Supply Chain Now Radio Episode 223

Episode Summary

“Things have changed completely and maybe forever. Customers don’t behave the same so logistics companies can’t behave the same either. If I want my product in two days or, in the case of Amazon Prime 2 hours, if I am running the company, I have to adapt.”

– Manjeet Singh, Research Director for DHL Supply Chain

 

Manjeet Singh is a Research Director at DHL supply chain on their Operations Science team. He specializes in developing tools, processes and software which can be used in any supply chain domain to drive innovation, seeking a balance between practical and forward-looking value.

Since transportation costs represent 80% of supply chain costs, he and his team are constantly looking for new ways to streamline and improve shipping costs and practices.

In this interview, Manjeet tells Supply Chain Now Radio co-hosts Greg White and Scott Luton about:

  • How approaches such as cube adjusted weight (i.e. dimensionally-based costing) are solidifying the relationship between package size and weight, driving out the costs associated with moving boxes that are too large for the goods inside them.
  • Designing new software to help optimize what size boxes need to be kept in stock in any given warehouse.
  • The investment in training and talent that companies need to make to ensure that their teams are not only open-minded about interfacing with bots, but they are also skilled enough to optimize the capabilities of automation.

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, the best practices and the critical issues of the day. And now here are your hosts.

 

[00:00:29] Hey, good afternoon, everybody. Scott Luton was Supply Chain Now Radio. Welcome back to the show. On today’s show, we aren’t broadcasting from Atlanta, Georgia, but rather we’re on the road broadcasting live from Austin, Texas, home of e.t.’s Logistics CEO Forum, which is now a Reuters event. This is day two coverage. We’re we’ve we’re going to continue interviewing some of the most innovative thought leaders that are all doing big things across the in the end, supply chain industry. Proud to continue our partnership with Nick Asef, EAF team, Reuters event team. Let’s bring in my fearless co-hosts here today. Greg White Serial Supply chain tech entrepreneur, kronic disrupter, trusted advisor, growth guru. What else can we add there?

 

[00:01:13] Greg White barbecue fan. Yes, Chiefs fan.

 

[00:01:18] Yeah, but regardless, he’s been a great compadre here as we sit down, interview some of us. I think the most fascinating supply chain leaders at this event.

 

[00:01:28] All right. We’ve I mean, we’ve talked to a bunch of folks that are doing some amazing things are not just Supply chain Jerai, it’s a leadership talent. Yeah. Good point. I mean, they happen to be doing it in Supply chain. So there’s a lot to learn here.

 

[00:01:39] Sheer. And we’re going to continue that trend. We are with our guests here today who is a repeat guest, which we love. All right. You’ll get your hug after the podcast there. Manjeet Singh, research director, DHL Supply chain. Good morning. Good morning, Scott. Good morning, Greg. Good morning. So glad to have you back. You know, we last connected last January at a SABC three Jumpstart 2019 event and really enjoyed your take on a lot of the innovation that’s taking place across Supply chain. Of course, a lot of neat things that DHL Supply chain is doing to show and it’s it’s really great to be back.

 

[00:02:15] And also, I’m really happy to see the growth you guys have made. And and yeah, you are giving more evens and everybody knows. You guys know.

 

[00:02:23] Oh, man, you’ve made my day. Thank you. That’s a great start to the day.

 

[00:02:28] Well, it’s all about you know, all of that is fueled because we sit down and we’re getting insights from from leaders such as yourself. And then and we love to do it right. We had the best job in the world. Very rewarding. So with no further ado, let’s let’s get in before we kind of dove in and get your your industry insights and some of the things observations you have from industry. Let’s get to know you a little bit better. You gave us some some insights about where you’d like spending some of your time before we went live. But tell us, let’s say, you know, where are you from, where you grew up, kind of what you did maybe before DHL Supply chain Sheer.

 

[00:03:04] So I am from India, New Delhi. I grew up in New Delhi, as I said. And it was it’s a it’s an amazing city. You guys are probably reading news and all for all the wrong reasons. It’s been publicized because of all the pollution and stuff, but it’s an amazing thing to do. Was it amazing food, good schools?

 

[00:03:28] So you have a lot of family in New Delhi?

 

[00:03:30] Yeah, my family’s still there, except only what my wife was with me. So, yeah, the city is amazing. I had a great childhood there. Then my undergraduate graduate was in mechanical engineering, which was my father’s choice, not.

 

[00:03:47] As it happens in India.

 

[00:03:51] So yeah, that I I worked for a automotive company, Suzuki. I did some design work for them that I moved on to America. Did Masters and Beiste in Industrial’s and interested in anything focusing on opposition research from my university? Mm hmm. And then I did my first job was with NetJets, the largest private aviation company jet. Okay. It’s a book show. A company. And then I moved onto DHL for last fall. Enough for four and half years I’ve been working with DHL and it’s been exciting. The way you guys have seen the growth supply chain in itself is, I think, the most exciting, exciting field to be.

 

[00:04:34] There is a lot of movement. There’s a there’s a lot of innovation that is needed. And hence we have all these great conferences and great things to discuss.

 

[00:04:43] Yeah, I agree. There’s no shortage of topics to talk about in terms of what’s going on.

 

[00:04:48] Absolutely. And it seems to be really coming on at a quicker and quicker pace over the last four or five years.

 

[00:04:55] I think Logistics basically is the is the result of how people. Behaving and what they’ve been provided. So I think after Amazon started their prime delivery and similar things happened in Asia. From companies like Alibaba and Dee-Dee dot com. Things have changed completely and maybe forever. Customers don’t behave the same so Logistics companies can behave the same either. If I want my product in 2D or in the case of five now 2 hours running the companies, I do that. All right.

 

[00:05:30] So interesting because I think that was a latent desire of consumers and Amazon. They didn’t they didn’t invent it. They just enabled it first. Good point. Or early anyway. I mean, and I think now that that dam has broke, that people will people will never go back to wanting less, lesser rights or a Southwire service. Right.

 

[00:05:52] So before we get we we go too much further into the business discussion. I got to call you out because I learned something about you before we went live that you kind of have an affinity for stand up comedy, right? Yes.

 

[00:06:04] And so you are you and maybe you might be a talent evaluator for this fellow, right? Tell us more.

 

[00:06:10] Where did you go? When did you begin enjoying up comedy and where do you go that consume this show?

 

[00:06:18] So I watched a lot of standup comedy on Netflix initially, and that went on for many years. Then finally, I think a year and a half ago, my wife, we live in Columbus, Ohio. My wife found this a neat comedy club in Columbus near our house. And I forgot the name. So. So, yeah. So, yeah. And she said, like, we’ve been watching a lot on Netflix. How about you give them a short life? And I said, why not? So we went then we had a really great time. Then I thought since we’d liked it, I for for that year, last year, Christmas for those for those Columbia funny, bottomless funny bone.

 

[00:07:03] Malcolm in the research. Yes. So yeah.

 

[00:07:06] I took my wife to New York for six days for the Christmas holidays and all we did is have good food. I walked around Manhattan and watched up comedy. Each and every day we used to watch two or three shows which was man fifteen or twenty stand up comics.

