Supply Chain Now
Episode 328

Episode Summary

On this episode of Supply Chain Now, Paul Noble joins Scott as they broadcast live from DMSCA, and welcomeMike Manning of iTrace Technologies to the Supply Chain Now booth.

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

 

[00:00:29] Good morning, Scott Luton here with you once again. Supply chain. Now welcome back to the show. We are not broadcasting live in Atlanta G-A, but rather we’re here in Scottsdale, Arizona, where we’re continuing our coverage of the Dimka annual conference. What is Dembski? Yes, well, it’s diverse manufacturing supply chain alliance. And if this is not on your radar, it needs to be a great conference here. You can learn more at DMB, SICAD DOT U.S. before we get started with this business. Later, it will be interviewing two quick programing note. Number one, you can find us and subscribe to our podcast at supply chain now where every year podcast from would encourage you to do so. We’ve got a new subscriber love campaign that we’ll be launching here shortly. You’ll be Bill. Take advantage of that. And then secondly, want to say big thanks to our Verusen team for sponsoring our coverage here at the Dems good conference. And on that note, we’re going to bring in our esteemed fearless supply chain adj. co-host Paul Noble, founder and CEO at Verusen. Paul, how you doing?

 

[00:01:31] Thanks, Scott. Great to be here. Just keep an eye on a warm up. Yes, it is surely chilly. Desert Morning. You can almost economists see that our listeners can grab that ball and we just keep adding monikers as we introduce it as as a co-host or so.

 

[00:01:48] But all right. So put you on the spot real quick before we bring Mark in. What is one neat observation? I mean, cash, especially for the last conversation or the conference that you can share from the dense event here?

 

[00:02:01] Yeah, I think the depth of conversations shared with David last night. David, that David Burton. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Dembski leader. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Zach. And like everyone knows David. So, yeah. So I shared with David last night how impressed I’ve been interacting with the group and being our first time here.

 

[00:02:26] You know, hey, what can we do to be more involved and support? Because I think that there’s there’s a lot of great things going on here, but that much of the sessions are walking the walk. And he he loved it. He loved that outside eyes observation. And I think that that’s the take away from the individuals we’ve talked to on the on the podcast here and the breakout sessions and just the the sidebar conversations. It’s all about getting things done and working together and learning more and being curious. And I think those are all great elements to have at it. Event like this one. We’re all spending our time.

 

[00:03:03] Excellent and really accurate feedback. I appreciate you sharing with Verse of the Mind. You can find out more about Verusen what Paul and team were doing. VeriSign dot com. You know, they’re it’s they’re using an ad driven technology to harmonize data around the world, focused on materials and materials management. Yeah, I’m glad that Paul along here for all these conversations we’re having. All right. No. With no further ado, I want to bring on our featured guests here today, Mark Manning, founder and CEO with Outraced Technologies.

 

[00:03:35] Mark, how you doing? Great. Thanks for invite me along this morning. You bet. Well, we really enjoyed the brief, you know, five minute conversation we had last night. Daniel Stanton, who is connects everybody happy to connect us. And your ears have been Burnam probably for a couple hours yesterday, as Daniel is kind of telling me some of the things you’ve been up to. And I’m really intrigued here in a moment to talk a lot more about Outrace Technologies. I think it’s gonna break through. You know, I think when people hear certain words in Supply chain in a business that it just requires an eyeroll podcast is one right podcast. Certainly one blockchain is probably a close second. Right. You’re doing some really cool things that are very their impact in businesses now. And we’re gonna talk more about that. So kind of bust through the the assumptions folks are making about certain things. But Marc, before we get started on that before talk shop, let’s get to know you better. So tell us a little bit about where you know, where you grew up and give us an anecdote or two about your upbringing. Yeah.

 

[00:04:35] So I grew up in London, England. I was a Ashlea Telecoms engineer. I studied telecommunications and I was traveling all over the world, actually working for an American company. They were based out of New York. And we were installing satellite telecommunications equipment for the large banks, for international trading, oil companies, that kind of thing. I ended up working. In the international tech support team that had an office based in New York and I got a call one day, hey, do you want to come out and spend some time in New York?

