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 Billy Taylor welcomed Amit Sinha, Principal, AWS Industry Products, Supply Chain & Operations with Amazon Web Services, and Jorge Morales, Global COO of ISCEA. Together they discussed what to expect from the upcoming 2024 ISCEA SC Tech Show, along with top news including:

• ‘Rosie the Riveters’ being honored by Congress
• How factories around the world are slowly cranking into gear again
• AI tools bringing real gains into supply chains
• 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, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you may be. Scott Luton and Billy Ray Taylor with you here on Supply Chain. Now welcome to today’s live stream. Hey, hey Billy, how you doing? Hey Scott, I’m doing great. How about yourself? Doing wonderful. Doing wonderful. Great to see you here today. Always looking like a million bucks. I tell you what, making things happen out in the industry. Billy, great to see you. Great to see you as well. I’m glad to be here, Scott. Alright, well hey folks, we got a great show teed up here today. It’s the buzz where every Monday at 12 in Eastern time we discuss a variety of news and developments across global supply chain and business. And Billy about 12:25 PM today, Eastern Time at least, we’re going to be featuring a couple of extraordinary guests. We have Jorge Morales with the International Supply Chain Education Alliance, and Amit Sinha with Amazon Web Services.

(01:22):

We enjoyed our pre-show session with those gentlemen, right? That’s right. I’m excited for today. They’re going to be exciting guests and have a lot of extensive knowledge and background, so it’s going to be great for our audience today, I believe. Completely agree with you, Billy Ray Taylor. Hey, before they join though, we’re going to be diving into a few resources and some stories and hey folks, we want to hear from you, so give us your take in the comments throughout the show. And in fact, if you’re listening to the podcast replay, you ought to consider joining us live each week, Mondays 12 noon Eastern time on LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook X, whatever social media channel of your choosing. And hey, one last thing. If you enjoy today’s show and it’s jam packed here today, we’d love for you to share it with your friend and the network.

(02:06):

Billy Ray, we need to share and share a like and hook our friends up, right? That’s right. That’s the best gift you can give is to share and his mom would say steal shamelessly. Oh, Billy Ray, one of my favorite things about you are all of your anecdotes about your family and of course your mom. So I know she’s here with us for sure in spirit and maybe in plenty of other ways too. Alright, so Billy, let’s do this. We’ve got a couple stories we’re going to get into in here in a second. I want to start with sharing some resources with folks. So let’s share this graphic here because over the weekend we dropped our latest edition of With that said, and this was edition number 76 and Billy Ray, no one cares about those edition numbers or episode numbers unless you’re the one that produced it because you feel every one, Billy, can you relate to that? Absolutely. I love the caption. Blessed to be the

Billy Taylor (02:58):

Tie Binds, right? We talk about the winning link. It’s less to be that winning link to connect people, processes, and systems that we live our lives by.

Scott Luton (03:09):

Yes, Billy, I’ve got I think a signed copy of your book and I’ll be sure to grab it. I baked that into today’s conversation. And by the way, folks, again, with that said, we dropped over the weekend. We also will be publishing that to our email community Tuesday morning, but in this edition we touched on the Iranian drone supply chain that US federal government is attempting to crack down on. We talked about finding the right leadership structure, the cybersecurity regulatory environment in 2024, and what business leaders need to know out there. Nike says it made an error by cutting out all of its wholesalers. That’s an interesting story. They’re making a few adjustments at the home of the air Jordan, and we included info on all of our live events this week. So folks check that out. And Billy, do you have any idea where that headline blessed be the tie that binds comes from?

Billy Taylor (03:57):

No. No, I do not.

Scott Luton (04:01):

So I’m not going to sing it, but that was one of my favorite hymns growing up. But again, I’m going to spare, I’m going to spare our audience from singing it. But folks, y’all check out, we’re going to drop the link to the latest edition of what that said. And by the way, that image is from Main Street in Columbia, South Carolina. It is called the Never Burst Chain by famed local artist, blue Sky and Billy. That was not planned. Evidently in the middle of the night, the artist put up that Titanic steel art structure between those two buildings and rather than taking it down, it grew on the city and they just left it stick up there. So the never bust chain. I thought that’s really apropos to global supply chain discussions for sure.

Billy Taylor (04:45):

That’s outstanding,

Scott Luton (04:46):

Isn’t it? Cool. Alright, so really quick, Billy, you mentioned the winning link. I want to make sure we stick this out there by the one and only Billy Ray Taylor folks, y’all can get your copy wherever you get books. I was in my local Barnes and Noble I think a few weeks back. Billy and I came across your book, it was flying off the shelves. I had to get a quick action shot of it. I think it’s been a pretty popular first edition. Am I right Billy?

Billy Taylor (05:10):

Absolutely. It’s been on the Amazon 100 bestseller lists on lean management for the last over a year. Man, it cracked number nine again, I think last week. So someone reached out to on LinkedIn. So it’s been, I can say blessed to have that tie out there in leadership.

Scott Luton (05:29):

Love it, Billy. You don’t miss anything. I love that. All right, next up, we dropped our good news message last Friday morning, and I do that every Friday morning. A little bit of good news over on LinkedIn. So last Friday we spoke about how we all stand on the shoulders of giants. And Billy, we dialed it in on Catherine Johnson and many of the hidden figures. Catherine Johnson was one of the brilliant minds behind much of NASA’s success back in the day. Never got enough credit until here recently, at least, thankfully, even if it’s well overdue. But John Glenn, the astronaut, I’m going to paraphrase, but he would only be ready to go launch his rocket. If Catherine Johnson had done the calculations. He says something like, Hey, if she double checked it and is good with it, I’m ready. That is high. Praise Billy, huh?

