I witnessed firsthand how fragile supply chains can be. Geopolitical turmoil, including events like the Red Sea Crisis and the Ukraine conflict, further exacerbated these disruptions, underscoring the critical need for resilient and adaptable supply chain strategies. Companies with robust logistics weathered the storm, while others faced existential crises. Today's successful businesses need: 📌 Strategic warehouse placement near key markets 📌Real-time inventory tracking across locations 📌Multiple transport routes for critical supplies 📌Robust risk mitigation plans In my experience, managing an annual sourcing volume of $100 million, the difference between profit and loss often comes down to one question: Can you get your product where it needs to be when it needs to be there? What's your biggest logistics challenge? Share your experience below. #SupplyChain #LogisticsManagement

Farmers are ready, but the system isn't - The Supply Chain Trap for Regenerative Farmers Even when farmers overcome financial barriers to transition, another challenge remains: the supply chain isn’t built for them. Most farmers today sell into centralised commodity markets that don’t differentiate between products which degrade and and those which regenerate landscapes. A farmer supporting soil health, increasing biodiversity, and reducing inputs still gets paid the same as one depleting their land. No premium, no incentive, no reward for better outcomes. Why? Because the system isn’t designed for regenerative agriculture. Lack of Decentralised Processing: Most sorting, storage, and processing infrastructure serves industrial supply chains. We see an increasing consolidation with less and less abattoirs, mills, dairies, which are bigger and bigger. In 2007, the UK had nearly 100 small abattoirs. By 2023, this number declined to just over 60, with 59% of the remaining facilities anticipating closure within five years without government support. In the US, the four largest beef packing firms handle 85% of all beef packing. If a regenerative grain farmer wants to sell outside the commodity system, in small batches, they often can’t - there’s simply no place to to process their crop locally. No Verification, No Market Access: Without verification, regenerative farmers struggle to prove their methods to buyers who would pay more. Certification so far is geared towards organic, not regenerative - i.e. practice, not outcome-based. Retail Disconnect: Even retailers that want regenerative products lack sourcing frameworks. The result? A fragmented supply chain where regenerative farmers can’t reach the right buyers at the right price. If we want to build the supply-chains to make it possible for farmers: Decentralised processing hubs to break dependence on centralised commodity buyers. Even more and better direct-to-consumer platforms. Transparent verification that actually supports regeneration and recognises the work of farmers. Retail action towards regenerative sourcing, creating real market demand. Farmers are leading the transition. The supply chain must catch up. I'm curious - where is this already taking place? Which positive examples do we see which we can build on?

The growing complexity of supply chain interdependencies is creating significant cybersecurity risks. In my latest article for the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Cybersecurity, I outline five key risk factors and what organisations must do to mitigate them: 1️⃣ Cyber Inequity – Large organisations are improving cyber resilience, but SMEs remain vulnerable. They must view cybersecurity as a business priority, while industry collaboration and policy support can help bridge the gap. 2️⃣ Limited Supply Chain Visibility – Expanding supply chains make it harder to assess supplier security. Without clear incentives, compliance gaps persist, increasing exposure to cyber threats. 3️⃣ Third-Party Software Vulnerabilities – AI and open-source adoption introduce new risks, yet only 37% of organisations assess AI tool security before deployment. A structured security framework is essential. 4️⃣ Dependence on Critical Providers – Over-reliance on a few key suppliers creates systemic points of failure. Resilient IT architectures and strong business continuity planning are critical. 5️⃣ Geopolitical Risks – Cyber threats are increasingly shaped by global tensions, disrupting supply chains and increasing attack sophistication. Organisations must integrate geopolitical risk assessments into their cybersecurity strategies. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁? Organisations must prioritize visibility, support smaller partners, and invest in resilience. Strong business continuity planning, robust IT management, and proactive threat detection are non-negotiable. Cybersecurity is not just an IT issue—it’s a strategic imperative. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/g-yQ2QRa #CyberSecurity #SupplyChain #AI #RiskManagement