Supply Chain Now
Episode 297

Episode Summary

On this episode of Supply Chain Now broadcast live from the RLA Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, Scott and Greg interview Julie Ryan with HP, Inc.

Episode Transcript

[00:00:05] It’s time for Supply Chain Now Radio. Broadcasting live from the Supply chain capital of the country, Atlanta, Georgia. Supply Chain Now Radio spotlights the best in all things supply chain the people, the technology’s the best practices and the critical issues of the day. And now here are your hosts.

 

[00:00:29] Hey, good afternoon. Scott Luton with you, love here on Supply chain. Now welcome back to the show. Today’s show, we are not broadcasting from Atlanta, Supply chain City. We’re here in Las Vegas at the reverse Logistics Association conference and expo there. Big annual event. This is the center of the universe, at least with all things were versus just sticks and returns, which is a incredible aspect. And growing property when it comes to global in an supply chain manja. And we’ve had the good fortune of sitting down with some of the leading thought leaders and supply chain leaders in the space getting their insights and their best practices, folks that are that are really powering the modern e-commerce economy. So with all that said, we should mention how big Praet very appreciative of our sponsor of today’s programing, that is Recog Meurs re commerce group Industries is an industry leader. In return, product management returns center services remanufacturing re processing, repairing and recycling of consumer products. All the reas- there. You can learn more at RE Commerce Group Inc. Dot com. Quick programing note you can find our podcast wherever you podcast from Google podcast, apple podcast, Spotify and YouTube. Just make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss a thing. So welcoming in my fearless co-host. Greg White 0 supply chain. Tech entrepreneur. Trusted Advisor. Kronic disruptor. Greg, how are you doing? I’m doing great.

 

[00:02:03] I’m trying to keep it short. I know this is a bit notes with great. Truly, this is this is an under under appreciated part of the business. Great. It’s really, really important. I agree. Lots of aspects, environmental aspects, profitability aspects, customer success and sustainability access are aspects. And we have learned so much. Yes. In like a day and a half.

 

[00:02:27] Well, and the neat thing is, is as if we won’t put our consumers had all and we all are the modern consumer buying habits and conveniences would not happen without the folks here. Right. And the folks here are helping to drive many of the sustainability initiatives that is so important to consumers. And fortunately, is is getting more and more important to every company and business leader out there.

 

[00:02:53] Yeah, right. Yeah, it is. And Tony Schroeder, who’s the executive director at Arly, takes a great perspective. First, try to eliminate returns and then deal with. Yes.

 

[00:03:04] Right. Yes. So let’s introduce these guests. I’m excited about this. Julie. Julie Ryan with HP, the leader of the North American Returns and Remarketing Division within the company. Julie, how you doing?

 

[00:03:18] I’m good. Great to have you here. It’s great to be here.

 

[00:03:21] So this has been quite a day that this culminates really the day 1, the day 0 was yesterday, had a great seven great interviews.

 

[00:03:29] That’s how hardworking we are. Jules, we worked on day zero. There aren’t even a couple days.

 

[00:03:35] That’s right. But it’s been a fascinating day and it’s great to be with you here and learn more about what HP is doing. There’s so many we talked about all the time. While a lot of big companies like HP are getting so many things right. And leading the charge, there’s a lot of world class companies out there that are still looking for the right solution when it comes reverse Logistics and returns and how to handle that. So we’re going to talk more about that momentarily. But first, Julie, what our favorite way to kind of start the interview is to find out more about the Julie Ryan story and your journey. You know, so for starters, you know, where are you from? And give us give us a couple secrets from your upbringing.

 

[00:04:16] Okay. Yeah. So I actually was born outside of Chicago. Okay. And I grew up in the Midwest and landed in the outside of Dallas, Texas. My senior year in high school. OK. So now I can kind of consider myself a Texas resident. You know, you can’t. The Texans are proud. Yes.

 

[00:04:39] Kanta, I’m not a not a Texan, Technical Jackson, but I’m a I’m a I’m a resident.

 

[00:04:45] So what what brought your family moved to the Dallas area?

 

[00:04:48] My yeah. My father worked for Goodyear. Robert Company and SALES. And we we landed here. Frier a promotion.

 

[00:04:59] So. A Texas resident now. So what what? How did you enter the industry? Did you did you stumble across it in school or did you get. Did you get a word from someone earlier today? They got called from a previous job interview and that was the wrong call, wrong number. But he took him up on it and that’s how he found his way. So how did you break in?

