Parcel shippers want to give their customers an ‘Amazon-like’ experience – cheap, fast shipping – but they may not be sure how they can do it affordably or sustainably. An optimized network can achieve all of this, but there’s a LOT to consider. Are they choosing the best location for a distribution center? Are the right products shipping from the right location? Could a cheaper and more sustainable service type give them the same results?

Caleb Nelson is the Chief Growth Officer at Sifted, a data-powered logistics platform. He recently joined Scott Luton and Greg White for a Supply Chain Now livestream to break down everything shippers should consider when optimizing their network – as well as the benefits they can see from doing it!

Listen in for Caleb’s thoughts on:

• The one thing that is holding absolutely constant despite the unpredictability in shipper volumes, carrier rates, and delivery timing

• What he sees as the ‘golden ticket’ for reducing shipment time, parcel damage rates, and logistics costs

• Why the capabilities and capacity of regional carriers is one of the largest growth areas in final mile delivery right now

Intro/Outro (00:00:03):

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 opportunities. Stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on Supply Chain Now.

Scott Luton (00:00:33):

Hey. Hey. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening wherever you are. Scott Luton and Greg White with you here on Supply Chain Now. Welcome to today’s livestream. Gregory, how are we doing?

Greg White (00:00:41):

I’m doing good. Scott. I got to confess, I’ve spent maybe a few too many hours trying to catch up on Peaky Blinders since the new season dropped in the U.S. on Friday. But I’m with you.

Scott Luton (00:00:57):

Okay. You know, I started watching that and I couldn’t get into it. I gave it an episode or two. I think Amanda loves it, but what else is new? She’s a big fan of the highfalutin arts. And I think that –

Greg White (00:01:13):

You think Peaky Blinders is highfalutin?

Scott Luton (00:01:16):

At least our household, maybe, I don’t know. But, regardless, speaking of highfalutin, we’ve got the James Webb of supply chain here with us today.

Greg White (00:01:23):

Oh, right. You guys, I forgot, you’re both telescope fans. That’s right.

Scott Luton (00:01:28):

Back by popular demand. We’re going to be featuring a repeat guest who’s doing big things across supply chain, Greg, especially helping shippers to make smarter more sustainable decisions. This should be another great conversation, huh?

Greg White (00:01:40):

Oh, unquestionably. Yeah. I mean, I’m looking forward to seeing – you know, I’m not going to say the name until you say the name. I often do that. But he was just with us about six weeks ago. So, I’m looking forward to what’s happened because doesn’t it seem like things have changed pretty dramatically in six weeks.

Scott Luton (00:01:57):

I tell you, I think we’re just living it day in and day out right now.

Greg White (00:02:01):

They are not in a freight recession. I will never forget those words from one of our guests.

Scott Luton (00:02:04):

Well, folks we want to hear from you too, though. We got a great guest teed up, Caleb Nelson from Sifted will be here. And we want to hear from you. We’re going to be talking about three optimization strategies for shippers and, of course, we’re just scratching the tip of iceberg there. But, first, Greg – we’re going to say hello to everybody here in just a minute – we want to share a special event that’s coming up in just a couple weeks, right?

Greg White (00:02:30):

Yeah. I guess it’s time for another NRF event, right?

Scott Luton (00:02:35):

It is. And this one isn’t the big show, which is legendary, of course. This is a new event for NRF, the NRF Supply Chain 360 coming up June 20th through the 21st – just around the corner – in Cleveland, Ohio. Greg, this is going to be a good event.

Greg White (00:02:50):

Yeah. We had Jon Gold on a week or so ago to talk about it. You know, this is the National Retail Federation, which really ought to be called the Global Retail Federation. It’s by far the biggest and most influential organization. All their events are supreme quality. They’re an industry and lobbying group for retail here in the states. But every year they bring people from around the world to all of their events to talk about what’s new and what is innovative in regard to retail.

Scott Luton (00:03:21):

Agreed. And Caleb, who’s going to be with us here, they’ve assembled a great speakers bureau of keynotes and Caleb will be one of those there. So, you can meet him in person. He’ll probably touch on that in today’s chat. So, y’all check that out, we’ve dropped a link so you can explore Supply Chain 360 in the comments, and hope to see you there. Okay. So, Greg, let’s say hello to a few folks before we bring on Caleb with Sifted. Huh?

Greg White (00:03:47):

Let’s do that.

Scott Luton (00:03:48):

Let’s do it. Eric tuned down from Ecuador. Great to see you, Eric, via LinkedIn. Looking forward to hearing your take here today. Adedamola is back with us. Hey, we have been missing you. Great to have you back via LinkedIn. Let us know where you’re tuned in from as well, Adedamola. Paul Green is tuned in via LinkedIn. I like that tie, Paul.

Greg White (00:04:11):

Yeah. That’s a good one. You don’t see many people with a tie in their profile picture. Strong move.

Scott Luton (00:04:16):

You know, I just told my mom the other day – she sent me a picture where I had a tie on and she was asking where that was. I said, I don’t know, but I’m never putting on another tie in the rest of my life, thankfully. But, Paul, let us know where you’re tuned in from via LinkedIn. Lucille is tuned in from Toronto via LinkedIn. The beautiful City of Toronto. I think the Blue Jays are playing pretty good baseball these days. Greg, happen to know? No clue?

Greg White (00:04:42):

I didn’t even know the Braves had won seven in a row, so that’s very impressive.

Scott Luton (00:04:45):

Seven in a row. That’s right. How about that?

Greg White (00:04:48):

Yeah. Very impressive.

Scott Luton (00:04:50):

Rahul is with us via LinkedIn. Let us know Rahul where you are tuned in from. Looking forward to your perspective. Jikku is tuned in from Oman via LinkedIn. Wonderful.

Greg White (00:05:00):

That’s the first time I think we’ve seen Oman. That’s cool.

Scott Luton (00:05:02):

Welcome. Welcome. Of course, Dee is hanging out. He might be in the green room. I don’t know. Clay out there making things happen. Clay “Diesel” Phillips, of course, because the engine is always running. Kim Winter, the one and only, Greg. Kim Winter is tuned in from London this time. You know, Dubai is his home base of operations and Kim is tuned in, in London.

Greg White (00:05:25):

Yeah. And he has been all over the place. Right?

Scott Luton (00:05:29):

Gosh. He sure has.

Greg White (00:05:31):

That’s a guy who was dying to hit the road, for sure.

Scott Luton (00:05:35):

Kim, great to see you. Looking forward to your perspective here today. Ousman tuned in via LinkedIn. Let us know where you are tuned in from. Naser from Tehran, Iran is tuned in via LinkedIn. Great to have you here today. Looking forward to hearing your perspective. Look at this, Don Luton – Don Terry Luton. That would be my dad, Greg. He’s tuned in from Cherry Grove Beach.

