The Supply Chain Buzz is Supply Chain Now’s regular Monday livestream, held at 12n ET each week. This show focuses on some of the leading stories from global supply chain and global business, always with special guests – the most important of which is the live audience!

This week’s edition of The Buzz was a Dial P for Procurement edition, so Scott Luton was joined by Dial P host Kelly Barner and longtime Supply Chain Now friend Kim Winter, Founder & Group Managing Director of Logistics Executive Group.

In this session, created in collaboration with a live Supply Chain Now audience, Scott, Kelly and Kim discussed:

• The trend of ‘quitting’ in the world of talent, whether quietly or out loud

• What’s going on with FedEx and their Ground contractors

• Why a high-profile procurement executive recently made a speedy and unexpected departure from his position

• What Kim has been hearing as he travels to and speaks at in-person events around the world

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 (00:31):

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you are, Scott Luton, Kelly Barner, and Kim Winter here with you on Supply Chain. Now, welcome to today’s live stream, Kelly. How are we doing?

Kelly Barner (00:41):

I’m doing great. How are you? Happy Monday, everybody.

Scott Luton (00:43):

Happy Monday. Great to see you, Uh, and Kim, Winter. Kim, how you doing?

Kim Winter (00:49):

Ola. Valencia,

Scott Luton (01:07):

Man, Kelly, that is, uh, that’s quite an opening, huh?

Kelly Barner (01:11):

Quite an opening, but I didn’t hear the one word that really knocked us all dead in the, in the green room, which was Sangria, <laugh>. I forget there was the one word, Kim. Was it at the end there, <laugh>?

Kim Winter (01:21):

Well, sir, I am in the coast of the Mediterranean, Southern Spain, between two conferences in a beautiful che right on the coast here, Uh, not far from Aha,

Scott Luton (01:32):

Man, I am so jealous. You, you shared some of the pictures, uh, with this, uh, you, if anyone deserves a big break, Kelly, it is Kim Winter, so we’re gonna touch more on his global travels throughout the hour. But hey, Kelly, Kim and everybody today, it’s a supply chain buzz where we share some of the leading stories across global business every Monday at 12 noon Eastern time. We’re discussing a variety of topics here today. It’s the Dial P for procurement edition, right? Uh, Kelly’s a very popular podcast focused on a wide world, sexy world of procurement. But folks get ready because beyond what Kelly and Kim will be talking about, wanna hear from you too. So use that, uh, the sky boxes, the comment section to share your perspective throughout the, uh, hour. Okay? So Kelly and Kim, uh, I wanna share one quick event, uh, very important initiative that we are, uh, supporting and partners of, and we want to invite folks to get involved.

Scott Luton (02:24):

So, uh, folks, the leveraging logistics for Ukraine effort continues, uh, is probably seven or eight months, um, uh, deep at this point. Despite what you see on the news headlines, the need is still massive. Yes. And, uh, folks, um, it’s really easy to get involved, um, and get in, get involved with impact. Um, numerous containers have, uh, uh, made it across, uh, the ocean and have, uh, hit boots on ground with families, individuals in need. Uh, and so our next plan, we have a one planning session per month, right? For folks to get involved, just kind of, uh, jump into the session, wrap their head around what’s going on. There’s no obligation to to donate anything unless you would like. And the next planning session’s coming up Tuesday, October 18th at 11:00 AM Eastern Time. We’ve dropped the link to that in the comments, and we’d love for you to join in this, um, multiparty multi-company. There’s lots of folks getting together, whole family of folks getting together, uh, led by our friends at Vector Global Logistics to help folks in need. And Kelly and Kim Kelly, I know we all know we’re kindra spirits there in, in doing good and, uh, with results, right?

Kelly Barner (03:34):

Absolutely. And they’ve, I have to say, they’ve done a wonderful job with this. Not only meeting need, but allowing that need to evolve as conditions on the ground in Ukraine have evolved. So a really tremendous effort to get behind and support.

Scott Luton (03:48):

Excellent point. Kelly and Kim, your thoughts?

Kim Winter (03:50):

Yeah, I’ve been in a few of the, of the meetings with the folks, uh, especially when I’ve been up here in Europe. Uh, we’re working with a number of organizations on convoys into Poland and into Ukraine, of course, from the very beginning of this, uh, collaboration. And, uh, you know, the folks over at, uh, the Vector are doing an awesome job. So I can only say, you know, grants out to them. And, uh, please, folks, get on, get on the line, see what you can contribute. And some of the, the folks in the US contributing have just been huge. Some of the carriers and, and some of the supplies

Scott Luton (04:22):

Exa, uh, I could not echo your comments more. Kim and Kelly, uh, it’s a pleasure to, to collaborate with both of you and your respect to organizations to, in, in a variety of different, um, uh, do good initiatives. And we’re gonna touch on one towards the end of today’s call, and we’re looking forward to, to that sharing that, um, uh, results focused, uh, do good work, uh, at the end of the buzz. Uh, but for now, Kelly and Kim, before we get into the headlines, some of the headlines, let’s say hello to a few folks. And I wanna start with, um, uh, a gentleman that we met earlier today. Shalindra, great to see you back. Good morning to you from Deli India. It was good to connect for a second earlier. So great to have you here. Looking forward to your perspective. Uh, hey, Jeffrey, the one, only Jeffrey Aand is back. Hey, Jeff. Uh, Kelly, how about that? Uh,

Kelly Barner (05:11):

We’ll always like to have Jeff with us,

Scott Luton (05:12):

The famous supply chain, Artis

Kelly Barner (05:15):

I know. And in Spanish as well.

Scott Luton (05:17):

That’s right. Uh, and he is tuned in from Houston. So great to see you there. Uh, Shelly Phillips is with us once again from Chicago today. So, uh, Kim, usually Shelly is tuned in from Colorado, but she’s up in Chicago, I bet in an event we’ll find out. Okay. But love the new headshot there. Uh, once again, Shelly. Hey, Jonathan. Jonathan’s added a new credential. Great to have you. Back to Cscp p Kim Kelly. Y’all ever heard of the Cscp?

Kim Winter (05:44):

Been there? Yeah. Been to a conference in the us. Ah, Philadelphia. Philadelphia.

Scott Luton (05:49):

Really? Yeah. Well, Jonathan, congrats. Uh, that is a wonderful, uh, credential to add, Uh, Dr. Rhonda, she likes, she’s liking the calm pre show music. I’m with you, uh, Dr. Rh. I hope this finds you well and your wonderful efforts at, uh, Work Life 360. Of course, we got Catherine, Chantel, Amanda, Clay, all the behind the scenes helping make production happen. Appreciate what they do there. Gazi, good evening from Dubai, the UAE Gazi via LinkedIn. Great to see you, Gazi.

