The Buzz is Supply Chain Now’s regular Monday livestream, held at 12 noon 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!

In this week’s episode of The Buzz, hosts Scott Luton and Marty Parker cover the top news in supply chain and welcome special guests Jorge Morales and Thorsten Mebs with ISCEA to the show. Together they discuss:

• The impact of inflation on online shopping trends
• The evolving automotive landscape in China
• The importance of understanding and addressing organizational constraints before implementing AI
• The need for continuous learning and upskilling in the face of technological advancements

And much 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 (00:32):

Hey. Hey. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you may be, Scott Luton and the one and only Marty Parker with you here on Supply Chain. Now welcome to today’s live stream, Marty. How are you doing?

Marty Parker (00:43):

I couldn’t be better. You know why, Scott?

Scott Luton (00:48):

I sure do. Oh, what a weekend y’all had. I don’t want to let the news out there unless you’d like to put it out there.

Marty Parker (00:54):

It was Epic. My daughter Becca, Dr. Becca Osmer, now married Jack Osmer on Saturday and it was spectacular.

Scott Luton (01:04):

That is incredible. Congratulations to, was it Mr. And Dr. Osmer or something like that? Martin, yeah,

Marty Parker (01:11):

She is now Dr. Oz,

Scott Luton (01:13):

Dr.

Marty Parker (01:14):

She really is. She has her doctorate in occupational therapy.

Scott Luton (01:18):

Wow, that is incredible. What a year she’s having. So on behalf of our entire team here at Supply Chain now, congrats and prayers and best wishes and just a wonderful, wonderful weekend. So great to have you here, Marty. After a weekend like that, we get to dive into the global world of supply chain. Are you ready?

Marty Parker (01:34):

I am ready.

Scott Luton (01:37):

So folks, today, as always the buzz where every Monday at 12 in Eastern time, we discuss a variety of news developments across global supply chain and the global business world. We got some great stories to get into on the front end. Marty and I are getting into how retailers and their supply chains are dealing with online shopping trends impacted by inflation, that little dirty hour word, the ever evolving automotive landscape, especially in China. And then about halfway through the show, I think they call that, is that the bottom of the hour, Marty? I get that right? Yes.

Marty Parker (02:06):

Okay.

Scott Luton (02:07):

The top the bottom, it confuses me too easily. But hey, we’re going to be diving into AI and technology with special guests, Jorge Morales and Thorston Maes from our friends over at I-S-C-E-A. They’re going to join about 12:25 PM Eastern Time. So buckle up and get ready. Now, Marty, before we dive into the first topic here today, two quick things for our audience. Number one, hey folks, give us your take in the comments. Let us know what you think, whether you’re tuned into LinkedIn or YouTube, Facebook X, you name it. No matter. Let us know what you think. And secondly, if folks enjoy the show today, hey, we’d love for you to share it with a friend your network. They’ll be glad you did. We’re offer a money back guarantee. Is that right Marty?

Marty Parker (02:46):

Absolutely.

Scott Luton (02:49):

Ly satisfaction, money back guarantee. All right, so we got a lot to get into here today. I want to start with that said over the weekend, Marty, we had a jam packed edition. Let’s see if I can find my graphic here. I love this image, right? I love this image and we really celebrated the human factor. So get this morning. Last week, Kevin L. Jackson and I sat down and recorded a video podcast. We’re going to be dropping soon, and it featured a couple of business leaders from the Estee Lauder companies, including Kira Lany. Wow, who I quoted as saying the most important thing is taking the time to explain that there is no AI power without human power. Marty respond to that. That got me right here and I was saying hallelujah, and we almost had to stop and take a moment. But Marty, that’s an important thing for us to pass it along to everyone out there, huh?

Marty Parker (03:39):

Agree a hundred percent. If you don’t have great leaders and great relationships with your teams, it doesn’t matter what systems you have, ai, ERPs, it doesn’t matter. That’s right. You need to have great leaders that are working with great people.

Scott Luton (03:54):

That is right. So y’all folks, stay tuned. We’ve got that great episode coming up soon. We also touched on International Women in engineering day, which is June 23rd. Yesterday each and every year we touched on how big tech is turning to big solar to power tons of new data centers. How about this? Marty Solar Power is projected to make up 58% of all new electricity generation here in the US in 2024. You got your solar panels on top of your house yet, Marty?

Marty Parker (04:22):

No, I don’t, but I definitely need to do that and the technology just keeps getting better and better and less and less expensive. So I really need to consider that soon.

Scott Luton (04:33):

Yes, and I think the technology to convert it into the energy grid is getting more and more efficient, which of course is important, but folks, almost every week, because it’s our almost weekly newsletter, we give ourselves a little wiggle room there. Check out. With that said, for more news, views, resources and our live programming for the week ahead, all check that out. We’re dropping a link to that in the chat right here. So you’re one click away from checking out the latest edition and becoming one of 25,049 subscribers. So y’all check that out. Okay, Marty, we got a lot to get into here. We’ve got two stories and then we’re going to welcome in our friends Jorge and Thorston, and we’re going to be talking a lot about AI and technology and supply chain leadership, especially in the second half. Let’s dive into the news first. How’s that sound, Marty?

Marty Parker (05:14):

Absolutely, let’s do it.

Scott Luton (05:16):

All right, let’s do it. Let’s talk about e-commerce first. In particular, this interesting article via our friends at Retail Dive, which focuses on recent consumer research and hey, I love this because we’re all consumers. We all learn so much even as supply chain practitioners about commerce, e-commerce, mobile commerce, you name it, because we’re all consumers. So forwarder and talker research collaborated on a recent survey that focused on consumer behaviors, which included about 2000 responses, Marty in May, 2024 from across the us. Now, stop me if this shocks anyone. Almost 90% of respondents said their cost of living went up over the last five years. Marty, any idea where the other 10% are living in the folks that they polled any idea underground?

