“If you think about the overall supply chain, the entire ecosystem, where it breaks down is where we have to hand something off to another organization because we’re not as concerned with their efficiency. And I hate to say that, but it’s true.”
– Yone Dewberry, SVP and Chief Supply Chain Officer for Land O’Lakes, Inc
Land O’Lakes, Inc. is a member-owned agricultural cooperative based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Being a co-op makes for some unique business dynamics, as Yone Dewberry explains in this interview. The culture requires that all decisions lead to the best possible outcome for all member owners, not just one person or function.
This community-mindedness is also coming in handy for the evolution of supply chain within the consumer products industry. On June 29, 2020, the Consumer Brands Association announced the formation of a taskforce for contactless delivery. It included 23 consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, and Land O’Lakes is one of them.
In this conversation, Yone shares his point of view on the future of supply chain efficiency with Supply Chain Now Co-hosts Greg White and Scott Luton:
· Why it is absolutely critical to develop a standard-format bill of lading to be used by the entire industry
· How companies can work within their customer and supplier ecosystems to reduce costs by emphasizing the advantages of recyclable or reusable materials
· The importance of “decisive adaptability” for situations that require agility and resiliency
Intro – Amanda Luton (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 (00:28):
Hey, good morning, Scott Luton and Greg white with you here on supply chain. Now, Greg, how are you doing? I’m doing great. We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. I’m not going to give him up on, you know, but we’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. We’ve watched some of the discussions that anyway, let’s get to it. Come on, dive right in. So we’re continuing to, to our listeners, uh, welcome to today’s show. We’re continuing this, this recent trend of big Friday, right? Where we’re featuring the movers and shakers across global supply chain. We’ve got an outstanding speaker here today and our aim will be similar to what you always hear. We’re helping hope working hard to help you increase your supply chain, acute. Uh, Greg, on that note, we also quick programming, you know, we cover global supply chains, tough job to do so we publish our episodes Monday through Friday, and the folks want to want to know where to find that any advice.
Scott Luton (01:21):
Let me think about that, Scott, you know, they could go to supply chain now, radio.com or wherever they get their podcasts or, you know, my favorite YouTube that’s right. Well, uh, so join us subscribe. So you don’t miss a single thing. All right. So let’s dive right in with our featured guests here today on supply chain. Now it’s Jani, Dewberry senior vice president and chief supply chain officer would land O’Lakes Yana. Good morning. Good morning. How are you guys doing? Very good. Great to have you great to be here. We are doing well. You know, we were just talking pre-show, uh, we didn’t get a chance to rub elbows, but we were both at the same show. You were keynoting when EFT brought it’s a legit logistics and supply chain summit to Atlanta a few, uh, 18 months ago. Uh, I heard a lot about your keynote and they do, you do a lot of keynotes, but uh, it’s such an honor and a pleasure to finally have you here sharing your insights with us.
Scott Luton (02:13):
My pleasure to be here. I think I’m enjoying this. I agreed. Agreed. That’s a great way to end the week. It’s a Friday to Friday. I need to go out on a good note here. There we go. Okay. So we’ve got a little snapshot of who Yani Dewberry was in the pre show. And now we want to give our listeners a chance to do the same. So Johnny tell us, you know, where are you from? And give us an anecdote or two about your upbringing. I’m from a town about 25 miles outside of Philadelphia in New Jersey town called Willingboro. It is, uh, a what’s called a planned community. So it was a community of all, every third house was the exact same house kind of thing. Um, so sometimes you got lost on getting home. Cause every third house you had to figure out which house yours, right?
Yone Dewberry (03:00):
Wasn’t that easy sometimes. And it was right on the, I call it the border. People don’t believe this. When you say New Jersey, they think all these, all this
Scott Luton (03:09):
Industrial stuff, but it was right on the border
Yone Dewberry (03:12):
Suburban and rural. And so five miles East of where I grew up, there was a working dairy farm. The guy had it, it was called Sunnyside farms. It doesn’t exist anymore, but I had about 150 cows and I’d ride my bike out there. You know, every two to three weeks it had the best ice cream, the absolute best ice cream. I’m assuming they made it there, whether they did or didn’t, it was the best ice cream.
Scott Luton (03:40):
I mean, in those days that happened, right? I mean, I say those days, anytime prior to 2000, that could have still been happening right. Then making their own ice cream, the dairy that’s awesome.
Yone Dewberry (03:51):
So I brought out there and get ice cream and bring some milk back for the family and then I’d be set for, you know, the next couple of weeks until I went back out there.
Scott Luton (03:58):
So you started in supply chain early. That’s right. Delivering already. And you had it. Yeah. That was a pretty reasonable fee for freight. That’s pretty good. Wasn’t it
Yone Dewberry (04:08):
Exactly for free cause my parents had to pay for the ice cream. So
Scott Luton (04:11):
Yeah, there was a payment. Yeah. Yeah. That’s right. So Yani, we’re going to talk about supply chain and what some of the cool things you are doing over at land of lakes in a minute, but early in your, your life, your journey, what was a, you know, a key lesson learned or Eureka moment early in your journey
Yone Dewberry (04:30):
As I was growing up, um, like most, you know, boys at that age, at that time, you know, you played a bunch of sports, it’s kind of what you did when there was pop Warner or pal, whatever those things you did. But I was, when I was in elementary school, I was on a track team and I remember coming home one day and I was just not happy with the coach and I wasn’t having any fun. And I told my mom and dad, I just want to quit. I’m tired of this. I want to quit. And I was just going to have somewhere in my middle part of elementary school. I’m like, I just don’t want to do this anymore. And I remember them saying to me, two things, the first was you really can’t quit. You kind of made a commitment and you got to live up with your commitment.
Yone Dewberry (05:11):
You got teammates that are counting on you. You said you were going to do it. You really need to do this. And then the second thing they said, which was, has always stuck with me. And I actually talked to my son, I have two boys and I talked to them about it all the time. And that is, and I remember my dad saying this to me. He said, son, quitting is a habit that is so easy to start, but quitting is a habit that’s so hard to quit. So you need to just go finish the season out. And at the end of the season, you can decide what you want to do, but you made a commitment and you got to finish this. And I still remember that today. And, and I finished the season and I actually continued to run track. I ran track junior high school. I ran track in high school. I ran track in college. I actually let her three times in college. So it actually worked out for me.
Greg White (06:06):
That’s great. I would say so. That’s awesome. Where did you go to college
Yone Dewberry (06:09):
At the university of Pennsylvania, right, right in Philadelphia. So I kind of stayed close to home.
