Episode Summary
Scott Luton and Greg White welcome Pal Narayanan onto Supply Chain Now Radio at eft’s Logistics CIO Forum, a Reuter’s Event in Austin, Texas.
Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] It’s time for Supply Chain Now Radio. Broadcasting live Supply chain capital of the country. Atlanta, Georgia. Supply Chain Now Radio spotlights the best in all things supply chain the people. The technology’s the best practices and the critical issues of the day. And now here are your hosts.
[00:00:29] Hey, good afternoon, Scott Luton back with you live here on Supply Chain Now Radio. Welcome back to the show. On today’s show, we aren’t broadcasting from Atlanta, Georgia. You might hear a buzz in the in the studio room. Here’s to your room here. Rather, we’re broadcasting live from Austin, Texas, home of e.t.’s Logistics CEO Forum, a Reuters event where we’ve been interviewing some of the most innovative thought leaders and heavy hitters that are doing big things across India and Supply chain industry are Supply Chain Now Radio team is proud to continue our partnership with Nick Asef and the E.M.T. And Reuters event team. And Greg, when welcome in our fearless co-host here today, Mr. Greg White serial supply chain, tech entrepreneur, chronic disruptor and trusted advisor Greg. How you doing?
[00:01:15] I’m doing great. That title keeps getting longer, does it? Does. And and it’s it like many things exceeds me.
[00:01:22] Yes. I don’t believe that for a second. But we’ve had some great interviews already. Yeah, we’ve got plenty more to come. And I think the interview here were about to kick off is going to is going to continue to maintain the standard. I think so standard easily. So let’s welcome in our featured guest for this segment, PAL, Nick Ryan, chief information officer with Geophys of the Americas. How you doing, pal? I’m doing great. How are you doing? Fantastic. I’m glad we were able. I know you keep a busy schedule here. You’re on a panel earlier, and I’m glad we could we could steal just a little of your time here. Absolutely happy to do this. Yeah. Thank you for joining us. So as we were talking about in the warm up conversation, we like to start by being able to kind of paint a picture of who our listeners are hearing from Ryan. So Pough with that mom, before we dove into your supply chain insights and expertise assless, let our listeners have a chance. Learn a bit more about who you are. So tell us more about yourself.
[00:02:16] Sure. I’m orginally from India. That’s that’s where I was born and grew up. And then I came to United States twenty seven years back and I came to Nashville. SoI everyone usually asked this Nashville, Nashville, of all places.
[00:02:31] I usually tell them I came to do country music. Good night. Good night. There you go. I’m in Supply chain now.
[00:02:38] That’s what we always hear. I’m in Supply chain now. Would be a great country music song. I’m going to add mama to the end. Yeah, that’s right. Yeah, we hear that a lot. Yeah. Folks get here or they move to Nashville and they see the country music and that don’t work. That is supply chain that has got, you know, country music stars.
[00:02:54] No, just kidding aside I came to school in Nashville and then for some reason I figured that town grew on me and I never left. So I guess I’ve been in Nashville for the last 27 years, enjoyed every part of it. And the city has grown and I’ve grown with it. Now it’s good city. Yeah.
[00:03:12] So we I was there a couple times for APEC’s meetings and Chesil and I got hooked on Hati BS. Yep. Absolutely. Sherkin. Yes. And then they expanded to Atlanta and I gained 75 pounds. I’m not lying power. I love that stuff. You probably used to good food and living in the cool city. Of course we Sheer that in Atlanta. But you’ve been there in Nashville for 27 years, so clearly you and the family have enjoyed it.
[00:03:38] Absolutely. So. So I my background is computer science. That’s what I went to school for. And then I was lucky enough to get jobs in computer science. So this is my third job, but my first Logistics. Okay. So you know this. I’ve been in this one for nine years. Before that I was in the finance and insurance industry and 13 years. But one thing which I realized it does not matter what the industry is, if you are going to do I.T. for IP sake, there’s only so much you can do. You have to really understand the business and understand what they are about and make sure that I.T. Matus matters to the business and follows that closely. And, you know, once you learn that it doesn’t matter, you know what the industry is, you are going to be successful because you are solving the bigger costs. And that, you know, some people thought me along the way. They were great mentors for me in all the industries, which I would have been lucky in that way. And once people show you that rule UPS, then it’s it’s easy to catch on and you’re willing to learn. I think that is no stopping.