 

[00:05:24] So I am coming into Texas, big school, big state. I went to north Texas, got a degree in finance, business degree in finance, and found the love my life. Got married. And he’s a Houston native. OK. So it came down to Houston and had that degree, but really didn’t know what finances brought many different aspects of it. Yes. And this little startup was happening in Houston that was breaking all kinds of records. It intrigued me called Compaq Computer Corporation.

 

[00:05:59] Okay. Yeah. Heard of them and yeah, a little bit of good history.

 

[00:06:05] So happened to really aggressively interview put you know, put my resume man interview and landed a job 33 years ago. Compaq was acquired by Hewlett Packard. OK. In 2015, Hewlett Packard and HP split. So I am now with HP Inc. Which is the logo, the blue logo you see with personal systems imprint. Now branching into 3D and imaging.

 

[00:06:34] So, boy. But the changes you’ve seen in those years, especially in in an industry that even regardless of how supply chain has changed the industry. I mean, it’s like setting trends. Yeah. So how did it how did you land that first job with compactly? You saw as it is starting up in Houston and you saw an ad or.

 

[00:06:58] Well, no, they’re they’re like the fastest growing tech company, biggest revenue breaking industry yet. Yeah. And you saw that. You said, I’ve got to be part of that. I want to be a part of that love. I don’t want to go for a I don’t want to work at a bank.

 

[00:07:17] Well, you know, what I love about this is that especially nowadays, Supply chain Finance and Supply chain finance chops is so sought after. Right. And siplon. Right.

 

[00:07:29] So you’re well and we money. So I landed there and I you know, I’ve used the business degree. The business classes of business courses. But I’ve never had a role in finance. Stayed in various roles in sales operations. Supply chain sales support. And in 97 and capac, there returns was I was a project manager at the time. And their returns they’re receiving was in one part of Northwest Houston. Their manufacturing was in another physical location in northwest Houston.

 

[00:08:06] And then they had a store kind of in central Houston and tapped me on the shoulder. So could you help look at centralizing this?

 

[00:08:16] And that was in 97. And I’ve never gone back. I’ve loved this space. There’s something every day. And the nice thing about it is while sometimes we’re a revenue contributor or more of a loss minimization, so everything we can do to create, optimize, innovate, we minimize the loss of at the piano.

 

[00:08:41] Love it. Love it, love it. A passion. Make it happen and make an impact. And that’s always very rewarding and gratifying when you’re in a position where you can do that, right? Yeah. So let’s talk staff more and HP. Yeah.

 

[00:08:55] So you gave us a little bit of a picture of of HP versus Hewlett-Packard. Perfect. Versus Compaq. So tell. Tell us a little bit more about what your segment of the business. Right. The returns in remarketing.

 

[00:09:10] So HP is a we have a really strong customer. We’re a partner focused, partner centric company. And everyone that buys a bysome HP, all of our customers are our resellers, our distributors, our retailers have a return program associated with that purchase. Got it. And so my team and my focus is in North America. So U.S. and Canada. So anyone that buys a product from HP can return it. And this is whole unit. So I’m not in the services, the spare parts, the warranty. All right. Event aspect. This is actually customer remorse. I went to. BestBuy. I didn’t really want this computer. I’m going to go back or. I’m working with a large distributor. senex, for example, is and they have a stock rotation. I’ve got some product that that is not moving for them. They want to buy more refractions, so they’ll send that back. Okay. And so that’s the space that we manage within HP.

 

[00:10:23] So in that case, let’s say it’s the distributor. What wasn’t it senex and X?

 

[00:10:28] So let’s say senex sends you their product back then. Where? How does your organization get involved with that?

 

[00:10:36] So we my team starts from approving the return. So you know, the arm, a return material authorization you get. You hear that a lot? Yeah. So don’t your RNA and HP, as you know, got our own world of acronyms. Yeah. So my team is working with all the partners and and approving what they want to return. And then we are U.S. return centers outside of Nashville. Okay. Canada is outside of Toronto. And they come back and we receive them and give the credit back to the customer from based on their original order. And my team knows what’s coming back. So we have a forecast. We know what we’ve h.p.’s sold. We know what’s coming back. And we have an analytical model that says we can recover the cost and we want to refurbish it, will remarket it, sell it to secondary market with an HP warranty to refurbish product or we can’t run. We have authorized partners that buy the product as is and others. We haven’t checked the condition. We haven’t wiped the customer data they have. They purchase it and they manage the processing under our guidelines. Got it and sell it with their warranty.

