“You are a leader if you’re able to make people walk with you.  Otherwise, you’re just taking a walk.”

–Sofia Rivas Herrera, Supply Chain Now Livestream Audience Member

“If it works for Cold Chain, it’ll work for your chain.”

–Jeffrey Miller, Supply Chain Now Livestream Audience Member

In this episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott and Greg share the top stories in supply chain for the week from the Supply Chain Buzz livestream.  They cover stories about cold chain, imports, and more!

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 (00:30):

That was an abbreviated swoosh. I believe Greg. Good afternoon. How are you doing? I didn’t even see it, but darn it. I love that thing. Can we do that again? We don’t have to go out, but we can just swish again. We will check in with the production team, but I think they were, they were cutting some, some waste and some money out of the budget. I think for this week’s, it’s all about efficiency and risk mitigation and supply chain. That is right. I like that by the way. Hey, now we’re on now. We’re own and we’re live and it is a supply chain bus Scott Luton, Greg white with you here on supply chain. Now welcome to today’s live stream. So Greg big weekend, a big week of news last week when it comes to business and supply chain looking forward to diving into all of that.

Scott Luton (01:20):

No, no, no feature guests today. But, uh, we did add featured guests, our audience, our featured guests. Now that is true. That is true. And Victor and Leandro have already said a low, so hope, hope, hopefully this finds both of you well via LinkedIn. Great to have you here. Um, so quick program programming before we get started here today, today we published this week in business history, which is own its own channel, but it hit the main supply chain. Now channel today, Greg and we tackled retail and radio retail, Marshall field of Marshall fields, fame. Wow. And Coco Chanel of, you know, the founder of Chanel, which has pretty interesting backstory there, especially if you’re kind of new to the world of fashion. Like I am, I know you’re not, but I am. She has a fascinating backstory and then be sure just in case I then own the radio side.

Scott Luton (02:22):

Uh, we dove into arguably the first commercial radio station in the States and there’s several claims there, but we covered, WWJ not 50 am in Detroit. That’s the first radio station. Well, it’s got, it’s got a claim in Katie K out of Pittsburgh has a claim in the San Francisco station. Um, and then the L the iconic Motown records, uh, because this week, uh, in history, they hit their first number one, uh, in terms of a Motown single of course, a hundred and over a 80 where to follow. But we talked about Barry Gordy jr. And you know, that one of a kind record label,

Greg White (03:06):

A connection there between Motown, right. Detroit Motown and, and muscle Shoals, Alabama. So I don’t know if everybody knows this, but they had this group down there called the Swampers and they played not only what you would expect, the kind of Leonard Skinner, uh, Dwayne, or, um, um, Homeland brothers type stuff and that sort of thing. But they were also the backing band for Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye, all kinds of Motown. It was amazing. The gifts that these folks have. There’s actually a, uh, there’s actually a, uh, I think Netflix or prime show on, on muscle Shoals. It’s fascinating to watch.

Scott Luton (03:56):

It really is the backstory and some of the details that don’t always make it out into everyone’s, uh, functioning knowledge of, of these bands and these record labels. And, and, you know, for that matter, the fashion industry, the radio industry, you name it. So it was a neat,

Greg White (04:11):

Neat episode. And that’s awesome. I haven’t gotten to listen to that one though. I know it went up in our secret private channel last night, but I didn’t get, I didn’t get to preview it.

Scott Luton (04:24):

All right. So want to say hello to Jeffrey Miller, Jeff, uh, your ears were burning earlier today.

Greg White (04:30):

We’ll talk about cold chain. That’s right. That’s right,

Scott Luton (04:36):

Bob. Good to see you here as well. I think I saw Pierre. Pierre is tuned in from Noonan home of Yamaha and many others. So Pierre hope this finds you well. And Chris Barnes, of course, supply chain is boring. The apex coach. Good old Chris Barnes. Chris hope this finds you. Well, my friend. Okay. So with no further ado, Greg, one more note, we should say ramming notes. Yeah. Supply chain. Now of course you can, if you enjoy today’s live stream, you can check out supply chain. Now you can check out tequila, sunrise. You can check out this week in business history and supply chain is boring and we’ve got it all conveniently in the show notes of the life.

Greg White (05:20):

That’s right. We do all this for you.

