Supply Chain Now
Episode 274

Episode Summary

In this episode, Greg and Scott welcome Cathy Roberson to Supply Chain Now.

Episode Transcript

[00:00:05] It’s time for Supply Chain Now Radio Broadcasting Life 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] Good afternoon, Scott Luton here with you live once again on Supply chain. Now welcome back to the show. On this episode, we’re really excited to be kicking off a new series that has been working for a while, right. Bringing back an old friend. And it’s gonna be all about freight forward and beyond. So in this series, Rheumy featuring a special co-host, Kathy Mahroug Roberson. Hello, Kathy. How you doing? Good to see you. And we’re going be diving into the news and developments and analysis, very important analysis from across the world of freight and cargo. So stay tuned as we’re looking to increase your freight IQ. I’m still stealing that from your great that IQ stuff. So I could use some one quick programing note, like all of our series on Supply Chain Now Radio Supply chain. Now you can find our replays of RIDEA channeled from Apple podcast, SoundCloud, YouTube. We get your podcast from. As always, loved to have you subscribe to. You’ll miss a thing. Let’s thank a few our sponsors that allow us to bring these best practices and ideas to our audience. The Effective syndicate Talentstream Vector Global Logistics. U.S. Bank, many others. You can check out each of our sponsors on the show notes of this episode. OK, so let’s welcome in officially are my fearless co-hosts on today’s show. Once again, Kathy Miura Robertson, founder and President Logistics Trends and Insights LLC. You might hear us talk about LTI locks. We love our acronyms. But Cathy, how you doing? Good afternoon. Good afternoon. How you doing? Doing fantastic. I’m not as road weary as you are. You stay on the go.

 

[00:02:01] Well, he’s holding up pretty good. That’s all things considered. Yeah.

 

[00:02:06] And Kate, I’m looking forward to talking about some of your travels here in just a moment, but thanks for I’m really, really excited about this kickoff episode. I am, too. I am, too. Thank you so much. You bet. You bet. And Greg White supply chain. Adj. serial supply chain. Tech entrepreneur and my favorite trusted advisor for all. Great. How you doing?

 

[00:02:28] I’m doing great. I feel better when you say it that way. I feel better. But actually I’m really excited because I like having Kathy around. She she does the research where we have to kind of skim the surface a little bit. I mean, we do. Right. Let’s face it. I mean, we can’t get into the depth of every single issue and certain topics are harder to find to get to the depth on. And that’s exactly what she does for a living. So I’m glad you’ve joined us, because I think having those in-depth insights will be really, really valuable to folks out there.

 

[00:03:02] As we know. Yes, we’ve been collaborating with Kathy for quite some time. But to your point, I love the research, but also love how Kathy Sheer tells us and tells her audience what it means. So what? Right.

 

[00:03:15] Here’s a a research I learned. The way she tells you. Our audience will get a taste for that. We appreciate it like we do.

 

[00:03:24] No holds barred Ryder is absolute truth. And I love that. Yeah, I said it. Look, people come to us to hear the absolute truth, to hear opinions, to hear points of view. And when they’re well researched, they can be strongly stated and and easily defended. So I think I’m looking forward to this. I am, too. You’re going to give her a supply chain adj. T-shirt. I might have let them. Now you’re a little bit just to make sure she stays awake after a long day.

 

[00:03:48] She said, well, we’re looking forward to this conversation. So. So, you know, Greg and Greg, you and I know Cathy well. She’s been on the show numerous times. We’ve collaborated with her for several years now. We’d love her take on things and and the insights she brings to the table. Yeah, but some of her audience, like three of them may not. First time they may have my word. I didn’t even think of that maybe before. But but very small portion and we won’t give them an opportunity to get No. Cathy. Yeah. For we kind of start picking her brain on some things. So Cathy one of my favorite questions opened up the conversation because I think there’s a everyone likes to talk about where they’re from, right? There’s something there that they like sharing with folks. And it really it is so telling. So that’s where we start this conversation. So tell us about where you’re from and where you grew up.

 

[00:04:37] Yeah. So originally I am from Pascagoula, Mississippi.

 

[00:04:42] Okay. Really? Okay.

 

[00:04:48] But we moved to South Carolina when I was very little. Very little. And I’ve grew up in Colombia and Rod. Kill the most part. OK.

 

[00:05:01] So, Rockhill, for people who don’t know, while in South Carolina, it’s actually very close to Charlotte.

 

[00:05:08] Yeah. Yes, it’s right there on the border. Yeah. Seventy seven.

 

[00:05:12] Yeah. You grew up going to Carowinds. Oh, cool. Yeah. So are the Carowinds is like a Six Flags. Yeah. That’s that is kind of was built for the Carolinas. Right. Because as you mentioned, Rockhill Rock Hill, just the other side of Charlotte. Right. And speeds going I guess is still around. Well, I have been Carowinds a long time. Last time I went to Carowinds, this harrisville wins. Yeah. Carolyn, Carowinds. How do you spell it? See a R O W I in D S. Okay. So let’s talk. Well, Carolyn Center, right. Yes. You know, the Smurfs were the big part of their younger today.

 

[00:05:50] Okay. There is less so in the Smurfs. Well, so. All right.

 

[00:05:56] So, uh, born in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Yeah. Grew up in Rocky. I can’t believe I said that city name. Right. Can you spell it? I can. Probably not. I can. How long did you sit? Were you in Rock Hill until you hit college or. Yeah.

 

[00:06:12] I mean, I went through, uh, grammar school, high school, college.

 

[00:06:18] I went to went through up my undergrad. Okay. Yeah. Some of the terriers. No, no, no, no. Swaffer and Warford. Winthrop Eagles.

 

[00:06:26] Okay. You know those. My oldest daughter went to school there. Great school. Yeah. Bad.

 

[00:06:32] Not bad. And of course, any little bit library science right now.

 

[00:06:37] No. You okay? Scott? Not all right. Undergrad fact check. Undergrad was a double major in history and economics. Really not. So that’s an undergrad. I wanted to become an economic historian. Oh, okay. A lot of demand for that. That sounds boring. Oh, it’s exciting. Okay. But knowing what? Especially with what’s going on right now. Okay.

 

[00:06:59] And, um, so, yeah, the plan was become economic story that didn’t quite work out. So you. So then you got it. I think a master’s in library science, right.

 

[00:07:09] Yeah. Well, okay. So the economic historian thing didn’t work out. The next thing was I really wanted to be an archaeologist. Okay. That didn’t work out either. My parents were like, you got to earn a living. So go to library school. Love this. You will always find a job in a library.

 

[00:07:28] Oh.

 

[00:07:30] Well, probably true for about 30 years.

 

[00:07:34] Right now, you could work at Google, which is what is replacing the library. Seriously? Yeah. Well, all right.

 

[00:07:42] So now I am I was a librarian. There are a number of years on public libraries. I tip. I basically headed up reference departments. Free search.

 

[00:07:53] Yeah. So that was my my thing. I got married while I was. Living in North Carolina at the time, actually backup got the master’s in library science at your favorite school.

 

[00:08:06] Usc.

 

[00:08:07] Yeah, although South Carolina. That’s right. Let us not confuse it with USC.

 

[00:08:12] But South Carolina’s been around longer than Sciarrotta.

 

[00:08:18] So Stefan. So Stefan, right over that. So you got your master’s degree. Yeah. Columbia, South Carolina. Yeah.

 

[00:08:24] Then I moved to North Carolina to work there at a public library. Got married, had a kid. Dan Solla get a divorce.

 

[00:08:33] Take the kids and move down here to Atlanta, Atlanta to Atlanta.

 

[00:08:39] Yeah, because my parents had moved down here and decided to come be closer to them. And while I was down here, I got my MBA. I did things in two. So I got specialized in finance and marketing. Wow. Yeah. We’re from Mercer. Really?

 

[00:08:57] So did you commute or so it was a nice to have an impact.

 

[00:09:03] Yeah. Course it’s a big camp. Yeah, it’s a big campus.

 

[00:09:07] Southwire is that, uh, you know, after eight years of working at a public library here in the metro area, Cobb County. Who did you. Yeah. Yeah. I probably would’ve never seen you there.

 

[00:09:17] Probably not because they sent me off to a very teeny tiny small library.

 

[00:09:21] Dematic. Where was it? Sumana. Mm hmm. Oh, yeah. Not the big pretty city of Smyrna. Librarian There. There. Yeah.