Greg White (00:05:58):

Hey, dad.

Scott Luton (00:06:00):

Hey, it’s good to have mom and dad be part of these conversations.

Greg White (00:06:04):

Cherry Grove Beach, where is that?

Scott Luton (00:06:06):

All right. So, dad, you’re going to have to let us know.

Greg White (00:06:09):

Oh, you’ve not been invited. All right.

Scott Luton (00:06:11):

I’ve been to Cherry Grove Beach, but y’all check that out. Okay. And hello to everyone else. I know we can’t hit everybody here today, but welcome. We’ve got a great, great conversation. Okay. So, Greg, are we ready? We got to welcome in our VIP guest here today. You ready?

Greg White (00:06:27):

Yeah. Let’s do it. North Myrtle, by the way, is where that is at.

Scott Luton (00:06:30):

North Myrtle Beach. Gotcha. Okay. So, with no further ado, I want to welcome in Caleb Nelson, Chief Growth Officer with Sifted. Hey, Caleb. How are we doing?

Caleb Nelson (00:06:40):

I’m good. I can’t believe you had me back. We must have some dirt on you guys. I don’t know.

Greg White (00:06:46):

We like seeing the traffic in your reflection in your window.

Scott Luton (00:06:53):

The only dirt we have, we put in our Coca-Colas, Caleb, for our pre-show conversation. And, by the way, it’s like Michael Scott. I love inside jokes. I hope to be part of one, one day.

Caleb Nelson (00:07:05):

Be part of one someday.

Scott Luton (00:07:07):

Yeah. So, folks, y’all be able to lookout for these dirty sodas, which we were talking pre-show is, basically, a Coke or something with cream or some other stuff in it. Right, Caleb?

Caleb Nelson (00:07:17):

Yeah. I mean, it’s like Starbucks, but for people who don’t drink coffee and they want a soda option or a soda mix. But they’re popping up. It’s big business now. It’s popping up across the United States, they have different names for it. But if you haven’t a Swig or a Sodalicious or a Fizz or anything like that pop up in your neighborhood, it’s coming. There’s been lot investment that’s been made from private equity into going out and grow that beverage market in various states around the U.S.

Scott Luton (00:07:48):

Okay. Sodalicious. Sodalicious.

Caleb Nelson (00:07:50):

Yeah. Great name.

Greg White (00:07:52):

Anything that tastes like a melted ice cream, like root beer float or whatever, I’m all about that.

Caleb Nelson (00:07:58):

Yeah. Yeah. Me too. My wife will take a sip and be like, “They taste like a melted snow cone.” I’m like, “I know. It’s awesome.”

Greg White (00:08:03):

Perfect.

Scott Luton (00:08:05):

Sign us up. Sign us up. But, by the way, Caleb, we’re going to shift gears and start with a different beverage question. But we’re going to get you a six pack of cherry wine, which is a legendary cola, started in North Carolina. I’m not sure where it’s made now. And we’re going to you onto the cherry wine wagon with the rest of us. Does that sound good?

Caleb Nelson (00:08:24):

Bring it on. I drink enough soda to kill a cow, it feels like, every day.

Scott Luton (00:08:29):

Okay. All right. So, you learn something new every day about one Caleb Nelson. But, Greg, today is International Dark and Stormy Day, which is new one for me. Evidently the Dark and Stormy is a drink which is made with Gosling’s Black Seal Rum and Sparkling Ginger Beer. So, that’s new for me. But let us know out there who’s a big fan of Dark and Stormy. So, with that said, if it’s not a Dark and Stormy, Caleb, what is your favorite beverage to relax with?

Caleb Nelson (00:09:01):

Well, I think we touched on the fact that I love soda. Diet Mountain Dew – you put me on the front porch at my house and you give me a Diet Mountain Dew or –

Greg White (00:09:10):

How do you relax with Mountain Dew? It’s like the original energy drink.

Caleb Nelson (00:09:16):

I know. I’m letting you in a little bit too much in my life. If you drink enough soda, the caffeine doesn’t bother you as much.

Greg White (00:09:26):

There you go. Caleb, have you ever said “I’m all jacked up on Mountain Dew”? Have you ever said that?

Caleb Nelson (00:09:32):

Maybe when I was 12, I had my first Mountain Dew.

Scott Luton (00:09:37):

That’s a legendary line from a movie that I can’t think of the name right now.

Greg White (00:09:43):

Talladega Nights

Caleb Nelson (00:09:43):

Talladega Nights

Scott Luton (00:09:44):

Talladega Nights, that’s right. Okay. Hey, really quick. I’m going to get Greg’s beverage of choice, but first Adedamola is tuned in from Hull. And she says, “Hello, Greg.” Dad says, “Just past Myrtle Beaches,” you alluded to that Cherry Grove Beach. Hey, we’ve got Charles Walker with us. Charles is a dynamo. He says, “Hello, Scott, Greg, and Caleb. Hooah. Army Strong.” So, Charles, it’s been too long. Hope this finds you well. Okay. So, Greg, lay it on us, because I don’t think it’s a Dark and Stormy in your neck of the woods. What is your favorite beverage to relax with?

Greg White (00:10:16):

So, interestingly, I was just reading about drinks called a Buck. So, that is a Buck drink. So, there used to be a drink – which I like – ginger ale and lemon called a Horse’s Neck. And in – I don’t know – 1863 or something, some guy ordered a shot of whiskey to be put into it. And because it was called a Horse’s Neck, it made the horse buck. So, those are called Buck. So, a Moscow Mule is a Buck. Anything with ginger beer and/or fruit drink in it and whiskey is called a Buck. Now, they’re mostly called Mules. But all of that said, I’m going to go down the non-alcoholic route as well. I am a sucker for an Arnold Palmer with the sweet tea.

Greg White (00:11:08):

You know, it’s funny you go to lunch with people and you order an Arnold Palmer, and everybody assumes because it has a name that it’s an alcoholic beverage. And they’re like, “You drink at lunch?” And I’m like, “I’ll have two or three of these things.”

Caleb Nelson (00:11:21):

That’s awesome.

Scott Luton (00:11:21):

Yes. I’m not sure who this is. Amanda, let us know. Sometimes if you’ve got a LinkedIn setting, we can’t see your name. “Soda optimization strategies first.” Yes, we’re covering our bases here today.

Greg White (00:11:31):

I mean, it is supply chain, you’ve got to be a little jacked up.

Scott Luton (00:11:34):

That’s right. That’s Niles. Hey, Miles. Great to see you. It’s been too long. Great to see you. And thank you, Lucille. She appreciates the history that Greg is laying out there. Good stuff. All right. So, we’re being prompted by Miles to get into our center plate discussion here today. And, again, we’re going to be talking about three optimization strategies for shippers here in just a minute. But before we do, as Greg calculated it, and it’s been six weeks since your last appearance, but who’s been counting? Caleb, what’s been new with you and the Sifted team, or you and the fam, you name it? What’s new?

