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Supply Chain Now
Episode 863

If you can't work end to end through problems, or if your company's working in silos, you're not going to be as effective as you need to be.

- Jason MacIver Vice President of Services Procurement at Dell Technologies

Episode Summary

How companies use their supply chains can either be they key to their success or the starting point to their downfall. But like so many other corporate initiatives, leaders have to recognize the potential of and invest in the futures of the people in the supply chain as much as the chain itself.

Jason MacIver is the Vice President of Services Procurement at Dell Technologies and one of the many great new connections the Supply Chain Now team made at the Reverse Logistics Association annual conference in Las Vegas. His team touches every line of business Dell has, and they regularly get the opportunity to impact the customer experience and corporate sustainability as well.

In this episode, Jason speaks with host Scott Luton about:

  • How he is trying to upskill his team to be able to take advantage of the benefits of ‘hyper automation’
  • Using data science to build up the level of transparency provided to Dell customers
  • Why talent is going to be the advantage that ‘Wins the West’

Episode Transcript

Intro/Outro (00:03):

Welcome to supply chain. Now the voice of global supply chain supply chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues. The challenges and introduc Stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on supply chain now.

Scott Luton (00:31):

Hey, good morning, everybody. Scott Luton here with you on supply chain. Now, welcome to today’s show. We have an excellent conversation tee up today, as we’re gonna be talking with a supply chain leader, doing big things, cross industry, especially in the procurement space. So stay tuned. We have quite an intriguing conversation in store. Now with that said, I wanna welcome in our feature guests here today. Our guest is a graduate of the legendary supply chain management program at Michigan state university. He then went on to earn his MBA from the Kelly school of business at Indiana university. And since then, he’s gone on to spend more than 20 years at an iconic global technology leader. So please join me in welcoming Jason MacIver vice president services procurement at Dell technologies. Jason, how you doing?

Jason MacIver (01:13):

Good. Thanks for having me, Scott.

Scott Luton (01:15):

You bet really enjoyed, uh, uh, a few minutes with you in Vegas at the revers logistic association annual com. We may touch on that a little later on, but great to have you here today. So, so Jason, I, I wanna, before we get into, uh, what you’re doing at Dale, all the big things you and your teams are up to, let’s get to know you a little better. So tell us, where did you grow up and, and give us some anecdotes about your upbringing?

Jason MacIver (01:37):

Yeah, so I grew up outside of Detroit. Uh, I grew up in a small town called Northville different now than when I was there. A lot of dirt roads and whatnot. My high school was off eight mile, so okay. Being the movie you have, uh, I grew up off that road, which is kind of crazy. My dad was an executive at Ford, so I grew up in automotive land. Wow. And, uh, I thought I was gonna be an auto guy as well and took a different path and came to Austin and have worked for Dell ever since,

Scott Luton (02:07):

Man. That is awesome. Uh, so with your father and executive at Ford, and you said you lived in that automobile land, what’s, what’s one thing that may stick out. Was he getting calls at all? You know, uh, all times a night, what was a pressure like, or, you know, what’d you do as kids when maybe he took you into the office?

Jason MacIver (02:25):

Yeah, it was great. He, there was no email way back when, right. So he wrote a lot of white paper position papers on ideas on how to save money, uh, improve processes. And you’d constantly see him working on these things at home and it stuck with me. And so you kind of find myself tinker with these different ideas over time. And it kind of takes me all the way back to the eighties when, uh, he was doing the same thing at Ford.

Scott Luton (02:52):

Oh, that’s awesome. That is awesome. Lots of stories. I’m sure to tell there he needs to write a book. How long did he spend at Ford Jason?

Jason MacIver (02:59):

Yeah, I think it was 32 years,

Scott Luton (03:01):

Man. Okay. Well, let’s, let’s switch gears for a second. Let’s talk about when you, when the email’s not chasing you these days, uh, Dell, when you got some free time, what do you do?

Jason MacIver (03:10):

Yeah, so I’m an avid runner. I’ve done three half marathons this year already. And so race season is winding down. So I’ll start to, uh, reduce and I have a goal list and, uh, my goal is for the years to learn tennis. So I’ve never been a tennis player and, um, off and running on lessons and being humbled, uh, regularly each week,

Scott Luton (03:32):

Who knows, maybe I’m interviewing the future Aon Linde knows. All right. Finally, before we get into, uh, more heavy lifting related to, uh, your leadership role at Dell, you’re a big, as I mentioned on the front end, you’re an alum of Michigan state university. Uh, we’re big sports BS around here. What’s your favorite sports moment in Michigan state? Uh, history.

Jason MacIver (03:57):

Yeah, I got a couple that’s stick out in, uh, oh five, the, uh, sweet 16 games and great a games were here in Austin and I got to see Michigan state beat Kentucky, then beat duke to go to the final four, which was pretty, pretty great. And then, uh, the best one was, uh, I actually went with my dad in, uh, 2015 to the cotton bowl in Dallas and we were down 21 points in the fourth quarter to Baylor came back in, won by one. So, uh, you don’t get many games better than that.

Scott Luton (04:29):

That’s awesome. That is awesome. And, uh, speaking of the sport of supply chain management, gosh, Michigan state has been turning out the talent for quite some time, uh, there. Um, okay. So speaking of that, uh, before we get into what you do at Dell, tell us about a previous role or two that you had that really shaped your worldview.

Jason MacIver (04:49):

Yeah. Uh, probably a, a different direction than when you asked this to other people. Uh, the first role I took was actually, uh, with Harley Davidson, I was interning with them outta Michigan state. I went to Milwaukee, I’d never worked for a large company, you know, all bushy tail and bright eye. And, uh, it, but for me, it was the moment of realizing that I didn’t have to go the path of automotive. I could go my own path and blaze my own trail and going to Milwaukee and enjoying the experience there so much. It opened the door for me to have bigger opportunities later, obviously with Dell. And if I didn’t do that, I don’t think I would’ve picked the path I picked. I think I would’ve gone, uh, forward or GM or one of those.

Scott Luton (05:34):

I love that. Uh, so I’ve gotta go back to your father, uh, who spent, you know, um, had a long successful career at automotive when you let him know your plans. Oh yeah. Yeah. How do you react?

Jason MacIver (05:48):

Uh, yeah, I didn’t talk to him for a couple months after that really, you know, it’s and it’s, and for people listening, it’s probably one of those things. You’re like, well, why wouldn’t he do that? Well, my grandfather, my uncle, my aunt, my mom, you, you go down through my family line, either direct automotive or automotive suppliers, they were all there. And so it, it made no sense for me to go to this crazy technology company, uh, in 1999. Why would you do that when you can go work in automotive? So the, the Harley Davidson experience for me open my eyes, open the door to that. I love that. And I think the, the second one would be, I took a stint outside of supply chain. I wanted to start managing larger organizations and teams. And one of the ways to do that within Dell is you could go sales or you could go into tech support.

Jason MacIver (06:32):

So I went in tech support and anytime anybody get the opportunity to get closer to the customer, man, what a great experience that was for me, uh, dealing with, you know, situations that are very complex, uh, tough when, you know, customers are in bad places, but being able to get them to a place where, you know, they’re anti your company and changing that around, getting ’em to be advocates for it because what you and your teams can do for them, you know, it’s brand building and, you know, personally change some of my outlook on all the supply chain issues and challenges we have, uh, it interjected empathy and creative solutions into some of the things that we’re even doing today.

Scott Luton (07:17):

Mm well said, well said. Um, and by the way, quite a decision for as exciting as the automotive industry has, has been certainly since 99 and the tough times still to have joined the Dell Dell team in the technology era. And do some of the things be a part of some things they’ve done over the last 20 plus years. Uh, pretty exciting. Um, okay. Speaking of Dell, I’m sure everybody and their brother and sister know what Dale does, but how would you describe the company and then let’s talk about your role.