Scott Luton (05:23):

All right. So it looks like

Greg White (05:25):

No about you. People let’s talk about us

Scott Luton (05:30):

And hello, Anne from Norway. Great to have you tuned in via LinkedIn log. Okay. So this review came in and we’ve been really grateful. There’s been some interesting reviews and comments may have, of course, we get lots of feedback. Uh, Didi here who showered remain nameless, I reckon says, quote, Scott and Greg are the absolute best at what they do. Always something new and engaging the listen to their understanding of the industry makes the world of supply chain truly interesting

Greg White (06:00):

With each episode, DD sharks. Really thank you.

Scott Luton (06:06):

That makes our day, uh, for sure,

Greg White (06:10):

Our chief marketing officer makes us brag on ourselves. That’s right. Okay.

Scott Luton (06:14):

That’s right. And we get in trouble if we don’t. So,

Greg White (06:18):

Mmm.

Scott Luton (06:18):

I also want to say low to Mervyn to AA professor Mohib is here on the live stream with us.

Greg White (06:26):

Um, and safety.

Scott Luton (06:28):

It says hello from Dubai. So great to have you here with us. And of course, Stephanie

Greg White (06:33):

And Stephan, are you worried about him

Scott Luton (06:38):

Steph? And hopefully you can stick around to the end

Greg White (06:41):

Cause we’ve got a picture all. Alright, so

Scott Luton (06:45):

Greg, with no further ado, we’re going to dive into some of the top headlines in supply chain. How about that?

Greg White (06:50):

That’s a great idea. Is that that is what we’re here for today,

Scott Luton (06:54):

To my knowledge, to my knowledge. Um, all right. So

Greg White (06:58):

Two cards, that’s it.

Scott Luton (07:00):

In our first story here, the manufacturing

Greg White (07:03):

Industry get to work. Yeah.

Scott Luton (07:07):

The manufacturing industry gained in July. Of course. It still has a long way to go though. Uh, the federal reserve reported last Friday, the industry production Rose 3% in July. That’s the third straight month. Yeah.

Greg White (07:20):

Hey, that’s something

Scott Luton (07:23):

After a couple of steep declines in March and April, of course, those declines related to COVID-19 and Hey, the 3% gain beat the street, uh, who had projected a 2.7% increase that’s that’s good. Um, couple of data nuggets in the overall increase. First off manufacturing output in particular improved in July, the largest increase in industrial production. The sector was automotive and mining production, which includes all end gas of all things also is up after five months of decline, all good news, but in the bigger picture, got a lot more, make it up and do the current production index is 8.4% lower than pre pandemic levels in February. And that’s best pre-print pandemic here in the States. Um, an analyst concerns also still linger. They’re worried about less than brisk demand automotive in the months ahead. So the rate of ketchup will be a little bit slower than what a lot of folks would like to see. And as we all know, the continued struggles in the aerospace industry doesn’t help anybody. So, uh, Greg, some early thoughts that come to mind here with this, this news,

Greg White (08:34):

Well, this is a theme we have seen pretty much since may. Well, and we’re fortunate to see that we’re coming off such a disastrous April and may, that we could only hope that it, that, that we started to see ourselves climbing out of this. And fortunately we have, um, we’re going to talk in another article kind of similar type results, but you know, the good news is, and I think we’ve talked about this in some previous shows this at least portends a V-shaped recovery, meaning relatively deep drop, but fairly rapid recovery, or it could be a w meaning up, down or down, up, down up again, but it looks, it’s looking pretty good. Um, you know, there’s good reason to believe that this is sustainable. As people start to get back to work here in the States and they are doing so in dramatic fashion.

Greg White (09:32):

That’s right. That is right. In fact, we’ve got an upcoming podcast we’re going to be recording in, uh, I think later this week about, uh, kind of that return to the office and some labor law issues to be, uh, to be aware of. So more to come on that, Hey, let’s say hello. Let’s let’s take a few comments here. So Mervin says, Hey, he’s ready for you to start giving away there’s tequila, sunrise. T-shirts Greg. Yeah, we gotta get those. We gotta get those printed, but you’re right. It is time to do that. Alright, I’m on it. Marvin. I’m on

Scott Luton (10:06):

You Elena says hello from Paula

Greg White (10:09):

