Supply Chain Now Radio Episode 230

Episode Summary

Scott Luton and Greg White welcome Susan Beardslee to SCNR at eft’s Logistics CIO Forum.

Episode Transcript

[00:00:05] It’s time for Supply Chain Now Radio. Broadcasting live from 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, everybody. Scott Luton again with you, Liveline Supply Chain Now Radio. Welcome back to the show. On today’s show, we’re not broadcasting Olah from Atlanta, Georgia, the Supply chain City, but rather we’re broadcasting live from Austin, Texas home. A variety of things, but including EAF TS Logistics S.O form. You might hear the some of the buzz in the background here. This this event is also a Reuters event. We’ve been interviewing some of the most innovative thought leaders that are all doing big things across the NDA in Supply chain industry. And we’re gonna continue that with a segment here today. Well, welcome in my fearless and esteemed co-host, Mr. Greg White, a serial supply chain tech entrepreneur, chronic disruptor and trusted advisor Greg. How you doing? Doing great. We this is this is our clean up session. The cleanup hitter. You know, we have had quite a series of interviews from a variety of angles from across the in in Supply chain industry. And I’m excited about this last segment we have.

 

[00:01:31] I’m pretty excited because we’ve already established that she went to high school with my wife. Mm hmm. What more do we really need to know?

 

[00:01:38] I think we’ve knocked it out. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Sell Arizona. Yeah, that’s right.

 

[00:01:43] So on that note, let’s welcome in our featured guest for this segment. Miss Suzanne. BEARDSLEY, principal analyst, Freight Transport. She’s a principal analyst of the Freight Transportation and Lu Logistics division of Aybe Our Research. Also m.c chair and presenter here at the Logistics CEO forum. Holy cow, you got like three or four full plates.

 

[00:02:08] You know what? I like to stay busy. I like to manage a lot of things clearly.

 

[00:02:12] Well, and I love your passion, the energy. I mean, we’ve been at it for two days here straight. And I’m sure you’ve had some jam packed days, but it’s like you just got here. So you’re right to go for a third day.

 

[00:02:24] You know what? Don’t do it if you’re not passionate about it. That’s what I say.

 

[00:02:28] I’m with you. I’m with you. So thanks for carving some time out. I know you’ve been really busy here at this this great event. We’ve really enjoyed our time here. So I’m not I’m not sure how involved you got on the planning side, given your you know, your chair of the event. But, man, this has been a home run.

 

[00:02:43] Home runs event. I am very excited that now it’s part of Reuters, because I think that just brings such gravitas, if you will. Good work. And it’s really a whole new audience, if you will.

 

[00:02:59] Agree does. And I think I mean, we’ve already talked about earlier today that this you know, there are a lot of conferences like this and this is one of the top ones. I think he if he does a fantastic job and they will only do better with Reuters backing.

 

[00:03:13] Yeah, I agree. This is my second event with the F.T. this year, and it was compelling enough, including with some of the really interesting unicorn’s, if you will, startups that I met last time, including keep trucking, an Uber freight, uber freight who is now having a focus in Chicago, my original hometown. So lots, lots of really good. And we’ve had Google here today, DHL, FedEx, we had U.P.S. yesterday. So really, they bring the heavy hitters.

 

[00:03:45] Yeah, absolutely. So speaking of heavy hitters, let’s talk about the heavy hitter we’re interviewing here today. So, Susan, before we dove in and gain your insights and learn more about your firm and really talk about the impact that the huge e-commerce world is having on technology, let’s get you a better. Sure. So tell us about where you grew up and tell us about kind of your journey from before you joined the FBI sting.