[00:04:48] You know, that continues a trend that we’ve seen that interviews here, where the roles that these these technology leaders are is it’s their first time being in the supply chain or distribution or Logistics Industries. And I’m sure that, you know, because technology has really supply chain this Technical these days, right? I think so. Tapping into folks that have been at you have been there and done it in other industries and using that outside perspective, even though it was nine years ago, outside perspective for you, still still very valuable. Yes. Would I be correct to assume coming from the insurance industry, what was the other industry you’re in?
[00:05:21] It was the insurance and financing because it was nonstandard insurance, we financed it. So this is what I tell people. They always ask, so what is it different between, you know, insurance and Logistics high in the insurance industry? That is only two people you have to make happy. One is the you know, if I’m not sure you guys know insurance is very highly regulated. Yes. Each state has its own laws and regulations. That means you have to work with the product people from an IP standpoint to see what they want to sell. And as long as legal up you. Good. So you’ve been barss, but in Logistics it does not.
[00:06:00] And especially in pre-spill, we have long been on it in 50 to 200 customers on any given day. Right. Oh, someone is not happy with something that you did or didn’t do. That means you have to really, really be customer focused. You have to treat every customer’s problem as that is the biggest one that day or that Dobre just cannot tell one customer. No, I think I’m a bigger customer problem. I’ll get to you later. That doesn’t last.
[00:06:25] Then your customer problem gets much, much smaller that every time you do that. Absolutely.
[00:06:29] So that that is absolutely. Where do you really key in leadership roles in Logistics? Every boss’ll is important. Yeah. So that does when it comes down to it does not matter what matter what your title is. My boss always sees everyone as a leader. Doesn’t matter whether you have a team or you have a big title and the few who are willing to lead that those things really doesn’t matter. It finally comes down to what you’re willing to do and lead. Yeah.
[00:07:02] Well, put one more comment or more question about your background. Jump in the G-O-D. Is it would it be correct to assume that with you’re with industry and financial services background and the analytics and the metrics and the data driven industries, those are you part of it.
[00:07:21] When you came in supply chain you poor had a leg up that dissolves UPS analytics were kind of newer to this industry and in some ways, right, that is connecting insurance and banking.
[00:07:29] Analytics is the backbone. They didn’t call it machine learning a big data thing, but insurance is definitely based on your driving records. What do you do? So they’re going to analyze, you know, the age groups, different things before they show the set thayne insurance rates, run aerials. Actually, it’s absolutely that’s a huge, huge idea.
[00:07:50] And insurance, that’s the second time I’ve talked about that today, believe it or not.
[00:07:54] And you know what? I wonder how many podcast say the word Akst actuarial science twice the same day. I think that’s a Guinness Book of World Record.
[00:08:02] Well, first of all, how many podcasts actually create episodes twice?
[00:08:07] Jenny. You got to get back to your gaming in your mom’s basement. Kids can do to UPS.
[00:08:13] Okay, so let’s talk, pal, talk about G-O-D and what their organization does and then we’re gonna talk about your role. So what does Jihadi’s do?
[00:08:23] G-o-d is like a Logistics company. It’s a third party logistics company. It is owned by SNCF, which is the French Railways, which is owned by the French government. So we wed previously four years back. What we were called was Osborne as he Logistics. Yeah, based out of Nashville. They’ve been there for 60 odd at 65 years. And when G-O-D was looking for value, oh, do we go grow big in the United States market, which is again, it’s one of the biggest is the biggest market in the world. Still the, you know, oh, childe was for sale. So it was a good fit. So G-O-D bought us four years back and it has been an extremely good partnership. We have grown with them. And now last year, what we was decided is that Nashville would be that court does what all of the Medicus stay. So both North and South America for freight forwarding, complex logistics and transportation. So all lines of business running to Nashville, for that matter. Kuspit All the countries. So it’s definitely been a learning experience.
