Inside Origin Cargo Management: A Smarter Path to Supply Chain Resilience

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In this episode of the Sustainable Supply Chain podcast, I sat down with Jim McCullen, CTO of Century Supply Chain Solutions, to unpack how technology—particularly AI—is quietly but effectively reshaping the logistics space.

Jim’s been with Century for over 30 years, which is practically unheard of in tech. We discussed what’s kept him there so long, and how he’s used that time to help major importers bring order to supply chain chaos—from managing tariff shifts and port disruptions to reducing carbon emissions through smarter origin management.

We explored why North American firms lean more heavily on origin cargo management than their counterparts elsewhere, and how AI is now finally delivering real value—whether it’s helping route freight more efficiently or enabling natural language queries through supply chain chatbots. Importantly, Jim also touched on the need for trust in AI systems and how they’re rolling it out in ways that support rather than replace people.

Other topics we covered: how data integration is still holding supply chains back, the balance between resilience and sustainability, and why training like a mountain bike racer actually makes sense if you’re trying to stay focused in a complex global operation.

If you’re looking for practical ways to modernise supply chain operations, reduce emissions, and respond more intelligently to disruption, this one’s worth your time.

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