 

[00:05:07] So I spent a bunch of time there and eventually they had a position open for me and offered me a full time job out and in the New York area.

 

[00:05:17] So I actually met a girl at the same time in America and I had a job and a girl in New York. The two things came together and I ended up moving. Sounds like a Hugh Grant movie that.

 

[00:05:34] How long were you in New York? So I was there for six years. And in that time, I traveled all over the country.

 

[00:05:41] But the dot com boom was occurring in California. So there was a massive amount of technology innovation occurring out in the Bay Area. And in mid 99, I got a call from a guy I’d been working with said, you got to come out of California, come see what’s going out on here. It’s crazy. Wow. So I got a plane ticket and went out and interviewed for a very tiny startup that, uh, managed to get I think it was around 30 million dollars to develop a next generation telecommunications platform and ended up working there. There was when I started, there’s only five or six people.

 

[00:06:17] Mm hmm. Wow.

 

[00:06:19] That was the trip to California. I never went back. The rest is history.

 

[00:06:24] So let’s shift gears. Well, you know, I want to bring some UPS up that I learned from you, Mark, in the pre-show. You’re a big cyclist and you cycle competitively. Yes. So before we talk about artery’s talk, tell us about where that passion was that came out of it. Would you start that?

 

[00:06:42] Well. So when I was in the U.K., I used to race cars. A car racing motorsports was that was my big thing. And I had a race car that I took over to Europe and and raced over in Europe. And when I came to the U.S., there was none of that kind of racing in the US. But I had a bicycle.

 

[00:07:00] So that’s a song.

 

[00:07:03] So I was out riding his bicycle and it was way too big for me, a friend to given it to me. And I got involved with a local bike club and they said, hey, if we get you a bike that fits you. Would you race for us?

 

[00:07:17] So I ended up racing on the local bike racing team in New Jersey and it must’ve been good. Apparently we’re not through the categories and ended up on a very large team based out of the East Coast and then continued racing. When I came out to California and of course California for cycling is amazing. Yeah, it’s amazing. And there’s such a depth of talent and the competitive level that there is is incredible. So that this race has been awesome. It’s so much fun. And it’s it’s kind of built a network for me to connect with other, you know, CEOs of companies, tech companies, CS out in the valley. It’s kind of taken over from golf and in that respect. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So no urge to go back to motor racing. Car racing. Oh, I’d love to, but, uh, yeah, it’s, uh, it’s not as environmentally friendly as the scene.

 

[00:08:09] Ford versus Ferrari. I have. Last weekend. Yeah, we did too. Yeah. And also one related that’s more of a documentary. It is shelbie. Oh yeah. Let’s something about whole Netflix documentary. And it really you know, I didn’t know his background. You know, for me with the Shelby Mustang and his name, Lunga from Models. But what a fascinating entreprenurial story. Yeah, that’s fueled with, you know, a fiery need to compete. Yeah. So anyway, well, who knows? What?

 

[00:08:42] Once you win some cycling titles, we might see a lot of racing on the Indy circuit or something. Yeah. I mean, I’m fanatical about F1 these days. I watch a lot of Formula One. That’s a that’s getting very exciting the last couple of years. It was boring for a while, but yeah.

 

[00:08:57] And I watch a lot of that. All right. So let’s shift gears and let’s talk more about Outrace Technologies. And so, for starters, tell us what the company does.

 

[00:09:08] So we provide Supply chain security solutions. And primarily we help manufacturers who are producing product in China or other parts of Asia secure that production from the moment the product is born all the way through to its end of life. So being able to ensure that your factory in China is only producing the product that you ask them to produce, that you’re tracking all of the scrap to make sure it’s not leaking back out into the marketplace and then providing that security on the distribution chain from the factory all the way through to the retailer and the consumer fighting issues like counterfeit gray market trading and diversion of products and warranty return for that kind of thing.

 

[00:09:50] And there’s a there’s a big demand for that level of transparency, right, Paul? And in this supply chain. Yeah. Yeah.

 

[00:09:56] Everyone refers to and and and and really. Linear at all, but that traceability from product to build materials through the direct materials all the way back to the source. Depending on what you’re making, I think is the absolute desired state by nearly every manufacturer, if not.