Jason MacIver (07:47):

Yeah. I mean, we, we are a technology company that looks for end to end solutions for our customers. Clearly we, uh, sell everything from consumer notebooks all the way through the data center and high end origin. Uh, we’re getting into telco, which, uh, some people might not be aware of, which is extremely exciting. And we’re building out a great as service solution for our customers. Uh, if they don’t wanna spend the capital allocation up front. So, uh, really exciting place to be. Um, it, it’s one of those companies that, uh, you know, I believe will stand the test of time. That’s gonna do wonderful things for our customers.

Scott Luton (08:24):

All right. Let me ask you if I can Jason really quick. I, I love that and I bet a lot of folks don’t know about that telco thing you mentioned, but for the organization to stand the test of time culture, you know, is it plays a big, and my opinion at least plays a big part in that. You’ve been there quite some time may ask you a little, little, little surprise question. What’s the one thing about the Dell culture that is so fundamental to its success?

Jason MacIver (08:50):

Yeah, I don’t, I don’t think you can stay at a company for 23 plus years, uh, and not appreciate the culture and really what it comes down to is the people, uh, there are tremendous people at the company. I know most companies would say that, uh, but one of the things I get from people that have left or left and come back and you ask why, and it just keeps coming back to the same thing where it really high quality people. And, you know, as you look at the answers to various questions, a lot of it ties back to that simple thing, right in the world we live in today. If you can’t work end to end through problems, or if your company’s working in silos, you’re not going to be as effective as you need to be. And Dell has that culture of what’s good for the company might not be good for Jason Mac Iver in this situation. But at the end of the day, if we keep doing the right things, all good things will come to the people that are making the right choices and decisions. And that’s true because not every day is sunny on us, right? There’s you you’ve, you’ve seen over the last 20 years, right there, roller coasters a little bit, but the direction is clear, right? We continue to improve through ups and downs. We continue to evolve and you have to do that and you can’t do it without wonderful people.

Scott Luton (10:07):

Well, man, well said, I love that a hundred percent with you on the points you’re making there. And to one of the things you, one of the last things you mentioned there, you know, it, it’s easy for good partners to celebrate that partnership on the good days, right. When you’ve hit the home run and, and things are good. And, and, but man, when, when new relationship partnership, your tenure at a company can endure those tougher days and you get through on the other side, man, there there’s, there’s a, a secret sauce there that’s just, um, irreplaceable. So let’s talk about your role. So when it comes to services procurement at Dell technologies, what does that mean?

Jason MacIver (10:46):

What does it mean? Uh, so, so you think about Dell and all of the wonderful things from a supply chain standpoint that we have done over the years, and I don’t know how many books have been written, we’ll say 10,000 or more, right? I mean, there’s so many books that have references to Dell supply chain, all of that work has nothing to do with ID. So I work on the backend. So when you talk about backends reverse logistics, supply chain, when your computer breaks, when your data center has an issue, hopefully that doesn’t happen very often. But when it does, my team is procuring all of those components to support all of our global warehouses in all the dispatches that go out. So clearly, right wide, a little bit wide ranging, we touch every line of business, right? We reference telcos as that kind of comes into play. Uh, but from school districts to, to you name it. So we are in the middle of all of the, at hundreds of suppliers, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars worth of spend a lot of impact. And it’s good, right? Cuz the things that we do make a difference you can actually tangibly see, uh, when we do our job really well, customers are satisfying.

Scott Luton (11:54):

I love that. So on the reverse side, are you and your team part of, you know, kind of optimizing, uh, the end of life cycle of products, uh, you know, any returns and stuff like that?

Jason MacIver (12:07):

Yeah, we live it. I mean that is, that is the core of what we do. We don’t the last button we ever wanna push is a purchase order. If we can recycle it, reuse it, repair it, whatever that may be, that’s better for the environment. It’s better for our customers and it’s better for our financials. And so we try to make sure that we optimize the heck out of that. And we have a lot of challenges within our business to do that on a regular basis.

Scott Luton (12:36):

Well, I may have be, I may be asking the question that you’re about to share. Cause I was gonna get into priorities maybe along some of those lines for 20, 22, but I didn’t wanna shortcut your answer there.

Jason MacIver (12:45):

No, no, go ahead. We, we can jump into that.

Scott Luton (12:47):

So, so let’s, let’s talk, there’s so much, there’s so much from what I’m hearing about you and what your team is doing so much opportunity so much get done. We live it, as you say. So what are, if you had to pinpoint a couple of priorities, uh, for your aspect of the enterprise here in 2022, what would those be?

Jason MacIver (13:07):

I’m gonna list out a few and this is a, this is a delicate one, right? Cuz uh, strategic priorities. But, but I’ll, I’ll try to talk about it at a high level and hopefully that will get you to,

Scott Luton (13:17):

Um, it’s just me and you Jess. It’s just me,

Jason MacIver (13:19):

Me and you and a bunch of friends. There’s a term that Gartner phrased and this goes back maybe a year ago called hyper automation. And really what the core of that term means is how do you automate your core processes and things potentially haven’t done before? How do you bring in things like data, data science, AI, ML, RPA, you all these different kind of tools and uh, whatnot to, to bring, I guess, solutions in places of, of people. And yet there’s a people component to it, to how do you upskill your people so they can do more strategic work for you as you automate pieces or components or potentially all of their roles. And so there’s a big effort between now and we’ll call it 2030 to go do that. How do we automate the world that we’re living in, whether that’s from planning to, uh, core tactical procurement items and whatnot.

Jason MacIver (14:16):

So as you kind of build that out, then the second piece is how do you add in through all of this new knowledge you have with data science, uh, transparency for our customers. So it’s seamless for them. They have clear updates on whatever they wanna see within the, the supply chain or where their product or part is. And so you add in data with transparency and ultimately you’re going to get to a, a better place overall. Now from a more tactical level, that’s kind of strategic high level generally where we’re going, right? And I think most companies are going in that direction. Why, if they’re not, they’re probably going to be behind them and maybe not exist in 2030. Hmm. The second piece is, is more tactical. And, and I bring this up too, because we’re not the only industry challenged with this. And there’s a saying that we have within Dell is we want more than our fair share of supply.

Jason MacIver (15:08):

And the topic I’m bringing up is component short shortages and limitations. When the supply chain they’re real, uh, we all know that you see on the news, right? Automotive plant shutting down or, or whatnot. No, one’s immune to the challenges that are out there around IC chips or LCD panels or whatever that may be hard drives you, name it. And so we continue to, you know, face that challenge, work through it, uh, partner with our suppliers, get the allocation we need. And that’s not an easy one, right? It’s not for the faint of heart either.

Scott Luton (15:41):

Hmm. Wow. I, I love how you tackle that head on and you’re transparent about cause it, it, it, no one is immune and we’ve seen that prove itself time and time. Again, even the most resilient companies we’ve seen, speaking of automotive, when it comes to semiconductors, we’ve seen some very innovative relationships, uh, come about in recent months, which is really cool to see. I wanna go back to something you talked about upskilling, right? We, we just had a discussion, Jason, uh, via livestream with you the last few days where, um, there was a lot of rallying around a key point of, you know, while a lot of organizations, according to one survey, we were citing. A lot of organizations are trying to get around the talent shortages with cross training, right. And, and enabling their, uh, team to do more and do, do different functions. However, there was a great statement made that that cross functional training is not upskilling it’s, it’s not interchangeable necessarily. And a lot of employees these days, team members, these days, folks coming in in the industry want to do more, but also wanna learn more right from your purview. What does any of that mean? And, and what’s your take on upskilling versus that cross-functional training.