Kim Winter (06:19):

Hey, Gazi, one of my clients, <laugh>. Really?

Scott Luton (06:23):

Yeah. I like how you just, uh, Kelly. Sweet. Did he just erased the mis the mystery right there. I made that connection. I love that. Blessed are the connectors in this life, for sure. Hey, Cecil, great to see of via LinkedIn. Great to have you back. Let us know where you’re tuned in from. Thomas, good evening, from Cologne in Germany via LinkedIn. Great to see you there. Uh, Thomas, Oh, is he Okay, man.

Kim Winter (06:47):

He’s your business partner and he’s gonna be on this show soon. You wait. He’s got some news for

Scott Luton (06:51):

You. I love it. I love it. Row it. Uh, he is back with us. Great to see you here today via LinkedIn, Jose Montoya, doing great work, Uh, also creating great content for supply chain and logistics. Great to see you. Jean Pledger is with us from Northern Alabama. Uh, great to see you Jean. Uh, and finally, Erica, uh, good morning, uh, via LinkedIn. Erica, let us know where you’re tuned in from. I know we couldn’t hit everybody’s comments, but y’all keep ’em coming. We’re gonna try to feature everyone’s, uh, we’re trying to feature a lot of y’all’s comments in these stories as we unpack some of the news leading news across global business. Okay? So, Kelly and Kim, I wanna start by talking talent today, Kelly and Kim and Kim. And in just a second, I wanna get you to, um, give us an update of what you and your team are seeing across the global talent market.

Scott Luton (07:36):

But Kelly and Kim, are y’all okay if I share a little bit of a neat little story first? Of course. Okay. All right. So, you know, I, I, I learned this little nugget when I was with Paul Noble down in Florida at an industry event, and I’ve forgotten it, right? Paul, of course, leads Harrison. And then over the weekend, uh, I’m, I’m a big Wall Street Journal fan. I’m, I’m diving in a couple papers I’m getting caught up on. And there’s a book, there’s a lot of talk about quitting in, in global talent market. Quiet, quitting is getting a lot of attention. Well, there was a recent book published around this notion, but the article of this book review started with this little story. So, um, back in November, 2012, a video game company founder was going through a lot of soul searching, like many entrepreneurs have to do.

Scott Luton (08:24):

And this gentleman arrived at the conclusion that the startup he was leading wasn’t gonna take off. So the founder quit. He emailed his investors, returned their money, and right away he began to search for his next venture. Well, one aspect of his now defunct video game company was very popular and very effective. It was an internal communication platform that his team really enjoyed. So the founder made that, that platform his next startup. And he named the company by forming an acronym of the phrase, Searchable Log of all conversations and Knowledge. And in July, 2021, about nine years later, Stewart Butterfield would sell Slack to Salesforce. Y’all ready for 27.7 billion? Wow. Wow. So as we, as we talk talent here, I’m sure there’s lots of folks right now really questioning where they are or what their next move is, and doing some soul searching, whether you’re an entrepreneur or you’re a practitioner out there in the world. But hey, that, that story there should give you hope and inspire you, cuz you never know that next move you make, even if it’s a painful and a scary one, could be your $27.7 billion decision. So, quick reaction, uh, Kelly, start with you. A quick reaction to the story of Slack.

Kelly Barner (09:35):

I give him credit for having the courage, right? You gotta be decisive. You have to, I mean, certainly returning the money, that’s really scary cuz it could have impacted his ability to raise money in the future. But clearly the results have born themselves out and I think that’s an amazing story.

Scott Luton (09:52):

Uh, agreed. And we’re big Slack fans here. Use it religiously. Kim, your quick thoughts.

Kim Winter (09:56):

Yeah, I, I, you know, I think I’ve just been on the wires today actually catching up. And, uh, you know, there’s at least a dozen companies that are going to the wall at the moment. Big startups, um, raising hundreds of millions of dollars over the last five, six years that are not making it because there’s a bit of a down call downfall now, uh, economically around the traps. So at the end of the day, for the entrepreneurs out there, for the founders who are prepared to really go for it, you know, more kudos to them and, uh, you know, you’ve just gotta get the right people, the right amount of funding in at the early days and, and go hard and get the right people around you. So well done to those guys.

Scott Luton (10:33):

Agreed. And that’s a what a, what a wonderful segue here, uh, because as Jeff puts it, uh, love the talent thoughts, the most critical part of supply chain’s effectiveness over time. Jeff, that’s poetic. Uh, you and Kim and Kelly got something in common there. Um, Kim, sticking with global talent observations, I think, uh, if you could share what you’re seeing maybe on the candidate side, some, some themes there. I know y’all do a lot of research and what you’re seeing maybe from the hiring manager side, your thoughts, Kim?

Kim Winter (11:01):

Yeah, so, so I’ve been, we talked top of the show off camera. Um, been on a, on a 14 tour, 14 event tour, 16 different cities. And we might talk about some of those events later on, on between two Barcelona, which was cold chain. And tomorrow I’m up to Madrid for the biggest fruit conference in Europe, uh, fruit attraction and been EMC at most of the events. And what I’ve been seeing really stuck reminders of just how unstuck a lot of organizations are coming cuz they just can’t get the right people resources in their business. They can’t get on the front foot. They’re continuously trying to work with people that they’ve got and retain them. And a lot of companies are not focused enough on that. And they’re losing people out the back door as quicker they, as they’re bringing them in the front door.

Kim Winter (11:50):

Yeah. So what we are seeing is, uh, they, their graphic that you just put up before Yep. Sort this huge demand. And what we’re seeing is, is not so much the, the revenue or the remuneration that they’re after, but they’re looking for positions, career opportunities, more senior opportunities that wanna flex their muscles. And especially the last two or three generations, two or three after my baby boomer generation, these people wanna see movement. They wanna see dynamics, they want to see excitement in a role, even in tough times. And the world’s in a bit of chaos at the moment. You’ve gotta look at that. If you’re a leader in your business and you’re an employer, I dunno what you’re seeing there, uh, a procurement side, Kelly for talent. But, you know, it’s, it’s it’s pretty chronic out there at the moment, certainly in Europe and the Asia pack where I’ll be.

Kelly Barner (12:35):

Yeah, no, it’s been, it’s been very intense. And as you can imagine, over the last couple of years, procurement professionals have been asked to step up. And I do think that what those numbers show is that people looking for recognition, leadership in influence, even in a, you know, before money, right? We all want better salaries. It increases our, our flexibility, our life choices, all of those things. But you have an awful lot more control over what you do during a given workday if you are able to get that bump up the corporate ladder.

