Supply Chain Now Episode 362

Episode Summary

On this episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott and Greg cover the top news in supply chain for the week of May 18th.

Episode Transcript

Intro – Amanda Luton (00:00:05):

It’s time for supply chain. Now broadcasting live from the supply chain capital of the country, Atlanta, Georgia, heard around the world. Supply chain now spotlights the best in all things. Supply chain, the people, the technologies, the best practices and the critical issues of the day. And now here are your hosts.

Scott Luton (00:00:29):

Hey, good afternoon, Scott Luton. Greg white with year on supply chain. Now welcome to today’s live stream. It’s all about supply chain buzz or Greg and I are going to be tackling some of the biggest developments and news that have taken place in recent days. Uh, Greg folks are, stay tuned as we look to increase their supply chain IQ, right?

Greg White (00:00:47):

They should. Some of these developments are in recent hours. Uh, I think moving this to noon while it’s a little bit later in the day for folks, um, across the pond and around the world. Mmm. We get a lot more of the updated that released today kind of news. So stay tuned.

Scott Luton (00:01:08):

Agreed. And it’s nice not to be able to, not to have to get up at 4:00 AM Eastern also that. But Hey to our audience, we’re still experimenting with the timeframe. So feel free to submit your feedback to us and let us know what you prefer. Alright, so Greg, what we’re going to do as we always do is talk about this day in history, right? Yeah. To do that. Let’s bring up a little graphic here. Uh, Greg, take a wild guess. What do you think that that contraption does?

Greg White (00:01:40):

So I have a bit of an advantage here because in college one of my jobs was mowing greens at a golf course. And so that is a real type mower. Also, my great grandparents made me mow their front yard where they real type mower. That is a really fancy and advanced one.

Scott Luton (00:01:59):

Well, so what you’re looking at, so on this date, May 18th, 1830, Edwin budding, uh, formed an agreement to have his invention. The lawnmower manufactured, uh, get this budding was an engineer from Eastern Titan Stroud and Southern England had to look that up. Uh, he got the idea for a lawnmower after touring a cloth mill, right? A manufacturing site and, and watching a series of Clippers come over the top of the cloth and kind of take some of the burrs, right? Some of the lesser quality stuff. So this first lawnmower was pushed from behind, but also if you can tell there it could be pooled. So I guess maybe if you didn’t cut your lawn for a month or two and you need, you might need two folks to push it and pull it as it was doing its business, uh, grass clippings rather than grass clippings. Like most models are, would be gathered in the back. It was collected on the front end. Um, so I’ll tell you what, when I read this article, and again, this is May 18th, 1830, uh, it reminded me of where I spent most of my time on this snapper rear engine rider, which in the eighties I was on that thing more off, more oftentimes on Saturdays, right. As a preteen driver, only hit six trees and took out two cats. So that wasn’t too bad. Greg,

Greg White (00:03:19):

I got to tell you that, that that is a really stark realization that the real mower was invented in 1830 and my great grandparents were still using one in the 1970s

Scott Luton (00:03:32):

so

Greg White (00:03:33):

not, and not nearly this sophisticated. And they still exist. The plain old push kind still exists to this day. A really interesting, I wonder what people did to clip their lawn before that.

Scott Luton (00:03:48):

No idea. Goats notes maybe. Alright. So, uh, one of the, when I say low to, uh, Richard own LinkedIn is saying snapper is the pride of McDonogh Georgia. That’s right. They had a big, big site there for a number of years. Wow. Um, good stuff there. All right, so let’s keep driving. Um, well first off, Greg, what did you, you know, when you got your first house, what did you cut the grass with? What model? Do you remember?

Greg White (00:04:14):

First house? Yeah. Um, I borrowed my neighbor’s lawn. Boy, do you remember that brand? I assume it’s still out there because my, I remember feeling like we were rich when my mother finally bought a lawn boy, which is kinda like the Kirby of lawnmowers. Nice. Um, so, okay. I don’t recall if we bought a lawn boy, but I remember that we borrowed one for sure.

Scott Luton (00:04:43):

Hey, learn something new every day. And hello? Susan Moody, who also joined us on the LinkedIn feed. Uh, all right, so on this day in history, 1953, May 18th, 1953, Jackie Cochran became the first female to break the sound barrier. So you take a wild guess, uh, in terms of miles per hour, what’s the sound? What’s breaking the sound barrier require Greg? 714 miles an hour. Wow, that is a great guest. So in case you’re curious, the speed of sound in dry air at about 68 degrees is 767 miles per hour.

Greg White (00:05:17):

I’ve been missing, I’ve been misunderestimated it

Scott Luton (00:05:20):

for years. So a pioneer of women’s aviation and really a great business leader. Jackie Cochran flew an F 86 saber three own loan from Canada to break the record or break the barrier. Uh, in fact, the U S government refused to lend Jackie Cochran an aircraft to do it, which I found interesting. Um, history shows, but you know, Jackie Cochran wasn’t just an incredible pioneer in women’s aviation. She was also an outstanding business leader. The AP Gregg named her woman of the year in business two consecutive years, 53 and 50. Wow. It’s been told that whatever she, with the exception of one election for Congress, which was a nail biter, she was successful in just about anything she tried. Do we know what her business was? I’m curious, I’m really curious. From my cursory research, it was a retail and specifically I think cosmetics. She was involved in, in growing cosmetics firms.

Scott Luton (00:06:20):

But I think, wow, that probably doesn’t do it justice. How, how w was she a military pilot? I’m curious, how do you get qualified to fly a jet if you’re not a military pilot? Greg? It’s the three, right? We’re going to have to offer him the rest of the story. Maybe it takes however it was. You can bet in those days you had to fund that training herself. That’s right. That’s right. Uh, it is. And by the way, that snapshot there to the left for folks who are tuned in where they can see the live stream, that’s, that’s Chuck Yeager who was the first male of course, to break the sound barrier. So what a great team there. Uh, want to give a quick shout out to Kathy Maura Robertson. Hello. Kathy is tuned in I think via YouTube, I’m sure between research and other projects. Kathy hit a home run on the vet Lana breakout session that KPMG hosted last week on the future supply chain, by the way. So good stuff there Cathy. All right, so Greg, let’s talk about what this day is across the world, right. May 18th, Victoria Day in Canada, right. Our friends to the North Baltic fleet day in Russia, victory day in Sri Lanka. Uh, internationally is world AIDS vaccine day and a lot, lot of May 10th was a busy busy day across the world. Yeah, no kidding.

Scott Luton (00:07:44):

We’ve got Patrick Kelly is tuned in via LinkedIn live. Hello Patrick. Looking forward to reconnecting with you and, uh, the produce podcast. I get some, some of those notifications just about every day as they release new episodes. Good stuff there. Um, alright, so, so Greg, with all that said, I want to dive into the buzz, huh? Yeah, let’s do it. All right. As usual, when we dive into the buzz and we talk about supply chain, what are we going to talk about? Toilet paper is like ideas. Everybody’s got some, um, and in most cases more than they need. Uh, so this is from a fortune article and I know toilet paper probably sounds like old hat to us in the supply chain trade, but some interesting, an interesting look back and an interesting perspective from some experts and observers in supply chain. So, um, and I think it also, uh, produces an interesting perspective that we as supply chain professionals need to think about. But let’s talk about the story first. Mmm. On March 13th, 2020

Greg White (00:08:56):

sales were up 734% over the same day last year. Does anyone know what happened a day or two earlier? Uh, prior to March 13, 2020 I see. Who announced that Corona virus was a global pandemic and Scott, you and I and the supply chain now team, we were still at mode X, um, a trade show, the probably the last trade show, last physical trade show actually done. Um, and I recall on the drive home having the discussion should we go get stuff? Hmm. At that point. But in any case, that was a huge, uh, uplift and about, uh, according to the article, about 40% of the increase is attributable. Two additional home use. And that’s relevant based on going to a point that we’ll talk about here in just a few minutes. By March 23rd, 70% of us grocery stores were out of stock. Um, and the article further goes to the article author, gin [inaudible].