 

[00:07:25] You’re a serious fan? Yes. Yeah. And then after that she got hooked, because before that my wife was like, OK, it’s not a good place. I didn’t like it, but I was like, I lied. I tried my best. And now she likes it because I think that six days off act off a lot of standup comedy. I think scenes like that. So food and stand up comedy will change a lot of minds.

 

[00:07:45] Amy, I know you mentioned that you love the kind of up and comers, right? The folks are still kind of figuring out their craft and and, you know, playing probably a lot of smaller audiences as a build that following. But any any stand up comics in particular that you really enjoy the most common name.

 

[00:08:04] Kevin Hart is especially. He has he has a talent, even if says the most mundane thing, it’s the sounds he just gets you. Yeah, I think I think it’s not about what you see. It’s about how you connect with the audience. Yeah, just same. I think you might see the same joke out loud and it might sound silly as opposed to funny, but it’s about I think. Yeah. As the present stage liveries delivery and the pauses and and and how you are as a person I guess some people just connect. Okay. He’s, he’s really good. Jack Black is pretty good. Jack Black is Lewis Black. Yes, he’s pretty good. Okay. Although he I mean he has one way of delivering his stuff, but it’s almost like a hate speech.

 

[00:08:47] But he writes about fighting. Slate works as fighting. Yeah. Yeah.

 

[00:08:53] All right. So I I’d love to talk. Keep talking. Stand comedy with you. Because. Because clearly it’s something you enjoy. And I bet you’ve got some other interesting insights around it. And it’s a bit. But one final question. No interest in becoming or practicing your own standup comedy or is that a possibility? Who knows?

 

[00:09:11] I guess a lot life these days. Do you think you’re funny? I don’t know. It depends on the situation. Sometimes I am. Sometimes I’m not. I thought that was funny. I see it. Maji, I can see it. So make sure you let us know. Give us invites on your first standup patch. Okay.

 

[00:09:30] So back to back to work now. I’m kidding. Back to stuff we love talking about, which is in Supply chain. So let’s talk more, if you would. Most folks have heard and probably have interacted with people from DHL and DHL Supply chain, but for the three people that maybe haven’t. What is DHL supply chain? What what does that organization do?

 

[00:09:52] So DHL Supply chain is the world’s largest third party logistics company and we’re also the largest. North America, what we basically do is we manage. I think the warehouses and transportation of all the who’s who. All the big companies, you know, off on the planet.

 

[00:10:13] So in a year or so, the cool thing about your role that that I enjoyed in our first conversation, the first podcast is you can’t like on the cutting edge. All right. As research director, you’re figuring out in a very practical manner to new ways that the h.l can continue to serve its customers even better using technology thing. Tell us more about what you do.

 

[00:10:34] Sure. So a lot of things have changed by the way, we met last time. Yeah. What I was doing last time was I was working in a team called Solutions Design and we tried to find the best solutions which we which help our customers, existing customers and re-engineering their warehouses and also putting the best bids which we could to support. What has changed with my role is now I have completely moved on into a role which is basically just about innovation. So my role now is within a team called Operation Science. And what we do is we develop tools, processes, software which could be utilized in any domain warehousing, packaging, transportation across supply chain and maybe beyond beyond, because DHL as a group is more than Daryl, supply chain, Miura or more companies. Right. So that’s what my Full-Time role is now. And it’s exciting because as the things are changing and every company, including DHL Supply chain is is finding the need to grow more and more research teams and also find the right kind of balance between being practical about implementation and also doing enough research that whatever we implement is futuristic enough to be utilized five years from now on as well.

 

[00:12:01] One of the areas we’ve talked about Greg White bringing you back in and we’re talking about some packaging changes and packaging evolution. Yeah. What would you call it?

 

[00:12:10] Cubing Kubert jested weight adjusted. Well, I think that’s similar. To what? To what we were talking about. Ryder dimensional weight. It’s easier to say. I like easier to remember. I like. I like the cube adjusted well.

 

[00:12:25] So that’s a term that’s been around in distribution for several years. Cube adjusted weight particularly and in the food industry because you know something in a box, you know, could all be in the same box. It could be meat or it could be broccoli. And in a way, distinctly differently. So for carriers to manage their costs, they had to do that. Sheer. And I think that’s coming to consumer goods. Sherkin sounds like packaging is one of these big.

 

[00:12:54] It seems like the world of packaging has in the last three or four years, all of a sudden they have a seat at the table, maybe unlike ever before. So tell us more about what, you know, kind of what Greg is alluding to and some of the things you’ve seen in packaging space.

 

[00:13:06] So as e-commerce sort of crept into the whole Logistics scene and how, you know, how warehouses and transportation was evolving, one major thing that happened in 2015 is the carriers, all the big carriers, you know, FedEx, U.P.S., they went from basic weight based costing to do, but just did what we call a dimension with miscasting. What that means is if your package weighs five pounds and the dimensioned weight, which is the cube divide by is the number today is 1 3 9. If that number is higher than 5 pounds, then the carrier is going to cost you based on that higher number. And what that means is now if you have a big box with a small item in an item is not heavy, then you are paying for the empty space within the box. All right. What I read last was this has affected almost 75, 80 percent of the shipments.

 

[00:14:08] And it has it has increased the port, all shipping costs across the industry by more than 30 percent. So it’s a huge concern. And as I as I was discussing before, transportation costs are 80 percent of supply chain costs. So it’s it’s the bigger chunk. If you can try and figured out how to reduce those you.

 

[00:14:29] But would be hoping you’ll be happy later. Yes. And you’re going to be a happy company, a happy 15:00. And everybody is gonna be happy, including the customer. Yes.

 

[00:14:38] And that’s a good point. The customer, because I got to tell you, I have value. I didn’t realize I was doing it until one particularly egregious shipment that I young where it was way too much packaging for our product that was inside of it. But I think I know that consumers are evaluating the waste of packaging. Right. And and the consumers. Drive everything. Yes. Yes. You have to be a responsible shipper, brand company because, you know, people are very they’re very aware of waste. Yes. These days. And and they are judging harshly the companies that don’t adhere to that practice.

 

[00:15:18] They have read I still think we’ve talked to this before. I still think there is going to be a for profit private sector company that’s going to specialize in residential service. Just focused on e-commerce, cardboard recycling. You know, we were talking about the Bay personal Baylor’s or something and having a hands on concierge service, because to your point, Greg. Consumers are are looking at these packaging in such a new way, in such an engaged way. And that’s going to only continue, as we’ve seen some of the generational transfers and some of the different characteristics of those. So pack it in. And one of the thing speaking of packaging, there was a beer company you reported on just my favorite Carlsberg.

 

[00:16:03] Yeah. So I love it, too. Although I don’t I don’t like. I don’t like the bottles. Just don’t like the paper by I. Maybe the is better than the big glass, but I a daft guy. But if you set out to drink it in a bottle. Yeah. Well we look for for our audience. May have missed that podcast. Well we’re talking about. Yeah.

 

[00:16:23] So Carlsberg is is going to start making paper bottles. They’ve got a prototype out now. I was talking to some friends in Denmark and they and they expect that it’ll probably be 20 twenty or twenty. Twenty one. Well I think it could be longer before they’re able to produce one. It’s going to be lined. It’ll have to be lined. And obviously because the beer would soak right into it. And Lu paper.

 

[00:16:47] Beer now.