Marty Parker (06:00):

Maybe

Scott Luton (06:02):

So because of those higher prices, about 61% of the participants said they had made adjustments in their online shopping habits. Now, the top category for online purchases was groceries. That would not have been the same answer probably two or three years ago. So groceries followed by clothing and then home goods. 25% of our respondents are using buy now, pay later, BNPL, newer acronym. More and more folks are embracing out there. I’ll tell you, every Marty, every purchase, like over 50 bucks that we do, there’s this little option that pops up in our statements. You can click and spread the payments. Are you seeing the same thing, Marty?

Marty Parker (06:37):

Yes. You see it all the time. All these offers that pop up just about anything you buy now

Scott Luton (06:43):

Tell you everybody’s into finance and business. Okay, so also back to the survey. What’s old is new again, the survey shows that consumers are still swayed by quote, because I’m not going to call it free shipping, but they’re swayed by free shipping and affordable prices since the beginning of time. Now, did you know tmu, the Chinese e-Commerce Giant is now touting 51 million monthly US users? Now put that in perspective. Amazon has about 67 million monthly users. So TMU is offering low prices, of course enabled by low production costs in China. They’re taking advantage of and a direct to consumer shipping strategy to stay below that $800 threshold here to the states where they can avoid custom duties. So if you see so many urging to bring that order in at 7 99 versus 8 0 2, that might be why. Alright, a couple more thoughts here and we’ll get Marty’s to take back to the survey. About 50% of the respondents said they had given more thought to reselling some of the popular items they had purchased, taking advantage of the ever-growing re economy. Some data says this circular economy reused, remanufactured, recycled, you name it, it’s going to reach $1.3 trillion by 2030 $1.3 trillion. Wow. When it comes to grocery shopping, consumers are turning more to affordable private brands, save those valuable dollars. A separate survey found that about double the amount of consumers bought cheaper private label brands versus name brands. So Marty, all of that, right? Shifting, shifting ground your thoughts.

Marty Parker (08:13):

So one, we adjust habits. I love Aldi, I love lidle. Kroger has done a lot of price matching and so adjusting our habits accordingly. But I would also say we need to look at the long-term quality of the things we buy as well. My kids have gotten me into Lulus Lululemon, and the idea is that the item lasts forever. So just buying cheap to adjust for inflation sometimes can be a mistake and you end up with a bunch of stuff that’s lower quality. So this would be two things that I would think about.

Scott Luton (08:48):

Well said, Marty, and of course the supply chain organizations behind all these organizations that continue to shift and pivot and tweak and adjust based on consumer buying behaviors which are ever evolving. There’s some larger behaviors that I’ll call more macro behaviors such as the shipping perks, and then there’s some other things that tend to be a bit more tactical and a bit more trendy that will evolve over time. I’ll just say, Marty, you mentioned Kroger. It is fascinating. We’re in Kroger probably three times a week. They got a mega center right down the road from us, and it’s one of those Marty where they experiment with some of their new offerings. For example, I walked in the other day, they have got here in Georgia. This is largely not, you won’t find this many places. They’ve got eight new video poker machines in the middle of this grocery store, Marty, and I guess they’re just testing to see if folks want to walk in and get some milk and eggs and try to hit a full house. I don’t know, Marty, have you seen that in your local Kroger?

Marty Parker (09:43):

I haven’t seen that, but I do have a kiosk where I renew my tags in Cobb County and they have all kinds of additional services, and Kroger’s always impressed me by adjusting as a supply chain guy. I can tell you the price of everything in every store, right? Because I’m cheap and I know what it is, and I was amazed to watch as Aldi and Lidle came along, Kroger would match their main brand prices right out of the gate. So they really have done a good job.

Scott Luton (10:13):

Yeah, I completely agree. We’ve seen them build their fleets so Kroger can more and more deliver groceries. Now, I remember watching Publix try to do that about 10 years ago when me and Amanda really just fell in love with the idea of someone bring groceries and maybe even putting it up in our cabinets, right? We never got to that point, but as the numbers bear out, groceries number one item that at least these 2000 people are purchasing online. So we’ll see. Keep our finger on the pulse, especially the impact on global supply chains. Let’s see here. We dropped that article right there in the chat from our friends at Retail Doops. Y’all check it out. Let us know what you think. Hey, great to see our dear friend Maria that always comes back to various shows from beautiful Madrid, Spain. Great to see you, Maria, and look here.

(10:54):

Mary Kate, love the self-proclaimed team expert on online shopping. Oh, I love Mary Kate’s perspective. Great to see you here today. All right, so Marni, let’s see here. That was our first article that we’re going to hit. Again, you can find that on retail dive via the links we provided. I want to move to the second one because this is fascinating. This automotive industry is where we’re going next, particularly the Chinese market where things have really been changing for quite some time. So according to this report from our friends at CNBC one, bank of America Analyst, Mr. John Murphy says the big three Detroit automakers need to exit the Chinese market, ASAP. And of course he’s talking about General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Stellantis. Now China is the world’s biggest automotive market in American manufacturers that have tended generally to have done well there over the years.

