Supply Chain Now

“The economics will always make sense if they [a manufacturer] get caught doing a bad thing and then they lose credibility. Their brand recognition is goes in the toilet. If an organization ignores that risk factor, then it’s going to bite them hard.” – Tony Sciarrotta, Executive Director of the Reverse Logistics Association     As the goods produced for sale become more complex and expensive, and as the materials used to make those goods become more scarce and costly to dispose of, all of us have reason to stop and think about where our goods come from and where they all go once we are done with them. That thinking serves as the basis of the circular economy.   Rather than everything going from raw material to manufactured good to waste, products and component materials are being reused in ways that go far beyond traditional recycling. In some cases, clever companies and entrepreneurs are dreaming up whole new business models based on the circular economy, just by purchasing goods whose owners are done with them and repurposing them for others who can still extract value at a different price point.   In this interview, Tony Sciarrotta, Executive Director of…

“Everybody told me I was crazy. I just told them, ‘sit and watch me’.” – Tania Allen, President and CEO at ItGresa Consulting Group, Inc.   SCNR’s Full Access podcast series focuses on providing diverse thought, leadership, and supply chain industry insights from female guests and leaders in the end-to-end global supply chain.   This episode of the series shines a light on Tania Allen, President and CEO at ItGresa Consulting Group, Inc. She immigrated to the United States from Venezuela in 1999. Shortly thereafter, she was accepted into Georgia Tech and selected for an internship with a technology company. Today she leads a team of consultants that specialize in addressing cyber-threats, increasing brand presence online and educating companies on security and IT.   In this interview, Tania shares her point of view with Supply Chain Now Radio co-hosts Greg White and Scott Luton on: How important it is to be determined once you select a path, even when family and friends, colleagues and co-workers are unsure if you will succeed The value of self-differentiation, in Tania’s case, by being the engineer who could always deliver on time or ahead of schedule The role that trust plays in the business…

Scott Luton and Greg White welcome Chris Lankford onto Supply Chain Now Radio at eft’s Logistics CIO Forum, a Reuter’s Event in Austin, Texas.

“Things have changed completely and maybe forever. Customers don’t behave the same so logistics companies can’t behave the same either. If I want my product in two days or, in the case of Amazon Prime 2 hours, if I am running the company, I have to adapt.” – Manjeet Singh, Research Director for DHL Supply Chain   Manjeet Singh is a Research Director at DHL supply chain on their Operations Science team. He specializes in developing tools, processes and software which can be used in any supply chain domain to drive innovation, seeking a balance between practical and forward-looking value. Since transportation costs represent 80% of supply chain costs, he and his team are constantly looking for new ways to streamline and improve shipping costs and practices. In this interview, Manjeet tells Supply Chain Now Radio co-hosts Greg White and Scott Luton about: How approaches such as cube adjusted weight (i.e. dimensionally-based costing) are solidifying the relationship between package size and weight, driving out the costs associated with moving boxes that are too large for the goods inside them. Designing new software to help optimize what size boxes need to be kept in stock in any given warehouse. The investment…

“There are some great organizations going after this global water crisis. And it takes all of us. With Filter of Hope, you have the opportunity to actually go and experience the crisis, to be a part of providing and meeting those needs.”   Our planet is roughly 71% water. The human body? 65%! It’s safe to say: water is a universal life force, and it’s everywhere. Yet in many parts of the world, safe drinking water is in short supply. That’s where Filter of Hope comes in. Meet the men behind the mission that’s delivering clean drinking water to more than 65 countries (and counting) using a simple, lightweight filter propelled by passionate global teams. In this episode, we explore how between God and Google, Filter of Hope has developed new filter technologies, spread their mission, overcome logistics challenges worldwide, and welcomed new supporters into the fold.

In this episode of the Supply Chain Buzz, Scott Luton discusses the latest topics and top stories in supply chain, in 15 minutes or less!

Scott Luton, Greg White, and Jason Moss welcome Bruce Hagenau to the Supply Chain Now Radio studio in Atlanta, GA.

“If you are negotiating with less stress because you are well prepared, you’re going to spend more time thinking about your next move rather than worrying about being attacked.” – Rod Sherkin, President of ProPurchaser   According to data that Rod Sherkin, President of ProPurchaser, has gathered by polling the hundreds of procurement professionals who attend his webinars, about 70% of people experience stress before a supplier negotiation. They report that this stress is primarily due to a lack of knowledge – especially when compared to the sales rep – and a lack of time to prepare.   Fortunately, there are some very practical steps that procurement professionals can take to increase their confidence (and reduce their stress) in advance of a negotiation. In this podcast, Rod describes those steps to Supply Chain Now Radio Host Scott Luton and provides some high-level instructions and incentives for carrying them out.   Rod’s four-point plan for negotiation with less stress includes: Preparing properly Negotiating prices in writing Put pricing management on ‘autopilot’ through the use of formulas Not meeting face to face with the supplier until the pricing has been agreed to

“I think there’s a broad recognition that solving some of the digitization issues in the supply chain today cannot be lifted by a single player.” – Gert Sylvest, Co-Founder of Tradeshift and General Manager of Tradeshift Frontiers   Tradeshift is known as a digital supply chain platform and network that connects two million companies today. It may come as a surprise, then, to hear that Gert Sylvest, Tradeshift’s Co-Founder and General Manager of Tradeshift Frontiers, gave a presentation at eft’s Logistics CIO Forum titled “It Is Not About Technology”.   As he points out, the factors driving supply chain digitization require that incentives have to be present, and they have to apply equally to large and small companies in the supply network.   In this interview, Gert speaks with Supply Chain Now Radio hosts Scott Luton and Greg White about: The disruptive projects being advanced through Tradeshift Frontiers, such as making it possible for the last mile participants of commodity supply chains to connect with large brands looking for their product, and invoices that ‘settle themselves’ via blockchain. The fact that 90% of what happens in the supply chain is still not digital, meaning the ramp to a fully digital…