First time here. Let’s see what kind of magic you guys do here. Now. That is an interesting comment. Greg does all the magic. I’m just here to wash dishes and take the trash out Elaina. So, but bring down the gauntlet. That’s right. Hey, um, Poland, what talk about interesting economies. I mean, even prior to, um, even prior to, uh, the pandemic and everything, Poland was on the rise. I mean, one of the leaders in Eastern Europe, so, you know, back just a few years ago, we were seeing a ton of uplift in that marketplace. So that’s making several of my friends here. Happy. Yeah. So great to have you here. You will. Lena, Angie, Rena Reno nine one one says, sign me up for that. T-shirt Greg. So, Hey, you got some pressure building. We got some demand and these tequila sunrise, t-shirts, we’re going to have to give the customer what they want.

Greg White (11:04):

The toughest thing is to decide on the color of t-shirt because it doesn’t seem sensible for it to be a gray or black t-shirt. And I’m trying to find just the right blend. I really like these kind of silky feeling t-shirts and finding that in orange is really tough. All right. So, Hey, uh, so we’re, we’re full of good news here today. So one last comment here on this first store, before we hit story, number two is according to advisor perspectives, and, and this was kind of a in conjunction with that first article from market watch, you know, they’re, they’ve been tracking their, what they call the big four indicator since the last, since the great recession 2009. Right? And so if you look at employment, you look at industrial production, which is what we just talked about, right? That’s up 3%. You look at real sales and real income and

Scott Luton (11:54):

The good news here. And I’ll, I’ll point this out to everybody, and we’re not gonna dive deep into this odd chart, but I think this is good news. So for the first time, since August, 2019, uh, we’ve had three months where all the big four indicators are in the green, there is growth. Now you could, on one hand, the glass half empty, you might say, well that’s because eight March and April, you know, fell off the cliff. That’s right. However, I would point out that this shows a steady recovery and that is good news. There’s, nothing’s guaranteed in the months to come. We’ve got, as, as analysts talked about no shortage of challenges. And that’s just a couple, but this is good news. And hopefully we’ll keep getting a lot more of that in the weeks to come. Right, Greg?

Greg White (12:42):

Yeah. Again, you know, I can’t, I can’t say this enough people, people can probably hear it enough, but I still can’t say it enough. And that is we have to acknowledge that the reason for this precipitous drop was self-inflicted right. That the pandemic did not stop the economy. The governments of the world stopped the economy because they locked us down now of course prudently. So right. But there’s, there, there, the fundamental, uh, impacts on the economy have not changed that dramatically. When you take out the impact of the pandemic, the seismic societal disruption. I love saying that Brad, Jacob coined that phrase, um, you see you, when you take that out, then, you know, the economy was, and it appears to be coming back to be growing relatively steadily. Yeah, that’s right. Good. This is a another point in that regard. So it’s interesting. So Scott and I don’t collaborate on the articles that we pick here.

Greg White (13:45):

I picked of course, something that impacts retail. He picks something that impacts manufacturing. Um, but this is a really good article again, by our friends at supply chain, dive, Matt Leonard is getting up there with Emma because Grove in my opinion, um, as a great reporter, now, a big part of this article is about the port of LA. It’s very port of LA centric. And they interviewed the general manager, whoever runs the port. Um, but the macro data that, uh, this shows is really, really important. So U S again, we’re talking about port of LA mostly, but U S ocean bound imports. Um, we’re up 4.4% year over year. Um, but up 16% from June, uh, you know, the prior month. So there’s a couple of reasons why that distinction is necessary. And we’ve gone into that. It’s only up slightly year over year, but it’s up a pile over June because again, because of the seismic societal disruption.

Greg White (14:53):

So, uh, you know, just a quick, some more quick stats for you. I don’t have fancy charts like Scott does. Um, but, but may was down ocean imports, uh, seaborne imports were down 30% year over year, and that was the trough for seaborne imports in case anyone knows, you know, the ports were started shutting down. Um, there are a couple of other things that a couple of other dynamics that we’ll go into here in a second, but really what, uh, what it appears is that this is the brands, you know, uh, brands and retailers playing a little bit of ketchup, or a lot of ketchup as demand returns due to relieving lockdown restrictions. You might also recall this is a well, you might also recall that ocean carriers were intentionally limiting capacity until very recently to drive up rates. So they have successfully driven up rates, and now they’re willing to ship because they’re getting enough money to make the shipments profitable.