Billy Taylor (06:15):

Yes. And trust. Yes. You look at that valued resource, that valued voice and often it’s really not the leader. I always call it flipping the pyramid. Leaders at the top are only successful because of the people in the organization as closest to the impact. And she was that for him.

Scott Luton (06:31):

I wasn’t able to really give her her due in the span of a LinkedIn post because she had her hands on so many different missions from the earliest Apollo missions to many, many that followed really an inspiration. So folks, check out if Catherine Johnson, if that is a new name to you, and if you’re a big space nerd like me, Google, Catherine Johnson and just learn more about her. Incredible, incredible career. Alright folks, and we’re trying to make it easy. We’ve dropped the link to, oh man, okay, here we go. We have got with that said, the link to that newsletter we touched on a second ago. The team moves fast, we got the link, the winning link in comments as well. Billy, how about that and the good news post we’re just talking about from Friday morning. So y’all check that out and let us know what you think.

(07:17):

And hey, one more note, Billy Ray, before we get into the first news story we’re going to tackle, and that is Folks National Supply Chain Day, April 29th, Billy, it’s Beyond Time, kind of like Catherine Johnson. It’s beyond time to shine the spotlight on individuals propelling the global supply chains forward. Whether you’re operating machines on the factory floor or leading demand planning or sourcing new suppliers or driving trucks from coast to coast and beyond, no matter how you contribute to making global supply chain happen, your story deserves to be spotlighted and celebrated. Folks, if you want to learn more, check out the link. We are dropping in the chat there. And be sure to join us on National Supply Chain Day, April 29th, 12 in Eastern Time as we have a very special conversation teed up, powered by our friends over at Vector Global Logistics. Now Billy, I know you well and I know you know the power of recognition and awareness and really lifting up the people in industry that make this happen for us.

Billy Taylor (08:18):

Absolutely. My favorite quote of all is make people visible and they will make you valuable.

Scott Luton (08:23):

Love that. And

Billy Taylor (08:24):

You know what? People love to feel value. It’s not even the gift, it’s that value proposition. And to recognize those in the industry I think is priceless. Impact is priceless.

Scott Luton (08:37):

Completely agree. And it’s one of our most important charges as well as business leaders. So folks join us April 29th as we lift up an industry and it’s national supply chain day because that’s how the holiday was founded. But folks we’re going to be celebrating our global industry because hey, it is the ultimate team sport as I stole that shamelessly from one of our previous guests, Billy.

Billy Taylor (08:59):

Yes.

Scott Luton (09:00):

All right, so we’re also dropped a link to that, y’all check that out. Alright, so Billy, we got a jam packed show. We’ve got a couple of new stories we want to get into. We got two incredible guests that our audience is going to really enjoy. But before we get into these stories, we’re going to really focus a lot of our conversation, at least on the front end, on the world of manufacturing, one of my favorite sectors in global business. So Billy, for context, a handful of our listeners and viewers out there may not know your wealth of experience and expertise and industry, especially in the manufacturing space. Now, correct me if I’ve got this wrong, Billy, but amongst other things, now you’ve led manufacturing across North America, I believe for Goodyear at one point in your career,

Billy Taylor (09:40):

Right? That is correct. Both large and small union and union free. And so I’ve led those as small as 32 people size factories earlier in my career to as large as 3000 wow size factories. So yes, my whole career has been in the intestines of manufacturing.

Scott Luton (09:57):

Well, and folks, trust me, I’ve enjoyed the stories that you’ve shared kind of in front of the camera like many of our conversations have been. Also the ones behind the scenes. And folks, you can check out a lot of the stories and anecdotes and leadership proven best practices in the book that comes from that big chunk of Billy’s journey. Alright, so Billy, let’s get into our first story here. I’ve got more good news, I think even if it’s careful. Good news, I’ll share what that means here in second. But really pleased to share that we’re seeing a variety of signals that the global manufacturing industry is indeed picking up some steam now in the us. The manufacturer index that JP Morgan and s and p global tracks what showed great numbers in March. In fact, the index they tracked last month sat at its highest level since July, 2022.

(10:47):

Analysts say that purchasing manager indices are back to expansion in countries such as China and the UK as well. In fact, activity is increasing in the manufacturing sector in South Korea, Japan, Spain, and Italy got even. Hey, I got more, but wait, there’s more Billy, but wait, there’s more. The Asian Development Bank is projecting growth around June or July in Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia. So to that end, JP Morgan’s global manufacturing PMI index landed back in expansion mode in March. So tons of good news, but as I mentioned, air full optimism, expectations are tempered just a bit. So consider this quote from Moody’s Analytics chief economist, mark Zandy, and I think I’ve got that name right. We’ll see. He says, global manufacturing appears to be slowly reviving. I don’t expect global manufacturing to come roaring back given continued high global interest rates, higher oil prices and supply chain disruptions. But I do expect continued improvement and get this James Knightly, chief international economist at ING said plainly, I would say there is some cautious optimism that the worst is over quote. Okay. Billy Ray is someone that has been in the manufacturing industry at a variety levels including upper tiers of leadership. What do you see going on in global manufacturing? Is this good news?