 

[00:04:10] Absolutely. So I grew up originally in the suburbs outside of Chicago. I have loved trucking and commercial vehicles since I was very little back. Goenka trucks. We talked about how, yes, I won a contest from a cereal company and one this is when they still made metal talk to try not to plastic stuff you see today. I still have them today. I have a beat-up RV that my kids used to ride round when they were really little. I read the Richard Scarey books and my grandfather. He was a volunteer firefighter, so I got to see the big fire truck. So I just always had an interest in a fascination and quirky things like that growing up. Then we moved out to the valley. The Sun, Phenix, Arizona. Like most people in Chicago. Yes. Chock full of great Italian hands. Yeah, he has. And in fact, a lot of those restaurants are now coming over from Chicago. Right. So we had the the nose and Illuminati and all all of that. Sounds good, in fact. Yeah, hamburgers. Now, just. You name it. But yeah. So I moved in the Phenix area where I went to McLintock High School and I graduated from Arizona State. Always had, like I said, interest in kind of the Industrial dynamic of things, but also writing. So I worked on the yearbook and the school newspaper things. Things like that. So I think having that balance of the creative and the analytical has kind of been that along with OP ex have been in my DNA since I was fairly young. And so I got a degree from Arizona State and Supply chain. Yeah, they have a really highly respect. Yes. Change program. Arizona State and Michigan State have the top two. And ironically, I married a supply chain guy from Michigan State that I met. Start your own school. I don’t know if my children have any interest in Supply chain, but to be perfectly honest. But yes. So. So, yes, we have a deep, deep bench of supply chain at our house.

 

[00:06:21] You know, if you were to get a degree from BEARDSLEY University, it sounds very distinguished us sound. It sounds like it ought to be anything. I believe there is a Biersack castle in England. So. I don’t claim to it, but it’s in the stars. Yes.

 

[00:06:35] All right. So and then let’s talk professionally. So I love hearing where your passions, you know, since you’re really young and how those have intersected to really foreshadow where you’ve spent at least a good portion of your career before do before being a part of a bizarre team would. What else would you do? An injury?

 

[00:06:53] Certainly, I’ll give you like the the fast pass. You will. So I don’t Arizona State. I went to work for Motorola, which was a huge employer in Arizona time, like 18000 people even larger than Intel is today. If that were some of the optics. Yeah, absolutely. I started in the factory doing and then in the back end doing Industrial engineering type of work, which brought me to Asia many times over the quarter or once a quarter, I should say, at least of transition things from engineering to production. So Motorola and now it’s been off on some I where I went after that actually do I think 30, 30 plus percent of their business in automotive and in vehicle support power systems and things of that nature. So that started some of the bread crumbs, if you will. And then I started an offshoot of a group of I.T. in CRM solutions that transitioned me where I ran all of I.T. support services at on SMI. And in fact, one of my former bosses and mentors is now the CIO of DHL. So, yes, David Thornwell. So a lot of consistent thread there. So from there I went to Fujifilm, which has a lot of different subsidiaries.

 

[00:08:14] And I joined it a very difficult time for our nation. I joined actually on September 11th, 2001, and I oversaw all of our hazardous chemical customer relationships with semiconductors. And so you can imagine from a Logistics perspective now of moving products. On top of that, we had a Long Beach strike where things were literally couldn’t move off the ports. So I had a lot of on the ground training, so to speak, of the importance of transportation and logistics across the supply chain. Right. In specific verticals. So I did that. I moved on to Intel for a decade. Intel I started manufacturing, but I moved on to a lot of deeply embedded technologies, including gateways, which can measure things for supply chain and look at the driver, the cargo and the vehicle if we talk about predictive analytics and things like that. And so and then I helped move the eight asked team from an incubator into a business unit. What team? The advanced driver assist or a task team? So I manage our operations, finance, hiring, a lot of things of that nature. Wow. So that’s where I was before I came to API about four years ago.

 

[00:09:36] There’s so much we got to add a second house because I want to dove into a lot of shared there. But if I could between her and lunch. Yes, that’s right. That’s right. So we’ll stick to the original plant. But Suzanne service getting Assad. You know, we have a series called Full Access Series where we interview a wide variety of women in leadership roles, one of them in Supply chain and manufacturing. And you know, we’ve been part of efforts lean in circles in Atlanta, which is one of them is run by Shumi 50, which is a great organization that’s dedicated to its nonprofit, to helping all folks from and from all walks of life enter an industry and succeed.