Caleb Nelson (00:12:12):

Well, from a personal side, I love restoring cars. And I started a new car project that I’m working on and I’m focused on that some nights that I can skip away and go to the shop. But it’s a 66 C10 Chevy Truck. So, an old farm truck.

Scott Luton (00:12:29):

Nice.

Greg White (00:12:30):

Short bed or long bed?

Caleb Nelson (00:12:32):

This one’s a long bed. And I like the short beds. But the long bed, if it’s done right, it looks amazing. And I’m really excited to kind of dive into that. I do that as a hobby. And so, when I pick up a new project, I get stoked on it and try to finish a new car every year and then sell it.

Greg White (00:12:49):

So, you’re in Utah, so I’m stunned that you don’t have the beard and the stocking cap and everything, but at least you’re going to drop this truck. I assume you’re going to drop it if you build that in Utah.

Caleb Nelson (00:13:01):

You know, I love lowered trucks or drop trucks. You put them on airbags and they look really cool. But this one, I’m going to go straight classic, so [inaudible] it’s done.

Scott Luton (00:13:11):

Well, maybe ZZ Top can make an appearance and help you move that sucker once you’ve got it remodeled. All right. So, Greg, that’s what was coming to my mind as you were describing imagery there. But, Caleb, what’s new from a Sifted standpoint because the beat goes on? [Inaudible] big things.

Caleb Nelson (00:13:28):

What isn’t new and what hasn’t changed, and it feels like the wind has been sucked out of the sales as of late in transportation and supply chain. There’s a lot of significant changes that are happening right now specific on the freight side. We more kind of specialize on the final mile parcel delivery side. And those have been more sheltered for sure. But, man, there are some significant changes that are happening right now that I think both carriers and shippers are a little on unstable ground right now. And they’re trying to figure things out as the year progresses.

Scott Luton (00:14:06):

Yeah. Well said. Well said. And we’re going to dive right into that. We got a question from Ashish here though. So, Ashish, welcome to the conversation via LinkedIn. Greg right now is in Hilton Head, where he’s doing supply chain research on – what’s that index number we’re calling?

Greg White (00:14:22):

Yeah. Right. It’s the Supply Chain Now waterborne backup global freight and container backlog index.

Scott Luton (00:14:33):

I like that one.

Greg White (00:14:34):

We’re trying to find something short and catchy.

Scott Luton (00:14:37):

That’s right.

Greg White (00:14:38):

But there is actually a container ship waiting offshore. And yesterday, there were 19.

Scott Luton (00:14:46):

Okay. Man, that’s a big number for a pier.

Greg White (00:14:49):

I think we learned a week or so ago on one of the shows where we mentioned the index that there’s a lift down in the Port of Savannah, so like a-half or a-third capacity. Because everything was going so well, something had to break, right?

Scott Luton (00:15:07):

That’s the nature. That’s what Caleb was talking to a second ago. Ashish, just to kind of round things out. Caleb is in Northern Utah. And I’m in the Metro Atlanta area on the east side. So, great question and great to have you here today. Look forward to your perspective. Okay.

Scott Luton (00:15:24):

So, Caleb, Miles is wanting us to get into the heavy lifting here today. And we want to pick your brain – you know, for shippers, it’s been an ongoing obstacle course, kind of what Greg was just alluding to and you were alluding to earlier, the hits just keep on coming – we want to tap into your knowledge and expertise and some of the things you’re doing at Sifted and want to tap into three optimization strategies for shippers to help them out here today. So, if your game, let’s dive into the first one. What’s the first one on your mind?

Caleb Nelson (00:15:55):

Yeah. I think there’s been a lot of conversations that we’ve seen and had with shippers that are saying, we’re seeing a lot of changes happen within our relationships with our partner carriers. We’re seeing a lot of volume discrepancies, volume going up and going down. But one thing that is super constant is what their customers expect when they order product from their website. That is a constant. That is not changing. And that demand and pressure has been, I would say, greater than it is. And then, you lay that on top of some of the ups and downs that the carriers are facing right now to deliver a solid customer experience from when they order product on your website to when it gets to their door, is, I would say, more challenging as time has gone on. But that is an absolute constant that shippers are completely, I would say, engulfed in trying to be able to do.

Caleb Nelson (00:16:49):

So, I think strategy number one that we’re really focused on is to help improve where shippers are shipping from so they can be able to optimize and shorten that distance from point A to point B. I think that’s extremely helpful. Gone are the days, I think, where FedEx and UPS handle 100 percent of a client or a shipper’s business. And shippers, if you are a shipper and you’re listening to this, you’ve got everything loaded in one basket, all your eggs in one basket with FedEx or all your eggs with UPS, you need to be analyzing to determine, is there a better option for me to be able to diversify and move away from putting all my eggs in one basket?

Scott Luton (00:17:34):

So, that first one is optimizing those distribution center locations amongst other sites as part of your transportation logistics footprint. And really quick – Greg, I’m going to get your take on it here in just a second – folks that are listening that are tuned in, we’d love to hear your take. You know, give us your take on what Caleb is sharing through these three strategies or let us know what you’re seeing out there. All right. So, Greg, optimizing that footprint is where we’re starting, your thoughts.

Greg White (00:18:01):

Well, it’s funny, we just talked to Sweetwater yesterday, Phil, their Chief Supply Chain Officer, and they’re adding a facility in Glendale, Arizona because it crosses too many zones to ship to the west coast from where they are now. So, I think a lot of companies have been doing that. And, of course, as eCommerce boomed during the pandemic, a lot of companies spread out their distribution and fulfillment network. And there are a lot of ways to do it. I mean, you can build your own. There are all kinds of services out there where you can get fractional space and distribution centers, 3PLs, et cetera, et cetera. There’s all kinds of ways to do it. But, look, I mean, let’s face it, Amazon made it standard two day delivery. So, you’ve got to be very close to that, if not right on it. Because now we, the consumer, having realized that it’s possible as, Caleb, you were saying, now we demand it.

Caleb Nelson (00:19:03):

Yeah. It’s one of those things that you can’t put the genie back in the bottle in some way. Once it’s out and people experience it – it’s kind of like when you travel first class. It’s very rare that I travel first class. But when you do, it’s like, “I’ll go back to coach? Are you serious?”

Greg White (00:19:20):

Are you going to keep them down on the farm now that they’ve seen Paree, right?