Billy Taylor (12:14):

It’s very good news. And let’s just talk about the contributing factors to this good news and what it is, it’s rising consumer demand. Actually I’m heading out tonight to Detroit. The companies that I work with, they’re seeing this uptick in consumer demand for goods and improvements. And you look at in the industrial sector, the efficiency gains are now carrying over. And so it taps into what you said about Nike and some of the mistakes they made. That’s that connection there that consumers now are coming back to life and now manufacturers through covid, they’ve gotten better at doing the manufacturing of product and those synergies together is breeding a sense of optimism. I

Scott Luton (12:53):

Love it. I love it. And we’re seeing it in numbers really around the globe. And one of those analysts called out the interest rates. And I know here in the states there’s a big emphasis on what the Fed is doing and everybody’s waiting to see when those interest rates come down. But they’re also waiting at least also in Europe, they’re waiting for interest rate cuts to be made. And there’s some, we’re all fighting inflation across the globe. Again, it’s a team sport there too. But Billy Ray, I think it would make a lot of people’s day if we can bid charge a little bit less to take out loans and invest in our manufacturing organizations. Right?

Billy Taylor (13:27):

Absolutely. And as the term I used by CEOI was speaking to recently, Billy, we’re playing with house money, now we want to start getting those loans so we can stretch that money. And so that’s why that interest rate proposition is really, really grabbing hold right now in the marketplace.

Scott Luton (13:44):

That’s right. So you’re headed to Detroit coming up soon, huh?

Billy Taylor (13:47):

Tonight.

Scott Luton (13:48):

Tonight, man. Okay. I love following all of your travels across social. So I’m depending on a nice steady stream of cool things you’re doing, cool people you’re meeting and some delicious food. Hopefully you’ll be enjoying too, huh?

Billy Taylor (14:03):

Yes, that’s right. I try to give my take on that as well. I like to have phoned my wife and I tell her I’m twice the man she married and it’s because of her good cooking. Oh, I love it. Alright,

Scott Luton (14:15):

So watch out Detroit Billy Ray Taylor is headed your way. Alright, we got to pick up the pace. We got two outstanding guests joining us here momentarily. I’ve got one more story that I’m going to hit on and get your take on. Let’s get there first. Let’s see here. I thought this is a really neat story from our friends at manufacturing Dive. Rosie the Riveters were honored by Congress recently. Now back during World War ii, millions of women in the US went to work in factories and shipyards across the country allowing immense level of production that’s needed for the allies to win the war. I mean, they made it happen. Now, two dozen of the original rose of derivatives were honored with the Congressional Gold medal last week at the US Capitol get this bill. About 5 million women worked in the defense industry and commercial sector back in the forties, which as many folks understand, helped free up manpower for active service to military back then.

(15:07):

However, to be fair, the ceremony also highlighted a challenge that was back in the forties. That’s still a big challenge here today. Pay inequity according to the nonprofit National Memorial, to the women who worked on the home front foundation, women were rarely paid even 50% of men’s wages for the exact same jobs back then. And of course that’s a challenge that continues to exist in many industries today. But nonetheless, what a great story. Giving these incredible pioneers and trailblazers that made it happen, had a duty, leaned into it, made it happen, and they’re finally getting some recognition, which I believe that the Congressional gold medal, that’s the highest federal award that can be bestowed upon civilians if I’m not mistaken. Billy, your thoughts about the story there?

Billy Taylor (15:53):

Well, it’s ironic. This came up when I was in DC They had a big statue of Rosie the Riveter, and we actually stood by it. I was there and we saw it recently. And so I thought this was very interesting. But my thoughts comes back to the comments when we were standing there. It symbolizes the substantial impact that women had on the workforce and gender norms. That’s right. And so when women put in those positions, they thrive. Matter of fact, they were the catalysts of survival in that industry at that point. And so when you look at the equity norms, it still continues to be a challenge today. Not only from a Rosie rear perspective, but now those ladies that are now in the boardrooms or as CEOs, this goes through at all levels of an organization. So she had a tremendous impact and so well deserved. Good move by Congress. Yes.

Scott Luton (16:40):

Hey, every once in a while Congress can get around to doing something good and positive. So what a great story though. And we have so much, we owe so much to so many. So I love the Rosie Riveter story and as Andre says yes, that Rosie Riveter, which we shared, a lot of folks can remember this campaign that was kind of aimed at morale back in the day. She’s been around for decades and she never gets old either. That’s right Andre, that story never gets old. Alright, so Billy, we got a lot to get to. We’ve got two outstanding guests. Thanks for weighing in on some of your takes when it comes to hopefully keep your fingers crossed, expanding the manufacturing, the global manufacturing industry. That’s a great sign. But up next we’re going to be featuring a couple special guests here today on the buzz. Please join me in welcoming Jorge Morales global COO for the International Supply Chain Education Alliance. And I’m at Sinha Principal, AWS industry products supply chain and operations with Amazon Web Services. Hey. Hey Jorge, great to see you. How are you doing? Good.

Jorge Morales (17:46):

Thank you for inviting us, me and Amit,

Amit Sinha (17:48):

We’re very happy to

Scott Luton (17:49):

Be here. We are too. And Amit, how you doing sir?

Amit Sinha (17:53):

Doing pretty good. Doing pretty good. Happy to be here.

Scott Luton (17:56):

Great to have you here as well. Billy. We enjoyed the pre-show discussion and I’m going to start with that. Billy, we had a good chuckle too with Jorge and Amit in the green room, huh?

Billy Taylor (18:05):

Yes, absolutely. I think this is going to be a great show. The dynamics of the show, the different personalities as well as the wealth of knowledge both of these two gentlemen bring is going to be outstanding.