[00:09:32] Yeah. So you’ve still got a shot at that country music career. Absolutely right. What a great win for Nashville. Yeah, absolutely. You know, the last time last time I was there, we we part made a couple trips to the family. And for these conferences, there were cranes, there was growth everywhere. And then from reading some of the industry expansion and some of the winds, it seems like they’re they’re doing really well. So it is a natural fit. But had the G. Otis. Americas headquarters there, right? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Plus, you got roots there. Yes. For The Early Show. Yes. I was going to talk about country music roots again. That’s great. I was excited about it. Maybe you get a chance to sing in this. So we’ll see what we can do to it. Right. That’s right.
[00:10:17] What’s so? I want to talk about your role. You know, obviously, a chief information officer and plenty folks can make assumptions around what that is. But I’m always curious about where these sea level leaders spend their time. So where do you spend your time? And also the second question is what you love most.
[00:10:35] It’s got about the role. OK. So I would call I would divide my role into three main pots. One is which a lot of people always come to the last, but I come to the first as the human aspect of it. Building the team, getting the right people on the bus, making sure the buses are driving forward all the time. That takes a lot of work. That means you’re working with your team, coaching them, talking to them and understanding what they need. And once you get the right people, then retaining them and keeping them engaged is extremely important. Right. Especially in a tight employment environment like we have today, doctors. And it’s becoming very, very difficult because everyone is expecting flexible work time. And if you don’t get it to you, they always get it there. But Logistics is all the time, time bone dry. And you know, how do you manage that? The work life balance. So it does becoming challenging of finding people and then also making sure the pit technologist you find also understand the business and grow them as leaders and because everyone has different aspirations in life. Correct. And one of the things which I as you know, there is a lot of people who helped me in my Jenny. So it does it then that is the only decent I got where I got. So everyone has their aspirations and what they want to do as soon as you. You need to pay attention to those and make sure they get where they need. It’s a two way street. So I spend a lot of time, at least one-third of my time, you know, working with the team, managing the team, coaching element shipment.
[00:12:05] Yes. And then, you know, other aspect of what I spend is on, you know, the finance and making sure everything is funded properly and making sure that I do not overspend. And we discuss this in the family. And the biggest nightmare for a CFO is the CIO. And that’s there’s always more technology that doesn’t get it. Yeah, the the CFO always feels that these guys want more money. And what am I getting? I don’t understand what they are doing. Right. You know, it seems to be a black box. Enough is enough. Let’s stop.
[00:12:38] But so all the Peter of by my book, Four Different Bosses. I’ve always seen these challenges. Will to one thing I, you know, made sure that I don’t have any challenges with my CFO. I have never gone into his office and asked for money. I always send someone else to ask for the money.
[00:12:57] That’s part of the development process as well. That is correct. How to build a business case and present it? That is correct. So. So you kill two birds with one stone? Absolutely. So I have a great partisanship at them because I never go ask him stuff.
[00:13:11] So we also you know, I have someone who is entirely dedicated for I.T. from the finance standpoint to report radically to the CFO. So they manage everything in I.T. the finances where the money is spent are what’s being spent. And we the teams explained to him saying why we need to do it if he gets it. He’s a finance person. He’s going to explain it to my CFO. And it goes on. So there was transparency. That’s great. As a translator. Yeah. That is exactly where my team to find it. That disconnect. And we don’t do anything without them knowing them.
[00:13:47] So we spent lot of time that to make sure that, you know, we do add value to everything we spend, measured what we do. And then the third aspect of my time that I spend a lot of time is the customer facing stuff. One of the things they have done and do is or we have done Intuit is which has extremely well, you know, how many times does a CIO get to be the exec sponsor for an account? I have three icons who what? Why maintain top to top relationship and not I.T., jerai, everything else. And so one is a big phone company. They produce phone Stevie’s and everything. OK. It’s a big company. Another is up pet products company. So the they definitely value what the CEO brings to the table. You’re really treated as a business. See live a leader not just looked at an I.T. person to make sure, you know, spouses.