 

[00:09:30] Teeny tiny libraries. So let’s let’s talk about how how so how did you eventually find in Supply chain. Okay. So after eight years okc’s.

 

[00:09:45] So after eight years of library work, I decided I really wanted to be in the business world. So this was during the first dot com craze. 2000/2001 up period.

 

[00:09:57] Got a job at an e-commerce company here in town. Didn’t last very long. About a year. And then they went belly up. Well, shocker. But lucky for me, one of their clients was U.P.S.. U.P.S. offered me a job. They’re like, we’re getting ready to start up a new business development group. No new product development right now. And it’s dealing with. Anything but small parcel. So that’s what I did out of our group came U.P.S. Supply chain Solutions, which is now based in Alpharetta.

 

[00:10:34] Do everything right. Yeah. So how long were you? Yes. Eleven years. Eleven years. I’ve got here. All right. Yeah. And so at what point. So it’s a bridge to get from u._p._s. And you departed from there to be an entrepreneur with LTA.

 

[00:10:52] So walk us through that. I was offered a. A job with a consulting firm based in Europe. Former EPA Searson that started this consulting company. They dealt with a lot of market research and consulting type of work. So I stayed with them for about four and a half years. And then it hit me and I can do the same thing they’re doing on my own every year. Mm hmm. So that’s how my company started.

 

[00:11:24] Outstanding. And you’re celebrating several. Four and a half year and a half years. I feel that a that is doing something. I mean, who as entrepreneurs you celebrate four months. Exactly. I mean, so to be ready for now, four years continue to grow. Continue to work with some of the leading companies that you work with. You know, we admire what you do. And really beyond all that and beyond that, the what you bring to the table, the insights just from if you if if you weren’t Kathee, the insights coming from your neck of the woods to our listeners will be very valuable. But the fact that you’re you’re Kathleen, we like your style that makes it doubly is nice. So good. So congrats on 49th for narf years. Let’s talk about before we switched gears into the event you read yesterday up in a beautiful city, Chattanooga. Let’s talk about what El LTI does. Yeah.

 

[00:12:15] Ok. So it is a market research company, but it’s also a consulting firm. We do a number of. We do things like competitive analysis, market analysis, new product development, strategy, development of. We’ve done a number of consulting projects.

 

[00:12:36] Particularly last year. What’s really interesting is the year 2019 was a really busy year 2019 with a huge year. And a lot of companies interested in moving into new product lines. So we had to research. Whether or not that could be profitable if it lets a smart move or not. Also, we had a, um, a Chinese manufacturing company that was needing help with the tariff situation.

 

[00:13:02] So outstanding. Yeah. So all all are predominantly around transportation or other aspects of the business.

 

[00:13:10] Most of it is transportation. There is some in the freight forwarding. But I do quite a bit of work with freight forwarders startups and the Logistics space as well. So one thing that we also do is to review technology solutions and make recommendations.

 

[00:13:31] I can tell you how many times I get the phone call. Oh my God, I need blockchain. And I’m like, well, why do you need blockchain? I don’t know. Everyone else has. And well, what is? I don’t know. But I need it. So that’s how we kind of roll and then try and explain to them. Yeah. You may not need blockchain, right.

 

[00:13:50] Define the solution. I constantly have this discussion. Don’t be a hammer. Looking for a nail. Right. I understand the problem you’re trying to solve and then fit fit a solution which may or may not be technology. Yeah, exactly. Could just be business process or it could be organizational change. It could be anything.

 

[00:14:08] Yeah, that’s good. I think that’s a valuable agreed table service and we’ll of course we’ll include a link to the website and show notes like we did last time. You’re here. A lot of great stuff pratical. I love how practical what you do for companies is informative. So Greg, I know you’ve got some questions. I have one question yesterday. Real foundational. OK. First of all, yeah. About about what LTI does.

 

[00:14:30] So when you say analyst and research and that sort of thing, my head immediately goes, I’m a software person, remember? My head immediately goes to Gartner. How close or divergent are you from that business model? I know they have so many different aspects of the business, but they do have pure research analysts. Yeah, right. And is your research kind of akin to that kind of research? Yes, you know, yes.

 

[00:14:54] And so Gartner started off life as the technology research company. Right. So you wanted to go to. Right to validate your technology. And I still regard them as that. That’s one of their strengths. I do more. My background is supply chain. Right.

 

[00:15:13] More like a memoir, which is a company that acquired not long or. Well, now quite Lu. Yeah. Right. Yeah. How I said that’s the difference. I bought a similar type Servatius in a different market. Yeah. Segment. I don’t dematic quadrants. Right. Yeah. And a lot of them. Gartner analyst would prefer not to. Not that any of them have said that to me either way.

 

[00:15:36] Adrian. So yeah we’re not talking about the magic class Ryder. So we’re talking beforehand. forwent love here about an event. Yeah, I gather that. Yes, I know you had a few questions.

 

[00:15:46] Yeah. Yes. So tell us a little bit about this event and kind of what your takeaways were. You had a couple hour drive back from the event, so I bet you had some time to think about it. And I know you took copious notes while you knew Scott was gonna make us ask you questions about it.

 

[00:16:05] Yeah, I tweeted that and everything. Yeah, there’s proof I was here.

 

[00:16:10] And by the way, for our listeners benefit before. If you’re not following Cathy in or LTI on Twitter, you’re missing out on a ton of very timely truth, truth, bombs and truth.

 

[00:16:22] Maggie. Yeah. And she can say a lot in two hundred and eighty years, wherever it is where it is these days.

 

[00:16:29] So quick your Twitter guys.

 

[00:16:32] Summoners s.m Robberson 06. Yeah. And then. Oh, gosh, what is my little link?

 

[00:16:40] You know what? We’ll get Malcolm. Look, I always Logistics t I. Yes. Logistics Tirso. Wow. Brian for outstanding. Outstanding. Reese, if you’re a Twitter fer and you dig supply chain, especially if you dig your freight and transportation. Excellent sources of information. All right. So back yesterday. Sorry.

 

[00:16:58] Ok. So Chris Barnes. Yep. Actually, he invited me. He e-mailed me, said, I think you need to. Yeah, I think it’d be a good idea for you to come to this.

 

[00:17:07] Maybe he didn’t invite us special. Yeah. Drew can add value.

 

[00:17:16] So I was like, well, if Chris Barnes recommends I go, I better go now. So I signed up and this is through a U.T. Chattanooga. There are marks. Yeah, there are lunch and learns Sarah. This was their first lunch and learn of the air. And it was held at Ken Co Logistics place I’ve always wanted to go to. Because I had this really cool innovation lab that I really wanted to check out site. And that was part of a tour they did for this lunch and learn. Outstanding. So it was about morning long. And, um, I had to tell you, it was a really good seminar, symposium, a lot of audience participation. Loved it. Lots of questions.

 

[00:18:00] It was great.

 

[00:18:01] It is a Supply chain symposium. It was a supply chain Verusen supply chain.

 

[00:18:05] Yeah, I got it. So if it’s a truth bomb, so if any if anybody’s not familiar with who Chris Barnes is.

 

[00:18:14] Right. Which also seems highly unlikely. He is the executive producer pretty well. Oh yeah. Here. Yeah. He’s he’s worked with us. He’s executive producer and principal in the business but he’s also with the Atlanta paper Apex. Atlanta. Yeah. Right. And and quite the apex trainer. Yes. Right. He’s a supply chain guru as well.

 

[00:18:37] He emceed the event yesterday, I believe he said, hey, did jokes. He’s got such a dry sense of humor. I know. We love it. We love sitting in the back. Just cracking up, laughing. And everyone was like, I shouldn’t laugh. And I’m like, oh, probably not. He probably should not. But I am.

 

[00:18:57] Did he use the word provenance? No. Okay. We’re trying to get him on that word.

 

[00:19:02] That’s right. Okay. Well, it was funny cause he started off the session challenging out speakers comes right out, says supply chain is boring. Yes. Prove me wrong. You’re welcome. And I’m centre-Right Supply chain. Stop pouring. Okay, fine. So, um, and I have to say, each of the sessions were definitely interesting. Even the blockchain. Really? Yeah. And I am not a fan of blockchain, to be honest with you, because I don’t understand it. Even after the session, I still don’t understand it. But it was a good session.