Kim Winter (13:06):

Yeah. The big, the big plane town is, is obviously culture. You, as you say, uh, it’s, it’s a remuneration down track for them. It’s, it’s, you know, are people happy? Are they in a culture where they can feel inclusive included, where there’s plenty of diversity, inclusiveness, equity inside the business. I mean, five, seven years ago, this used to be nice to haves and people would, as leaders would play with these ideas. Now it’s, you’ve gotta be in the game. You’ve actually gotta be genuinely and authentically bringing the level of culture into the business that people are interested in.

Scott Luton (13:38):

Agreed, Agreed. So Kim, let’s talk about on the hiring manager side, we’ve got one more, uh, graphic we wanna share with folks here. Uh, based on your teams, you know, your global teams cause you are place in town everywhere. Yeah. Some things are seen from a hiring manager perspective. Speak to this if you would.

Kim Winter (13:53):

Yeah, so we’ve got about a dozen teams and, and it’s been great because for the first time in three years I was with my teams in Australia. I’ve been with our teams in the Middle East, of course pretty regularly. But, uh, out here in Europe, uh, Thomas and others, uh, our new Brazil office and New Spain office, they have the folks at these events. And I’m getting that same sort of feedback from everywhere. And that is that, you know, the candidates, um, uh, the, the strongest candidates, those who are winning opportunities with clients are those who are bringing the most confidence into an interview. Do we need technical skills? Of course we do. But it’s attitude, it’s aptitude, it’s confidence, it’s agility, it’s dynam. These are the things that candidates need to bring to the table when they’re going to an interview. This is what employers, this is what the research tells us. This is one of about a dozen LinkedIn polls that we’ve done recently that we are sharing with everybody and we post of it later.

Scott Luton (14:47):

Mm, love that. Love, love the work. Y’all, your team does lots of content, you know, far beyond just procuring and placing talent. I mean, you’re, you’re serving the industry very holistically, so I appreciate that. Kim Kelly, uh, last comment as we talked talent in this first, uh, uh, topic here on the supply chain buzz when it comes to the, the interviews, uh, and what hiring manager looking to see. Any, any thoughts on your end? Kelly?

Kelly Barner (15:12):

I think it’s fascinating that at this point the technical skills are sort of table stakes and that hiring managers are looking at more personality type things. Hopefully they’re taking advantage of some of the testing that’s out there. Those are always interesting. And if you bring someone in, it sort of helps understand what the overall impact of the team is going to be. But I love the confidence is top. We’ve dealt with so much risk and uncertainty and disruption. And so even if you make a wrong call, which we’re all going to do, I think being decisive, which to me stems from confidence, that’s an incredibly important thing for a candidate to bring to a job.

Kim Winter (15:48):

Excellent. Just on that one, uh, Kelly in, and Scott, one of our biggest clients who we serve across our 12 office network, uh, was saying to me the other day, uh, he was, came to Barcelona for the meeting last week for the four day conference, was a long one. Uh, a lot of sangria there, Kelly. Uh, so, but what he was saying was, you know, the thing he is looking for, for VPs and above for general managers, presidents in the side of his business, he quizzes them extensively for, for days and sometimes weeks at different meetings on what was the worst things you’ve ever dealt with. What were the disasters you had to dig yourself out of, How did you do that? What was the, And he needs to know the granular stuff and on based on that. Yes. Kelly, is he saying, Yep, sure, but a technical skill here and there, you’ve gotta have it. Right? But how do they deal with the tragic situations and how do they dig the business forward and how do they lead other people through this?

Scott Luton (16:43):

Well said, well said. And, and two quick thoughts to that. Um, storytelling is a, is a wonderful skill to have, whether you’re interviewing or just you’re doing your job right, It’s part of effective communication. And then number two, if you know, one of the things we’ve heard a lot, especially as we’ve interacted with, uh, veterans and military members looking to, you know, get their first job after military service. But we’ve also heard, it’s just, it’s a common theme is a lot of folks don’t practice interviewing. And those practice interviews can really help you refine your storytelling and making sure you’re putting your first, your, uh, best foot forward in a very confident manner, which is one of the things that Kim and Kelly both touched on. Um, okay. I’m gonna share a couple comments and, uh, we, we could spend a couple hours especially based on that. We’ve just the tip of iceberg in terms of the research that Kim’s group does. Uh, but, uh, we’ll have to have a, a talent week, uh, live stream, uh, down the road a little bit. But hey, let’s share a few comments. Um, Daniel is back with us. Daniel, hope this finds you well. Greetings from Chili Boston. May, Is it Chile up there?

Kelly Barner (17:46):

Yes. And it’s windy, so it’s chili. And then when the wind blows, it just cuts right through you. Daniel’s absolutely right,

Scott Luton (17:53):

<laugh>. Well, Daniel, hope this finds you well. Uh, it does a lot of work in the risk management space, and good to see you here today. Hey, Peter, Bole all night and all day is back with us. Peter, hope this finds you well as well. Love to get an update on your, uh, new initiatives you’re leading out there. Uh, Cecil agreed with that first graphic, um, Kim, that you shared, uh, better work life balance. It seems to be a dominant, uh, demand out there. Uh, for sure. Uh, speaking of demand, Thomas says, we actually have a very high demand in procurement in supply chain in Germany. So it seems to be be a healthy market there, Kim.

Kim Winter (18:27):

Yeah, absolutely. And Thomas is in Cologne. We’ve been partners with him now for over two years. And, uh, yeah, he would’ve probably the most dynamic and largest, uh, recruitment business for procurement in Germany in that part of Europe.

Scott Luton (18:41):

Actually. Very interesting there. Uh, see, Jeff says, Super hot market on the on supply chain talent front. What young professionals need to see is a long run trajectory versus the quick rise burnout, which falls to many, uh, professionals unprepared to feel the next level. Learn your peripheries. Uh, Jeff says, and he, did he steal that from one of y’all? Learn your peripheries. Uh, Kelly or Kim, he’s got it in quote, so, so bet it’s, I bet it’s a book, or maybe it’s one of his mantras. But regardless, Jeff, well said there. Um, and, and Shahi, we’ll try to touch on this question. This is a question I think many hiring managers are struggling with. Um, you know, how do we find proficient and skilled workforce? If Kim, if you had to answer that in like 30 seconds or less, what would your answer to Shashi’s question about how to find it? What you, what would your answer be?

Kim Winter (19:32):

Uh, to be honest in one liner would be, you know, look outside your domain. Look outside your backyard. Shahi, we’ve been online and are you welcome the must day. Uh, and I, and I would say just look across the broad spectrum and I, I think you’re in Mumbai or maybe Deli, but, uh, you know, there’s so much up and coming talent in the subcontinent of India. Um, there’s a massive amount of talent coming from the IT side. A lot of the big carriers I know at the moment, a lot of the big logistics companies are hiring from the IT space, eCommerce space to bring into logistics and supply chain.