 

[00:10:17] All right. So, Mark, I wish we had your product about 8 years ago. So I spend a lot of time in middle stamping and we would supply parts to have Rod Industries. And one of my least favorite projects I was given is we had sent some some bad parts to a company and they identified whatever took place. He identified those our part. I was given the project of tracing it back and pulling out from inventory. Other parts related to that. That lot. Yeah. And for us at the time, it was a deeply manual process and I probably spent two weeks of my time. And to be fair, I was not the most engineering minded. So I have learned kind of the whole process. I did it, but it took two weeks to get back and make sure we isolated the rest of the parts from that lot so that it didn’t contaminate any other products. I bet with your solution, it doesn’t cost people weeks and weeks of time.

 

[00:11:18] Now, we could do we can determine the exact machine the exact day in seconds it’s produced on our report. One of the big side effects that I didn’t expect from the implementations that we did that big the customers really appreciate was that, yeah, we’re securing the machines in manufacturing and we’re secured in a manufacturing facility to ensure that they’re only producing what is requested on the purchase order. And yeah, we understand what the scrap goes and it can control that. But what it did give them that I hadn’t thought about was real time visibility into what is being produced at this moment in time. On this day, if so, they have a dashboard now they can look across the four factories that are producing for them in China and they can look at exactly the progress of each purchase order almost in real time. Yeah. At that factory in China. And that normally takes them days of phone calls, chasing around, you know, trying to find someone who understands what’s going on, what a demand planning superpower.

 

[00:12:13] Right. Yeah, that’s fantastic. Yeah.

 

[00:12:16] So what type of.

 

[00:12:21] Tell us about the applications. So I mentioned medal standings earlier. What are some of the common products that that you’re dealing with? Yeah.

 

[00:12:28] So our our heritage where we actually started off was securing watch production for a very large U.S. watch company and being able to provide them with the information on three specific problems. One, how is their factory performing? Are they producing additional product and shipping out the back door to IS? How is product getting into marketplaces like eBay, Alibaba, Amazon, not the ones and twos, but the bulk is getting onto those platforms as a diverted or gray market goods. And then the third thing was when they received the product back for warranty return or replacement. Is this product genuine or fake? And how much time does their incoming customer service spend trying to figure out if someone trying to request a reward to a replacement for a counterfeit product warranty return fraud? So we started off in the watch industry and that’s where our our technology evolved. We now have a number of European watch brands that are using our technology, specifically the ones who are producing in Asia. And now we’re moving into medical device and aerospace, because when you boil down the manufacturing of a watch, it’s a stainless steel machine in very much the same way as a medical device is a stainless steel component or an aerospace pie is a stainless steel titanium component. So we’re evolving now into these other industries that are from a production and supply chain perspective, very, very similar to what the watch industry does, very deep supply chain, very complex parts shipping all over the world.

 

[00:14:07] All right. So for so clearly very meaningful impact. Big, real, tangible armoire. Yep. How so? I am not a technologist, but I’m assuming your solution is built around the blockchain at its core or it takes elements from blockchain speak. Speak to that a bit because there’s so many folks and we talked to them on a regular basis. Not everyone, but a lot of folks believe blockchain is a fad. It’s coming and going. And then the other side of the house folks know that it is revolutionizing the supply chain business world. Speak to it a little bit how you’re incorporating.

 

[00:14:46] So we’re actually seeing two streams of companies out there, the ones that are curious and interested in blockchain, but haven’t deployed it yet. Maybe they’re looking at it and doing pilot tests and then the companies who have. Absolutely no interest in blockchain. And I’m looking for solutions with traditional technologies and database technologies.

 

[00:15:04] We happen to have evolved from a traditional technology company into a company that is supporting blockchain for the future. Supply chain security. So we’re seeing both and we actually run both side by side. OK. So we’re not a pure blockchain company. We don’t have a token that we sell or, you know, an ICAO strategy. There’s a lot of companies that are fallen foul of that. We see blockchain as another technology to enable our solutions to be deployed. So when someone performs a an authentication using our mobile app on a product, for example. That information is pushed into the company’s database. The brands database, so they have that tracking information.