 

[00:19:39] Okay. So we know that there was a speaker obviosuly blockchain. And what was that? And then you toured the Kinko’s Group Innovation Center. Yeah. So before top other speakers, the innovation center, did you get a sense? You know, that phrase, as we all know, is very overplayed in facets of the word. Innovation has been overplayed for years. Was it did you get a sense was it one where there was meaningfully meaningful innovations impacting the business in a very meaningful way as part of that lab? Or is it one or another kind of a corporate showplace?

 

[00:20:13] You know, I had no idea what to expect. And so when they’re like, okay, we’re going out to the warehouse, to the innovation lab. I was like, yay, warehouse, love warehouse. Yeah, but you haven’t had many warehouse tours in your career. I know every one of them. Flow centers, right? Yeah. Dick Rod library desk. You think about their library? Yeah. So, um. But no. This was a very practical innovation lab.

 

[00:20:40] So they partnered up with a number of technology companies such as paying up front. Um, my favorite. Uh. Cause they’re actually testing, uh, drugs within the warehouse. Counting. Yeah. Inventory. Yeah.

 

[00:20:58] Okay. Yes. Now I think one of the other players that space I wanna say is Ariel. Yeah, right. Number is our number now.

 

[00:21:06] Daryl. Yeah. And then there were locus robots that were flitting around. It was so cute.

 

[00:21:17] I took a great fit. We’ll put that in the show. Yeah. Um.

 

[00:21:23] And there are a number of other practical, um, technology solutions set for in and around the warehouse.

 

[00:21:31] They’re actually testing these, uh, so that they can recommend them to their customers and such. That’s great. So I was like, it sounds like innovations that are done right? Yeah, I think so. For aid, like, you know, practical and meaningful.

 

[00:21:46] You know, somebody innovation centers will see them. It’s just another showplace except, you know, corporate art. There’s no work being done. There’s nothing for furthering, you know, what’s next for the business. Lu sounds like he’s very different there.

 

[00:21:59] I like that. I do have to share that as one session. The first session was on packaging. Okay.

 

[00:22:05] Which is which is is it’s in the last couple years. It’s a very hot topic. All right. Yeah. For years and years, LA, folks. Speaking of supply chain boring lot folks think of packaging. Uh, it’s just a necessary evil these days, as we all know, driving consumer decisions. It’s helping with, uh, fight sustainability. Good fight is incredibly important.

 

[00:22:27] Gray Well, I’m one of those with the packaging like, oh God, please, no. But after this particular session and you have to forgive me, I don’t remember the name of the company. We’ll look it up where I can find it. All right. But what was cool is they’ve developed this packaging called Garron Garran tab. Okay. Okay. It’s particularly for food delivery. So have you ever. Oh, I saw you tweeted about that, aren’t you? Yeah.

 

[00:22:54] So have you ever thought about if you order something from GrubHub or Uber?

 

[00:22:59] It’s in a bag that EFT and it reach their hand. I didn’t think about it till I saw your tweet.

 

[00:23:04] I thought of that. I never thought of that.

 

[00:23:07] Well, this garran tap thing is tamper proof. All right. So you’ll be able to tell if someone broke into a trailer tag.

 

[00:23:16] Except, right. It’s just like that. Yeah. And I’m just sitting there like a different part of the tribe. Kind of gross now. Yeah. You think about it isn’t it. I mean you want now you want everyone to have that.

 

[00:23:25] Exactly. Exactly. So.

 

[00:23:28] Yeah. And plus the beautiful part of the scarring tab is that it could be reused. So you can reheat. You can use it as you know, your lap aware.

 

[00:23:37] So from a political post, it’s not just the container for the product. You kids still. So it stays with the consumer. Yeah. Fascinating. Yeah. And I have to look that up. And it’s sustainable to say big, big issue for for you. Packaging is sustainability. How many of us get a box this big for something like this? Exactly right.

 

[00:24:01] And just for our audience listening, Greg said, in case you’re not.

 

[00:24:05] Yeah, hands were this far. How many of us get a box set foot by a foot for something that’s four inches by Syracuse? Yeah, you’re right.

 

[00:24:13] Well, it the whole packing. Okay. That’s a whole nother topic.

 

[00:24:16] Yeah. Yeah. So we want to get to your freight and get your police there in town away as well. Hey, we got it. We got a voice to the audience here. Right. So to finish your earlier point on that first session, seemed like southern champion Trey and Sanofi consumer health products. Were the two speaker were the three they had three speakers there.

 

[00:24:38] Is that right? They only had two. OK, well, maybe it made their champion. Yeah, that’s that’s the one. All right. It was the Greene tab. Was there a tab?

 

[00:24:45] Garron tab? That’s cool. What did I mispronounce it? No, look, I’m I’m trying to make sure I pronounce it right. So Greene tab. Love it.

 

[00:24:53] How do we help them get those? All right. After he sat there and mentioned.

 

[00:24:58] Yeah. Do you? Yeah. Never, ever again. Well, I use grew up.

 

[00:25:03] You know what? I’m going to go. I’m going to go. I’m going to tell my wife. I’m gonna stop by mellow mushroom on the way home. I’m not going to have them deliver. Yeah. To the house.

 

[00:25:12] You know, the port, the presenter. That’s what he does. He doesn’t tell you.

 

[00:25:16] He won’t he won’t order out. He goes and picks it up, guys.

 

[00:25:19] And picks it up. Love it. Love it. All right. She gives one more key take away before shift gears over to our secret topic.

 

[00:25:26] Mm hmm. Okay. So the other cool thing was shot industries. They talked about their whole transformational process. Who was that? Was a Kevin O’Meara.

 

[00:25:39] Do you remember the spitters? Lance Starks? Oh, it was Ryan Starks. That’s what that’s what Malcolm just told you, isn’t it? How? I know.

 

[00:25:48] I don’t know if you saw the tweet or not, but they I’m one of them said that, uh, according to a Korn Ferry survey, c.e.o.’s believes that tech is a greater asset than people.

 

[00:26:01] Say that again.

 

[00:26:03] Korn Ferry survey. Yeah. Korn Ferry. That place. Yeah. Right. Right. Cohen huge human capital placement firm.

 

[00:26:11] Yeah. Yeah. Said they did a survey of CEOs. A majority of the CEOs believes that. tech- uh, technology is a greater asset than people. OK.

 

[00:26:28] That could be interpreted a lot of ways. Oh, I’m sitting there going a while. Wrong one way. The obvious way seems that’s really that’s a really surprising finding. That really surprising finding.

 

[00:26:41] I mean, that goes against everything. I was brought up in a technology house. I’m a tech person. Yeah. Right. Well, my dad was a programmer, Sam, before we were allowed to leave the house. We had to prove we could do COBOL.

 

[00:26:54] I am so glad I did not live in that series.

 

[00:26:57] Our listeners may not know COBOL the computer language they used to be. Oh hell right. 70S and 80s. Gates also also the 2000s.

 

[00:27:07] Actually, I ran a company that we still had COBOL code and there are still those Rs 400 still sitting out there that needs a COBOL programmer and God bless them.

 

[00:27:17] So SIEGREICH, we’re gonna have to debate that topic maybe with the next episode. You know, we don’t shy away from some tough topics here. And the next question I want to ask you about is how was lunch yesterday?

 

[00:27:30] Not kidding. They brought it. I was there Between the Ferns question.

 

[00:27:35] They brought it in from Panera Bread. That was good. OK. All right. Getting inside. All right. So great event. I’ve got a lot of good things about what the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is doing, not just with its industry outreach, like events like yesterday bring in thought leaders on campus, but also its supply chain training pacification programs. And a lot of folks that you’ve that came up in the conversation are really involved in that. So including John Frese, who I believe is one of the leaders of the Supply chain program. Yeah. UTC. Yeah. So good stuff. All right. So let’s shift gears. And really, one of the things we’re most excited about is, you know, picking your brain around the world of international freight and cargo. I would I would venture to say a few people know it and research it daily like you do. So, you know, we’ve wrapped up night twenty nineteen, which in so many ways was a very challenging year, especially for folks that do freight day in, day out. And New Year. So hopefully it’s going to bring lots of new opportunities. So here in 2020, what are some of the key observations or key things? Maybe we should be keeping our eyes and ears on in the world of international freight.

 

[00:28:52] Uncertainty. Mm hmm. Such a.