 

[00:10:17] All right, leadership. So given your background, how can any does it any couple things come to mind when we think about how we want to not just get more women into Supply chain, but much probably more important and importantly, arguably is making sure they’re successful? What comes to mind and clearly with a with a career like yours, what would what would be helpful to share with others?

 

[00:10:41] I’m a huge advocate of mentoring, and that’s something I took a lot of joy in at Intel for multiple years where we had what they call r-s.d or recent college grads. And I gravitated towards these young females to really help provide visibility, to advocate for them to upper management. And these are all very talented young women, a lot of them with engineering and computer science backgrounds. And so that’s something I think you don’t just drop somebody off into the deep end. And I think that’s tremendously helpful. I think continuing education, continued learning, not just even formal education, going to events like this, being well read, having discussions, getting involved in groups. I’ve been involved in groups with both women and tech, as well as there’s another group that focuses on bringing women in to the boardroom. Right. Which is a whole nother element of influence. Somebody that really inspired me yesterday was Kathleen and I forget her last name. She’s the vise president of marketing at u._p._s. And she talked about everything from women’s reentry programs to under represented populations and really how to not only recruit, but, as you said, to to really retain them. And I think a lot of that is finding where are their passions and how do you match those passions with opportunities and continue to leverage your skills, but continue to push them in a very positive manner into continuing to stretch their capabilities and avoid complacency, but also make sure they have the maturity before they go out. And coaching is a big part of that as well.

 

[00:12:31] I love that. Thank you for sharing. And Malcolm, Tushar, this note. Kathleen Moran, that sounds about right. BP, a U.S. marking the U.P.S. plane. She spoke here at the tremendous in a panel.

 

[00:12:43] I I would love to speak to her again.

 

[00:12:45] Outstanding. OK. Greg, anything the way in there? That’s pretty heavy, heavy hit and subject that we’re passionate about.

 

[00:12:52] I think that it’s good. I am particularly passionate about our full access series because I have three daughters. So so. And, you know, honestly, I’ve I’ve always worked in in companies where I felt like I felt like there wasn’t as big a delta between the guys and the ladies as as you see in so many industries. But having gotten out of the companies where we’ve been very conscious about that and and seen the broader marketplace, I I definitely see the need for all of this sort of thing. And look, anything that gets that gets more diverse mines into the into the supply chain practice is valuable. Yeah. I’m going to do it again. I am a fan of a guy named Danny Longa, who is one of the A.I. gurus, real AI gurus. He’s done it at Google and Amazon and now has a company that that creates A.I. for gaming systems where it’s most often used. And one of the things that he says is you don’t need better algorithms. You need more algorithms. Essentially, the you know, the metaphor is if you want great ideas, you want more diverse minds pointed at the problem, not one mind trying really hard to figure out the problem. Right. Absolutely. I think it applies. You know, obviously, it applies in A.I. and I think it applies to any kind of problem. Universal. Yeah, universal.

 

[00:14:18] Absolutely. I agree with that. That having the really diverse backgrounds and ideas really makes for better decision making and better problem-solving.

 

[00:14:31] Yeah, better growth, better innovation. And it’s it’s proven you would talk about you look at a variety variety of studies. I think McKinsey puts a study out every couple of years and their findings backed up by plenty of research and data. Is that more diverse leadership team’s bottom line? Or can have stronger margins. And I think it speaks to a lot of the the the advantages you gain that both of you all just mentioned when it comes to, you know, figuring out. To grow an organization and overcome the barriers that that present themselves. OK, so shifting from a heavy hitting topic like that. We’re going to dove right into maybe. OK, so I’m curious. I’m not a I wish I knew a lot more about the research industry because I think it’s probably more important and more relevant today, especially at the at the pace that decisions have to be made and that than ever before. So tell us more about Abia.