 

[00:16:51] But but even the lining is is recycled, recyclable. So, you know, they’re making a good a good faith effort. Right. You know, I think it’s I think back to how many of us became accidental environmentalists, because when I was a kid, you recycled bottles. There weren’t bottles. You didn’t recycle. Right. Right. And and plants. You know, Coca-Cola and Pepsi plants, they had washing mechanisms to clean every bottle and reuse them. So, you know, I think we have to be more aware of that. At the same time, I’m really concerned about the amount of paper. Guess what? Everybody talks about plastic in waste. But the amount of paper in in the refugee yards is is multiplied multiples of the amount of plastic in them. So we have to figure out something. We have to figure out something to do with that.

 

[00:17:49] Any story that involves beer and recycling and story that involves beer. I’m interested in that. Especially if it’s heads off. Beer. Yeah. And well, you know, you guys welcome the bar. Yeah, that’s right. Those toys. I don’t go for Lu. Which one? Which is a shame. They should have seen it coming.

 

[00:18:07] And so the fee, you know, the drinking of draft beer is probably the most environmentally friendly thing you can do. Often you re-use the glass that you have. Right. You don’t. I try my best.

 

[00:18:20] That’s right. That’s good. I appreciate your contributions to the environment. Going back to the packaging dollar.

 

[00:18:28] I don’t think so. Apart from, as you rightly said, apart from reducing the costs by minimizing how much empty air you ship. You’re also being Greene. You know how we do it. Dito Supply chain as so my group. We built a software which we call optic often and that’s software actually helps companies. All our customers figure out what is the right size boxes and they should keeping that house. My new it’s a very interesting and very complicated question. Yeah. Why? Because imagine that house which has 10 million shipments in here. And if they have, let’s say, 10 different carton or box sizes right now, how would somebody come up with 10 walk sizes for 10 million shipments? But you do that. Don’t know how the combination of orders would be, because each and every order can have a different combination of items to. Sure. Right. That means if you become a profit based on just your experience, there’s a huge chance it won’t work out. Right. Which is true. We saw that this is happening across the industry and we actually walked on algorithms and created the software and the software spent on spending right now in the U.S. and it finds the best sites, Coggins, that those should keep. But also we evaluate what being in industry be called. Makeda are the packaging machines these? Machines can can back the orders real time and provide the best fit costing for it. But because sometimes they are they need a lot of space. Like a lot of times they need a lot of space itself. Machine itself also didn’t they need labor and they are not as fast or did the productivities not as fast as what he would need in a high based e-com environment? Right. So you have to find the right provider.

 

[00:20:24] And also, you have to find the right number of machines where says how many boxes you should get. You could always divide between. That’s a best Corkins five or six and maybe one or two machines, depending on where you are, whether you are New York or you’re in Atlanta or you are in Columbus. Right. And that’s also something that we do. And I and this was one of the big questions with which we saw LOND. Well, last year and it’s been being rich students, I think I think you have to be aware of the volume thresholds.

 

[00:20:53] Right. In so many things, you have to understand whether it’s worthwhile to make a one off box. Right. For speed and volume. And ultimately, look, let’s face it. Ultimately, it comes down to two cost effectiveness. Yeah. Right. And and we have to make sure that there are cost effective ways to to be friendly to the environment or else we don’t we don’t have the predilection to be friendly to the environment. So perhaps that that balance is really tough to strike. And we have to constantly be seeking that. Yeah. Yeah.

 

[00:21:29] So beyond packaging and we could probably have a whole podcast series on pack and maybe that Daily Show. I think so. And you know, there’s certain it’s certainly important enough. Right. Yeah. And one of the things one last thing about one things I like that Amazon is doing is offering to bundle the items. Right. It might delay your shipment a day. But like we’ve talked about 1000 shows, do I really need those socks and to eat? Right.

 

[00:21:57] You know, you can schedule to have a certain delivery day.

 

[00:21:59] Right. Right. Right. And I love that. OK. So what else? You don’t know your between the work you’re doing with the customers and your teams and all the cool cutting edge stuff. DHL is doing. And then, of course, I know you keynotes and get out these events like we’re here today beyond packaging. What else has really jumped on your radar here lately?

 

[00:22:21] So a couple of really important and sought after initiatives across Supply chain Logistics is basically robotics automation and in terms like artificial intelligence machine learning.

 

[00:22:40] And I think right now is the space where everybody’s time to figure out where all these different solutions fit and in what combination do I need the robotics to improve my packaging, picking our shipment in any form, or do I need a smart algorithm which runs behind the scenes and makes the the worker more efficient? Or do I need a combination of two? All right. There’s a there’s a dumb call. It Will a-beta due to what Dickerson, which means the robots, the robot that watch the the board works with the picker or the BACKA and they work as if two workers are working and they’re kind of collaborating in the work. The picker picks the item from the shelf and puts it on the board and the board takes it to wherever it needs to go to packaging or shipment.

 

[00:23:29] Who picks up lunch? I guess if you go to this place called your Dell, it’s it’s a hotel in Manhattan. Maybe your lunch might be picked by a board. And I think your eggs are stored by a board. Yeah, a board. Hotel name is a Y or two D2. Really as cool as you would know where it’s coming from.

 

[00:23:50] You can’t say it really, but what you describe, which you can’t get enough coverage.

 

[00:23:57] Is this synergistic symbiotic relationship that can’t happen when you automate facilities. You know it. It provides opportunities, learning opportunities, skill, addition, opportunity for lack of a better phrase for the human workforce. Right. It shouldn’t be all view to me. M Let’s face the facts. You know, certain roles. When? When. When I think of many certain traditional manufacturing roles where one person is doing the same task for eight hours a day for 40 years. That’s a huge opportunity for automation right now. But for those folks, the art, the great, the great news is this for those folks that that again, look for ways to improve and learn and apply new and exciting things, the world animations can present a huge opportunity. Right.

 

[00:24:43] Absolutely. I and I said this yesterday in my talk and I’ve been presenting a lot in conferences and this is this question comes along very often.

 

[00:24:55] I don’t think number of jobs are going down and it won’t. The nature of jobs is changing, so we should adopt. We are the kind of jobs that we would call repetitive that were that did not need much intelligence. Those would be passed on to the box. But because boxed do doors, we have free time to do more optimized work.

 

[00:25:19] Thus, human human optimal or less, we need to still figured out how to interface with the bot. That also creates opportunities because the board still needs certain level of configuration and direction from the human. And that would mean that now skills like coding, skills like problem solving, problem solving skills which are more applied I.D. I think day they will catch up and they’ll and they’ll be some element of these skills even in operational jobs within a warehouse which did not exist before. And I think at what I’m seeing, especially in our company, DHL Supply Supply chain, is we are finding the right balance of how to train our folks in understanding automation. First of all, we have a center of excellence around automation and around these new solutions which which which are backed by machine learning or advanced optimization. But as my team and many more teams like that within DHL and we ensure that once we have enough people who understand this totally, whether it is a robotic solution or some machine learning solution, and then we pass along the knowledge such that it’s transferred to possibly each and every warehouse in each and every transportation solution to it. And even if the does the associate or not, the White House does not need it today. Maybe it’s preparing them for tomorrow. And so gradually you imbibe this as a culture and as a part of you. It’s not it’s not a hindrance. It’s not replacing you. We’re just helping you. Right. That’s what you’re supposed to be, anyhow.