 

[00:28:57] Misused word. I mean, it’s been used over and over, but it is. It’s, um, it’s almost. We’re gonna see a repeat of 2019, I think. I follow the air, the air cargo market to get it. I write an article for air cargo world.

 

[00:29:12] I know you’ve never heard of it based, but still, if you have if you have to get into a library. I’ve probably not read it. No air cargo. WorldCom. Yeah, there. And I’ve I’ve definitely read it. They’re based the West Coast, right? Seattle. Seattle. That’s right.

 

[00:29:32] Yeah, that’s right. Yeah. Yeah, it is. It is. It’s great people. Yeah, right. People. I mean from an air perspective, it’s gonna continue to suck this year. The whole year. You think the whole year. I honestly think it’s gonna be the whole year. But everyone’s sitting to go and now it’s going to be better. The second half. That’s what we heard that when we heard that this time last year. Oh, second half’s gonna be great. No, it’s not. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Volumes are down. REITs are flat, REITs aren’t going to improve this year. I mean, if you know anything about air. It’s expensive to begin where it is.

 

[00:30:16] And so you want to pass it on. Yeah. Yeah. Your first choice. Goes.

 

[00:30:21] Unfortunately not.

 

[00:30:24] You want to use your high. You want to move your high valued stuff such as pharmaceutical, right. Now, that was a bright spot last year was pharmaceuticals and other perishables. So you may think salmon from Nova Scotia to China. You want us to get on a plane? Flowers, right? Flower. Exactly. u._p._s. Is he, Jill?

 

[00:30:44] So it’s FedEx, Alaskan king crab from Alaska to cnrs seafood here and here in Vinings. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely wanted on a plane. So that.

 

[00:30:56] But you know, it’s gonna take more than flowers, food and drugs to keep the airplanes in the right in the air. Right. So, you know, they’ve got to work out a whole lot of issues.

 

[00:31:09] Then I thought why are some people saying Q one and two are gonna be soft, but they see they see stability or growth or whatever for Q3 and for you. Why do you think we’re seeing that analysis? Because we had this discussion live yesterday when U.S. Bank but they thought you said.

 

[00:31:29] They say it every year and start out. They are going, yeah, it’s gonna stink the first half the year, but it’s gonna be better the second half. Interesting. Guess what? Second half the year also stinks. Thanks. So if you’re a thousand eighteen. It’s the data that’s available. So you have short term data that kind of points towards the softness. And anyway, really first quarter is usually soft anyway. Right. Because it’s coming off holiday. Yeah.

 

[00:31:57] And then you have your inventory replenishment typically starting that second quarter for Easter or just.

 

[00:32:06] Stuff. Are you seeing any longer term trends in the marketplace that would have you believe that, that this softness, whatever you want to call it? Right. This uncertainty continues down to a point and then levels out. Is there some change in the dynamic of transportation?

 

[00:32:24] It seems like we’re talking a lot about last mile and a lot about about parcel and that sort of thing.

 

[00:32:31] Are you seeing if a foundational shift to to higher rates or higher volumes at at parcel at last mile and less of it occurring through some of these other modes?

 

[00:32:48] E-commerce is driving a lot. And that’s B2C and B2B as well. All right. You’ve got more and more companies digitizing, putting more, more into their business operations are more and more online. Yeah. And you’re going to see more of that. That’s just the way the business world is going to evolve. Yeah, well, I mean it is.

 

[00:33:08] Yeah, it has to if if a company does commercial or or commercial delivery like Costco is one of the biggest staples used to be one of the biggest. Yeah. If a company does that then that stuff is bought online. Exactly. We need water as you know. We need we need water. So, you know, we will will order that through Costco or somebody like that. Right.

 

[00:33:31] So then you look at the light parts. Parts Logistics Rod for the automotive industry, for Industrial manufacturing. The demand there is changing. So you’re okay.

 

[00:33:44] Don’t laugh. But 3D printing is playing a role. Sure. And this we also know that the automotive industry is and is evolving and shifting from gas, diesel to electric to autonomous. So the demands are going to be different. It’s going to be more technology. It’s just going to be more like just download this consumer.

 

[00:34:06] Consumer demand or change. Heck, they’re even changing the Ford Mustang. You know, the bodies say that that is. And I know it’s not your favorite. We can’t go there. But I think that is emblematic of exactly how tuned in to the demands and where they’re going. The generational transfers, just some of the like this last year and now like this. And, you know. Overhauling iconic cars like that. That was a huge news story for me. Whether you like it or not, the signal air cargo, though, because, you know, FedEx is doing one thing because a lot of things you suggest, right? We cover that on Supply chain both couple weeks ago. Delta seems to be and I’ll defer to the expert doubling down. This is what we’re gonna do. And even though there’s headwinds. No. No pun intended. This is a critical part of the business. And it seems like they’re they’re two completely different leadership modes. Speak to us a little bit.

 

[00:35:02] They are. FedEx this past year decided to drop Amazon as a client for their express as well as their ground. Now, whether they decided to drop them or Amazon decided to drop them, that’s another question. But the people at FedEx was like, that’s no big deal, because I really don’t make up a whole lot of our business yet. Well, OK, so that was wrong.

 

[00:35:27] A whole lot of that part of the business. That specific part of the business. Right.

 

[00:35:32] Yeah. Well, terribly wrong. Right. Because when their earnings report came out, it was like, oh, crap. And it was not good. Not that you could. It was very glaring. And, you know, for years, Mr. Smith, CEO of FedEx. Right, Fred? Yeah. I kept saying. Amazon is not a competitor.

 

[00:35:53] A good camp, a good customer of ours, not a competitor. Well, this year they finally said, guess what? They’re a competitor. Advance comes. We’re dropping them.

 

[00:36:01] Can we just put this out there if you exist in business today? Amazon is your competitor.

 

[00:36:07] Well, not only is Amazon your competitor, but Ali Baba Wells as well, which dwarfs Amazon in cycling. Sanjay, eCom, I have both of those companies dwarf Amazon. Exactly. And people don’t seem to understand that. But as a result of all of this, FedEx has come out and said that they’re taking plaints down. Yes. They’re reducing their capacity both in the domestic and international. Which is funny because on the flip side, U.P.S. is putting Rod airplanes up in the air.

 

[00:36:36] Um, and it amazes me because you have FedEx sitting there talking about on their earnings calls, how bad the international market is and and so on and so forth. Well, meanwhile, U.P.S. is over here making profits off of it. Now, granted, they’re not really super high profits off the air. But they must have figured something out. Whereas FedEx hasn’t. I’m not sure, but I’m hoping I’m betting on FedEx to figure it out within the next couple of quarters.

 

[00:37:10] So we know what really triggered this series, the kick off as the three of us had a very frank and spirited discussion some time ago.

 

[00:37:19] Fortunately for all of you, not in front of microphones, well, I decided I disagree.

 

[00:37:24] Even though even though I could barely get a syllable in, it was still a great conversation and it really can trigger a halo. Let’s listen to more of that. And one of the things that y’all talked about, both of you all spoke about was whether or not FedEx could be bought and acquired. And, you know, if you don’t, don’t I’m not we’re not bidding about spot. But if there’s anything you would like to share, breckin that crystal ball or just making a general observation. I’d love to hear it.

 

[00:37:52] Can we go back one step before we go? I’d love to go there.

 

[00:37:55] I’d love to get your thoughts on this, because during the holiday season, Amazon cut forbade their prime vente prime marketplace providers from using FedEx. They did not do the same with u._p._s. They continued to allow them to to use U.P.S. during the holiday season. So as their reason was, I have no reason to believe this wasn’t the actual cause, as their reason was, they couldn’t count on them on delivery time frames with FedEx. Do you think that that is the inability for FedEx to perform on time has some impact on or dramatic or whatever level of impact on the fact that U.P.S. continues to make hay in in delivery, whereas FedEx seems to be. Foundering a bit like I said, only a second to choose the right word there.

 

[00:38:53] So during the holiday season, Cyber Monday was extremely successful, extremely successful for all three. Amazon, U.P.S. and FedEx to the point that there were way there was too much volume for all three of them and they all three of them. Choked. Oh, yeah, yeah.

 

[00:39:14] Try to think of a nice way. I’ll get I’ll take the bullet.

