From integrating ESG into decision-making to using artificial intelligence to identify supply chain risks, retailers are rethinking how they manage increasingly complex global networks.

"Companies need to understand not only what they are buying and from whom, but also what is happening and why it is happening further into their supply networks," said Angela Rhea, TradeBeyond vice president of product and industry consultant at TradeBeyond, the AI-powered supply chain and product lifecycle management (PLM) provider.

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At TradeBeyond, Rhea helps shape innovative supply chain, sourcing, compliance and traceability solutions for global retailers and brands. The industry veteran has over three decades of experience that spans product development, sourcing, quality, ESG and supply chain transformation.

Here, Rhea discusses the challenges retailers face, how disruption is inevitable and why relationships matter in a difficult market.

Sourcing Journal: From a supply chain and sourcing perspective, what do you see as some of the challenges facing retailers and brands?

Angela Rhea: Retailers and brands are operating in an environment where the pace and complexity of change have accelerated significantly. They are balancing shifting consumer expectations with tariffs, geopolitical uncertainty, evolving regulations, sustainability requirements, and increasing demands for supply chain transparency. At the same time, they are expected to move faster, control costs, and maintain the quality and consistency consumers expect.

One of the biggest challenges I see is that many organizations still operate with fragmented information across sourcing, product development, suppliers, compliance and logistics. You can have excellent technology in individual parts of the organization, but if those systems and teams are not connected, it becomes difficult to see the full picture and make decisions quickly.

The other challenge is that supply chains are ultimately human networks. Technology can provide tremendous visibility and efficiency, but successful sourcing still depends on relationships, collaboration, and trust. The companies that will be best positioned for the future are those that combine better technology with stronger supplier relationships and more informed decision-making.

SJ: Can you explain how ESG can evolve from a reporting exercise into an operational consideration? What does that require?

A.R.: ESG becomes much more meaningful when it is integrated into the decisions companies are already making rather than treated as a separate reporting function. That means incorporating ESG goals and strategy into sourcing, product development, supplier selection, purchasing, and production decisions. For example, when evaluating suppliers, sustainability and social compliance should be considered alongside cost, quality, capacity and lead time.

If those factors are captured consistently and made visible to the right teams, ESG can actually influence business decisions rather than simply become reactive information collected for an annual report.

It also requires better data. Companies cannot manage what they cannot see, and sustainability information has historically been fragmented across suppliers, factories, audits, certifications, and internal systems. Organizations need a more connected view of that information and greater confidence in its accuracy.

Ultimately, the goal should be to make responsible sourcing part of how the business operates every day. Retailers that take their ESG commitment to their shareholders seriously even make responsible sourcing a part of each functional role's annual goal to incentivize collaboration. When ESG data is connected to operational decisions, it can help companies identify risk, improve supplier performance, make more informed sourcing decisions, and build more resilient supply chains.

SJ: Why do you think supply chain resilience increasingly depends on relationships, and not just technology?

A.R.: Technology provides us visibility, but relationships give us the ability to act on that visibility. The past several years have demonstrated that disruption is inevitable. Whether it is a pandemic, geopolitical event, factory shutdown, transportation disruption, or regulatory change, companies will face situations they did not anticipate. When that happens, the quality of the relationship between a brand and its suppliers can make a significant difference.

Suppliers are more likely to communicate early about a potential problem when they have an established relationship based on trust and transparency. They are also more likely to collaborate on solutions, whether that means adjusting production schedules, finding alternative materials, or reallocating capacity. Technology can tell you that a risk exists. A strong supplier relationship can help you solve it.

That is why I don't see technology and relationships as competing priorities. The strongest supply chains use technology to facilitate better collaboration. When everyone has access to the same information and understands what is happening, conversations with suppliers become more productive and companies can respond to disruptions much faster.

SJ: How can retailers move from compliance-driven traceability to meaningful supply chain visibility?

A.R.: The first step is to stop thinking about traceability as a simple regulatory requirement or an exercise in collecting documents. Compliance is an important starting point, but meaningful visibility means understanding what is actually happening across the supply network and being able to use that information to make better decisions. That requires connecting information across suppliers, factories, products, orders, materials, certifications, audits, and other relevant data points.

It also requires moving beyond a static snapshot. Supply chains change constantly. A supplier may add a factory, change a material source, or encounter a quality or compliance issue. Visibility has to be dynamic enough to reflect those changes.

I also think companies need to be realistic about the journey. You do not have to solve every traceability challenge across every tier overnight. Start with the products, materials, suppliers, or geographic areas where risk and business impact are highest. Establish reliable processes, build trust with, and listen to suppliers, then expand from there.

SJ: How is AI and emerging technologies changing the way retailers manage global supply networks?

A.R.: AI has the potential to change supply chain management because it can help organizations move from simply collecting information to interpreting it and acting on it. Retailers and brands have enormous amounts of data across suppliers, products, orders, quality, compliance, and sourcing. Historically, much of the effort has gone into gathering and organizing that information. AI can help identify patterns, surface risks and prioritize the issues that require human attention.

For example, AI can help teams identify potential supplier or order risks earlier, analyze large amounts of compliance information, automate repetitive data-related work, and provide recommendations that would be difficult to generate manually at scale.

But I think the most important point is that AI should augment human expertise rather than replace it. Supply chain decisions often involve context that is not captured in a dataset. An experienced sourcing professional may understand a supplier's capabilities, relationships, and history in a way that an algorithm cannot.

The future is really about combining the two. AI can help people process information faster and focus their attention where it matters most, while human expertise provides the judgment, context and relationships needed to make good decisions.

SJ: Can you give an overview of TradeBeyond's overall value proposition?

A.R.: TradeBeyond's value proposition is centered on helping retailers and their suppliers connect the different parts of their extended supply chains so they can make better, more informed decisions. Our platform supports processes across product development and sourcing, supplier management, quality, compliance, traceability, production, orders, and delivery. The objective is to bring greater visibility and collaboration across those processes rather than having teams operate from disconnected systems and information.

That becomes particularly important as retailers face more complex sourcing environments and globally evolving requirements around transparency, responsible sourcing, and regulatory compliance. Companies need to understand not only what they are buying and from whom, but also what is happening and why it is happening further into their supply networks.

Technology is ultimately a means to an end. For me, the value is in helping brands build stronger supplier relationships, identify risks earlier, improve collaboration, and operate with greater confidence. The organizations that can connect their people, processes, and data will be in a much stronger position to respond to change while continuing to deliver for their customers.

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