It's the End of the Week!

In this edition of Behind the Headlines, David and Charles pull back the curtain on the massive news shaking up the food service industry: Sysco’s $29 billion bid to acquire Restaurant Depot. While the Federal Trade Commission and small restaurant owners parse through anticompetition fears, we dive into the stark operational realities and heavy financials behind the deal. Why pay $29 billion to se...

Why do so many CRM implementations fail? In this episode of It's The End of The Week, LIDD’s Head of Sales, Jeff, and CRM Implementation Consultant, Alex, strip away the corporate buzzwords to reveal the practical mechanics of a highly effective CRM strategy. For professional services and consulting firms, sales reps aren't just selling—they are delivering the projects. This "seller-d...

In this episode, Jeff is joined by Isaac, LIDD’s food banking practice lead, to pull back the curtain on the unique world of non-profit supply chain design. Since 2018, LIDD has partnered with dozens of food banks across North America to transform their operations through data-driven design and digital transformation. From the origin story of our work with the Greater Cleveland Food Bank to the co...

What happens to the food that never leaves the factory? In this episode of The Playbook , Gina and Maria sit down with Minnie Ringland, Senior Manager at ReFED, to discuss a year-long collaboration aimed at remodeling the landscape of food loss in US manufacturing. With key government data sets no longer available, LIDD and ReFED developed a comprehensive methodology combining primary interviews a...

In this episode of Behind the Headlines, Charles and David tackle two major stories where the "visionary" approach collided head-on with operational facts. First, we dissect the recent news of Walmart ending its partnership with OpenAI.We explore why the dream of an AI shopping agent failed because it lacked a deep connection to the ERP and real-time inventory—proving that "agentic...

Is your WMS selection process a value-add or just a long-winded exercise in false confidence? In this episode of The Playbook, we’re joined by Casey from Fullstride to discuss the "magic" of a successful software selection. Moving past the thousand-line spreadsheets, we dive into the "critical levers"—the core workflows and features that truly drive business value. Casey shares...

he industrial real estate market is taking a deep breath. In this episode of It’s The End of The Week , Jennifer Hall is joined by Rob Renaud of Encore Advisors to discuss the "rationalization" of the North American industrial landscape in 2026.

Dans cet épisode de It's the End of the Week , David reçoit Marie, experte en développement commercial fraîchement arrivée chez LIDD Montréal. Ensemble, ils explorent les différences fondamentales entre la gestion de la supply chain en Europe et en Amérique du Nord. Au programme : L'évolution des normes de sécurité et le règlement machines de l'UE. L'impact de la RSE sur les appels...

Nike recently announced the elimination of 775 roles at distribution centers in Tennessee and Mississippi. While the company cites "accelerating automation" as the driver, Charles Fallon and David Beaudet argue that this is a classic case of a strategy shift—specifically, a retreat from an aggressive direct-to-consumer (DTC) model back toward wholesale distribution. In this episode, we e...

What happens when a civil engineer realizes they have a knack for sales and a passion for solving complex inventory puzzles? You get StockIQ. In this episode of The Human Link , Emilio Colangelo welcomes Jeffrey Porter, CMO of StockIQ, to discuss the evolution of supply chain planning over the last 35 years. Jeffrey shares the "circuitous path" that led him from Hewlett-Packard to bootst...

Software implementations are often celebrated for their features, but the underlying data is what truly powers the system. In this episode of It's The End of The Week, Simon Dubuc and Jeff Hamilton discuss why data ownership is the ultimate make-or-break factor for digital transformation. They also break down LIDD’s approach to Digital Transformation Roadmaps—a strategic pre-project phase that...

The first week of 2026 has already started with a bang. From the seizure of oil assets in Venezuela to the shifting role of the US dollar, the "win-win" era of global trade is rapidly transitioning into a fractured, zero-sum game. For small and medium-sized businesses, the old playbook of endless SKU expansion and domestic-only focus is no longer enough to guarantee survival. In this epi...