Greg White (06:14):
Wow. But you pen that’s about the best education you can get in America. That’s pretty impressive. I’d like to think so. Yeah. Well I’m well above my pay grade here, Scott, would you like to take it from here? Well, that actually we’re good. We’re gonna do the reverse. So Greg, I know we’re going to dive more into, on his professional journey at this point. Yeah. And I think that’s a really important message. I got that message. I think a lot of us probably got that message in youth and in a lot of different ways, but that is so valuable. And you don’t recognize those moments until you look back on them.
Yone Dewberry (06:49):
You’re absolutely right. But at the time it didn’t mean anything to me. Right. Except, Oh man, I really got to finish the season out. It’s just such a pain. Right. But now that you look back on it, it was like probably one of the best things that happened to me.
Greg White (07:00):
That was a formative moment. Yeah. Well, so all right. So I’m sure. And it looks like, I mean, like I said, we have viewed some of your presentations and things like that and you’re a finisher that’s for sure. So tell us a little bit about your professional journey. Maybe even start with college or, you know, wherever you feel like kind of led you to where you are today. Yeah.
Yone Dewberry (07:22):
Uh, I think that, um, you know, as I think about my professional journey, you look back on it all the ways, and there are lots of things that happened that made you who you are, but I can probably think of a couple of instances that nearly kind of helped shape who I am. Um, and one of those is what I would describe as non-work-related one is work related. So I’ll go quickly go through those. The first one is the non-work-related one. So I was working at a, down in Delaware at a production facility and I was asked to Delaware, it’s a fairly small state, as we all know. Right. And so when you work for, I was working for a general foods. When you work for a big company, you get asked to do a lot of things. And this was in the early nineties and I was asked to be part of the state of Delaware council on housing.
Yone Dewberry (08:13):
And this was an, it was a organization or as a part of a semi part of the government down in Delaware where they would help people get affordable housing. And, and over time I spent five years with this group. So the last year I was there, I was the chairperson for this group. And the way it worked was we were helping Dole out anywhere from four to $6 million to buy down the price of housing. So we could be more affordable to people who would not normally be able to afford housing. And so with four to $5 million, we usually ended up buying down about five units. So, you know, in the neighborhood of $10,000 a unit, but that might not seem a lot, but if you’re somebody who can’t, who’s just on the borderline, that’s a big deal. And we did things like transitional housing. We would do new construction that was rental.
Yone Dewberry (09:10):
We would do new construction. It was for somebody to buy. And the way it works is we would provide tax credits to the builder or the owner. And then that person could then sell those on the open market to get money that they needed. And so that’s how that whole thing work. And the thing that, what I learned there was it was a nine member council and it was people from, I call it all different walks of life. So we had, you know, during my time there, we had people that headed up nonprofits. We had people that have actually benefited from this kind of work. We had the largest residential builder in the state of Delaware was on this group. And you can imagine that they all have their different interests and they want it done in a different way. And what it helped me do was to understand how to get all these people who fundamentally all want the same thing. They want people to have affordable housing. How do I keep them aligned so that we can actually give some people money? And that was a great learning on how to collaborate, how to influence. And it was, you know, it, wasn’t always the easiest thing as you can imagine for me, that was one great learning that I got from my working for this organization.
Greg White (10:24):
Wow. That’s incredible. I mean, it sounds a lot like what we’re trying to do today on a much larger scale, really, right. It is aside from Yani, Dewberry for president, which now election committee for tell us, tell us about what you would call it. I guess you would say that was your nonwork. That was my non going to pivotal moment. Give us your work oriented kind of pivotal work.
Yone Dewberry (10:48):
It happened right. Or actually right around the same time. So, so as while I was working at this production facility, so this was a, at the time it was called the general foods production facility, which is now part of Kraft foods. It’s not part of something else, but, and it was the, and it might even still be, but it was one of the largest food production facilities in the United States and the million square foot under roof. We had 2000 employees, two different unions, 70 production lines, I mean, just on and on and on. So it was a large facility and we had, it was basically it’s. It was big enough to be almost its own company. When you think about it, we had our own HR staff, our own it staff. And you know, once again, it’s one of those things and you talked about it earlier.
Yone Dewberry (11:30):
Great. Sometimes you don’t realize what you learn until you leave there. And I think about the rest of my supply chain career, the five years I spent there, where I call it, the action really happens. Just taught me how important it was to understand, you know, we do a lot of cool stuff at headquarters. Don’t get me wrong, but where it really happens at the planet. And one of the things I tell young folks that are in school or early part of their careers, that if you’re going to be in the supply chain, you need to go work at a plant or a warehouse where stuff really happens for at least a couple of years is what I tell him. Amen. Because you guys know this with all the interviews you do, that’s where it happens. And that’s where you really learn. I mean, you know, we might generate purchase orders up at our headquarters and the trucks might show up at the plant, but the person at the plant, they gotta deal with it once it shows up. And if it’s late, they have to deal with that. And if it’s early, they have to deal with that. And so you have to really understand how important those decisions you make at a headquarters location are
Greg White (12:37):
I’ve always believed in. This is probably from my parents. And one of my big influencers, you have to be on the front line before you learn how to run the back office. And that is a re I think that’s a really important recognition for people. You don’t have to spend your life there. And sometimes it’s honestly, I was in retail and at first I didn’t enjoy it. And I didn’t, didn’t even like the idea of paying my dues. And I bet a lot of people are the same way, but it is so worth it, it is just like your parents making you stay on that track team. It is so worth it. Exactly what you’re communicating there. So that’s powerful stuff. So a couple of things, one, can you share with us some of the brands from general at the time you were there? So people have a little bit of a frame of reference, jello, jello, jello
Yone Dewberry (13:26):
Stove, top stuffing, minute rice, rice, Baker’s chocolate Baker’s coconut. So those were the major ones that were there.
Greg White (13:34):
So everything college students eat, you got it. That’s exactly right to be hungry right now. You had me a stove top stuffing. And then tell us a little bit about how you got to land the lakes and, and you know what you’re doing there now. And, and that sort of thing. Cause I was fascinated by your discussion at the EFT conference, but I want to share that with our audience.