Greg White (00:10:13):

Um, I think you nailed it. Something like that. Yeah. So I’m sorry, Jen. Um, the perception that there is a shortage later becomes a reality and that’s, that really goes to a lot of what we’re experiencing. Um, some, you know, I think what we’re seeing is that recovery has been slow because of the level of panic demand overall up until about may two is still 75% higher then then normal demand for the same period from March 13th to May 2nd in the past year or actually on average. So that even considered some other peaks in demand as well. The argument in the fortune article is that supply chain is broken in and it’s difficult to recover and I think there are some issues of course in how to understand and communicate that demand backup stream. But I think that goes to the farther discussion, and this is switching to opinion here, but also ex also experience.

Greg White (00:11:18):

Mmm. That one people weren’t running out of paper and I don’t, I know a lot of people and I don’t know anyone who’s out of toilet paper, right. The stores are out of toilet paper. [inaudible] one of the assertions made in the article is that the demand, the demand was shifted forward by people hoarding and panic buying [inaudible] um, I think it’s arguable that that’s the case. Some people have argued that, um, it was because of the fact that people weren’t going to work and, and um, and having, there’s a really interesting euphemism that the industry uses. It’s just that I want to make sure that I capture it. I’m sorry I didn’t write that down, but, um,

Scott Luton (00:12:02):

there you go. Uh, so I think that there’s a video in the article from, from fortune magazine. Yes. That’s probably what we’re hearing. Yeah. Okay. Everyone’s got to have video these days.

Greg White (00:12:20):

That’s good. If you want to hear from the author, not a supply chain expert, but if you want to hear from the, the journalist who made the article, it’s in, it’s in the article there. But in any case, Mmm. The uptick in demand is only attributable by about 40% to people being home instead of being in, uh, at work in restaurants or out in public elsewhere. So still the demand was significant. And I think this goes to the further point that, and this is something we need to really strongly consider as supply chain professionals and that is that the consumer is part of the supply chain. And in fact the supply chain begins and at this point ends

Scott Luton (00:13:03):

with

Greg White (00:13:04):

the consumer. So if we, as we talk about circular economy and we talk about demand, we need to think about the consumer as part of the supply chain.

Scott Luton (00:13:12):

That’s right.

Greg White (00:13:14):

[inaudible] by doing that, what we’ll recognize is it goes to a further supplemental article that um, is in another, another one that I looked at this morning that says the whiplash effect is about to come home and as production catches up, there will be a glut, a surplus of toilet paper in the stores relatively shortly. Some experts, supply chain experts from Syracuse and South Florida both, um, have have stated that as well in an, in another article. So yeah, if we recognize that consumers are part of the supply chain, we recognize that while there is a shortage in the marketplace, there is not a toilet paper shortage unless some, unless there is a massive people who are not reporting their inability to have or hold toilet paper. Because I can tell you there’s not a shortage in our household. I mean it’s not like we’re hoarding, right. But, but it is hard for the supply chain to keep up and catch up right now.

Scott Luton (00:14:15):

Right. Yeah. Good stuff there. Um, in fact, you know, uh, clay, the dog is one of our quarterbacks. He’s behind the scenes as well as Amanda, our CMO. And, and Amanda just shared with me that, uh, while we were at mode X, she had just placed an order for TP to be delivered. So as we were driving home and thinking about supplies, fortunately our forecast at the Luton residents was dead on the money. So, and we, and we refused to hoard. In fact, uh, kidding aside, I think a mandate was a month later, maybe three weeks later, before we needed to our next order, which just enough, right? It wasn’t multiple packages. We tried not to give in, um, Hey, real quick, want to say hello to a bear? 20 2014 who’s tuned in via, uh, uh, Twitter, I believe also Benjamin gold claiming a regular listener here on the bus as well as one of our fierce competitors own supply chain trivia, which we’ll talk about that at the end of today’s show. And Muhammad Hassan is tuned in via LinkedIn’s live. So great to have you. So a competitor on trivia. I think you’re right. I think, I think, uh, you know, we’ve got a,

Greg White (00:15:28):

I know that that’s happening.

Scott Luton (00:15:30):

We have a trial of trial of trivia super competitors for sure. Yeah. Alright, so let’s keep driving here. We’re going to dive into the second story. And Greg, you didn’t have anything to say before we leave this first one about the Dallas Cowboys fan and the graphic. I am surprised that we didn’t get a Greg white witticism on that.

Greg White (00:15:48):

Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t even notice that you even mentioned that pre show and I did not notice that. That was like a Dallas hat.

Scott Luton (00:15:55):

So I know our friend Kevin Taylor

Greg White (00:15:57):

Taylor, who we’ve already talked to, so we’ve already had the chance today to give him for, well, for being a Cowboys and an a and M Aggies fan.

Scott Luton (00:16:05):

That’s right. That’s right. All right, so we’ll keep driving. Yeah, we won’t, we won’t step on any of Kevin’s toes. Hello to Pierre and Manish, uh, who are both tuned in via LinkedIn as well. All right. So moving right along into our second story. So, um, you know, Greg of course has a lot a lot of talk around reassuring and near showing manufacturer as a result of the pandemic environment. Lot of moving pieces there. Um, you know, however, as you and I both know, a lot of folks in the supply chain industry understand that it’s not quite that simple, right? Global supply chain is very complex. So this story here that comes to us from CNN business, uh, shed some light on one such complex supply chain and that is generic drugs. So check this out. So for starters, here in the U S 90% of all subs prescriptions are filled by generic drugs, right? And for good reason, the biggest reason perhaps is the average 80 to 85% price break between generic and branded drugs. Right, right. But did you know that one in three generic pills taken by Americans is produced by generic pharma manufacturers in India? Did you know that? I didn’t know that. Um, you knew that Greg, Greg,

Greg White (00:17:20):

I worked with Henry shine when I started a previous company. So I’m pretty familiar with the dynamics of that supply chain. We’ll get into that. Yes, I can hear

Scott Luton (00:17:31):

well as usual, Greg is, uh, three steps ahead of me, which, uh, I’ve used to by now. Alright. I’m sorry. No, no, no. So if you move, let, let’s move a little bit further upstream in the generic drug supply chain, you’re going to find that India gets about 68% of its raw materials in this case API APIs from China. And, and you know, if we all, there’s probably a short list of acronyms that we all are learning, whether you’re in supply chain or consumers through this pandemic environment and an API is on that list, right? Active pharmaceutical ingredients, essentially foundational ingredients of, of any medicine. That’s right. Absolutely. Basically the raw materials used to make pharmaceuticals. So this year it’s been really challenging to predict, uh, protect that flow of API, which are critical to making these drugs from China into India. Consider this. So of course in January, China entered a lockdown, uh, many Indian firms and manufacturers are really scrambling.

