First COVID shutdowns. Then shortages. Now inflation. Can the supply chain catch a break? It can do more than that. And to show us the way, Mike Jette of GEP joins Greg and Scott to discuss the six ways supply chains can combat the negative impacts of inflation while continuing to generate value. As a hint, collaboration plays a big role. Tune in to hear more about the value of joint prospering over dictating requirements, why losing a big customer isn’t always a bad thing and more.

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 opportunities stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on supply chain now.

Scott Luton (00:33):

Hey, good morning, Scott Luton and Greg White here with you on supply chain. Now. Welcome to today’s live dream, Greg, how you doing?

Greg White (00:39):

Doing quite well. How are you Scott?

Scott Luton (00:42):

Doing absolutely fantastic. What a gorgeous little bit warm who Nell out here in Metro. Atlanta.

Greg White (00:49):

Yeah,

Scott Luton (00:50):

But you know what?

Greg White (00:52):

The big payoff is headed back to the beach soon. <laugh>

Scott Luton (00:56):

Very nice. Very jealous. Um, Hey, we’re working on our second, uh, pot of homegrown green beans is taken

Greg White (01:05):

Oh, green beans. When you said homegrown, I had a totally different thought, but

Scott Luton (01:09):

<laugh> no, no, this stuff’s good for you, man. It’s taken a little while. It feels like the, um, pests and like the fungus that attacks vegetables are a little bit worse this summer. I don’t know. But nevertheless, they were the first pot was delicious. And who knows, Greg? I might bring you a spoonful or two.

Greg White (01:26):

Please. Do I love, I mean, if, if you gotta eat vegetables, homegrown is the best. They’re not accelerated. They’ve got all the flavor. If you can keep ’em away from the deer. Homegrown tomatoes are outstanding too.

Scott Luton (01:40):

Yeah. We’ll have to save the tomato. Talk for another shoe I’ve given up trying to grow homegrown tomatoes, but I’ll save that for another date.

Greg White (01:47):

Tough,

Scott Luton (01:47):

Right? It is tough. It is tough. But Hey, today, Greg, we have a really interesting discussion teed up. We’ll keep the food theme going. It’s all about how can we get our cake and eat it too in many ways, specifically, right? In global supply chain. It’s the trillion dollar question. Now put it another way, Greg. We’re gonna be talking about how we as business leaders can effectively fight inflation while still creating supply chain value in the bigger picture. So Greg should be a great show, right?

Greg White (02:15):

Yeah. And it feels like a fight right now. Doesn’t it? I mean, what the fed just raised the us fed just raised interest rates, another three quarters of a point, which the market seems to like, by the way, and today we announced the statistics officially show that we are in a recession that the government says we’re not in <laugh> so

Scott Luton (02:36):

Well, you know, regard, we as consumers, business

Greg White (02:39):

Leaders, whatever’s expeditious for the politicians.

Scott Luton (02:41):

That’s right, right.

Greg White (02:42):

But, so yeah, it’s tough times. Right. And I think this is a particularly poignant topic for there. I said poignant for these times and yeah, I think we’re gonna talk about how you can fight inflation and increase value.

Scott Luton (02:56):

That’s right. And we’ve got an outstanding guess. We’ve had a lot of fun. Pre-show chatting with our guests. We’re not gonna let that cat outta the bag just yet.

Greg White (03:04):

Even though we’ve been promoting it for two and a half weeks,

Scott Luton (03:06):

<laugh> that’s true. So good. So true. But folks, Hey, we wanna hear from you, right. Folks in the cheap seats in the sky boxes, you know, our guests are star of the show, but Hey, you’re the other star of this show. So we wanna hear from you weigh in on what you’re hearing us, us chat through here today, as we talk about the short term and the big picture, how we can really make progress with both and, and, and get that relief and improvement. All right, we’re gonna say hello to a few folks. We got quite a crowd coming in first off, big thanks to the entire production team clay. The diesel Phillips is with us here, of course, but Katherine and Amanda, Chantel, all the folks that help make production happen. Katherine, as I mentioned, looking forward to a great conversation today, it’s gonna be a great one, Catherine, and we may just get you to talk about the best Asian restaurant in all of Birmingham, Alabama. We’ll save that though. We’ll save that Mohamed. Great to see you here today via LinkedIn, let us know where you’re tuned in from Greg. We have an all star in the sky. All of ’em are all stars, but Jeff is a, is a former guest. Right. And, and do you remember what Jeff did on his show with Kelly Barner and I,

Greg White (04:13):

Gosh, no. That was, that feels like a million years ago. Doesn’t

Scott Luton (04:17):

It? Well, it was a dial P and supply chain now classic moment as, as Jeff is, and he’s really smart guys. He was sharing his perspective in the moment he drew a, a little graphic, uh, and I can’t remember what it was, Jeff, and then showed it. And it was like, it was simple brilliance. So Jeff, it’s a simple things in life. Great to have you back here today. And he’s,

Greg White (04:38):

That’s why you won’t let me have pins or I’d be doing that the whole

Scott Luton (04:40):

Time that, and nothing’s sharp. That’s right. That’s right. But, uh, so Jeff is looking forward to being back in the us. I wanna say he’s from up in Oregon if I remember correctly, but great to have you here today. Majete from India via LinkedIn. Great to have you here. Uh, looking forward your perspective, Tanya Johnson via LinkedIn from Greg. One of our favorite cities, Chicago. Right?

Greg White (05:02):

Right. Great. Speaking of food, great food town, outstanding food town.

Scott Luton (05:08):

So right. And Tony look forward to your perspective here today. Hey Josh goody, our resident

Greg White (05:14):

Seattleite.

Scott Luton (05:15):

Yes. Thank you. Which

Greg White (05:16):

We learned yesterday from one of your fellow Seattle lights.

Scott Luton (05:19):

So Josh, we gotta connect you. We had someone stealing your thunder, giving us Seattle weather updates. You, you name it yesterday. I cannot remember that gentleman’s name right off, but Josh, great to have you back. He says, dear killed my parents. Apples, chives and tulip harvest.

Greg White (05:35):

Yeah, but they’re sure cute. Aren’t they <laugh>,

Scott Luton (05:38):

They are cute hammer

Greg White (05:39):

Sneaky. It’s like, they can hear you. I think we’ll harvest tomorrow. And then they come that night and

Scott Luton (05:45):

That’s that’s right. Jumping over 10 foot high fences. Right. It’s remarkable. All right. Progress tuned in from, uh, Abu Dhabi via LinkedIn. Great to have you here. I like that headshot by the way. Yeah. And look forward to your perspective as we work through the conversation, uh, today, Dr. Rhonda is back with us. Oh boy. Greg reality check.