 

[00:39:18] And so there were delays. Yeah. From all three of them. I have heard that there were service issues with FedEx. I think Amazon was right. I don’t know to the extent of how bad it was. There were some hiccups with U.P.S. as well. But yeah, it just it didn’t help FedEx any with all the bad press that they had been doing. But it’s now since been lifted. Yes. So. All right. I can’t help but believe that was the issue. I don’t think Amazon was just being a bunch of. Yeah.

 

[00:40:03] Yeah. So.

 

[00:40:06] So this is this this statement. Yes. World is. Was sort of the root of the discussion that we had, and that is that some years ago I said I don’t because I knew then and and I think we all know now that Amazon was intentionally building their own supply chain network, both both on ground assets and air and other transportation mode assets. Right. So and they were intentionally building excess capacity outside of their marketplace capacity so that they could resell it using the same business model they did when they needed all those servers to run their e-commerce business. They overbuilt capacity for that so they could resell. That is now what we all know as a W.S. Anderson. Right. Web service. So knowing that they were gonna do that. Use that same model. I made the statement that in not too long, some period of time, I would say still less than a decade away, one of Amazon, FedEx or u._p._s. Would not still be a problem, at least not a prominent player in the game. Right. And I’d love to hear your thoughts.

 

[00:41:17] Hey, read my article from The Lone Star yesterday. Again, it’s reading. It’s okay. I said actually that it is story time with Supply chain story time that would report. We should take it out. Yes, I could sit there, criss cross applesauce and listen to you on my little mat. OK, with my half pint of milk. Yeah. No. So tell us a little bit about that from I.

 

[00:41:44] Okay. So there’s been a lot of analysts out there saying FedEx should be sold. Now they’re just asking to be sold. And, um, I don’t believe that. I think these one well-known financial institution has come out and said Amazon, you know, should consider buying FedEx. However, their data is they’re basing it on very little data and a survey response. That was very survey response. Yeah, there’s 300. Okay.

 

[00:42:21] So how can you make such assumptions like that? Well, and then who is it, Professor Galloway? Did you read his article? Oh, my God. It was inflammatory. Really big time. Oh, yeah.

 

[00:42:32] So so does this. Let’s let’s say. Who’s Professor Galloway?

 

[00:42:36] He’s a professor somewhere up in New York. Okay. All right. And what was his article about?

 

[00:42:44] Basically, FedEx should be sold to Wal-Mart.

 

[00:42:47] Okay. All right. Yes. And it lives right in front of them. Yeah. The title I didn’t realize was that then. Yeah. It was really a very creative title.

 

[00:42:59] So to be clear, I did not state that it would definitively be FedEx who didn’t make it. Yeah. Yeah. I believe it. Right now. Right this moment. I believe that they are the weakest player in the market their way right now.

 

[00:43:12] But if you remember back in 2013, the holiday season, then U.P.S. really messed up. Okay. No one sat there and said U.P.S. should be bald. Shame on them.

 

[00:43:25] No, but Amazon did start building their own internal supply chain network. That very immediate year following GRINDLAY FedEx, late Labor Day.

 

[00:43:35] They’re gonna straighten it out. Okay. I mean, Mr. Smith.

 

[00:43:38] Well, I mean, these are big companies we’re talking about here. But I mean, and I don’t believe in too big to fail anymore after 2008.

 

[00:43:46] But but think of all the volume, all the e-commerce volume. Seriously, can two companies alone deliver it all? Well, no, they can’t.

 

[00:43:57] They can’t. But I mean, the thing that the elephant in the room that we’re not talking about is that Ali Baba is now building a U.S. based asset based network facilities and that sort of thing. And they very easily could supplant any one of these players. So it doesn’t necessarily fall back to Talent Air next.

 

[00:44:16] Popcorn LLC, I thought. So think about this.

 

[00:44:20] What he’s got about a 10 percent stake in JDA dot com. Yeah. Why can’t JDA dot com come over here? Well, Berkoff, the Wal-Mart.

 

[00:44:29] That’s the point I think, though, is we don’t have to assume that there’s only two players left. If one of these three players goes down. And I think I think we need to have our eyes open to that. Right.

 

[00:44:39] Fedex is going to be sold out now. So they can’t. But you know, another thing.

 

[00:44:44] But, yeah, that’s come out is the FedEx should either buy or partner with Shopify.

 

[00:44:52] I did hear that. I love that idea. However, they can’t buy them yet because they’re still trying to suck up TNT. That integration is been going on way, way too long.

 

[00:45:03] Well, this goes to my a B.A. philosophy, which we’ve talked about this anyone but Amazon, right? Yeah. Because Amazon has FBA fullfill. By Amazon. Yeah, but now. But there is so much consternation in their marketplace because they continue to take the top products. Yeah. And white label them and then drive the prices down to the bottom. So that’s an issue for a lot of the brands that are on Amazon and they’re looking to extract themselves in any way. That’s it so that they are much less reliant on Amazon and their infrastructure. I think this I think I think FedEx and Shopify or pick any company and any other set of of of services that are currently provided by Amazon, I think that marketplace is ripe to disrupt the current environment. Totally.

 

[00:45:51] Totally. Well, if you look at it, U.P.S. is offering services to compete against Amazon. So it’s FedEx or post office still isn’t yet.

 

[00:46:06] They can’t hang. I mean, another story for another time. Yeah. Yeah. It’s all right. We don’t have to protect their government interview. They can’t do anything.

 

[00:46:14] So let’s say I want to. Yes, right. So I want to move from air cargo because I want to move over to the ground transportation. And specifically, you know, looking back at 2019. I’m not sure. The last count we’re talking about this yesterday morning is around a thousand. I think companies went bankrupt. Right.

 

[00:46:36] Oh, my God. We’re talking about the bloodbath.

 

[00:46:38] Yes, the trucking. Yeah. So I’d love to get your take on 20/20. You know, as part of the freight payment index, this discussion. Bobby with Bobby Holland, while the Hollywood U.S. bank was talking about the equilibrium was being reset. Right. Give us your take on 20/20. You know, we hope. I mean, there’s many people lost jobs. So many people. And not that there’s any kind of guarantee when when, you know, you’re not Shnewer or you’re driving a truck or what have you. But what do you see in 2020? What will this ripple effect of that taking place?

 

[00:47:15] You’re going to see more bankruptcies. You’re going to see more bankruptcies. You’re going to see more closures. Keep in mind, the trucking industry is really, really fragmented. I know this. Everyone says that. It really is. Adam. I mean, back in 2018 when it was like supercut. Yes, there’s 2008. Okay. So you had folks running out, buying trucks. Right. I’m getting into this. Yes.

 

[00:47:41] And that’s what celadon, isn’t it? I mean, they got over their skis in terms of well, down with trouble before. Quite well, they didn’t themselves no favors by acquiring all that equipment.

 

[00:47:51] Exactly. So you have a lot of those companies that started real fast in 2018 closing down. Now you also have the mom and pops that are retiring. Okay. They’re just they’re closing up shop. And, you know, people are mistaken that as a bankruptcy or, oh, my God, they’re closing because the market knows because they’re old and they want to retire.

 

[00:48:17] Well, you know, we we, uh, we were at a CSICOP event. And Gail Rakowski from Fastrack said that the insurance burden on so many carriers is so high. Yeah. And and that their exposure is so high because there’s this whole Kadry of of litigators out there that are just looking to take down these gurt, not take down, but take whatever take whatever is deserved for their client from these companies that the that the exposure is so high that many of them are just saying it’s not worth it anymore.

 

[00:48:51] Michael, the truck we had that discussion yesterday at this symposium was a lot of discussion. We had somebody from a U.S. Express step late in that discussion. And yeah, you’re right, that insurance is huge. And it’s not helping those companies that have 1 or 2 5 trucks. And honestly, that’s really messed up the trucking industry. Is that 10 trucks or less? Right.

 

[00:49:17] Right. The vast majority of the carriers or that side. Yeah. Right. Yeah.

 

[00:49:21] Yeah. What else sticks out? Well, when we think about some of the key things we should be tracking right now. Supply chain leaders or as shippers or, you know, business leaders, we look at the 2010 landscape.

 

[00:49:39] The market’s really interesting in the fact that you you really gonna have to keep track of the news because it’s changing every single day.