Jason MacIver (16:48):

Yeah. I mean, uh, talent is there, there’s a war on talents and if you wanna be successful, you better go get it. And, and if you have it, you better keep it. Mm. And the question kind of comes down to, well, how do you do that? And you have to be flexible in this environment. The pandemic opened up the ature on what companies should be thinking about and doing, uh, around their people. And so you’re, you’re hearing companies today saying we’re flexible, but you have to be in the office three days a week. Right. Well, that’s not flexible. And so Dell saying, we’re not doing that. You can be flexible and come up with your own schedule. That could be zero days a week. It could be five days a week, that’s on you to decide. And so, uh, we’re trying to navigate, uh, potentially a little bit different than other companies.

Jason MacIver (17:37):

Obviously you wanna create, uh, people always go back to money. Money is one piece of it. Uh, but it’s not the only one, right. I mentioned, uh, that, you know, a million Dell books written on the front end supply chain, zero written on the back end. Well, we live in the wild west, but it’s not the wild west of the Billy of the kid. It’s the wild west of Westworld. And so can you create, and do you have the autonomy and ability to dream big and help us build out some of the solutions we want for tomorrow? And so creating that through, you know, interesting things and PE a lot of people love these topics like sustainability or whatnot. How do you integrate some of these things in to be, uh, more ingrained, not only in what we do, but how we do it, right?

Jason MacIver (18:25):

And so can you paint the picture on the vision of what you want and the all autonomy, the individual has pay a, a fair salary, right? The market’s obviously evolving and moving up and then creating a work environment that it breeds. Flexibility allows you to go get talent wherever talent may be, and not necessarily here in Austin or, or wherever that individual may be. And so that’s kind of the Dell vision of how we’re going about it. And, uh, we’ll continue to evolve that, to make sure that we’re getting our fair share of that talent.

Scott Luton (18:56):

So on the reverse side, the reverse logistics side, you, you said, quote, the wild, wild west of Westworld. I love that versus Billy, the kids wild west, that is such a great analogy. I’m gonna completely steal that from you, Jason. So I, maybe I owe you some, uh, license fees. I don’t know. We’ll work that out afterwards. I’ll go through your agent. Uh, so let’s talk about, uh, I love, I love a lot of the visionary elements you bake into your responses, to what I asked you about. Uh, I’m curious to know, especially with that in mind, key lessons learned from these last couple years.

Jason MacIver (19:29):

Yeah. I’m gonna stick on the people point. Uh, right now, I don’t think you can win in today’s world without talent. If you wanna get things done, you need really good people to do it. Uh, don’t underestimate the importance of having a very, very strong team. And, you know, I’ve been blessed with that over my career and especially right now. So I think my Eureka moment just kind of doubles down on making sure that your team is front and center and you’re focused on that and your people. Hmm. The second piece is around resiliency. If you look at some of the strategies that, uh, we’ve deployed over time, they weren’t necessarily resilient, focused, right? You, you opt, you can optimize in different areas, optimize our own cost or, uh, customer flexibility or, or whatnot, but not always is the solution that you’re picking the most resilient, uh, in the environment.

Jason MacIver (20:21):

And what happens when you get a pandemic, uh, that no one really understood or ever could have even dreamed was coming right. And you plop that down on top of us. And then you add in component of shortages and, and bunch of other, you know, world, uh, issues that we’re facing. Uh, resiliency becomes a huge, huge issue if you can’t adapt and figure out how to be more resilient. And so we live in that world right now and all of our activity, isn’t just around, how do we get the lowest cost? It is, how do we make sure that we’re the most resilient that we can be, cuz at the end of the day, if you’re not, your customers will feel it. And if they feel it they’ll move. Yeah. And we don’t, we wanna be sticky. We want customers to want to be with us. And, and that’s one of the ways we’re trying to deliver on that promise.

Scott Luton (21:11):

Quick follow up there. Um, we like saying the word, the phrase, when we hear of resilience, your anti fragility, uh, what, how strong is your organizational anti fragility? How have you approached, you know, there’s so many timeless truths and approaches and best practices that, I mean, nothing was immune being questioned over the last couple of years. What has that taught you from a leadership standpoint? You know, when we, when we’ve seen all these new challenges, right? To your point, that folks are still trying to understand they’re moving evolving. And of course we still got the old challenges related to, to you name, doing business. How, what does that taught you as a leader?

Jason MacIver (21:51):

You can’t fake caring, right? So you have to make sure that you’re a caring leader through it. There’s through the pandemic and whatnot. People had a lot going on in their lives with people actually having COVID, uh, their family members, people being at home, their kids running around their, uh, desk and whatnot, playing

Scott Luton (22:09):

Fortnite,

Jason MacIver (22:09):

Playing Fortnite, you name it. Right. All of us have gone through all those things. And if you haven’t then, uh, congratulations. I don’t know how you accomplish that one, but, but the, the truth is all of us have gone through a lot. So there there’s a level of empathy and emotional intelligence that I think all leaders had to adapt and, and really bring on if they wanted to continue to be the leader that they wanted to ultimately be. So I think, you know, that just, I, I keep circling back to it and I know this is focused on supply chain, but if you wanna have a good supply chain, you better, uh, have good leadership principles in general,

Scott Luton (22:42):

I’m with you and, and, and love and take care of those people. Uh, that they’re the ones that make it happen. Even in this technology era where it’s so fascinating, intriguing to see all the innovation in that space. But man, do people still make global trade and supply chain happening? Let’s let’s shift gears a minute. Uh, we met in person for the first time at the reverse logistics association event out in Las Vegas, Tony Sheroda who also, you may, you probably know this Jason, he was born in the Detroit area. Uh, so I bet y’all have exchanged maybe a few stories there.

Jason MacIver (23:14):

Yeah. Tony’s a great guy.

Scott Luton (23:15):

He really is. So clearly you and the Dell team, uh, is committed and our thought leaders within the RLA ecosystem and community, you help support these learning opportunities for industry. So that, that all of us, whether you’re on reverse side or the, for side, if you’re in global business, we can get better at reverse logistics, returns, management, um, circularity, you name it. Why, what is what’s in it for, from your, a vantage point for you, your team and, and ultimately bill?

Jason MacIver (23:48):

Yeah, I think a, a simple answer would be, you know, uh, my boss, Tom Mars on the board or on, or one of the board members, uh, we’ve been going, uh, for years, but, but really comes down to in business. If you ever think you’re the smartest person in the room, then go find a, a different room. And a lot of what reverse logistics opens the door for Dell is smaller companies that have unique or innovative ideas that they might not get in the door with us through the normal way. You can go to these conferences, see what they’re, uh, doing and projecting and figure out, you could bring that into the business, cuz we don’t wanna be the Titanic. We wanna be a nimble speed boat. And even though we’re a gigantic company, the more nimble we can be, the better we’ll be against our competition. And the more value we’ll bring to our customers. So conferences like our LA and there’s others as well. We view a to value in. We’re gonna continue to invest in it over time. Uh, we bring people and we bring big ears to listen to what people have to say.

Scott Luton (24:54):

Love it, love it. All right. And, and speaking, which of course we, we are conducting the reverse logistics leadership series right here at supply chain. Now with our friends in conjunction with Tony and the logistics association, you can learn more about them@rla.org. Okay. You know, I’ve asked you a couple times about lessons learned Eureka moments. You’ve already shared a few for some reason. I’ve got you down three time. I’m gonna ask you three times about Eureka moments. Um, but before we offer up the opportunity for how folks can connect with you, you Jason, when you reflect back, whether it’s your conversations you had in Vegas, you know, first, you know, here, we’re, uh, as we’re recording this, we’re, uh, approaching April already, April of 2022. Yeah. Anything else that you that’s really hit? You like an epiphany and may just stop and think about just what we do day in and day out. I’m gonna take one more stab at this. What anything else comes to mind?