Yone Dewberry (13:57):
So how, how they got here was it’s a prior to being Atlanta lakes, I spent 10 years in consulting the last five or which I traveled overseas extensively. You know, when I first started traveling overseas extendedly I had one son. Um, and then that worked out. Okay. Um, but when I got towards the latter part of that, part of my journey, we had our second son, my wife and I had our second son and we had a discussion and it was, it was time for me to probably spend some more time with my kids and less time on an airplane. One of those other pivotal moments. What’s exactly right. That’s exactly right. And when, when the, uh, when the spouse says it’s time, it’s probably time. Right. So, you know, I did the typical networking that most people do to try to determine what’s available through, through my network.
Yone Dewberry (14:45):
I found that, um, land O’Lakes had a position open, um, for a director of planning and one, the things that I knew that I wanted, I wanted it to be in food. I mean, I’ve always wanted to be in food. And I think it’s a, it’s a great place to be. So land O’Lakes to me, I thought was a good opportunity. And, um, I found out that the hiring vice president at the time was a person that I used to work with at craft. I got ahold of them and, um, it all ended up working out and I ended up at Lana lakes because of that. Um, so, you know, it was partly network partying, being, wanting to be in food. And partly as a lot of this, as we all know, it’s, you know, part of it is that you knew someone, no shame in that.
Greg White (15:29):
One of the things we try to encourage, a lot of the young people that we speak with is there’s this old saying, it’s not what, you know, it’s who, you know, and I would argue, it’s not even that it’s who knows you, who knows you is so important because they know that you’ll do a good job and that’s how you get jobs taken away so much risk by knowing that person already. So, so, okay. I have a curiosity question then let’s dig a little bit deeper and that is when did you get your VP and chief supply chain officer around, what year did you get the chief supply chain officer title? Or did you come into it? That was three years ago. Okay. And where you just VP prior to that?
Yone Dewberry (16:11):
Yes, I was, I was, I was just, I was just seeing SVP prior to that.
Greg White (16:16):
Yeah. Well, I’m curious, I’m just curious because this recognition that the supply chain is a chief position is relatively new, right. I’m, I’m, I’m just kind of doing an informal investigation of when companies kind of recognized that.
Yone Dewberry (16:31):
So Lana lakes had theirs about seven years ago.
Greg White (16:36):
Okay. Wow. That’s pretty impressive though. They had the title. Yes. Okay. So you are one of the first companies I would imagine elevate. Yeah. That’s yeah, that’s probably right. You probably elevated, you were elevated into that title shot. They didn’t add it to your role. Okay. Nope. Very cool. Yep. All right. So we love talking about, so we talked with Sandra McQuillan from mandolins and recently with Rick McDonald from Clorox. If you’ve followed that at all, you probably know we’re pretty big fans of corporate culture and how leaders foster a corporate culture. So tell us a little bit about what differentiates the culture in your organization, your direct area of organization or in the company or both.
Yone Dewberry (17:23):
Yeah, I think the, you know, in, in, I think in my organization, as well as in the company, I think they’re very similar and I think that’s why, you know, part of it is that I love being there because the culture is very similar and that is it’s this whole culture of family. And I know companies say that, but not work co-op. And that means something a lot different than being a regular and publicly traded or privately held company. I’ve worked at both. And you know, what it means is that as a co-op everybody’s in it together and they really are in it together and that we all really want the same thing that it doesn’t mean. I remind people, you know, either when they’re coming into the company or even, you know, with my peers at the organization, it doesn’t mean we’re not going to disagree because we are going to disagree. Right. You disagree with your family all the time. I know I do. I don’t know about you guys, but I definitely do.
Scott Luton (18:15):
I knew for a short amount of time. And then I,
Yone Dewberry (18:21):
And, and so we’re going to disagree and we’re not always gonna like each other for what we got to say, but at the end of the day, as I like to describe it at the end of the day, when we sit at the dinner table, we all have each other’s backs and we all want the same thing. And that’s really the culture of Amanda lights is that it’s a call to the says, we want what’s best. What’s in the best interest of our member owners. That’s what everyone wants. We may disagree on how we do that, what that really means, but we all want it. And so to me, it’s very similar to when I sat on that council for housing. So you had all these people that wanted the same thing. And so how do you get them to work together? And it’s really the same thing within my group, right? So I have a bunch of functional leads. Vice-president directors, they all want the same thing, but they wanted it a different way sometimes. And so how do we make the best decision for everyone, not for one person. And that’s the culture.
Scott Luton (19:22):
So is, is that something that you have developed personally by experience or through reading or people who’ve shaped you or, and I’m sure in conjunction with the culture at land, O’Lakes tell us a little bit about how you came to that
Yone Dewberry (19:38):
Philosophy, come to that philosophy, you know, based on, you know, part of it is the thing like the council and housing I was on, which really helps you shape that. Part of it is, you know, I grew up in a family where my mother is Japanese and that’s a very big in Asian culture. That’s a very big thing. The whole idea of family is the most important thing. Know we’re always going to do what’s best for the family. For me, it’s, it’s, it’s an internal culture thing that I’ve just grown up with over time.
Scott Luton (20:08):
We’re earlier, it’s this, I wish we had five hours with you, uh, Yani, uh, got a lot to share and really we’re very partial to, to these cultural, these, these emotional intelligence themes. And you’re talking to your evidently passionate about, we were talking earlier this week, you know, going back to your, um, your non-work experience, the housing committee, we’re talking earlier this week with Joel Mandy, who is author of love, works, former CEO of sob automotive, USA, and SeaWorld and others. And he was really speaking at this, something that, that really made me think of your experience, where we’re missing a intentional dialogue. You know, there’s always disagreement and there’s, there’s, you know, smart people on sides, all these issues that are dividing us in 2020, but we don’t sit down and really engage in meaningful dialogue, especially when we disagree with folks. Speak to that a bit. I mean, is that your observation too?
Yone Dewberry (20:59):
Yeah, that is my observation. I think that, you know, we’ve, we’ve become so polarized. We only want to listen to and hear what we want to hear. Right. Which, which reinforces a quote unquote, our side, and we’re not willing to hear the other side. And then whenever that happens, you’d never get a good result. Never get a good one. And so, you know, we try, you just have to try to avoid that. It’s not easy, cause we were all emotional and humans are emotional. We’re emotional human human beings, quote unquote. So we just have to fight that you really do
Scott Luton (21:33):
Open ears, open eyes, open minds. What I find just personally is there’s so much hate for folks that disagree with your position and that’s just, that’s not good for anything. So, all right. So speaking of this challenging year 2020, one of the new stories that hit our radar, not a few weeks ago was this consumer brands association that launches taskforce, obviously land lakes, part of it. You’re part of it. Tell us what this is and why it’s important.