 

[00:49:47] It is changing with every single tweetie, you know, like, yeah, I don’t like China. Let’s hit another tariff now just getting there. But I mean, that’s literally how it’s how it was for the past year and a half. Twitter diplomacy. Exactly. So you got to be mindful of that. Last year, are the markets that fragile and they’re very sensitive?

 

[00:50:08] Yes. Well, look, it’s been there since their arbitrage opportunities. Every time something that happened like that become there. As long as there are people who will capitalize on the fluctuations in a market like that. Yeah. And they will remain that. They will remain that.

 

[00:50:22] That’s fair. So yeah, I guess in the broader sense, maybe not maybe asking about the markets, is this too finely tuned? But in general, you know, when you tune in to news these days, it is so focused on one tweet and a tweet is what someone thinks in them in just that moment. So we’re not I’m not talking about anyone in UPS specific iconic house. Well, just in general.

 

[00:50:45] But look what it does to the stock market. I mean, it’s good policy. It’s crazy. But this month alone, you’ve had, um. I am 20/20 come into.

 

[00:50:53] Yes. Jerai first. Let’s talk about that for a second. Talk about that for a second. OK, because we get some questions. I was I was home with my mother. Your family we were talking to AM a twenty 20 to try to understand how that’s Regie. I always get asked by how it’s regulated.

 

[00:51:08] What is Brantly think about that. Well she does not.

 

[00:51:12] But I had an uncle in the family as we were talking about Supply chain. He’s like wow. How is that. How do they enforce. I am 022.

 

[00:51:20] That’s a really good question because this is a mandate coming from the U.N. International Maureen.

 

[00:51:28] Yeah, Maritime Organization organized with an S. Yeah.

 

[00:51:33] Which is part of the U.N. The U.N.. So I’m not sure who is actually enforcing it. And in fact, there was a violation of it in China last week.

 

[00:51:46] Yeah. Or wait before last. So, um, the ship has docked and is not going anywhere because they’re trying to figure out how. What kind of punishment do you give to this and who who does it?

 

[00:51:59] Yeah. Yeah. He’s gonna get the money if it’s a fine. But in the meantime, you’ve got the vessel carriers like Maersk jacking up surcharges because they’re gonna have fuel scrubbers or whatever exotic done. Exactly. Someone’s gonna have to pay for it. So. Yeah. Yes. But honestly, it’s not cheap today by anyway. Right.

 

[00:52:23] So you’re about to rattle off some of the challenges. I am a 0:40 was one. Sorry.

 

[00:52:27] Okay. And then the end of this month is Brexit and it’s a done deal. Casely gonna happen. Hard to believe.

 

[00:52:32] When he first came on, it was you, me and Elba and Lara manage to ski. And her colleague. Yeah. In the title of that episode was Lions, Tigers and Brexit. Oh my. Or something like that. Yeah, but Brexit was a big part of discussion, and it was whether they’re going to if it’s going to happen, what’s going to happen. But now to your point in the month it’s gonna happen.

 

[00:52:55] So freight forwarders are all up in arms because it’s like we all know what’s gonna happen with customs still. So still trying to work that out. Yeah.

 

[00:53:06] Speaking of freight forwarders, Greg Yoona had the great opportunity. Flex Board is here in town, right? Yeah. Been here for seven years now. In the iconic. But that’s my word for this episode. For some reason they wanted it iconic. That’s good.

 

[00:53:20] Well, here in the land of the bank on Wednesday, provenance one pic. You were here a minute.

 

[00:53:27] So the bank, the tallest building in Georgia is the Bank of America Tower. It it stands atop the Atlanta skyline. It got a couple floors. You know, the building hiring. I think they expect to have several hundred team members. Bob. Tom, it’s all said and done in this first phase. And we had the great opportunity of sitting down with their fearless leader here in town and having lunch and getting in there, meeting some of their team members and get the sense of the culture and get a sense of where they’re going. They had a great year and in twenty nineteen and you know. We’ve got at least I’ve gathered, don’t speak for you. There’s lots of different viewpoints on how they’re doing their business and how they’re not disruptive. How different this is, how digital it is versus traditional freight. Weigh in on that. You know, we we we had a a biased. You know, we’ve been you know, there they’re supporting our Atlanta Supply chain awards. We’ve done shows flex bought to be nice.

 

[00:54:27] Yes. Yes. Well, just give us.

 

[00:54:29] Actually, it it’s a good company. Yeah, it really is a good company. They’re great to talk with. I’ve talked with them a few times for various articles that are right up. They’re interesting. And the fact that the way they came onto the scene as they came out with their technology first. Okay. Unlike your traditional freight forwarder that was still used in the fine. Some supposedly still use fax machines, what have you. Stone tablets, but, uh, Flex bought came in with their technology for us going. This is how we’re doing it. Here’s our online marketplace. Boom. You know? Such a book and follow all online. It created quite a stir in the freight forwarding market and scared the crap out of a lot of the traditional excuse me.

 

[00:55:13] I guess I shouldn’t set that word even when you say it’s your word, OK. Don’t worry about it. When you say traditional folks, that traditional fare phone based.

 

[00:55:23] The straightforward once I’ve been around forever and a day Naugle can Nagl’s. I’ve been around since the eighteen hundreds. The largest ocean freight forwarder in the in the in the world. DHL freight forwarding, highly regarded. They’ve done a couple of slip ups with their pass technology implementations. But there anyway that’s another story too. Panel peÑa that was just acquired by D.S. Feeing. Those are some of the major traditional freight forwarders. They’re transforming, becoming more like Fleck’s port and everyone’s decided they need to be like flex parrilla. Meanwhile, flex sports like I need to be like them.

 

[00:56:01] So they’ve leased warehousing.

 

[00:56:04] Yes. Warehouses. They’ve they have leased or chartered airplanes. But just recently they decided us to do that fully. Exactly.

 

[00:56:16] Just probably a smart thing. But at the same time, it’s like date. You should have done this well.

 

[00:56:21] So look, I think. But that’s okay. I think Fleck’s port is like many companies who come in and disrupt a more. Exactly. They’re recognizing that it’s not as simple as it looks from the outside. And they’ve had to retool a little bit. And and particularly because they were invested in by Softbank and Softbank took such a demolishing hit by we work. Softbank is now pressuring all of their investments to turn towards and have eyes on and have a specific plan towards profitability. So they’ve had to change their business model a bit from being completely disruptive at any cost. I think I mean, is just my interpretation, but from being completely disruptive at any cost to try and break the market and then give themselves a solid position or as near level footing as they can get with a Kuhnen, Argo and some of the traditional carriers. But they’ve had to focus on gaining profitability now. So they’re doing things like divesting now divesting of of the air fleet and changing their sales model.

 

[00:57:24] And that’s just smart thinking because most of their customers what’s coming were coming from China. Okay. So that demand’s not quite there from China now because they’ve all moved into Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and so on. So that’s where they’re seeing the growth. And that’s they’ve contracted with several other airlines to move that airfreight. But what’s interesting, Flex Port started off and they still have a strong relationship with Amazon. The third party resellers, they’re moving a lot of that, that type of cargo.

 

[00:57:59] And so to your point, it seems like they’ve jumped in. They’ve got a piece of the pie and now they’re they’re looking to drop smarter business rather than just get business, get smarter business, more profitable business.

 

[00:58:16] That’s that’s that’s a fairly common for a lot of young happens every day in almost every disruptive situation. There’s sort of a move to the middle. But the benefit that a company that comes in with a disruptive vision like that is they’ve still got the vision. Yeah, well, you can still see the way that to the future. Yes. And part of the issue for some of the traditional carriers is they don’t. Yeah.

 

[00:58:37] They they they can’t.

 

[00:58:42] Mentally or fiscally get there because they’ve got so much invested in their current business models. They will undoubtedly some of them will undoubtedly be disrupted like like like Seamans was when Salesforce came in. And like, you know, companies like some of the other traditional CRM type players were when Salesforce came into the marketplace. Some of these these traditional carriers, they won’t make the transition. Yes. Some of them will acquire them, acquire a flex port or similar type company that enables that transition. Some of them will have the wherewithal internally to create a technology like that. I could see a U.P.S. that has a substantial technology investment and arm. I could see them, you know, being able to make the transition in their freight forwarding business.