 

[00:15:50] But in parallel, we push it into a blockchain. So that transaction is recorded on a blockchain ledger as well. And they have a choice of where they want to go to get their information and what kind of database technology that they want to use. So we look at it as as kind of future proofing. Yeah, we solve your problem today. And if you want to utilize blockchain technology in the future, we are connected to that. I mean, you can use that. So one of the things about blockchain is that a lot of people have touted blockchain by itself as it will solve counterfeit. So Greenmarket. That version is going to solve world hunger and peace and everything else that blockchain magically to do. But as I presented at that Moscow conference last year, which got a lot of interest, was the blockchain is an interesting technology, but it has a piece missing. And to make it complete, you need to have a very, very secure way to connect a physical product, a watch, an aerospace part, an automotive part, a medical device to the digital ledger.

 

[00:16:51] How do you securely create that digital twin of this item on the digital ledger? And that’s the piece that blockchain has been missing in most of the touted anti-counterfeit and A.I. diversion solutions out there. The data to the ledger connecting those two things to distribute the trust. Yes.

 

[00:17:12] Well, put those very well explaining that. Yes. Know whether it’s A.I. or blockchain, you know. We know.

 

[00:17:22] Cutting through the noise, answering the misnomer is what it is, what it’s not. Your expectation. Neither are magic wands. And there’s a strategy towards both at scale. You’re mixing traditional with, you know, scalability, possibilities with those technologies. Not replacement. Not magic wands. Right. Right. All the all the things that I x, you know, tend to explain it as we go into our customers. You know, when we’re asked. Oh, so you put that on a blockchain. We’re like, well, there’s always the possibility that you can get there once your data is in a place that, you know, supports that appropriately. Yeah, from a digital perspective. So lay the foundation, put up the studs, then put on the roof.

 

[00:18:12] Right. Right. Rather than working backwards. Right. Yeah. The blockchain by itself is not going to solve your problem.

 

[00:18:17] I have to do all the work that I would have to do anyway. Yeah, serialization is very, very important. Yeah. Know, putting in the track and trace components that allow you to, you know, actually create the transactions each point in the supply chain. Yeah. Because if you’re not pushing transactions to the blockchain, because you’re not scanning anything or anything that doesn’t, doesn’t do anything right.

 

[00:18:38] Yeah. And and I think a great place to start. And it sounds like that’s what you’re doing is. All right. Do you have a new good new finish? Good. Let’s start there. Rather than trying to overwhelm yourself by trying to transition everything in the past immediately.

 

[00:18:52] Yeah. And you have to start when the product is born. Because if you can’t authenticate that the product when it was produced is the one that is recorded on the blockchain, it doesn’t matter what happens at the distributor or the retailer. At the consumer, you have to secure it at the very beginning because otherwise all the data after that is in doubt. And that’s what people are realizing now with the blockchain solutions, is that having a blockchain by itself doesn’t actually solve anything. Right. During the actual supply chain security work with a blockchain database actually does make it easier to deploy. And that ease of deployment is something that I think blockchain lends itself to very, very well. Certainly if you are deploying in Asia at factories, connecting those factories does become a little easier. And that’s the advantage, I think.

 

[00:19:40] Mm hmm. Okay. So I want to kind of bring the conversation out a bit more broadly and market love for you to weigh in on it. You’ve got a global, a fast moving, ever evolving global India in Supply chain community. Right. What’s one or two things from a trend standpoint? From a development standpoint, innovation standpoint, you name it, that you’re tracking more than others.

 

[00:20:05] So one of the greatest challenges we find when we start working with clients is is the hurdle of the education. Initially, they don’t have a problem, but they have no idea how to solve some of these problems. A lot of companies we work with, I mean, we’re talking big, big global brands have no serialisation process in place right now. And although there’s a serial number actually on the product or on the package, no one is actually tracking it. The the number is applied at the factory. Someone’s got a label and they’ve put a serial number on there, but they are not actually capturing the data. So they’ve done the first step, but not the next piece. And we’re seeing I see more and more of that. But I see more and more companies now who are realizing that they have to do something with this data. The data is valuable to them. They’re not capturing it, but they need to. Yeah, because once it’s gone, it’s lost. Yeah, but yeah. And you know, having a serial number. The second trend is having a serial number or QR code or data matrix code is not a security solution. So it’s great for basic simple Logistics grace basic simple supply chain. Check it tracking. But providing product security is another layer.