Yone Dewberry (22:00):
It’s about trying to make the supply chain more efficient, but at the same time, make it safer for people for a long time. The supply chain, if you think about supply chains, their evolution and the growth over time, most organizations are really good at being efficient in their own supply chain. And it’s not that we’re perfect. We still got ways to go and we’ve still got things to fix, but we’re pretty efficient. We’ve been working on that for a long time. But if you think about the overall supply chain, the entire ecosystem, where it breaks down is where we have to hand it off to another organization because we’re not as concerned with their efficiency. And I hate to say that, but it’s true. And it goes back to what you said, Scott us, I, you know, we almost don’t want to listen to what their issues are because we weren’t worried about our issue.
Yone Dewberry (22:48):
And so the whole idea here is that there is this connection point with the bill of lading is that we hand off a bill of lading and there’s a lot of inefficiencies with a bill of lading because it’s paper, you know, they got to take it in and they got a kid in there. We’ve got to figure out if it’s right. They’re not, they don’t all look the same. So every company is bill of lading looks a little differently. The information’s in a different place. I mean, you can go on and on and on. So the idea was, you know, organizations have always been trying to put electronics that bill, a lady, Kobe is actually made that
Scott Luton (23:17):
Reason for doing it more.
Yone Dewberry (23:20):
Cause nobody wants to touch somebody. Else’s bill a lady when it comes down to. So because of that, we, you know, we kinda talked about it’s time for us to attack this in a big way as an industry, not just as land O’Lakes supply chain or someone else’s it’s as an industry to make it and make that delivery process more efficient so that we don’t have to touch anything. It happens automatically. And if you think about it, it’s, it’s really no different than what’s happened in the home delivery industry. So you think about whether it’s ups, the pull ups or FedEx, there was a time when, when you got a delivery from them, you had to sign for it, right? If you weren’t home to bad, you had to go somewhere, forget it. Or you had to put a note on your door. I mean, it was, you think it was free convoluted and it was inefficient.
Yone Dewberry (24:12):
And then they figured out how to do it electronically, where they could have electronic signatures where they could leave it on your doorstep and take a picture. I mean, there are lots of things, right? Where they even notify you in advance. Sometimes that gate is that okay if we drop it on your door, on your door so that you don’t have to be home and think about how much more efficient at it. And without that, think about where the home delivery would be. And this is the same thing. We have to figure it out because if you’ve heard some, like my other presentations, you know, I talk about the future, including things like automated autonomous vehicles, right? Well, I can’t have an autonomous vehicle make a delivery. If I have to have a paper bill, the lady, it doesn’t work. So this to me is all the start of the next phase of the evolution of the supply chain. And so these groups, these companies are getting together and we’re trying to figure out how do we do this? Because everybody’s supply chain is a little bit,
Scott Luton (25:05):
So I know in reading of the various articles that covered this, this launched the task force, there’s a variety of really neat, innovative companies. Who are you looking forward to rubbing elbows and sharing ideas and, and dialoguing with as part of this task force.
Yone Dewberry (25:20):
Yeah. I mean, I think that, um, you know, for me, I’m looking forward to dialogue with them all. Cause I think I can learn from every last one of them. I don’t think that I have all the good ideas. Trust me. I know,
Scott Luton (25:33):
I don’t know Yani. You might have cornered the market. I don’t, I don’t know.
Yone Dewberry (25:38):
I don’t think so.
Scott Luton (25:39):
You don’t have them. You’ll be one of the best people to extract them all that. It sounds like to me.
Yone Dewberry (25:45):
So, you know, we have today, we have, when we first started, we had about 10 CPG companies and three or four retailers today, we’re up to 24 or 25 CPG companies and nine or 10 retailers, including some of the big national retailers, as well as some of the, you know, the more regional guys. And there are plenty of companies now. Cause I think everybody sees the benefit. And I think we’re going to try to do, which is really going to be different is we’re not going to try and develop the process with any specific tool we’re trying to develop standards is what we’re trying to develop. So if you think about the analogy that I would have would be barcoding marketing is a standard. What you do with that barcode, how you use that barcode is up to you. That’s what we’re trying. We’re trying to develop a standard of what’s the basic information that this electronic deleting needs. Could you have more? And you’re thinking, what’s going to think about EDI, right? EDI has a basic set of standards, but if you and your trading partner and want, you can add more. And that’s what we’re trying to figure out.
Scott Luton (26:46):
I’ll tell ya. As we all know, sitting here, how the bar could revolutionized so much of global business, especially supply chain, man, it’s gonna be really exciting to see what comes out of this task force, where it seems like you’ve got a lot of all the folks engaged. If I can ask you one more question about the task force and, and if you don’t want to answer, of course, that that’s perfectly, perfectly fine, but you know, sometimes when we create task forces, regardless of the mission or the objective, you don’t, you don’t, you’re missing some folks at the table. Are there any, are there any sectors or company types or leader types that you feel the task force could benefit from? If they added them?
Yone Dewberry (27:23):
We actually have a pretty good cross section. Like I said, we’ve got regional and national retailers, which you always want. Cause they’re very different. And I think about the, um, the CPG company. So we have companies like us and denote, so they call them fresh product kind of delivery, short shelf life. Um, we’ve got other companies like McCormick who have longer shelf lives. And so I think about the different styles of products and deliveries, you know, the, the one area that we don’t have and it’s, it’s something we know we don’t have. And it’s something that we, it purposely decided we don’t want. It’s just a, we recognize it’s not as important right now is we don’t have a lot of DSD representation. Right.
Scott Luton (28:03):
DSD Yani for some of our listeners. Yeah.
Yone Dewberry (28:07):
Yeah. Direct store delivery was what we don’t have. Um, so we’re missing some of those, but for the major delivery types we have. Yeah.
Scott Luton (28:16):
Well looking forward to what comes out of that. But I, Greg, before I ask Yani about some leadership lessons learned in this challenging year, where are you going to, did you want to, I thought you had wanted to say something or ask a quick question. There’s so much I want to ask. Um, yeah, but we’ve only got a short time. This is what I would like for you to share that you shared in your keynote and that is people have a certain expectation of land, of land, of lakes, right. Butter and whipped cream, which my wife wanted me to be sure to let you know her to foot favorites. She brought her and whipped cream, but there’s a whole lot more to the business than that. So can you give us just a little bit of a, you know, discovery about that you’re right.