Scott Luton (20:07):

Well said Kim, Uh, and Kelly, you’re quick. If you had one best practice or tip to share with Shahi, what would that be?

Kelly Barner (20:14):

I would say segment your needs and meet them in different ways. Some are gonna be full-time hires, some are gonna be temporary, some are gonna be contractors or service providers. But be willing to work with a blend of options.

Scott Luton (20:28):

Hey, that’s wonderful, wonderful advice. Uh, by the way, Catherine loved, she says, I love personality and work style test. Kelly, did anyone else go through a big Briar? Uh, uh, briers, a Meers Briggs phase? Uh, she says hashtag e n fp. That must be the, um, designations from the test, Huh?

Kelly Barner (20:45):

I n fj.

Scott Luton (20:47):

Okay. All right. All right.

Kim Winter (20:50):

There’s a really good one in New Zealand, uh, actually in Australia now by a Kiwi fellow Kiwi, and it’s called my profile. The, my profile, one word, my profile. Look it up cheap. Great test, behavioral assessment.

Scott Luton (21:03):

We will check that out. Uh, Kim, uh, you and Kelly are just the fountains of resources already today, and we’re only 20 minutes in. Uh, couple quick comments here. Daniel says, Need to be genuine and authentic spot on. Kim. Employees will see through false actions immediately and be turned off even more. Gloria Mar says that study Kelly and Kim, very on point. Unfortunately, man managers tend to promote people that, uh, any teams are great individual, uh, contributors, not leaders. Yeah. And leave those potential leaders sitting and watching. That to me, adds to that quiet quitting wish. Wishing nothing is different than in disengaged people. And Gloria Mar, apologize, I botch part of your comment there, but excellent point. And we’ve gotta really be open-minded in terms of, of who we, uh, give the, uh, con shell to. Right? Kelly and Kim. All right. We got a lot of comments. Can’t get to all of them. Y’all. Keep it coming. Keep it coming. I want to move into this next, uh, story here today. Uh, Kelly, on a somewhat related topic, when it comes to talents, so we’re talking FedEx ground. Yes. And it’s ongoing. Uh, saga might be a little strong, but ongoing conversations with the Oh, no

Kelly Barner (22:12):

Saga is appropriate. Okay,

Scott Luton (22:13):

Good.

Kim Winter (22:14):

<laugh>

Scott Luton (22:15):

With the contractor world. So, and I love your headline. This is, this is comes from a recent, The Procurement Buzz, which is an excellent, uh, weekly newsletter that, uh, you and your team create. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Will Black Friday be purple this year? Kelly, tell us a lot more.

Kelly Barner (22:30):

So, first of all, I hope Shelly Phillips is still here because she gets partial credit for this. If you’ve ever listened to Dial P you know that I implore you. Don’t just listen, be part of the conversation. Well, Shelly reached out to me in August and she said, Are you following this thing with FedEx Grounds Contractors? And to be totally honest, I wasn’t. So I started digging and what I found out led me to a perfect Dial P episode. It’s very complicated, very messy. The long and short of it is that although we all think of FedEx ground as being corporate provided, it’s actually an enormous network of 6,000 contractors, and FedEx is not necessarily getting along with these contractors right now. Um, excellent. Shelly, I’m glad that you’re here. So, Shell, and I had some back and forth about this, we’re both news junkies, but there’s a couple of interesting things that come out of this.

Kelly Barner (23:23):

One is that the number one ground contractor has been sued in federal court by FedEx and has had all of his contracts canceled because I think FedEx sense that there was maybe the rumblings of a union starting, which does actually violate on antitrust grounds, his contract. But the other interesting thing we’re getting to look at, and I think his supply chain professionals is like peeking behind the curtain. FedEx ground was started in 1985 as rps, a low cost, low price organization to compete with ups. And what’s happened is that over time, because of Amazon weekend deliveries, the ending of the, the smart post, the sort of USPS final mile from FedEx, these contractors have taken on so much more volume, but it’s at a very different price point. So working residential areas, you have to make more stops that are further apart and deliver less packages at each stop. And it’s really just starting to look like both from FedEx’s financials and also what we’re hearing from the contractors, the model does not work anymore. Whether it’s fuel, whether it’s talent shortages, whether it’s the cost to operate, it’s simply no longer works. And unfortunately, it’s all gonna get worked out very publicly because of this pending lawsuit. Mm.

Scott Luton (24:44):

Uh, Kim, your thoughts there?

Kim Winter (24:45):

Yeah, this, this is resonating from, from just rolling back the years. I owned a trucking company in the eighties. So I had one truck and then I had a lot of trucks, and I got bought out by the company because I got two. They relied on me too much. And so it was, it was, it was, rather than the unions, it was a communist plot by them, by me to, to take over all the distribution. So, I mean, is it, it’s the same old story, isn’t it? How much do you control internally? How much do you go out on a two pl, three pl, four PL basis? And, and we see this play out right across the ecosystem, right across the landscape, uh, economically and throughout logistics and supply chain is how much control are you comfortable with? Can you afford, How much can you output? That’s great. And uh, of course now we’re seeing this play out in FedEx as a, as a classic example, us, ups, um, dhl, same sort of play, you know, how much do they try and control? It’s constant dynamic pull and push.

Scott Luton (25:40):

Agreed. Agreed. Man. So much going on in the world of FedEx right now. Um, but folks check out, you know, we’re just giving you kind of like the, um, the Cliff Notes versions. Cliff notes still a thing. Kelly and Kim. Oh

Kelly Barner (25:53):

Yeah. And actually, speaking of Cliff notes, yes, we didn’t talk about the purple mark calendar, Black Friday, November 25th, Spencer Patton, which is the owner of that contractor that’s been sued and discharged, he’s called for a Purple Friday instead of a black suggesting that the 6,000 FedEx ground drivers drag their feet, maybe don’t show up, maybe don’t deliver to demonstrate the leverage that they have. So that’s what the Purple Friday is, and we’re gonna be watching to see if that happens.

Scott Luton (26:24):

Interesting. So interesting. And, and says, Kelly is a star researcher and I would add brighter to that, the Ann Rice of Global supply chain. And yes, Shelly says, I am a fellow news junkie. Oh, yes. Well, Shelly, you’re also a wonderful, um,

Kelly Barner (26:38):

Most

Scott Luton (26:39):

Certainly, um, you offer up moments or brilliance regularly in the comments here on the buzz. So Shelly, thank you for sharing and thank and love that you and Kelly got together and it led to this latest procurement buzz. And by the way, really quick, Kelly, the procurement buzz, is it come out on a certain day each week? How can folks, It does learn more.