Caleb Nelson (00:19:23):

Yeah. It’s one of those things that I think shippers need to be looking at their – Greg, you nailed – top zones. So, when you look at your distribution and where your customers are located throughout the U.S., and if you’re using FedEx or UPS or regional carriers, they price based off of zone. And zone is basically distance from point a to point B. And it’s a different price for different zones. If you are shipping a lot and very heavy in Zones 5, 6, 7, and 8, you are shipping longer distances across the country. Meaning, longer times in transit, you’re paying the most that you’re going to pay for the carrier services. And you have more chances, in my mind, of that freight getting damaged because it’s handled more by the carriers.

Caleb Nelson (00:20:08):

If we can shorten that distance from point A to point B and lower the zone to a Zone 2 or a Zone 3, that’s the golden ticket. We have a lot of customers – I was talking to one just last week – who said, “We have a mandate to ship to 98 percent of the U.S. population within two days in a ground network within FedEx or UPS. How do we do that?” And that’s a giant math problem to solve, but it’s solvable. And once you solve it, that’s a bulletproof network that you’ve just built for your organization. It’s pretty amazing.

Scott Luton (00:20:44):

And that’s a nice segue to the second strategy, I believe. But really quick, Jose, great to see you here today. Speaking of new facilities, they’ve expanded and added DCs in Houston and Savannah. How cool is that? Congratulations, Jose, who hails from Southern California. Great to see here, my friend. Okay.

Scott Luton (00:21:03):

So, what you’re just saying there is kind of back to the three number one factors so often, in at least in real estate, location, location, location. So, what’s number two on our list of optimization strategies for shippers?

Caleb Nelson (00:21:17):

Location doesn’t mean boo if you don’t have the right product in the right location.

Scott Luton (00:21:22):

Nice. I like that.

Caleb Nelson (00:21:24):

So, a lot of shippers will have and spend good time building a bulletproof network where they say, “Yeah. I’ve got five locations. I can cover 98 percent of the United States in a two day network or in two days on ground.” But if you have the wrong SKUs housed in the wrong locations in those five different DCs, let’s say, you’re cross country shipping because you just don’t have the right inventory.

Caleb Nelson (00:21:51):

Inventory management, I think, is key and often overlooked. I would say, it’s probably one of the harder problems to solve to determine what products you need to keep from which parts of the U.S. But it’s what data is. I mean, you need to analyze that data to look for what has been historically done and where customers are historically buying certain SKUs from. And then, fill that inventory in those right locations. Easier said than done. But it’s really a 50-50 thing. You got to have the right network and the right locations to ship from. You got to have the right product in those locations to ship from as well. They go hand in hand.

Scott Luton (00:22:31):

All right. So, Greg, I’m going to get your take here, but, first, what is the value of boo in this inflation driven economy these days?

Greg White (00:22:39):

Boo has gone up quite a bit, hasn’t it?

Scott Luton (00:22:40):

Boo has gone up. All right. That’s a t-shirt-ism there. Caleb said, the location doesn’t mean boo if you don’t have the right product there. All right. So, Greg, your take on number two here.

Greg White (00:22:53):

Well, let me just tell you, that even 16 percent of zero is still zero. The math is working for us on boo. I mean, I’ve made a career of doing exactly what Caleb’s talking about. I mean, one of the first products I built was called SKU Optimization for a company that distributed goods all around the country. And we realized that because of the zone situation that, Caleb, you talked about, that we could either ship it all from Indianapolis all around the country or we could position it in Dallas or Reno or LA or whatever, to get it to those. But we had to understand what the demand or the demand potential was in those areas, and that’s the math problem Caleb is referring to.

Greg White (00:23:40):

Especially with new items or new to those marketplace items, or even just new to you as a shipper. You have to understand the demand in order to determine what should go there. It’s not easy, but it can be done. You can use related items. There’s all kinds of ways to do it. But it’s absolutely critical because it doesn’t matter if you have every single item if every single item you have in a particular location are ones that nobody wants. And that literally happens. I mean, it has happened that companies have equally distributed winter coats to Florida as they have to Wisconsin. So, you have to be really, really smart about it.

Scott Luton (00:24:22):

Well, you know, the rise of the micro fulfillment centers, especially near urban centers, that’s been driven by really advanced predictive analytics in terms of what product to stage in those areas. So, Caleb, your last comment here before we move to number three.

Caleb Nelson (00:24:39):

That it’s easier than you think it is. The math problem is still math. It’s still challenge. But, oftentimes, I talk to shippers and they say, “Okay. So, if I need to ship from a new location, that means I have to replicate everything I have at my location right here and do a whole new brick and mortar location somewhere else, employ it, buy the land, build the building, put in employees, put in management.” No. Probably 15 years ago, absolutely. But the amount of money that has been dumped into 3PL, fulfillment, warehousing, microwarehousing space from private equity firms, VC capital firms is astounding. It allows you, as a shipper, to be able to turn on and off certain locations that you want to ship your product from like a spigot. If you wanted to be able to ship into the Northeast for a temporary period of time and then pull that back, you can absolutely do that without needing to build a brick and mortar location and figure out employee costs and tax issues and all of that stuff.

Caleb Nelson (00:25:42):

And there is enough competition to drive pricing down on pick pack storage and shipping fees that it makes it a very lucrative option. And, look, I think if you are a FedEx or a UPS shipper and you’re looking at the difference between a cross country move and a local move, that difference, depending upon the size of what your product is and the weight of it, can be a substantial difference. Even if it’s $14 per package in savings, that is a massive cost savings that you can negotiate with FedEx and UPS until you’re blue in the face. They will never move your contract down that low. And what we’re talking about is optimization on you. And I think that ultimately means that you’re a better partner for FedEx and UPS, which are optimization organizations. They thrive on efficiency and they want clients who are as efficient as possible because that brings up their profitability.

Scott Luton (00:26:45):

It’s more attractive business.

Caleb Nelson (00:26:47):

Yeah. Equals profitability for them. So, if you can look at that in those ways, it is a true triple win. It’s a win for you. It’s a win for your client. It’s a win for the carrier.

Scott Luton (00:26:58):

Excellent point there. Before moving into the number three here, being a smart shipper, being a good partner, you’re going to have a lot more options. And one of the things you’ve said here throughout, Caleb, is, if you put all your eggs in a single basket, you’re taking on more risk than perhaps you should. So, back to the kind of the right product, right location, Jose says, “Heat map helps a lot.” And, Caleb, you seem to agree with Jose there.

Caleb Nelson (00:27:25):

Yeah. Jose nailed it. Visualization on the distribution side really helps out. And to be able to organize it by zone in a visual setting on, like, a geospatial map, that’s money right there.

Scott Luton (00:27:38):

Money, money. The production team’s calling out one of your t-shirt-isms, “Location doesn’t mean boo if you don’t have the right product in the right location.” I love that. Ashish, basically he was saying we’re in the same boat, but he says the same container. I love that little twist on that. So, thank you. And Ashish also has a question for you, Caleb. You were referencing the different zones earlier, he’s asking what do you mean by Zone 5, 6, and 7.

