LONNIE SALMON
INFRASTRUCTURE
LONNIE SALMON
TITLE: SENIOR DIRECTOR, PROCUREMENT & SUPPLY CHAIN SERVICES
COMPANY: JABIL INDUSTRY: MANUFACTURING
Lonnie has more than 30 years of experience designing and delivering procurement services, operations and technology solutions to companies across countless industries. He helps clients drive value across their supply chain and procurement organisations.
It’ s an observation that reflects growing resistance in some communities to large-scale data centre development, particularly in Europe, where planning rules are complex and public scrutiny is intense.
Strengthening supply chains At Jabil Procurement and Supply Chain Services, the challenge of matching supply chains to the pace of AI development falls squarely on the shoulders of Lonnie Salmon, Senior Director of Supply Chain. He argues that the traditional focus on price and efficiency is no longer fit for purpose.
“ Within this new environment of AI,” Lonnie says,“ the need for orchestration across the whole environment becomes paramount. The speed to realise the capacity is what’ s driving the industry.”
The bottlenecks are multiple and interconnected. Energy is the most visible constraint, but semiconductor supply is also under severe pressure, with around half of industry capacity now structured around high-density memory. Industrial equipment at site level carries lead times of up to three years.
“ Demand is outstripping supply on all levels,” continues Lonnie.“ It’ s not price and it’ s not efficiency – it’ s collaboration across the whole supply network, end to end, which is paramount.”
Avoiding obsolescence The pace of hardware evolution creates a particular dilemma. AI chips
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