Kelly Barner (26:56):

It does, it comes out every Friday. Um, and it’s basically an exploration further of what I cover in Dial P that Thursday plus anything else that I published that week. So some people are, people are listeners, some people are readers. It’s never exactly the same. I always twist it up a little bit so it’s not just like a transcript of Dial p it’s very different, but absolutely you can subscribe and you’ll either get that on LinkedIn or in your email every single Friday.

Scott Luton (27:21):

Wonderful. Hey, I’m gonna work backwards here for a second. Uh, first off the link to that latest procurement buzz is there. And as Kelly mentioned, there’s all kinds of other resources in there. You can subscribe and you name it. So check that out. And then going back to our first topic, I should have done this, uh, Kim with you and your group logistics executive group. Uh, we’ve got a link that the team dropped, if I can find it. Uh, well, the, they can maybe rero it. We’ve got a link though to the current set, I believe the current set of survey, uh, surveys that you and your team are still continuing to lead. So you can share more, um, insights with, uh,

Kim Winter (27:56):

Yeah, we, we’ll be publishing, uh, we’ve published four in a block just recently, and we’ll make sure that links up. I’ll stick it in the comments sign later. And also we’ve got another four, uh, all to do with talent, all to do with procurement of people, what a candidates want, what a clients want, just as tips to our listeners, um, around the world from here, just as to what the trends are and what people are looking for.

Scott Luton (28:19):

Wonderful. And I think this is the link. They’re right there in a chat across each social platform to learn a lot more about, uh, the logistics executive group and the polling. Um, okay. A lot of good stuff. And we’re just halfway, we’re not even halfway done. I got 12:27 PM Eastern Time. Kelly and Kim are quite the one two punch here today. Let’s see. Oh boy. Uh, we have quite <laugh>, we’ve got quite an article up next. I’m gonna share this graphic first. So let me just tee this up just a smidge. Uh, Kelly, this next story hit your radar in the last day or two. It involves a senior procurement executive at one of the world’s leading brands, but now it appears he’s on his way out. So, Kelly, tell us more.

Kelly Barner (29:03):

So this gentleman in the lovely sea foam green suit sitting in his McLaren, uh, this is Tony Blevins, the former VP of Procurement at Apple. And he was recently at a car show where a famous TikTok guy was there going sort of car to car and asking his standard question, which is, What do you do for a living? Cause we all wanna know, what do you have to do to be able to afford to drive a McLaren? And his answer, which I will not repeat because this is a family live stream, <laugh>, uh, is from the movie Arthur with Deadly Moore way back, sort of a cheeky response. Uh, but Apple was not too pleased. He is now on his way out. And of course, that’s all very colorful. I mean, I would like for procurement to be in the news for other reasons, but if you read between the lines, we actually learn some things about how Apple procurement works from the coverage of that story.

Kelly Barner (30:00):

The first interesting thing that we learned is that Mr. Blevins used to report to the coo. Now in many companies, procurement reports to operations, but in many companies, they report to finance. And so knowing where procurement sits tells you a little bit about the culture of the company, of the procurement organization and of the type of value they’re expected to deliver. So probably not a huge surprise that VP of procurement would report to operations would be strategic at a company like Apple. But this is interesting public confirmation of that. So now we know, the other thing we found out is that he probably already wasn’t super popular. He’s what we might consider a traditional hard nose procurement professional and some of the little colorful stories and stunts that have come out in the coverage of his time at Apple. Uh, for instance, when you’re negotiating with multiple suppliers in a given category, making sure that they either ran into each other in the lobby of the building or paring one group of supplier execs past a competing supplier while they’re waiting for their turn to present. Some of those stories have started to emerge. So interesting little details we’re getting about how the, the procurement team and Apple works, maybe what the tone, uh, has been like. And given that he wasn’t on the clock, he wasn’t functioning in an official Apple capacity, it seems reasonable to me to ask the question, was somebody looking for an opportunity? I don’t know. We’ll have to see who ends up in this position longer term.

Scott Luton (31:32):

Interesting. Interesting. Kelly, Kim, your thoughts?

Kim Winter (31:35):

Yeah, I guess what what plays into this from my mind is, is the fact that most my net astonishing, uh, Kelly’s story, Kelly, and the, the reality is that, you know, most certainly major corporate organizations, even smaller, you know, boutique organizations such as ours, I mean, the reality is, you know, you’ve got people in your business who are keeping an eye out on, on everything that’s, that’s relevant and appropriate inside of a business. And, and it’s, it’s quite often the older, uh, more stayed and you know, in their old style ways, uh, people in the business who’ve really gotta pick their socks up and should be living the values that most companies will have formally and informally inside the business. And less people are prepared to be respectful and authentic and genuine about the, the values that are in a business and the culture of the business. It can’t expect to be there for very long, cuz there’s gonna be people driving those things from the ground up in any organization these days.

Scott Luton (32:34):

Yes, excellent. Uh, Kim and Kelly and folks, uh, don’t quote Dudley more movies. <laugh>, uh, regardless of where you are in an organization, it’s not a good move. Uh, and if, and Kelly, thank you for keeping it fa family friendly, but it really, of course it was, even if it was quoted and, um, just what a dumb thing to say. It’s just dumb. And, and like Shelly says, What is wrong with these people? <laugh>.

Kim Winter (33:00):

So,

Scott Luton (33:00):

But I’ll tell you, uh, let’s see. Kelly, you mentioned Hardnosed. Uh, it’s been quite an interesting time right now for senior organizational executives. Y’all may have seen, uh, beyond meet their coo, well, I think his name is Douglas Ramsey. He was at University of Arkansas football game, evidently, allegedly got into a tussle, uh, after the game in the parking lot. And he bit the tip of someone’s nose off, uh, what in the world. Yeah. So y’all check out.

Kelly Barner (33:32):

So don’t quote deadly more and don’t tussle, please. That’s right. Tussling. And don’t white people’s noses off. Also

Kim Winter (33:39):

<laugh>,

Scott Luton (33:40):

Oh

Kim Winter (33:40):

Gosh, we don’t do this in rugby and we don’t do this in the rugby world by one <laugh>, not such thing.

Scott Luton (33:47):

Um, alright, well, speaking of, uh, Kelly and Kim, we’re, we’re kind of going around the world and then some, uh, from a headline standpoint, but also, um, Kim talking about, um, on the front end, I think you said 14 events in 16 weeks. I got that right Kim. So, um, and just a level set

Kim Winter (34:05):

And, and, and <laugh>

Scott Luton (34:08):

To it, it, man, what an aggressive schedule. And by the way, you’re running a, a global company and, and that’s busy and growing with the logistics executive group. Um, just a level set with folks out there. Um, Kelly and Kim. Kim does a lot of MCing of these events. He also is there to, to cover it, but, uh, he’s robing elbows with, uh, CEOs and senior level practitioners, you name it. Um, so what I wanna pose to you, Kim, is give us the goods. What are some of the common themes from the, all those conversations you’re having around the world? What are some of the things that, uh, are on the minds of, of these executives?