 

[00:11:54] Okay. So there is that a liquidator type?

 

[00:12:00] I mean, I know it’s somewhere between lahn that you’re you’re buying and Azziz in there and it’s less because it’s a lower cost product or but not in terms of they’re buying a truckload. Right. They don’t know what’s coming to them. Right. Right. You know, like a a retailer who’s got lots of my King Plow business.

 

[00:12:20] This is not a going out. It is not going out, of course. It sits at authorized vetted partner who insistant part. Yes. Okay. Yes. So. And then.

 

[00:12:32] Okay. So when when that happens there is a delineation between refurbished or. Right. Right. Is that what you call.

 

[00:12:40] Yeah. We when we sell the product or remarket the product. It’s a sir. HP certified refurbish. Yeah. Okay. And then we also there’s many times where we’ll get product in that is never been opened. Factory sealed will sell many of the times. We’ll send it back into the distribution center for another new order if it’s end of life. We we will sell it as access now. So we won’t be downgraded to a refurbish access.

 

[00:13:10] No access. So we go return.

 

[00:13:13] Yeah, but it’s never been opened. SEAL legally. We can’t. We can’t if something’s been opened, it has to be refurbished, not refurbished.

 

[00:13:22] Might be retaking the box in some cases. Right. I mean the box could’ve been open and had never taken out, you know.

 

[00:13:28] Bye bye. HP legal standard. We have to go through the entire process, wipe the drive as if it was turned on.

 

[00:13:35] Really? So now that’s interesting because that’s okay.

 

[00:13:39] Owen, ask you a question and correct me if I’m wrong. Okay. The printers. Yes. Does that fall under HP ink?

 

[00:13:47] Yes. Okay. I manage. So think of a laser jet. An inkjet printer. A consumer notebook. Consumer monitor.

 

[00:13:56] Laptop. All in while that commercial notebook.

 

[00:14:00] A commercial workstation. All of that. Okay. But do you think that it’s consumer products? No. It’s also serving our shows.

 

[00:14:07] Yeah, it’s not a server. But, you know, if you work at EFT, let’s say you work at an insurance company, you’re your computer at your desk is a commercial business, right? Right. Which comes with a lot of I.T. security. Yes. And more power than a unit you would buy at Target or Rod. So get that.

 

[00:14:30] I think you’ll appreciate this because my introduction to returns, especially the modern age, was NHP printer. Hyorin printer. My first business in startup. I wish I could say it was compact or something along that scope, but it was not. We were in the consulting and training space and we print out a ton of courseware 950 pages per sometimes 100 copies that we had it. We needed a. Heavy duty printer. So got an HP printer and. User error broke it in some way, shape or form or are maybe the paper I was using broke it got on the horn with HP, had they had a remanufactured printer LMR doorstep within like two days and which was impressive. This is this is this is back in 2013. So this is you know, that’s forever ago, seven years ago. E-commerce Sheer. Right. Right. So dollar, they get the printer there. They told me gave me easy instructions of how to put my current printer that was broken back into that same box. And in the most beautiful thing, this was I was a rookie at that time, Rya. Just leave it on my doorstep. End up with. Yes. And as a small business person and entrepreneur, which, you know, I was pulling my hair out. We had to have that course where printing and printing and printing it was. So it was probably is least disruptive to our business. And that’s when it dawned on me that the kind person I am of how incredibly value valuable to returns is because I don’t think I’ll ever return any electronic site. I just thought it was ruined and and went bought new. But it was. And so it’s very nondescript. And I’m still using that same printer today. And I was 2013. Yes. And I was still.

 

[00:16:29] Still. It left me to buy a new one. Good story or fractured one. Well, in 2013, that refurb printer came from my team. I was really in this role back then still. Well. So was this printed on a yes?

 

[00:16:44] No. Yes, it was. And the interesting thing when I heard is also probably at my first remanufactured anythings experience. Yeah. Yes. So when I’ve got I was like, well, initially I was like, CHIRS blew me away. But, man. How long is this going to let you still work in? Seven years later. And Greg. To your point, yes. This was printed. The fine folks at the at the business office cut him in half. All nice and neat form, but. Yeah. So he had to be at a reverse age 6 association event. And that story don’t me so best. That’s the that’s where we live in today. Now that’s my unexpected good experience. Is now table stakes, right? Yeah.

