It seems as though every new week (maybe even day) means a new, seismic change to the global economic order. The Trump administration’s tariffs have affected every import to the US. Many nations have responded in kind with their own tariffs designed to target President Trump’s electoral base. For example: the EU tariffs hitting US trucks, cigarettes, and ice cream last month. While all sectors are affected, some — including automakers and, most recently, the film industry — are faring worse than others.
In response, companies with large, globalised supply chains are racing to relocate manufacturing and strike deals with new suppliers. Many are also trying to quickly move stock into US ahead of the next round of changes. In this unstable climate, inventory management has become an ever more pivotal aspect of managing the supply chain.
To find out more, we caught up with Michel Spruijt, President at Brain Corp International. Brain Corp are a robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) company. Its solutions are helping logistics functions mitigate the pain points caused by an increasingly volatile supply chain landscape.
Michel, how big of a challenge do inventory mismanagement and other supply chain inefficiencies pose for organisations today?
Inventory mismanagement and supply chain inefficiencies represent a significant challenge for European organisations. They have direct impacts on profitability, customer satisfaction, and operational resilience. Blind spots in supply chains can be extremely costly: research indicates that the average company could lose nearly half of one year’s profit over a decade from a single prolonged, severe disruption.
Inefficiencies such as inaccurate inventory data, manual processes, and lack of real-time insights often result in lost revenue, overordering, waste, and missed sales opportunities.
The scale of these problems is amplified by the complexity of modern supply chains. These systems can span continents and involve hundreds or thousands of suppliers. It makes visibility and control even tougher.
What’s causing these types of inefficiency and lack of visibility?
When we examine the European supply chain landscape, we’re witnessing several critical challenges that are holding companies back. First, there’s a significant technology shortfall. Many organisations are still operating on legacy systems that simply weren’t designed to handle the speed and complexity of today’s market disruptions.
Second, we’re facing what could be thought of as a talent crisis in logistics and manufacturing. The workforce is aging, recruitment isn’t keeping pace, and this labor shortage is creating real operational bottlenecks across the continent, according to the European Commission.
Third, supplier networks have become incredibly convoluted and opaque. Most businesses only have clear visibility into their internal contents, leaving them vulnerable to disruptions further upstream that can appear without warning.
“For the retail and supply chain sectors specifically, these tariffs represent a significant threat” — Michel Spruijt, President, Brain Corp International
Finally, despite all our technological advances, we’re still seeing an overreliance on manual processes for fundamental operations including inventory management. This not only introduces errors but also creates significant efficiency drags.
These factors combined are seriously impacting European businesses’ ability to maintain resilient, responsive supply chains in today’s volatile market conditions.
Do you see the ongoing uncertainty around Trump’s tariffs exacerbating these problems (not to mention their impact on businesses)?
For the retail and supply chain sectors specifically, these tariffs represent a significant threat. They’re impacting everything from product pricing to distribution networks, potentially compromising jobs, export competitiveness, and forcing many companies to fundamentally rethink their global sourcing and distribution strategies.
Perhaps most concerning from a business perspective is the broader uncertainty these policies create. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for retailers and supply chain operators to engage in effective long-term planning, make confident investment decisions, or maintain stable supplier relationships. This environment of uncertainty inevitably leads to inefficiencies and significant disruptions across the entire supply ecosystem.
The reality is that in today’s interconnected global marketplace, this level of trade policy volatility creates ripple effects that extend far beyond immediate tariff costs.
How does a business with a global supply chain consistently get their hands on real-time, accurate data?
We’re seeing a multi-layered approach – comprising new technology and a new attitude – that’s delivering results for forward-thinking organisations.
First off, there’s a shift toward IoT and Sensor deployment across the entire supply ecosystem. These technologies when deployed within intelligent solutions can offer continuous, granular visibility into inventories that simply wasn’t possible before. Equally critical is the move toward centralised, cloud-based data platforms, that are breaking down traditional information silos and creating a single source of truth that’s accessible across boundaries.
The real game-changer, though, is how we’re applying AI and advanced analytics to this data ecosystem. These tools aren’t just monitoring information—they’re identifying patterns, flagging anomalies, and generating insights that allow managers to address potential difficulties proactively rather than reactively.
We’re also seeing tremendous impact from automated robotics solutions like our own Inventory Scan technology that’s being used in global warehouses and logistics facilities. These solutions are capturing near real-time inventory data without adding operational headaches. This dramatically reduces dependence on error-prone manual processes while significantly boosting data quality and timeliness.
Where do robots and AI fit into this picture?
Robotics and AI are among the solutions leading the charge to transform supply chains. AI-powered robots, particularly those that collect inventory information, autonomously collect critical data on pricing, planogram compliance, and product location—freeing staff for customer engagement while reducing human error. These systems tackle both labor shortages and cost woes by consistently and accurately handling routine tasks.
What’s powerful is how this robotics-collected data feeds AI analytics, that can in turn improve decisions across operations, from maintenance to forecasting. Most importantly, when used in a well arranged stack, this technology dramatically enhances supply chain resilience, enabling faster disruption response and smarter resource allocation.
This robotics-AI–management convergence represents the future of intelligent supply chains, already delivering measurable advantages for early adopters.
Do you have any examples of retailers successfully navigating their way past these pain points?
European retailers are implementing inventory scanning technology with autonomous robots to automate inventory management.
An example would be Sam’s Club in the US deploying Brain Corp-powered robots, which scan aisle inventories whilst cleaning. Benefits include faster data collection, freed staff time for customer service, reduced human error, and better responsiveness to demand changes.
A recent study from ECR Community Shrinkage looking at seven European retailers found that correcting inventory discrepancies led to 4–8% sales growth, with the largest gains in high-volume and high-value items. For a typical European grocery retailer with €10 billion in sales, resolving inaccuracies could recover €0.4–0.8 billion in sales.
- Digital Supply Chain
- Risk & Resilience