Caleb Nelson (00:28:03):

So, if you look at your pricing agreement with FedEx or UPS or a parcel carrier, they’ve split out the United States based off of zones. So, if you’re shipping from Utah – where I’m at – to North Carolina, they measure the distance between point A to point B and they determine what zone it belongs in, and that zone has a specific price associated to it. And then, it’s based off of your weight. It’s kind of an intentionally complicated algorithm that they put in place.

Greg White (00:28:34):

Well said. It’s decipherable.

Caleb Nelson (00:28:36):

It is. It’s decipherable and it’s in the data and it’s there. But really understanding your zones and your distribution by zone is the key that unlocks the door that allows you to be able to get additional cost savings.

Scott Luton (00:28:54):

So, you’re talking about deciphering a moment ago, and you mentioned the word spigot, which I thought was more of like a Southern term or Southeastern term. But whenever I hear that, my family took a car trip from South Carolina to Texas way back in the day in the ’80s. And I’m not sure what my dad needed. I think he needed to fill up the radiator or something, but he stopped in Texas at a gas station and said, “Hey, do you have a spigot?” And they looked at him like he had, you know, three eyes. They had never heard of that term before. “A water faucet.” “Oh, yeah, yeah. Right around the corner. Right around the corner.”

Greg White (00:29:30):

In that part of the country, that’s where you drink your water is out of the spigot.

Caleb Nelson (00:29:35):

Yeah. I grew up in Texas and that’s where I learned the phrase from.

Scott Luton (00:29:39):

Maybe we picked the wrong gas station. Who knows? Let’s see here, Michael says, “Market area is what trucking uses instead of zones.” Does that sound about right? And, Michael, please expound on that a little bit more. But great to have you here, Michael. We always enjoy your contributions.

Greg White (00:29:57):

You have to think of zones as kind of concentric circles around wherever you’re shipping from, let’s just say. Zone 1 is the closest, then Zone 2, 3, 4. So, the cost is higher because of the longer transportation, longer run.

Caleb Nelson (00:30:16):

Point A to point B.

Scott Luton (00:30:17):

Okay. So, all of that brings us to our third optimization strategy for the shippers out there. And, Caleb, what is that going to be?

Caleb Nelson (00:30:26):

That’s really, I would say, going back to that comment of not having all your eggs in one basket, the amount of opportunity that’s out there for a shipper to diversify their shipments away from primary carriers and giving them to regional carriers. And I’ll give you an example of this. If you’re in California and you ship a package, let’s say, to Utah, you have California, Nevada, Utah, those three states together. If you use FedEx for that service and, let’s say, you pick a two day option, you would think that it just simply travels from California to Nevada to Utah and it’s delivered within two days. Because it’s a national carrier, what happens? If you go in and track that shipment, they put that on a plane. They fly it all the way to Memphis, Tennessee. It gets sorted in their sort facility. Get put on another plane flown all the way back across country to Utah. And out for delivery from Utah.

Caleb Nelson (00:31:23):

Number one, that’s not very efficient. Number two, that’s not very sustainable. And, I would say, the option that shippers have to use regional carriers is definitely one of the biggest areas of growth that I’m seeing in a final mile delivery. People that ship parcel, options to use carriers like OnTrac, LaserShip, Lone Star, there are plenty of other parcel options that are out there that if you can identify these shipments that typically go in this regional area of the United States, I won’t give that to FedEx or UPS. I’m going to give that to a regional carrier.

Caleb Nelson (00:32:03):

And if that same shipment that we were talking about left from California, you give that to OnTrac, they ship it from California, goes trucking over Nevada to Utah. And it’s typically delivered within a one day business point from there. So, you get better service for lower money or less money, and it’s more sustainable. You’re keeping it in a regional area. And that sustainability, I think, it’s often overlooked. A lot of shippers think, “I’m just trying to get packages out my door. Now, you want to talk to me about being green?” Sustainability and shipping go hand in hand that if you make a move in sustainability, it’s going to come in the form of cost reduction. It’s one of the very rare industries that will actually do that. Packaging is a little different going green. You typically pay a little bit more for better packaging or more sustainable packaging. But if you’re looking at it from a network optimization standpoint, it is a one for one in cost reduction.

Scott Luton (00:33:00):

It pays to eliminate those empty miles or at least significantly reduce them. Well said there, Caleb. Greg, get you to weigh in here own carrier network analysis.

Greg White (00:33:10):

Yeah. Well, I mean, again, great example, the big carriers. And they were diversified. USPS, UPS, and FedEx all failed Amazon in 2014. And by 2017, they had hundreds of their own fulfillment facilities and trucks working on things like planes and ships as well. So, if it’s good enough for, you know, the biggest online retailer in the world – soon to be the biggest retailer in the world – then it’s good enough for the rest of us. And I think a lot of these regional carriers, they simply exist because there’s such great gaps in all of those carriers, USPS, UPS, FedEx, and now Amazon, even they have gaps in their coverage and leave opportunities for these regional carriers bring numbers, hundreds, maybe thousands, I don’t know. Caleb, you probably have a better handle on it.

Caleb Nelson (00:34:06):

Yeah. It’s been really interesting –

Greg White (00:34:08):

But the key is – go ahead, Caleb.

Caleb Nelson (00:34:10):

I was just going to say, it’s really interesting to see the growth kind of explode in that area. And it shows that the demand is there. That shippers are sick of being in a duopoly that acts as a monopoly, which is FedEx and UPS is primary options. They’re great. Honestly, they are needed. They are great options for shippers to be able to use. You need to use FedEx and UPS to ship nationwide if you’re a parcel shipper of any type of size. However, they, themselves, also do not want every piece of your business or every piece of freight. They used to –

Greg White (00:34:46):

They’ve always been very clear about that at UPS, right? [Inaudible].

Caleb Nelson (00:34:50):

Yeah. Carol was saying, better not bigger. Which means, don’t give me all your freight. Give only the freight that I am really good at moving. Which means, as a shipper, the trick is, how can I peel a certain percentage of my freight away from FedEx or UPS and give it to a regional carrier without decimating my FedEx contractor, my UPS contract that I need today, because that’s based off of volumes? And which shipments should I give that is a better fit for a regional carrier? If you can do those three things that we talked about, like network optimization and then being able to do inventory management right, as well as kind of diversify your carrier mix, it’s not something that can be done in 30 minutes. But if you can do that, your cost absolutely get within order and you bulletproof your network. It’s a pretty amazing combination of three things you can do.