 

[00:26:51] Truth is, I mean, 10000 workers in the workforce are leaving every single day and they will not be replaced. That’s the largest. The baby boomers are the largest generation in the history of Earth. No generation is even remotely the same size. And and with fertility rates decreasing, then population reduction is inevitable. And yet people have more and more demands of the supply chain. Those will have to be met by somebody. By somebody. Right. And and people are more educated than they’ve ever been. And in most countries. Right. They are more educated than ever been. And they don’t want the jobs that the bots are taking and they don’t want the jobs that A.I. is taking. And that’s why it’s why this progression is it’s not just it’s not just beneficial. It’s absolutely necessary. All right.

 

[00:27:46] If you go to a warehouse or a location where transportation management is is occurring, you would see there is a lot of moving parts. And even if you take out the repetitive jobs, there’s a lot that could be achieved. Some that people have already figured out that there are certain jobs which we should focus on more.

 

[00:28:07] But there are many more which we may have overlooked, which needs more time, more time from associates with needs, more post-process, more more thinking. And that’s what what what robotics is giving us. Nine blipping can actually create new jobs or new elections that d which don’t exist today.

 

[00:28:25] Interesting. And we were talking one of our podcast guests yesterday about how robotics they are taking over that a lot of the mundane tasks that humans can’t spend their time or more, the value added components of the business, any business supply chain or somewhere else. So in the end, customers win Rob Cook customers are winning because they’re getting heart that they can get higher service levels, they can get more attention in certain businesses. So. Well, any sense we kind of wrap up this this interview here this morning.

 

[00:29:01] I feel like we’ve reached into the booth.

 

[00:29:02] The next question, a bit of what’s coming in the future.

 

[00:29:06] Well, if you had to break out the crystal ball. Right. And whether you’re making a prediction for 2020 or something a couple years down the road, what’s what’s one neat development to look for? Do you think in as it you know, whether it’s technology related, whether it’s supply, you know, just operationally, whether it’s packaging, what’s a neat prediction you make?

 

[00:29:29] Let me make a prediction for 15 years down the line. OK. I like that. I see warehouses, transportation operations, supply chains, basically even places like retail stores. These would be not as a solution or a one solution oriented or a multiple solutions oriented location. They will they will be almost like a set. There will be a symphony of how these. Different solutions would interact, and you as a consumer or you as a viewer, would never be able to figure out which solution or which system is doing what. Because all of these systems, including robotics, machine learning, optimization, common sense, which I invented the most, all of this is going to interact in in a very seem this manner. So products coming in, being sorted by my conveyers, then robot robots picking them and putting them in the shelves than humans picking them along with robots, which may be the same robots. Maybe the different maybe different robots. And then going to going to the packaging lines. And all of this happens without any disturbance. It’s almost as seamless as you can imagine. It’s it’s all this work happening. Imagine in zero noise. Yeah, zero noise physically and zero noise technologically. Yeah. That’s the that’s that’s that’s what we’re working on today to make all this interaction between humans, robots, different systems, different algorithms, different software as seamless as possible. I think in 15 years we’ll achieve it and we’ll be in a much, much, much better space. Yeah, I love that. I’m I’m very optimistic at where we are going.

 

[00:31:09] Less waste, better service at more speed. Absolutely. SME as frictionless. Yes. Can be a symphony. A symphony of synchronization. Absolutely. Here. And then we’ll just have you guys have the wherewithal to make it happen.

 

[00:31:23] Right. This is not something that this symphony is not something you can undertake with a single small enterprise. It probably will require a number of disruptive enterprises to contribute to it. Absolutely. But someone with an overarching view of what the future can should arguably look like needs to bring all of that together. I think to be a fascinating.

 

[00:31:44] Absolutely. I think everybody plays a role. I see a huge role of academics because they bring in the theoretical knowledge, which at the end transforms into all the intelligence we see in robotics or algorithms. And then we see a huge role for PO’d about the largest companies to take the research and make it more practical and usable. And then we see a huge potential for for folks like you guys to actually make sure that if something is happening in a corner of the world, it should be spread to all parts and everybody can learn from it and actually imbibe in their day-To-Day life. Yeah, I love that you guys are really important and really important cog in this whole system.

 

[00:32:22] I really appreciate that and very well put. You know where we’re growing our spotlight totally Sheer like these stories that don’t get enough airplay. So absolutely. And but it takes thought leaders like yourself, you know, to really keep pushing and leading the industry into addressing some of these issues, which, you know, we talked yesterday. Greg Kinnear, who it was, but we talked about how he is. Some things have been going on for years and years. It’s good enough, right? And when he challenged people on, well, it is good enough, but we really could do this now. You know, there’s such. Scott Arslan. Yes, Scott aresome was talking about that because that’s that that’s the tough part when it comes to change. One of the toughest parts that come to change management. You know, we asked well, we’ve always known that way, right? Yeah. And it’s it’s good enough. It’s serviceable. We use that term Alanya. But gosh, technology, a lot of things that Manjeet is talking about is presenting such these huge opportunities that take a good enough process. Right. Six Sigma to gosh, what’s the future hold? You know, Six Sigma, maybe something that was good enough for the 80s or 90s. Yeah. By the time all this stuff plays out.

 

[00:33:31] Absolutely. I guess the future is zero defects. Yeah. As you said, I think we we’ve been talking about this as a disruptor in my mind.

 

[00:33:42] Yeah, it looks like a disruption, but it’s more of a facilitation of what we want. Yeah. So if you think about this as an aide, as a help off of somebody who is walking fast enough but could be walking faster than that’s what that were, how you should read the technology and what’s happening around the world of Logistics today, as opposed to thinking this is just disrupting and tending.

 

[00:34:05] Oh, I I have been working. That hurts and this helps. Yeah, it’s same as having, as I said, a bottle of Glasby versus Dafter. If you’ve moved towards AFT, it’s it’s difficult if everybody on the planet can can get that access to draft beer. I think job. So as we wrap up here.

 

[00:34:26] Manjoo How can folks learn more about DHL Supply chain or compare notes with you?

 

[00:34:32] I would. I would say I think so. There are various folks even more knowledgeable than I am who go out and presented with conferences and they talk a lot about what’s happening in each and every sphere within Dematic Supply chain, whether it is a certain operation or certain aspect or warehousing, whether it’s making or packaging or robotics. And I would say that’s that’s a good way of learning more about what we do. We also. I’m pretty active on LinkedIn. Yeah, very much. And you would see news that was coming out where the talk a lot about what we call technology Ryder, which is the different technologies which Dematic is focusing on. And we would discuss a lot of what’s happening now and what we are thinking about five years down the line. And also the website. And of course, people could talk to me or people, whoever they find in conferences. And we’ll be happy to, you know, you know, give information on what was going on.

 

[00:35:30] Outstanding. And for our listeners, you can always check out Logistics Dot DHL to learn a lot more about DHL, the company and Supply chain.

 

[00:35:39] A lot of neat things are doing, Manjeet. Always a pleasure. Yeah, I really enjoyed today’s conversations. Great to have you back on the show. After about eleven months, I bet there’s a lot. Plenty has changed. Plant changed a little in eleven hours these days, right? Mad man. Each thing. Research director DHL Supply chain hailing from Columbus in the future in the Columbus area. Clearly the Columbus funny bone is a good place to go, right?

