(Deutsche Version weiter unten)
In today’s episode, we are joined by Dave Food, supply-chain consultant, lecturer, and thought leader, to explore one of the most underrated assets in logistics: trust. Together, they discuss how building trust between people, systems, and partners leads to better cooperation, stronger planning, and more resilient supply chains.
In this episode you’ll learn:
- Why trust is the foundation for every successful supply-chain relationship
- How to move from a blame culture to a true learning culture
- The role of data trust in APS, IBP, and transport planning
- How leaders can rebuild confidence after failure or disruption
- The importance of aligned KPIs that drive collaboration instead of competition
- Why “just one thing”—small, consistent improvements—can transform entire teams
- What companies can learn from aviation and automation when it comes to trusting systems
Building trust doesn’t happen overnight — but it starts with the choice to cooperate.
Tune in to learn how small behavioral shifts and transparent communication can create supply chains that work with people, not against them.
Links
Dave Food at LinkedIn
Newsletter „Planning, Food for Thought“
„Dynamic Supply Chains – Delivering Value through People“ John Gattorna
Podcast „Just One Thing“ – Michael Mosly
Book: James Clear – Atomic Habits
„What If“ – Podcast-Episode with Dave Food
Deutsche Shownotes
In dieser Folge sprechen wir mit Dave Food, Supply-Chain-Berater, Dozent und Vordenker, über eines der meist unterschätzten Themen in der Logistik: Vertrauen. Gemeinsam beleuchten sie, warum Vertrauen zwischen Menschen, Daten und Partnern die Basis für funktionierende Planung, Zusammenarbeit und resiliente Lieferketten ist.
Darum geht’s in dieser Episode:
- Warum Vertrauen die Grundlage jeder erfolgreichen Supply Chain ist
- Wie man eine Blame Culture in eine echte Lernkultur verwandelt
- Welche Rolle Datenvertrauen in APS-, IBP- und Transportplanung spielt
- Wie Führungskräfte nach Fehlern oder Störungen wieder Vertrauen aufbauen können
- Warum gemeinsame KPIs Kooperation fördern – statt internen Wettbewerb
- Wie das Prinzip „Just one thing“ kleine, stetige Verbesserungen groß wirken lässt
- Was Unternehmen von Luftfahrt und Automatisierung über Systemvertrauen lernen können
Vertrauen entsteht nicht über Nacht – aber es beginnt mit der bewussten Entscheidung zur Kooperation.
Hör rein und erfahre, wie kleine Verhaltensänderungen und offene Kommunikation Lieferketten schaffen, die mit Menschen arbeiten – nicht gegen sie.
Cooperation in Supply Chain: Why Trust Is the Real Competitive Advantage
In the latest episode of the Logistik Podcast, hosts Tobias Lindner and Andreas Reuther are joined by Dave Food, supply-chain strategist, consultant, and lecturer, to explore one of the most critical but often underestimated success factors in logistics — trust.
The conversation dives deep into how cooperation in supply chain planning depends not just on technology and data, but on human behavior, leadership, and the willingness to share information openly.
Dave has spent decades helping companies design, implement, and optimize integrated business planning systems. Yet his message in this discussion is surprisingly human: without trust, no system, tool, or process can deliver sustainable results.
Trust as the Foundation of Cooperation
At the core of every efficient supply chain lies trust — trust in people, trust in data, and trust in processes. Dave emphasizes that when organizations lose this foundation, collaboration collapses. Teams begin to protect themselves instead of cooperating. The result: fragmented communication, duplicated work, and poor decision quality.
He explains that a lack of trust often shows up as “blame culture.” When something goes wrong, people point fingers instead of analyzing the system. This behavior signals low psychological safety — and therefore, low cooperation. True progress starts when leaders acknowledge what went wrong, fix the root causes, and consciously choose to rebuild trust.
In complex, global supply chains, cooperation isn’t automatic. It’s a strategic choice. Companies that invest in it gain agility and foresight — the ability to respond faster to disruptions, coordinate better with partners, and recover quicker from setbacks.
From Blame to Learning Culture
According to Dave, one of the biggest barriers to cooperation in supply chain environments is fear. Many planners and managers are afraid to admit mistakes because the organization punishes rather than learns. But failure, he argues, is the best teacher for resilience.
In a high-trust culture, mistakes become data points — not career threats. When teams share early warnings, delays, or errors without fear, the entire network benefits. This transparency reduces uncertainty and helps everyone make better decisions.