 

[00:15:26] Absolutely. So we’ve been around since 1990 out of New York, but we have a global presence across North America, Europe, different parts of Asia. And so I think some of our strength really is looking ahead 18 months to five years on really leading edge research on what our actionable insights are. Our clients really crave something that’s very specific to their vertical, their geography and then providing strategic guidance. So whether that’s meeting with a board of directors or a particular team, data scientists, marketing departments, et cetera, and really help them understand and this goes back to some of the nascent technologies, really things that are transformative in their particular industry and how to reshape them, including workforce, which we’re talking a bit about today. So obviously, I have a very specific coverage area, but I have peers around the world that I work very closely with, whether that’s in mobility. They’re going back to women again. I have a brilliant coworker in France with p_h_d_ in cybersecurity and she’s Kaila. It’s a rock star. I just want to go on the record. McKayla is a rock star, if you’re listening, McKayla. So we were we’ve worked together on on Supply chain efforts. We have people that focus on communications like 4G, 5G, Bluetooth, etc, etc. So we have a very strong bench. And I think what we provide is very deep, analytical and very specific. We develop a very specific put a line in the sand, a number for a forecast. But we also do the qualitative work, top trends. I look at things, whether that be patents. Venture capital investments. I have clients say, oh, so-and-so got acquired. Who who do you think is next? And so we talk about things like consolidation or who are the hot startups where maybe I should consider making an investment run.

 

[00:17:34] All of that. Right. And what I love also in getting no youth prep calls we had in the warm up here today is you’ve been there, done that, you’re leading the research for the freight transportation Logistics, but you’re not Acadiana through all the academic approaches there, but you’ve been there and done it. And so I bet that gives you such a leg up as you’re trying to understand these trends and then share that information with with leaders. Right.

 

[00:18:02] I’m an extremely hands on visual learner. I am if somebody comes to my house to make a delivery, I want to know what kind of telematics they have. I want to I’ve gone into clients and crawled in the back of their trucks to see if they’re cold. Chain solution like a thermo king is connected to their telematics. I will look under a truck to see if there’s guards or what else is going on. So that was very helpful. For example, when I went to North American Commercial Vehicle Show in Atlanta last week span. So by having that and then talking to lots of smart people, whether it’s academics across industries, across geographies, really, I think what I do is take that comprehensive information and I’m able to really cultivate that and provide a specific point of view and direction from my clients.

 

[00:18:56] Okay. So two quick tips. Yes, it’s just to and you may hear not just the universe stored in Verusen. Both have been and Greg knows Bedminster words better not do, but stored has got into very highly interesting warehousing on demand model. And I believe there coast-to-coast and then Verusen. It’s all about using data on ways and to tackle inventory challenges and it plays nice with all a lot of the big platforms out there. So keep those two. Yes. Startups on your radar.

 

[00:19:32] Yeah, I will. They are. I mean they’re doing things. Look, part of. We talk about this. This is a theme that I’m sure you’ve heard it at this show. There are all these gaps with data right. Where we go back to paper or whatever. Right. Verusen is trying to solve that problem where you can reconcile they can reconcile the data and they’re actually using actual A.I.. I’m a little bit of an A.I. doubter. I believe I. Even a guy I just don’t believe there are many who are actually using guy, there aren’t as many using it as art saying what I’m saying.

 

[00:20:05] I agree. And I think there are certain aspects like machine learning. And even within that, you can obviously keep going down click by click and find where where things are are real versus PowerPoint.

 

[00:20:21] This is real. And we’ve been fortunate to interview both leaders of these organizations on the show. And then, of course, we’re partial that they call Atlanta home. But keep them on your radar. Hi, Will. What made that connection down road? Love it. OK. So let’s talk more about your role at Abia. And here at the forum. So where do you spend your time? I mean. I won’t let you answer the question. I’ve got some hunches, but.