 

[00:59:28] They have the vision. They’ve got an incredible culture. I mean, leaving there after our time there. That’s one thing. And we’ve been there. It was new for me. It’s just a continued lesson on just how engaging they are, how whether you’ve been there and you’re a senior leader or whether you’re in your first couple of months. There’s no rank. You know, it is a very modern progressive culture. And that’s just that’s just some of the some of the intangibles. If you look at some of the benefits, some of the ways that make it is they try to make it as convenient possible. Right. Because we all know, as I say, know, the chamber has loved his of traffic in Atlanta. Right. And if you’re going to operate downtown, the flexibility, you know, some sits on a remote working son, the benefits they have right there in the office that the culture is poised to fuel growth.

 

[01:00:19] So it’s going to take companies with culture like that and to keep up with these disruptive entities.

 

[01:00:24] Exactly. Yeah. The enthusiasm. Yes. That I’ve run across with the flex board people are it’s it’s amazing. It’s great. But speaking of the freight forwarding, please, please.

 

[01:00:34] It’s freight forward and beyond. Let’s talk. That’s right.

 

[01:00:37] So as part of my business, I do research reports. Well, that was the plan when I first started out. And somehow or another I strayed.

 

[01:00:46] So now I’ve come back and you’ve pivoted also. I have today. Yeah. Demand, right. Demand that there were Tamminga.

 

[01:00:52] So I am coming out with my first report and it is going to be on freight forwarding.

 

[01:00:59] I made it there. I made it there, hopefully. OK.

 

[01:01:02] Got a couple of more weeks. I need to finish up some stuff. Yeah, but it is on global freight forwarding and um. Yeah, we’ll announce to the world on social, please.

 

[01:01:12] It’s done. And we’ll include that show on our show. Definitely. And if we don’t it when we publish right here, we can backload it. Yep. That’s right. Also bleed or not, we are over an hour and then it will have a great time.

 

[01:01:24] It’s like it’s like I bet some of these people can believe it. Yeah. And by these people are all our audience loved audience.

 

[01:01:33] Bacillus Khaliq, a family picnic. You don’t know. Have a great time talking. Things were passionate about and as modest food will get the fan beer. So let’s wrap illness. How can we make sure we’ll make sure that folks know how to reach and find LTI?

 

[01:01:50] Oh, you can find me anywhere.

 

[01:01:52] Yeah. Said the web site is Logistics t icom. Or if you want to spell it all out, it’s Logistics strengths and insights dot com. Catch me ofsocial. I live and breathe social twitter. Robberson 0 6 or the company’s Logistics t.i. Patel at the thing. Follow me. Follow the company on LinkedIn becausewe. We do things a little different on LinkedIn than others. So we try to is almost like a mini mini blog post. OK, that will throw out there on a daily basis. Lovely’s once sometimes my business partner Dane gets care to write and weigh in past two or three things. That’s a Dane Smart former fed ex or by.

 

[01:02:38] But you guys have some interesting dean and one of the next day I get it. Yeah. All right. And we’ll make sure we include some of the stuff in notes. Make it really easy. Really enjoyed you haven’t come back on the show. I think this is your third or fourth appearance. We’d love you to. All of them. Not only because we get smarter, but because we enjoy it. You know, you get like a certain no nonsense delivery. You know, it’s fun. So when you come back, one things we don’t get to today. Just out of time is one of things the local. We talk about air cargo. One of things that the world’s best airport is doing here in Atlanta. The Atlanta Air Cargo Community system. Yeah. It’s fascinating for someone that doesn’t. You know, I’ve never been involved in air cargo down at the airport.

 

[01:03:24] So we learned a lot by featuring a couple of our leaders own recent shows. But this is innovative. It’s gonna save a lot of shippers time. It can take a lot of waste and a frustration out of finding business at the airport. So it really is gonna be transformational for that. That segment of airport operations. So when you come back with. More about the Atlanta air. Air cargo community system, what’s going on at ATF. Okay, so we have been asked which run of shows? Greg. Another great show. We clearly actually what I expected it. You know, it really. I knew we weren’t to be able to get to everything, especially in this first episode. We could have a daily episode, not get everything, all the different nuances that that take place in the air when it comes to international cargo. But a great start and we look forward to future episodes.

 

[01:04:19] There are some teachable moments in this episode. Lots of teach. I really think so. Yeah. I mean, not everybody is as tuned to transportation as you are.

 

[01:04:27] So I think there is a lot for me too. Say. So this is as good as I’ll get. I guess so.

 

[01:04:35] We’ve been chat with Kathy Miura Roberson, founder and President Logistics Trends and inside. Yeah, LLC a.k.a LTI X. We love our acronyms and supply chain to our audience. We’re gonna wrap up as usual. We’re to expedited event listing, but please come check us out in person. You can learn more at on the events tab at Supply Chain Now Radio dot com or you can shoot if you have a question about our programing or what we do or some of you heard. You can shoot our chief marketing officer a note who is not a bot. Amanda at supply chain. Now radio e-com and we’ll try to serve as a resource for you. All right. Greg in hyperspeed ludicrous speed. Yep. Working folks find this next few months.

 

[01:05:15] They can find us on Apple podcast, Google podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, which is one of my favorites and my absolute favorite YouTube. Yes.

 

[01:05:25] So if you get just got to see us, you just gotta see as if listening is not enough. And gosh, don’t you think it ought to be. Come join us on YouTube.

 

[01:05:38] Subscribe. Please do not forget to subscribe. There’s a lot of this great content out there. Yes. So join us, right?

 

[01:05:44] Yep. And if you want to see us in person, you can find us at the reverse Logistics Association Conference and Expo in Vegas coming up in early February. My Moto X 2020, the largest supply chain trade show in North America. The week of March 9th, that same week, Moto X is hosting our Atlanta Supply chain Awards, of which Kathy sits on our Executive Voser board. We appreciate that. A lot of great companies and their supply chain successes will be celebrated their MADOX free to attend. You can learn more at mutex. MDX show dot com if you wanna join us for the last Potchen awards. Small nominal fee. It’s a launch event, right? Greg is the ME grilling fillet minion for 300 of us. Our closest friends.

 

[01:06:27] Come see my apron. Atlanta supply chain. Hopefully if up behind Atlanta Supply chain. Hawks dot com nominations are open registrations. I hope it is. See, this is why my twitter account says my reputation exceeds me. It’s stuff like this when people say that let’s by chain awards. RT.com. That’s right. Don’t listen to him. He can’t finish the sentence.

 

[01:06:51] And then finally was the last of it. We got the Hudson Grill.

 

[01:06:57] If you if you want to come to the Hudson girl, not this, but next Sunday, which is Super Bowl Sunday, you be with me in two thousand of my closest friends who are chiefs fans to watch the Super Bowl Gurdjieff. That is the chief’s bar in Atlanta. Hudson Grill in San Francisco. Forty Niners. Are you serious?

 

[01:07:17] Please. We have to have this discussion.

 

[01:07:19] A.m.e. The Association of Manufacturing Excellence, May 4th through the 7th here in the 80s, L was there 2020 Leane Summit. Also in 2021. They’re bringing that bringing their big show. Yes.

 

[01:07:32] So huge. That’s right. You find out more, Amy, dot org or any of this any of these events you can find on our events tab or shejust note. Big thanks to our guest today. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. I know. I love it. I love your take. I love your Twitter feed. I learn something new every day. I’m increasing my freight IQ. There you go. I mean, Greger, going back and forth on huge freight back. You can get to the finish line first, but be sure to check out other upcoming events. Replays were interviews, other resources at Supply Chain Now Radio dot com. Greg covered where you can find us. And on behalf of the entire team, including Kathy Scott Luton here, wishing you a wonderful week. And we will see you next time on Supply chain now. Thanks, everybody.

 

Featured Guests

Cathy Morrow-Roberson began her career as a librarian working in libraries in North & South Carolina and in Georgia. However, during the first wave of e-commerce startups, Cathy accepted a position at an e-commerce consulting startup working on such projects as the first internet bank and providing strategic analysis on other projects. After a couple of years, Cathy moved on to UPS where she was part of the team that created UPS Supply Chain Solutions. Cathy was responsible for logistics research and analysis including competitive and market analysis and more. With eleven years of UPS experience, Cathy returned to the consulting world, first working with a British-based firm and then launching her own business in 2015, Logistics Trends & Insights LLC, a supply chain market research and consulting firm.