Greg White (06:06):

What is she talking about?

Scott Luton (06:07):

You know,

Greg White (06:08):

I bet she, what did I say? Oh my gosh, the heat RH. You gotta clue me in. I’m sorry. I’m not picking up what you’re laying down.

Scott Luton (06:15):

I think it might have been the heat, but

Greg White (06:17):

Regardless. Well, okay. Well she probably has very little empathy for heat for us since the temperature is probably 40 degrees, hotter, 40 Fahrenheit hotter where she is. That’s right, right. We’re complaining about 85. She’s probably got 120 hundred 25 there.

Scott Luton (06:32):

That is right. Speaking of the other side, the cool side of the pillow, Sheila Phillips is back with us from cool Colorado, as she says. Yeah. Uh, via LinkedIn. Great to have you here. And yes, Dr. Rhonda, I broke out my summer themed beach themed shirt. So it’s the starfish shirt. So thank you

Greg White (06:50):

For, oh, I okay. You’re you know, very little on my monitor, so,

Scott Luton (06:57):

Oh man, we have got a full house here today. Oh gosh. I know we can’t get to everybody, but I’m gonna shoot through these really quick Russell. Great to have you back via LinkedIn from London. So great to have Russ goes by Russ, I guess. Great to have you back here, Jean pleasure from north Alabama. Great to have you back is always GP ACE from Saudi Arabia, who is an engineer, very passionate about supply chain management, all via LinkedIn. Great to have you here, man. Look at those certifications. Uh, Greg, how about that?

Greg White (07:26):

I, I wish I had the attention span to, to study that much. <laugh>

Scott Luton (07:31):

No kidding. No kidding. And finally, Jeffrey is talking about his episode with us simplified supplier management, hashtag artwork. I love it. Uh, we’re gonna have to have you back soon. Uh, but speaking of incredible guests, we have got an outstanding guest here today. We’ve again, we’ve enjoyed, uh, learning from him and, and just chat with him. Pre-show great guests. So Greg, are we ready?

Greg White (07:54):

Let’s go.

Scott Luton (07:55):

Let’s do let’s welcome in Mike Jette, vice president consulting with G E P. Hey Mike, how you doing?

Mike Jette (08:03):

Excellent pleasure to, uh, to be with you guys.

Greg White (08:05):

Yeah. Welcome aboard.

Scott Luton (08:07):

We have really great to have you here, but we’ve really enjoyed all the pre-show conversations. We’ve talked a little bit of industry, a lot of food, maybe a little bit of travel. Uh, and so that’s really, before we get into the heavy hit topics here today, I wanna pick your brain, start with a fun topic. Cause tomorrow folks tomorrow is national lasagna day. Now there’s a story here in the Lutton household that I’ll have to save for another day. But, uh, my kids aren’t big lasagna fans, but in the greater sense, we all love Italian food. And Mike, I think you also fall in that boat, but you

Greg White (08:40):

Also does anyone not fall in that band. Oh, one day <laugh> are there people that hate Italian food really?

Scott Luton (08:45):

You know, I’ve I have come across people that aren’t fans of Italian food. They tend to talk slower and be less experienced and not travel. I’m I’m kidding. I’m kidding. I’m kidding. Everyone loves Italian food. Every

Greg White (08:58):

Human. I just don’t think the civil war is going on is what you’re

Scott Luton (09:00):

Saying. <laugh> maybe, maybe, but Mike, what we’ve also learned about you in our conversations is you not only are you a big food lover, Italian food lover, but you are a serious world traveler. So question for you, if not lasagna, where have you eaten the most delicious Italian dish in all of your journeys?

Mike Jette (09:18):

Okay, well, that’s, that’s definitely a tough one. It’s it’s even harder because I live in, uh, Hoboken, New Jersey, which if folks know the town is famous for its Italian food, shout out there’s a deli right on my block. Fioris which a lot of folks it’s famous for its uh, mozzarella and roast beef sandwich, but best Italian food experience, I’d have to say recently I was with my family. We spent a week in Tuscany. We rented a Villa and on three nights we had some, some great folks come in. They made homemade pasta in the Villa. They served it to us, uh, where we were sitting out on the veranda, watching the sunset over the olive groves, medieval kind of hill town, often the distance. I mean really couldn’t beat the ambiance. The food was amazing. Uh, we were three generations with some of my nieces and nephews, really an experience to remember.

Greg White (10:12):

That’s awesome.

Scott Luton (10:13):

That really is. That’s quite a picture. He paints there, Greg, isn’t it?

Greg White (10:17):

Yeah. I mean, and it’s a picture that’s often painted by the way at Tuscany and sunsets and, and all of that. Yeah. That, I mean, it’s great to get to see that in person, especially with all, all the folks around you. That’s cool.

Scott Luton (10:29):

And I think as you were sharing some, some aspects of the store sounds like your mom, having all the family there together and joined the background, she was like over to moon. Is that right Mike?

Mike Jette (10:38):

Oh yeah. I mean, it was, uh, it’s a dream that she’s had for a while to get the family over in a house for a full week. And we were able, it took a, a couple years. We actually had planned to go and in 2020 that didn’t materialize. So we were finally able to get it back on the calendar and everyone was able to join.

Scott Luton (10:58):

That is awesome. Awesome. All right, Rick, I’m coming to you next, but really quick. Great to have you here. See him via LinkedIn. Looking forward to your perspective here today. Josh is giving us the, uh, the update, whether update from Seattle. Thank you very much. Averaging 90 degrees by lunchtime this week. That’s pretty hot Stacy from Zambia up via LinkedIn. Great to have you here. And finally, uh, Dr. Rhonda says, sounds incredible, Mike. I completely agree with you, Rhonda. All right, Greg. Uh, speaking of great Italian food here in Atlanta, where would you suggest folks check

Greg White (11:30):

Out? Well, so the best Italian food or my favorite dish I should say is actually in Milan Italy place called Don Gio, but they have a dish that I have not had there, but this is the funny story is they say, this is the precursor to the American dish, eggplant Parmesan. So it’s called Parmesan ALA me melanzane. And it, it is not similar or not as similar as you would think, but quite delicious there. So, but my favorite in Atlanta is Meela Luna. So when anyone I know comes from Italy, they always want to and only want to eat there. <laugh>

Scott Luton (12:09):

Right. Well, I was gonna say on that, on that Milan dish, you have me at P Greg have me P but, uh, Mike, when you come down to Atlanta, we’re gonna have to get your thoughts and your ranking of, uh, the place in smart that Greg’s talking about. We’ll have to break bread all together. Not never cut the bread, break the bread. Right. All right. So Mike, as much as we wanna talk food, we’ve got you here. You’ve got a lot of valuable perspective and expertise on really like we were talking about before you join us, getting our cake and eat it too, you know, focus on the short term that we’re all feeling a lot of pain there while you’re not losing sight of making bigger picture progress when it comes to your supply chain optimization. So as we open things up, I just wanna level set a bit, a little bit. When you look at the environment, ran global supply chain right now, current state, what are a couple observations that you have?