 

[00:17:25] Very good. So before we go broader, what what is the hardest?

 

[00:17:33] When I look at the remarketing side, what I think of you, we’ve had a couple folks have stopped by that or in the camera space and they’re concerned looking for new avenues that are viable, avenues that wouldn’t diminish any aspect of the quality of their manufactured products, new ways of of remarketing this equipment that could still do the job, as my story indicates. Is that part of the challenge? Constant looking for new channels, too?

 

[00:18:02] Not in our not in our state and in our shoes. We so h.p.’s returns organization. My team is a very mature organization.

 

[00:18:15] You’re early on with HP and both with Compact that they understood the value of what that return would do if they would just scrap it and put it in the recycling process. So they invested a lot of focus. And so we are really closely aligned with all that. The category the PNL owners print P.C. consumer commercial and as a result, our go to market for rich remarketing is aligned almost exactly the same as the forward side.

 

[00:18:55] So we have an indirect Prime predominantly interac go to market. Gotcha. Yeah. So we’re selling to the senex secondary company called PCI wholesale for. Or the Best Buy dot com versus the Best Buy. Yeah. Got it. Yeah. Okay.

 

[00:19:16] What? So you know, the season of 2019 gotten past that.

 

[00:19:23] And of course, January is really big from for a lot of folks. Not everyone, but a lot of folks were in the returns and reverse space.

 

[00:19:30] Tsan, things stick out of some key lessons learned from the most in the last four or five months that you’re going to apply for for the next season. Busy season.

 

[00:19:41] Well, one of the things that’s kind of put a little interruption, a pie in in in our world is HP globally is deploying a new ERP system. Excellent. So we’re deploying us as HP globally and therefore we are doing that as well in returns.

 

[00:20:04] And just like everything, the. Product life cycle returns is one of the last pieces that comes back on the system, so though the customers buy the products and place their orders on us for, well, they return it. So but they’re returning product from the old ERP system. That current one. So that’s kind of consumed our lives slightly. I’ve got a healton and united status because of that. Oh, no. I think probably over and above, similar to what you’ve probably heard, is the digital transformation now.

 

[00:20:42] You know, we’re we’re transforming what we’re doing with our partners, making it more a self-service portal. We’re transforming what we’re doing with our employees, worrying more, more data driven. And then with our partners as well. Yeah. So I think that’s our probably our biggest strategy going into 2020.

 

[00:21:02] Love it. Love it. All right. So before we we go broader and kind of get our finger on the pulse of some of the things that maybe your track and more than others.

 

[00:21:12] Let’s talk about the reversal. Just association. I love when when all folks and leaders give back to associations like this, but leaders from big iconic organizations with tougher schedules. That’s really valuable as well. And though you keynoted the women in reverse luncheon yesterday.

 

[00:21:32] Right. Which we’ve heard is was three times as more as a 10 than as it was like Sheer, which is great.

 

[00:21:39] And we lock the doors. No men were allowed. Froome, most of you must have been really good to sell out.

 

[00:21:45] Triple the seats last year is a great event. There was lots of engaged conversation. But yeah, I was honored to be able to have that opportunity.

 

[00:21:54] Well, I don’t want to surprise you with a question, but what was the main thrust of your presentation?

 

[00:21:59] The theme was, you know, Supply chain is a is a predominantly male driven industry. And so when us females participate and come to the office, it’s having confidence to have a seat at the table with the men. That was really the theme is be yourself.

 

[00:22:19] Yeah, be true to who you are. I love that. Don’t worry about your gender.

 

[00:22:23] I love that bomb. And if you’re going to ask the same question when it’s come up a couple times, just out of the conversations we’ve had here today. If you’re speaking, if you had the opportunity, you know, based on what you shared yesterday and any of the conversations that came up as you are enjoying that conversation yesterday, you were speaking to young ladies in high school or college that we’re looking to to start their careers on the right foot and aspire to be leaders such as yourself. What’s the best advice you could give them?

