Supply Chain Now: Innovative Industry Leaders Transforming Supply Chain Planning

Episode Date: January 12, 2026
Host: Scott Lewton
Featured Guests: Philip Vervlim (OMP), Scott Barnard (Blue Crux)

Episode Overview

This episode of Supply Chain Now brings listeners exclusive interviews with Philip Vervlim, Chief Commercial Officer at OMP, and Scott Barnard, Managing Director North America at Blue Crux—two leaders at the forefront of supply chain planning innovation. Broadcast from the Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit 2025 in Denver, the conversations highlight how both companies are tackling contemporary supply chain challenges, fostering industry collaboration, and leveraging advanced technologies to deliver real, rapid value to clients.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. OMP’s Approach: Enabling Autonomous and Incremental Supply Chain Value

Guest: Philip Vervlim, OMP
Segment: [01:21]–[08:07]

• Evolution from Traditional to Modern Supply Chain Planning
  OMP's philosophy centers on enabling "unison planning," integrating strategic to operational processes (from sourcing to demand) in a unified solution, deeply connected to platforms like SAP.

  • Quote: “Our base, our core is to have that what we call unison planning… embedding all of the planning processes from strategic to operational and from sourcing to demand.” — Philip Vervlim [02:17]

• Customer-Centric Model: Rapid, Self-Funding Value Delivery
  Today’s clients want to see fast, concrete ROI, not just “AI buzz.” OMP focuses on agile, incremental value—where project savings from pilot phases are reinvested to fund further improvements.

  • Quote: “Companies want value quick. They want an incremental. They want it actually ideally in like a self funding way.” — Philip Vervlim [04:17]

• Innovation Focus: Deep Human-Machine Collaboration
  Philip references Gartner’s keynote about moving past surface automation ("routine jobs") to deeper, strategic human-machine collaboration with AI—addressing governance and explainability head-on.

  • Quote: “It was about how to go from the surface...to go to the deep sea and also go into that human machine collaboration, the governance around it and so forth.” — Philip Vervlim [05:01]

• Product Spotlight: Unison IQ
  Unison IQ stands on three pillars:

  1. Proprietary AI engines powering autonomous planning.
  2. Gen AI-based Unison Companion for rapid onboarding and productivity.
  3. Agentix, supporting explainability and scenario planning, and integrating external AI agents.
  • Quote: “Unison IQ is based on three pillars...AI engines, Unison companion...and the agentix side, really upskilling both organically the AI agents...” — Philip Vervlim [06:27]

• Notable Customer Collaboration
  OMP’s partnerships (e.g., with Kraft Heinz, AstraZeneca) are featured as proof points in achieving autonomous planning at scale.

• Contact & Connection
  Philip encourages listeners to reach out via LinkedIn or the OMP website for more resources and event information. [07:49]

2. Blue Crux: Building Smarter, AI-Powered Value Chains

Guest: Scott Barnard, Blue Crux
Segment: [08:16]–[13:22]

• Business Mission & Services
  Blue Crux positions itself as a value chain consulting and technology firm, aiming to transform clients' operations into "AI powered value chains.” Services span across plan, source, make, and deliver, with a strong push for digitization.

  • Quote: “Our mission...[is] to help organizations transform their supply chains into smart, efficient in AI powered value chains.” — Scott Barnard [09:13]

• Challenges: Resiliency and Agility (Old and New)
  Scott underscores that the core challenges—resilience and agility—have persisted over the years but are now tackled with modern tools such as AI.

  • Quote: “It's all about that resiliency and agility… challenges that have been... we've been talking about for five, 10 years now.” — Scott Barnard [10:46]
  • On AI as a new challenge: “How are we adopting AI to speed up that and better inform that decision making process to make us even more resilient and…agile.” — Scott Barnard [11:07]

• Blue Crux Product Highlight: Axon Platform
  Axon, their analytics and decision intelligence platform, is driving measurable impact—one use case saved companies "hundreds of millions of dollars in inventory."

  • Quote: “We're literally helping organizations identify and save hundreds of millions of dollars in inventory. So it's immensely impactful if done intelligently...” — Scott Barnard [12:07]

• Emphasis on Human-Machine Partnership
  Echoing earlier sentiments, Scott stresses the importance of a "blend of a human and machine strategy" for effective supply chain transformation.

• Easy Reach
  Scott recommends connecting via LinkedIn or the Blue Crux website. [13:05]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Value-Centric Innovation
  “Not all the AI buzz, but it's really honing now on...deliver[ing] real value.” — Philip Vervlim [04:13]

• On Fearlessness in Innovation
  “It's to be fearless. Right. I remember like the big, big slogan, be fearless.” — Philip Vervlim [05:27]

• On Measurable ROI
  “That is ROI in spades.” — Scott Barnard [12:52]

• On Industry Collaboration
  Host Scott Lewton highlights OMP and Blue Crux’s decade-long partnership and collaborative innovation:
  “OMP and Blue Crux have become strategic partners...uniting forces for greater impact.” [00:57]

Important Segment Timestamps

• OMP Interview Begins: [01:21]

  • OMP’s Vision and Product Scope: [02:05]
  • Self-Funding Value & Agile Implementation: [04:13]
  • Innovation and Human-AI Collaboration: [05:01]
  • Pillars of Unison IQ: [06:27]
  • Customer Success Stories: [07:25]
  • Contact Info for OMP: [07:49]

• Blue Crux Interview Begins: [08:16]

  • Company Mission & Breadth: [09:11]
  • Enduring and Emerging Challenges: [10:46]
  • AI and the Axon Platform: [11:44]
  • Axon's Impact: [12:07]
  • Contact Info for Blue Crux: [13:05]

Conclusion & Call to Action

Host Scott Lewton wraps up by encouraging listeners to choose at least one actionable insight shared by Philip or Scott and apply it in their own organizations—“Deeds, not words.” He also mentions upcoming Gartner events in 2026 for further learning and networking.

For Further Engagement

• Connect with Philip Vervlim (OMP): LinkedIn and OMP website
• Connect with Scott Barnard (Blue Crux): LinkedIn and Blue Crux website

“Take one thing that Philip or Scott shared here today and put it into action. Deeds, not words. That's how we'll continue to drive innovation in global supply chain.” — Scott Lewton [14:14]