Scott Luton (18:15):

Yes. So before we get all there, and I agree with you Billy, let’s see here. It is a variety of holidays here today. It’s World Art Day, it’s one Boston Day, it’s Jackie Robinson Day, and its international micro volunteering day. So folks, let’s celebrate all of those in some way. But what we picked up in the green room, here’s the one I want to start. So Jorge, Billy and Amit have lots of travel, some really interesting recent travel and Jorge has got a really cool trip coming up. So I’m going to ask you all your favorite part of a recent trip here. So Amed, you went, I think you and the family went to Boise, Idaho spring break not too long ago. So what was the coolest part of that trip?

Amit Sinha (18:53):

Yeah, last week was the springs break in Seattle. I have two kids and two dogs. Put them in the car on Friday. Went to Boise, Idaho. It was pretty good and most it’s beautiful. The entire landscape is so good and beautiful and wide. The part which I liked most was there’s a museum of birds of prey and there again you see one or two visionaries, the live like a couple of the birds, big birds, the praying birds were getting extinct based on multiple things we do hunting or the DDT stuff. But where it’s right now, they are no longer east. You can see them, you can see how they fly. So that was pretty good.

Scott Luton (19:31):

Oh man, I’m sold. I’m getting a ticket and heading to Boise tonight. I really appreciate that and I bet it’s the perfect time of year. I can already feel. What was the temperature up there when y’all went? Was it like 50 45?

Amit Sinha (19:43):

Like 72 bright sunlight? In fact, one more thing I saw in the museum, all the volunteers are old people. So I got a few invitations that Amit, when you are done in 10 years, come and work for us as volunteer. I, that’s a great idea.

Scott Luton (19:57):

Love that. So you’re getting stories from folks that had years and years of experience. I love that as well. Hey, really quick, I got to give a shout out to my mom, Leah Lutens, tuned in from Salud to South Carolina with a dear family friend Roxanna Mobley, the one and only. So mom, great to see you here as always. Alright, so Amit, I loved your trip to Boise. Thanks for sharing. Let’s see, I’m going to go to Bill, I’m going to save you for last Jorge. So Billy Ray, we talked about Detroit, but here in the last week or two you’ve been to Galveston and a variety of other cities. You were at some food festival down there in Galveston, is that right?

Billy Taylor (20:32):

Absolutely. I was in Galveston at the Zydeco and Crawfish Festival. I actually went down and hung out with the whole family, my wife’s side of the family. We all came there and I did a little dancing a little bit and a whole lot of crawfish sheeting, so we had a great time.

Scott Luton (20:51):

Oh, Galveston’s such a cool city. It is such an awesome city. And Billy, I enjoyed some of the pictures I saw across social, so coast to coast, Billy Ray Taylor.

Billy Taylor (21:01):

That’s it.

Scott Luton (21:03):

Alright, so Jorge, now Iett and Billy Ray were telling some places they just went. But you’ve got a wonderful trip coming up where you’re going to be visiting Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other countries in the Middle East. So tell us one thing you’re looking forward to with your upcoming trip, Jorge.

Jorge Morales (21:19):

Yeah, thank you Scott. I-S-C-A-I-S-C stands for International Supply Chain Education Alliance. Our certificate holder community is very large. We are all around the world. This trip I’m getting into next week I’m visiting in Saudi Arabia to recognize our certificate holders over there. Then I’m going to Egypt to Cairo and Alexandra to recognize holders of the Arab Academy of Science Technology and Maritime Transportation. And then I’m going to Jordan with our friends of Mohaka who have train supply chain professionals in the region. So it’s going to be a very exciting trip and it’s going to be a great opportunity to meet ISEA certificate holders and engage with the supply chain community over there.

Scott Luton (22:13):

Love that. And I love how that goes back to Billy. What we were talking about before they joined us is the power of recognition. Clearly Jorge is celebrating incredible achievements by folks in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. And it’s like a wonderful ambassador trip of celebration and recognition. I love that Billy, huh?

Billy Taylor (22:33):

Absolutely. Absolutely. That’s part of retention too, when people know you care. That’s

Scott Luton (22:39):

Right.

Billy Taylor (22:39):

They know you care.

Scott Luton (22:40):

Excellent point. And Nadeem says, Hey Jorge, be his guest in Saudi Arabia. He’s ready to meet with you in Riyadh. So Nadeem, we’ll see if we can’t make that happen. Alright, Ahmed, Jorge, Billy Ray. Now we had a little fun celebrating the gift that is global travel. I want to get into a neat story here. Now, this story I think Jorge, I think it fits in perfectly with the theme of an event we’re going to be talking about soon, which is the event coming up in October. So stay tuned because that theme is facing supply chain challenges in the AI age. So more on that to come. But first I want to share this article here from our friends at the Wall Street Journal. Companies across global supply chain are seeking big time benefits, real benefits, tangible benefits by engaging new AI tools and approaches. Here’s some examples, Celonis and Mars where they’ve partnered to use gen AI to combine truckloads, cut shipping costs and speed up delivery, threat up, which is a secondhand apparel retailer doing a lot of business in that powerful ree economy, which is billions and billions big these days.

