If Inventory Becomes Exciting, There’s a Big F’ing Problem

Warehouse operations and inventory management, often face the challenge of being overstuffed, leading to inefficiency and difficulty in locating materials. In this episode, Matt Schreibfeder of Effective Inventory Management (EIM) joins Teddy VonFeldt to break down what’s actually happening in supply chains right now — tariffs, panic buying, mountains of front-loaded inventory, and the cost of inaction nobody wants to talk about.

About EIM

EIM was founded by Matt’s father John in 1996 and just hit its 30-year anniversary. They don’t sell software. They help companies get the most out of their inventory investment — finding customized solutions to specific problems without forcing you into another platform.

What Matt and Teddy Get Into

• Why human intelligence still beats automated systems for inventory decisions
• The tariff trap: front-loading inventory vs. waiting it out (and why both can burn you)
• How to account for tariffs that get repealed mid-quarter without losing your mind
• Why a custom Excel spreadsheet built by a sharp inventory manager often outperforms a $500K ERP
• The “solution in search of a problem” trap C-suites keep falling into with AI
• What operational excellence actually looks like on the warehouse floor
• The inventory anarchy that happens when “anybody can buy anything at any time in any quantity”

This isn’t AI inspiration. It’s an operator-level conversation about what works, what doesn’t, and how to think clearly when the market is throwing chaos at you weekly.

Episode Chapters

• 00:00 — Intro: Matt, EIM, and the human intelligence angle
• 01:13 — 30 years of EIM and Matt’s submarine-to-supply-chain journey
• 03:33 — Co-authoring the 7th edition of the book with his father
• 04:51 — Why too much data is the new problem
• 05:50 — The two sides of warehouse excellence: floor + planning
• 09:46 — How “excellence” is actually defined (it depends)
• 12:57 — The tariff elephant: panic, paralysis, and overstocked warehouses
• 17:15 — How to account for tariffs that get repealed mid-stream
• 22:07 — Why warehouses are bursting at the seams right now
• 27:55 — Excel vs. ERPs: why the spreadsheet usually wins
• 32:13 — Building systems that survive personnel changes
• 42:32 — Where AI actually makes sense in inventory (and where it doesn’t)
• 43:43 — The “exhausted with change” problem at the C-suite level
• 48:35 — FOMO-driven AI adoption and the squirrel effect
• 52:40 — How to start small with AI without overwhelming the team
• 54:00 — Closing thoughts

Connect with Matt & EIM

Effective Inventory Management: https://www.effectiveinventory.com

Connect with Teddy & X7 AI

• X7 AI Agency: https://x7ai.ai
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teddyv/
• Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@x7ai-ai

Our Other Channels

• Extreme AI Makeover — free build-in-public show
• claudeNaround — community for vibe coders