[00:14:41] I always loved having those conversations. Now, now we’ve heard from I.T. Let’s hear from the business people. That’s right. That seems so 25 years ago.
[00:14:50] That’s correct. I.T. people are business. They are Lu. Yeah, business. I a lot of I.T. people. I you know, meaning in this generation now, many people get a phone and gets a manual. They get. The phone and they stopped working it. Right. And we we feel and I feel that does read the I.T. systems are going, you know, you get the system. It has to be self intuitive. Yeah, no doubt as to keep it rolling. So I don’t think that is not a personal life. That is not your work life. That’s the same thing. There is. No, no, I’m not an I.T. person without knowing. Right. Isn’t a off for half a day has absolutely become a must. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It has become critical. So that does how I spend my time. And the most important I enjoy is the customer facing. It’s the most tough one.
[00:15:34] But I think you’re great in front of customers.
[00:15:35] That is what they told me. I can see that. But my my wife and son don’t believe it. No. And they never will. Yeah. They’d never watch. Your dog believes that. Exactly.
[00:15:46] But yet my my proudest was, you know, two months back. You know, someone called and said to my boss, a be need bailed that put this to finish this up. We had an exec offsite meeting where, you know, we do that every quarter to build relationship with the exec team. I said, Randy, I have to be there. And then I told the gentleman from this phone company saying, I think I can make it. They called my boss. They said, if you want the deal, you send them. You have the deal. Wow. And so, you know that fellow pentz affirmation. Yeah, that does affirmation that, you know, you it’s not the you’re not Peter, just as an I.T. person, you are looked in from the business standpoint to love that.
[00:16:26] Love that. Wow. Yeah. Okay. So you’re on a panel earlier here, the Logistics CEO forum, which again is now a Reuters event. Pretty neat growth for the EMT team. Let’s go broader with this next question. So let’s talk about some of the one or two supply chain trends that you’re tracking more than others right now. Sure.
[00:16:46] One of the things which we definitely we have multiple lines of business. So I will. You know, each line of business looks and acts a little bit different from what we do is complex. Logistics is really labor focused. You have to bring in the labor to get the products out in a very narrow window. Automation is there and automation is coming. Every automation is not any more loved, Judy. It’s become a necessity because of the labor market. Right now you have two percent unemployment and 3 percent unemployment. And so it’s very difficult to get people in this market. Right. So what we have done in the last two, three years, cbf Sardinian to India, introducing Bortz and everything goods, demand technology. We try small. And then we start expanding and we still have a lot of vatos as well. You have that traditional convey of system and everything too. So definitely from the complex Logistics standpoint, we have started investing quite a bit in automation so that that is the trend we have seen. And again, that does not going to replace all the Liebmann. It is only going to complement the labor Kaura.
[00:17:55] I mean this these are jobs largely that the labor won’t take or where you have a high level of turnover that is that like that is exactly. You have to have some level of stability of performance, even if that even if the bot’s needs to be augmented with with human labor and the bots are always performing. Yes. The foundational garmser that does it. Look, this has been my experience with automation throughout my career and I’ve dealt with a lot of it is whenever you have an automation, it usually doesn’t take away the satisfying job that a human being is doing. It takes away the mundane, it takes away the repetitive. It takes away the physically difficult or damaging or unsafe often. And I think that the more this employment environment has forced us to not only do that, to use automation, but to recognize what it is used for. And I think it’s more and more apparent every day that it’s used for the jobs that people don’t really want to do or shouldn’t be doing because of safety or that this country will put.
[00:19:01] Yeah. And then from the freight forwarding side, which is a different line of business, but as a bigger, broader part of the supply chain, it’s a motor transactional business. You know, someone explained to me when I asked the first time, what is the difference between complex Logistics and freight forwarding? Is it contract? Logistics is like getting matterto a three year contract. A five year contract to manage freight forwarding is like beating. You definitely go on a lot of dates.