Leaders play a crucial role in this transformation. Their reaction to failure determines whether the team hides problems or confronts them constructively. As Dave puts it: “How you react to failure determines future trust more than the failure itself.”
Data Trust and System Alignment
Trust doesn’t stop with people — it extends into the data and systems that enable supply chain planning. Many organizations struggle because departments use different data sets, spreadsheets, or KPIs. This lack of alignment creates confusion and slows down collaboration.
Dave recommends aligning all functions — from APS (Advanced Planning Systems) to IBP (Integrated Business Planning), transport, and budgeting — on a single synchronized view. When everyone sees the same data, arguments shift from who is right to what is right.
Cooperation in supply chain planning also requires clear, shared KPIs. Traditional metrics like cost per unit or on-time delivery often incentivize departments to optimize locally rather than globally. In contrast, shared performance indicators promote system thinking — and reward teams for working together rather than competing internally.
Leadership and the Human Side of Planning
While digitalization and automation dominate the conversation in logistics, Dave reminds listeners that the human element remains essential. Every system, no matter how advanced, relies on people to interpret signals, negotiate priorities, and make judgment calls.
Great leaders in supply chain environments understand the diversity of personalities and thinking styles within their teams. Some people are detail-oriented planners, others are visionary strategists or natural negotiators. Recognizing and leveraging these profiles increases engagement and reduces conflict.
Dave refers to so-called “T-shaped” professionals — people with deep expertise in one area but broad curiosity across others. They are the glue in cooperative supply chains because they connect functions and understand the dependencies between them. Encouraging such talent is one of the best investments an organization can make.
Building Partnerships Instead of Contracts
Cooperation in supply chain networks doesn’t stop at the company border. External partners — suppliers, carriers, and logistics service providers — also shape performance. Dave argues that trust-based partnerships outperform contract-heavy relationships in the long run.
Rigid, transactional contracts might seem safer, but they often create adversarial behavior. Each side tries to protect itself instead of improving together. In contrast, win-win agreements or Vested models (where success is shared) build long-term stability and innovation capacity.
The takeaway: true cooperation is not enforced by paperwork — it’s earned through consistency, transparency, and fairness.
Dealing with Failures and Disruptions
No supply chain is immune to disruption — whether it’s a delivery delay, a system outage, or a global event. What matters most is how teams respond. Dave highlights that crisis moments are trust tests. When people stand together to solve problems instead of assigning blame, relationships strengthen.
He also notes that planning cycles should include structured feedback loops. These allow organizations to learn from every incident, update assumptions, and improve coordination over time. Continuous reflection is what separates adaptive supply chains from fragile ones.
Small Steps, Big Impact: The “Just One Thing” Principle
One of Dave’s practical philosophies is called “Just one thing.” The idea is simple: instead of trying to change everything at once, focus on one small improvement every day.
This mindset works especially well in logistics, where complexity and pressure are high. Tiny habits — like sharing bad news early, cleaning up data fields, or debriefing after a project — compound into significant cultural change over time. Cooperation grows through repetition, not revolution.
By doing one thing better each day, teams create a sense of momentum and ownership. This continuous improvement loop builds confidence — and confidence builds trust.
Learning from Technology and Automation
The discussion also explores how we extend trust to machines and systems. Dave draws an analogy from aviation and autonomous driving: people trust autopilots and self-driving systems only when they understand how they work and when to intervene.
The same applies to AI-driven planning tools. Blind trust is dangerous, but informed trust accelerates performance. Technology should be transparent, explainable, and supportive — not a black box that replaces human reasoning.
Ultimately, cooperation in supply chain planning will rely on a hybrid model: machines handling complexity and humans providing context, empathy, and ethical judgment.
Conclusion: Cooperation as a Strategic Choice
The conversation with Dave Food makes one thing crystal clear: cooperation in supply chain is not a soft skill — it’s a hard advantage. Trust enables faster decisions, better data usage, stronger partnerships, and higher resilience.
Every company wants efficiency and visibility, but few realize that both depend on people’s willingness to share, adapt, and learn. Cooperation doesn’t start with software — it starts with leadership.
As Dave concludes, “Trust is the currency of collaboration.” And like any currency, it grows through consistent deposits — honesty, reliability, and respect.
The message for logistics professionals is simple: build trust deliberately, measure it carefully, and protect it fiercely. Because in a world of uncertainty, cooperation in supply chain is the only strategy that compounds.