 

[00:21:20] You can’t do that with a QR code. Creating authenticity with a QR code is it’s anyone can create a QR code. Anyone can read a QR code. So being able to provide that authentication layer to the product itself, the packaging and then tie that in as the track and trace component through the supply chain is is where we’re seeing things going. Blockchain has been valuable for us in another way, kind of unexpected in that it’s brought the conversation about Supply chain security much, much higher up. It’s created a curiosity, it’s created an awareness that, okay, yeah, there’s a mechanism out there that we need to have for tracking things. We don’t do that today. So now the conversations are starting now. And I think that’s been for me, its greatest value is as a discussion point, as a start of a discussion that leads to, oh yeah, okay. Blockchain can do that, but you can actually solve our problems today. And. Yeah. Kick kick it out. Right. Years. We don’t have to wait for that to be the solution that that eventually solves it. We can do something today. And, you know, save the millions of dollars between now and when that actually happened. Yeah.

 

[00:22:33] Yeah, yeah. Brick by brick approach. Yeah. No, we’re in construction mode this morning. Supply chain construction analogy converging here in Scottsdale. I love it.

 

[00:22:47] All right. So I want to pick your brain on something. So last night you shared it. You’ve been. A variety of startups. And I would love for you. Martin, speak to startups have really seemingly have really proliferated out in the Supply chain community. And I think the other cool thing to see, you know, kind of having been in this space for about fifteen years is that large established companies are more and more willing to partner with startups more so than than ten, twelve years ago, maybe more so than five years ago. Know if I speak to. Well, for for the entrepreneurs listening and tuned in, speak to your son, your key lessons learned from being a ritual startup contributor or participant.

 

[00:23:36] Right. So this is actually I was counting last night when when I I saw some of the discussion point. This is actually my fourth company that I founded by myself. But I’ve been involved in another three or four startups that other people have brought me into their roles. So I have actually I have a product company alongside the software company as I trace technologies and have founded a co-founded a manufacturing product company out of San Francisco that I co-founded a company called Dodo Case. And we made handcrafted cases for Apple’s iPad. Nice. So that was well, that was my, you know, real, uh, stepping stone into manufacturing. But we actually shortened our supply chain with that company and that we produced everything in San Francisco. Nice. So although it was contained. Yeah. Yeah. We realized that you could actually produce some of the parts cheaper than having them produced in China and shipped over. And our lead time was zero because we could go out into the workshop and produce one if we wanted to. Yeah. And we didn’t have a minimum order. You know, there was no order required. So for one off we went off to 10000. Yeah.

 

[00:24:59] Ready to go. Yeah. You want five tomorrow. Yeah. We’ll go out and actually produce some. Obviously there was a capital equipment investment that we needed to make up from, but it actually paid for itself within a year. So from an Froome not Trident ProPurchaser perspective. If my advice to people who are starting product companies is that you don’t have the manufacturing China. Certainly not from day one. Now you may not at scale at very, very large scale make the same margin as you would if you purchased product in bulk from from an offshore manufacturer. But you can actually simplify your supply chain, simplify your production. And what was really key for us was being able able to produce units of one, because as soon as we were able to produce units of one, now we can produce custom products in the client. Now they can go into the Web site typing. They want blue, they screen that. You know, it’s just because in different places and we could create custom product for them. And that was because we pushed the supply chain down to be able to create individual products of one. And that’s all the rage these days.

 

[00:26:04] As Gartner and many others pointed out in their research, mass customization is a big deal. Yes. Right. Everyone wants to pick their colors or pick their style or pick their texture, whatever it is yet. But their dog’s face on it. Yes, that’s right. Yeah. And companies are finding ways like makeup companies, a game or L’Oreal things. It is it is one that partner, they’re finding ways of offering customization on that mass scale. It’s really a fascinating trend in retail. If there’s one other observation. Yeah. That that you would offer listeners that either are in startups or entrepreneur wannabes or folks, you know, you name it.