(23:40):

Well thread up has been using AI in its distribution centers to improve throughput and productivity when it comes to describing new products on its websites. Again, saving tons of time for their warehouse workers, Uber freight and four kites. Many folks have heard those two names out there where they’re collaborating to create chat bots that can answer conversational questions from shippers on a wide variety of topics related to logistics operations. Now before you say I’ve heard chatbots, they’ve been around forever, this is a whole different more robust technology. In fact, the pharmaceutical and agricultural Titan, Bayer, right? B-A-Y-E-R. Well that company says this, use this chatbot successfully to navigate the Red Sea challenges in recent months. How about that? Other companies are leveraging AI to save thousands of hours of employee time and heartburn from auditing contracts, freight invoices, et cetera. I love these practical examples. There’s countless examples out there. So I want to get your thoughts. Let’s start with you. When you hear of the old and new ways that AI is being leveraged out there across business, across global supply chain, what comes to your mind? Ahed.

Amit Sinha (24:49):

So in fact, what has come a part of that is captured in this article too, how the AI and gene AI has the potential to come together. I’ll give you an example and right now what we’ve worked on the same business case in the old days, if I am working on manufacturing efficiency, supplier efficiency, what you will do, you have to tell the system whatever your analytics system is that, what do you mean? How do you calculate? It’s a lot of time how you want to generate the results there. But I’m interested in the data which my organization or my partner or the trusted source in the market has created and they’re a few years back. So when I wrote the book Digital Supply Networks and did the research, the AI and ML part was there. So cloud computing was there, but still extensive amount of work was required to make the system or AI working for you.

(25:37):

Where now I’m pretty excited is first thing the gen ai now, in fact just a few weeks back we did, hey, this supplier has the worst performance and I should expect a risk. I did not define what the supplier performance means. Now the system can go to gen ai, identify how do you define and then get how do I define and how do I project it. But the real benefit is that the RG term retrieval, augmented generation, once you identified, hey, I need to see past performance, the product, the pricing, it came to my data source, my organization, data source, face the result. And again, projected in the beautiful manner, not like the old days where I worked for three months with the BI and be W developer. So I see that’s a huge game changer. The way we use,

Scott Luton (26:21):

I love that example and the big theme, what I heard you say there is back in the day when AI was first making its presence felt, it still required so much hands-on human inputs and management and time and where it’s evolved, to your point, it’s goodness gracious, it’s thinking so much on its own, it’s not completely independent, but there’s a less human time in many of these cases that’s required. Which hey, if we can save our team, the human factor, these hardworking folks that want to be successful, if we can give them time back, Billy, that one of the names of the game, right?

Amit Sinha (26:55):

Scott, I’d like to add one more thing. One of the executive I work with, he used to say like soul breaking work when one of the team members is getting into footprint, different ERP systems and asking and making phone calls, that’s really soul breaking work that should be outsourced. So that fabric most strategy work.

Scott Luton (27:14):

Excellent point.

Billy Taylor (27:16):

So one of the things that I’ve seen, this is a leader I’ve been working with using the AI technology. It’s given her 30% of her time back. And so she’s streamlining decision making because she’s got the data right at her fingertips. So the speed for which she can make critical business decisions has just transformed her organization. And recently using AI put in a scheduling pool system to flow product through. Now that would’ve taken software that would’ve taken several heads at the table using ai. She was able to do this in a day, man. And so that’s the speed of efficiency that is bringing to the leadership side of business.

Scott Luton (27:58):

I love that, Billy. Now, hey, my quick math, I’m coming to you next here. Let’s see here. You got 24 hours in a day, seven days a week, that’s 168 hours in a week. And you’re telling me, and of course she’s not working 24, but hey y’all stick with the example we’re talking about getting, let’s see here, 60 hours back, man, what could we do with 60 hours a week? Even if we took half of it and got a little more sleep at night? I’ll take it.

Billy Taylor (28:22):

I’ll take

Scott Luton (28:22):

It. I love that example, Billy. All right, so Jorge, based on what the article, again we’re talking about this Wall Street Journal article, which is a really good one. Lots of practical examples if you’re short of AI examples and how they’re making impact in global supply chain. Check this out. So we’re referencing that. Amit was just sharing some really cool things related to the evolution of ai. Billy’s talking about bottom line results getting 30% back of your time each week. Jorge, what comes to your mind?

Jorge Morales (28:48):

I think AI has been such a game changer. I think there are similarities with the automatic industry. Remember how the Ford model T democratized automobile for almost everyone.

Scott Luton (29:03):

Ford

Jorge Morales (29:04):

Made that article or that piece of technology available to everyone. And I think that’s just what generated AI tools like chat d, PT and Amazon Bedrock are doing for us now. And it’s not like other technologies in the past in which you have to go through a very slow adoption process. The adoption rate here is a really, really fast, it’s amazing how everyone is getting their hands in it. We’re leaving this transition into a different world now. We’re not going back to using carriages instead of automobiles. So the same thing is happening with the ai. Like Billy Ray say, if you have something that will make you save so many hours of your time, you’re not going back to what you were using back then. And also I think it’s really important what Scott, you and Billy Ray were talking about before, about reskilling not only the workforce but our executives in enterprises. We need to learn how to use that technology in our favor, in favor of end consumers and in favor of all different supply chain stakeholders in order to not only become more efficient, more effective, but to bring more value to the table. And I think companies that are not thinking about it, they’re just sticking to their courage.

Scott Luton (30:32):

That’s right, yes. Excellent point there. And here’s a couple things and Billy, I’m going to get you to respond to Jorge’s great thoughts there. A couple of things I picked up the power of democratization because AI and many of these modern day technologies, whether you’re a small organization, small team, or one of the big companies we’ve mentioned, everyone has access to it in many ways. It speeds up the business, which we’re going to touch on change management in just a second and get Amit and Jorge and Billy to weigh in on that. And then lastly, once folks get a taste, Billy Jorge says they’re not going back. And that’s right. Once Jim and Sally went from riding horses to driving that Ford Mustang, they probably weren’t going back except maybe on the weekends. But Billy way, what’d you hear there? That

Billy Taylor (31:13):

Is a fact, Scott, of laughing because Saturday I get a call at the crawfish festival from this leader.