Mike Jette (12:58):

Sure. I mean, I think it’s been a, a confusing couple of years for supply chain professionals. If you think of 20, 20 COVID shortages scramble, right. 20, 21, everyone was about resilience. Right. And how do I, uh, respond to my board about how I’m gonna do it differently in the future 2022 inflation? Right? So it’s like three years in a row. This incredibly, you know, you know, kind of hot topic that we’re all trying to focus on. And I think people are looking around saying, well, what, what should I be doing? I’d say that’s kind of the common theme that I’m hearing when I’m speaking to our colleagues, uh, in the supply chain.

Scott Luton (13:40):

Yep. Greg, is that square with what, uh, what you’re seeing out there?

Greg White (13:44):

Yeah. Big time. I mean the, you know, the way we kind of generalize it, Scott and Mike, you, you might be familiar with, this is where’s my stuff, all of those things that you just addressed all contribute to that, right. People, they, I think they feel blind a little bit and blindsided very frequently by a lot of the macro effects that you’re talking about to the supply chain. And there’s not a thing they can do about wars or inflation or right. Global shortages, things like that, or, you know, a global shutdown of the entire economy all at once. So

Scott Luton (14:19):

Well said, Dr. Rhonda, we were talking about reality checks earlier. She goes, yes. Recession and the heat, both big reality checks there.

Greg White (14:27):

Yes. The recession. Right. Sorry, I didn’t catch the timing of that comment. So yeah.

Scott Luton (14:31):

Me and you both. Yeah. All right. So Mike, anything else before we get into kind of the main dish here today, uh, any, any other observations come to mind as you, as you survey this, this current state?

Mike Jette (14:40):

Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, those three themes, we talked about kind of shortages resilience, inflation. I, in my mind, they’re not three distinct things that, where there’s distinct strategies, it’s really a similar set of actions. And this is what we’re gonna talk about. This is gonna help you be more responsive and more effective in the face of all those challenges and kind of the overarching theme of those actions is what I’d call convergence. Right? Yep. And when I say convergence, this is really supply chain professionals, working arm and arm with their sourcing and procurement professionals and also arm and arm with their trading partners, both upstream and downstream mm-hmm <affirmative> to solve these issues. Right. So, you know, how are we gonna address inflation shortages be more resilient. It is about having more convergence in our supply chain and with our trading partners.

Scott Luton (15:35):

Yep. Well said, uh, Hey, really quick to all the folks in cheap seats and sky boxes, let us know what you’re seeing, what your senior organization’s doing, what, how you’re leading again, fighting inflation currently, while also making progress in the bigger picture. We’d love to hear from you. Okay. So Mike and Greg, we wanna dive into really the six point action plan to fight inflation while creating supply chain value, right? The, the, the title of today’s live stream. So what I wanna do, Mike, let’s go ahead and jump into all six. Let’s hit all six of these items, and then we’re gonna specifically dive into two, but, but walk us through briefly all six first.

Mike Jette (16:12):

Sure. So first I’m gonna start with, uh, you know, data and analytics. All of these actions that we wanna take are about sensing and having visibility, right? With enough time horizon, to maybe exercise some options. So you need to have good quality data. You need to have the analytics that allow you to take those actions. So that’s the first one. The second is, you know, we need to understand the critical commodities that go into the product or services, whether it’s packaging, uh, whether it’s ocean freight, whether it’s, uh, you know, some type of semiconductor inputs. And we need to understand those categories and have intelligence, cuz that’s gonna allow us again to see the trends and be able to act. The third point is again, kind of a riff on that visibility theme, but more about inventory. So understanding our inventory positions across the entire value chain, right? Both kind of inbound in my four walls and also outbound so that we can unlock greater flexibility. So we need that visibility into inventory. The fourth, I think

Scott Luton (17:21):

If I can put in really quick and I wanna say C a first off, loves convergence with partners. Your point there I’ll get to Jeff’s comment in just a second, but Greg, before we continue with the second half of this on the first three data analytics category, intelligence, inventory visibility, your quick comment.

Greg White (17:38):

Yeah. I think there’s a lot, you know, there’s a lot that we can do now a as Mike to what you’re speaking to that we couldn’t do in the past and data and analytics are the entry point for that. We didn’t have the amount of data that we have available. Now there’s so much robust data available now that that’s really gives us so much better, uh, insight into what’s happening and where we stand. Um, and of course understanding the, the complexities of your supply chain. I like that in out and, you know, inside and outside of your four walls, even outside of your enterprise, right along with your trading partners. That’s right. And of course, you know, one of the visibilities that’s critical is to know what the heck you have and what your network has, you know, more and more companies are trying to figure out what their players have or what their customers have and, and build a more Congress supply chain through that.

Scott Luton (18:31):

Yep. Well said, so Mike, feel free to respond to that or we can keep driving with supply chain flexibility.

Mike Jette (18:37):

Yeah, no, I think Greg is, Greg’s points are spot on. It’s all about, we know that we need to potentially make different decisions. And those first three items are all about having enough intelligence and sense of what’s going on out there in the world so that we can explore alternate strategies.

Scott Luton (18:56):

Yep. Well said. All right. So we’ve tackled the first three parts of the six point action plan. Let’s pick up with number four, Mike.