(11:42):

But General Motors, which had laid claim to about 15% of the Chinese market less than 10 years ago, that’s dropped to 8.6% Marty last year. Now that last year was the first time share, market share dropped below 9% Since 2003, Chinese automakers are growing rapidly changing the game. BYD, which I think is an acronym, Marty, build Your Dreams, I think is A BYD is what it stands for. It topped Tesla in 2023 to become the world’s largest seller of EVs. Geely, G-E-E-L-Y is another automaker Dong Fang to name all just a few three of those. These companies are looking for new ways to enter the US market. Many are eyeing Mexico to build production capacity and facilities a little closer, making it a little bit easier to crack into that US automotive market and a Biden administration is countering all those objectives they announced in May.

(12:32):

Quadruple tariffs on Chinese made electric vehicles. Now in 2023, most folks may not know this, Marty, in 2023, China overtook Japan to be the world’s number one auto exporter. The US fell to sixth. Now, one last thought, Marty, I’m going to get your thoughts here. This vessel. For folks that are watching us here, this is what they call a row rope, a roll on and roll off vessel, right? You see all the vehicles there? I’m not sure, I don’t know how many vehicles. It probably depends on. Obviously the size of ship can fit in one of these row rows, but the one here is a larger one, and you’ll see these little ramps on either end for it to do just like we said, roll on and roll off. You’ll see these down at the ports of Georgia. You’ll see ’em up at the Baltimore port Marty. In fact, the row row volume up there had even picked up in light of what we’ve seen in the bridge tragedy this year. But Marty, when you think of what’s going on in the automotive industry, what are your thoughts?

Marty Parker (13:25):

Well, first I had a picture fast and furious going onto a row row, which just got me all excited. I think it would be a great scene and bring supply chain even into that franchise. But that’s right. I’m going to strongly disagree with that analyst. I believe the competition is always good. When the Japanese brought cars in the United States and we were losing market share, American companies responded and made better products and American quality, American ingenuity is valued around the world. There will always be a market, it might be a smaller market, it might be a niche market, but people will buy American cars and we will get better at making ’em because of that competition.

Scott Luton (14:07):

I love that and I love that you disagreed with the analyst that is certainly hitting headlines around business news. I think whether it’s an American focus or a general focus, I think to your point, the better they can listen and put their finger on the pulse of what customers in any regional world, what they want, what they’re willing to spend their dollars on, they start doing that. And then secondly, also, to your point, they’re really efficient when it comes to how we make stuff, how we ship stuff, and how can we be much more competitive. For example, Tesla, if you look at the difference, I think this article or another one I was reading, if you look at Tesla and then the other big three automakers, they approached ev, I think Tesla has a $13,000 gap in terms of they’re able to control their costs versus the big three when it comes to EV vehicles. Imagine what that does for Tesla, or maybe in the case of BYD, which now has jumped over Tesla, but regardless moving into markets like Mexico and taking advantage of one of the most unique trading regions in all the world, Canada, US, and Mexico. But I tend to agree with you, Marty, and it’ll be interesting to see. First off, they’re not going to follow that analyst piece of advice, right? I’m sure they’ll not dial it into Mr. John Murphy. Oh, wait a sec. Mr. Murphy says, okay, alright, alright, will do. By the end of the week,

Marty Parker (15:23):

They are watching supply chain now and they’re going to take our advice.

Scott Luton (15:28):

They’re listening to Marty Parker for sure, but regardless, fascinating, the automotive industry is one of those industries that is. So for me, it’s captivating to watch it evolve because in such a interesting way, it’s like a microcosm of global manufacturing in many ways. So we’ll see. We’re going to keep our finger on the pulse of what’s going on there, but y’all check out this article and let us know what you think. Right?

Marty Parker (15:50):

Running more a quick comment. Cars aren’t going to have steering wheels in what? 10 years they’re going to be driving themselves. And we are amazing at software and that kind of technology. So those are the cars that are going to be winning out. And so abandoning markets at this point makes no sense.

Scott Luton (16:08):

That’s a good point. Maybe they’ll be merging the automotive industry with high tech because they’re now basically computers on four wheels, right? That’s right. So we’ll see. And again, we dropped the link there in the chat. Check it out. Y’all let us know what y’all think. We’d love to hear you. All right, there’s one more thing I wanted to ask you, Marty, before we bring in our guests, because when we take these little snapshots in e-commerce, right? Which is as Greg and many other put it, it’s just commerce these days, right? It’s so prevalent, lots of challenges, no shortage of challenges there. And of course the automotive industry, no shortage of challenges there. So the supply chain leaders behind that’s involved in these industries, they’re dealing with a lot, right? So I’m going to ask you, what is one skill? There’s many, yes, there’s many, but what is one skill you’d recommend our audience sharpening so they can be better supply chain leaders to better tackle these and many other challenges out there?

Marty Parker (16:55):

So I’m going to take the skill from my friends Kimberly Evans at Relations Research and Carl lva@getmorecurious.com, and that’s curiosity. Leaders need to be curious. They need to be working on listening skills and they need to be able to adapt to their people’s needs and their systems needs and their supply chain needs. And so I learned that from my wife. She would ask me, Marty, are you listening to me? And if I said yes, I had better been listening. If I said no, I was in big trouble. So being curious with great listening skills I think is what we need today.

Scott Luton (17:31):

Yes, Marty, yes, voice of the customer came to my mind as you were sharing that. Folks, do some Googling. See what that means in your neck of the woods or as it applies to what you do. There’s a formal part of that when folks say voice to the customer. And then there’s very informal meaning kind of what Marty’s talking about. Be curious, lean in, ask questions, know the market, know the customer, right? Otherwise you’ll be making stuff into blind and you won’t know if it’s going to sell or not, right? So do your homework and be curious. That’s a great point there, Marty. Alright, so with all of that said, we have got some wonderful guests joining us here today. As much as I’ve enjoyed the first half of the buzz here today, folks, stay tuned for this second half rock and roll. Together our guests bring several decades of global supply chain leadership and experience to the table I welcome in Jorge Morales global COO with the International Supply Chain Education Alliance, and Thorston Maes Director, strategic partnerships for Central and Eastern Europe, also with the I-S-C-E-A. Hey. Hey Jorge, how you doing?