Jason MacIver (25:51):

Yeah. You think about it March 20, 20, the world changed for all of us and, uh, having a global team watching it right in December. I started hearing about this thing called COVID in China. And I wish I would’ve sold all my stock at that time and wait, but, but the truth that you don’t, you still don’t understand actually what’s coming at you. So over the last two years have been a crazy whirlwind for most companies. Uh, no one’s immune to it, but those challenges bring innovation and you can’t replicate when something happens and it could be for another, a company, a cyber attack or whatever it may be. But when challenges come think people rise up and great processes, tools and ideas come to the forefront. And I feel like from a company standpoint, we, we went five years in advance over the last two years. Right. And I’m not sure that would’ve happened truly if the pandemic didn’t happen. And so there are silver linings through all of this that really have helped us as a company advance. And I’m sure other companies probably feel the same. Right. And that’s in all different spaces, whether it’s data science, digital transformation, process automation, uh, how we train our people, you name it. Right. All different.

Scott Luton (27:13):

Yeah. Yeah. You name it. I, I agree with you. I think when we look back cause we’re, you know, industry, uh, schools, leaders, you name it, be studying these last few years for a long time to come. I believe one of the reasons is to your point, the silver linings and just how, uh, real innovation change, really changing how we do things, how we design things, you know, how we interact with customers, how we meet our customers and our employees, where, where they are that’s right. So many over linings related. And, and, you know, that helps us get through the bad times, uh, as we make industry stronger and more durable. And, and as Minda hearts puts that at once with us, uh, a few episodes back, we make work, work for everyone and, you know, that’s, that was a, uh, what a great quotable quote, um, halfway through to pandemic. So

Jason MacIver (28:05):

The truth is customers want choice.

Scott Luton (28:07):

Right?

Jason MacIver (28:08):

Right. And the, the choices before were a and B and now they’re the whole alphabet. And so you kinda look at these things and say, you have to adapt as a company, Dell had to adapt. And if you don’t adapt, you’re gonna die. And when, when you’re put to that level, uh, or think through that level, you have to rise up, you have to rise up and people have, and our companies have, and it’s really been wonderful to see and be a part of outside of the extra gray hair.

Scott Luton (28:38):

Well, people that, that’s what a great note to wrap on. Cause people have risen to the challenge in so many different ways and we’re, we’re so great. You know, that, that, uh, global supply chain workforce for and reverse have, have, has helped our society cross the globe, protect that psyching get through these last couple years. So thanks, uh, for you and the Dell team. So speaking of which, how can folks, uh, Jason Mac IBER, how can folks connect with you and Dell?

Jason MacIver (29:05):

Yeah. The, the best way is really LinkedIn, right? So Jason Mac, I at LinkedIn, and we’ll respond back to you and we’ll go from there.

Scott Luton (29:13):

It’s just that easy. It’s just that easy. Jason really appreciate your time. I appreciate what you’ve shared here today. I love the transparency in your responses. And again, that visionary element, uh, it’s almost like your speaking supply chain poetry. Uh, Jason with us here on supply chain now big thanks. Jason. Mike Iver, vice president services procurement at Dell technologies.

Jason MacIver (29:36):

Thanks so much, Scott.

Scott Luton (29:37):

You bet. Okay. Folks, hopefully you enjoyed this, this Frank conversation as much as I have. I’m so glad we’re able to, uh, get Jason on the docket after, uh, meeting him out in Vegas, again, as part of the reverse logistics association, annual conference expo. Hey, if you enjoy this episode, be sure to find supply chain now, wherever you get your podcast from. So you don’t miss anything, any other conversations like this, but most importantly, Hey, Scott Lu on behalf, the entire supply chain. Now team do good. Give forward, be the change that’s needed. And on that note, we see next time, right back here on supply chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (30:12):

Thanks for being a part of our supply chain. Now community check out all of our programming@supplychainnow.com and make sure you subscribe to a supply chain. Now anywhere you listen to podcasts and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. See you next time on supply chain. Now.

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Featured Guests

Jason MacIver joined Dell in 1999. As Vice President he currently leads Dell Technologies World Wide Service Procurement organization. He is leading efforts across the procurement organization to deliver end to end digital visibility throughout the procurement life cycle. His approach always links tools, processes and people to achieve results. Jason is known as a relationship builder that manages EQ with IQ to solve Dells most complex problems. Prior to leading the procurement organization, he owned Americas Planning. During his tenure he drove transformational objectives to reshape the buyer planner organization of the future, deliver scaling, and build on our industry leading service parts availability. Formally, Mr. MacIver was responsible for the strategic and operational aspects of the Center of Competency. This included global responsibilities: organizational strategy, implementation of service offerings, global tools/applications, service parts analytics / reporting, and the creation of a fraud prevention organization. Recognized for his industry acumen he was invited to the White House to participate in a Sustainable Supply Chain Symposium during the Obama administration. While his career has focused on Supply Chain optimization, he also led large organizations for 5 years in Tech Support. During this time period Jason supported all enterprise products across various omni channel delivery methods. Prior to joining Dell, Mr. MacIver interned with Harley-Davidson Motor Company’s cut and sew division of service parts. Jason is passionate about building and developing talent. As an active member of the Reverse Logistics Association, he sits on the committee for certifications. He was a contributing member on the Arizona State Universities committee for Masters of Business Administration (MBA) Future State Curriculum development. Jason is also on the Executive Steering Committee for OnProcess. Within Dell he was the first male mentor in the Women’s Mentor Circle, he participates on a broad diversity council, and has been an ambassador for the EMC integration as well as Dell NextGen HR Tools. Jason received his B.A. degree from Michigan State University (Supply Chain Management) and his MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn.

Hosts

Scott W. Luton

Founder, CEO, & Host

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Adrian Purtill

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Adrian Purtill serves as Business Development Manager at Vector Global Logistics, where he consults with importers and exporters in various industries to match their specific shipping requirements with the most effective supply chain solutions. Vector Global Logistics is an asset-free, multi-modal logistics company that provides exceptional sea freight, air freight, truck, rail, general logistic services and consulting for our clients. Our highly trained and professional team is committed to providing creative and effective solutions, always exceeding our customer’s expectations and fostering long-term relationships. With more than 20+ years of experience in both strategy consulting and logistics, Vector Global Logistics is your best choice to proactively minimize costs while having an exceptional service level.

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Kim Winter

Host, Supply Chain Now

The founder of Logistics Executive Group, Kim Winter delivers 40 years of executive leadership experience spanning Executive Search & Recruitment, Leadership Development, Executive Coaching, Corporate Advisory, Motivational Speaking, Trade Facilitation and across the Supply Chain, Logistics, 3PL, E-commerce, Life Science, Cold Chain, FMCG, Retail, Maritime, Defence, Aviation, Resources, and Industrial sectors. Operating from the company’s global offices, he is a regular contributor of thought leadership to industry and media, is a professional Master of Ceremonies, and is frequently invited to chair international events.

He is a Board member of over a dozen companies throughout APAC, India, and the Middle East, a New Zealand citizen, he holds formal resident status in Australia and the UAE, and is the Australia & New Zealand representative for the UAE Government-owned Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), the Middle East’s largest Economic Free Zone.

A triathlete and ex-professional rugby player, Kim is a qualified (IECL Sydney) executive coach and the Founder / Chairman of the successful not for profit humanitarian organization, Oasis Africa (www. oasisafrica.org.au), which has provided freedom from poverty through education to over 8000 mainly orphaned children in East Africa’s slums. Kim holds an MBA and BA from Massey & Victoria Universities (NZ).