Scott Luton (00:35:49):

Bulletproofing your network. The Professor James Webb is giving a shipping masterclass here, Greg. By the way, Ashish says, ” Thanks, Caleb, for explaining zone.” We’ve got our friend, Dr. Rhonda, is back with us. Rhonda, hope this finds you well. Meeting the meeting, hey, we get it. Great to have you here. Ashish also says – the most engaged listener right here. Ashish, that’s going to be a new bullet point to add to your profile – “I think location also matters to make fast delivery. Of course, right product is comparatively more important.” Hey, CargoMargo – hope this finds you well, Margo. Great to have you here. Love the nickname – “Inventory management is big. Great tips.” I agree. And, Greg, I love to get your comment here. I noticed that in Caleb’s first appearance with us, practical, been there, done that perspective, and not theoretical. This is going to the brass tax of how you can become a much more smarter, but also more sustainable shipper. Greg, your thoughts?

Greg White (00:36:48):

Well, first of all, you got to go back to the sustainability. I love the fact that it aligns. I mean, fewer zones, shorter trips, less fuel, less smoke, less carbon. I mean, you’re almost an accidental environmentalist just by positioning your product smartly, right? Smartly? Wisely? Prudently?

Scott Luton (00:37:12):

You’re not asking me for English tips are you, Greg?

Greg White (00:37:15):

Well, I think that we have to recognize that, as we have talked about for years, Scott, that the choices made by the big carriers have begotten this complex regional short haul parcel network. And I mean, even the big ones will not always have the liberty to dump clients and cherry pick the most profitable routes and that sort of thing. But these companies will hone their craft in their regions and they will figure out a way to make it economical to deliver. Which, to me, by the way, whether eCommerce can be economical enough is still an open question in my mind for certain products, especially, because of the gotchas of shipping, the accessorials, and all that other stuff that shippers don’t know about until the bill hits. And by that time, the goods have already been delivered at the promised cost.

Caleb Nelson (00:38:15):

It’s probably weeks later at that point.

Greg White (00:38:18):

Yeah. Exactly. And we talk about that all the time, Caleb. I mean, understanding that carrier agreement is absolutely critical so that you know what the potential risks are whenever you’re shipping something that’s exceptionally large or goes to a tough address or whatever. I think, you know, organizations like yours that help surface that ahead of time preemptively rather than after the fact, that’s hugely beneficial to companies and it helps them to make those decisions. Do I stay with the big two or three or do I use a regional carrier?

Caleb Nelson (00:38:55):

Yeah. What’s amazing is it’s not uncommon for a shipper after running this kind of an analysis to realize “I’m dropping SKUs. Like, I’m going to drop some product because some of the product actually cost me money to ship and deliver for what I sell it for, for what the actual cost is at the end of the day.” And, Greg, you’re totally right, if it’s oversized, if it’s larger, high cube, whatever it is, or harder to ship to in the part of the United States, that doesn’t necessarily just a road margin, it can completely upside down it to a point where you are losing money on certain shipments. And a lot of shippers don’t realize that because there’s not an easy way to totally match up what my total cost is per SKU, across the board, landed all the way to the client’s door.

Scott Luton (00:39:46):

Man, again, is there going to be a quiz at the end of this livestream? Caleb keeping us on our toes. This is a lot of good stuff.

Greg White (00:39:54):

Well, I know you’re taking 17 pages of notes, Scott, so you should be good.

Caleb Nelson (00:39:59):

I’m going to show up with a professor hat on next time.

Scott Luton (00:40:01):

That would be awesome. Hey, Paul agrees with me. He says, “This is a great discussion.” Caleb, though, he’s got a question for you, ” Can you talk about some of the key inputs you think about when determining where a shipper should put their next distribution center? Demand, potential demand.” What would you add to that list, Caleb?

Caleb Nelson (00:40:19):

So, I think it goes back to understanding where your current status is right now. If you need to know based upon what your distribution network is based off of zones that we talked about, if that’s even an option for you. Some shippers are already regional from kind of the nature of their business, Zone 2, Zone 3, Zone 4, and they’re set and they don’t even need to worry about this. But if you’re an eCommerce shipper and you’re shipping across country, if you notice that you’ve got a lot of customers in other parts of the U.S. that you’re shipping heavy to, running the analysis on top zones and then your average cost per zone, I think, is really important to know.

Caleb Nelson (00:40:59):

So, if you think of categorizing the shipments based upon location, heat map that was mentioned earlier, and then look at your average cost per zone to help determine, “Okay. Is it even an option for me to even go down this path?” And let the data tell you and, I would say, be your guide in that process. And then, demand forecast, I think, is really huge.

Caleb Nelson (00:41:24):

We talk about the James Webb Telescope and all of that, and I think it’s unbelievable, but what it’s doing, if I relate that to shipping for just a second and how you can solve some of this problem using the James Webb kind of idea, the James Webb Telescope is looking at old light. It’s basically a time machine. It’s looking back in time and it’s making assumptions or images from that data. You need to be doing the exact same thing by looking at your historical data within shipping and being the James Webb in shipping to look back at that to say, “This is what’s historically been going on over the last 6 months, 12 months. This is how it’s trending. I’m shipping a lot more to this part of the United States. And if that keeps going, then I need to be able to address that.

Caleb Nelson (00:42:12):

A lot has to do with your historical data. And we get questions asked a lot by, “Well, what kind of data?” It’s your invoice data from your carriers? And if you can absorb 6 months or 12 months of your invoice data, analyze it, determine what you need to be able to do and how to do it, that is your guide to determining what your go forward action should be for the rest of this year and 2023.

Scott Luton (00:42:38):

Okay. All right. Greg, I know you’re thinking of your standard disclaimer that you always say when looking back, I’ll let you say it. I’ll let you share it. Past performance is no –

Greg White (00:42:50):

Past performance is no indication of future value. But in some cases, you’re kind of stuck with it. What you have to do to augment that analysis is you have to look at – and, Caleb, you alluded to this – the continuation of that. Does that really reflect what we expect to happen in the future? And what do we want to do about it? But you do have to have some indication of what the future is because, especially right now – I don’t know, if anyone’s read the commentary I put out on Target yesterday – you can really get trapped in the past. What the Webb telescope is doing is capturing history. It’s not projecting the future based on that history. But it could. Because it is that type of history, that type of light refraction, whatever, is much more indicative of what’s coming in the future because there are no fickle humans between the Webb telescope and those stars.

Scott Luton (00:43:59):

I wonder what’s up there.

Greg White (00:44:00):

This is the thing we have to plan for, is, how do we use what we know about the past and how do we convert that into knowledge of, not our products, but our consumers for the future. And that’s where a lot of times in supply chain, we get caught. We get caught because we do things like forecast items. When really, items don’t do anything. Toilet paper did not jump into people’s shopping carts during the great toilet paper shortage of 2020. People pulled it, screaming and yelling down off of the shelves, and over stuffed it into carts. We have to predict whether shoppers will do that. And whatever we are shipping to those outward zones, we have to understand whether our consumers will continue to buy that product in that measure or maybe even greater measure. So, there’s all kinds of other analysis you have to do, but you have to start somewhere and you have to believe, you have to use that data to believe that I have future business in this part of the country. And, therefore, I need to land something there. Clearly, that’s what Sweetwater has done with their newest facility.