 

[00:22:55] You know, I think I would say don’t chase a title. Don’t chase a career path that you have been told to pursue. Go find what you’re interested in. Go find what your passion is and work hard. And there were there were rewards. Be yourself, be accountable, be responsible. And the results will follow.

 

[00:23:19] Love that. That is really good advice. That’s really good advice for anyone, really.

 

[00:23:24] I think too often people they ascend to the necks or seek the next level of job because they feel more of a sense of obligation to do that, then a sense of of leadership or, you know, of of internal drive to to be there, right? Yeah, that’s really good advice.

 

[00:23:47] And as a follow up to that, what value will mean you’re here support and a reversal.

 

[00:23:53] Just association this organization and thought leadership here. What’s the value? What how can folks benefit, you know?

 

[00:23:59] Rlj My work as a person on the advisory board. Fine. You could you could attend a conference almost every week. There are conferences or associations throughout the industry. What? What. I have such a passion about with reverse Logistics association is it’s not just an event once a year.

 

[00:24:22] There are committees throughout the reverse topic that are held monthly quarterly.

 

[00:24:29] There are newsletters. There are white papers. So it’s not just about the networking and the sharing and the lessons learned and sharing the best practices that take place this week.

 

[00:24:41] But it’s an ongoing access interview. Yeah.

 

[00:24:45] And it’s you know, we were we’re a small team of people within this industry with the planet, within all of our companies.

 

[00:24:57] And it’s not a real secret sauce, but we find as we share, we have a lot of common. Yes. Pain points and common leverage that we can. Miura and we take advantage of that through this association.

 

[00:25:09] Love it. Love it. Big value there. Okay.

 

[00:25:12] Gregory, broader, right? Yeah. Yes. Yeah. You might. This is my favorite question. Crystal ball question. Right. So think about some trends or challenges or innovations or whatever that you see in the marketplace that you’re tracking today or that have got you know, you’ve got in the forefront of your mind today.

 

[00:25:30] So I mentioned the digital automation, you know, and that’s a big word in in our in our my space that it really can touch like three different areas because my operations is outsourced.

 

[00:25:43] So though we do the remarketing inside and do the return approvals within HP employee teams, all the operations are outsourced. So working with our outsource past partners, driving innovation, driving automation. You’ve heard EEI.

 

[00:26:04] So the LDI signals instead of getting into the system and doing transactions. Yeah. That’s a big drive. And then just trying to partner the other probably biggest piece from a big as partner with our partners on refusals, you know, getting ahead of the game for refusals it either it being damaged or duplicate orders or the wrong address and trying to get those maybe the supply chain consumer refusals consumer commercial. Right. Yeah. Ship it to somebody and they say no thank you. Right. Or you know we ship it to a a warehouse. It’s forward supply chain. So we are a hub and there could be two printers brought, you know, damaged on the bottom of the pallet. Got it. That whole pallets coming back right after their fourth driver drives. Oh, but they didn’t do that.

 

[00:27:08] Yeah. So I’m really trying to get a head in one step.

 

[00:27:13] So we’re working with the freight carriers. Yeah, the big carriers.

 

[00:27:16] We’re working with our logistics team to optimize that because they have a lot of cash flow because it’s it’s still factory sealed product.

 

[00:27:26] Yeah. Yeah. And it’s effectively never invoiced at that point too. So it is a pretty substantial your fault. You’re the finance.

 

[00:27:34] Yeah. I’ll just.

 

[00:27:36] Yeah but it becomes an instant burden on the finance at that point.

 

[00:27:40] Yeah. And I think the other challenge because we are remanufacturing so many of the returns it’s working with are primarily retailers to get everything we sold them back.

 

[00:27:54] So the accessory the you know, this is Di Powercor if it’s a notebook and now they’re touchscreen. Yeah, well guess what? Those customers love to keep those stylus pens expensive. Yes. So we’ll get the notebook back. Sometimes we get the charger back, ma’am.

 

[00:28:12] Nine times out of 10, we don’t get that stylus pen. And that’s an additional cost. Yeah. To to remanufacturing.

 

[00:28:19] So working with the retailers, that’s that’s probably another big challenge that we have.

 

[00:28:25] My guess is if they’re anything like me, they lost the stylus pen almost as soon as I opened the. But it fell on. We rolled on that rolled under the couch into the trash with the phone. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Right.