 

[00:20:48] Well, lately it’s been a lot of travel, huh? And I think that seems to be especially this point here. But no, across North America and Europe in particular. I spend a lot time. What I would say is I have to take in plenty of information before I’m able to make sense of that data and insights. And so that’s a combination. For example, I did a survey across North America, China and Europe recently of enterprise fleets. So anywhere from 500 to 10000. So these are large fleets. And I talk to senior management in these companies. And it’s interesting because if you look at, for example, 88, the American Transportation Association. There we go. There is a very long tail in transportation. Whether you talk to the U.S. or beyond. So I’m going to approximate the numbers as they’re not in front of me. But something like 90 to 95 percent of all fleets in the U.S. are 20 or less. And a large percentage of that are 5 or 6 or less. Yeah. So the people that I talked to are actually an anomaly, if you will. I mean, we think of the FedEx, U.P.S., DHL switch play a very important role, but there’s lots and lots of fleets in mind you, we’re not just talking about traditional transportation. We’re also talking about as a service, you could run a plumbing company or you could be an ambulance or et cetera, last mile, delivery van, etc.. Right. So what I would say is I take taken a lot of information medium and I get tremendous information. It’s not just sticking to the script, so to speak, but I could spend an hour or a couple hours talking to some of these individuals.

 

[00:22:36] Deep dove, deep dives. Yes. And so I do actually quite a bit of an additional surveys, research, interviews, where all I’ll arrange things and everything from some of the startups we’ve talked about to some of these large companies. And really across the value chain can be anything from a semiconductor company to a software company to a fulfillment center, etc.. Really? So the more that I can pull in this data and share back and forth. And I think that’s something that I do a little bit different than perhaps some of my peers in other companies is I have a closed loop. So after I conduct that research, I send it back for a level of verification not to tow the line, so to speak, and write, be a mouthpiece, but just make sure you’ve captured it. Yes, it’s developing trust, which is critical more than ever before, right? Absolutely. So. So I do that and then it obviously gets combined and analyzed, etc. And I’m just a voracious reader. I mean, whether it’s The Wall Street Journal or transport topics or you after your lots. I taken lots of information. And I think that really helps. So I’m both gathering it and that I’m digesting it and modeling forecasts of subscription rates for telematics or we talk about e-commerce or what is the rate of ADAS. And so the S.A.T., if you’re familiar with the S.A.T. level two through four. So when does that hit and by how much in what region? So those are the type of maybe wonkier and type things that I look at as well as I do competitive assessments and look at who the hot new innovators I think you’re powered by.

 

[00:24:16] I really believe we’ve got actionable intelligence. Maybe an Energizer bunny.

 

[00:24:22] So lets you know, when we were chatting about kind of what we wondered dove deeper on on the podcasts here today. Kotter so many great topic was like walk into a library and seen a ton of great books and have to pick one. Right.

 

[00:24:36] So but but I think one of the one we pick, the one we want to pick your your expert insights on, she is about this three trillion dollar beast that is growing the beast that is e-commerce, that is not just changing the consumer experience and in ways that we just can’t say Jenny the vet. But that doesn’t do it justice, right? R are psychology. He is being changed by what e-commerce is doing right in and is changing all the rest of industries or expectations for anything, you get any service. It’s all changing. But how is it impacting the need for technology platforms across the board to play nicer in the sandbox?

 

[00:25:17] I think that’s a great question. And one thing I’ll throw it on the side is three days from now is 11/11. And that has been referred to as Singles Day in China, which really even overshadows the volume of Amazon. So I just think an awful magnitude o significant, exponentially larger.

 

[00:25:37] So I would not not thrown down on Amazon, but I think when we look at e-commerce and a chunk of that 3 trillion, we have to understand that that China is a the Chinese market. And Chinese consumers and businesses are a huge part of that today. And as they move on beyond the tier one through three cities into more rural areas, which is where that said it anyway. But in order to get to that and you’re right, the you talk about the psychology of what’s considered fast. And one of the things I talked about in my presentation yesterday and I’m sure you guys are well aware of. We’re moving in and you’re talking about the Amazon effect, where Amazon and Walmart and probably Target are moving into next day.

 

[00:26:24] Right. And that creates and you probably see in the news like huge upfront investment in software and hardware, infrastructure and infrastructure.

 

[00:26:32] And if you look at em, I mean, you know, not dwell on Amazon, but when they released their their financials a week or two ago, deep, deep impact based on infrastructure they’re having to build out to meet that same data one day promise. So it is not no small feat.