Scott Luton (00:18:34):

In fact, I saw reports where they’re going into local markets and paying a huge price for a smaller batch just to keep these production lines going in March. As China opened back up, the challenge has shifted less about supply and really more about getting it through all of these local border shut downs. Right? It became more of a logistics issue. In fact, I think it’s moved over land to India from China, right? It does not go on the ocean. So API imports into India from China were down some 40% in March according to Indian government officials. So the question is, and we talked about this and I think the last couple buzzes, right? As we’re trying to navigate through what really should be reassured versus this mantra that may not be well grounded and well reconnected. You can’t move everything back to the States. So it’s a great initiative.

Scott Luton (00:19:28):

It really is. But we need to temperate with some reality. That’s fine, frankly, tempering it with that reality will allow us to be more effective at making as much of it as we possibly can happened. Great point. You gotta be realistic about this. And, and, and you, you can’t, uh, do your homework, right? But there’s a lot of folks that are weighing in without perhaps, I’m not making any accusations, but perhaps don’t have a full understanding of global, uh, complex supply chains and why they’re overseas. And, and that’s not a, that’s just a very generic comment. So, so what do we do from here with all of these lessons learned and what’s come to the surface? So here’s two things. So in India, uh, let’s see here in India, you know, back during the 2008, Beijing Olympics, you know, the Chinese government wanted, uh, to create that blue skies initiative as we had all these world visitors flock to Beijing.

Scott Luton (00:20:20):

So they shut down a lot of these API manufacturers and lots of other industry for three weeks. So naturally back in 2008, that Indian manufacturing firms scrambling, right? And, and there was a lot of talk at the time of creating what they called a mega pharma park, right? To help prevent these, these massive changes and really repercussions from them. Well that idea was largely shelved of lack of investment or perhaps lack of investment interest. Well, that ad is back on the table because of these recent challenges they’ve had and in fact, so much so that at one point $3 billion package has been introduced in, uh, via the Indian government to make this mega pharma park happen. So we don’t have time to go into all the details, but it really, it’ll limit their dependence on going overseas or going to other countries for the API ingredients.

Scott Luton (00:21:16):

Wow. So that’s India, right? We’ll see. We’ll keep our finger on the pulse of that. We’ll see how that plays out and see if, you know, ground is broken on this, this mega park here in the States. A little different. Uh, on March 19th group of members in the U S Congress introduced the quote protecting our pharmaceutical supply chain from China, act in quote, um, it calls from China. So get this and take a guess for what year. So it calls for the elimination of API and finished drug purchases from China by what year? Take a wild guess.

Greg White (00:21:55):

I just did an article around some of this. I don’t recall. I don’t recall the specific year, but it’s really soon. Like 20, 23 or something.

Scott Luton (00:22:03):

Yes, you’re right. The 20, 23 is less than three years from now. Now. Um, that’s just about impossible. I mean, let’s just face it and plus to your point that you’ve stated earlier shows, do you really want the government moving that fast? Because you don’t, that’s an excellent point. Yeah, that’s right. You don’t, you’re not really sure of all the repercussions, but, um, let’s say they’re successful in 10 years. Let’s, let’s triple that, right? Let’s say they’re successful in 10 years. I got to ask what’s going to replace the inexpensive drugs so many Americans were loud that are on fixed incomes and it has that been, you know, what’s going to be the substitute for that? Uh, and I, I don’t want to sound naive cause there’s absolutely some things we can do to bring some of these, these critical, um, uh, uh, drugs back in and resource certain elements. But you know, they’re one of the biggest reasons why a lot of a lot of supply chains are global in nature is because some of the price gains, right, Greg?

Greg White (00:23:00):

Indeed. I mean if you look at a couple of things, one, if, if we could do it here too cheaper, we would be. And in fact, a lot of our pharmaceutical production was done in Puerto Rico for many, many years. The big pharma companies had, um, R and D and production facilities in Puerto Rico, which stand completely idle now. So there’s an opportunity potentially to bring that back. But even then in Puerto Rico must have felt like the, I know there were government incentives and things like that, but we must’ve felt like the labor was expensive to do that. Yeah. But yeah, it is highly, um,

Greg White (00:23:40):

cost driven. One of the other dynamics that we’ve got to think about is it’s not just big farm of being greedy. I’m not going to forgive them. Um, but it isn’t solely that. The other thing that I learned from working with Henry Schein is that the reason that goods are so a portion of the reason that goods are so expensive in the States is because we have to provide them to Africa and South America and other third world portions of, of the planet in at a price that they can afford. Because the pharma companies actually care about saving lives. And in fact, in some countries there are government regulations as to how much you can charge for these things. So we, the North America, and in particularly the United States, we are subsidizing a lot of those countries getting lifesaving drugs by paying more here.

Scott Luton (00:24:30):

Yeah.

Greg White (00:24:32):

So we’ve got to think about that,

Scott Luton (00:24:34):

right? Yep. How do we reconcile that and you know, and so we’re gonna keep our finger on the ball, uh, on the pulse here. And what’s interesting is our third store, which we’ll touch on just a second, is, is, um, you know, we’re trying to give you the whole story here, right? Not one side but, but different examples, points and counterpoints because it’s just not that easy the way and it’s not black and white issue. But before we move into this third story, Greg, let’s give a quick shout out. We’ve got some folks, uh, that are pinging us. We’ve got Stacy alderman, uh, Adelman, right from Illinois. Hello Stacey, great to have you here. I like your new, uh, avatar on Facebook. Uh, by the way, Stacy has done some incredible graphic design for the supply chain now team. So, uh, hope you and your family are doing well.

Scott Luton (00:25:19):

Stacy, great to have ya. Cool. Thank you. Uh, of course, one of our favorites that we wouldn’t memory of having a buzz without memory, uh, of supply chain practitioner in South Africa. Great to have you here memory. Looking forward to reconnecting with you later this week. And we had one quick comment along these lines. Uh, or two quick comments. So Gerald, uh, Jill Jackson, who’s own, uh, LinkedIn, uh, here says that’s just not realistic. Think about the cost, profitability and which company. Great question. Which company wants to take the margin hit? Good question there, Gerald. And one more question from our friend Claudia, who will be on the live stream tomorrow with us along with Chuck easily with Georgia tech. Uh, she says, uh, pro, uh, pro pro fall. Brett befall. Thank you very much. Uh, Amanda. So this drug supply chain, most complex example of pharma reports, Bureau of investigative journalism. So, uh, I guess it’ll be interesting to see what that very complex global supply chain for propofol and, and, and, and what decisions are made with that were to change where it source, where to change, where, you know, some of it productions made, I don’t know, quality. We’ll see. I wish I had more answers and questions. So let’s not

Greg White (00:26:43):

wrap this without a couple of points. And one is, um, and I completely agree with it was a Gerald, I agree with that. Um, if they were willing to take the hit, they would have stayed in Puerto Rico when the initiatives went away. Right. Um, but the, the thing that we have to think about is it’s not just not China, it’s, it may be or reassuring. It may be near shoring, multiple sourcing, multiple sourcing is, is the solution. That’s right. We should never ever, regardless of what that region of the world is, we should never ever rely on one country, one region of the world, one source for supply. Even if we do 80% of the demand in yeah. Some area of the world. And then split the rest of it among a couple of others. That’s just prudent supply chain management. And there’ve been companies that have been doing that for years.