Greg White (16:01):

Even with this bump in, in July, total volume is down 15% from 2019. Again, this is just seaborne shipments. Um, and I think this, this indicates recovery as we were talking about with manufacturing, but even in RF says that, uh, the expect imports down 10% year over year overall for the whole year. So, um, and some interesting, some other interesting tips. So let me check, let me throw this at you. The increases aren’t universal, and one of these is surprising. So just a couple of examples. Home furnishings are up 13% appliances up 34%. So home appliances are up imports are up 34% heavy machinery down 22%, not surprising, right? That’s, you know, that’s a Kubota tractors and things like that, right. Um, but this one surprised me building materials dropped 7%. Hm. Considering that construction has not stopped. And in some cases accelerated, that was a little bit surprising to me.

Greg White (17:13):

So, but still look demand is going to be dependent on consumers. Um, and right now, as we all know, trying to predict what we are going to do next is, is really, really difficult. Totally great. Toilet paper shortage seems like an issue of the past, but, um, the great deodorant depression, uh, is I would say all that unpredictable, and I’m gonna encourage you people to, to, to practice good hygiene, right by deodorant deodorant sales are down like 30%. Wow. You know, today federal aid has been keeping the economy aloft, right. We had the $600 a week, um, unemployment buffering, and that has gone away. And there’s no deal in sight on a, on a secondary agreement. So that’s a little bit difficult. Now, the good news is the absence of that aid has driven people back to work. Most of them at higher wages than the augmented unemployment benefits.

Greg White (18:21):

Um, and that’s good because people work, people can afford to spend money and get this. So we interviewed and we’ll be publishing a, a, uh, an interview with John gold, the, uh, VP of supply chain and customs policy at national retail Federation. He said this, the more Congress, the more Congress does to put spending money in consumer’s pockets and provide businesses with liquidity. The sooner we can get back to normal, not a huge fan. I love Jonathan gold. First of all, I’m not a huge fan of continuing to put money in consumer’s pockets from the government. Um, but we do need to help businesses with liquidity that doesn’t have to mean giveaways. That could be short term loans. That could be longterm loans. Um, but you know, um, businesses are borrowing at an incredible rate right now, those that aren’t going out of business. In fact, 26 major retailers have gone bankrupt this year.

Greg White (19:22):

And something like 300,000 small businesses, depending on your definition have folded this years, just to give you an idea. So the need for business liquidity is definite there. Um, look, we can see, we’ve seen, and we’re going to continue to see. And as Scott said later this week, we’re going to talk about how people can safely get back to work. Um, and actually I had a meeting in person Scott on Friday with, uh, bill Gibson, the CEO of a company called the Pasco warehouse management. Let’s just call it a fulfillment application. Um, and he had people begging to get back in the office. He literally had to, he had to, because they needed to do some production or some construction. He had to actually get about 50 people to go back home and work from home. And I wonder, and I put this question to the audience. I wonder if Pete, some people, many people are itching to get back to the office office, but getting people back to work is going to be sufficient to get the economy to rebound. There’s nothing foundationally. I’m no economist, but there’s nothing foundationally different other than the epidemic that impacts all right,

Scott Luton (20:35):

Comments here. And we’re going to start, uh, with Jeffrey Miller. So Jeff says, Hey, I missed how Greg set up the data, but it is possible that a portion of the construction material decrease is logistics related because he says lumber, shortages abound good stuff.

Greg White (20:53):

True. And we can’t move aluminum either. Cause there’s such a shortage of that as well. So that’s a good point. Yup.

Scott Luton (20:59):

Say hello to Tim Ingram. Who’s also tuned in, I think, via LinkedIn. And so a Sophia Sophia, I like your glass half full approach here. Cause she says, as, as Greg was talking about uterine cells down, she says at least oral hygiene product sales are up Greg. So

Greg White (21:17):

That is a good way of looking at it. Sophia. Yes.

Scott Luton (21:22):

Stephan has a different take on construction industry. Um, he says, he’s got to object to your surprise there’s numbers in his neighborhood. They were building a whole new neighborhood behind his house

Greg White (21:34):

House. Provat hit, they finished building their houses that were already started, but not a single more house more. Okay. That’s interesting. That’s different than what I’m seeing here in Atlanta.