Mike Jette (19:03):

Sure. So supply chain flexibility. This is really reconfigurations of potentially where you’re manufacturing, how you’re distributing, whether you have single source or multi-source engagements, a big topic that I think is worth diving deep into mm-hmm <affirmative> Greg alluded to technology and tooling. So actually having the tools to facilitate planning and to facilitate planning where supply chain and sourcing and procurement are working together. But also you have inbuilt technology driven collaboration with your trading partners. Number five is really a, a key theme, I think for all the technology providers in the space. And the last one kind of, again, building on that technology capability is we need to take a step back and really think about, are we collaborating and what does collaborating mean? And what value can we get out of that, that we’re not unlocking today?

Scott Luton (19:59):

Well said not collaboration to cliche, but collaboration with real meaningful action and outcomes behind it, where you all said, okay, so folks, just a minute, we’re gonna take a couple of your comments, but we’re gonna really dive in deeper with Mike and with Greg on 0.4 and six, right. Supply chain flexibility, and that supplier collaboration that Mike was just talking about. In the meantime, we’ve got some great comments here going with Jeffrey says, uh, historically in an inflationary market, there tends to be app pause on widespread tendering events in lieu of more targeted negotiations, where it makes sense. He continues your organizational growth outlook also plays a key input, inflationary market widespread, but with a strong overall activity outlook, it does give some very strong ammo to have more strategic, disruptive conversations. And I think that was part of one of your last points you were just making there. Uh, right. Mike?

Mike Jette (20:52):

Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, one phrase we hear a lot is never let a good crisis go to waste mm-hmm <affirmative> right. I think, you know, we, as supply chain professionals have a lot of times seen things that will allow our organizations to be more effective, but it’s been hard to get bandwidth. Right? Yep. So now I think now there is an opportunity to seize on some of those more disruptive ideas and say, you know what, we’ve always done it this way. And it it’s been tough the last two or three years. Yep. Let’s start exploring some different strategies that could be where we manufacture that could be whom we’re buying from. That could be how we contract and how we measure success. So I think that is a, a great point.

Scott Luton (21:33):

Excellent. Greg, before I share Rhonda and Stacy’s comments and a few others, your quick take on what Mike and Jeffrey been been talking about.

Greg White (21:41):

Yeah. I think one, you know, one of the things that’s fascinating about this current environment is I actually, one of the first tech companies I worked for was built in the early eighties when we had rampant inflation and to which this now finally can compare, but one of the strategies that they undertook was forward buying hedging with inventory. But think about that, that was in an, an environment where you had plentiful stock. So you would buy the next 3, 6, 12 months worth of inventory to Jeff’s point, knowing that your, your enterprise could burn through it. Right. You can’t do that with fashion goods or short life cycle things, but, but you could do that with the items, kind of the staple items that you knew you could burn through and offset the cost of that, you know, hoping that the cost or inflation slowed or went or, or ended by the time you needed to restock again. But this time around, we have the double edged sword of inflation and lack of availability, or at least lack of timely availability. So even a strategy like that has pretty much been undermined in this environment. That’s honestly what that segment of Jeff and Mike’s conversation really made me think about it’s, it’s tough. It’s a unique unprecedented Scott,

Scott Luton (23:01):

Something

Greg White (23:02):

Not to say since 2020 years.

Scott Luton (23:05):

Alright. What’s up to find different way, what to find different way. Yeah. Um, really quick. I’m Mike, I’m coming back to you in just a second. I wanna share two quick comments. Rhonda says she’s seeing a freeze in many hiring positions, but I’m doubling down on the sales team hiring to help with revenue streams and a hang in there, mentality team mentality. As we work through the challenges. I love that Rhonda. And then finally here and I’ve got some more, we’ll get to here. A little later on. Stacy says the challenges have really pushed us to be critical thinkers and literally where superhero capes and more data analytics and just thinking what the heck will hit us next. Stacy, I, I,

Greg White (23:45):

A supply chain. I wanna see photographs of a supply chain organization with capes on <laugh> richly deserved unquestionably.

Scott Luton (23:51):

That’s right. Yeah. All right. So getting back to the two aspects of the six point action plan we really focus in on today. Uh, let’s start with encourage supply chain flexibility now as with any great discussion. Mike, I’d love for you to define that first and then get into the how to, to attain it. So tell us more.

Mike Jette (24:11):

Sure. I mean, so I think flexibility is, you know, I like to say degrees of freedom, right? I have different ways of getting things done to, you know, to fulfill demand in my supply chain right now we’re probably operating in a 10 or 15 year period where we’ve focused on narrowing those degrees of freedom in, in the hope of a very efficient supply chain. So a lot of it’s about opening that up and it opening it up. We will have better ability to recover, right? So that’s kind of the resilience objective, but also where we have optionality, we’re gonna be able to steer a little bit to try to address cost issues, inflationary issues. So this is really about creating more degrees of freedom in the supply chain.

Scott Luton (24:58):

Yep. Well said, Hey, quick question. I’m gonna, I’m gonna put this graphic back up here. Jeffrey says number four should be a key part of everyone’s business continuity planning. Would you agree with that?

Mike Jette (25:09):

Yeah, certainly. I mean, I think this is, I think more and more we’re seeing people not just as, Hey, I need to have this in case something goes wrong, but I need to have a kind of a multi-channel supply chain. Maybe some that services my markets a little bit more locally and maybe some where I have maybe my primary supply chain that satisfies 60 or 70% of my demand, but a, a single supply chain that is multi-step and kind of distant. I think a lot of folks are saying that’s not gonna solve for the, uh, the objectives that I need.

Scott Luton (25:45):

Yep. Well said, well said, okay, Greg, get you to comment on supply chain flexibility and some of Mike’s thoughts there.

Greg White (25:52):

Yeah. I think the multi-sourcing opportunity. So there have been industries that have had to have done this even before the pandemic, right. That strangely I worked with a windshield and an automotive glass supplier and, and they couldn’t always get the right quality of glass from a particular vendor. And they would actually undertake to, to order at all times 80%, let’s say from their primary vendor and 20% from another vendor. And that’s a strategy that I think particularly now Mike is, is really valuable. You keep someone running the lines and seeing you as a client, even if they’re getting less demand and they know that there’s upside if their competitor stumbles. Right. And that gives you an tremendous amount of either flexibility or optionality. Honestly, Mike, I can’t distinguish, but both probably right. Yeah. That’s one thing. And the other is to recognize what your critical path elements are. It could be a washer on a conveyor line that stops the entirety of your production or distribution. And, and you have to know what those elements are and you have to provision for the worst in, in those cases because it doesn’t matter if it’s one washer that goes bad, as long as it stops the line, nothing moves. So I, I think that awareness of, of what your supply chain is about and where those, those, uh, critical path elements lie is, is a critical part of what Mike’s talking about.