Greg White (00:27:39):

Not always in, in pharma, but generic has long been a sort of race to the bottom. Um, it, you know, first of all, we have to understand that generic goods don’t exist. Generic drugs don’t exist until the 20 or 25 years after a patent is issued for a drug. Hmm. So then it’s a number of somewhere between op entrepreneurial and purely opportunistic companies who go and build this stuff on the cheap and then provide it to the marketplace to undercut. It’s why we have, um, all of the OTC, so many of the OTC goods on the market as well. And also some of the prescription goods that are the generic brand. And that’s why there are so many generic brands of various products on the marketplace. So we have to, we have to get people who are thinking longer term in that, in that generic industry, uh, as well. And we have to consider alternative sources. Memories, message makes me think of what’s the potential of Africa. The cost of labor in Africa is low. There are a multitude of countries, so you don’t wind up, I’m counting on a single country. Of course there are a lot of issues with some of the governments in those countries, but you pick, you pick the, the most, um, faithful players and in that space and start there. South America or central America as well. Right.

Scott Luton (00:29:12):

You know, we had, we had this part of the report somewhere and maybe Malcolm can can rescue me here, but some 90% of all, um, well that, but um, the, the levels of um, um, generic like acetaminophen, uh, the amount, the sheer amount of, of uh, Chinese produced pharmaceuticals, not even talking about the India and the pastor there come direct from China. I mean we’re talking 70, 80, but 90% of some of these very common drugs that we all lean on in various ways from headaches to other more serious conditions that require more, you know, regular medication. So, you know, again, it’s not an easy thing. Uh, Greg, I can appreciate your, um, your medicine background here. I thought I didn’t think of that when we were, we were pulling these stories together. So, um, alright, so let’s keep driving and it says, Oh, hang on a sec, one more quick. Uh, so Surratt own LinkedIn says it is the best time to change the trend. Very interesting.

Greg White (00:30:17):

I was going to say, and it will happen. That’s fine. It will undoubtedly happen in, in a lot of industries. But this one in particular, and as it turns out, we’re about to talk about similar thing in other industries.

Scott Luton (00:30:30):

All right. Slow. You’ve got some interesting data on this, uh, manufacturing reassuring, uh, move and, and all the chatter as well as some, some really interesting survey insights related to that topic.

Greg White (00:30:42):

Right? Yeah. So a Thomas survey of 878 North American manufacturing and industrial sector pros said that 64% of manufacturers are, say, reassuring is likely after the pandemic. Mmm. Again, same type of issue, but not in a specific industry. And a lot of companies are, they recognize it, the differences in, um, some of the manufacturing and industrial industries that the, the economic dynamics that impact them are again, single sourcing, not, we’re not going to belabor that point, but also the logistics, right. And the risk in the supply chain of getting goods from a single source far away where air freight is required to expedite. And ocean freight requires a larger amounts of provisional or safety stock. Um, because of the 30 to 60 day transit times from your supplier, it’s a very complex supply chain. I don’t know who’s dealt with sourcing into China, but it’s unbelievably complex and, um, you know, and it, it creates a lot of issues for those companies. So, um, a lot of companies are, are talking about moving to Mexico, but Mexico has its own difficulties because of various and sundry, arguably let’s, this is the opinion of the industry mismanagement by the Mexican government between drugs and, and the, uh, epidemic or pandemic itself. Those concerns have have actually played out in the Makilah doors, which are the factories just over the border in Mexico that auto parts changed and an auto parts manufacturers have been using for years.

Scott Luton (00:32:35):

So, and, and, and we should probably think about when you mentioned, and, and, and greater central America and South America where they are and their efforts fighting the pandemic are a little bit different than what we’re seeing in the States. I was reading an article over, um, over the weekend specifically talking about Brazil and Venezuela, uh, as well as some of the, some of the, um, measures that the Mexican government has instituted related to the automotive manufacturers and some of the parts coming into those plants and coming out to, uh, American OEM. So gosh, a lot of moving pieces. Right?

Greg White (00:33:12):

Yeah. And I think again, you have to consider near shoring as well. Um, I, I don’t think that Gerald’s point is any different in any industry than it is in pharmaceutical. It is that it’s difficult to do this and it will take time. I mean, it took time for a lot of this production to go overseas. It seems like it happened overnight, but it didn’t. Right. Um, but if we can at least get the goods nearer and in a friendlier, um, in a friendlier country, then we can certainly do it. I mean, uh, cloudy is home land. Argentina is, has a ton of really talented people. I don’t just say that cause I’ve got family there but they’ve got a ton of really talented people and we already off shore or near shore, a lot of tech development to countries like Argentina and Chile. Mmm. And those are relatively stable democracies, right? Um, so and lawful society. So you, you know, you want to encourage that and enable entities like that at the same time that you also, um, create some sustainability in your supply chain. Um, I shouldn’t say sustainable sourcing in your supply chain, right? You want to make sure that you’ve got options and that they are more reliable and friendlier options.

Scott Luton (00:34:34):

So, Hey, um, uh, I want to go back for a second cause memory touched on something, going back to pharmaceuticals that you agreed with where we talked about the potential of not, not reassuring that resort, not reassuring or nearshoring, but taking advantage of the great workforce in Africa and memory says that stable African countries need to be part of the solution to the production of generic drugs. Greg, your take

Greg White (00:35:02):

absolutely. I mean, what is the draw of China that the average worker makes between 10 and $14,000 a year? Right? It wouldn’t even take that to sustain most countries. Now memory is in South Africa, which has a more robust economy, but, but there are other stable countries as she’s talking about and there are also elements of her own population that could benefit from a wage that is much, much lower than that. And, and again, we have the opportunity on a massive continent, one of the biggest continents on the planet to, to spread the wealth and, and spread the risk across a multitude of countries. I don’t know the count, but there are dozens of countries on the continent of Africa, so we wouldn’t be reliant on us on just Kenya or just South Africa or Tanzania. Forgive me, whoever else exists

Scott Luton (00:35:58):

chimney for a lot, lot more, lot more country. This, right. Yeah. All right. So, uh, and I am trying, uh, to not bounce around too much on these comments, Greg. But it is, there’s a lot of opinion and feedback on, uh, on these two stories that we’re talking about. Um, before I read off a couple more comments. Greg, did you have any final remarks on story three here about, uh, the reassuring serving?

Greg White (00:36:23):

I don’t think so. I think it’s, you know, it’s the, it’s a similar story on a, on a different segment of the economy and, well, let me add this one point. I’m sorry. I am bouncing around so you don’t, you don’t have to take the blame. We have to figure out how to make this economical. Right? We all want change and some of us want to shout into the wind, flail it, flail at windmills like donkey healthy, um, to make change. But the truth is what we really need to be working on is what creates economical stability in terms of being able to do that. When we do that, we will solve the problem and not one moment sooner. Great point. It has to be economical all the way from the consumer all the way through the bottom line of a fortune 500 or 100 company.

Scott Luton (00:37:10):

Yep. All right. So, uh, you mentioned Claudia a couple of times, a regular, uh, live stream, uh, participant. She’s going to be owned as a featured guest tomorrow. We really, and, and, and she’s been featured, uh, in supply chain, that programming dating back to February when we were there, the reverse logistics association event in Vegas. So, uh, she weighs in on your comments there about, uh, uh, Argentina. Uh, she agrees, high level of literacy in, in the workforce there in Argentina, uh, bilingual, uh, and re bilingual. Sorry, I’m getting corrected here in studio German language. That’s right. Hey, that’s not, that’s, that’s very common, very common bilingual and reasonable time zones. And we’ve, what we’ve all known about the, when you go worldwide and global, global, how the times zones can, can be challenging to deal with. And the Claudia also agrees with memory about, we’ve got to make sure that the state that the specialist stable countries in Africa, uh, and we look for stability anywhere in the world, not just to pick on the ELNEC continent, but they should be part of the solution. For sure. It’s a great point. Their memory and Claudia. Um, alright, so let’s move ahead to, uh, Barb. Do you remember Barb? Barbara Sexton? Yep. Uh, we had a great followup conversation with Barb and she asked a good question last week. That’s right. So in Greg, you may, uh, I’m not terribly familiar with, um, the tax, uh, uh, penalties that she’s referring to, but she’s, Barb asks, Hey, why the potential tax penalty to Apple if they move to India from China?