 

[00:36:03] Absolutely. Here’s a good place to get draft beer. I mean, let’s just complete the circuit. Get your supply chain knowledge for Manjeet. Stop at the Columbus Funny Bone. Where do you get drafted by your uncle?

 

[00:36:13] Many places. I would I would I would I would go to either not.i Brewing or I’ll go to an Irish pub called Feydeau, which is. Oh, yeah, eastern area.

 

[00:36:24] Amazing places, both of them. Yeah. Thanks a lot for having me here. It’s always a pleasure to talk to you folks. Thank you, Scott. Thank you again. And I see the growth and I hope Michou better the luck for the future as well, because we need people like you. It wouldn’t be possible without folks like you to spread this fast enough.

 

[00:36:41] Thank you very much. I really appreciate that. Trying hard to our listener. Stay tuned as we continue our coverage of the E.A. Logistics CIO Forum, a Reuters event right here in Austin, Texas. You can also check out our upcoming events, replays of our interviews, other resources at Supply Chain Now Radio dot com and Greg. Where else can they find us? You know, they can get us. I’m going to start with YouTube. You can get us on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. That’s the broadcast part of Spotify. Spotify? Yes. Strong. Huge. Huge gains eg article about them this week. So where whereabouts? You find your podcast. Check us out. Be sure to subscribe siedel Mesi thing on behalf of the entire team. Hope you enjoyed this interview as much as we did. Have a wonderful week ahead and we will see you next time. Owen Supply Chain Now Radio. Thanks for by.

Would you rather watch the show in action?

Watch Scott and Greg as they interview Dr. Manjeet Singh for SCNR Episode 223.

Featured Guests

Dr. Manjeet Singh leads Operations Science team which specializes in complex data analytics and mathematical modeling projects across DHL’s Global Center of Design Excellence. He has lead development of innovative advanced analytics tools and processes for multiple warehousing and transportation functions. Under his leadership the Operations Science team has won three innovation awards, two hackathons and three start up lab competitions at DHL. The packaging optimization tool developed by his team won second place in the innovation competition at 2019 Retail Industry Leaders Association conference. He is the co-inventor of DHL’s warehousing optimization and packaging optimization tool which are patent pending in the USA. Prior to joining DHL in February 2015, he worked at Netjets in their Business Insights & Analytics department, developing analytical tools for scheduling of pilots, capacity planning and network modeling for spare parts inventory. He has extensive research experience in Advanced Operations Research, Math Modeling, Scheduling, Logistics, Warehousing, Inventory Management, Capacity Planning, Data Mining, Process Improvement Projects, Object Oriented Modeling and New Product Development. He has a PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Ohio University concentrating in Math Modeling of Job Shop systems. He has published more than 14 papers in premier scientific journals and peer reviewed conferences, and has given more than 25 talks nationally and internationally. Learn more about DHL here: https://www.logistics.dhl/us-en/home/our-divisions/supply-chain.html

Hosts

Greg White

Principal & Host

Scott W. Luton

Founder, CEO, & Host

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Kim Winter

Host, Supply Chain Now

The founder of Logistics Executive Group, Kim Winter delivers 40 years of executive leadership experience spanning Executive Search & Recruitment, Leadership Development, Executive Coaching, Corporate Advisory, Motivational Speaking, Trade Facilitation and across the Supply Chain, Logistics, 3PL, E-commerce, Life Science, Cold Chain, FMCG, Retail, Maritime, Defence, Aviation, Resources, and Industrial sectors. Operating from the company’s global offices, he is a regular contributor of thought leadership to industry and media, is a professional Master of Ceremonies, and is frequently invited to chair international events.

He is a Board member of over a dozen companies throughout APAC, India, and the Middle East, a New Zealand citizen, he holds formal resident status in Australia and the UAE, and is the Australia & New Zealand representative for the UAE Government-owned Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), the Middle East’s largest Economic Free Zone.

A triathlete and ex-professional rugby player, Kim is a qualified (IECL Sydney) executive coach and the Founder / Chairman of the successful not for profit humanitarian organization, Oasis Africa (www. oasisafrica.org.au), which has provided freedom from poverty through education to over 8000 mainly orphaned children in East Africa’s slums. Kim holds an MBA and BA from Massey & Victoria Universities (NZ).

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Joshua Miranda

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Joshua is a student from Institute of Technology and Higher Education of Monterrey Campus Guadalajara in Communication and Digital Media. His experience ranges from Plug and Play México, DearDoc, and Nissan México creating unique social media marketing campaigns and graphics design. Joshua helps to amplify the voice of supply chain here at Supply Chain Now by assisting in graphic design, content creation, asset logistics, and more.  In his free time he likes to read and write short stories as well as watch movies and television series.

Donna Krache

Director of Communications and Executive Producer

Donna Krache is a former CNN executive producer who has won several awards in journalism and communication, including three Peabodys.  She has 30 years’ experience in broadcast and digital journalism. She led the first production team at CNN to convert its show to a digital platform. She has authored many articles for CNN and other media outlets. She taught digital journalism at Georgia State University and Arizona State University. Krache holds a bachelor’s degree in government from the College of William and Mary and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of New Orleans. She is a serious sports fan who loves the Braves. She is president of the Dave Krache Foundation. Named in honor of her late husband, this non-profit pays fees for kids who want to play sports but whose parents are facing economic challenges.

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Vicki White

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Vicki has a long history of rising to challenges and keeping things up and running. First, she supported her family’s multi-million dollar business as controller for 12 years, beginning at the age of 17. Then, she worked as an office manager and controller for a wholesale food broker. But her biggest feat? Serving as the chief executive officer of her household, while her entrepreneur husband travelled the world extensively. She fed, nurtured, chaperoned, and chauffeured three daughters all while running a newsletter publishing business and remaining active in her community as a Stephen’s Minister, Sunday school teacher, school volunteer, licensed realtor and POA Board president (a title she holds to this day). A force to be reckoned with in the office, you might think twice before you meet Vicki on the tennis court! When she’s not keeping the books balanced at Supply Chain Now or playing tennis matches, you can find Vicki spending time with her husband Greg, her 4 fur babies, gardening, cleaning (yes, she loves to clean!) and learning new things.

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Katherine Hintz

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Katherine Hintz, MBA is a marketing professional who strives to unite her love of people with a passion for positive experiences. Having a diverse background, which includes nonprofit work with digital marketing and start-ups, she serves as a leader who helps people live their most creative lives by cultivating community, order, collaboration, and respect. With equal parts creativity and analytics, she brings a unique skill set which fosters refining, problem solving, and connecting organizations with their true vision. In her free time, you can usually find her looking for her cup of coffee, playing with her puppy Charlie, and dreaming of her next road trip.

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Kim Reuter

Host, The Freight Insider

From humble beginnings working the import docks, representing Fortune 500 giants, Ford, Michelin Tire, and Black & Decker; to Amazon technology patent holder and Nordstrom Change Leader, Kimberly Reuter has designed, implemented, and optimized best-in-class, highly scalable global logistics and retail operations all over the world. Kimberly’s ability to set strategic vision supported by bomb-proof processes, built on decades of hands-on experience, has elevated her to legendary status. Sought after by her peers and executives for her intellectual capital and keen insights, Kimberly is a thought leader in the retail logistics industry.