Scott Luton (31:19):

Okay,

Billy Taylor (31:20):

So excited because AI and Jge just goes right back to what you said. Her predict disruptions faster and she was also able to manage her supply chain and the precision. So she knew all the factors in AI where she used to have to have six Excel files, all of these reports to just to identify what the issue was.

Scott Luton (31:44):

Right

Billy Taylor (31:44):

Now she’s got this new, I’m not going to call it a toy because it’s not a tool, you have to systematize it. So that’s part of how you work. And so that’s when it changed and it’s just like the automobile. I’m not going back to riding horses. I’ll do it for fun, but I’m getting into the car, right? It’s

Scott Luton (32:04):

Just hey, when I’m going to Detroit from Atlanta, I ain’t riding a horse anymore. Billy Ray, right?

Billy Taylor (32:10):

Not happening. Hey

Scott Luton (32:11):

Really quick, can I get you to respond to something Jorge said there and then we’re going to move on to talking change management quickly. Jorge was talking about how all parts of the organization need to be trained up and learn what we’re talking about here so that leaders can lead better, they better understand the art of the possible out there. Would you comment really quickly on that, Amit?

Amit Sinha (32:34):

Yes. That’s very, very relevant and many leaders have started thinking and doing multiple stuff. The problem is that it’s coming at such a big pace and Billy also mentioned correctly, if you see the supply chain operation manufacturing area, the retention has been difficult. And one thing how you see last 20 or 30 years, there is a plant manager who knows the plant so well in his head and I know hundreds of them now they need to get retired and the new person coming in there is not a direct way how to put all the info from the brain of this brand manager to the new one. So anyway, you have to go to the digital tools and AI and gen ai, but that’s the need for change. And you see in multiple areas, not every organization can hire data scientists, the tech which required, but there are some tools with organizations are using like cloud computing, the democratization of it, gen I, et cetera. It’s a very real problem. We have not solved it. Many organizations are working in that direction.

Scott Luton (33:32):

Well, so you open up really a nice segue to my next question, talking about change management and actually you mentioned a couple of different ways that we’re capturing that tribal knowledge, which is so critical. So we can better manage change whether it’s changes in our workforces or you name it, the environment you name it, capturing that tribal knowledge so that we can really use that and move faster, make better decisions without having to go to this department or this department. Let’s learn and know all of that together and there’s lots of digital tools to make that happen. Amit, as you mentioned, but Jorge, let’s see here, change management, change, change, change coming as faster and faster and faster. Build able tidal wave of change, right? It’s always been important change management in global business, but it seems companies are learning all sorts of new ways and are investing heavily into this ever changing dynamic environment that we all find ourselves in that Ahmed was speaking to as well. So Jorge, you first, what’s been one way, one way, there’s plenty out there, but one way that you’re seeing supply chain leaders managing change in their organizations

Jorge Morales (34:34):

With this technology adoption, this transition we’re living in which we’re entering this artificial intelligence age, some media are even calling this generation the AI generation. I think it’s really important to understand that not every person, not everyone has the same perception about new technology and in this case AI and all these different perspectives have to be taken into account because we have people that embrace it, we have people that don’t feel comfortable with it. We even have people that are thinking about, well AI is taking my job from me. I think it’s very important to have our top management people helping them navigate this transition. It’s something we need to start working with the people on the top because sometimes these top executives get into that leading position, not because they are trained into helping their teams navigate into transitions, but because they are skilled in other area of specialty, their expertise area, sometimes you need to have some help someone who tells you or who can help your team to navigate this period of transition in order to be successful.

Scott Luton (36:01):

Excellent point. Absolutely. Undoubtedly, and I love your first comment there around, there’s all sorts of different ways different people are reacting to the modern AI movement and we got to address all of them to make ’em all feel part and get their questions and their fears and their excitement. All that addressed. Ahed, what else would you add to this one way that supply chain leaders are addressing change management these days?

Amit Sinha (36:24):

Well one change, which I’m seeing almost everywhere, is that right now, if you’ll see the way it works, that any execution decision like posting inventory ing of a PO SDO customer order that’s happened to the system, totally dependent the system wise, but the decision which goes behind those transactions. If I’m running a promotion, what will the impact on my sales, if I got a short as of the product, how I’m prioritizing my customers or product that is still mostly manual dependent. So the change with supply chain leaders are aiming to do how to make those decisions mostly data driven, but that’s a big one to achieve that change, it branches out in multiple direction. First, do you have the data which is clean, usable, you have that trust in the system, do you have the right models? So that’s the change. How can I be more data-driven organizations that reality of almost every medium to big scale organization, but to achieve there there will be multiple other changes how they’re going through on navigating.

Scott Luton (37:26):

Amit, well said. And your response goes back to Billy, what you said on the front end is for us to make that big shift that Amit’s talking about where we’re moving things from manually driven decisions to data-driven decisions, which part of that of course is going to be automated decisions, right? Well we got to trust that. We got to trust that the leaders, the team members, the suppliers, the customers, the ecosystem. Billy, speak to that if you would.