Jorge Morales (18:30):

Hello. Good. Good. I’m very good. Thank you very much. Very happy to be here with your audience and with all of you with Marty and Thon. Thank you. Thank you very much for allowing this to be here.

Scott Luton (18:42):

Definitely welcome back. You hit a home run last time and this time you’re bringing another rockstar out in industry. Dorsen, great to have you here today. How you doing?

Thorsten Mebs (18:50):

I’m great, thank you very much. So it’s an intercontinental meeting from Frankfurt, Germany, and Europe, so great.

Scott Luton (18:57):

It is, and you know what? That’s the best type of meeting, Marty, because it is a global game. It’s a global supply chain family, and that’s how we’ve got to innovate together and tackle these challenges together and educate all generations together. Marty, I’m excited for this conversation, huh?

Marty Parker (19:12):

Yeah, thrilled. As you know, I’ve been to Germany probably 50 times and helped start a business in South America, so thrilled to learn from these two leaders,

Scott Luton (19:22):

Man. Okay, we’re going to dive into those 50 trips on another show soon here, Marty. But hey folks, let’s have a little fun first. Here’s a little fun fact and then I’m going to get Jorge Thorson and Marty weigh in on it. Did you know on this date, June 24th, back in 1817, the first coffee plants were planted in Hawaii on the Kona coast. Now a lot of folks have heard of that delicious Kona coffee that I know we rely on every single day to get going, and coffee consumption continues to grow worldwide. So I’m going to ask each of y’all as we celebrate that little fun, historical fun factor today. How do you drink your coffee? And Jorge, I think you’ve got a cup there if I’m spying that right. How do you drink your coffee?

Jorge Morales (19:59):

Yeah, serious. I drink my coffee wine black, and I love coffee because my wife is from Colombia and I travel a lot to Colombia and even though we have good coffee over here in Mexico, it’s not match to the coffee you can get in Colombia. They really make the best stuff.

Scott Luton (20:19):

Oh agree. Colombian coffee. It is like the Cadillac brand or the, I need to update that reference, but it is a premier coffee brand and it is delicious. Thorston, I need to go run and grab me another coffee and Jorge’s making me thirsty for another cup of coffee. How do you drink your coffee? Thorston?

Thorsten Mebs (20:35):

I prefer cappuccino and we have a local brand here in Frankfurt where they’re getting the beans burned and then diluted some Maya blend and then coming from Latin America, and then I put that on the espresso cans on the oven and then I do it myself and then mix the milk and get it there.

Scott Luton (20:54):

Okay, sounds delicious. We’ll have to share a cup of cappuccino at some point soon, huh? Yeah,

Thorsten Mebs (21:00):

Indeed. Virtual, but maybe sooner or later in person in Georgia.

Scott Luton (21:05):

I struggled to make plain coffee. Marty a bartender worked in restaurants throughout college and I could never figure out that daggum cappuccino machine to save my life, but we got thorston here, he can help us out. Marty, how do you drink your coffee, my friend?

Marty Parker (21:18):

So I make lattes, I have a Nespresso and I add flavors and froth the milk and all of that. And frankly, all those trips to Germany got addicted to cappuccinos and lattes and then in Latin America as well, espresso is the way to go, there’s no doubt.

Scott Luton (21:36):

Well, all that sounds wonderful and we have to dive in and share good supply chain stuff over a nice cup of coffee, maybe spiked with a little something, something depending on the day or the time of the day. I think this is Amanda back here. Amanda says, I’m very unpicky about my coffee and drink it black too, that way no matter where I am, as long as they have coffee, I’m good to go. I like that practical approach there. Very well said Amanda. And folks, let us know how you drink your coffee, what kind of coffee you like, what do you put in it? We’d love to get your comments there. Alright, got a lot more to get into here today, Jorge Thorston and Marty and I want to start with this article here. We’re going to pop up this image here and great read here by a long time friend of the show, gee, this comes to us via Forbes Now Gee says, what’s our AI strategy?

(22:21):

Well, that’s the wrong question for supply chain leaders to ask. Instead, gee says, Hey, let’s stick to broader operational goals and objectives and then identify the appropriate tools and strategies to accomplish them. AI isn’t a panacea and some companies aren’t willing to put in the challenging groundwork that makes AI initiative successful. Now, sure as Guy and also Gartner point out, successful supply chain organizations are using AI and machine learning to grow that gap between them and their lower performing competitors. But still, AI is just a tool, one of many technology tools that we have at our disposal in our 2024 tool belt. Now that was a very brief summary of a very full article and folks, we’d encourage you go check out the original reader from our friend Gee Kato via Forbes, check it out. But I want to go around the horn here and get y’all’s take on some of the main ideas that Gee was putting out there. And Jorge, I want to start with you, your thoughts.

Jorge Morales (23:17):

I agree with the article that AI adoption is not a strategy in itself, and so it’s very important that in order to be successful, you need to address your organization’s constraints first and then understand how AI can help you. There are two sides of the coin. On one side, you need to understand what’s available out there, what AI can do for your organization. So that’s important, but you also need to understand your constraints and what are the processes that AI can improve, can streamline, can make better in order to get this match between technology and your needs.

