Global Sourcing and Procurement

Carl’s Jr. Switches to Make-to-Order Burgers

Carl’s Jr. is a fast-food restaurant known for its charbroiled burgers.

It has over 1,000 restaurants, primarily in the Western and Southwestern United States. Recently, it switched to a make-to-order process that cooks fresh hamburger meat once the order is placed.

This departs from their batch process, which used frozen hamburger patties. Their batch process cooked several hamburgers at once through a conveyor broiler. They then held the cooked hamburger patties in a warmer […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2026-10-07T02:28:18+00:00October 7, 2026|Tags: assemble-to-order, batch system, inventory management, make to order, process, product design|

Mastercard Explores Agentic Commerce

Under the partnership of Mastercard and Alchemy, Mastercard holders can now let an AI agent make purchases online with spending caps and limits on selected retailers.

This ushers business transactions into a new era called agentic commerce, giving AI further inroads into autonomous activities on behalf of humans.

Video Spotlight:

Mastercard Joins Visa in Letting AI Bots Do Your Shopping (Sep 19, 2026, Real Story sharer)

This post is based on the Quartz article,

By Anita Lee-Post, Ph.D.|2026-09-29T07:00:07+00:00October 4, 2026|Tags: agentic commerce, artificial intelligence, automation, bots, GenAI, operational strategy, order fulfillment, technology|

General Motors Parts Agreement Addresses Supply Chain Challenges

General Motors (GM) agreed to a financing arrangement with Procura Auto Parts LLC, a supply-chain management firm, to secure critical parts for continuous production amid supply chain disruptions.

Under the arrangement, Procura will prepay suppliers and store inventory on behalf of GM. Once the inventory is consumed in production, GM will repay Procura with irrevocable payment undertakings backed by a bank syndicate.

Video Spotlight:

GM reaches up to $4.5 billion parts deal designed to […]

By Anita Lee-Post, Ph.D.|2026-09-01T17:25:14+00:00September 16, 2026|Tags: AI activity, inventory, MRP, procurement, sourcing, supplier relationships, supply chain disruption, supply chain management|

Hershey Shifting Chocolate Production Back to Original Recipe

Hershey’s recently announced a shift back to its original chocolate recipes.

Years of escalating cocoa prices and other input costs led to smaller bars, extra wafers and cocoa alternatives. Now, a slump in cocoa bean prices has driven down the cost of chocolate production, and Hershey’s is bringing back the cocoa.

With cocoa futures down nearly 70% since late 2024, the shift is expected to lead to lower shelf prices for consumers, a demand recovery for cocoa farmers, and a partial reversal […]

By James Kirby Easterling|2026-07-16T04:16:04+00:00July 15, 2026|Tags: bill of materials, pricing, product design, production, sustainability|