 

[00:28:37] So how can our listeners, you know, get in touch, clearly. But I know that you have planned some seeds that are going to want to follow up. And Benchmark’s other things are doing because it is a it seems to be I’m not a part I’m not a reverse Logistics practitioner. Yeah, right. But but having been active in Supply chain about fifteen years, this community here, clearly there’s a lot of camaraderie, particularly around reverse practitioners. Submit some of stuff you shared. Folks, I want to compare notes as part of that. Yeah. Community, what’s the best way to connect and also connect and follow with HP whether you’re interested in a refurbished product?

 

[00:29:17] We do have a little bit of a direct arm. It’s our commercial product, our commercial p._c.s. It is a business outlet. Yep. And you can navigate that on the HP dot com portal. And though not a true online Web site, you’ll get a list of the available products and you can purchase that. All the other product that we sell. Again is through our distributors. So you go to PCI wholesale, you go to d.N.A.

 

[00:29:49] H.

 

[00:29:50] So you know, the last five one and and you’ll you’ll see a refurbished product. But if they want to reach out to you now, do we. How do you want to hire. The best way to do that is through LinkedIn.

 

[00:30:04] Yeah. Or smart.

 

[00:30:06] Give me your selma. or so they can come check out the women in reverse leadership lunch next year where you may know a keynoting, but I bet you’ll be here, right?

 

[00:30:19] That’s right. Well, you are in this industry. Yes. And have not come here. You. You’re missing out.

 

[00:30:25] Perfect. Great way in em. And of course, it’s all over our podcast or our month, the reverse Logistics series. We do, of course, our Web site, but RLA dot org for more information on joining or participating with a reverse Logistics association. Julie, I’m so glad we had a chance. Sit down between your visor board your role at HP and your show. Here you are.

 

[00:30:47] Your nametag. I mean, I think I win. And it got stolen. Right. Jaysus So many colors. So between all of the things that he was about to mention which are documented here. Visual manage. I don’t know how you have the time to have this discussion, but we sure appreciate you do. It’s been my honor.

 

[00:31:07] Yeah. We appreciate it, Julie, and appreciate you taking time to get back and share perspectives both with the industry as well as, you know, a lot of female practitioners that are on their own journeys. All right. So we’ve been speaking with Julie Ryan with HP. What a great way to kind of wrap up day day one sponsored by Good Friends at Rickon Murse and wonderful conversation on solid cleanup hitter on Hank Aaron’s birthday.

 

[00:31:34] What could be appropriate? Man, you quit. You are quick.

 

[00:31:39] Well, what we want to do real quick. Julie, before you wrap, just let’s cover a couple of events expedited that we’re gonna be at. We always like to invite our audience and supporters to come check us out in person. Come be part of these conversations that we’re having right here right now. Yeah.

 

[00:31:55] What’s next on schedule mode X 20, 20, March 9th through 12th in Atlanta, Georgia, and worthy Skitter World Congress that are Daniel McKinnon might have something to say about that. Madox show dot com. Free to attend great displays, material handling products and small factories and big vehicles. It’s it’s a it’s a blast sensory overload. If you’re in it is. Supply chain is a great technology there. The ninth through the 12th. Like I said it free on and on Tuesday at Moto X is the Vetlanta Supply chain awards at 10 a.m. until 1:00 30 ish p.m.. Depends on how long you want to talk to Scott afterwards. Atlanta Supply chain Awards dot com that is celebrating all of this cool supply chain companies in Atlanta whether in Logistics or or warehousing or technology or whatever aspect of your end, there is an award for you. So if you feel like you deserve it, don’t be ashamed to nominate yourself. If you want to sponsor, that’s great. We’re getting filled up and if you want a seat at the table, as we’re talking about here, if you want a seat at the table, literally. To eat your lunch, then you better get better get in there quick because we are selling out soon.

 

[00:33:14] First year was last year. We sold out a couple weeks out. The second year event we’ve got Christian Fisher, president, CEO of Georgia-Pacific, keynoting the Atlanta Supply chain. Words were very appreciative that Madox is hosting that event. But the cool thing is mutex is free. Jatin as you shared. Supply chain awards rt.com for more informational registering for that event or nominating now February 15th deadline for nominations. I am sorry. Yeah, come out. And only requirement we have is if you have a you have to have some kind of presence or operation or something in the metro Atlanta. Twenty nine county area which is massive, bigger than what most people think. I wonder how many. I wonder if that’s a lot. Seems like that’s a lot doesn’t. Yes. So then after we get past the busy, much of the month marks melt away. We’re streaming live on the floor mode X, right? Yeah, that’s right. For days. Well, we won’t actually be on the floor, but our chairs will be. So you get Sheer could get here in Vegas. All right. So A-G.