 

[00:26:49] Ab Absolutely. And of course, well, we could spend a whole different time talking about the Amazon effect, but you see the impact on FedEx as one where they decided not not to renew the contracts. You see investment in Amazon and by the way, Alibaba too. This is another example in planes in J decomp. Yes, another great example. They’re buying other companies to provide fulfillment centers and all manner of software and hardware for shipping. So you’re right, it’s the infrastructure, the heart, but it comes at a tremendous capital investments. Right to make that happen. And what does that mean for all the many smaller businesses?

 

[00:27:34] But one of the things I thought we’d talk about today is the need for integration between your warehouse management, your transportation management, your ERP and your CRM solutions. A lot of those have been developed in silos. We have companies I won’t name may come that have been in the business for a long time. And we have a lot of startups or youngish companies or backstage early-stage that have developed these native applications, which are really interesting and we see a lot more open with API eyes. And but for these individuals that are running transportation Logistics, that’s not their day job. They’re there to provide a service, right? Whether that’s goods, transportation or other. So really, I wanted to have a call to action about the need for a systems integration. I think there’s just three different and we kind of wrapped around three different areas. Yes, absolutely. I think you’re saying that. So I really want to talk about the value proposition and the implications for connectivity, security and transparency. So I’d like to walk you through that, if that’s so, please.

 

[00:28:47] Yeah. Okay. I’m chomping at the bit. Oh, fantastic. OK. So connectivity really. And I hear this from talking to people really on the front lines that they have multiple screens. So they’ve got send at their desk and they’ve got one thing that’s got their WEO mess. And there’s another thing with Greg White office. Keith got 17 screens. But really, there are people that have different screens with four different solutions right now that I hear that whether that’s in a fulfillment center, in a back office, even in a truck, you would be shocked how many. And you think about that with driver distraction. Yeah, that’s a whole other thing. So really, that’s and it requires manual intervention. We talk about A.I. before. Yeah, there’s that is not fully realized, but by any means yet. And so we’re really missing opportunities for optimization. We aren’t able to do proactive risk assessments. And really, as you’re looking at four different screens, if you think about it, how are you supposed? Are you going to do the mental math and go, oh, oh, it says I’m I’m short of boxes of parts over here. Widgets. Right. And how does that impact my load? Optimization on my trucks and oh, by the way, what is the demand coming in from my CRM system doing a lot of things are moving at one time. They are. And how are you going to get any one person to really synthesize, synthesize that data? And so I think that’s and really the other part is fundable or flexible planning for unforeseen. So let’s just talk about that for a second here, whether OK. Nobody can control the weather, even trying to anticipate the weather in a in a certain timeframe.

 

[00:30:30] Like Mark Twain says, everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it.

 

[00:30:34] Exactly. So now granted with satellites and such where there there’s some improvement, but weather is one. And then without getting political right, there’s a lot of things with trade and tariffs that are impactful and they seem to be very fluid. I think that’s fair. Sure. A fair statement. And that’s not just in the U.S., right? We have Brexit that I think’s been pushed out to January. Right. So there’s there’s a lot of that going on. So to manage all those unfor- scenes at the same time that you’re trying to look at maybe four different systems. And I didn’t even talk about. There’s a lot of even big companies that have legacy systems. They’ve the the. They want to do the not invented here in the NIH. Right. So they especially some other companies have been around for a long time. So so I think having an ability to connect not just the dots, but literally cest integrating the systems themselves. Yeah. And if you think of the caboose on an ongoing basis. Yeah. I’m not talking about just in this one hour. No. Yeah, absolutely. And how is that updated, et cetera. But if you think of, for example, jump over to TMX for just a moment in the U.S. and coming to Canada, we have hours of service for for many of our truckers. And I feel like kind of a whole separate discussion about parking detention time, but that’s not for today anyway.