Scott Luton (27:21):

Yep. Mike, I’ll give you the final word on supply chain flexibility. And I gonna share a couple more comments here.

Mike Jette (27:26):

Yeah. I, I think those are great points, Greg, and that was kind of the last I wanted to talk about kind of Debo collecting your supply chain, but specifically we’re seeing a lot of companies look at their bill of materials and trying to identify that washer mm-hmm <affirmative>. If we think about the automobile industry and, you know, obviously chips really, you know, you looked at any earnings report from all of the real manufacturer. It was all about the impact of chips and what that meant in terms of revenue. A lot of folks are looking at that and they have relied on chip technology that is seven or gen seven or eight generations old. And then there’s very limited people who wanna manufacture that because it’s just not very profitable. You know, I think whether it’s chips or like, like components of your bill materials, people are saying, you know what, I might need to change my bill of materials, even if it’s not cost advantaged, because I’m gonna get myself in that same bottleneck two years from now. And I can’t be there. Mm-hmm <affirmative> uh, so we’re seeing a lot of folks, I think putting renewed energy into, you know, it’s, it’s a bit value engineering from a cost standpoint, but it’s very much about trying to come up with a more resilient mix of goods and services to produce product

Scott Luton (28:38):

Well said. All right. So again, that is the first of two deep dives. So we’re, we just wrapped up supply chain flexibility. What means how to start achieving that? And we’re gonna focus on supplier collaboration in just a moment before we do, let’s talk about Joey’s comment here. Joey says, Joey, great to have you back. I think he was with us yesterday as well. Uh, he’s made a couple of guest appearances, uh, Greg. Yeah. Who knows he may have his own dressing room soon here at supply chain. Now he says, great dialogue collaboration with results is key maximizing potential through proactive visibility is key. The consumer mindset is now altered, which impacts all areas of how we operate collecting data to score card or trading partners sets up both parties for success. Excellent point, Joey and Mike you’re nodding your head that seems to square with you as well, too, right?

Mike Jette (29:28):

Yeah. I mean, couldn’t be a more perfect lead in for the, kind of the next topic about the supplier collaboration.

Scott Luton (29:34):

Let’s let’s go. I wanna share really quick cm. <laugh> see. I love data, honestly, as long as it isn’t collected just to have it. I think all of us can feel that pain at some point in our journey. Okay. So let’s use Joey’s perfect segue there and let’s, let’s move into kind of taking a deeper dive, assessing the current state of supplier collaboration and really optimizing that for the future to give us some of your thoughts around number six there Mike.

Mike Jette (30:00):

Sure. So I think for a lot of people, collaboration is, is sort of a bad word <laugh> right. And collaboration 1.0 has been a negative experience. Uh, you know, what we see in a lot of industries is a more powerful trading partner, just forces requirements and punitive contractual arrangements onto the, the, the partner that maybe doesn’t have as much leverage in the organization. And doesn’t listen. Right. <laugh> I would say if you talk to, you know, 75% of the folks, their experience with kind of collaboration and setting up those models, they will often see it as being very one-sided and something that didn’t deliver on any of the promises as to why they got into these types of arrangements.

Scott Luton (30:47):

Yep.

Greg White (30:48):

I’m gonna say what Mike can’t Walmart <laugh>, but I mean, it ha and that’s a really good point. Collaboration has really been a, a euphemism of dominance of, of a strong trading partner on their lesser trading partners. And, and I think the truth is that power of the consumer power. Um, was it Russell, uh, mentioned

Scott Luton (31:11):

Jeffrey, I think it’s or Joey, Joey, sorry, Joey.

Greg White (31:14):

Yeah, the, the consumer power has disabled any member of the supply chain supply network, whatever you wanna call it from blaming, you know, blatantly blaming someone else for the fault, because there’s always a way that that one trading partner can contribute to the success of another be they the client customer or the, the vendor supplier. Yep. There’s always a way to improve that. And that kind of collaboration Mike is I think what you’re talking about and it’s becoming more and more prevalent.

Mike Jette (31:46):

Yeah. I mean, I think the good, you know, there’s a silver lining to, you know, the challenges we’ve had over the last 30 months is that I think there’s more willingness to listen to those trading partners cuz everyone realized where I worked well with my trading partners. Things went well where I didn’t have a strong relationship. Even if I thought I could make ’em do stuff. It didn’t happen. Yeah. The problem did not materialize. Uh, so I think there’s momentum. And I think what people are realizing is that a lot of those requirements and you know, what we thought were smart contractual arrangements with penalties, well, it just caused more friction and extra cost. Right. So it didn’t help us from, uh, a resilient standpoint and it may have increased our cost basis. So I think, I think there’s a, a market change in attitudes and it’s something that I’m super excited to see.

Scott Luton (32:37):

Mm real collaboration, again, outcome driven where all parties, uh, there’s something in it for everybody and worth the extra work or the extra, you know, framing up the relationship or what, what have you,

Greg White (32:49):

Uh, and, and preemptive rather than responsive. I think that’s one of the things we’re starting to see more and more is the goal of collaboration is not to collaborate on solving the problems it’s to collaborate on preventing ah, problems in the first place. And I think nice that accrues to the value of both enterprises, regardless of whether things go right or wrong.

Scott Luton (33:10):

Yep. Well said. All right. So Mike, you wanna speak to, uh, any final thoughts on again kind of collaboration? I think you called collaboration 1.0, kind of burned a lot of folks, but we’re talking collaboration 2.0, I don’t know. Maybe we’re already at 3.0, but, but how can folks also achieve it or maybe what’s the right approach to, to building those really successful collaborative partnerships.

Mike Jette (33:33):

Yeah. I mean, I think you could boil it down to sort of a tagline of partners prosper. Dictators. I, I don’t know if D is too strong for it, but it at least has the, the, the same beginning consonant, but definitely partners prosper. And that’s what collaboration too, or 3.0 is about, is partnership and joint prospering versus dictating requirements, uh, to your trading partner.