Billy Taylor (37:50):

Absolutely. And Scott, what both Emmett and Jorge have talked about is one, because change management, it’s essential. You have to have it. But for it to thrive and survive, it has to be embedded into the daily management system, right? It must because when tools lead failure follows,

Scott Luton (38:08):

Ooh, I like that

Billy Taylor (38:09):

One. So when people come in and they keep introducing all these tools without the process which connects the people in the process, that’s when your change management is alive and well and thriving and y’all came in and talk about new leaders coming in, then they have to come in through the process. So therefore your daily management, it breachs that stability and it gives you the opportunity to use data so you can measure the impact of change. Well said. That’s what I see now in organizations that I go and see. It can’t be the shiny penny of the day. It has to be how we’re going to live, how we

Scott Luton (38:45):

Work. I love that. A lot of leaders I think are really tempted to say, oh the technology does that and that’s where the conversation starts. And to your point Billy Ray, that’s a dangerous way, right? Because as you put it, when the tools leave, failure follows. I love that. Alright, I really wish we had a couple more hours with Jorge Amit and Billy Ray here today. We have so much more to talk about, but I’d be remiss if we don’t talk about this event we’re got coming up. We’re going to go there next. Hey Simon, great to have you back. Simon says, the end user experience of working is going to dramatically change as generative AI breaks a lot of supply chain planning tasks free from workflows with their predefined buttons, grids, charts, tasks and so on. It’s kind of what Amit was talking about earlier. Simon, well said.

(39:30):

And great to have you here via LinkedIn. It’s been too long my friend and Gino pleasure from North Alabama. Hey no demerits today. You’re saying you’re running a little bit late. No demerits, great to see you Gino. Alright, as I mentioned, we’ve got a big event coming up and really excited about SC Tech show 2024, the supply chain. Now team is pleased and honored to collaborate with Jorge and the I-S-C-E-A organization to create scholarships for veteran students and others that want to attend this event. More on that in just a second in terms of how you do it. But first I want to find out from Jorge and Amit, what you’re looking forward to most at this event. Now that might be a long list, but for the sake of time, just give us one thing, Jorge, that you’re looking forward to at SC Tech Show 2024.

Jorge Morales (40:16):

Yeah, sure. I’ll try to summarize what in a nutshell. This is the ninth edition of SC Tech. It used to be an turnaround event taking place in different countries every year. It became virtual during the pandemic. And since last year we are kind of having two events in one because we have the virtual program taking place during four days and we have an executive program that’s helping top managers, executives, supply chain executives help their teams and embrace technology to improve their supply chain processes. So this year theme is facing supply chain challenges in the IH. And so we’re having this virtual program and the executive program at the world headquarters of SAP. So that’s a very exclusive event, very few seats that we have there, but for which we have a great program with nine instructors slash speakers that will be helping or training top managers to navigate this transition into the, we have the technology experts like Amit from a Ws, we have Bo, from Logility, from Belgium, Dominic, Chris from Austria, Michael Borelli from the UK talking about the new AI regulation for Europe. And we also have Rick Siemens moving a little aside from the technology perspective, but from addressing the change management perspective and telling us how to help our teams navigate this transition into the IH. So it’s going to be a great event of their in at the SAP world, basically in the industry 4.0 center of SA dining at Heidelberg wine.

(42:22):

And we also had the virtual program. So it’s a twofold event that I think will bring a lot of the value to the supply chain community worldwide.

Scott Luton (42:32):

Agreed, agreed. Alright, really quick before I move over to Amit and save the date again, SC Tech 2024, you got the virtual program October 7th through the 10th, 2024 and then that executive program the ninth and 10th on 2024. And we’re going to touch on these scholarships for the virtual program in just a second. So folks, great opportunity. Stick around for just a second. And Amit, I’ll tell you what, if you’ve got folks like Amit showing up and sharing their perspective, that’s home run stuff, right? Amit, what’s one thing you’re looking forward to for SC Tech 2024,

Amit Sinha (43:06):

I go to a lot of conferences and programs. SC Tech is unique in its nature. First, the global representation you see people from across the world, that’s how supply chain should be. It’s global in nature. And second thing, the type of people you see. So there will be people who have got decades of experience and also the students. And I also met last year, few folks or professionals who are planning to shift their career to supply chain. Love that. So it’s wonderful getting new ideas, et cetera. So yeah, it’s pretty cool. And this time I’m looking forward, I’ll be visiting to Germany for the talk, so it’ll be good to see more folks.

Scott Luton (43:44):

Oh definitely man. Alright, so Billy, really quick, you do lots of keynotes as well, lots of different shows. You just got back from Malcolm Baldridge award ceremony here in the States. We’re going to see an A ME event coming up in the fall. When you hear Jorge and Amit talk about SC Tech 2024, what do you think one of the coolest things there? I think

Billy Taylor (44:04):

When you’re benchmarking networking, actually it’s that experience that when the audience goes there, they get to meet like-minded professionals, take away best practices and us what’s next on horizon. So you get at conferences like that, that’s why they’re so powerful. The people I meet at conferences, I learn so much. I take a notebook and I’ll tell you when I send through the keynotes, as I said at the start of the show, I steal shamelessly,

Scott Luton (44:32):

I benchmark and learn and that’s worth the investment. Oh, I love it. I was just looking for my big black book of key takeaways that I’ll take around with me. That’s the thing, right? It’s not enough just to hear it. You got to really take it with you and apply it in the weeks and the months to come. And also would’ve heard you say there, Billy, is we’re being challenged to think differently by Amit, Jorge and yourself. And that’s really important. We’re right up against time and I hate that. If we can. Jorge and Amit, can you stick with us just for another extra minute or two? Y’all good with there? Sure,

Jorge Morales (45:06):

Yeah,

Scott Luton (45:06):

Sure. Okay. Really quick, because I want to make sure, two quick things before Billy and I wrap. And one of them, Jorge, is how can folks, I think we created together 12 scholarships for the virtual program, which runs October 7th through the 10th, 2024. Jorge, how can folks apply for those scholarships?