Greg White (00:38:49):

You know, I’m not as familiar. I’m not as familiar with that as one of the other vehicles that a lot of big tech, particularly tech companies use, which is called a double Irish Dutch sandwich. Um, for me it’s very complex. The simple version is there are two companies in Ireland. One holds the IP, the other pays basically almost a hundred percent loyalty to that company, which alleviates tax two, uh, owed to the U S government. Then another company in the Netherlands is involved somehow, maybe even Bermuda is involved. And then the money comes back. There are literally trillions. Um, and just about five years ago, there were about $7 trillion waiting to be repatriated to the States. But because of our, the highest, I think, I think we’re still the highest corporate tax in the world or one of the highest corporate taxes. Those companies were imploring the government to do something about it so that they, and they wanted to repatriate that money, but not at a 40% tax rate. I’m not sure if that’s related to this somehow or if there’s another one. Um, there’s another tax. I’d have to look into that and see if India has some greater tax implications then China, maybe barbecue. Maybe we’ll, maybe we should talk to Barb again this week, right.

Scott Luton (00:40:13):

Hey, world trade is the theme for today on the buzz. Uh, going back to, I think pharma Roche has been in Africa for a few years now as COO.

Greg White (00:40:25):

Yeah. Yeah. And that’s right. I don’t know who else. Um, but it’s not, uh, it’s, I, and maybe they’re experimenting. I don’t know what portion of their production is. I’d be interested to see what Kathy has to say on that. But, um, I think that’s part of Roche’s China plus one or China plus two, whatever strategy is to investigate that. And, and we have to do that prudently because as memory alludes to, there are stable governments in Africa and there are others that are not so stable.

Scott Luton (00:41:00):

Yup. All right, so as we wrap up this segment, we’re going to,

Greg White (00:41:04):

but yeah, this has been a sec. We’re gonna we’re going to talk.

Scott Luton (00:41:08):

That’s right. We’re going to get commentary from Gerald Jackson from LinkedIn and I’ve got a great question from Benjamin. Greg will weigh in on that. We’ve, we’ve talked about a good bit here previously. So, so Gerald Jackson on LinkedIn says quote tech supply chains have looked at near shore options routinely to cut lead times and working capital. For example, Apple, HP, Dell, Microsoft, X-Box, constantly review options to get supply chains closer to the markets. Infrastructure seems to be a challenge. That’s a great Gerald is, is bringing the heat today. Yeah, I have to get him to weigh in. It sounds like he is in the note.

Greg White (00:41:47):

Well, I’ll tell you what we want to do. We want to involve him in whatever the potential solution is. So I don’t know who Gerald Jackson is, but I’m telling you I want him on my team. Jackson makes it. I’m taking him first for kickball.

Scott Luton (00:42:02):

Yeah,

Greg White (00:42:02):

after Claudia, but

Scott Luton (00:42:05):

all right, so we’re going to wrap on this question here and then we’re going to move into a couple of quick observations from over the weekend. So Benjamin, our friend Bija, a clang ask will covert 19 push more robotic automation with firms that can’t relocate but have to adapt with health conscious working conditions. Greg, I know you’re salivating to take this. Go ahead.

Greg White (00:42:28):

I can hardly hold myself back. The answer is, um, I believe that it will and I believe that it should and I believe that if we had, have any opportunity to reassure what can be produced robotically, we need to, and we need to do it sooner than later. And that is because the largest, Mmm, they’re not the largest in the workforce now, but the largest generation in the history of the planet is exiting the workforce at the pace of 10,008 actually much faster considering unemployment right now. But, um, but even just, um, organic exit. Um, if they were exiting at a relatively rapid rate and those sorts of hands on production jobs are not going to be done by the incoming generations. They want to work with technology. Furthermore, they need to be paid too much to compete with the $3 and 60 cents day, hour, hour that Chinese workers make 10,000 to $14,000 a year, as we said earlier.

Greg White (00:43:31):

So the only way for us to compete is with robotics. Wherever we can apply robotics. [inaudible] beautiful benefit of that, that I see is that that will cost not a single American job. Did we ever think we’d be saying that? No. Right. Did we ever think that audit, did we, I mean, think about how full circle we’ve come there. Automation is going to actually increase jobs, not decrease jobs because those jobs are going to go away. They’re going to go to cheap labor markets like Africa or China or they’re going to come back here as automated jobs and yeah, raise the, the wellbeing, uh, the safety as was just alluded to. And the job satisfaction of employees who will be working with monitoring, maintaining programming and, and interacting with those,

Scott Luton (00:44:31):

um, automation technologies

Scott Luton (00:44:33):

rather than doing the physical, menial, repetitive, right, dangerous work that technology will undertake in the future. Yep. All right, so shifting gears, and by the way, Gerald says, bring in the heat. He’ll take it. He’ll, he liked how we described he was on the money along with Kathy and Claudia, uh, and memory and you know, this is a, this is a very shrewd audience that tuned. Yeah, Benjamin. That’s right. Alright, so let’s shift gears as we wrap up today’s edition. And we’re going to do this at a higher altitude. You know, I am no secret of a fan of the wall street Journal’s Saturday edition. You know, it’s such a great, if you like, in the collect it mix of news from industry to, you know, living to, uh, investing to humans, human stories. It’s just, it’s got that, it’s got something for everybody. So I look forward to getting the hard copy of this every Saturday.

Scott Luton (00:45:27):

So this past weekend there are three stories that got my attention, but we only have time for two. The third story was was a editorial on Michael Jordan’s leadership approach, which was really a interesting story. We’ll save for another time but up for, so the first story that really caught my eye and I really enjoyed reading was the end of the office. And Greg, notice there is no question at the end of that title of this article. Excellent point. So, uh, Dana, Dana Mattioli and Conrad Poots your do a remarkable job taking deep dive, you know, really across industry speaking with executives that are all determining whether and when to come back to the office, renewing really pricey office space or considering some really bold shifts into perhaps not coming back for, for example, we talked about this pre buzz Canadian it from open text plans to eliminate more than half of its 120 offices globally.

Scott Luton (00:46:30):

Now that’s just one example that they, they spoke in this article, they spoke with manufacturers, they spoke with uh, consultants. They spoke with some of the, um, the real estate firms like the ward 10 X Richmond’s of the world. Right. And it’s really interesting to see a wide variety of takes. I want to get your take, but one observation and consideration that I would love to get everyone to kind of weigh in on if you’re still with us, is think about let’s say you’re an open text manager or frontline supervisor and the world that you’ve lived in is, is, you know, coming into the office Monday through Friday and seeing your employees with that oddball accountability and being able to, to build that personal rapport in person in good times and in bad, all the different things that management that goes into management and then that office goes away and all of those responsibilities are still there. But you’ve got to do it remotely. This is going to be a fascinating time, uh, to see these organizations

Greg White (00:47:30):

that choose to take the path, the path like OpenText evidently does least according to the article and the impact on leadership and management. But Greg, what else are you seeing, William? Well, you know, in the last company that I ran, we saw a lot of the impact of this coming and so did less sores. Okay. Um, even before this timeframe, because they had a lot of what they were really concerned about what they call Phantom leases, which is properties that are still being paid for but not occupied. And one of the things we were talking about was how do we monitor inactivity in an office to know that when it, it comes to lease renewal but that’s going to go on the market. And, and how do these real estate companies and developers, how do they, how do they prepare for that? So yeah, it’s actually not surprising.