[00:19:25] Transactional. Yeah. So that started. It might just be one day. Exactly. So yes, that is correct.
[00:19:34] So we definitely that there’s a different need that need in that data from the technology standpoint is data. Everyone wants access to data a day. Everyone wants it immediately. Everyone wants to look at the documents. So, no, you know, few people have given that end to end. And definitely that is a growing thing that the data. And what do you do with the day? That information. All right. So do we. I think we have gone past the data stages to making data as information so that people can act on that. That is definitely being focused on that. Far more at lightning algorithms to see what do we have this data, what does it tell us?
[00:20:16] And what do we do with what it tells us? That’s right. Exactly.
[00:20:19] So and so if you’d rather skip over this question, which do that. But, you know, we’re in the middle of peak, right? Yes. Busy time for folks in Supply chain especially. You know, you’ll get even busier. You know, we’ve sat down with a variety of technology leaders and retail leaders, you know, going back couple years now. And they all have lessons learned from previous peak and and really seems like we’re playing them nonstop for peak. Exactly. In this in this age at this cult. Any observations from your experience now being in an supply chain and three people were for nine years. Any key takeaways that that you keep reminding your team to watch out for this or remember this as we get into this busy time?
[00:21:04] The one thing I will tell you, talking about Bake-Off bulldust people, maybe you will get an idea. No one has made a reality show out of pique.
[00:21:11] It’s a great thing to start next month. You did it.
[00:21:19] It gets a busy in some of these vatos as we ship out of. And it is really a good thing for a reality show. That’s just an idea. But coming back, quest in for us. Yes, you’re right. Because throughout that day, someone explained to me that Kentucky Derby is only run for two minutes.
[00:21:35] Right. But within the next two week, they start planning for the next year. Right. That’s that’s exactly how we feel about peak. And and one, we have been very lucky to have said very some very market customers. Hot peak starts that close to September itself because we have one of our biggest customers who do a lot of product launches in September. Right. And then we have Aladeen coming out, which we have another customer, we think. And then really the peak sets. And so we get some warm up for peak, which we lead in. Yeah, we start prepping. The one thing that I tell my team is during peak, don’t do something which, you know, it’s not absolutely needed and just sit back, watch block and talk like that discotheque, do the basic stuff. And then we will be fine. Because you have done this year over year. So just stick with the basics and we’ll be fine. The other thing that has helped us is which we realized as a during peak, we bring in I.T. people love food it at.
[00:22:38] Yes. Yeah. Especially natural.
[00:22:40] So we definitely what we do is during peak event, that is an issue. And then you blink to get multiple people on the phone trying to understand what is going on. That takes 30 minutes. But during peak, 30 minutes is a big, big time. Sure. That does lose. Yeah. So what we have done in the last to seven years is we bring in every one we need and all the food and everything from the day of Thanksgiving. We have for two weeks. We have always people in the office all sitting in the same room. Even if you don’t do anything, that’s fine. You just sit there. If there is an issue, everyone is in the same room already. That’s a great idea. Yeah. So otherwise, you know, it’ll go around. Oh, it’s not my problem. It’s that get the next person on the call and can get the next puzzle number out and it it takes 30 minutes to assemble the team.
[00:23:27] So what do you feed him? No, that’s what I’m. That’s a good question. These chickens is. Well, yes, absolutely. adibi chicken is in the budget for every year gets bigger that you get it.
[00:23:40] If you need somebody needs a sponsor that I’m happy to show up at any of your meetings, you know, I won’t know anything is going on. Well, he said you don’t have to work. Oh, good. So that’s perfect.
[00:23:49] Well, if you think about that, it’s simplistic of an idea that is one hundred people for in your saving, you know, 50 people hours. Absolutely. That is extremely valuable. Any time. But especially this time here. Yes. OK. So, you know, pal, I wish we had a mini series with you because chef, because I think you’ve got a story where you were scratching the surface here. But how can folks learn more about G-O-D?