Hosts

Greg White

Principal & Host

Scott W. Luton

Founder, CEO, & Host

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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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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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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

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

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

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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Marty Parker

Host

Marty Parker serves as both the CEO & Founder of Adæpt Advising and an award-winning Senior Lecturer (Teaching Professor) in Supply Chain and Operations Management at the University of Georgia. He has 30 years of experience as a COO, CMO, CSO (Chief Strategy Officer), VP of Operations, VP of Marketing and Process Engineer. He founded and leads UGA’s Supply Chain Advisory Board, serves as the Academic Director of UGA’s Leaders Academy, and serves on multiple company advisory boards including the Trucking Profitability Strategies Conference, Zion Solutions Group and Carlton Creative Company.

Marty enjoys helping people and companies be successful. Through UGA, Marty is passionate about his students, helping them network and find internships and jobs. He does this through several hundred one-on-one zoom meetings each year with his students and former students. Through Adæpt Advising, Marty has organized an excellent team of affiliates that he works with to help companies grow and succeed. He does this by helping c-suite executives improve their skills, develop better leaders, engage their workforce, improve processes, and develop strategic plans with detailed action steps and financial targets. Marty believes that excellence in supply chain management comes from the understanding the intersection of leadership, culture, and technology, working across all parts of the organization to meet customer needs, maximize profit and minimize costs.

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Laura Lopez

Marketing Coordinator

Laura Lopez serves as our Supply Chain Now Marketing Coordinator. She graduated from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente in Mexico with a degree in marketing. Laura loves everything digital because she sees the potential it holds for companies in the marketing industry. Her passion for creativity and thinking outside the box led her to pursue a career in marketing. With experience in fields like accounting, digital marketing, and restaurants, she clearly enjoys taking on challenges. Laura lives the best of both worlds - you'll either catch her hanging out with her friends soaking up the sun in Mexico or flying out to visit her family in California!

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Jake Barr

Host

An acknowledged industry leader, Jake Barr now serves as CEO for BlueWorld Supply Chain Consulting, providing support to a cross section of Fortune 500 companies such as Cargill, Caterpillar, Colgate, Dow/Dupont, Firmenich, 3M, Merck, Bayer/Monsanto, Newell Brands, Kimberly Clark, Nestle, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Sanofi, Estee Lauder and Coty among others. He's also devoted time to engagements in public health sector work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. At P&G, he managed the breakthrough delivery of an E2E (End to End) Planning Transformation effort, creating control towers which now manage the daily business globally. He is recognized as the architect for P&G’s demand driven supply chain strategy – referenced as a “Consumer Driven Supply Chain” transformation. Jake began his career with P&G in Finance in Risk Analysis and then moved into Operations. He has experience in building supply network capability globally through leadership assignments in Asia, Latin America, North America and the Middle East. He currently serves as a Research Associate for MIT; a member of Supply Chain Industry Advisory Council; Member of Gartner’s Supply Chain Think Tank; Consumer Goods “League of Leaders“; and a recipient of the 2015 - 2021 Supply Chain “Pro’s to Know” Award. He has been recognized as a University of Kentucky Fellow.

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Marcia Williams

Host

Marcia Williams, Managing Partner of USM Supply Chain, has 18 years of experience in Supply Chain, with expertise in optimizing Supply Chain-Finance Planning (S&OP/ IBP) at Large Fast-Growing CPGs for greater profitability and improved cash flows. Marcia has helped mid-sized and large companies including Lindt Chocolates, Hershey, and Coty. She holds an MBA from Michigan State University and a degree in Accounting from Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay (South America). Marcia is also a Forbes Council Contributor based out of New York, and author of the book series Supply Chains with Maria in storytelling style. A recent speaker’s engagement is Marcia TEDx Talk: TEDxMSU - How Supply Chain Impacts You: A Transformational Journey.

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Luisa Garcia

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Luisa Garcia is a passionate Marketer from Lagos de Moreno based in Aguascalientes. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Universidad Autonoma de Aguascalientes, Mexico. She specializes in brand development at any stage, believing that a brand is more than just a name or image—it’s an unforgettable experience. Her expertise helps brands achieve their dreams and aspirations, making a lasting impact. Currently working at Vector Global Logistics in the Marketing team and as podcast coordinator of Logistics With Purpose®. Luisa believes that purpose-driven decisions will impact results that make a difference in the world.

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Astrid Aubert

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Astrid Aubert was born in Guadalajara, she is 39 years old and has had the opportunity to live in many places. She studied communication and her professional career has been in Trade Marketing for global companies such as Pepsico and Mars. She currently works as Marketing Director Mexico for Vector Global Logistics. She is responsible for internal communications and marketing strategy development for the logistics industry. She is a mother of two girls, married and lives in Monterrey. She defines herself as a creative and innovative person, and enjoys traveling and cooking a lot.

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Sofia Rivas

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

Sofia self-identifies as Supply Chain Ambassador, her mission is to advocate for the field and inspire young generations from diverse backgrounds and cultures to join the industry so that thought diversity is increased and change accelerated. Recognized as Linkedin Top Voice and Linkedin Community Top Voice in Supply Chain Management, as well as Emerging Leader in Supply Chain by CSCMP 2024, Top Women in Supply Chain by Supply & Demand Executive 2023, and Coup de Coeur Global Women Leaders in Supply Chain by B2G Consulting in 2021

Public speaker at multiple international events from keynotes and panels, to webinars and guest lectures for bachelor's and master's degrees, discussing topics such as sustainability, women in the industry, technology and innovation. Writer at different online magazines on logistics, supply chain and technology. Podcast host and guest on different recognized programs in the industry. Sofia has more than 5 years of experience from academic research and field studies to warehouse operations, demand planning and network design. She has worked in manufacturing, airport operations, e-commerce retail, and technology hardware across Latin America, North America and Europe

Currently working as Supply Chain Network Design and Optimization Manager at HP within their Global Supply Chain and Logistics team

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Karin Bursa

Host

Karin Bursa is the 2020 Supply Chain Pro to Know of the Year and the Host of the TEKTOK Digital Supply Chain Podcast powered by Supply Chain Now. With more than 25 years of supply chain and technology expertise (and the scars to prove it), Karin has the heart of a teacher and has helped nearly 1,000 customers transform their businesses and share their success stories. Today, she helps B2B technology companies introduce new products, capture customer success and grow global revenue, market share and profitability. In addition to her recognition as the 2020 Supply Chain Pro to Know of the Year, Karin has also been recognized as a 2019 and 2018 Supply Chain Pro to Know, 2009 Technology Marketing Executive of the Year and a 2008 Women in Technology Finalist. 

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Vin Vashishta

Host

Vin Vashishta is the author of ‘From Data To Profit’ (Wiley 2023). It’s the playbook for monetizing data and AI. Vin is the Founder of V-Squared and built the business from client 1 to one of the world’s oldest data and AI consulting firms. His background combines nearly 30 years in strategy, leadership, software engineering, and applied machine learning.

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Tevon Taylor

Host

Tevon Taylor is a dynamic leader at Pegasus Logistics, where he has made significant contributions to the company’s growth and innovation in the logistics industry. With a background in supply chain management and operations, Tevon combines strategic thinking with hands-on experience to streamline processes and enhance efficiency.  Since joining Pegasus Logistics, Tevon has been instrumental in implementing cutting-edge technologies and sustainable practices, driving the company toward a more eco-friendly approach. His leadership style fosters collaboration and empowers teams to excel, making him a respected figure among colleagues and industry peers.  Outside of work, Tevon is passionate about mentorship and actively engages in community initiatives, sharing his expertise to inspire the next generation of logistics professionals. His commitment to excellence and continuous improvement has positioned him as a key player in shaping the future of logistics at Pegasus.

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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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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 & Host

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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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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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 seasoned production and marketing professional with over 20 years of experience across diverse industries, including retail, healthcare, and digital marketing. Throughout her career, she has worked with notable organizations such as Von Maur, Anthropologie, AmericasMart Atlanta, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Currently, Amanda manages, produces, and develops digital content for Supply Chain Now and its clients, delivering modern, engaging solutions for a wide range of audiences.

A former Vice President of Information Systems and Webmaster on the Board of Directors for APICS Savannah, Amanda also founded and led Magnolia Marketing Group, a successful digital marketing firm. Outside of her professional life, she enjoys experimenting in the kitchen, reading, listening to podcasts, and spending time with her 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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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

Director, Customer Experience

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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Mary Kate Love

Chief of Staff & Host

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

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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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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