Greg White (00:48:18):

I think this is a gigantic catalyst in terms of, uh, expediting this Exodus from the office. But we started hearing about this as soon as the lockdowns came. That’s right. Right. I mean, we heard about physical logistics firms who, you know, when asked how are you going to bring people back into the office? They said, we are not right. And I think we have to acknowledged that this was a trend that was going this way anyway. It is, as you said earlier, Scott, it does give people hours back in their day if they’ll take them. One of the issues that we have found during the, the pandemic and this seismic societal disruption is that people won’t stop working. Right. Some people don’t stop working when, you know, when they’re working until seven or eight o’clock at night. I can tell you this, and she’s been a really good sport about it.

Greg White (00:49:10):

My wife has brought me dinner in the studio more than once in the last week or two. So big shout out to Vicki who Vic and the whole team, some of the pistons that keep the supply chain now team move and, and, and you know, and all types of contributions. So thanks for feeding the beast, Vicky. Yeah, yeah. Thank you. I thank her every time by the way. Yeah, that’s good. But, but I think that those dynamics are important because you’re also, Scott a big fan and I am too. And we’ve all seen the dynamic of being face to face in the office place and what you would call in the old days if anyone even knows what this is, is anymore a water cooler conversation, right? You’re passing someone in the hallway, you’re standing by the water cooler, your microwave and your popcorn or salmon. Mmm. And annoying the whole office. But you’re, but you’re having that, you’re having a discussion with somebody where, and we talked with memory about this, um, and, and DC, uh, [inaudible] a couple of weeks ago about how, when those dynamics occur, the slightest comment [inaudible] generate an idea or an initiative or a solution, great point for a company. And that is going to be sorely missing, which I think goes in some case to your story. That’s next.

Scott Luton (00:50:34):

Yes. And lots of some could say ways here. So, but before we get to the store innovation, let’s, uh, Amanda ways in our CMO here at splotch and now, uh, after a show me 50 linen circle call last week, I wonder what this will mean for women who are striving to be seen and heard by their leadership teams in person. Will it mean male leaders will choose to work more closely with those they know. So the buddy system of course versus those women who attempt to increase their own visibility and influence when they can chat in the hallways and at the water cooler with higher ups. That is a, uh, outstanding observation and question, which I wish I had a more, a better answer to, but it’s something you’ve got to consider if you do shift over two or more a more remote workplace. Right.

Greg White (00:51:24):

I think it is and I don’t know the answer, but I think that that I think that the hope for women and, and divert other diversity groups, um, to gain their expertise is that, um, is that the people who are less technologically savvy to this, this, these types of platforms are exiting the workforce pretty rapidly. And they may not adapt to these types of um, of platforms as well. And you’ll be able to build that influence with their influencers, if not directly with some of some of those folks. That’s the only thing I think I, that’s the thing that comes immediately to mind is as a possibility. The other thing is, and there are technologies that exist, I’m not going to mention them here, but there are technologies that exist that give you a virtual physical office experience and I think we’ll see more of that where zoom will be just part or WebEx or go to meeting or will be just part of the solution where you hold comp, you hold conference calls and meetings and that sort of thing. But the ability to have a virtual water cooler solution, we’ll come around.

Scott Luton (00:52:41):

Yeah, love that. Uh, Benjamin says the water cooler is replaced with chat rooms where people can share ideas. Just like this comment thread, Benjamin, I love that level of optimism and, and companies that are serious about doing that and, and free practically and successfully engaging the workforce. We’ll figure out the digital water-cooler approach. And that leads us to our next question from Gerald. Gerald says, will it be a strategic advantage for companies to learn to manage remotely with video cloud metrics and applications be better able to tap into top talent from everywhere, from anywhere and everywhere for that matter. And I would say Gerald, yes, absolutely. I think, you know, we have, we have, uh, for a year, for several years now, we’ve all assumed what digitization means and, and, and how far that goes. I would argue that that this article and, and the discussions that it will trigger will absolutely start to expand the definition of what true, successful and, uh, innovative digital digitization means in 2020 and beyond. Because it’s not just about products and services being delivered. It’s not just about visibility into your operation or global enterprise. It is about how you are making sure you are an outstanding organization for folks to work in and succeed in and, and, and where they feel like they’re empowered and they’re engaged and they’re really contributing and it’s being appreciated. There’s a lot to that. But that’s my take Jared on your, on your question. Greg,

Greg White (00:54:17):

I love your hot take and I, I, I’m glad you got one cause usually you leave those for me. So I’m seriously, I think your insight is really, really strong there. And I would argue also to Gerald is that if you aren’t already experiencing or haven’t been for some years, I would say in at least the last three to four years been experiencing a work environment like we’re discussing right now or even that you’re engaging in right this moment, this, this type of session. You’re already, your company is already behind the curve. Mmm. Tech companies and other companies who recognize the power of this and who have operated from home, they’re looking at this going, what’s the big deal? Yep. I mean I had a company, my last company CURO I think we had a total of 11 people and we had people all over the country.

Greg White (00:55:08):

I had vice presidents out in various States. Um, and, and we did make an effort to get physically together. Um, but we had to operate three, three and a half weeks, a month virtually. So it can be done. Um, there are some really key learnings that help facilitate it. Um, but it, it is definitely the future and it can be in my opinion, every bit as productive saving that one dynamic, that water cooler that, that you know, sort of whatever you want to call it, that catalyst right statement that you can only get physically. And that’s why we made such an effort to get together physically once a week.

Scott Luton (00:55:54):

That’s right. Alright, so clay talks more. Great point. Clay says the dog says here at supply chain now, great point. That fully integrating remote work vastly expands the talent pool and you know, it is, you got to compete for talent, you get your digitization initiative has to be holistic, which absolutely touches on talent side. So good stuff there clay. Great question. Gerald, are we going to keep driving memory? We’re going to come back to memories, comment if we can here in a moment. But you know the end of the office in one article and then talking about innovation can’t be forced but it can be quashed. We’re not going to be able to give this second article or really fully throated discussion. But Matt Ridley, this is the author of this second article here I read over the weekend, which challenged the wildly Hill assumption that just because change is taking place at arguably a pace, never before seen a lot of folks assume that innovation and successful real innovation is as well.

Scott Luton (00:56:49):

Well, the article pointed out just that it’s not number one. And, and the leading example that Matt really lit off with was think about your travel time. You know, if you, uh, from, from start to finish the time, if you’re flying to Toronto, if you’re flying to Miami, you don’t get there any faster. And in fact, it could be argued, depending on the model of aircraft you take, you may get, are slower because they’re flying slower to conserve fuel. Uh, the Concorde, which was the world’s fastest ever, uh, aircraft has been retired. So things to think about. But I digress. Uh, the article really pointed out how uncomfortable industry and government is at experimenting. And of course, experimenting is so critical to successful innovation. I’m gonna give you an example, Greg, and I’m gonna get your take here. So, uh, Jeff Bezos, you can’t get through maybe a conversation about innovation without maybe having a, the big a way in. But I like this one here. Jeff Bezos said, quote being wrong might hurt you a bit, but being slow will kill you if you can increase the number of experiments you try from a hundred to a thousand, you drummer, you dramatically increase the number of innovations you produce. And quote. Now think about Thomas Edison, he and his team of engineers when they were trying to develop the nickel iron battery, take a guess of how many experiments Greg, that their team had to take to get it right.