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Kevin Brown

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Kevin Brown is the Director of Business Development for Vector Global Logistics.  He has a dedicated interest in Major Account Management, Enterprise Sales, and Corporate Leadership. He offers 25 years of exceptional experience and superior performance in the sales of Logistics, Supply Chain, and Transportation Management. Kevin is a dynamic, high-impact, sales executive and corporate leader who has consistently exceeded corporate goals. He effectively coordinates multiple resources to solution sell large complex opportunities while focusing on corporate level contacts across the enterprise. His specialties include targeting and securing key accounts by analyzing customer’s current business processes and developing solutions to meet their corporate goals. Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn.

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Jose Miguel Irarrazaval

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Jose Manuel Irarrazaval es parte del equipo de Vector Global Logistics Chile. José Manuel es un gerente experimentado con experiencia en finanzas corporativas, fusiones y adquisiciones, financiamiento y reestructuración, inversión directa y financiera, tanto en Chile como en el exterior. José Manuel tiene su MBA de la Universidad de Pennsylvania- The Wharton School. Conéctese con Jose Manuel en LinkedIn.

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Nick Roemer

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Nick Roemer has had a very diverse and extensive career within design and sales over the last 15 years stretching from China, Dubai, Germany, Holland, UK, and the USA. In the last 5 years, Nick has developed a hawk's eye for sustainable tech and the human-centric marketing and sales procedures that come with it. With his far-reaching and strong network within the logistics industry, Nick has been able to open new avenues and routes to market within major industries in the USA and the UAE. Nick lives by the ethos, “Give more than you take." His professional mission is to make the logistics industry leaner, cleaner and greener.

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Allison Giddens

Host

Allison Krache Giddens has been with Win-Tech, a veteran-owned small business and aerospace precision machine shop, for 15 years, recently buying the company from her mentor and Win-Tech’s Founder, Dennis Winslow. She and her business partner, John Hudson now serve as Co-Presidents, leading the 33-year old company through the pandemic.

She holds undergraduate degrees in psychology and criminal justice from the University of Georgia, a Masters in Conflict Management from Kennesaw State University, a Masters in Manufacturing from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Certificate of Finance from the University of Georgia. She also holds certificates in Google Analytics, event planning, and Cybersecurity Risk Management from Harvard online. Allison founded the Georgia Chapter of Women in Manufacturing and currently serves as Treasurer. She serves on the Chattahoochee Technical College Foundation Board as its Secretary, the liveSAFE Resources Board of Directors as Resource Development Co-Chair, and on the Leadership Cobb Alumni Association Board as Membership Chair and is also a member of Cobb Executive Women. She is on the Board for the Cobb Chamber of Commerce’s Northwest Area Councils. Allison runs The Dave Krache Foundation, a non-profit that helps pay sports fees for local kids in need.

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Billy Taylor

Host

Billy Taylor is a Proven Business Excellence Practitioner and Leadership Guru with over 25 years leading operations for a Fortune 500 company, Goodyear. He is also the CEO of LinkedXL (Excellence), a Business Operating Systems Architecting Firm dedicated to implementing sustainable operating systems that drive sustainable results. Taylor’s achievements in the industry have made him a Next Generational Lean pacesetter with significant contributions.

An American business executive, Taylor has made a name for himself as an innovative and energetic industry professional with an indispensable passion for his craft of operational excellence. His journey started many years ago and has worked with renowned corporations such as The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT) leading multi-site operations. With over 3 decades of service leading North America operations, he is experienced in a deeply rooted process driven approach in customer service, process integrity for sustainability.

A disciple of continuous improvement, Taylor’s love for people inspires commitment to helping others achieve their full potential. He is a dynamic speaker and hosts "The Winning Link," a popular podcast centered on business and leadership excellence with the #1 rated Supply Chain Now Network. As a leadership guru, Taylor has earned several invitations to universities, international conferences, global publications, and the U.S. Army to demonstrate how to achieve and sustain effective results through cultural acceptance and employee ownership. Leveraging the wisdom of his business acumen, strong influence as a speaker and podcaster Taylor is set to release "The Winning Link" book under McGraw Hill publishing in 2022. The book is a how-to manual to help readers understand the management of business interactions while teaching them how to Deine, Align, and Execute Winning in Business.

A servant leader, Taylor, was named by The National Diversity Council as one of the Top 100 Diversity Officers in the country in 2021. He features among Oklahoma's Most Admired CEOs and maintains key leadership roles with the Executive Advisory Board for The Shingo Institute "The Nobel Prize of Operations" and The Association of Manufacturing Excellence (AME); two world-leading organizations for operational excellence, business development, and cultural learning.  He is also an Independent Director for the M-D Building Products Board, a proud American manufacturer of quality products since 1920.

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Tandreia Bellamy

Host

Tandreia Bellamy retired as the Vice President of Industrial Engineering for UPS Supply Chain Solutions which included the Global Logistics, Global Freight Forwarding and UPS Freight business units. She was responsible for operations strategy and planning, asset management, forecasting, and technology tool development to optimize sustainable efficiency while driving world class service.

Tandreia held similar positions at the business unit level for Global Logistics and Global Freight forwarding. As the leader of the Global Logistics engineering function, she directed all industrial engineering activies related to distribution, service parts logistics (post-sales support), and mail innovations (low cost, light weight shipping partnership with the USPS). Between these roles Tandreia helped to establish the Advanced Technology Group which was formed to research and develop cutting edge solutions focused on reducing reliance on manual labor.

Tandreia began her career in 1986 as a part-time hourly manual package handling employee. She spent the great majority of her career in the small package business unit which is responsible for the pick-up, sort, transport and delivery of packages domestically. She held various positions in Industrial Engineering, Marketing, Inside and On-road operations in Central Florida before transferring to Atlanta for a position in Corporate Product Development and Corporate Industrial Engineering. Tandreia later held IE leadership roles in Nebraska, Minnesota and Chicago. In her final role in small package she was an IE VP responsible for all aspects of IE, technology support and quality for the 25 states on the western half of the country.
Tandreia is currently a Director for the University of Central Florida (UCF) Foundation Board and also serves on their Dean’s Advisory Board for the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Previously Tandreia served on the Executive Advisory Board for Virginia Tech’s IE Department and the Association for Supply Chain Management. She served on the Board of Trustees for ChildServ (a Chicago child and family services non-profit) and also served on the Texas A&M and Tuskegee Engineering Advisory Boards. In 2006 she was named Business Advisor of the Year by INROADS, in 2009 she was recognized as a Technology All-Star at the Women of Color in STEM conference and in 2019 she honored as a UCF Distinguished Aluma by the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems.

Tandreia holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University and a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management Systems from UCF. Her greatest accomplishment, however, is being the proud mother of two college students, Ruby (24) and Anthony (22).

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Marty Parker

Host

Marty Parker serves as both the CEO & Founder of Adæpt Advising and an award-winning Senior Lecturer (Teaching Professor) in Supply Chain and Operations Management at the University of Georgia. He has 30 years of experience as a COO, CMO, CSO (Chief Strategy Officer), VP of Operations, VP of Marketing and Process Engineer. He founded and leads UGA’s Supply Chain Advisory Board, serves as the Academic Director of UGA’s Leaders Academy, and serves on multiple company advisory boards including the Trucking Profitability Strategies Conference, Zion Solutions Group and Carlton Creative Company.

Marty enjoys helping people and companies be successful. Through UGA, Marty is passionate about his students, helping them network and find internships and jobs. He does this through several hundred one-on-one zoom meetings each year with his students and former students. Through Adæpt Advising, Marty has organized an excellent team of affiliates that he works with to help companies grow and succeed. He does this by helping c-suite executives improve their skills, develop better leaders, engage their workforce, improve processes, and develop strategic plans with detailed action steps and financial targets. Marty believes that excellence in supply chain management comes from the understanding the intersection of leadership, culture, and technology, working across all parts of the organization to meet customer needs, maximize profit and minimize costs.