Join Mathieu Galipeau and Alex Moreau as they dive into the world of Vibe Coding, exploring how this innovative approach bridges the gap between creativity and technology. Discover how Vibe Coding fits between low code and pro code, enabling seamless app development through natural language. Our discussion covers the benefits, challenges, and real-world applications of Vibe Coding, and how it can...

In this episode of Behind the Headlines , David and Charles dive into the latest supply chain news to separate the hype from the reality. Is the sudden surge in warehouse demand really about investor confidence in tariff policies, or just a market correction? We also explore why Danone can't keep up with the high-protein yogurt craze and why the food industry’s supply chain is more like fast f...

As consultants, our most valuable asset is time. How do we ensure we're spending it on high-value solutioning for our clients, not on clerical work? At LIDD, we are constantly innovating to improve our project delivery. That's why we've been piloting Tato, an AI "virtual colleague" purpose-built for complex IT and ERP implementations. In this episode, we sit down with Tato&#3...

Ever wonder how that shirt you’re planning to buy for next summer is already in production? The apparel industry runs on one of the most complex and fascinating supply chains in the world, operating on a timeline that’s a year or more ahead of the current season. In this episode, we take a look at the world of fashion logistics. We explore the "boom and bust" cycle of seasonal inventory,...

A disconnect between your CRM and ERP could be costing your business up to 25% in lost revenue. When sales and operations work in silos, critical information gets lost, leading to inaccurate forecasts, poor customer service, and internal chaos. This week, Alex & Romain discuss how to bridge the gap between these two essential systems. We explore the common data challenges faced by sales teams—...

Is AI a game-changer for supply chain management, or just the latest round of corporate hype? This week, we go behind the headlines to find out. First, we explore Starbucks' new inventory-taking AI tool. While the company talks about accuracy and protecting revenue, we argue the real motivation is far more strategic: solving the decades-long labor shortage and improving employee retention by a...

Quand on pense à un hôpital, on imagine les médecins, les infirmières et l'effervescence des unités de soins. Pourtant, derrière chaque patient qui reçoit les bons soins au bon moment se cache une danse complexe de matériel, de transport et d'information : la logistique de la santé. C'est le moteur invisible qui permet à un hôpital non seulement de fonctionner, mais aussi d'excelle...

In this episode, we peel back the layers on a topic that most people never think about: how bananas get from the farm to our tables. (00:01:42) The Banana Ripening Process (00:03:08) A Tale of Two Fruits (00:12:10) Banana Trivia (00:13:30) Home Hacks Visit our site: LIDD.com

Our team just got back from the ReFED, Food Banks Canada, and Feed Ontario conferences, and we’re excited to share what we learned about fighting food waste. In this episode, we dive into the most important conversations happening in food loss and supply chain sustainability today. We cover the power of collaboration between food producers and food banks , the importance of getting ahead of new po...

Go behind the headlines with Charles & David! This week, Ferrero Acquires Kellogs, Del Monte Files for Bankruptcy, Amazon Deploys It's 1 Millionth Robot, and Say Goodbye to De Minimis.

How do we move from awareness to action on food waste? Our non-profit consulting team joined leaders at the recent ReFED, Food Banks Canada, and Feed Ontario conferences to find out. Join Anna Gleason, Maria El Dahdah, and Georgina Morris as they sit down to share their biggest takeaways on the latest food waste solutions, from policy incentives and data-driven tech to the operational challenges f...

During the recent Supply Chain Canada 2025 National Conference in Alberta, Melanie Charles and Stephan Lauzon were inspired to explore a fundamental question: What is supply chain, and how do we best understand the various roles that contribute to this essential sector? On this week's episode of It's the End of the Week, join Melanie & Stephan as they discuss key takeaways from the conference...

Food waste is one of the most pressing challenges in the modern supply chain. In the United States, no organization has been more instrumental in quantifying this issue and uniting stakeholders than ReFed . As the nation's leading authority on food waste, ReFed provides the data and insights that guide government, non-profit, and for-profit sectors toward meaningful action. That’s why LIDD is...