Scott Luton (33:59):

Yeah. Well said, okay. Uh, in a moment we’re gonna move to getting some of my spinal thoughts and then some resources. But before we do, we got, we got a bunch of great comments here today. Let’s see here, Josh goody solo supply chain is the unicorn of the past two years. If you don’t have an alternative for a rainy day, little Seattle pun there, you’re setting yourself up for a headache. Hey, I’m with you with,

Greg White (34:23):

I was stunned by how many companies and I bet you too, Mike, how many companies did not have alternative provisions built into their supply chain? I just, you know, having dealt with so many supply chains over the years, I just assumed that it was part of everyone’s design. Right. But it’s not, and not by a long shot.

Scott Luton (34:45):

Mike, can you, can you comment there observations?

Mike Jette (34:47):

Yeah. I mean, I think, um, unfortunately, you know, the, the tide went out and we, we sort of saw who was wearing, uh, their bathing suit, uh, as you know, where buffet says and a lot of us were, and this is, oh, you, this is all of us. A lot of us were out there and we were covering up because we

Scott Luton (35:04):

Skis. Yeah. Uh, Mike, what a great, I love that Warren buffet, uh, quote, I’m so glad you brought it in cause Hey, it’s still, it’s still beach weather. Right. We’re still in July. Some folks are still sneaking in some vacations. So I love that, but you gotta be careful what you’re sneaking in is what you’re saying. Hey, see, and says, I guess O ringings is one of the things that she, she manages almost had an emergency there, but she says for this conversation, she’s in heaven, we’re talking bombs and more so great to have you here as always, uh, Russ says one important thing at this moment in time to tackle the inflation effects should be to define a purchasing strategy, EG identifying critical parts, key supplier pressures, fact based supplier negotiation, mic your shaking in your head. Quick thoughts.

Mike Jette (35:49):

Yeah, definitely. And in this kind of, uh, it goes to supply supply chain and sourcing and procurement working together. You know, sometimes we’re addressing whether it’s that O Rigg shortage or what we’re gonna do for this bottleneck part separately, and that never leads to the outcome. So that kind of more integrated approach to those key functions working together, uh, super important.

Scott Luton (36:13):

Yep. Agreed. Uh, Greg, your quick thought,

Greg White (36:17):

Um, yeah, I couldn’t help, but go here. And that is while we are accepting price increases because inflation is going up, we have to be careful to watch as inflation goes down to benefit, go in the other direction. I, I still think back to the temporary, very temporary fuel shortages of the late 2000 naughties and, and the search fuel surcharges that went on to transportation that never went away even though fuel prices came back down. So right. You know, while we must trust, we must verify with our trading partners that we’re getting equal treatment went as things start to slow, which will eventually happen in the future.

Scott Luton (37:00):

Excellent point in the greater sense, Greg, I love your call out there. There’s gotta be a mechanism for, uh, the valleys as much as of the peaks, uh, uh, from, for, from a pricing standpoint to take care of all parties. Mm-hmm <affirmative> right. And if you can put that in place preemptively as you and Mike, both are speaking about, you’re not in there in the moment, you know, fighting about, uh, price increases and, and, and that’s burning trust in the relationship, all that stuff. If you can be really smart about, uh, parentally putting in those good for all parties mechanisms where it’s truly focused on the markets. I think Mike, uh, a lot of folks can win and, and that, it sounds like to me is a, is, is one of the key elements in collaboration, 2.0 3.0, right.

Mike Jette (37:40):

Definitely. You got it. Okay.

Scott Luton (37:42):

All right. Couple quick comments. And then we’re gonna get Mike’s final take here. Rhonda says as a consumer watching my pocketbook more. So now I’m more interested in investing in our hospitality industry and traveling after years of isolation, maybe you and, uh, Mike can compare notes here. <laugh> less home projects focused mm-hmm <affirmative> and more focused on face to face, social networking, traveling, and exploring new places and experiences. Hey, I think we’re all are with you there. Yeah. Um, and then Alex points to Mike, you and Greg talking about that power imbalance when it comes to supplier relationships and how that definitely resonates with some of his recent experiences, Alex, feel free to expound on that. We’d love to learn more. Okay. So Mike, when it comes down to it again, we’ve walked through these six, the six point action plan for fighting inflation while creating supply chain value. We’ve took a deep dive on items four and six. So give us your, you know, kind of your final observation. You wanna leave with folks when it comes to the here and now and the bigger picture?

Mike Jette (38:42):

Sure. So when we think about our challenges supply shortages, how do we become more resilient? How do we deal with inflation? These challenges are the same set of techniques, help us make progress on all three of those challenges. So, uh, definitely encourage folks to look at the techniques that we’ve talked about and not to think of these as mutually exclusive objectives. I think it’s thinking about them as the same set of challenges, the same set of techniques that will get companies in their supply chains in a healthier place to deal with whatever next year, uh, throws at us

Scott Luton (39:23):

Because next year, as we all know is definitely gonna throw some new and old things at us. Fight continues. Mike well said, Greg, your quick comment, and then we’re gonna move into some resources that GP team has brought to the table here.

Greg White (39:36):

Yeah. I, I think we have to recognize this, uh, as importantly as any of these operational or strategic discussions that Mike has brought us, and that is that there is no place to hide in supply chain or procurement anymore. We asked for a seat at the table 2020 gave us that seat in spades. It also exposed the supply chain and procurement to the awareness of customers and consumers of all ilks and they can’t unsee it and they can’t become unaware of it. And now, you know, other than the collection of, of disruptions that were caused specifically by the pandemic, a lot of this are disruptions that supply chains have been through before, but now everyone is aware of it. So we have to acknowledge and accept that we got exactly what we asked for, which was a awareness, a seat at the table, uh, you know, and the respect. I think we do finally have the respect, if not yet, the budget for a lot of the things that supply chain needs to do and procurement needs to do to improve

Scott Luton (40:38):

That’s right. Uh, Mike, I bet when you went into Tuscany, enjoying all those meals and making small talk with your family members, I bet. Once you said supply chain, they understand, uh, some of the things you do these days, right?

Mike Jette (40:50):

That’s for sure. Uh, I have more heads nodding than I did three years ago.