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Kristi Porter

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Kristi Porter is VP of Sales and Marketing at Vector Global Logistics, a company that is changing the world through supply chain. In her role, she oversees all marketing efforts and supports the sales team in doing what they do best. In addition to this role, she is the Chief Do-Gooder at Signify, which assists nonprofits and social impact companies through copywriting and marketing strategy consulting. She has almost 20 years of professional experience, and loves every opportunity to help people do more good.

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Sofia Rivas Herrera

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

Sofia Rivas Herrera is a Mexican Industrial Engineer from Tecnologico de Monterrey class 2019. Upon graduation, she earned a scholarship to study MIT’s Graduate Certificate in Logistics and Supply Chain Management and graduated as one of the Top 3 performers of her class in 2020. She also has a multicultural background due to her international academic experiences at Singapore Management University and Kühne Logistics University in Hamburg. Sofia self-identifies as a Supply Chain enthusiast & ambassador sharing her passion for the field in her daily life.

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Demo Perez

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

Demo Perez started his career in 1997 in the industry by chance when a relative asked him for help for two just weeks putting together an operation for FedEx Express at the Colon Free Zone, an area where he was never been but accepted the challenge. Worked in all roles possible from a truck driver to currier to a sales representative, helped the brand introduction, market share growth and recognition in the Colon Free Zone, at the end of 1999 had the chance to meet and have a chat with Fred Smith ( FedEx CEO), joined another company in 2018 who took over the FedEx operations as Operations and sales manager, in 2004 accepted the challenge from his company to leave the FedEx operations and business to take over the operation and business of DHL Express, his major competitor and rival so couldn’t say no, by changing completely its operation model in the Free Zone. In 2005 started his first entrepreneurial journey by quitting his job and joining two friends to start a Freight Forwarding company. After 8 months was recruited back by his company LSP with the General Manager role with the challenge of growing the company and make it fully capable warehousing 3PL. By 2009 joined CSCMP and WERC and started his journey of learning and growing his international network and high-level learning. In 2012 for the first time joined a local association ( the Panama Maritime Chamber) and worked in the country’s first Logistics Strategy plan, joined and lead other associations ending as president of the Panama Logistics Council in 2017. By finishing his professional mission at LSP with a company that was 8 times the size it was when accepted the role as GM with so many jobs generated and several young professionals coached, having great financial results, took the decision to move forward and start his own business from scratch by the end of 2019. with a friend and colleague co-founded IPL Group a company that started as a boutique 3PL and now is gearing up for the post-Covid era by moving to the big leagues.

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Mary Kate Love

VP, Marketing

Mary Kate Love is currently the VP of marketing at Supply Chain Now focused on brand strategy and audience + revenue growth. Mary Kate’s career is a testament to her versatility and innovative spirit: she has experience in start-ups, venture capital, and building innovation initiatives from the ground up: she previously helped lead the build-out of the Supply Chain Innovation Center at Georgia-Pacific and before that, MxD (Manufacturing times Digital): the Department of Defense’s digital manufacturing innovation center. Mary Kate has a passion for taking complicated ideas and turning them into reality: she was one of the first team members at MxD and the first team member at the Supply Chain Innovation Center at Georgia-Pacific.

Mary Kate dedicates her extra time to education and mentorship: she was one of the founding Board Members for Women Influence Chicago and led an initiative for a city-wide job shadow day for young women across Chicago tech companies and was previously on the Board of Directors at St. Laurence High School in Chicago, Young Irish Fellowship Board and the UN Committee for Women. Mary Kate is the founder of National Supply Chain Day and enjoys co-hosting podcasts at Supply Chain Now. Mary Kate is from the south side of Chicago, a mom of two baby boys, and an avid 16-inch softball player. She holds a BS in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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Adrian Purtill

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Adrian Purtill serves as Business Development Manager at Vector Global Logistics, where he consults with importers and exporters in various industries to match their specific shipping requirements with the most effective supply chain solutions. Vector Global Logistics is an asset-free, multi-modal logistics company that provides exceptional sea freight, air freight, truck, rail, general logistic services and consulting for our clients. Our highly trained and professional team is committed to providing creative and effective solutions, always exceeding our customer’s expectations and fostering long-term relationships. With more than 20+ years of experience in both strategy consulting and logistics, Vector Global Logistics is your best choice to proactively minimize costs while having an exceptional service level.

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Kevin Brown

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Kevin Brown is the Director of Business Development for Vector Global Logistics.  He has a dedicated interest in Major Account Management, Enterprise Sales, and Corporate Leadership. He offers 25 years of exceptional experience and superior performance in the sales of Logistics, Supply Chain, and Transportation Management. Kevin is a dynamic, high-impact, sales executive and corporate leader who has consistently exceeded corporate goals. He effectively coordinates multiple resources to solution sell large complex opportunities while focusing on corporate level contacts across the enterprise. His specialties include targeting and securing key accounts by analyzing customer’s current business processes and developing solutions to meet their corporate goals. Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn.

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Jose Miguel Irarrazaval

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Jose Manuel Irarrazaval es parte del equipo de Vector Global Logistics Chile. José Manuel es un gerente experimentado con experiencia en finanzas corporativas, fusiones y adquisiciones, financiamiento y reestructuración, inversión directa y financiera, tanto en Chile como en el exterior. José Manuel tiene su MBA de la Universidad de Pennsylvania- The Wharton School. Conéctese con Jose Manuel en LinkedIn.

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Nick Roemer

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Nick Roemer has had a very diverse and extensive career within design and sales over the last 15 years stretching from China, Dubai, Germany, Holland, UK, and the USA. In the last 5 years, Nick has developed a hawk's eye for sustainable tech and the human-centric marketing and sales procedures that come with it. With his far-reaching and strong network within the logistics industry, Nick has been able to open new avenues and routes to market within major industries in the USA and the UAE. Nick lives by the ethos, “Give more than you take." His professional mission is to make the logistics industry leaner, cleaner and greener.

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Allison Giddens

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Allison Krache Giddens has been with Win-Tech, a veteran-owned small business and aerospace precision machine shop, for 15 years, recently buying the company from her mentor and Win-Tech’s Founder, Dennis Winslow. She and her business partner, John Hudson now serve as Co-Presidents, leading the 33-year old company through the pandemic.

She holds undergraduate degrees in psychology and criminal justice from the University of Georgia, a Masters in Conflict Management from Kennesaw State University, a Masters in Manufacturing from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Certificate of Finance from the University of Georgia. She also holds certificates in Google Analytics, event planning, and Cybersecurity Risk Management from Harvard online. Allison founded the Georgia Chapter of Women in Manufacturing and currently serves as Treasurer. She serves on the Chattahoochee Technical College Foundation Board as its Secretary, the liveSAFE Resources Board of Directors as Resource Development Co-Chair, and on the Leadership Cobb Alumni Association Board as Membership Chair and is also a member of Cobb Executive Women. She is on the Board for the Cobb Chamber of Commerce’s Northwest Area Councils. Allison runs The Dave Krache Foundation, a non-profit that helps pay sports fees for local kids in need.