 

[00:26:42] Yeah. What would that be? So I don’t pay any attention to what the bases tell you like that.

 

[00:26:50] And the torpedo. Exactly. The bases are going down.

 

[00:26:56] They are very focused on their industries. And your idea may not fit the industry that the v._c._r.s are focused on. But that doesn’t mean to say is a bad idea.

 

[00:27:06] It just means that either the VCR that you’re working with or not appropriate for your industry. You know, what we actually found was that it was easier for us to go get customers to pay us for our product and our technology than it was to convince the city species and Silicon Valley to invest in our growth. So, yeah, um, my lesson learned that of trace is that you can’t do this and build a technology company in Silicon Valley without B.S. money from Silicon Valley bases. Yeah. And then they’re gonna be banging on your door. Well, maybe one day.

 

[00:27:41] Yeah.

 

[00:27:41] Now that I think that’s a common misnomer. Not every business is v.c backed and that’s a mechanism for growth. Right. And there are different ways to get there. Yeah. And all should be explored. Yeah.

 

[00:27:55] Don’t give up on your idea just because you can’t get funding from a visa. Current point. Okay. So as we start our wrap up interview with Mark Manning, founder, CEO, Outraced Technologies, one shift gears to Demko. Clearly, this is at least your second year because you you keynoted last year, it seems. Yeah. What’s why are you here? What’s the value here and watch other folks be here. So we were invited last year.

 

[00:28:20] I met Daniel Sanson, who you mentioned, Mr. Supply chain UPS. I actually met him on Linked-In and we’d swap some ideas of e-mail and that kind of thing. Yeah, he’s a very social guy with those kind of things.

 

[00:28:32] So he’d invited me along because we were doing some interesting things with blockchain and the message that we were sharing about blockchain of. Yeah. It’s a great technology, but it’s incomplete, really resonated. What we’ve what Daniel was looking out for his company and and his involvement with blockchain and Supply chain. So he saw that idea and felt that that would be a valuable thing to share with Dembski members last year. So he invited me along to be on the panel with him. It was a very interesting panel. It had the United States Air Force Institute of Technology, IBM. Watson was there with their blockchain solution. Honeywell Aerospace. And then it was I traced technologies, these giant said, and a little guy.

 

[00:29:20] And of course, I had a different opinion on blockchain, too. The other three companies. But what came out of that was a discussion with Honeywell Aerospace, where they said, yeah, we get it.

 

[00:29:33] We understand we’re deploying blockchain and for their their marketplace, go trade their act.

 

[00:29:44] And they they saw that, yes, there is a piece missing. And it started a discussion around how I trace Honeywell and Daniel Stanton’s company Secure Marking could collaborate on a blockchain implementation. So that was last year. Great panel, great presentation led into some discussions. And we actually deployed a blockchain solution with Honeywell Aerospace using I traced technologies, our mobile application, and it’s recording the birth of aerospace parts in their production. And, uh, our technology captures that birth event with a secure I traced code and the app pushes that information to Honeywell’s blockchain. It pushes it to the trace blockchain as well, but it pushes it to the Honeywell blockchain. So they have now a blockchain record of the birth event of that part. And now they can track back again and again through its whole lifecycle.

 

[00:30:42] Well, powerful within aerospace is huge. There’s really nothing about the importance of maintenance.

 

[00:30:47] Yeah. So that leads to Dembski. This year was the hey, we had a great discussion last year. It led to a real deployment of a blockchain implementation. Let’s come back and present the update a year later of what came out of it. Dembski meeting in twenty nineteen. Some of it. Another walking the walk at them.

 

[00:31:08] That’s right. It’s going to be a book or a dance or something.

 

[00:31:12] But it is really neat to hear because our observation as first timers pulling this year is is the instant collaboration is sitting down. Let’s figure this out. Let’s let’s really plan for some action or next steps. That seems to be a big part of the DNA of this event. And so it’s no surprise. I’m glad you’re here is kind of it. You’re often a case study of what to come, of the impact of the kind of the the genesis of a of a very meaningful and impactful deployment of that collaboration. That bet that arguably started at Dembski last year maybe. Yeah.