 

[00:34:11] Yes, the Automotive Industry Action Group and Corporate Responsibility Summit, that’s April twenty eighth and twenty ninth and no VI Michigan. And by the way, free ticket to that, if you can. If you can. Let us know what note where no VI got its name from. We’ll never guess. And then also June 9th with AIG again, their Supply chain summit and then June 10th, we’re gonna be spending some time with the folks at Wayne State University. Correct. Talking about cool supply chain topics with their professors and students to other interested parties.

 

[00:34:45] Yeah, we’ve heard a lot of good things about their supply chain program and looking forward to seeing what they’re doing with what’s working so well and sandwiched in between those two A.M.E..

 

[00:34:55] Atlanta, 2020 Lean’s Summit May 4th through the 7th, the Association of Manufacturing Excellence. So we’re gonna be actually streaming on the first day of the. That’s right. Of the summit. And they’re gonna be talking about Six Sigma lean continuous improvement topics for manufacturers. Great organization.

 

[00:35:17] Yep, absolutely. And that’s the precursor that Lean’s summit in May in Atlanta is a regional event and about 250 or so folks and their twenty twenty one big international events coming to Atlanta just about a year from there. So they’re looking forward to that. So come out checks out in person. Big thanks again to our guest. All of our guests today, but especially our cleanup hitter, Julie Ryan with HP. Really enjoyed. Again, your thought leadership and what you’ve share with our audience to our audience. Thank you for tuning in. Be sure to check us out wherever you’re podcast from, including YouTube. But you’ve got to subscribe so you don’t miss anything. We published Monday through Friday, which is a bit of an odd bird for a podcast. But there’s all that and more to cover across the End to end Supply chain community. Also find our previous shows. Are upcoming events more informational? Any of that other resources at Supply Chain Now Radio ICOM on behalf of Greg White and the whole team here? Scott Luton. Luton looting.

 

[00:36:19] Hey, finally, you mispronounced your name.

 

[00:36:22] Wishing to wish you a wonderful week ahead. Stay tuned as we continue our live coverage of the Reverse Logistics Association conference and expo right here in Vegas. We’ll see you next time.

Would you rather watch the show in action?

Watch Scott and Greg as they welcome Julie Ryan to the Supply Chain Now booth at the RLA Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, NV.

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Greg White

Principal & Host

Scott W. Luton

Founder, CEO, & Host

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Kim Winter

Host, Supply Chain Now

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

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

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

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Joshua Miranda

Marketing Specialist

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

Donna Krache

Director of Communications and Executive Producer

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

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Vicki White

Controller

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

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Katherine Hintz

Creative Director, Producer, Host

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

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Kim Reuter

Host, The Freight Insider

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

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Kristi Porter

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Sofia Rivas Herrera

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

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

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Demo Perez

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

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

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Mary Kate Love

VP, Marketing

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

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

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Adrian Purtill

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Kevin Brown

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Jose Miguel Irarrazaval

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Nick Roemer

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Allison Giddens

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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

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Billy Taylor

Host of Dial P for Procurement

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

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

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

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

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Tandreia Bellamy

Host, Supply Chain Now

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

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

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

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

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Mary Kate Soliva

Host, Veteran Voices

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

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Scott W. Luton

Founder, CEO, & Host

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

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

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Greg White

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

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

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

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Chris Barnes

Principal, Supply Chain Now
Host of Supply Chain is Boring

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

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

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Tyler Ward

Director of Sales

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

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

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

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Kevin L. Jackson

Host of Digital Transformers

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

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Enrique Alvarez

Host of Logistics with Purpose and Supply Chain Now en Español

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

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

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Kelly Barner

Host of Dial P for Procurement

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

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Constantine Limberakis

Host

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

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Amanda Luton

Vice President, Production

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

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Clay Phillips

Business Development Manager

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

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Trisha Cordes

Administrative Assistant

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

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Chantel King

Social Media Manager

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

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

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

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Lori Sofian

Marketing Coordinator

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

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Katherine Hintz

Sales and Marketing Coordinator

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

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