[00:24:19] So definitely we are on the you know, the World Wide Web W w dot jihadi’s dot com. I’m in Linked-In. That’s only social media. I mean, if it’s construed as smart media.
[00:24:30] That’s exactly right. I’ll leave my tweet. So Jota stockcar. Yes.
[00:24:38] And like I said, we had in 67 countries that we are pretty big in now France. We we we are bigger than the competitors in the last mile, Dellwood in France because we we’ve been there for quite some time, B-A, I think. And then comes the next competition of us, which in the United States they add on the top. I not. Wanting to say names, but we pride ourselves in that for sure, because that’s definitely something we do very well. But it’s it’s a huge organization. Enjoyed working there. And Logistics the last 10 years has become very. That word is right, has become very sexy.
[00:25:18] You know, I think it. Oh, yeah, it as long as we as Scott loves to say Supply chain finally has a seat at the table. That does exactly right.
[00:25:28] And the reason I’m saying that is, you know, what would you bring when I came out of college? And you know that if guys and girls were during my time of graduation who did mechanical engineering, production, engineering, they all felt to come back and work in I.T. because I.T. paid. Well, right now, no one wants to come there because engineering in Supply chain base as much as what I did. Right. And so I’m very happy that, you know, those people are recognized for their IP dad, the engineering talent on the float and managing the flow. Yeah, it’s absolutely come a long way.
[00:26:02] Yeah, it has. And the industry despatching industry. The end in Supply chain industry is competing for top talent. That’s unlike it ever. We’re slowly but surely in this long journey. But we’re reeducating the consumer market as well as college graduates and tech school graduates and all the folks looking to get a job about what you can do. That’s called the Supply chain world.
[00:26:28] And frankly, the industry needs to compete for top talent based on and just the fastest ofall industries I’ve worked as the fastest evolving industry. Things change rapidly. And it’s been very rapid the last few years and clear on consumer demand that’s coming.
[00:26:43] Right. Exactly. All right. So, folks, you can learn more about G-O-D at GEO-TV WSJ.com, G-O-D s dot com. Imagine just taking a hunch. You are probably hiring. Yes, absolutely. Can find jobs.
[00:26:57] Yes. They’re always looking for people, I bet, including my job.
[00:27:00] If someone wants to get there after spending 30 minutes with you, I get the impression you’re a great guy to work for. So learn more at just dot com Paon Orion SEO with G-8’s. Thanks so much. Sure. The warning that’s here today. Thanks for that. I’ll take you around just for a second. UPS billion wrap up here to ship. And so to our listeners, stay tuned as we continue our coverage of the EFC Logistics CEO forum, which is now a Reuters event right here in Austin, Texas. Be sure to check out other upcoming events, replays or interviews, other resources at Supply Chain Now Radio dot com. You can find us on Gnatpole podcast, SoundCloud, YouTube. Greg, my favorite litten sites where podcast can be found. Be sure to subscribe to your Mesi thing on behalf of the entire team here. Scott Luton. Greg White. Wishing you a wonderful week ahead and we will see you next time on Supply Chain Now Radio. Thanks for buying.
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Watch Scott and Greg as they interview Pal Narayanan for SCNR Episode 217 at eft’s Logistics CIO Forum, a Reuter’s Event, in Austin, Texas.
Featured Guests
Pal Narayanan serves as Chief Information Officer for GEODIS, The Americas. GEODIS is a worldwide transport and logistics leader that supports clients in their daily work by helping them overcome their logistical constraints. The company is recognized for its expertise and mastery of all aspects of the supply chain. With its five lines of business (Supply Chain Optimization, Freight Forwarding, Contract Logistics, Distribution & Express and Road Transport), GEODIS is a regional organization that spans all continents, with a direct presence in 67 countries and a global network covering 120 countries. GEODIS is ranked seventh in the world and fourth in Europe in our field. We are also the distribution and express leader in France. To learn more: https://geodis.com/us/
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