Scott Luton (00:45:09):

Man, I’m itching to get a word in here. You mentioned to James Webb analogy there, Caleb, and it’s such a good one, it’s so spot on. But, also, just one of the points Greg just made there and the point you’re making Caleb, you know, we don’t have the technology right now to go five billion light years and to see these things firsthand. We’re relying on living history that the telescope is pulling. And, folks, in case this is on your radar – no pun intended – July 12th is when we expect to see the first real images from the earliest research that the James Webb telescope is going to bring to us.

Scott Luton (00:45:46):

Okay. And as Greg pointed out, me and Caleb – Caleb, I’m looping you in – big old space nerds, big old –

Caleb Nelson (00:45:54):

I was going to say, this conversation’s turned really nerdy, guys. [Inaudible].

Greg White (00:45:57):

Right.

Scott Luton (00:45:58):

So, let’s share a couple quick comments. And then, Caleb, you’ve got a couple resources that you and the Sifted team have, I think, folks are going to find valuable. TSquared says, “Thanks for bringing more clarity to a topic that too many people in industry, C-suites, are running from, sustainability and supply chain management.” Excellent point there. Margo was talking about the linear foot roll earlier, way back earlier, a couple light years ago. Big Show Bob Bova is with us here. And let me see if I can’t read this comment.

Greg White (00:46:26):

And how old is that picture of Bob? Is that even Bob?

Scott Luton (00:46:31):

So, Big Show Bob Bova says, “Shipping is the fastest growing application for voice automation. Companies are getting product off the line. WMS is integrating all kinds of factors. Best, fastest, most economical. Then, we communicate to the person taking the product or even in robotic sortation.” It’s a huge opportunity there, as Bob points out. It’s a good point there. And, Bob, hope this finds you well, man. It’s been too long. Let’s see here. CargoMargo says, “Forecasting accuracy is important, but is ever changing. Loving the conversation.” Paul finds your tips very helpful on where to locate distribution center. Bob says, “The picture came from college.” I love that. And, finally, Dr. Rhonda says, “Past, present, and future behaviors always interesting to explore. We can often see some patterns of behavior from the data to find some helpful solutions that are related to forecasting. Great discussion.”

Caleb Nelson (00:47:28):

Yeah. I would say Dr. Rhonda nailed it on that one. I think it’s looking for patterns, looking for patterns and trends. It won’t be 100 percent a prediction for what is to come. But you sure can learn a lot from pain that you’ve been experiencing and you might not even have known.

Greg White (00:47:46):

Well, if you’re nowhere, Caleb, if you’re not in the market, just knowing that there’s enough demand that you ought to put yourself in the market is sufficient. You have to be there then to tune it to how much of what goods you ought to put in a fulfillment center. But, first, you have to get there.

Caleb Nelson (00:48:05):

That’s right.

Scott Luton (00:48:06):

You got to get there. Hey, we’re not going to have time to get into a couple of great questions here, but I want to put them on your radar, Caleb, and maybe you and the team can connect with Hulya after the fact, asking about diversification of the supplier network. And Paul with the follow up question around the power of visualization of data. Both of those are great questions, so, hopefully, you can connect with them.

Scott Luton (00:48:26):

Before we make sure folks know how to connect with you, Caleb Nelson, there’s a couple resources that we want to make sure folks have, and our production team’s going to drop these links, eBooks, eBooks, 187 pages – no. I’m kidding.

Caleb Nelson (00:48:42):

Clear your afternoon.

Scott Luton (00:48:44):

Right. The first eBook that you have brought to today’s conversation is around future proofing your network. Future poofing might be something completely different, but future proofing your network, which Caleb touched on the front end of our conversation. So, that is available for free to download. And then, the second one, Caleb, I want to ask you about, this is a new eBook from the Sifted team or one of your newest ones, it focuses on cold chain shipping. So, tell us more about what’s in this eBook.

Caleb Nelson (00:49:12):

I think it’s top of mind for a lot of shippers come some of the hottest months. You’ve got more product that sits in open air warehouses that are not climate controlled, typically. And if you are shipping any SKUs or products that really start to damage after, you know, 120 degrees, shipping it within a proper enclosed package or temperature controlled package, I think, is really important for the integrity of the product. I don’t necessarily mean just food related items. There are plenty of other SKUs or products out there that should not or cannot exceed a specific temperature. So, we provide some really interesting resources in that eBook that allow for shippers to be able to understand how they can better protect their shipments during summer months.

Scott Luton (00:50:04):

That’s right. Get smarter. Get more sustainable. Be a good shipper. Be a good customer. All those things you’ve touched on here today. All right. So, Greg, before we make sure folks know how to connect with Caleb, I want to get your take while Caleb is still with us. What do you think, you know, for all the things we’ve talked about here today – and Big Show Bob Bova makes a great point,” Digitization is necessary all the way to the customer. All the shipping data needs to be looked at, processed, and analyzed to look for those patterns.” I completely agree. It’s a huge opportunity for so many people – out of all that Caleb has shared, including those two great eBooks – the cold chain industry is a fascinating one, for sure, these last few years – what’s one key thing, Greg, that folks got to take away from this conversation with Caleb Nelson?

Greg White (00:50:48):

I think the important thing to recognize is that there are solutions out there for mid-sized shippers. For anyone from an Amazon seller all the way to whatever, the honest company, companies like that, and it doesn’t require Amazon, and it doesn’t require data scientists necessarily, there’s technology out there that can do that. And what Sifted has, has a lot of that ability to kind of pull all that together to give you that starting point, give you those decision points, give you some guidance into what your next stage is.

Greg White (00:51:26):

I have wondered why with people still working and making money are there so many jobs unfulfilled? And it’s because so many people have started businesses, and so many of those businesses are product businesses. The number of sellers on Etsy and Amazon have just simply exploded. And all of those people need a way to get those goods there. And they probably, much like their predecessors, other brands, they have no idea how to do it. So, tips like this, the ability to understand the dynamics of the marketplace and how you can play in it, that’s what’s so critical here. You can do it. There are resources out there. Take advantage of these ones, especially that we’re talking about. And think about it this way, even Amazon started without a network, without a big supply chain.

Scott Luton (00:52:22):

And it’s pretty easy to get into the sandbox with the Sifted team, I imagine, Caleb. And we want to make sure folks know how to connect with you, I think, one of the things, of course, you’re going to be speaking at Supply Chain 360 powered by our friends over at NRF. Looking forward to that, Caleb.