Greg White (00:58:14):

I can’t even imagine what Thomas Edison involved. He was the great experimenter. I mean it was almost like he didn’t even care about this

Scott Luton (00:58:22):

50,000 experiments. I would have never guessed even that high. And that is one of the things. And to your point, he was, of course he was involved in a lot of projects, but that led to his famous quote, genius is 1% inspiration and 90% perspiration. So Greg is innovation, uh, lagging behind as, as uh, as counterintuitive for many folks that would seem, what, what’s your take on the state of innovation?

Greg White (00:58:50):

Uh, it’s definitely lagging in large companies, the same companies that will struggle with the end, quote unquote the end of the office. Um, w we’ll struggle with innovation particularly in this, in these new environments, right? Innovation is about risk as you just said. And the reason, and you know that I feel strongly about this, I’ll use a stronger word disruption. The reason that I chuckle or sometimes openly laugh, um, at large companies who talk about disruption is that they can’t do it. I will tip to my dying day. I will say that you are either those who are about to be disrupted or the disruptor, but you are not both a leader in the marketplace and a disruptor. It’s impossible to do that because of exactly what you just talked about. You have to take risks, lots of risks, lots of risks that could impact the effectiveness of your operations, that could negatively impact your bottom line, that could negatively impact your identity or your, your image in the marketplace. All of those things are great risks. Two companies these days and they’re not willing and they’re not going to be willing to take it because when your stock drops 40% in a day, you change course really, really rapidly.

Scott Luton (01:00:11):

Excellent point. And you know, that’s, uh, I love the holistic approach. Innovation is one of those warm, fuzzy conversations oftentimes that, that, uh, folks weigh in on the obvious things, but you don’t always think about some of the, some of the aspects of innovation and taking risks that you just shared. And, and especially for these bigger companies, it’s not as simple as, Hey, let’s come up with the latest iPhone. It doesn’t work like that. So, um, by the way, uh, the dog says that James Dyson created 5,126 prototypes of the cyclone vacuum in his backyard shed. The 5127th edition changed the industry that his dog in this if I’ve never seen it. No.

Greg White (01:00:52):

I send all 5,126 still in his

Scott Luton (01:00:57):

somewhere. That’s right. Hey, we’re gonna have to wrap up, uh, of the discussion here, but I want to go back to one more thing. Memory shared, going back to the offices, virtual offices will also help reduce the amount of paperwork generated in offices as well as prepping for those long meetings that we don’t miss. Amen. To that. Raise your hand if you’ve ever been into a a two hour meeting when it could have been done in 10 minutes. Yeah,

Greg White (01:01:24):

I mean, you know, I’ve read, we’ve recently read articles where that’s exactly the feeling that people have is that this could have been done in an email. That’s right. Can I, can I pump just a few seconds on me? I will strongly encourage everyone who wants to have a meeting to state a goal, not an agenda, a specific outcome, and create accountabilities in that meeting. And if you cannot do that, do not have that meeting. I, I in my history used to, um, still do actually. But I, um, have a lot more meetings these days. In any business meeting. If you did not state a goal, have action and accountability, I would not attend. Um, you know, being in my role, that was easier to accomplish than most people. But you can tactically challenge your organization to be more effective with meetings. Nobody else is enjoying the you or

Scott Luton (01:02:20):

you are working on your email in a either. So, um, make that a diplomatic challenge in your, in your business. Uh, and clay says no more meetings, no more meetings. That’s Clay’s way. Oh, LinkedIn laugh. What’s that? Oh daddy. Alright. So it Amanda over here to my right, says he deleted it really quickly cause I’ve got a standing Monday meeting. So we’ll, we’ll see how we change that internally. Career limiting moves on the air. We love our team here at supply chain now and we try to streamline it. I love the spirit. That’s right. No more terrible meetings. Let’s qualify it slightly, but he’s dead on. And that’s how people feel too. Yeah, that’s a great point. Alright. So as much fun as we’re having, we’re at about an hour and two minutes. So we’re going to wrap up here with just a couple of high fives and some quick resources.

Scott Luton (01:03:16):

So Greg, man, what a incredible episode. Two of our supply chain trivia challenge that we held last week. Yeah. And our new champion is Coby cannoli who got, uh, every single question. Right. Wow, that’s impressive. And I’m taking that as a personal challenge. That isn’t going to happen again. Kobe threw down the gauntlet. So new chat there. Congrats. Also finishing second was Antonio Rivera, part of the ELL green EAL green team quality is colleagues, so representing Yale green. Well, so congrats Antonio. Well, you know what, Antonio and, uh, hurry day, they finished tied for second. So Nickley this is a first place and to, uh, folks at Todd at second place, so Brad’s pretty impressive showing. And also, uh, our previous, uh, winner Dimitrios Koolaus mr inventory finished in the top five. That’s right. Dudes like this, he’s like the tiger woods of supply chain.

Scott Luton (01:04:24):

He ain’t win and he’s closed. Right? Uh, and he was wearing, I’m sure his, uh, Sunday red and the red. Uh, man, what, uh, what I would pay to see some real live golf with tiger woods on Sunday these days. Hopefully we’ll get into the new normal soon enough at all for um, if you can settle for Ricky Fowler by the way. He did a little, he did a little, uh, charity thing, um, the other day and I think it’s, it’s on YouTube or Twitter or something like that. Pretty impressive. I got to have the real stuff, man. Sunday afternoon masters going for broke but will be yours but and costing yourself a million dollars. Yeah. Alright, so our next games, if you, if you’re digging our supply chain trivia, join us for the third installment. We’re really pleased to be collaborating with Jenny fruit and the safe on June 3rd. We kick off 9:30 AM because this is our Eastern hemisphere edition, right? Uh, we’re trying to experiment with some timeframes so that folks really globally can weigh in and enjoy it and, and take part in the friendly competition. Uh, so folks like memory don’t have to stay up until all points that evening to place some of our additions that are, you know, a kickoff in the late afternoon here,

Greg White (01:05:41):

a three day, who was doing it at three o’clock in the morning.

Scott Luton (01:05:43):

Yes, that is right. Yeah, that’s right. Uh, so kudos to our winners. Uh, and to all of our attendees, join us on on June 3rd 9:30 AM Eastern daylight time as we kick off around three and you can go to supply chain now, radio.com to learn more about that. And, uh, Greg, tell him about this webinar coming up on May 27th, uh, about, uh, 10 days from now.

Greg White (01:06:06):

Yeah. So, uh, Gartner’s, uh, supply chain top 25 for 2020 is about to come out. I believe it comes out on the 18th or 19th, and they’ll have a brief discussion on it. But we’re meeting with the curator leader and, um, top analyst Mike Griswold on May 27th to discuss some key takeaways. So as we’ve been encouraging people, it matters not how big, how small, how advanced, how laggard your company is. Tuned into this. Get some of these takeaways, learn from someone who was first a PR practitioner, then an analyst and now premier industry expert on, um, supply chain. Learn what it can mean for your company. And, and this is a live stream, so you’ll be able to interact with us and, and with Mike to, um, you know, get additional knowledge out of it. So first of all, this is something that happens every year. It’s what, it’s what the supply chain industry has waited for every year. It’s a great honor for us to have Mike and Gardner, um, allow us to, to partner with them on this, this topic and, and help get the word out around the world.