Yone Dewberry (28:52):
Atlanta lakes and they think of butter. I mean, that’s the number one thing. Um, but if you look at our businesses, what are, is, you know, give or take 30% of our business. Um, and even within that 30% of our business for every pound of butter, we make, we make two pounds of milk powder. Cause that’s the way it works. Um, and for every pound of cheese we make, we’re gonna make way cause we make cheese as well. So it’s not only the products on the dairy side that, you know, and I, and I hope you love, right? Which are, you know, the butter and the cheese kinds of products we have, co-products that get made. They’re used more industrial. So we have that side of the business. The other portions though we have is we have Terrina animal nutrition. So we’re not the dog and cat food.
Yone Dewberry (29:38):
We are farm animal, you can farm or zoo animals. And we also do lab animal. So that’s a portion of our business. And then the other 40% of our service business, we are seeds and crop protection. So we distributed seeds, crop protection products, our company, and our products touch 50% of the acres in the United States. And so we are, you know, a true from farm to retail shelf kind of company. And to your point, Greg, a lot of people don’t know that about us. They said, they think of me here, Atlanta lakes, and they think just butter. We’re lot
Greg White (30:15):
More than that. I think it’s important for folks to know that. And also you have a very intentional sustainability initiative that you enunciated at the EFT show as well. And I think that’s commendable anyway, thank you for that. That’s really, really important, right? These days. And as those kinds of initiatives, fair trade and sustainability become a, and as supply chain becomes in the forefront of the brands, those initiatives also become in the forefront. And I know you make a strong effort to not just in your own supply chain, but in your second and third tier I chain partners to make sure they’re doing well.
Yone Dewberry (30:56):
Well, we’ve been working on this project with one of the recycling companies where we actually sell. Some of our feed is made in plastic tub, high density, polyethylene, plastic tubs. And those things are not that easy to recycle. So we have a program where we work with our distributors are co-ops and our retailers, well, they will take those back. We then send them to a centralized location to our waste management company. They take them to a recycler and we change those into park benches. We change those basically into think of lumbers, what we do. And so to your point about sustainability, where we’re working really hard on this search of their supply chain concept, wherever we can. And if you’ve heard me talk about this and I’m a firm believer in, so when I say this, people look at me and they think I’m nuts and they think I’m crazy.
Yone Dewberry (31:45):
But I always say supply chain is going to save the world. And I, I do I say that because if you think, if you work in the supply chain, you’re probably working on one of the three biggest problems the world has to think about and that’s food. How do you deliver food when it’s needed, where it’s needed efficiently, how do you deliver medical supplies? You think about Kobe, right? Those are two big things with COVID is how do we deliver food? How do we do govern medicals? And then the last one is sustainability, right? And, and a supply chain works on all those. And so I’m a firm believer that, you know, we’re going to say Maura,
Greg White (32:16):
Beautiful thing about the big, beautiful silver lining in a challenging year, like 2020 is consumers are understanding exactly what you’re saying. They’re more perhaps than ever before. And that’s good for us. Good for the industry. It’s good for the talent pipeline. It’s good for just change. It has to take place. So I love that. I love that notion. And we agree with you. It’s supply chain is going to change world and lead us out
Scott Luton (32:40):
Of this pandemic time that we’re living in. And we’re going to be much better off, I mean, painful to get there, but we’re going to be much better off. So speaking of a challenging year, that is 2020 gosh, on so many levels. My quick study on you is that you are a student or a pupil of leadership. It seems like you just, you, you embrace it, you enjoy it. You’re looking what I’ve heard. You just kind of describes. You’re looking internally as much as you are looking externally, what sticks out in a challenge and you’re like 20, 22, you what’s, what is a key leader, peer one or two leadership best practice that really sticks out in this challenging time.
Yone Dewberry (33:14):
I think in these challenging times, there’s, there’s probably a couple of things that, you know, not only are they good for these challenging times, but I think, you know, hopefully we can all continue to take these forward. Right? The first one is about resiliency. And I think we hear a lot about resiliency and through, through the things that we see and we hear, but for me, resiliency is really about another way that I’ve heard described is decisive adaptability. So every day something changes. If you think about what’s happening with the pandemic in the number of facilities we have, something’s changing somewhere every day in our, in our network. And so we have to make decisions every day immediately about what we’re going to do. And you have to adapt to whatever that is. Cause you don’t know what’s going to happen. It could be a location that has, you know, an outbreak near it.
Yone Dewberry (34:04):
One of our facilities is near a meat packing facility. So when the meat packing facility had their outbreak, we had to immediately say, okay, what are we going to do with our facilities? How do we get, make it happen? How do we keep our employees, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And you had to deal with that right away. Or what if you can’t get a truck or we had the case where one of our buyers of milk from us couldn’t take any more milk, you know? And, and you guys have heard all the stories about milk being dumped, but we were one of the only co-ops that did not major co-ops. It did not dump any milk. And part of that was because of this decisive, that affability. So we then started working with some of the, some of our milk buyers that said things like, can we know you don’t need the product, do the whatever you’re going to make out of it, but can you make for us? And then we worked with some of our retail partner and our salespeople that we converted that into a product we’ve never made before. And we sold it in the grocery store. So that’s that whole, we’ve got to make decisions right away. And we’ve got to make them in the best interest of everyone. And that’s how you have to make decisions. So that’s that resilience, decisive, adaptability. So that to me is the first thing that Jeff Love
Scott Luton (35:14):
That. And by the way, if we use that decisive adaptability definition, do we owe you any commissions or, or title right there. Right? So that’s the first thing. And you shared so much there. What, what else could there possibly be from your perspective?
Yone Dewberry (35:30):
The second one is it’s about empathy and accountability, those two together, right? So as leaders, we always want our people to be accountable and we want to hold ourselves accountable. Things are changing so fast and this is unprecedented. We all know that the question becomes, how do you hold the people accountable when things change so much? And I think the way you do that, and what I’ve been trying to do is to have empathy that, you know, everybody’s at a different place in this journey of the change. You know, for me working at home, not the end of the world, I was a consultant for awhile. I worked at home before, you know, my kids are all there and they’re not going to be running around. I don’t have to worry about them being at school and none of that, but other people had a completely different place.
Yone Dewberry (36:12):
And so we have to have empathy for what they’re going through, but you still want to hold people accountable. So, you know, part of it is constantly understanding that and thanking them for, because understanding they’re going through a lot and just admitting that, Hey, things didn’t go perfect this week. And next week we’re going to try to do better and they won’t go perfect next week. And we have to go back to the decisive adaptability thing. So we have to continually say, I feel for you. I do understand. Cause I used to, you know, guess what I used to have small kids. And I understand what it’s like when they’re running around and you’re trying to work at home to me that whole empathy while holding people accountable is a really hard thing to do, but you have to learn how to do that.