Kim Winter (34:41):

Okay, so, so just to put a bit of science to the back end of that, uh, there, Scott. So we’re talking, the cities have been in the last 15, 16 weeks due by Mumbai, Abu Dhabi, London, Birmingham, Sydney, Singapore, Brisbane, Roam, Madrid, Barcelo last week, um, Drew next week, Geneva and, uh, and a couple of others. And about six more to go just to being. And and I think the reason for that guys is everybody wants to be back out again. A lot of countries haven’t been circulating, not a lot of travel people wanna get face to face in the supply chain again. And it’s very, very important. And the human element of supply chain, and these are 2, 3, 4, and sometimes four and a half day conferences, as in Barcelona last week, um, conferences where people are having events every night. The networking is more than the 23 years I’ve been in this business since I started it as a founder.

Kim Winter (35:37):

I’ve never seen people so keen to network, hear what’s going on, find out what the trends are, talk about uh, talent and, and, uh, obviously all the technical issues. But the big trends I’m seeing, uh, one thing is very, very strong is that while it may not be the great resignation in many companies, and you talked a little bit about this before Kelly, um, about people taking options about where they’re gonna work, how they’re gonna work, their flexibility has gotta be built in where possible to, to organizations. So this is what leaders are saying that their talent, their staff, their employees are telling them. We are seeing enormous pressure on, um, people with technical skills around eCommerce. So we talked about the soft skills and all of the above, and the personality, Kelly near a hundred percent right there. But also people who understand the world of eCommerce and the way things are going in the digital economy. And those, a couple of the big trends that we are seeing and people are talking about right around the world on all of those events.

Scott Luton (36:37):

Um, so, uh, Kelly, I want, you know, kind of pose the same question you, I know y’all got a big event coming up this week and, and we do, I think you do a lot of virtual and, and now in person keynotes. I saw some of your work over the last few weeks. What are some of the, um, so Mastermind Live, I think is the event this week. Is that right Kelly?

Kelly Barner (36:54):

Yes. We have mastermind live at Art of Procurement tomorrow and Wednesday. So everybody’s welcome to join us for that fully virtual and free to everybody who wants to sign up.

Scott Luton (37:04):

So what do you think, if you had to pick a couple of key themes, uh, based on what Kim’s already shared or something may, may maybe unique to your community there, Kelly, what do you think folks can be talking about? So

Kelly Barner (37:15):

We’re actually trying to bring in people to inspire the very things that we showed in Kim’s graphic from earlier about what makes the difference in the hiring process. So it’s easy within procurement, sort of like a, I don’t know, it’s almost tradition at this point that the agenda never needs to change. You talk about the same things every year, spring and fall for 10 years, 15 years, 20 years. It’s the same things, but we’re facing very new challenges. And so we need to think in different ways. And so, uh, a couple of the folks that we have coming in to talk this week, uh, one is Thomas Hoff. He’s the former president and CEO at, I’m sorry, Tony Hoff from Thomas. Confusing my tees <laugh>. Um, but he basically took what was a hundred plus year old organization, paper based heavy manufacturing and turned it into a global media enterprise instead.

Kelly Barner (38:11):

So you have to think very differently to achieve that kind of thing. And then I know, Scott, you’re huge into sports. We’re actually finishing day two with a former nfl, former NCAA division one college athlete, Lou Alexander. Really. So he’s gonna talk about the athlete’s mindset and why that’s so important for all of us getting through some of the different business challenges that we’re dealing with today. It’s all about discipline and stamina and teamwork and getting through those challenging times. So we’re, we continue to look at similar challenges because procurement has such a defined scope within the business, but it’s always about bringing in people who look at the world differently, who think about the world very differently, then figuring out what little bits of that all of us can absorb and put to work in our day jobs.

Scott Luton (39:00):

Sounds like a wonderful event, uh, in Lou Alexander. I look forward to hearing your highlights of his story cause there’s so much applicability there Sure is. Right from athletics to business. And Kim, uh, I know you had a, uh, wonderful rugby career, I believe. If you had to pick one, one transferable quality from the world of rugby and team sports to the business world, what would that be, Kim?

Kim Winter (39:26):

Well, just before I share that, uh, I just tell you, Scott, that my, my glittering rugby career got ended by an American football player in Stanford University when I was, it’s the first game of rugby head. And you nearly broke my spine. That was back in the eighties. That was the end of my representative rugby career. So, uh, o exactly. I was walking like a crab for about three years. But, uh, look, you know, I think, I think the, I mean the, the, the famous All Blacks from New Zealand, from my home country, um, they, they have the, there’s a fantastic book that’s been written about that anybody wants to, um, uh, get ahold of me in LinkedIn. I’ll share it, share it with me. I know the owner, the author, um, I’ll share it with them. But the key principles are being humbleness and completely being self fussing in terms of the team and being prepared to, to take the smallest possible role in anything for the betterment of the jersey. So in New Zealand we call it, we, we live and play for the jersey. We don’t play for ourselves and more than anything for the legacy of those who have gone before us. And this is a famous part of the all black culture and legacy in New Zealand.

Scott Luton (40:42):

I love that

Kim Winter (40:44):

Being, being the world’s, being the world’s, uh, strongest performing, uh, professional sport team of any code globally. Anything really In remotely. Yeah. More. More.

Scott Luton (40:56):

And they’re the current, they’re the current world champs, right?

Kim Winter (41:00):

South Africa is the world championship at the moment. We do like to share it around

Scott Luton (41:05):

<laugh> <laugh>. Well, well said. And I’m, I wasn’t laughing at your injury. I liked, it was funny how you said you were walking like a crab for three years. That was kind of funny. I think anyone’s been hurt. Uh, athletically can relate. But, um, <laugh> well thank you for sharing. Thank you for sharing. There’s a lot we can, there’s a lot we can learn. Uh, continue to learn from, uh, athletics, uh, including the wide world of rugby. Um, alright, I’m gonna share a couple quick comments here. We we’re gonna finish on, on a good news sprint. So Kim, uh, we’re gonna touch on a great initiative your nonprofit, uh, is up to. And Kelly, we’re gonna have time to get some good news from the world of buyer’s meeting point and dial P and order procurement. So get ready. But first, Gloria Mar says, uh, going back to that story about, uh, the Apple executive, wrong people in the wrong role, don’t they get investigated? Sorry for the military term before getting hired now, Gloria Mar. Yeah, it’s a great point. Due diligence. Um, let’s see. Shalindra says there’s no point in, uh, supply chain reporting to operations or finance supply chain and procurement is a department and needs to report either to the COO or the CEO to get the best results from this department. Now there’s lots, uh, shalin great, great. Uh, take there, there are so many different opinions on reporting and hierarchy, uh, across the supply chain, right? Uh, Kelly, uh, you want quick response to Shalin there? Sure.