Greg White (40:55):

<laugh> yeah, they don’t, they don’t turn around and start talking to somebody else immediately when you say supply chain, right,

Scott Luton (41:00):

Right. Sheldon. Great. To have you back with us, the Shakespeare of supply chain, sometimes the role of supplier qualities is coming more into focus. Companies must now assign a budget to the supply chain to accomplish, accomplish their strategic objectives. Well said there, Sheldon and I love Stacy’s comment next year. We still need to be superheroes, Greg. We still need to have those capes. Yeah. I love that Stacy so well said. I’m so glad you’re here with us here today. Okay. So Mike, you did not come without gifts for everyone. Uh, resources, really folks, just like your perspective here is gonna help many people probably gonna trigger a few Eureka moments and, and hopefully drive new action, right. Doing business differently. So our team, and again, big, thanks to Catherine and Amanda Chantel helping to make production happen. See, we’ve got first up, we’ve got a white paper on the three essential supply chain tools to combat inflation. So we’re gonna drop that there. So white paper folks can download. Secondly, we’ve got a blog on seven important things that supply chain leaders should focus on, uh, probably attack in the blind spot that we all have from time to time. Uh, so we’re gonna drop that in the links. And then finally, Mike, I want, want you to, um, we also have a webinar that you were on here recently entitled supply chain collaboration as a counterbalance to inflation. Why should folks check without Mike?

Mike Jette (42:27):

Sure. So I, I think, I think all three of us are passionate about collaboration. It’s one of the, the most untapped assets in our supply chain. So, uh, the focus there I think is really important. And this particular webinar is, you know, speaking specifically to the most urgent challenge that we’re all facing and that’s inflation. So I think as you’re trying to get your organization to do things differently, to adopt some new approaches, collaboration should be one of those approaches. And maybe one of the best ways to sell that into your leadership is about how this is gonna help you to, uh, address inflationary trends

Scott Luton (43:04):

Well said, great resources, and we’ve dropped those links in there. Uh, Greg, get you to comment and then I wanna make sure folks know what G P does and how, how the, uh, organization can help Greg, your quick

Greg White (43:16):

Thoughts. I wish I could do a meme of what Mike looked like virtually coming in here, like with an armload of stuff for people. <laugh> <laugh> there you go. It’s like, it’s like he’s coming to a housewarming party. I mean, that’s, that’s, that’s so incredible amount of valuable information. I think particularly valuable is how to deal with inflation without upsetting all of the other value added aspects of your supply chain. Right? I mean, you can’t just focus on supply chain and I think you also have to acknowledge, you’ve said this to an extent is that dealing with inflation is not a zero sum game, you know, in terms of other improvements or, uh, affirmations of your supply chain. So, um, I think it’s important for folks to think of think multi-threaded yep. Right. Well, and I think that’s the message here.

Scott Luton (44:10):

Yep. Well said there really quick Alex says, I think going back to those power imbalance imbalance relationships, Alex says he worked for a supplier for a big box. They recently removed their business from the company I worked for no warning or reason given they had lowered, uh, comps over the prior months, but went from even with 2021 to zero, our suppliers on the flip side have used their size to bully increase in prices. So a lot of dynamics going on there, Alex, and sounds like you’ve got quite a, a new chapter to write to the book, uh, from your journey. But,

Greg White (44:47):

Uh, so can I tell you that losing a big customer like that is not always a bad thing. Mm

Scott Luton (44:52):

Great point.

Greg White (44:53):

We did. We were the second largest auto parts chain at one time. And now Riley automotive, which I believe is the largest and WD 40 got tired. The one product that every auto parts chain must have, right? WD 40, they got tired of the low margins that we forced them into, even though we were by far their biggest customer. And they just pulled their product from our shelves. Wow. And their gross, we thought, oh, they’ll collapse. They’ll fall under the pressure. Their gross margins went up because our, because our method of collaboration was to bully them into lower and lower prices because of our higher and higher volumes. And wow. It wound up being us who, who came. So, and I’ve seen a lot of companies, um, gain margin by losing big box business, by

Scott Luton (45:42):

The way. Well, Mike, as we all know, with duct tape and WD 40, you can just about do whatever you want to and fix anything. Right. That’s it’s

Mike Jette (45:50):

True. That’s that’s for sure.

Greg White (45:52):

And a fry

Mike Jette (45:52):

Bar and it’s, it’s been used a lot over the last three years,

Scott Luton (45:55):

But thank oh man.

Mike Jette (45:57):

Mike Key solutions.

Greg White (45:59):

It feels like it’s been used on the supply chain. Mike certainly.

Scott Luton (46:02):

Yeah, no true words, Mike. I love that. I set you up and yes, spiked it down by Tom cruise and the top gun you’ve seen. Um, okay. So Mike, you know, we like to really offer some clarity when it comes to what companies do, how they can help. So tell us a little more about G P big powerful organization and, and how they can help some of our listeners.

Mike Jette (46:23):

Yeah. Our, our mission is, is pretty simple. I mean, we help companies optimize their supply chains, right? That’s, that’s a hundred percent of what we do that is our passion. We do that three ways. Uh, so one we offer technology. So we have SAS solutions for both sourcing and procurement, which we call GP smart and broader supply chain, collaboration, planning, inventory management. We call that GP next. Those are integrated convers capabilities, kind of per the importance that we’ve talked about there, we also provide consulting, helping companies define, prioritize, align on what changes need to happen and then implement those changes. And finally, uh, we have a lot of customers where we’re a part of their team. We’re offering managed services where we’re helping operate and continuously optimize their supply chains on an ongoing basis. So optimizing supply chains, technology, and services, uh, that’s what GDP is about.

Scott Luton (47:21):

Mm. Love it. Very simple. Easy to follow there, Greg, your thoughts on the, some of the ways that GP can help.

Greg White (47:28):

Yeah. They give you the tools to do it or do it for you. It sounds like. And, and I think more and more, by the way, as these newer enterprises, some of these niche brands are created. They don’t want to run a supply chain. They wanna run a, a brand and they want someone to, if not completely largely operate it on their behalf. And I think it’s a good business to have it’s Mike, by the way, it’s something I have contended for a long time. Retailers are really good at retailing. They’re really terrible in for the most part, saving some real exceptions like tractor supply. They’re really terrible at supply chain. And, and I think this gives them the, these kind of services, give them the opportunity if they want to, you know, get the economies of scale of having trained professionals. If that, if you wanna call it that tackle it, they can, they got the option.

Scott Luton (48:19):

Yeah. Well said. All right. So Mike and Greg Sheldon says going back to, I think, uh, Greg’s story, high margins and high volumes. <laugh> like all in water <laugh> they just don’t

Greg White (48:31):

That’s

Scott Luton (48:33):

So Mike ton, I appreciate your, the perspective you dropped today. And, you know, we’re, we’re, we’re big here at supply chain. Now we’re big suckers for numbered lists. So it’s so it’s, so it’s just easier to fall along. Right. But folks, we’ve got the, the links to all three resources and the comments, if you’re listening to this via audio podcast replay, you’ll find them on the episode page beyond all that though. Mike, how can folks connect with you and GEP and learn more on their own?