Scott Luton (24:01):

Yes, yes. And as gee points out, I’m coming to you next Dorson ski points out and folks, y’all check out the read, there’s lots of organizations, lots of leaders that have seen AI moving the mountains and they’re going to take AI and they go hunting, they’re going to put it on every problem and they’re going to burn their workforce out in many ways by doing that dorson and the preshow. I loved your emphasis and we were kind of talking through some of the articles we were going to mention and your emphasis you placed on the critically important groundwork as you prepare to leverage AI on the right problems, on the right objectives. Your thoughts though in terms of the overall main theme that Gee was putting out there? Dorson?

Thorsten Mebs (24:38):

Yeah, thank you. I fully agree with the point when he’s coming to the end of the article. That is what I would put first to say what are the prerequisites, what is the purpose of a company? What is the need of your supply chain? What is the supply chain strategy and where can you incorporate AI to support doing the right things in the right way, thinking about the fundamental logistics principles, the right thing at the right time, at the right cost that has gone through planning and I can help a lot here, especially the larger the enterprise is, and that is what I think and feel. It’s quite simple how to embed AI and not just to put AI first for the sake of ai like he says. I fully agree with that.

Scott Luton (25:17):

Yes. And thorston, beyond your great work you’re doing with I-S-C-E-A educating folks out there at all levels, you’re also real active and I’m sure really busy when it comes to consulting with Tata consultancy, I believe. So you’re seeing organizations as they look to try to embrace AI successfully, right? You’re seeing every day.

Thorsten Mebs (25:37):

Yes and no. Also in that area, what I’m working in, we are looking from a design perspective, we are asking the customers, what’s your problem statement? And then trying to identify what needs to be done and how we can embed AI rather than putting the technology first. It’s more about what is the desire, what is feasible and what is viable, and then we try to build that as a unique solution.

Scott Luton (26:00):

Yes, Marty TH’s response here, we need to shout it from the mountain top. What is the problem that we’re trying to solve? Let’s start there. How about that, Marty? Your thoughts?

Marty Parker (26:11):

Yeah, both points. We’re right on and I’m a chief strategy officer fractionally, and you’ve got to start with what the company’s strategy is and how they’re going to win in the marketplace and how they’re going to make more money. And so what are the things they are then doing that technologies like AI enable efficiencies, enable better interface with customers, enable bidder interface with employees. So that problem statement is mission critical to establishing your company’s strategy to win in the marketplace.

Scott Luton (26:43):

That’s right. Well said Marty. Well said. Let’s see, Larry says, AI is no good unless you have a good foundation problem. Where I am is it’s being fielded to folks who don’t know how to use it properly. It’s like giving an iPad to a mountain man who’s never even seen a television that goes back Thorsten as you were talking in particular about that critical pre-work, right? And in fact, Marty, you and I, we were talking earlier at the very beginning of the show about Kiara Ani with the Estee Lauder companies, and when they were talking about all the cool things they’re doing of modern technology, one of the things that they pointed to is the pre-work and how they worked with their incredible human factor to help lay the ground and prepare the organization to lean into these new technology initiatives, right? No one likes getting surprised, right? Marty, Jorge Dorson, no one likes getting surprised and what’s old is new. Again, with communication, the power of communication, especially in this ever rapidly evolving, innovative, but also disruptive timeframe, I think leaders communication skills are getting tested in very powerful ways. Marty, would you agree?

Marty Parker (27:51):

Absolutely. Great leaders, like we talked about before, are curious, want to learn these new technologies to keep up and help their employees get the training they need to incorporate ’em as well.

Scott Luton (28:02):

That’s right. Digital skill upskilling. We’re seeing a ton of that and we’re going to talk on great opportunity that Jorge and Thorson are building for the market out there towards the end of today’s show. Last word we just touched on, and Thorson Jorge, before we move into this next one, whether it’s communication or other leadership skills that AI and other innovative elements in the current industry is testing, what would you point to Thorston?

Thorsten Mebs (28:26):

Communication is our main key, but also basic leadership skills like giving trust to the people. Listen and say, okay, I trust in your expertise. If not, they can come in the supply chain to ICA, for example. But it’s about trusting the people and say, yeah, they are here. Nobody wants not to be overseen, so I trust in you and let’s do it. So they just need to be trusted and that is where people starts moving. Yes, trust is an important element.

Scott Luton (28:54):

Beautiful. Completely agree. I think trust is the lifeblood of organizations out there and we’ve probably all had an opportunity to work in organizations throughout our careers that had lots of it. And I know I’ve worked in organizations throughout my careers that had none, and the cultures are very stark in their differences. Jorge, give you the final word here. As we were opened up with this great Forbes read by our friend, gee, about we’re doing it wrong. Your final thought there, Jorge?

Jorge Morales (29:20):

I think that’s very important to understand that we are really living a very particular situation at dismal. There’s a lot of buzz around ai, a lot of

Scott Luton (29:33):

Chatter.

Jorge Morales (29:34):

Yeah, chatter, but also a great need of knowledge and understanding because we all fear what don’t understand and it’s really important that we put that fear aside and try to become involved and in the same measure that we understand things, we will be able to move forward.

Scott Luton (29:54):

Yes, Jorge, I love those thoughts and that’s a perfect segue for this next article about fear and some data along with it. But before we do that, I was going to point out Marty, Jorge and Thorston, gee, Katon is vying for the best dressed leader in supply chain and he knows that I remind him all the time, but look at that sharp suit with the flowers and the er, all that good stuff. So gee, well done on this read here, I want to flip to speaking of never fear Jorge, let’s talk about this article here from our friends at ZDNet because we got to tackle that fear that many out in the workforce have. Now. Forester research says that as much as 86% of the US workforce across the board fear that lots of people are going to lose their jobs, AI and automation. I’m sure that similar concerns globally, the research that just in this article happens to be focused on the US workforce.