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Billy Taylor

Host of Dial P for Procurement

Billy Taylor is a Proven Business Excellence Practitioner and Leadership Guru with over 25 years leading operations for a Fortune 500 company, Goodyear. He is also the CEO of LinkedXL (Excellence), a Business Operating Systems Architecting Firm dedicated to implementing sustainable operating systems that drive sustainable results. Taylor’s achievements in the industry have made him a Next Generational Lean pacesetter with significant contributions.

An American business executive, Taylor has made a name for himself as an innovative and energetic industry professional with an indispensable passion for his craft of operational excellence. His journey started many years ago and has worked with renowned corporations such as The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT) leading multi-site operations. With over 3 decades of service leading North America operations, he is experienced in a deeply rooted process driven approach in customer service, process integrity for sustainability.

A disciple of continuous improvement, Taylor’s love for people inspires commitment to helping others achieve their full potential. He is a dynamic speaker and hosts "The Winning Link," a popular podcast centered on business and leadership excellence with the #1 rated Supply Chain Now Network. As a leadership guru, Taylor has earned several invitations to universities, international conferences, global publications, and the U.S. Army to demonstrate how to achieve and sustain effective results through cultural acceptance and employee ownership. Leveraging the wisdom of his business acumen, strong influence as a speaker and podcaster Taylor is set to release "The Winning Link" book under McGraw Hill publishing in 2022. The book is a how-to manual to help readers understand the management of business interactions while teaching them how to Deine, Align, and Execute Winning in Business.

A servant leader, Taylor, was named by The National Diversity Council as one of the Top 100 Diversity Officers in the country in 2021. He features among Oklahoma's Most Admired CEOs and maintains key leadership roles with the Executive Advisory Board for The Shingo Institute "The Nobel Prize of Operations" and The Association of Manufacturing Excellence (AME); two world-leading organizations for operational excellence, business development, and cultural learning.  He is also an Independent Director for the M-D Building Products Board, a proud American manufacturer of quality products since 1920.

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Tandreia Bellamy

Host, Supply Chain Now

Tandreia Bellamy retired as the Vice President of Industrial Engineering for UPS Supply Chain Solutions which included the Global Logistics, Global Freight Forwarding and UPS Freight business units. She was responsible for operations strategy and planning, asset management, forecasting, and technology tool development to optimize sustainable efficiency while driving world class service.

Tandreia held similar positions at the business unit level for Global Logistics and Global Freight forwarding. As the leader of the Global Logistics engineering function, she directed all industrial engineering activies related to distribution, service parts logistics (post-sales support), and mail innovations (low cost, light weight shipping partnership with the USPS). Between these roles Tandreia helped to establish the Advanced Technology Group which was formed to research and develop cutting edge solutions focused on reducing reliance on manual labor.

Tandreia began her career in 1986 as a part-time hourly manual package handling employee. She spent the great majority of her career in the small package business unit which is responsible for the pick-up, sort, transport and delivery of packages domestically. She held various positions in Industrial Engineering, Marketing, Inside and On-road operations in Central Florida before transferring to Atlanta for a position in Corporate Product Development and Corporate Industrial Engineering. Tandreia later held IE leadership roles in Nebraska, Minnesota and Chicago. In her final role in small package she was an IE VP responsible for all aspects of IE, technology support and quality for the 25 states on the western half of the country.
Tandreia is currently a Director for the University of Central Florida (UCF) Foundation Board and also serves on their Dean’s Advisory Board for the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Previously Tandreia served on the Executive Advisory Board for Virginia Tech’s IE Department and the Association for Supply Chain Management. She served on the Board of Trustees for ChildServ (a Chicago child and family services non-profit) and also served on the Texas A&M and Tuskegee Engineering Advisory Boards. In 2006 she was named Business Advisor of the Year by INROADS, in 2009 she was recognized as a Technology All-Star at the Women of Color in STEM conference and in 2019 she honored as a UCF Distinguished Aluma by the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems.

Tandreia holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University and a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management Systems from UCF. Her greatest accomplishment, however, is being the proud mother of two college students, Ruby (24) and Anthony (22).

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Mary Kate Soliva

Host, Veteran Voices

Mary Kate Soliva is a veteran of the US Army and cofounder of the Guam Human Rights Initiative. She is currently in the Doctor of Criminal Justice program at Saint Leo University. She is passionate about combating human trafficking and has spent the last decade conducting training for military personnel and the local community.

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Scott W. Luton

Founder, CEO, & Host

As the founder and CEO of Supply Chain Now, you might say Scott is the voice of supply chain – but he’s too much of a team player to ever claim such a title. One thing’s for sure: he’s a tried and true supply chain expert. With over 15 years of experience in the end-to-end supply chain, Scott’s insights have appeared in major publications including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and CNN. He has also been named a top industry influencer by Thinkers360, ISCEA and more.

From 2009-2011, Scott was president of APICS Atlanta, and he continues to lead initiatives that support both the local business community and global industry. A United States Air Force Veteran, Scott has also regularly led efforts to give back to his fellow veteran community since his departure from active duty in 2002.

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Greg White

Principal & CMO, Supply Chain Now
Host of Supply Chain Now and TECHquila Sunrise

When rapid-growth technology companies, venture capital and private equity firms are looking for advisory, they call Greg – a founder, board director, advisor and catalyst of disruptive B2B technology and supply chain. An insightful visionary, Greg guides founders, investors and leadership teams in creating breakthroughs to gain market exposure and momentum – increasing overall company esteem and valuation.

Greg is a founder himself, creating Blue Ridge Solutions, a Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader in cloud-native supply chain applications, and bringing to market Curo, a field service management solution. He has also held leadership roles with Servigistics (PTC) and E3 Corporation (JDA/Blue Yonder). As a principal and host at Supply Chain Now, Greg helps guide the company’s strategic direction, hosts industry leader discussions, community livestreams, and all in addition to executive producing and hosting his original YouTube channel and podcast, TEChquila Sunrise.

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Chris Barnes

Principal, Supply Chain Now
Host of Supply Chain is Boring

Talk about world-class: Chris is one of the few professionals in the world to hold CPIM-F, CLTD-F and CSCP-F designations from ASCM/APICS. He’s also the APICS coach – and our resident Supply Chain Doctor. When he’s not hosting programs with Supply Chain Now, he’s sharing supply chain knowledge on the APICS Coach Youtube channel or serving as a professional education instructor for the Georgia Tech Supply Chain & Logistic Institute’s Supply Chain Management (SCM) program and University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Center for Professional Education courses.

Chris earned a BS in Industrial Engineering from Bradley University, an MBA with emphasis in Industrial Psychology from the University of West Florida, and is a Doctoral in Supply Chain Management candidate.

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Tyler Ward

Director of Sales

Tyler Ward serves as Supply Chain Now's Director of Sales. Born and raised in Mid-Atlantic, Tyler is a proud graduate of Shippensburg University where he earned his degree in Communications. After college, he made his way to the beautiful state of Oregon, where he now lives with his wife and daughter.

With over a decade of experience in sales, Tyler has a proven track record of exceeding targets and leading high-performing teams. He credits his success to his ability to communicate effectively with customers and team members alike, as well as his strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.

When he's not closing deals, you can find Tyler on the links or cheering on his favorite football and basketball teams. He also enjoys spending time with his family, playing pick-up basketball, and traveling back to Ocean City, Maryland, his favorite place!