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Laura Lopez

Marketing Coordinator

Laura Lopez serves as our Supply Chain Now Marketing Coordinator. She graduated from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente in Mexico with a degree in marketing. Laura loves everything digital because she sees the potential it holds for companies in the marketing industry. Her passion for creativity and thinking outside the box led her to pursue a career in marketing. With experience in fields like accounting, digital marketing, and restaurants, she clearly enjoys taking on challenges. Laura lives the best of both worlds - you'll either catch her hanging out with her friends soaking up the sun in Mexico or flying out to visit her family in California!

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Jake Barr

Host

An acknowledged industry leader, Jake Barr now serves as CEO for BlueWorld Supply Chain Consulting, providing support to a cross section of Fortune 500 companies such as Cargill, Caterpillar, Colgate, Dow/Dupont, Firmenich, 3M, Merck, Bayer/Monsanto, Newell Brands, Kimberly Clark, Nestle, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Sanofi, Estee Lauder and Coty among others. He's also devoted time to engagements in public health sector work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. At P&G, he managed the breakthrough delivery of an E2E (End to End) Planning Transformation effort, creating control towers which now manage the daily business globally. He is recognized as the architect for P&G’s demand driven supply chain strategy – referenced as a “Consumer Driven Supply Chain” transformation. Jake began his career with P&G in Finance in Risk Analysis and then moved into Operations. He has experience in building supply network capability globally through leadership assignments in Asia, Latin America, North America and the Middle East. He currently serves as a Research Associate for MIT; a member of Supply Chain Industry Advisory Council; Member of Gartner’s Supply Chain Think Tank; Consumer Goods “League of Leaders“; and a recipient of the 2015 - 2021 Supply Chain “Pro’s to Know” Award. He has been recognized as a University of Kentucky Fellow.

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Marcia Williams

Host

Marcia Williams, Managing Partner of USM Supply Chain, has 18 years of experience in Supply Chain, with expertise in optimizing Supply Chain-Finance Planning (S&OP/ IBP) at Large Fast-Growing CPGs for greater profitability and improved cash flows. Marcia has helped mid-sized and large companies including Lindt Chocolates, Hershey, and Coty. She holds an MBA from Michigan State University and a degree in Accounting from Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay (South America). Marcia is also a Forbes Council Contributor based out of New York, and author of the book series Supply Chains with Maria in storytelling style. A recent speaker’s engagement is Marcia TEDx Talk: TEDxMSU - How Supply Chain Impacts You: A Transformational Journey.

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Luisa Garcia

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Luisa Garcia is a passionate Marketer from Lagos de Moreno based in Aguascalientes. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Universidad Autonoma de Aguascalientes, Mexico. She specializes in brand development at any stage, believing that a brand is more than just a name or image—it’s an unforgettable experience. Her expertise helps brands achieve their dreams and aspirations, making a lasting impact. Currently working at Vector Global Logistics in the Marketing team and as podcast coordinator of Logistics With Purpose®. Luisa believes that purpose-driven decisions will impact results that make a difference in the world.

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Astrid Aubert

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Astrid Aubert was born in Guadalajara, she is 39 years old and has had the opportunity to live in many places. She studied communication and her professional career has been in Trade Marketing for global companies such as Pepsico and Mars. She currently works as Marketing Director Mexico for Vector Global Logistics. She is responsible for internal communications and marketing strategy development for the logistics industry. She is a mother of two girls, married and lives in Monterrey. She defines herself as a creative and innovative person, and enjoys traveling and cooking a lot.

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Sofia Rivas

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

Sofia self-identifies as Supply Chain Ambassador, her mission is to advocate for the field and inspire young generations from diverse backgrounds and cultures to join the industry so that thought diversity is increased and change accelerated. Recognized as Linkedin Top Voice and Linkedin Community Top Voice in Supply Chain Management, as well as Emerging Leader in Supply Chain by CSCMP 2024, Top Women in Supply Chain by Supply & Demand Executive 2023, and Coup de Coeur Global Women Leaders in Supply Chain by B2G Consulting in 2021. 

Public speaker at multiple international events from keynotes and panels, to webinars and guest lectures for bachelor's and master's degrees, discussing topics such as sustainability, women in the industry, technology and innovation. Writer at different online magazines on logistics, supply chain and technology. Podcast host and guest on different recognized programs in the industry. Sofia has more than 5 years of experience from academic research and field studies to warehouse operations, demand planning and network design. She has worked in manufacturing, airport operations, e-commerce retail, and technology hardware across Latin America, North America and Europe. 

Currently working as Supply Chain Network Design and Optimization Manager at HP within their Global Supply Chain and Logistics team. 

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Karin Bursa

Host

Karin Bursa is the 2020 Supply Chain Pro to Know of the Year and the Host of the TEKTOK Digital Supply Chain Podcast powered by Supply Chain Now. With more than 25 years of supply chain and technology expertise (and the scars to prove it), Karin has the heart of a teacher and has helped nearly 1,000 customers transform their businesses and share their success stories. Today, she helps B2B technology companies introduce new products, capture customer success and grow global revenue, market share and profitability. In addition to her recognition as the 2020 Supply Chain Pro to Know of the Year, Karin has also been recognized as a 2019 and 2018 Supply Chain Pro to Know, 2009 Technology Marketing Executive of the Year and a 2008 Women in Technology Finalist. 

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Vin Vashishta

Host

Vin Vashishta is the author of ‘From Data To Profit’ (Wiley 2023). It’s the playbook for monetizing data and AI. Vin is the Founder of V-Squared and built the business from client 1 to one of the world’s oldest data and AI consulting firms. His background combines nearly 30 years in strategy, leadership, software engineering, and applied machine learning.

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Trisha Cordes

Administrative Assistant

Trisha is new to the supply chain industry – but not to podcasting. She’s an experienced podcast manager and virtual assistant who also happens to have 20 years of experience as an elementary school teacher. It’s safe to say, she’s passionate about helping people, and she lives out that passion every day with the Supply Chain Now team, contributing to scheduling and podcast production.

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Scott W. Luton

Founder, CEO, & Host

As the founder and CEO of Supply Chain Now, you might say Scott is the voice of supply chain – but he’s too much of a team player to ever claim such a title. One thing’s for sure: he’s a tried and true supply chain expert. With over 15 years of experience in the end-to-end supply chain, Scott’s insights have appeared in major publications including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and CNN. He has also been named a top industry influencer by Thinkers360, ISCEA and more.

From 2009-2011, Scott was president of APICS Atlanta, and he continues to lead initiatives that support both the local business community and global industry. A United States Air Force Veteran, Scott has also regularly led efforts to give back to his fellow veteran community since his departure from active duty in 2002.

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Greg White

Principal & Host

When rapid-growth technology companies, venture capital and private equity firms are looking for advisory, they call Greg – a founder, board director, advisor and catalyst of disruptive B2B technology and supply chain. An insightful visionary, Greg guides founders, investors and leadership teams in creating breakthroughs to gain market exposure and momentum – increasing overall company esteem and valuation.

Greg is a founder himself, creating Blue Ridge Solutions, a Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader in cloud-native supply chain applications, and bringing to market Curo, a field service management solution. He has also held leadership roles with Servigistics (PTC) and E3 Corporation (JDA/Blue Yonder). As a principal and host at Supply Chain Now, Greg helps guide the company’s strategic direction, hosts industry leader discussions, community livestreams, and all in addition to executive producing and hosting his original YouTube channel and podcast, TEChquila Sunrise.