Mike Jette (49:00):

Yeah. So certainly encourage folks to visit, uh, gp.com. You know, this is a sample of some of the great resources that we have there, and you’ll be able to learn more about our mission of me personally, LinkedIn, or other social media platforms. I’ve got a, a presence on all those. I’m always excited to, to network and connect with other leaders out there.

Scott Luton (49:20):

Wonderful. And, uh, let’s see here, Rhonda appreciates the opportunity to learn a lot, uh, here today, especially from you, Mike. I appreciate, we all appreciate that. Uh, see him says, GP sounds like a fascinating company. Is that the, is that the label you’d put on? Uh, G there Mike?

Mike Jette (49:36):

Yeah, I think that’s a good ad adjective. I like that one. <laugh>

Scott Luton (49:40):

So one final question for you here today, Mike, uh, before we wrap and thank you for your time, what’s being a big traveler, right? And, and you don’t have to let anything out, any cats outta the bag unless you want to, but what’s one of your big, next trips that, uh, you’ll be taking.

Mike Jette (49:56):

I always usually have three or four trips in advanced plant, so I nice, always have things on the calendar. I have a trip with one of my sons to go skiing in the Dolomites, uh, in Italy, Northern Italy. Wow. In February. And I have a trip on, on the calendar for April to go to India with my whole family. I, I get to go fairly frequently for work. It is somewhat contingent on Russian airspace and whether that is available to American carriers, cuz I prefer the nonstop flight, but those are, those are two of the items that I have out

Scott Luton (50:30):

There. Okay. So we’re gonna the check back in, after you get some of these incredible trips knocked out and uh, we’ll have to check back in with you and get your next round of observations on how to, how to navigate to the obstacle course. That is global supply chain these days. So really appreciate your time here today. Mike jetty with G

Mike Jette (50:48):

P thank you so much. I had a great time.

Greg White (50:51):

Thanks Mike,

Scott Luton (50:52):

Greg man. Mike, just he’s he’s so matter of fact about dropping this knowledge here, right. Really enjoyed his perspective, enjoyed, you know, I always, as you know, um, I’m so practical that I once gave my wife at umbrella for on Valentine’s day. So I like a good <laugh>. I like a really good practical discussion, but Mike dropped some things been there, done that perspective and some, some thoughts and resources that can really help folks. Right?

Greg White (51:18):

Yeah. And unlike an umbrella, Mike seems to, seems to have ideas for companies that will help them stay married to their trading partners. So

Scott Luton (51:28):

Nice.

Greg White (51:31):

No, fortunately you have a very forgiving wife, but, but our trading partners, all aren’t always so forgiving, but nice. I think,

Scott Luton (51:39):

Sorry, you’re getting, this is like the here at the end, huh?

Greg White (51:43):

About you. But I think, you know, there were a couple of really good insights there and, and the one you just mentioned is that it is so matter of fact, I imagine Mike has done this once or twice or a hundred or 200 or 500 times. And I think what companies need to realize is that they need to have somebody inside or outside their organization to which supply chain is. So matter of fact, that even, you know, globe catastrophes and global recession, except for the United States, apparently the whole world is in recession except the us and inflation thing, you know? And, and some of those things hitting you all at once are still just another day at the office for people like Mike and his team. And I think that’s, that’s something that you have to recognize because so many companies don’t know where to turn.

Greg White (52:31):

Right. They don’t know where’s my stuff. They don’t know how to find where’s my stuff. They don’t know what to do when they do find my stuff. Right. And that’s right. And because it is so matter of fact, he and the folks at G G E P that, that it’s a great resource to have people like that. Like I said, either in or outside your organization to help you deal with what’s coming. Because as I said before, consumers, executive management, trading partners, even politicians can’t unsee the supply chain now, and you are under the microscope. Like you we’ve never been before.

Scott Luton (53:09):

That’s right.

Greg White (53:11):

In the, in the last two years, supply chain has mentioned, has been mentioned as often as sales. Wow. In, you know, quarterly and annual statements of, of public companies and sales is the thing that people have focused on at companies in the past. And, and now they realize that it’s a symbiotic relationship between sales and, and supply chains. So that will continue and that’s right. Pressure has been ratcheted up. So, you know, if you, if you feel lost, find a partner. Yeah. And you know,

Scott Luton (53:43):

And if you don’t get help,

Greg White (53:44):

Whom it is just another day at the office, all of this disruption,

Scott Luton (53:48):

Right. If you don’t get help with Mike, a GP get help somewhere.

Greg White (53:50):

That’s right. Like

Scott Luton (53:51):

Charter hospital, eighties commercials where right. Folks to make it easy, you know, whether or not you, you reach out to Mike to make it easy to consume some of the resources, we’ve dropped all those links and here and to chat. And that’ll be on the episode page like this one here on the webinar. Uh, and Stacy, I really appreciate your comment here. Good relevant conversations. But then she says about <laugh> the umbrella, Scott. I hope you did not wrap that umbrella. Now look, as we wrap here, just to, just to clarify things, I saw my wife as I dropped her off at her job one day running through a rainstorm, cause you didn’t have an umbrella. And that was like two weeks before Valentine’s day. So that’s what triggered me to problem, you know, problem meet solution, hammer, meet nail. But I think she did cry when she unwrapped. Well, I know she did. She unwrapped that, uh, at dinner. So Hey, we have, we love phone that he

Greg White (54:40):

Has learned people. He has learned

Scott Luton (54:42):

20 years later. We have

Greg White (54:43):

He’s he’s made up for big

Scott Luton (54:45):

Time. That’s right. Way folks. I hope you’ve enjoyed. Appreciate all the great feedback. I hope you’ve enjoyed. Today’s chat with not only with Greg, but Mike jetty, man, Mike, uh, make sure you connect with him on LinkedIn. Make sure you check out what GPS up to really enjoy his perspective today. And we’ll have to have him back, uh, as we, as he works through all these global travels, but whatever you do, folks, deeds, not words. You gotta take action. We gotta do business differently on behalf of our entire team here at supply chain. Now Scott Luton signing off challenging you to do good to give forward and to be the change that’s needed. And we’ll see you next time. Right back here on supply chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (55:21):

Thanks

Intro/Outro (55:22):

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