 

[00:32:00] If you hold on to these folks with detention time, cause you’re not ready because something’s going on in the fulfillment center and I’m not pointing fingers either way. But the point is, if you had a well connected W en mass and T a mass system that could predict and anticipate and then communicate to the back office for those transportation systems, you could avoid them for two or three hours sitting there waiting to load, which causes all sorts of iterative issues. So so that is is something. And then like I said, on the back end of your ERP, you go to ours a service. Okay. Well, how are those folks being paid? Are they being paid on a timely basis, whether that’s fulfillment center right or transportation? And then, like I said, all the way flowing back, you really need to see to match up your supply and demand. And that happens needs happen near real time. Right. Right. Especially you’re going to one day delivery. So that’s one piece. The other piece is security. And I cannot say enough about security. So in the cyber security panel, flex part was talking about this identity and access management are critical. And so who gets access to what verify? I’ve talked to Bosch about smart keys for transport as their own company.

 

[00:33:22] Yes, absolutely. So they’re doing some work with some of the OEMs in that space. And that’s just one example. But if you change in the fulfillment center and you need to know how to switch people to two areas or what areas they belong in, both physically and in digitally. And then also on the supply side, how you have that access and graduated access. If you throw stones here from an at Wal-Mart, that was not Walmart. I’m sorry, Target. Please remove that. Target was h back. Right? I mean, there’s some very insidious ways with your suppliers, junior third party contractors that are incredibly important. So it’s really only good as a weakest link. And so that has to do with transportation as well, from the odbc to port, from the telematics unit, well through your network and all the way into the cloud. So that’s tremendously and interesting. When I did the survey work just on July through September, we had very few respondents that leveraged encryption and we talked about encryption in here and in some of the panels and the need to really comprehend solutions and how many are still use an email. And when I talk to other modes of transport, if we look at the multimodal, how it links, sure, people are still using telephone.

 

[00:34:45] People are still using whiteboards like selling fax machines because Scott is a big factor. Machines are or at least secure. Because the signal cannot get interrupted.

 

[00:35:00] I’m in church a couple weeks ago and had all three kids in in the adult worship service and we had some time to kill. And my my daughters are filling out the membership forms, scribbling and asked for all the, you know, phone number, email and fax. And I’ve tried my darndest to explain what a fax machine is to my very supremely bright 10 year old. And I failed miserably. So maybe fat fax is gonna be going by the wayside if it hasn’t already. But there are lots of firms that still use it. And yes, Greg, we are big fans of facts.

 

[00:35:34] And while you can see at least you’re too young for them to say, hey, boomer. Yeah. Yeah. But yes. So. So security. And it’s something that hasn’t specifically hit in the transportation Logistics industry as much, but that by no means music cannot happen. And and I think we have to be extremely diligent about not only within a particular WME TMX, but obviously the links that go across it.

 

[00:36:05] Well, as you said, you’re only as strong as your weakest link. And I think companies are they have started to get very serious about how to enable that weakest link because it was a mom and pop vendor that brought Target to their knees. Right. But we we can’t really expect for those mom and pop vendors to have have the kind of capabilities that are required. So I think much like EEI in the old days, thinking of old technology, much like EROEI in the old days, these companies will they will take responsibility for enabling the security of those those types of vendors. I’ve seen it happening now. Already Amazon does, of course.

 

[00:36:45] Well, that does bring up that a lot of the small, medium business, which are the backbone of United States don’t have I.T. in-house. Right. Right. So it’s their uncle, their cousin. So last point I wanted to make was transparency. Yes. So this goes well beyond where’s my stuff? So we’re looking for closer to real time. That to me is part of the machine learning part of A.I. that we talked about in some of these sandbox scenarios. But the kind of final thing that we really need to talk about briefly is data sharing, data monetization, storage and data keeping. Because what I found talking to folks is everybody thinks they own the data. But I think that’s setting us up for a hot mess.

 

[00:37:30] Yeah, scientifically put. So, yes. So GDP. Ah, yeah. In Europe, right.