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Chris Barnes

Principal, Supply Chain Now
Host of Supply Chain is Boring

Talk about world-class: Chris is one of the few professionals in the world to hold CPIM-F, CLTD-F and CSCP-F designations from ASCM/APICS. He’s also the APICS coach – and our resident Supply Chain Doctor. When he’s not hosting programs with Supply Chain Now, he’s sharing supply chain knowledge on the APICS Coach Youtube channel or serving as a professional education instructor for the Georgia Tech Supply Chain & Logistic Institute’s Supply Chain Management (SCM) program and University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Center for Professional Education courses.

Chris earned a BS in Industrial Engineering from Bradley University, an MBA with emphasis in Industrial Psychology from the University of West Florida, and is a Doctoral in Supply Chain Management candidate.

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Tyler Ward

Director of Sales

Tyler Ward serves as Supply Chain Now's Director of Sales. Born and raised in Mid-Atlantic, Tyler is a proud graduate of Shippensburg University where he earned his degree in Communications. After college, he made his way to the beautiful state of Oregon, where he now lives with his wife and daughter.

With over a decade of experience in sales, Tyler has a proven track record of exceeding targets and leading high-performing teams. He credits his success to his ability to communicate effectively with customers and team members alike, as well as his strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.

When he's not closing deals, you can find Tyler on the links or cheering on his favorite football and basketball teams. He also enjoys spending time with his family, playing pick-up basketball, and traveling back to Ocean City, Maryland, his favorite place!

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Kevin L. Jackson

Host of Digital Transformers

Kevin L. Jackson is a globally recognized Thought Leader, Industry Influencer and Founder/Author of the award winning “Cloud Musings” blog.  He has also been recognized as a “Top 5G Influencer” (Onalytica 2019, Radar 2020), a “Top 50 Global Digital Transformation Thought Leader” (Thinkers 360 2019) and provides strategic consulting and integrated social media services to AT&T, Intel, Broadcom, Ericsson and other leading companies. Mr. Jackson’s commercial experience includes Vice President J.P. Morgan Chase, Worldwide Sales Executive for IBM and SAIC (Engility) Director Cloud Solutions. He has served on teams that have supported digital transformation projects for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the US Intelligence Community.  Kevin’s formal education includes a MS Computer Engineering from Naval Postgraduate School; MA National Security & Strategic Studies from Naval War College; and a BS Aerospace Engineering from the United States Naval Academy. Internationally recognizable firms that have sponsored articles authored by him include Cisco, Microsoft, Citrix and IBM.  Books include “Click to Transform” (Leaders Press, 2020), “Architecting Cloud Computing Solutions” (Packt, 2018), and “Practical Cloud Security: A Cross Industry View” (Taylor & Francis, 2016). He also delivers online training through Tulane University, O’Reilly Media, LinkedIn Learning, and Pluralsight.  Mr. Jackson retired from the U.S. Navy in 1994, earning specialties in Space Systems Engineering, Carrier Onboard Delivery Logistics and carrier-based Airborne Early Warning and Control. While active, he also served with the National Reconnaissance Office, Operational Support Office, providing tactical support to Navy and Marine Corps forces worldwide.

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Enrique Alvarez

Host of Logistics with Purpose and Supply Chain Now en Español

Enrique serves as Managing Director at Vector Global Logistics and believes we all have a personal responsibility to change the world. He is hard working, relationship minded and pro-active. Enrique trusts that the key to logistics is having a good and responsible team that truly partners with the clients and does whatever is necessary to see them succeed. He is a proud sponsor of Vector’s unique results-based work environment and before venturing into logistics he worked for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). During his time at BCG, he worked in different industries such as Telecommunications, Energy, Industrial Goods, Building Materials, and Private Banking. His main focus was always on the operations, sales, and supply chain processes, with case focus on, logistics, growth strategy, and cost reduction. Prior to joining BCG, Enrique worked for Grupo Vitro, a Mexican glass manufacturer, for five years holding different positions from sales and logistics manager to supply chain project leader in charge of five warehouses in Colombia.

He has an MBA from The Wharton School of Business and a BS, in Mechanical Engineer from the Technologico de Monterrey in Mexico. Enrique’s passions are soccer and the ocean, and he also enjoys traveling, getting to know new people, and spending time with his wife and two kids, Emma and Enrique.

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Kelly Barner

Host of Dial P for Procurement

Kelly is the Owner and Managing Director of Buyers Meeting Point and MyPurchasingCenter. She has been in procurement since 2003, starting as a practitioner and then as the Associate Director of Consulting at Emptoris. She has covered procurement news, events, publications, solutions, trends, and relevant economics at Buyers Meeting Point since 2009. Kelly is also the General Manager at Art of Procurement and Business Survey Chair for the ISM-New York Report on Business. Kelly has her MBA from Babson College as well as an MS in Library and Information Science from Simmons College and she has co-authored three books: ‘Supply Market Intelligence for Procurement Professionals’, ‘Procurement at a Crossroads’, and ‘Finance Unleashed’.

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Mary Kate Soliva

Host, Veteran Voices

Mary Kate Soliva is a veteran of the US Army and cofounder of the Guam Human Rights Initiative. She is currently in the Doctor of Criminal Justice program at Saint Leo University. She is passionate about combating human trafficking and has spent the last decade conducting training for military personnel and the local community.

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Constantine Limberakis

Host

Constantine Limberakis is a thought leader in the area of procurement and supply management. He has over 20 years of international experience, playing strategic roles in a wide spectrum of organizations related to analyst advisory, consulting, product marketing, product development, and market research.Throughout his career, he's been passionate about engaging global business leaders and the broader analyst and technology community with strategic content, speaking engagements, podcasts, research, webinars, and industry articles.Constantine holds a BA in History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an MBA in Finance & Marketing / Masters in Public & International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh.

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Amanda Luton

Vice President, Production

Amanda is a production and marketing veteran and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience across a variety of industries and organizations including Von Maur, Anthropologie, AmericasMart Atlanta, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Amanda currently manages, produces, and develops modern digital content for Supply Chain Now and their clients. Amanda has previously served as the VP of Information Systems and Webmaster on the Board of Directors for APICS Savannah, and founded and managed her own successful digital marketing firm, Magnolia Marketing Group. When she’s not leading the Supply Chain Now production team, you can find Amanda in the kitchen, reading, listening to podcasts, or enjoying time with family.

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Clay Phillips

Business Development Manager

Clay is passionate about two things: supply chain and the marketing that goes into it. Recently graduated with a degree in marketing at the University of Georgia, Clay got his start as a journalism major and inaugural member of the Owl’s football team at Kennesaw State University – but quickly saw tremendous opportunity in the Terry College of Business. He’s already putting his education to great use at Supply Chain Now, assisting with everything from sales and brand strategy to media production. Clay has contributed to initiatives such as our leap into video production, the guest blog series, and boosting social media presence, and after nearly two years in Supply Chain Now’s Marketing Department, Clay now heads up partnership and sales initiatives with the help of the rest of the Supply Chain Now sales team.

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Chantel King

Social Media Manager

My name is Chantel King and I am the Social Media Specialist at Supply Chain Now. My job is to make sure our audience is engaged and educated on the abundant amount of information the supply chain industry has to offer.

Social Media and Communications has been my niche ever since I graduated from college at The Academy of Art University in San Francisco. No, I am not a West Coast girl. I was born and raised in New Jersey, but my travel experience goes way beyond the garden state. My true passion is in creating editorial and graphic content that influences others to be great in whatever industry they are in. I’ve done this by working with lifestyle, financial, and editorial companies by providing resources to enhance their businesses.

Another passion of mine is trying new things. Whether it’s food, an activity, or a sport. I would like to say that I am an adventurous Taurus that never shies away from a new quest or challenge.