Scott Luton (21:46):

All right. And Chris says, though, he agrees with you, but he’s as surprised as you are, especially given how do it yourself. That whole industry is booming, which we talked about last week, uh, on the heels of home Depot’s expansion from a supply chain footprint standpoint.

Greg White (22:01):

Those is no slouch. They’re expanding as well. That was a neat story to see. Um, and I think that’s

Scott Luton (22:08):

Most of the commentary there, so good stuff there. Um, so to the question in the headline that peak come early or supply chains making up for lost time, which is it

Greg White (22:20):

Neither. I think it’s definitely making up for lost time. It’s definitely that. Yeah. That’s a good point. I didn’t answer that question, right. That’s a, that’s one of those click bait headlines, but, um, yeah, it, I wouldn’t say that it is definitely that the peak is not going to be peak of normal. NRF has already said they expect peak to be down 14% from last year. So, um, I think people are going to be and should be prudently, cautious about spending, um, for the holidays. Um, I would encourage you to, I would encourage people to do that spend wisely.

Scott Luton (23:01):

Alright. So let’s move on to something.

Greg White (23:02):

My goodness. T-shirt and that’s it. Yeah. That should be your stocking stuff for everybody. Um,

Scott Luton (23:10):

All right. So we promise you plenty of good news on this on today’s episode of supply chain buzz, and here’s more of it. So this is a really neat story. Came across that we came across, at least our desk could be a Forbes, uh, and here’s the gist of it and, and check out the article because there’s a lot more behind it, but, but, uh, here’s the reader’s digest version. So five high schoolers had noticed a problem last lunch

Greg White (23:34):

Year or last school year, sorry that their teachers didn’t have time for lunch,

Scott Luton (23:39):

Surprise anybody. I remember my teachers grading papers and stuff during lunch, right? And the current delivery, as we all know are pretty expensive. You get, you get a couple of sandwiches that run your 50 bucks. It seems like. Um, so the five teenagers, these five brilliant teenagers built a food delivery program and that meant they offered it to the school 80 to 80 teachers signed up for this food delivery program. So again, for context, this is spring 2020. So think that’s when COVID-19 here in the States, as we all know, really began to increase. One of the innovative teenagers had a family member that was a doctor on the front lines in Atlanta. So of course, firsthand as COVID-19 is ramping up, they’re getting, you know, firsthand news of how the shortage of PPE, right? Right. So right away, these incredible kids shut their food delivery program down, sorry, teachers, but they focus on bigger need.

Scott Luton (24:38):

And that’s how, how do we get healthcare professionals that PPE they need? So after making a few successful coordinated deliveries with this newly tweaked a software program, they saw greater opportunity. And right then and there project pair link was born Aguilar. It’s just first name to protect the innocent and the innovative, our Aguilar was CEO. Seth became COO. All right. So the software that they had initially built to deliver food was found to be really helpful in mapping routes for PPE pickup and delivery and that matching process. Right? So to add scale to their platform so they can help more people project Powerlink partnering with this nonprofit here in town called Atlanta beats COVID they partner with Georgia tech and MIT professors, some of the best smartest around the Coca Cola company and ups all, all partnered. And one of the key thrusts here was to find those individuals or organizations with three D printers and get them into the fight, right.

Scott Luton (25:42):

Increasing supply. Right. And then of course the other tough hurdle is you got to coordinate pickup and delivery to those most in need. So it’s evolved. And this powerful platform that’s really, um, democratizing and distributing the supply chain serving PPE, but they want to do more, uh, applying their technology to hurricanes and other emergencies says Aguilar, the CEO quote, our longterm goal is to be a disaster relief replacement. We want to create a new technology to fight issues, open AI for disasters. We want to do that in a lot more places than just PPE in quote, what a neat story Greg and I don’t know about you, but what were you doing as a junior and senior in high school?

Greg White (26:30):

I am not at Liberty to say that, but I can assure you, it was not this I was on. I was entrepreneurial. Let’s just put it that way. Um, so another thing that I found was not only did they deploy this technology, but they even tweaked their methodology in the middle of it. So when they started making, um, face masks, not masks, uh, when they started, uh, issuing orders to people with three D printers and some of these people were individuals, um, they were making the, um, face fields, right? And they discovered that making one face shield at a time wasted, too much material and took too long. So they created, uh, they created a, um, a pattern so that they could make eight or 12 at a time and, and meet the same, do that, do more in the same amount of time. So even that was really interesting.