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Kevin L. Jackson

Host of Digital Transformers

Kevin L. Jackson is a globally recognized Thought Leader, Industry Influencer and Founder/Author of the award winning “Cloud Musings” blog.  He has also been recognized as a “Top 5G Influencer” (Onalytica 2019, Radar 2020), a “Top 50 Global Digital Transformation Thought Leader” (Thinkers 360 2019) and provides strategic consulting and integrated social media services to AT&T, Intel, Broadcom, Ericsson and other leading companies. Mr. Jackson’s commercial experience includes Vice President J.P. Morgan Chase, Worldwide Sales Executive for IBM and SAIC (Engility) Director Cloud Solutions. He has served on teams that have supported digital transformation projects for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the US Intelligence Community.  Kevin’s formal education includes a MS Computer Engineering from Naval Postgraduate School; MA National Security & Strategic Studies from Naval War College; and a BS Aerospace Engineering from the United States Naval Academy. Internationally recognizable firms that have sponsored articles authored by him include CiscoMicrosoft, Citrix and IBM.  Books include “Click to Transform” (Leaders Press, 2020), “Architecting Cloud Computing Solutions” (Packt, 2018), and “Practical Cloud Security: A Cross Industry View” (Taylor & Francis, 2016). He also delivers online training through Tulane UniversityO’Reilly MediaLinkedIn Learning, and Pluralsight.  Mr. Jackson retired from the U.S. Navy in 1994, earning specialties in Space Systems EngineeringCarrier Onboard Delivery Logistics and carrier-based Airborne Early Warning and Control. While active, he also served with the National Reconnaissance Office, Operational Support Office, providing tactical support to Navy and Marine Corps forces worldwide.

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Enrique Alvarez

Host of Logistics with Purpose and Supply Chain Now en Español

Enrique serves as Managing Director at Vector Global Logistics and believes we all have a personal responsibility to change the world. He is hard working, relationship minded and pro-active. Enrique trusts that the key to logistics is having a good and responsible team that truly partners with the clients and does whatever is necessary to see them succeed. He is a proud sponsor of Vector’s unique results-based work environment and before venturing into logistics he worked for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). During his time at BCG, he worked in different industries such as Telecommunications, Energy, Industrial Goods, Building Materials, and Private Banking. His main focus was always on the operations, sales, and supply chain processes, with case focus on, logistics, growth strategy, and cost reduction. Prior to joining BCG, Enrique worked for Grupo Vitro, a Mexican glass manufacturer, for five years holding different positions from sales and logistics manager to supply chain project leader in charge of five warehouses in Colombia.

He has an MBA from The Wharton School of Business and a BS, in Mechanical Engineer from the Technologico de Monterrey in Mexico. Enrique’s passions are soccer and the ocean, and he also enjoys traveling, getting to know new people, and spending time with his wife and two kids, Emma and Enrique.

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Kelly Barner

Host of Dial P for Procurement

Kelly is the Owner and Managing Director of Buyers Meeting Point and MyPurchasingCenter. She has been in procurement since 2003, starting as a practitioner and then as the Associate Director of Consulting at Emptoris. She has covered procurement news, events, publications, solutions, trends, and relevant economics at Buyers Meeting Point since 2009. Kelly is also the General Manager at Art of Procurement and Business Survey Chair for the ISM-New York Report on Business. Kelly has her MBA from Babson College as well as an MS in Library and Information Science from Simmons College and she has co-authored three books: ‘Supply Market Intelligence for Procurement Professionals’, ‘Procurement at a Crossroads’, and ‘Finance Unleashed’.

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Constantine Limberakis

Host

Constantine Limberakis is a thought leader in the area of procurement and supply management. He has over 20 years of international experience, playing strategic roles in a wide spectrum of organizations related to analyst advisory, consulting, product marketing, product development, and market research.Throughout his career, he's been passionate about engaging global business leaders and the broader analyst and technology community with strategic content, speaking engagements, podcasts, research, webinars, and industry articles.Constantine holds a BA in History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an MBA in Finance & Marketing / Masters in Public & International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh.

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Amanda Luton

Vice President, Production

Amanda is a production and marketing veteran and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience across a variety of industries and organizations including Von Maur, Anthropologie, AmericasMart Atlanta, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Amanda currently manages, produces, and develops modern digital content for Supply Chain Now and their clients. Amanda has previously served as the VP of Information Systems and Webmaster on the Board of Directors for APICS Savannah, and founded and managed her own successful digital marketing firm, Magnolia Marketing Group. When she’s not leading the Supply Chain Now production team, you can find Amanda in the kitchen, reading, listening to podcasts, or enjoying time with family.

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Clay Phillips

Business Development Manager

Clay is passionate about two things: supply chain and the marketing that goes into it. Recently graduated with a degree in marketing at the University of Georgia, Clay got his start as a journalism major and inaugural member of the Owl’s football team at Kennesaw State University – but quickly saw tremendous opportunity in the Terry College of Business. He’s already putting his education to great use at Supply Chain Now, assisting with everything from sales and brand strategy to media production. Clay has contributed to initiatives such as our leap into video production, the guest blog series, and boosting social media presence, and after nearly two years in Supply Chain Now’s Marketing Department, Clay now heads up partnership and sales initiatives with the help of the rest of the Supply Chain Now sales team.

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Trisha Cordes

Administrative Assistant

Trisha is new to the supply chain industry – but not to podcasting. She’s an experienced podcast manager and virtual assistant who also happens to have 20 years of experience as an elementary school teacher. It’s safe to say, she’s passionate about helping people, and she lives out that passion every day with the Supply Chain Now team, contributing to scheduling and podcast production.

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Chantel King

Social Media Manager

My name is Chantel King and I am the Social Media Specialist at Supply Chain Now. My job is to make sure our audience is engaged and educated on the abundant amount of information the supply chain industry has to offer.

Social Media and Communications has been my niche ever since I graduated from college at The Academy of Art University in San Francisco. No, I am not a West Coast girl. I was born and raised in New Jersey, but my travel experience goes way beyond the garden state. My true passion is in creating editorial and graphic content that influences others to be great in whatever industry they are in. I’ve done this by working with lifestyle, financial, and editorial companies by providing resources to enhance their businesses.

Another passion of mine is trying new things. Whether it’s food, an activity, or a sport. I would like to say that I am an adventurous Taurus that never shies away from a new quest or challenge.

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Lori Sofian

Marketing Coordinator

Lori is currently completing a degree in marketing with an emphasis in digital marketing at the University of Georgia. When she’s not supporting the marketing efforts at Supply Chain Now, you can find her at music festivals – or working toward her dream goal of a fashion career. Lori is involved in many extracurricular activities and appreciates all the learning experiences UGA has brought her.

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Katherine Hintz

Sales and Marketing Coordinator

Katherine is a marketing professional and MBA candidate who strives to unite her love of people with a passion for positive experiences. Having a diverse background, which includes nonprofit work with digital marketing and start-ups, she serves as a leader who helps people live their most creative lives by cultivating community, order, collaboration, and respect. With equal parts creativity and analytics, she brings a unique skill set which fosters refining, problem solving, and connecting organizations with their true vision. In her free time, you can usually find her looking for her cup of coffee, playing with her puppy Charlie, and dreaming of her next road trip.

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