 

[00:37:36] The privacy protocol for individuals and and now moving towards companies has a very dis disk thinked description of whether you are an originator store, store or or or mover of of data. Yes. And it makes a very clear distinction there. And I think a similar type of distinction in in the United States is necessary. And and in actuality, often it is very clear. Contractually, I’ve had technology companies. I know that I don’t own my customers data. I know that I am a keeper, a possessor, a protector of that data. But I don’t own it. And and I think the legal sorry not to get too legal here, but I think that the legal precedents are very clear. But, yeah. But the industry and the players in the industry are naive and they are unclear. Right.

 

[00:38:34] So connectivity, security and transparency. Yeah. Yeah. These are the big areas that e-commerce put a lot of pressure on these areas in terms of technology platforms.

 

[00:38:47] Right. I would say those are the three pillars, in my humble opinion, that are critical and should be enabled through systems integration of the WMD. brp, Syria.

 

[00:38:58] Love that. OK, so I know that we’re going to have some listeners that want to compare notes with you because this is some this is stuff that a 45 minute podcast cannot do justice. And again, thanks for your valuable time here today. How can our listeners get in touch with you? So I learn more about Abia, of course.

 

[00:39:17] Perfect. So we I coined the fake word Googleable the other day. Ty, remember that? I don’t know how to spell it. I don’t. I don’t either. So a couple ways. One, you can reach out through API research, analysts, relations, and my a-r director will be happy to put you in touch. You can seek me out on LinkedIn, very active. And there’s also a_v_i_ research underscore. BEARDSLEY at Twitter. So those would be my recommended approaches. And I would love to hear from your audience and engage in some thoughtful discussion. Yeah, awesome.

 

[00:39:52] Reinterviewed to Atlanta to aybe our research wsj.com to our listeners really having. George speaking with Susan BEARDSLEY, principal analyst of the Freight Transportation and Logistics Practice at API Research. Thanks for your time, Susan. Thank you, gentlemen. You bet. And don’t go away. As we wrap up here here shortly. Greg, holy cow. I think we saved the best for last.

 

[00:40:16] I’m drowning. Not not only am I in over my head, I am drowning, but there’s a ton of great information. I will appreciate your point of view.

 

[00:40:23] I really enjoyed it. And if passion has been the touchstone word, it seems like this week and we’re wrapping up of some literary passion about helping others understand, gather and process information so we can make better decisions. So to our listeners, stay tuned as we continue to coverage continue our coverage of the F T Logistics CIO forum, a Reuters event right here in Austin. And be sure to check out other upcoming events, replays of our interviews, other resources at supply chain. Now radio dot com. Greg, work, work in our listeners. Find us.

 

[00:40:56] I don’t know, Scott. No, of course.

 

[00:41:00] On YouTube I want to mention YouTube verse, but also wherever you get your podcasts, Google podcasts, Googleable podcast, Apple podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, Stitcher caste, you name it, it’s out there. Anyone who has a podcast platform has got Supply Chain Now Radio. That’s right.

 

[00:41:20] On behalf of the entire team, hopefully enjoy this interview as much as we did. Scott Luton here wishing you a wonderful week ahead and we will see you next time. ω Supply Chain Now Radio. Thanks, everybody.

Would you rather watch the show in action?

Watch Scott and Greg as they interview Susan Beardslee for SCNR Episode 230.

Featured Guests

Susan Beardslee, Principal Analyst at ABI Research, also known as “the truck lady”, provides global freight transportation and logistics research coverage, including commercial vehicle hardware, software, business strategy and multi-modal service models. She leads research on emerging areas such as electrification and alt-fuels, prognostics, ” as a service” offerings and supply chain data management solutions. Susan’s background includes relevant experience in embedded technologies and IoT, advanced automotive, transport, and UAVs. She previously worked for Intel and ON Semiconductor and held a variety of positions with other semiconductor manufacturers and suppliers. She assumed roles in market research, as well as strategy, operations management, competitive analysis, and IT, including cyber-security management. Learn more about ABI Research: https://www.abiresearch.com/

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Principal & Host

Scott W. Luton

Founder, CEO, & Host

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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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Joshua Miranda

Marketing Specialist

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

Controller

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

Creative Director, Producer, Host

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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