Greg White (27:26):

The important thing to think about here is the low. They are focusing on local supply chains, right? They want to find the people in Atlanta to solve the problem for Atlanta in new Orleans to solve the problem for a hurricane in new Orleans, right in new Bern, uh, North Carolina, when a, when a hurricane comes to shore there or whatever. So that’s the magic here, the routing, um, that’s, you know, that’s a pretty standard stuff. That’s cool that they’ve incorporated that into it. So they’re reading traffic and, and optimizing routing into that, but connecting to local people who can solve the problem that is, that is old fashioned supply chain. I mean, that’s, that’s me going next door to the farmer who has great tomatoes and right saying, Hey, can I get some of those tomatoes? So, uh, that, that will be really, really key. And the other thing is, think about it in the instance of a physical disaster, like a hurricane, which as you can tell, we have pay a lot of attention to here in the Southeast. They could figure out where the goods could come from, because they’ll know the area that has been damaged or impacted by the, by the event. So

Scott Luton (28:43):

I put there a couple of comments from our audience here. Robert Busey says, Hey, teachers are number two on the important scale, just on their family.

Greg White (28:52):

Right timing. There was that their school closed. So they didn’t have to do any disservice to the teachers when, when all of this sort of came around. But yeah, that’s, that is important. And these kids go to a very good school.

Scott Luton (29:07):

That’s right. Tim Ingram, back to the question of what you were doing as a junior and senior, he says, I don’t remember, but I was working two jobs, mowing lawns and managing a shoe store at 17. I was busy, man, Tim, you were an overachiever, undoubtedly that’s good stuff there. And great business lessons at an early age, running a store at 17 Mervyn says, kudos. These guys understand their good intentions that demand the usefulness, but how long would this demand last? Isn’t that a question? Yeah. I would agree with you. I think it’s interesting to see how they diversify the applications effectively. We all know that, you know, we’re moving in a hurricane. I’m not sure exactly when hurricane season starts, but we’re certainly in a thunderstorm and tornado season and we’ve got hurricane season coming up so I could see a variety of applications. One things I didn’t mention in my notes

Greg White (29:58):

Is that they’re great. They’re coordinating, or they’re getting inputs with viral virologists, you know,

Scott Luton (30:04):

Folks that can predictively look at a pandemic viruses and pandemic like, um, situations and baking that into some of their, um, their AI. So I think it’s, it’s fascinating.

Greg White (30:18):

Great to, to, um, Mervyn’s question. How long will demand last your take? Well, you know, the point is these are still high school students, so they don’t really need a sustainable business model. Right. Um, but if they can put this technology in the hands of someone, maybe it’s the red cross or somebody like that who can undertake this kind of coordination that would be game changing, but he’s right. They need to get it into the hands of those organizations that deal with these kinds of things, right. United way. Um, you know, doctors without borders, um, red cross salvation army, whoever gets involved in these kinds of issues, because that’s the point they’ve made a facilitating technology to improve the, the process of getting necessary items to people in need in an acute crisis. Typically. So

Scott Luton (31:19):

Jeffery Miller said that their supply chain locavores and Lacovara sorry, sorry. Uh, Chris says, what is that? Can you define? He said, people who buy food and then Brown it locally, I guess. Uh, and he says that, um, carnivore, herbivore, omnivore, look, Avara, I’ll let you say that,

Greg White (31:39):

Greg. Yeah, he means like, like herbivore. Got it.

Scott Luton (31:46):

Oh man. Alright. So Jeff, I’ll tell you, we’re going to have to get him a M

Greg White (31:50):

A side gig, hit him in mind.

Scott Luton (31:54):

Alright. So what a great story again, uplifting.