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Lori Sofian

Marketing Coordinator

Lori is currently completing a degree in marketing with an emphasis in digital marketing at the University of Georgia. When she’s not supporting the marketing efforts at Supply Chain Now, you can find her at music festivals – or working toward her dream goal of a fashion career. Lori is involved in many extracurricular activities and appreciates all the learning experiences UGA has brought her.

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Katherine Hintz

Director, Customer Experience

Katherine is a marketing professional and MBA candidate who strives to unite her love of people with a passion for positive experiences. Having a diverse background, which includes nonprofit work with digital marketing and start-ups, she serves as a leader who helps people live their most creative lives by cultivating community, order, collaboration, and respect. With equal parts creativity and analytics, she brings a unique skill set which fosters refining, problem solving, and connecting organizations with their true vision. In her free time, you can usually find her looking for her cup of coffee, playing with her puppy Charlie, and dreaming of her next road trip.

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Mary Kate Love

Chief of Staff & Host

Mary Kate Love is currently the VP of marketing at Supply Chain Now focused on brand strategy and audience + revenue growth. Mary Kate’s career is a testament to her versatility and innovative spirit: she has experience in start-ups, venture capital, and building innovation initiatives from the ground up: she previously helped lead the build-out of the Supply Chain Innovation Center at Georgia-Pacific and before that, MxD (Manufacturing times Digital): the Department of Defense’s digital manufacturing innovation center. Mary Kate has a passion for taking complicated ideas and turning them into reality: she was one of the first team members at MxD and the first team member at the Supply Chain Innovation Center at Georgia-Pacific.

Mary Kate dedicates her extra time to education and mentorship: she was one of the founding Board Members for Women Influence Chicago and led an initiative for a city-wide job shadow day for young women across Chicago tech companies and was previously on the Board of Directors at St. Laurence High School in Chicago, Young Irish Fellowship Board and the UN Committee for Women. Mary Kate is the founder of National Supply Chain Day and enjoys co-hosting podcasts at Supply Chain Now. Mary Kate is from the south side of Chicago, a mom of two baby boys, and an avid 16-inch softball player. She holds a BS in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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Joshua Miranda

Marketing Specialist

Joshua is a student from Institute of Technology and Higher Education of Monterrey Campus Guadalajara in Communication and Digital Media. His experience ranges from Plug and Play México, DearDoc, and Nissan México creating unique social media marketing campaigns and graphics design. Joshua helps to amplify the voice of supply chain here at Supply Chain Now by assisting in graphic design, content creation, asset logistics, and more.  In his free time he likes to read and write short stories as well as watch movies and television series.

Donna Krache

Director of Communications and Executive Producer

Donna Krache is a former CNN executive producer who has won several awards in journalism and communication, including three Peabodys.  She has 30 years’ experience in broadcast and digital journalism. She led the first production team at CNN to convert its show to a digital platform. She has authored many articles for CNN and other media outlets. She taught digital journalism at Georgia State University and Arizona State University. Krache holds a bachelor’s degree in government from the College of William and Mary and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of New Orleans. She is a serious sports fan who loves the Braves. She is president of the Dave Krache Foundation. Named in honor of her late husband, this non-profit pays fees for kids who want to play sports but whose parents are facing economic challenges.

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Vicki White

Controller

Vicki has a long history of rising to challenges and keeping things up and running. First, she supported her family’s multi-million dollar business as controller for 12 years, beginning at the age of 17. Then, she worked as an office manager and controller for a wholesale food broker. But her biggest feat? Serving as the chief executive officer of her household, while her entrepreneur husband travelled the world extensively. She fed, nurtured, chaperoned, and chauffeured three daughters all while running a newsletter publishing business and remaining active in her community as a Stephen’s Minister, Sunday school teacher, school volunteer, licensed realtor and POA Board president (a title she holds to this day). A force to be reckoned with in the office, you might think twice before you meet Vicki on the tennis court! When she’s not keeping the books balanced at Supply Chain Now or playing tennis matches, you can find Vicki spending time with her husband Greg, her 4 fur babies, gardening, cleaning (yes, she loves to clean!) and learning new things.

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Katherine Hintz

Creative Director, Producer, Host

Katherine Hintz, MBA is a marketing professional who strives to unite her love of people with a passion for positive experiences. Having a diverse background, which includes nonprofit work with digital marketing and start-ups, she serves as a leader who helps people live their most creative lives by cultivating community, order, collaboration, and respect. With equal parts creativity and analytics, she brings a unique skill set which fosters refining, problem solving, and connecting organizations with their true vision. In her free time, you can usually find her looking for her cup of coffee, playing with her puppy Charlie, and dreaming of her next road trip.

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Kim Reuter

Host

From humble beginnings working the import docks, representing Fortune 500 giants, Ford, Michelin Tire, and Black & Decker; to Amazon technology patent holder and Nordstrom Change Leader, Kimberly Reuter has designed, implemented, and optimized best-in-class, highly scalable global logistics and retail operations all over the world. Kimberly’s ability to set strategic vision supported by bomb-proof processes, built on decades of hands-on experience, has elevated her to legendary status. Sought after by her peers and executives for her intellectual capital and keen insights, Kimberly is a thought leader in the retail logistics industry.

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Kristi Porter

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Kristi Porter is VP of Sales and Marketing at Vector Global Logistics, a company that is changing the world through supply chain. In her role, she oversees all marketing efforts and supports the sales team in doing what they do best. In addition to this role, she is the Chief Do-Gooder at Signify, which assists nonprofits and social impact companies through copywriting and marketing strategy consulting. She has almost 20 years of professional experience, and loves every opportunity to help people do more good.

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Sofia Rivas Herrera

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

Sofia Rivas Herrera is a Mexican Industrial Engineer from Tecnologico de Monterrey class 2019. Upon graduation, she earned a scholarship to study MIT’s Graduate Certificate in Logistics and Supply Chain Management and graduated as one of the Top 3 performers of her class in 2020. She also has a multicultural background due to her international academic experiences at Singapore Management University and Kühne Logistics University in Hamburg. Sofia self-identifies as a Supply Chain enthusiast & ambassador sharing her passion for the field in her daily life.

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Demo Perez

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

Demo Perez started his career in 1997 in the industry by chance when a relative asked him for help for two just weeks putting together an operation for FedEx Express at the Colon Free Zone, an area where he was never been but accepted the challenge. Worked in all roles possible from a truck driver to currier to a sales representative, helped the brand introduction, market share growth and recognition in the Colon Free Zone, at the end of 1999 had the chance to meet and have a chat with Fred Smith ( FedEx CEO), joined another company in 2018 who took over the FedEx operations as Operations and sales manager, in 2004 accepted the challenge from his company to leave the FedEx operations and business to take over the operation and business of DHL Express, his major competitor and rival so couldn’t say no, by changing completely its operation model in the Free Zone. In 2005 started his first entrepreneurial journey by quitting his job and joining two friends to start a Freight Forwarding company. After 8 months was recruited back by his company LSP with the General Manager role with the challenge of growing the company and make it fully capable warehousing 3PL. By 2009 joined CSCMP and WERC and started his journey of learning and growing his international network and high-level learning. In 2012 for the first time joined a local association ( the Panama Maritime Chamber) and worked in the country’s first Logistics Strategy plan, joined and lead other associations ending as president of the Panama Logistics Council in 2017. By finishing his professional mission at LSP with a company that was 8 times the size it was when accepted the role as GM with so many jobs generated and several young professionals coached, having great financial results, took the decision to move forward and start his own business from scratch by the end of 2019. with a friend and colleague co-founded IPL Group a company that started as a boutique 3PL and now is gearing up for the post-Covid era by moving to the big leagues.

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