Scott Luton (36:52):
Well, put, I heard it put a while back years ago, they won’t care until you show them that you care about them basically. And you know, I probably butchered that.
Yone Dewberry (37:01):
I use that.
Scott Luton (37:04):
Yeah. I stole that same muscle anyway, so yeah, but we’ll trade you for decisive adaptability. So cause we’re, you know, we’re going to hear on that decisive adaptability, we’re going to hear that phrase, resiliency and resilience. Gosh, thousands and thousands of times moving up. And I think certainly the three of us sit here, know what’s behind it and what’s behind the cliche and it’s cliche for a reason, you know, everyone is seeking out that resilience, that resilient global supply chain, given the lessons that learn and, and, and surprise many people in industry these last, uh, you know, eight, 12 months. Okay. Well, Johnny, a pleasure and honor to sit down with you. Um, I really appreciate the time you had. I know that I can only imagine what your afternoon looks like, but I really enjoy it. I know Greg has to this last hour and we hope to have you back and we’ll take a deeper dive into some of those issues such as circular economy that, that, that you’re driving the organization enterprise forward and, and of course, decisive adaptability and much, much more.
Yone Dewberry (38:04):
Great. Thank you very much. I really appreciate, I enjoyed the time. It’s great talking to you.
Scott Luton (38:10):
Yeah. Thank you. It’s great hearing from you man. And we’ll do it again. And of course, big, thanks to Yonnie’s colleague over Atlanta lakes, Brooke Dylan, for the great facilitation of today’s interview. So we’ve been chatting with Yonnie Dewberry senior vice president and chief supply chain officer at Atlanta lakes. Thanks again, Yani. Thank you. So Greg, okay. A lot there, a lot of dive into, but you’re good at this. What’s the one really big, important thing that should pay attention
Greg White (38:36):
To from this conversation? The most important thing to learn from this is that it’s not nearly as easy as Yani makes it seem. I get the sense that what, what you do Yani is I don’t want to understate it, but you have a gift for leadership. You have a certain perspective on supply chain and the ability to problem solve and facilitate people into solutions better than most anyone. But this is a great example for people to learn from and it start where you’re at and aspire to make it more natural for you. You know, I usually am pretty good at this, but I’m not today. I’m telling you, well, I can tell you’re digesting. I’m a little bit baffled, but I can tell you this. If you want to learn how to facilitate change, this is someone you need to talk to. And my greater observation, this is where my head was going is I would love to have a panel with Yonnie and Rick McDonald and Sandra McQuillan all in the room at the same time.
Greg White (39:46):
And just sit back and see what happens. I just feel, I don’t know if that’s those either of those folks or who you might be working with on the committee. I feel like we need to get you folks together. I feel like there’s so much power in learning opportunity and possibility for exploring change in supply chain and advancement of supply chain and in just those three heads, I’ve really enjoyed it. I hope for our, hopefully our audience enjoys it as much as Greg and I have. We’ve been chatting again with Johnny to do Barry with land O’Lakes to our audience. Hey, check out all of our podcasts. If you enjoyed this conversation, [inaudible] dot com. Find us and subscribe wherever your podcast from, as we always challenge audiences, as much as we challenge ourselves, Hey, do good give forward and be the change that’s needed. And on that note, we’ll see you next time.
Yone Dewberry is the SVP and Chief Supply Chain Officer for Land O’Lakes, Inc. In this role, Yone has responsibility for all elements of supply chain operations, including strategy, talent management, manufacturing, engineering, supply and demand planning, transportation, warehousing, quality, analytics, and procurement. Prior to this role, he served as Senior Vice President of Supply Chain and Procurement. He has brought tremendous value in changing Land O’Lakes distribution models, accelerating service collaboration, redefining transportation strategy and positioning in the art of innovation. Yone joined Land O’Lakes in 2008 as Director of Dairy Planning. He is a highly-regarded strategist and developer of talent with a broad background that includes more than 12 years working as a supply chain consultant with a variety of global companies, including BDP International and KPMG, and 15 years with consumer products and chemical companies, such as Kraft Foods, Corning Glass and ARCO. Earlier in his career, Yone was in direct leadership positions for Kraft plants, including Entenmann’s Bakery. He has held numerous volunteer and non-profit board positions, including a member of the Board of Directors for Delaware Special Olympics from 1988 to 1993, as their president in 1992 and 1993, as a member on the Delaware State Council on Housing from 1989 to 1994, as their Chairman in 1993 and 1994, and as a Sunday School teacher at Columbus Baptist Church from 2003-2005. He was recently named as one of the 300 most influential African-American corporate executives by Black Enterprise Magazine. Yone earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and MBA from Lehigh University. He is a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.
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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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From humble beginnings working the import docks, representing Fortune 500 giants, Ford, Michelin Tire, and Black & Decker; to Amazon technology patent holder and Nordstrom Change Leader, Kimberly Reuter has designed, implemented, and optimized best-in-class, highly scalable global logistics and retail operations all over the world. Kimberly’s ability to set strategic vision supported by bomb-proof processes, built on decades of hands-on experience, has elevated her to legendary status. Sought after by her peers and executives for her intellectual capital and keen insights, Kimberly is a thought leader in the retail logistics industry.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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 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 is a Proven Business Excellence Practitioner and Leadership Guru with over 25 years leading operations for a Fortune 500 company, Goodyear. He is also the CEO of LinkedXL (Excellence), a Business Operating Systems Architecting Firm dedicated to implementing sustainable operating systems that drive sustainable results. Taylor’s achievements in the industry have made him a Next Generational Lean pacesetter with significant contributions.
An American business executive, Taylor has made a name for himself as an innovative and energetic industry professional with an indispensable passion for his craft of operational excellence. His journey started many years ago and has worked with renowned corporations such as The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT) leading multi-site operations. With over 3 decades of service leading North America operations, he is experienced in a deeply rooted process driven approach in customer service, process integrity for sustainability.