Kelly Barner (42:31):

I mean, one of the things, and this is funny cuz uh, Phil Eon that I work with at Art Procurement, one of the things he says all the time is that there is no one best in class way to do anything. And so depending on what industry your company is in, how big it is, how global it is, is it manufacturing? Is its services, right? Is it tech oriented? It’s, it should be very thoughtful and purposeful about where, for instance, procurement sits. Uh, but fortunately there are as many good places for procurement to sit as there are types of val value for procurement to deliver. Um, but it definitely is something that should be very carefully thought through.

Scott Luton (43:07):

Agreed. Kelly? I, I think if there’s any new truth is that, especially at the, the particularly after the pandemic, um, yes. Is there is no one size fits all. We gotta challenge all assumptions really. And, and, you know, it’s, it’s, um, what works for one organization may not work for a different supply chain organization. Kim, your quick thoughts when it comes to structuring and one size may not fit all.

Kim Winter (43:31):

Yeah, I think, uh, you know, what we’ve been seeing lately is that right across the whole, uh, ecosystem for procurement, we are seeing a lot more integration when we are placing people in procurement or HR or operations or bd sales organizations are now seeing the absolute necessity for bringing those organizations together and often giving those organizations an opportunity to interview candidates for senior roles who are not directly in their product or their vertical space. And, uh, comes to mind some of the big carriers that we operate both in air and ocean carriers. Now seeing the need to have that integrated approach and making sure that people right across the business understand and have an opportunity to identify any strengths and weaknesses of people coming in.

Scott Luton (44:23):

Yeah, Well said there, Kim. Well said. Uh, and then finally Thomas says, digitization is everywhere in human resources, supply chain management, in transportation, immobility, and in procurement, by the way, of course, <laugh> of course. Absolutely. Um, okay. Uh, we, I want to talk, you know, one of the good news is one of my favorite topics to ever, uh, ever discuss. And, you know, there’s a lot of kindra spirits here between Kelly, Kim and and myself in terms of, um, what makes up good news. And that’s oftentimes it’s, it’s helping others and, and serving, uh, the greater good. And, and as Kim put it eloquently when it come to rugby, you know, serving the jersey and all the, your predecessors, you know, just doing good things, right for others, limiting and helping hand. Um, one of our greatest challenges we have right now, especially in recent years, is bridging the digital divide, right?

Scott Luton (45:15):

And the pandemic, unfortunately, really, um, brought that to the forefront, right? As, as students were, were in lockdowns and staying home, and you saw some homes that didn’t miss as much of a beat because they had, you know, wireless and, and the, the technology, they needed it in the home. And then on the other hand, folks that didn’t have those things, you know, they’re much more at risk of falling behind and struggling with their overall education, you know, educational journey. And that’s just the tip of iceberg. So Kim also glad you shared this pre-show with us. Uh, cause when it comes to bridging the digital divide, you’re nonprofit that we’ve touched on here before, Oasis Africa, uh, you’ve got a really neat, uh, recent effort. Tell us more about this.

Kim Winter (45:57):

Yeah, look, it’s, uh, as you know, we’ve, we’ve, uh, since 2005, we’ve, uh, educated over 8,000 kids in the slums of Nairobi, mainly orphans, um, freedom from poverty through education, um, and Oasis africa.org.au. And uh, last year my business partner actually, uh, Dar Ju was, uh, doing some work with our folks at Meers up and, uh, the West Central Asia region. And, uh, the, uh, the manager of the re of local area up there, Chris Cook, and, uh, Sharon Tu as a Kenyan, uh, came up with this idea of getting some, uh, laptops together and getting ’em down to Kenya, start feeding laptops from me down into our team. So we got Astra Aviation, Sanji Guard’s, got the biggest cargo airline in Africa. He’s got about 20 odd wide body jets. Nobody even knew this company, right? If they’re outside of Africa, but massive company down there.

Kim Winter (46:48):

Do a lot of carrier work for the, for the main carriers, air cargo. And in a way, we all went down there a few months ago, um, uh, come Kamar went down there and, and Chris Cook and Dar myself and a team and the East Africa team from me. And we deployed all of these, uh, laptops. And now they’re putting a whole bunch more of, uh, these laptop together laptops together for Red Rose School and Oasis Africa. And it’s just awesome. So our kids, even though we haven’t met raised as much money as we normally do, over 20, nearly 20 years, um, for those 8,000 kids, we’ve now got some equipment coming in and it’s getting a high profile for the organization.

Scott Luton (47:25):

Love that. So practical, uh, you know, so many folks. I mean, even they have access to wireless. They don’t have, you know, laptops and different ways to access to wireless.

Kim Winter (47:35):

We’ve got that as well down there for them. Yeah,

Scott Luton (47:38):

I really appreciate that and good work. So folks, we dropped the link to Kim’s nonprofit, Oasis Africa there in the chat. Y’all check that out. If you, of course, much like leveraging logistics for Ukraine, that initiative, there’s a way that y’all can get involved and help support this great work that’s being done. That’s,

Kim Winter (47:54):

And just on that, Scott, that’s over 3000, uh, organizations and people in the supply chain since 2005 have taken that organization to educate 8,000 kids. Wow. So 3000 people in the supply chain right across the world. So we’d love to have people come in and make it part of their corporate responsibility program. We can put a program together for them, um, to, to contribute and be part of what’s going on down there. It’s, it’s huge.

Scott Luton (48:19):

Love that, Uh, so beyond connecting with Kim, we’ve actually got the email address and the phone number here, uh, on screen admin@oasisafrica.org.au and the phone number, uh, (041) 358-7577. But of course, it’s just as easy to connect with Kim winner on LinkedIn. Kim, you were gonna add, that’s,

Kim Winter (48:40):

That’s an Australian phone number, so plus six one, but just hit me on LinkedIn. We’d love to talk to you about anyway you’d want to help or contribute.

Scott Luton (48:48):

Thank you, Ken. And more importantly, thank you for what you, you know, the results, uh, that you and the team are are doing there, and that’s just one of the, uh, many initiatives that you are up to. All right. Kelly Barner, that’s gonna be tough to top. Uh, but, uh, I know we’ve collaborated together on many of the, um, good news initiatives that you and, and Phil Oon, the whole buyer’s meeting point and order procurement, uh, family have been involved in. What’s, what’s been a good piece of good news for you lately?