(30:46):

However, as Deborah Bonami, hope I said that right with Rakuten says fear less quote. This isn’t something to be afraid of. The only thing we should be afraid of is if we continue to be the person who says, oh, I don’t need it. It’s not going to impact me. Those are the people whose jobs will be impacted negatively. Now Thorston, I love this read. I enjoy the data side as well as the gut side, I’ll call it, of the point of view in the CD net article. But what are your thoughts about the fear that’s out there?

Thorsten Mebs (31:17):

I think it’s a matter of education and it is an opportunity to make a change. AI is just a part of the digital transformation, so there’s a lot of opportunities for anybody around the globe not losing a job, it’s just about doing the right skills, educating the more AI solutions in the companies that we have, the more programmers we need and everybody’s having access. We are talking here, I’m in Germany, so that is what I think if the programmers in Kenya or wherever. So I see a huge opportunity for the whole world to participate in growth and development. It’s just about education and training.

Scott Luton (31:52):

Yes, and I would add Thorston folks out there raising their hand, volunteering to learn and to getting out of their comfort zone and stepping into a world that they don’t know as much about, but they’re willing to learn it, right and apply that learning, which is really important. Jorge, your thoughts here about the fear, how to tackle it, how leaders should respond, your thoughts?

Jorge Morales (32:14):

I agree with you that this is not a local thing, it’s a global concern. I was last week in South Africa at the SAP conference and they referred to AI as the scary word. And I understand that it might seem like a scary word right now, but I agree with the writer of the article that it’s not something to be afraid of. You’re not going to lose your job to ai, but you need to learn how to use ai, otherwise you will lose your job to someone using ai. Sure. So it’s better if you understand it and embrace it and harness its power.

Scott Luton (32:56):

That’s right. And Marty Frank, communication and transparency is really important as we go through these incredible times we’re living in, and I’ll be the first to tell you, some jobs will certainly be eliminated with modern technology out there. However, the people in those jobs, again, going back to the good news here, if you lean in, you’re willing, you volunteer, you learn new skills, you find new ways of bringing value to the organization and its mission, its objective, its strategy, all kinds of windows and doors of opportunity will be open. But if you sit back and just build this false reality, unfortunately your chances of getting impacted will be greater. Your thoughts, Marty?

Marty Parker (33:33):

So I teach about this and I know you love history. Go back and read about how terrified people were of automobiles. If cars were going to kill everybody, we had to stick with horses. And then as far as jobs are concerned, I’m old enough. I know I don’t look at to know elevator operators, people that sat in elevators and pushed the buttons for you. And so we can’t be scared of that because economists say, look, if there are lost jobs, they’ll go from unproductive activities to productive activities. And so all of this is going to make us better as a society like cars and automating elevators and self-service, gas pumps, all of these terrifying technologies we’ve had over the years. And I get that AI is on a new level because of the degenerative ai and we have to think about the ethical concerns there and regulate it. But as far as the fear is concerned, I think we need to learn from history.

Scott Luton (34:31):

Yes. Oh, so much good stuff there. Two quick comments. We could have a whole couple more hours Thorson, Jorge and Marty on this topic, but one, I think if we listen to some in those days going past that, you’re kind of pointing at Marty with the rise of automotive, some of us we’re telling the rest of industry we don’t need these newfangled automobiles, we just need faster horses and buggies. I want to say there’s a Ford quote somewhere around that. And then secondly, hey, business leaders out there. You bear a big burden as well. I know we’re talking to the people and we’re challenging the people to learn new things, but business leaders, hey, you got to find new ways and effective ways of upskilling your current workforce, equipping them with what they need to do to be more successful as you bring on more technology, innovative technology in this disruptive time. Thorston, I’m going to give you the last word. We got this really cool event we’re going to talk about here in just a minute, but I think this fear that exists, all of us are pointing to across the globe. It’s such an important time again for leadership and a big responsibility that it has your final thought. Thorson,

Thorsten Mebs (35:32):

Again, coming back to the topic of trust and trying to de-risk. And for anybody who’s listening now, the way we are operating in the department I am in, it’s based on the philosophy and the approach of Clayton Christensen. You as in the US may know about this Harvard professor innovators dilemma or the small book. How will you measure your life? It’s always the same. The steamship were invented and they wanted still to sail and it brought growth and new jobs and so on. I think the same is with ai. If we embrace change, then that is something we can do here also, and that’s how we need to think and work. And it’s just about finding the right leaders to build that story and they’re doing small things and then you can scale it up. Maybe not the big deal, but trying to get familiar with it.

Scott Luton (36:16):

Yes, that’s right. I want to add one more thing Marty and Thst made. Think of folks, you look at any economists out there, any data set out there, the jobs that are created, like any past technology revolution, jobs that are created are going to far outweigh the jobs that do happen to be eliminated. So folks lean into that. Jorge, your final thought about this fear out there.

Jorge Morales (36:35):

I think anyone that’s not a data scientist or computer scientist or someone,

Scott Luton (36:40):

You’re talking about me. Jorge, you’re talking about me,

Jorge Morales (36:43):

Right? All of us mortals who have seen this developments from the outside. What we need to understand is that we don’t need to become a data scientist. We don’t need to become an AI expert in order to be able to harness its power. It’s like you mentioned cars as analogy and it’s like a race car driver. They do amazing things with cars and they don’t need to understand what’s under the hood and how all that engineering was done. So we need to understand how to use it. Yes, and I think that would be my recommendation.