A disciple of continuous improvement, Taylor’s love for people inspires commitment to helping others achieve their full potential. He is a dynamic speaker and hosts "The Winning Link," a popular podcast centered on business and leadership excellence with the #1 rated Supply Chain Now Network. As a leadership guru, Taylor has earned several invitations to universities, international conferences, global publications, and the U.S. Army to demonstrate how to achieve and sustain effective results through cultural acceptance and employee ownership. Leveraging the wisdom of his business acumen, strong influence as a speaker and podcaster Taylor is set to release "The Winning Link" book under McGraw Hill publishing in 2022. The book is a how-to manual to help readers understand the management of business interactions while teaching them how to Deine, Align, and Execute Winning in Business.
A servant leader, Taylor, was named by The National Diversity Council as one of the Top 100 Diversity Officers in the country in 2021. He features among Oklahoma's Most Admired CEOs and maintains key leadership roles with the Executive Advisory Board for The Shingo Institute "The Nobel Prize of Operations" and The Association of Manufacturing Excellence (AME); two world-leading organizations for operational excellence, business development, and cultural learning. He is also an Independent Director for the M-D Building Products Board, a proud American manufacturer of quality products since 1920.
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Tandreia Bellamy retired as the Vice President of Industrial Engineering for UPS Supply Chain Solutions which included the Global Logistics, Global Freight Forwarding and UPS Freight business units. She was responsible for operations strategy and planning, asset management, forecasting, and technology tool development to optimize sustainable efficiency while driving world class service.
Tandreia held similar positions at the business unit level for Global Logistics and Global Freight forwarding. As the leader of the Global Logistics engineering function, she directed all industrial engineering activies related to distribution, service parts logistics (post-sales support), and mail innovations (low cost, light weight shipping partnership with the USPS). Between these roles Tandreia helped to establish the Advanced Technology Group which was formed to research and develop cutting edge solutions focused on reducing reliance on manual labor.
Tandreia began her career in 1986 as a part-time hourly manual package handling employee. She spent the great majority of her career in the small package business unit which is responsible for the pick-up, sort, transport and delivery of packages domestically. She held various positions in Industrial Engineering, Marketing, Inside and On-road operations in Central Florida before transferring to Atlanta for a position in Corporate Product Development and Corporate Industrial Engineering. Tandreia later held IE leadership roles in Nebraska, Minnesota and Chicago. In her final role in small package she was an IE VP responsible for all aspects of IE, technology support and quality for the 25 states on the western half of the country.
Tandreia is currently a Director for the University of Central Florida (UCF) Foundation Board and also serves on their Dean’s Advisory Board for the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Previously Tandreia served on the Executive Advisory Board for Virginia Tech’s IE Department and the Association for Supply Chain Management. She served on the Board of Trustees for ChildServ (a Chicago child and family services non-profit) and also served on the Texas A&M and Tuskegee Engineering Advisory Boards. In 2006 she was named Business Advisor of the Year by INROADS, in 2009 she was recognized as a Technology All-Star at the Women of Color in STEM conference and in 2019 she honored as a UCF Distinguished Aluma by the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems.
Tandreia holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University and a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management Systems from UCF. Her greatest accomplishment, however, is being the proud mother of two college students, Ruby (24) and Anthony (22).
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Marty Parker serves as both the CEO & Founder of Adæpt Advising and an award-winning Senior Lecturer (Teaching Professor) in Supply Chain and Operations Management at the University of Georgia. He has 30 years of experience as a COO, CMO, CSO (Chief Strategy Officer), VP of Operations, VP of Marketing and Process Engineer. He founded and leads UGA’s Supply Chain Advisory Board, serves as the Academic Director of UGA’s Leaders Academy, and serves on multiple company advisory boards including the Trucking Profitability Strategies Conference, Zion Solutions Group and Carlton Creative Company.
Marty enjoys helping people and companies be successful. Through UGA, Marty is passionate about his students, helping them network and find internships and jobs. He does this through several hundred one-on-one zoom meetings each year with his students and former students. Through Adæpt Advising, Marty has organized an excellent team of affiliates that he works with to help companies grow and succeed. He does this by helping c-suite executives improve their skills, develop better leaders, engage their workforce, improve processes, and develop strategic plans with detailed action steps and financial targets. Marty believes that excellence in supply chain management comes from the understanding the intersection of leadership, culture, and technology, working across all parts of the organization to meet customer needs, maximize profit and minimize costs.
Marketing Coordinator
Laura Lopez serves as our Supply Chain Now Marketing Coordinator. She graduated from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente in Mexico with a degree in marketing. Laura loves everything digital because she sees the potential it holds for companies in the marketing industry. Her passion for creativity and thinking outside the box led her to pursue a career in marketing. With experience in fields like accounting, digital marketing, and restaurants, she clearly enjoys taking on challenges. Laura lives the best of both worlds - you'll either catch her hanging out with her friends soaking up the sun in Mexico or flying out to visit her family in California!
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An acknowledged industry leader, Jake Barr now serves as CEO for BlueWorld Supply Chain Consulting, providing support to a cross section of Fortune 500 companies such as Cargill, Caterpillar, Colgate, Dow/Dupont, Firmenich, 3M, Merck, Bayer/Monsanto, Newell Brands, Kimberly Clark, Nestle, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Sanofi, Estee Lauder and Coty among others. He's also devoted time to engagements in public health sector work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. At P&G, he managed the breakthrough delivery of an E2E (End to End) Planning Transformation effort, creating control towers which now manage the daily business globally. He is recognized as the architect for P&G’s demand driven supply chain strategy – referenced as a “Consumer Driven Supply Chain” transformation. Jake began his career with P&G in Finance in Risk Analysis and then moved into Operations. He has experience in building supply network capability globally through leadership assignments in Asia, Latin America, North America and the Middle East. He currently serves as a Research Associate for MIT; a member of Supply Chain Industry Advisory Council; Member of Gartner’s Supply Chain Think Tank; Consumer Goods “League of Leaders“; and a recipient of the 2015 - 2021 Supply Chain “Pro’s to Know” Award. He has been recognized as a University of Kentucky Fellow.
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Marcia Williams, Managing Partner of USM Supply Chain, has 18 years of experience in Supply Chain, with expertise in optimizing Supply Chain-Finance Planning (S&OP/ IBP) at Large Fast-Growing CPGs for greater profitability and improved cash flows. Marcia has helped mid-sized and large companies including Lindt Chocolates, Hershey, and Coty. She holds an MBA from Michigan State University and a degree in Accounting from Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay (South America). Marcia is also a Forbes Council Contributor based out of New York, and author of the book series Supply Chains with Maria in storytelling style. A recent speaker’s engagement is Marcia TEDx Talk: TEDxMSU - How Supply Chain Impacts You: A Transformational Journey.
