What if your supply chain could both thrill customers and quietly kneecap competitors? We sit down with Rod Thomas, Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management and former retail operator, to unpack how logistics design becomes a decisive competitive weapon. The conversation moves beyond cost cuts and into bold moves that reset expectations, accelerate growth, and force rivals into bad choices.
We start with a standout story: Lowe’s reengineers distribution centers to handle major appliances and flips from shared direct-to-store shipments to daily flow. The result is higher in-stock, faster turns, and a strategic squeeze on Home Depot, which must either ship air or accept slower replenishment. From there, we explore Delta insourcing aircraft maintenance to regain scale and service, Shein compressing lead times with small-batch agility, and Amazon setting the bar on two-day delivery and effortless returns, proof that service, speed, and certainty are the new product.
The strategy extends upstream. Tesla’s early bets on batteries and minerals and Apple’s ownership of critical components show how locking constrained inputs stabilizes your business and destabilizes others. Then we dig into owning the demand signal with connected devices, subscriptions, and loyalty apps. When printers reorder ink or tractors schedule parts before failure, customers never feel a pinch point and competitors never see the demand.
You’ll walk away with a clear playbook: escape shared-resource traps, raise service bars competitors can’t match, secure capacity where it’s scarce, and build direct data loops that predict need. Do it ethically and deliberately, and you’ll deliver better for customers while quietly reshaping the field.
If this conversation helps sharpen your strategy, follow, share with your team, and leave a quick review, what supply chain move are you planning next?