Scott Luton (01:07:22):

Absolutely. May 27th free webinar. Come join us. There’ll be takeaways and best practices regardless of your role and what size of business you’re in. Uh, and Mike always delivers. You can learn more and register for this free offering at supply chain now, radio.com. Hey, uh, before we depart, uh, Greg, our friend, our buddy, our pal Fred Tolbert, said this, no more meetings because it gives more time to listen to supply chain. Now here, here Fred, we’re good. We couldn’t throw that up a graphic fast enough, but glad you’re, you’re tuned in once again. And we look forward to a couple of upcoming episodes with our friend Fred, right? Greg?

Greg White (01:08:02):

Yes sir. I do. I look, Fred comes from the planning industry, competitive company to mine, but we’re friendly competitors and I’m always pulling for him because he’s, he’s a planning forecasting guru. Yes, he is. Yes. And it’s an apex hall of fame legend facilitating youth in supply chain. So we’re all about that doing good stuff. All right, so, uh, at an hour and eight minutes, we’re going to wrap it up here today. We could easily go in a couple, couple more hours with some of the engaged folks. All right, so to our listeners, uh, Hey, check us out at supply chain now. radio.com a wide variety of resources and webinars and events and certainly no shortage of thought leadership via our podcast. And our live streams, of course, our webinars find us and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts from. And you know, Greg, uh, an interesting individual in case we have anyone that wants to figure out how to collaborate with us, you can shoot a note to amanda@supplychainnowraider.com, right? Yeah.

Greg White (01:09:06):

It’s just that easy. She is a trained professional and she knows how to get our attention. So that wraps up today’s episode of the supply chain buzz. Hey, Greg wants you to take us out. Hey, if you like this, uh, and you’d like to see some of our video blogs or listen to our podcasts, you can always come to supply chain now, radio dot calm or wherever you get your podcasts, whatever platform or YouTube, if you want to watch us on video, we’re much prettier on a podcast. I tell you, um, look difficult times. I feel it. I don’t know about you all, but I feel that, I feel like we’re starting to come out of it. Um, we’ve got some good, successful and prudent initiatives to start to get back to work in a safe way. Um, keep your chin up, right? Brighter days. Do as my friend Scott always says, lie ahead and be safe. Be careful, but join us here and learn about the future and the now of supply chain. Have a great week.

 

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Hosts

Greg White

Principal & Host

Scott W. Luton

Founder, CEO, & Host

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Demo Perez

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

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

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Mary Kate Love

VP, Marketing

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

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

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Joshua Miranda

Marketing Specialist

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

Donna Krache

Director of Communications and Executive Producer

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

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Vicki White

Controller

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

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Ben Harris

Host

Ben Harris is the Director of Supply Chain Ecosystem Expansion for the Metro Atlanta Chamber. Ben comes to the Metro Atlanta Chamber after serving as Senior Manager, Market Development for Manhattan Associates. There, Ben was responsible for developing Manhattan’s sales pipeline and overall Americas supply chain marketing strategy. Ben oversaw market positioning, messaging and campaign execution to build awareness and drive new pipeline growth. Prior to joining Manhattan, Ben spent four years with the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Center of Innovation for Logistics where he played a key role in establishing the Center as a go-to industry resource for information, support, partnership building, and investment development. Additionally, he became a key SME for all logistics and supply chain-focused projects. Ben began his career at Page International, Inc. where he drove continuous improvement in complex global supply chain operations for a wide variety of businesses and Fortune 500 companies. An APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP), Ben holds an Executive Master’s degree in Business Administration (EMBA) and bachelor’s degree in International Business (BBA) from the Terry College at the University of Georgia.

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Page Siplon

Host, The Freight Insider

Prior to joining TeamOne Logistics, Page Siplon served as the Executive Director of the Georgia Center of Innovation for Logistics, the State’s leading consulting resource for fueling logistics industry growth and global competitiveness. For over a decade, he directly assisted hundreds of companies to overcome challenges and capitalize on opportunities related to the movement of freight. During this time, Siplon was also appointed to concurrently serve the State of Georgia as Director of the larger Centers of Innovation Program, in which he provided executive leadership and vision for all six strategic industry-focused Centers. As a frequently requested keynote speaker, Siplon is called upon to address a range of audiences on unique aspects of technology, workforce, and logistics. This often includes topics of global and domestic logistics trends, supply chain visibility, collaboration, and strategic planning. He has also been quoted as an industry expert in publications such as Forbes, Journal of Commerce, Fortune, NPR, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, American Express, DC Velocity, Area Development Magazine, Site Selection Magazine, Inbound Logistics, Modern Material Handling, and is frequently a live special guest on SiriusXM’s Road Dog Radio Show. Siplon is an active industry participant, recognized by DC Velocity Magazine as a “2012 Logistics Rainmaker” which annually identifies the top-ten logistics professionals in the Nation; and named a “Pro to Know” by Supply & Demand Executive Magazine in 2014. Siplon was also selected by Georgia Trend Magazine as one of the “Top 100 Most Influential Georgians” for 2013, 2014, and 2015. He also serves various industry leadership roles at both the State and Federal level. Governor Nathan Deal nominated Siplon to represent Georgia on a National Supply Chain Competitiveness Advisory Committee, where he was appointed to a two-year term by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and was then appointed to serve as its vice-chairman. At the State level, he was selected by then-Governor Sonny Perdue to serve as lead consultant on the Commission for New Georgia’s Freight and Logistics Task Force. In this effort, Siplon led a Private Sector Advisory Committee with invited executives from a range of private sector stakeholders including UPS, Coca-Cola, The Home Depot, Delta Airlines, Georgia Pacific, CSX, and Norfolk Southern. Siplon honorably served a combined 12 years in the United States Marine Corps and the United States Air Force. During this time, he led the integration of encryption techniques and deployed cryptographic devices for tactically secure voice and data platforms in critical ground-to-air communication systems. This service included support for all branches of the Department of Defense, multiple federal security agencies, and aiding NASA with multiple Space Shuttle launches. Originally from New York, Siplon received both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering with a focus on digital signal processing from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He earned an associate’s degree in advanced electronic systems from the Air Force College and completed multiple military leadership academies in both the Marines and Air Force. Siplon currently lives in Cumming, Georgia (north of Atlanta), with his wife Jan, and two children Thomas (19) and Lily (15).

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Kristi Porter

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Sofia Rivas Herrera

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

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

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Katherine Hintz

Sales and Marketing Coordinator

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

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Kim Winter

Host, Supply Chain Now

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

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

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

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Adrian Purtill

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Kevin Brown

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Jose Miguel Irarrazaval

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Nick Roemer

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Allison Giddens

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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

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Billy Taylor

Host of Dial P for Procurement

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

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

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

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

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Lori Sofian

Marketing Coordinator

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

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Chantel King

Social Media Manager

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

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

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

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Trisha Cordes

Administrative Assistant

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

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Clay Phillips

Business Development Manager

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

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Amanda Luton

Vice President, Production

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

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Constantine Limberakis

Host

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

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Mary Kate Soliva

Host, Veteran Voices

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

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Kelly Barner

Host of Dial P for Procurement

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

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Enrique Alvarez

Host of Logistics with Purpose and Supply Chain Now en Español

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

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

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Kevin L. Jackson

Host of Digital Transformers

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

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Tyler Ward

Director of Sales

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

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

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

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Chris Barnes

Principal, Supply Chain Now
Host of Supply Chain is Boring

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

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

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Greg White

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

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

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

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Scott W. Luton

Founder, CEO, & Host

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

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

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