Scott Luton (37:25):

Excellent point, Jorge. And I loved your car analogy, tell you the good old car analogy, Marty, it keeps on giving and giving and giving, right? I don’t know, as Jorge was sharing that Marty, it made me just think there is so much place in this world for non technologists, non-data scientists, non-AI experts, but we just need to become more aware and more educated. Not to put it too simply, but Marty, I’ll give you the last word before we talk about this event

Marty Parker (37:51):

And what I see, folks that are older like me, we have kind of the way we’ve done it, the way we think about it. My students aren’t afraid of it and they’re diving into it and learning it. And so we have to think back to when we were more curious and more able to accept change and accept new things and great leaders do that throughout their careers.

Scott Luton (38:13):

Well said. Well said Marnie. All right, another great segue. We have an outstanding education and networking and learning opportunity that we want to talk about. I want to pop this graphic up here cause it’s backed by Popular Demand folks. Big event coming up in October, supply chain technology conference and expo, AKA SC Tech 2024 powered by our friends, Jorge Thorson and the folks I-S-C-E-A. So today, Jorge, I think we wanted to really dial it in on the virtual program, which runs from October 7th to the 10th and folks we’re dropping links there in the chat. You can see there if you want to learn more about this and how to attend sc tech show.com, you check that out. Jorge, why should folks check out this popular show? That seems like it’s grown every single year, especially from a virtual programming perspective.

Jorge Morales (39:02):

It’s been a very interesting journey for us at ISCA because this event is to be an event focused on supply chain technology. This year the theme is facing supply chain challenges in the A IH, but we used to have that as an in-person event because this is the ninth edition of ATech. I think Foresting can provide us with more light on the topic of getting this program into the virtual realm because he was given this task and he faced that challenge very well. Back then when we had the pandemic the first time, we had to move on to do the show without a venue during the pandemic

Scott Luton (39:46):

To meet the people where they are, right?

Jorge Morales (39:49):

Yeah, Thorston was responsible for the first virtual asset tech, so I think he should bring some light on that experience.

Scott Luton (39:56):

So Thorston, tell us more about the virtual programming for the ninth SC tech program. Your thoughts, Thorston

Thorsten Mebs (40:02):

In general. When we started four years back with the virtual, the IC was asking me to build a story. And so we were thinking about not just jumping in single topics rather than connecting dots. So on the first day we started with strategy and thinking a bit in terms of design and conceptual approaches. Then moving along the chain from customer through manufacturing, through supply and sustainability. Each day you have a different topic, you can listen and learn and then bringing together the experts on that specific topics and not just mixing up. And we also didn’t want to have those kind of company promotions. Everybody’s great in supply chain, but in reality they’re not. And we were really reinventing that in a certain way and brought also different folks from different backgrounds within the supply chain and had some new ways of running the panels and different discussions. So similarly, like you do it here, we had small presentations and then the discussion, we came back to the presentation, discussed with the panels, then go back next presentation, then had the discussion and then it was condensing, piling up or even drawing. So that was a fundamental change we took here. And ICA was open to that. And that is also a question of open thinking in terms of education.

Scott Luton (41:16):

I love it.

Jorge Morales (41:17):

And this year we have a really great lineup because we have many speakers from big tech companies like IBM, Coupa, SAP, we have logility, but what we’re doing is we’re bringing this experts providing insight to supply chain professionals on how to implement, what are the hurdles and the best practices to implement AI in supply chain processes.

Scott Luton (41:47):

Well, so it sounds like a great time, Jorge and Thorson and a valuable way to spend the time. Marty and Marty actually, I think there’s a lot of kindred spirits between the four of us here. I think we all in our actions demonstrate the value of continuously learning and providing education opportunities. You can never stop learning and when you think you know it all, I would challenge you. Keep learning, Marty, what are you hearing here? Especially with the ease of connecting virtually with supply chain folks around the world.

Marty Parker (42:16):

Now you got to do it. We all have to be continuous learners. It sounds like some of the best companies in the world at this and some of the best experts and strongly encourage you to do that. Keep learning.

Scott Luton (42:28):

That’s right. Well, you know what folks, but wait, there’s more and there is more. Jorge, we have partnered together to make it really easy. Look at these two folks here. This was Cape Town in 2023 and I had a chance to connect with Jorge there. We’ve worked together to create I think a dozen or so scholarships for folks that it might be a little bit tighter, any kind of additional fee. And I think we’ve got a dozen of these. We still have a couple available Jorge for folks like veterans students out there, maybe unemployed young professionals. And it’s just as simple as going to the website, sc tech show.com. You scroll down and I think the scholarship where they can tell us your story. For folks that are interested in the scholarship, it’s the lower right hand corner and shoot an email and they’ll be in the running. Is that right? Kind of how it works, Jorge.

Jorge Morales (43:13):

Yeah, that is correct. Email the global desk and we read their story, we validate their story and if their students, their veterans serve supply chain professionals in need, we are happy to hand them the scholarships. So please go to the website and send us a message with your story.

Scott Luton (43:31):

That’s right. Do it today folks. Do it today because I promise you they’re going to be gone. It’s June right now. We got a few left. October is still, you might be thinking us four months away, you better act. They’ll be going and they’ll be gone. So check that out. Again, we’re going to show the link one more time. We’ve got all the dates there. You see the virtual program October 7th through the 10th. You got an executive program that Jorge spoke about last time he joined us on the buzz sc tech show.com. It’s just that easy. And as Larry Klein says, if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room. I love that, Larry. That’s never been a challenge for me, so I always must be in the right room. All right, so Jorge and Thorston, I wish we had some more extra time with you, but let’s make sure folks know how to connect with you before we let you go. Jorge, how can folks track you down?