Kelly Barner (49:16):

You know what, as my piece of good news, I actually wanna focus on something that Kim just said. He talked about all of this good being done by a company that nobody’s ever heard of. And I think, you know, we’ve talked a little bit about culture, right? You know, people choosing where they work based on what the culture of the organization is like, we’ve seen examples at Apple where maybe this isn’t such a good situation and maybe somebody needs to move along, but I think as much as we saw a blurring during the pandemic of people not knowing when they were being personal and when they were being professional, I also think there’s been sort of a bleeding in the other direction. That’s a good thing. We’re all very much putting our personal causes on the line and, and there are many companies, buyers meeting points.

Kelly Barner (50:00):

Certainly we have our philanthropic efforts. I know supply chain now has a lot of philanthropic efforts. Even members of the supply chain now team have causes that they personally are committed to and that they give all of us opportunities to know that we’re doing good with the money that we give. You don’t have to be a big huge company that everybody’s heard of in order to make a difference in somebody’s life. You can be a company that nobody’s ever heard of. And I will gladly put buyer’s meeting point on that line. Nobody, you know in the world has ever heard of buyer’s meeting point. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t do good. And I think not worrying about anybody hearing about the good that we’ve done, unless they can help or not hearing of our company, doesn’t matter. Every single one of us can make a difference. I just, I love how empowering that is.

Scott Luton (50:48):

Agreed.

Kim Winter (50:48):

Just to, just to add to that one quickly, uh, Kelly and Scott. So, so Astro Aviation is a family company, started way back in the eighties by Sanjiv, and he was delivering aid flying unbelievable missions to deliver aid for Sudan. And in those days, Bera for the UN in, in, uh, contracted aircraft. He now owns more aircraft, cargo aircraft than Africa, than any other company, and supplies services to the globe, to every carrier worldwide and starting the most humble people and know the family very, very well based in Nairobi, in Kenya. And they’re, they’re spreading out across the world, so great, great. They, they were in debt to start with, to do all this humanitarian work and look at them now. Yeah, it’s a great story. And thanks to Sanji and thanks to the me folks in Mers and Dubai and East Africa for all the work they’re doing.

Scott Luton (51:42):

Excellent, excellent, uh, points there. Kelly and Kim. Uh, and by the way, to bring it home, um, you know, on this topic of good news and you know, we all know that the, uh, the challenges that that folks across Florida and even South Carolina are going through due to, uh, what’s gonna be a historic storm with Hurricane Ian. There’s a lot of different organizations that are involved that are helping folks in Cuba and, you know, across the Western hemisphere. But make sure you do your homework because as Kelly and Kim, as we know, there’s a lot of bad actors out there. One vetted, trusted organization we’ve known for quite some times, nonprofit is called, um, the American Logistics Aid Network. So y’all check out Alan a a l a n a i d.org if you wanna get involved and then, you know, just no such thing as too small of a donation. So, uh, lots of folks in need right now in different ways. Um, okay, so we are very efficient today. It’s 1252, uh, we’ve gone around the world and then some, I wanna make sure, let’s connect the dots here and, uh, Kelly, let’s start with you. So, um, you know, dial fee, dial P for procurement, dial fee for, for something might be a different series, but dial P for procurement. Buyers Meeting Point, Art of Procurement big week this week with the Mastermind Live event. How can folks connect with you, Kelly?

Kelly Barner (53:01):

So the best way to get in touch with me is LinkedIn. Um, I always advocate that people subscribe to Dial Peak that way you get the new episodes as soon as they come out, but I promise I am constantly sharing them as Shelly and Jeff and everybody else who’s here, uh, knows very well Peter Bole as well. Um, so you definitely won’t miss it if you’re connected to or following me on LinkedIn. Um, but don’t just follow, join the conversation, right? Just like everybody shared comments today, comment on our posts, do like Shelly did, and share a story that you think needs more coverage. There is more than enough supply chain news to go around and discuss.

Scott Luton (53:38):

You’re so right. Uh, you’re so right And, uh, make sure y’all connect with Kelly and all those, those points. And then some, uh, Kim Winter, same question for you and the logistics executive group. Love, love the vodka. That’s just one of the many, many projects you’re up to. How can folks connect with you, Kim?

Kim Winter (53:54):

Yeah, sure. Thanks Scott. So easy, Kim. Winter. K Im Winter. LinkedIn, uh, should be the number one that you find, uh, is an influencer on LinkedIn, uh, or logistics, ex executive, the hub of your supply chain logistics executive, the hub of your supply chain or logistics executive group, <laugh> Logistics executive group, and again, oasis africa.org.au. We would love you to come and join our party and really help these kids out moving forward. It’s been a tough, it’s been a tough two years for most people, um, in schools in Africa in particular. Um, we need all the hope we can get

Scott Luton (54:32):

Agreed. Uh, so much truth there. Well, thank you both, uh, Kim Winter and Kelly Barner really enjoyed this hour. You know, uh, we haven’t mentioned Greg White yet, so, uh, Greg typically joins me on the buzz every Monday. He is, uh, he’s undergoing some travels, I think, uh, well, his chiefs won last night in a hotly contested game against the Bucks, and I’m sure he’s happy, uh, this morning. So, Greg, wherever you are, safe travels to you and, uh, completely agree. Shelly says, Kelly interacts with the comments. Yes, a lot of folks will drop something out there and a social media stratosphere and, you know, uh, and you’ll never hear from him again. Kelly is, is right there in the comments. And, um, always, uh, uh, lots of learnings there. Me

Kim Winter (55:16):

Too. Shelly. Me too. Send me a message. You’ll get a response,

Scott Luton (55:20):

<laugh>. That’s right. That’s right. Well, folks, uh, hopefully wherever you are, um, you have a great week ahead. Big thanks again to Kelly Barner and Kim Winter, the one only Kelly Barner and the one only Kim winner. I’ll tell you. Uh, wonderful, wonderful people. Lots of kindred spirits that are really doing big things in the industry, but also in their communities. Um, folks, hopefully you’ve enjoyed the last hour. Big thanks to the production team. Big thanks, everybody that showed up and all the great comments, including a lot of, lot of those we couldn’t get to here today. But on behalf of our entire team here at Supply Chain now, it’s all about deeds, not works. So on, on behalf of our team, Scott Luden, signing off now, challenging you, all of our listeners to do good, to give forward and to be the change that’s needed on with that set. We see next time right back here at Supply Chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (56:05):

Thanks for being a part of our supply chain now, community. Check out all of our programming@supplychainnow.com and make sure you subscribe to 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.