Jorge Morales (45:24):

Well, they just need to email Global desk@ise.com and ask for it. They’ll be asked to tell their story why they should get a scholarship, and we’ll go through all these requests and scholarships. We’re very happy to partner with you with Supply chain now to hand out. So hopefully we can later interview them and get to know their thoughts about the bed and what they think about their experience and the takeaways.

Scott Luton (45:53):

Well said, well said, absolutely action oriented, give forward programming. That’s what all four of us are about, right? So folks, Jorge said, email for more details, we’re going to make it really easy. Check out this general website here, sc tech show.com. Go there and you can reach out and use a contact page and send that email to Jorge and the whole I-S-C-E-A team and we’re going to get you hooked up again, 12 first come first served in terms of who’s deserving, I guess, right? So make sure, as Jorge mentioned, let us know what’s going on. If you’re a full-time student, hey, we’ve all been there. Times get tight, right? Bills get tight. If you’re a veteran and you’re looking to get into the industry and network a bit, hey, let us know that we want to give all 12 of these away. So make us do that, right? Alright, so really quick, Jorge, how can folks connect with you and the I-S-C-E-A team?

Jorge Morales (46:45):

I think for the event, the best place to go is the website, sit tech show com. And to reach out to isea, you just have to go to isea org.

Scott Luton (46:57):

Just that easy. Just that easy. And hey folks, if you’re in Saudi Arabia, Egypt or Jordan, I know those are really big places, but maybe you can coordinate a visit, maybe a cup of coffee or a tea or you name it at least a handshake or a high five with the one and only Jorge Morales. I’m taking up on that. Come on, do it, Billy. Do it. All right, really quick, Amit, I’m so glad you were here today. I’m looking forward to your presentation at SC Tech 2024. Amit Sinha. How can folks connect with you and the cool things you’re doing at AWS?

Amit Sinha (47:30):

I think the best way is LinkedIn. So most of the time I read the text I receive and invitation I get. So feel free, feel free, share the ideas, happy to collaborate,

Scott Luton (47:41):

Man. Wonderful. And folks, we’re trying to make it easy. We got Amit LinkedIn profile there you one, click away. We got Jorge’s profile. There you one click away from that. You heard Jorge talk about the two day executive program. We got a link for you there. Check that out. Business leaders out there don’t want to be a part of that. Alright, really, thank you so much Jorge and Amit, we’re going to close with y’all with us here today because we’re running a couple minutes over, but delighted to learn from you both here today and Billy Ray that brings me to you before we sign off. We told everybody out there that Jorge and Amit was going to bring it and they did Billy, so what was one of your favorite things that you heard here today, Billy? And then I’m going to wrap and call it a day. My

Billy Taylor (48:24):

Favorite thing is around how they’re looking at innovating the change management process, but more so the supply chain process. Both of those brought credible solutions table today. So that was my key takeaway.

Scott Luton (48:37):

So get out, lean into these opportunities, connect with Jorge Ahmed and Billy Ray. Make sure you check out SC Tech 2024. We drop this graphic up there again so you can check out the dates. There’s a couple different formats there, but check that out@sctechshow.com.

Amit Sinha (48:57):

One more thing before we talk. Yes,

Scott Luton (48:59):

Go

Amit Sinha (48:59):

Ahead. I highly appreciate the work you are doing, the way you share your knowledge, thousands of the people and we need new professionals. We need cutting as mine in this area. So thanks to you and thank to you Billy too. I’m going to buy your book just after this case, so great. I love it. Hey.

Scott Luton (49:17):

Oh man. Hey Amit. You made our day. You made our day made

Billy Taylor (49:21):

Day. You did,

Scott Luton (49:22):

Yeah. You’re so right. We got to bring more people in from all walks of life that all have a variety of different passions and expertise in different functional areas. That’s what global supply chain must have as we continue to move the industry forward. So Will said, Amit, and I’ll just share with this thing right here. The Dean says Supply chain requires a change on a larger level now, absolutely Nadeem. And we’re all working hard to making it happen. So big. Thanks again. Jorge Morales with I-S-C-E-A. Great to have you j Jorge. Thank you. Thank you very much. You bet. Amit Sinha with Amazon Web Services, thanks so much for being here, Amit.

Amit Sinha (50:02):

Thank you. Good day everyone.

Scott Luton (50:04):

Yep. Billy Ray Taylor, the one and only folks as Amit put out there. Shameless, go check out the book, the winning link. You got some technology coming out really, really soon. Billy Ray, how can folks connect with you?

Billy Taylor (50:16):

Follow and let’s connect. I answer all of my personal messages. So that’s it,

Scott Luton (50:21):

Man. That’s something right there. Thanks for your time, Billy Ray Taylor, folks. Now we’ve had quite an episode of the Buzz here today. Now the onus is on you to take one thing that Jorge, Amit, Billy Ray said here today. Put it into action. Your team is ready to do things differently and do it better. These not words folks. And with all that said, on behalf of our entire team here at Supply Chain now, Scott Luton challenge 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 (50:51):

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.