Jorge Morales (44:17):

Please contact me through LinkedIn. You can find me on LinkedIn and also you can email me at Jorge what that would be, Georgia m@iea.com. But that link

Thorsten Mebs (44:30):

On that might be the best way to reach me.

Scott Luton (44:34):

Wonderful. And we dropped that in the chat folks. You’re one click away from doing that Thorston. How can folks track you down?

Thorsten Mebs (44:40):

Just go in LinkedIn, trust MIPS is unique. If you don’t have the link, you will find my name.

Scott Luton (44:45):

That’s right. That’s right. And it’s a pleasure. Thorston, you and I connected about four years ago when I think you’re working on the fifth one at the time, and the journey and the mission continues. I really admire what you and Jorge and the whole I-S-C-E-A team is doing to help folks get educated, get connected and do better, right? Because the industry that never stops

Thorsten Mebs (45:05):

And maybe just a small comment and take away fear from ai. If we go back to the article, that is also what we are focusing here. So anybody who’s joining might get a feeling for, I don’t need to be a programmer, but I need to understand the backgrounds of supply chain and can start steering the things.

Scott Luton (45:19):

Well said. Well said. We’re going to leave it there. Thank you so much. Jorge Morales and Thorston Maes with I-S-C-E-A. Looking forward to the most successful ninth edition of the SC Tech 2024. We will see you both again really soon. Thank

Thorsten Mebs (45:37):

You. Thank you.

Scott Luton (45:38):

You bet. Alright, Marty, good stuff there. I really wish we had some more time. And that good thing is folks, there’ll be diving in. We had 25 minutes with Jorge and Thorston. They’re going to be diving into those topics, especially with, as you pointed out, Marty leaders that get it aren’t doing big things. They’re tackling some of the pushback, some of the challenges that’s always associated with leveraging ever evolving innovative technology. So a lot of good conversations coming up in October. But Marty, we’ve had a jam packed show here today. So whether it’s the latter half right, our conversation with Thorston and Jorge, or going way back to the first half of this show, what is one key takeaway, just one that you would point out to our audience out there.

Marty Parker (46:20):

So I asked my friends at chat GPT what the best takeaways would be for leaders implementing ai. And number one was business strategy alignment followed closely by data strategy and quality and talent skills and development. Doesn’t that sound exactly like the three things we’ve been talking about today? So why not use the resource that’s right there? I do even as a professor and it really enhances and helps me think about things that I hadn’t considered and it’s an amazing tool.

Scott Luton (46:55):

Yes, Marty, excellent points. I love your approach there. And that just reminds me, I’m going to botch this saying, but it’s something like a problem. Well-defined is half solved. And that was another big theme throughout the conversation of starting with why, starting with what customers want, starting with what the problem is, we start there. Things tend to fall in place at least a little bit easier and more successfully. And if you lean in like Marty’s suggesting, I think basic chat, GPT, I think the basic edition’s free, right, Marty

Marty Parker (47:23):

It is. That was the one I used. I framed the question a bunch of different ways and got the same answer in different ways, but it was incredibly helpful to prepare today

Scott Luton (47:32):

For any portion of our audience. And folks, y’all know we have the smartest audience in all of supply chain media, but if you haven’t given a go at chat, GPT or many other AI platforms, hey, sign up for free. Mess around with it. Get a little more comfortable. It’ll help you find out some new ways you might can apply it. And the other thought I had is a lot of times what I love to do when you start from scratch, any problem can be a little more challenging. But when you throw things out on the wall and you see themes start to emerge and then all of a sudden you’ve got a head start to whatever you’re trying to solve, that’s where some of these platforms can really help as well. Marty, we loved your comments here today. Loved our conversation here today. I also love all the good stuff you put out there across social beyond your work at UGA. You’re a fellow founder, entrepreneur, helping organizations find more success. How can folks connect with you? Marty,

Marty Parker (48:19):

Crazy easy, Google, Marty Parker, UGA, find me on LinkedIn or on all the platforms I’m at, supply chain dog, dawg X, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. You can follow me on all those.

Scott Luton (48:34):

Love it. Love it. Do that. The dog of course is a tip of the hat to University of Georgia. The dogs

Marty Parker (48:40):

D wg, go Dogs.

Scott Luton (48:43):

Alright. All right folks, connect with Marty. Connect with our guest, Jorge and Thorston great people. I tell you, we just skimmed a tip of the iceberg here today. Make sure you learn more about SC Tech 2024. You can go to sc tech show.com to learn more about that. We also drop, look at Air Drop Marty’s LinkedIn right there. We’re trying to make it really easy for folks out there tuned in to connect. But here’s the deal folks. Now the challenge lies with you, right? Because Marty and Jorge and Thorston, we can share the best perspective that you’ll ever hear today. But if you out there in the audience, don’t do anything with it, then what gains have we really made? So the owners on you, take one thing that Marty, Jorge, Thorson, you name it. Some of the comments shared here today. Put it into action. Never stop learning. Lean into those uncomfort zones that you may have. There’s a place for everybody out there, especially those blessed are volunteers and blessed are those that are willing to learn new things. Act on that. But whatever you do, Scott Luton and the whole team here at Supply Chain now, challenging you to do good, to give forward and to be the change. And we’ll see you next time, right back here at Supply Chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (49:51):

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.