Caleb Nelson (00:52:38):

Yeah. I’m really looking forward to it. I think it’s going to be a great event. And what I’ve heard and gotten from the folks at NRF is, it’s just a topnotch crew. So, looking forward to going out there and sharing some of these resources of what we’re talking about here. If anybody that’s listening is going to be there, come meet me. I’d be happy to shake your hand and chat with you a little bit about what business you’ve got and improvements you’re looking to make as the year progresses.

Scott Luton (00:53:05):

So, Caleb, are you going to be driving that long bed pickup truck to Cleveland from Northern Utah?

Caleb Nelson (00:53:11):

Hey, that would be pretty amazing. I’d see in probably three weeks after the show.

Greg White (00:53:18):

Yeah. That ones going to be at the proper stage.

Caleb Nelson (00:53:20):

Yeah. I’d show up a different man, that’s for sure.

Scott Luton (00:53:24):

Hey, kidding aside, that’s one of the ways you can connect with Caleb is at Supply Chain 360, where you can meet him in the flesh. And, Grayson, appreciate all your great work. He is making it easy, Sifted is going to be presenting at 11:15 a.m. on Tuesday at the event. So, thank you for that, Grayson, good stuff there. All right. So, Caleb, beyond that event, how else would you invite folks to connect with you?

Caleb Nelson (00:53:48):

Check us out on our website, sifted.com. There’s no wonder our name is Sifted, our job is to sift through data. We have pre-built models that you can simply plug your invoice data into and it spits out exactly what we’ve talked about. So, what we’ve talked about is definitely doable on your own. There’s a question about visualization of data, you can definitely bring that in. But to Greg’s point, this has usually been tactics and resources that have been designated to large enterprise shippers that are out there. But that doesn’t mean if you’re a mid-sized shipper or in the SMB market, you shouldn’t be taking advantage of this. Absolutely, you should. You just need better technology that does it for you in a turnkey way. Sifted does that. You can absolutely do it on your own, but the resources are a little bit more cumbersome to be able to do. Check us out if you have any questions. And you can ping me at LinkedIn as well. My profile’s there, and I love interacting with shippers and helping them kind of identify ways that they can be the best version of themselves.

Scott Luton (00:54:51):

Love it. Power to the people. Power to the people. Love that. Regardless of how big or small your business is. All right. So, Caleb Nelson, always enjoyed these conversations. We got a lot of feedback here. I love the practical approach to helping shippers that clearly is in your DNA. I hope, maybe, to meet you in person in Cleveland. But if not, of course, we’ll have to have you back and catch up on all things supply chain, including the James Webb Telescope. So, Caleb, thanks so much for joining us here today and we will see you very soon.

Caleb Nelson (00:55:22):

Thanks, Scott. Thanks, Greg. Thanks for having me.

Scott Luton (00:55:25):

All right. Man, Caleb “Full Nelson,” Chief Growth, Officer with Sifted.

Greg White (00:55:30):

“Full Nelson,” I like that.

Scott Luton (00:55:30):

Yeah. I was thinking, was it a full nelson or half nelson?

Greg White (00:55:33):

How many names are you going to give him?

Scott Luton (00:55:34):

I don’t know. His last name reminds me of my old days watching wrestling in the ’80s. There was a half nelson and a full nelson, I think, were amongst the pile drivers and many, many other wrestling moves. But, Greg, you’ve already shared your key takeaway. Caleb, I love what he brought here today. I want to you to touch on really quick, we only have a minute or two, your supply chain commentary publishes every Monday, Wednesday, Friday on LinkedIn. I think our team’s going to share your popular post from yesterday where you pointed out some of the things going on. So, really quick, in like a minute or less, what were you talking about yesterday when it relates to what’s going on at Target?

Greg White (00:56:17):

Oh, how the mighty have fallen, right? Target just bragging about their superiority in supply chain and how they were going to spend $4 to 5 billion a year to continue to extend their excellence in supply chain, that was in March. Twice during the last three weeks, they have revised their guidance to the marketplace – because they’re a public company – down. They revised it once. And then, three weeks later, had to revise it again, finally revealing that they have an incredibly misaligned inventory versus demand. Since people are starting to shift to buying more formal, or whatever, casual clothes, instead of just sweats and yoga pants, they have a glut of yoga pants. They have a lot of patio furniture since people are traveling, people aren’t buying, and home goods and things like that, where they have just completely missed demand.

Greg White (00:57:16):

So, the point is, that was a monumental failure of management at Target, and pointed out by a contributor to the article, who’s an investor in Target, who clearly has some strong concerns. But it’s also a broader based problem in retail. Target is the biggest and best example. But Walmart has incredibly misaligned inventories, Kohls. There was an article last week that talked about a huge number of companies. Target is not even the worst offender. They’re just the biggest name. And admittedly their problem is more than just inventory. There’s obviously some management issues there.

Greg White (00:57:57):

But, yeah, that’s what I do Monday, Wednesday, Friday is take these articles. And let me tell you, people cared about this because in less than 12 hours, about 4,000 people read the article and tons and tons of comments, I can’t even keep count, 70 comments or so something like that. So, people have an opinion. And it’s amazing that with the insights we’re getting in the comments that big companies with access to people who are probably smarter than all of us watching this and participating in this right now could make such a huge mistake.

Greg White (00:58:32):

Frustrating but preventable and, frankly, constantly reoccurring in retail. So, it’s something that we need to change. And I talk also about how we can change that.

Scott Luton (00:58:43):

We got to be aware of it first, the critical first step. But y’all check out Greg White’s supply chain commentary on LinkedIn every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And the link to the one he’s talking about here today is in the comments. Charles, I’m with you, “These gas prices are giving me the full nelson.” No kidding, man. Goodness gracious.

Greg White (00:59:02):

I’m all choked up by these gas prices.

Scott Luton (00:59:06):

Hopefully, y’all enjoyed the one and only Caleb Nelson as much as we did today. I think there’s so much practical perspective and tips and tools that we covered over the last hour. Make sure, if you’re there at Supply Chain 360, meet him in person. Check out Sifted. Check out these eBooks. And, Greg, always a pleasure doing these conversations with you.

Greg White (00:59:27):

Likewise.

Scott Luton (00:59:27):

But whoever’s with us, it’s all about taking action. It’s all about taking action. So, folks, hopefully, you enjoyed this conversation as much as we have. Scott Luton and Greg White, and the whole team here, challenging you to do good, to give forward, and to be the change that’s needed. And on that note, we’ll see you next time right back here on Supply Chain Now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (00:59:50):

Thanks for being a part of our Supply Chain Now community. Check out all of our programming at supplychainnow.com, and make sure you subscribe to 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.