 

[00:31:48] And what was really, really exciting with Honeywell is that they are a very fast moving for a large company. They move very, very fast. And we went from what was basically a whiteboard discussion about what we could do to a production deployment where we’re in the factory scanning product in eight weeks while in an hour, and then an aerospace engineering company where engineering changes were required, that the speed that they moved that to deploy this kind of technology. And it just shows that this isn’t hard to do. Yeah. If people want to do this, you know, four, six, eight weeks, you have to do it. Yeah. You just have to go do it. Do it. Yeah.

 

[00:32:28] No, I think that’s important. And then something around Dembski that I know you understand as a founder is, you know, this is not a conference. And, you know, any any activities around a startup selling to an enterprise is we’re not selling this to you, especially in the early stage. We’re innovating with you. Right. Let’s sit at the table and figure this out and go. Do you not not run through these lengthy cycles of. Right. Of here’s what you’re getting right. Yep. So we’ll put.

 

[00:33:01] Okay. So Mark, as we as we look to wrap up here, how can folks learn more about outrace technologies and connect with you?

 

[00:33:09] Yeah. So we have an EFT website. So I traced tech dot com and we’re also on Twitter at. I traced tech and my email and phone number is all on the Web site. People can reach out to me directly from our contact page. And, uh, yeah, I look forward to hearing from folks who want to learn more about how blockchain can be implemented in the supply chain and how I trade can help secure physical products to that digital digital environment. Men love it. Really.

 

[00:33:37] I enjoyed this conversation. I enjoyed last night’s brief intro. And this is exactly what we thought it would be a pick anyway. So but hope our audience enjoyed it as much as we did. Really appreciate your time, Mark. And we’re gonna wrap up Paul in two quick notes to the audience from Sheer One. Stay tuned. We do it. We still have more programing and coverage of the Dembski conference to come. If Dembski is known or on your radar, it should be. You can learn more deum sca dot u. S. And then secondly, be sure to check out some of the things the Supply chain now team has got coming up with a wide variety of global partners, from EMT water to events to the Automotive Industry Action Group Moto X and many more. You can check out our Web site at Supply Chain Now Radio dot com, especially the events in the webinar tab. OK, Paul.

 

[00:34:24] Another great episode. Yeah. It’s Keith Scott Ausland. Come on. We gotta keep using our spring training in baseball. Yeah, right. My. A long shot of getting out to a Cleveland Indians game here while we’re here. But this teamone Greg White holds in here great conversations. Maybe next spring.

 

[00:34:44] Well, big thanks to Mark Manning, founder and CEO at Outraced Technologies, of course, big thanks to our sponsors. Paul Nobel and the Verusen team. You can learn more about them at bearskin VTR USC in dot com. On behalf of the entire team here at Supply chain. Now Scott Luton signing off for now. Hope you have a great week.

 

[00:35:03] Don’t listen to the V C’s and we will see you next time on supply chain. Thanks, everybody.

Would you rather watch the show in action?

Watch Scott and Paul Noble as they welcome Mark Manning to the Supply Chain Now booth at the DMSCA Conference.

Featured Guests

Mark Manning is the Founder & CEO of iTRACE Technologies, a Silicon Valley company specializing in supply chain security. Mark is a serial entrepreneur and has been involved with brand protection and product security for over 15 years, delivering technology solutions to some of supply chains biggest problems. iTRACE 2DMI helps companies stop Production Overrun, Diversion and provides secure product authentication to global fashion accessory brands. iTRACE has deployed blockchain and traditional track and trace solutions through a suite of desktop, on-product and cloud-based security applications. Mark studied Engineering and Telecommunications in London England and currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Paul Noble, As Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Verusen, an innovator in supply chain data, inventory and procurement technology, Paul Noble oversees the company’s vision and strategic direction. He has extensive experience in the industrial supply chain and distribution space, as he was recognized as a Supply Chain Pros to Know by Supply and Demand Chain Executive in 2020, 2021 & 2022. Prior to founding Verusen, Noble spent over a decade with The Sherwin-Williams Company, where he specialized in supply chain/manufacturing and led its Eastern U.S. Industrial Distribution business unit. Noble graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Management and Marketing from Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee. Connect with Paul on LinkedIn. 

Hosts

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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