Host, Logistics with Purpose
Luisa Garcia is a passionate Marketer from Lagos de Moreno based in Aguascalientes. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Universidad Autonoma de Aguascalientes, Mexico. She specializes in brand development at any stage, believing that a brand is more than just a name or image—it’s an unforgettable experience. Her expertise helps brands achieve their dreams and aspirations, making a lasting impact. Currently working at Vector Global Logistics in the Marketing team and as podcast coordinator of Logistics With Purpose®. Luisa believes that purpose-driven decisions will impact results that make a difference in the world.
Host, Logistics with Purpose
Astrid Aubert was born in Guadalajara, she is 39 years old and has had the opportunity to live in many places. She studied communication and her professional career has been in Trade Marketing for global companies such as Pepsico and Mars. She currently works as Marketing Director Mexico for Vector Global Logistics. She is responsible for internal communications and marketing strategy development for the logistics industry. She is a mother of two girls, married and lives in Monterrey. She defines herself as a creative and innovative person, and enjoys traveling and cooking a lot.
Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol
Sofia self-identifies as Supply Chain Ambassador, her mission is to advocate for the field and inspire young generations from diverse backgrounds and cultures to join the industry so that thought diversity is increased and change accelerated. Recognized as Linkedin Top Voice and Linkedin Community Top Voice in Supply Chain Management, as well as Emerging Leader in Supply Chain by CSCMP 2024, Top Women in Supply Chain by Supply & Demand Executive 2023, and Coup de Coeur Global Women Leaders in Supply Chain by B2G Consulting in 2021.
Public speaker at multiple international events from keynotes and panels, to webinars and guest lectures for bachelor's and master's degrees, discussing topics such as sustainability, women in the industry, technology and innovation. Writer at different online magazines on logistics, supply chain and technology. Podcast host and guest on different recognized programs in the industry. Sofia has more than 5 years of experience from academic research and field studies to warehouse operations, demand planning and network design. She has worked in manufacturing, airport operations, e-commerce retail, and technology hardware across Latin America, North America and Europe.
Currently working as Supply Chain Network Design and Optimization Manager at HP within their Global Supply Chain and Logistics team.
Host
Karin Bursa is the 2020 Supply Chain Pro to Know of the Year and the Host of the TEKTOK Digital Supply Chain Podcast powered by Supply Chain Now. With more than 25 years of supply chain and technology expertise (and the scars to prove it), Karin has the heart of a teacher and has helped nearly 1,000 customers transform their businesses and share their success stories. Today, she helps B2B technology companies introduce new products, capture customer success and grow global revenue, market share and profitability. In addition to her recognition as the 2020 Supply Chain Pro to Know of the Year, Karin has also been recognized as a 2019 and 2018 Supply Chain Pro to Know, 2009 Technology Marketing Executive of the Year and a 2008 Women in Technology Finalist.
Host
Vin Vashishta is the author of ‘From Data To Profit’ (Wiley 2023). It’s the playbook for monetizing data and AI. Vin is the Founder of V-Squared and built the business from client 1 to one of the world’s oldest data and AI consulting firms. His background combines nearly 30 years in strategy, leadership, software engineering, and applied machine learning.
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.
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.
Principal & Host
When rapid-growth technology companies, venture capital and private equity firms are looking for advisory, they call Greg – a founder, board director, advisor and catalyst of disruptive B2B technology and supply chain. An insightful visionary, Greg guides founders, investors and leadership teams in creating breakthroughs to gain market exposure and momentum – increasing overall company esteem and valuation.
Greg is a founder himself, creating Blue Ridge Solutions, a Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader in cloud-native supply chain applications, and bringing to market Curo, a field service management solution. He has also held leadership roles with Servigistics (PTC) and E3 Corporation (JDA/Blue Yonder). As a principal and host at Supply Chain Now, Greg helps guide the company’s strategic direction, hosts industry leader discussions, community livestreams, and all in addition to executive producing and hosting his original YouTube channel and podcast, TEChquila Sunrise.
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.
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!
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 Cisco, Microsoft, 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 University, O’Reilly Media, LinkedIn Learning, and Pluralsight. Mr. Jackson retired from the U.S. Navy in 1994, earning specialties in Space Systems Engineering, Carrier 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.
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.
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’.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Director, Customer Experience
Katherine is a marketing professional and MBA candidate who strives to unite her love of people with a passion for positive experiences. Having a diverse background, which includes nonprofit work with digital marketing and start-ups, she serves as a leader who helps people live their most creative lives by cultivating community, order, collaboration, and respect. With equal parts creativity and analytics, she brings a unique skill set which fosters refining, problem solving, and connecting organizations with their true vision. In her free time, you can usually find her looking for her cup of coffee, playing with her puppy Charlie, and dreaming of her next road trip.
Chief of Staff & Host
Mary Kate Love is currently the VP of marketing at Supply Chain Now focused on brand strategy and audience + revenue growth. Mary Kate’s career is a testament to her versatility and innovative spirit: she has experience in start-ups, venture capital, and building innovation initiatives from the ground up: she previously helped lead the build-out of the Supply Chain Innovation Center at Georgia-Pacific and before that, MxD (Manufacturing times Digital): the Department of Defense’s digital manufacturing innovation center. Mary Kate has a passion for taking complicated ideas and turning them into reality: she was one of the first team members at MxD and the first team member at the Supply Chain Innovation Center at Georgia-Pacific.
Mary Kate dedicates her extra time to education and mentorship: she was one of the founding Board Members for Women Influence Chicago and led an initiative for a city-wide job shadow day for young women across Chicago tech companies and was previously on the Board of Directors at St. Laurence High School in Chicago, Young Irish Fellowship Board and the UN Committee for Women. Mary Kate is the founder of National Supply Chain Day and enjoys co-hosting podcasts at Supply Chain Now. Mary Kate is from the south side of Chicago, a mom of two baby boys, and an avid 16-inch softball player. She holds a BS in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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.
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.
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.
Creative Director, Producer, Host
Katherine Hintz, MBA is a marketing professional who strives to unite her love of people with a passion for positive experiences. Having a diverse background, which includes nonprofit work with digital marketing and start-ups, she serves as a leader who helps people live their most creative lives by cultivating community, order, collaboration, and respect. With equal parts creativity and analytics, she brings a unique skill set which fosters refining, problem solving, and connecting organizations with their true vision. In her free time, you can usually find her looking for her cup of coffee, playing with her puppy Charlie, and dreaming of her next road trip.