Greg White (31:57):

Yeah, good news. You got these, these five sharp young people

Scott Luton (32:02):

That saw a need and saw people hurting let’s face it and, and figured out how to direct their talents towards helping, not just helping, you know, cause they had a couple of successful deliveries and then it had the vision and have the desire and, and

Greg White (32:15):

Go bigger and help more people. So I love the story and

Scott Luton (32:19):

We wish them all the best and it’s kind of cool to see that Atlanta connection. Okay. So, uh, in this final story here on the bus, we’re talking about cold chain, cold chain, as most of our folks in the audience will know is exploding, hottest thing. Uh, as crazy as that might sound in global supply, one of them at least, and, uh, interesting as we were on social media earlier today, Greg, we were, we were publishing some notes about the coaching industry and Jeff Miller in the comments, uh, shared a quote that I think he had coined a few years back saying that if it works for cold chain, it will work for your chain. And, and he was really speaking in a humorous way. He was speaking to the complexities that coal chain presents when you’re trying to protect certain temperatures as you’re moving things around the world.

Scott Luton (33:11):

So, um, let’s talk about this last story here, Greg. So companies on the move lineage logistics as reported by Morgan Ford over at supply chain dive, uh, lineage lineage logistics has recently acquired Ontario refrigerated services just last month is their first move into Canada, but it is not their first move, right? This is lineage logistics, 10th acquisition in the last 18 months. Holy cow. So as this article States cold warehousing space was already in demand prior to the pandemic. So then as you add on eCommerce and online grocery store orders, which have both, of course continued to increase, it’s all accelerated the need for more and more cold chain. So in the months ahead, think of as the vaccine months ahead a year from now, whatever, whenever that timing is as a vaccine is rolled out on a massive scale. You know, we’re not talking about your, your enrolled at the latest pair of Nike Jordans.

Scott Luton (34:14):

You know, this is going to be a massive project. So the vaccine of course is going to need to be temperature controlled. And that’s only going to further accelerant serve as an accelerant for growth in demand and the coaching industry amongst other things. So other major players in this industry, you know, so lineage logistics gets the spotlight to here today, but Americold logistics has been growing a good bit. United States, cold storage, agro merchants, group, LLC, and many others, but really neat to see, I would argue Greg, despite all the gains and, and the criticality that cold chain provides, um, uh, business world, you don’t, it doesn’t get as much PR and spotlight is many other components of supply chain, at least not in my view. What what’s your take?

Greg White (35:03):

Yeah, I agree. I mean, you know, mostly those trucks with refrigerators on them, they go by unnoticed just like any other truck. Um, and the truth is there aren’t a lot of cold chain warehouses on main street. So it does kind of, uh, fade into the background. But the truth is it is a very complex business. I mean, one of our first clients at, at blue Ridge was a company called Burris logistics still around, have been around forever. And they used to love to, um, torture me by showing me their, um, dry goods, uh, cold freezer. Sub-Zero they really love to take me into subzero freezer, but the point that that makes is how complex it is. Um, because you know, let’s just take frozen it, you know, if you, if you don’t manage ice cream really well, all you’ve got is a bucket of sweet cream.

Greg White (35:59):

So, so if it is, there are a ton of requirements on it. It’s very expensive to do. Um, just the power that’s required to run. One of these facilities is astounding and it, yeah, it’s, it’s an important part of things, especially during this time because people were pantry stuffing, not just with dry goods, but a lot with frozen goods, right? Sales of frozen pizzas and other frozen goods went up dramatically. So while I think it’s a Rite of passage in the, in the American Southeast to have, uh, a second freezer somewhere in the basement, under the part of the house, a stock up, uh, you know, a lot of hunting for that matter, well, leverage those freezers, but certainly products. Um, and then one of the comments you’re talking about, some of the dynamics that can be really complex and cold chain workforce, uh, the conditions in these places, there’s some added dangers and, and things you’ve got to manage, um, uh, frostbite frostbite, but also slippery equipment, right.

Greg White (37:03):

And slippery racking and some other conditions. So, um, but anyway, regardless it is a, it is own the move, the industry and several companies within it. And Chris references that America logistics right based here in Atlanta spot and city, so good stuff there. Um, also want to give a quick shout out. I believe Chris jolly, uh, has a freight podcast if I’m, I believe so. And then he’s here with us on the lab for him. So Chris, hopefully this finds you well. And I agree with you that is, can you imagine the wiring, uh, as I, as I look to incorporate all those operations and the footprint and you name it. So I, I worked for a company that was on big time acquisition, front. They did 50 acquisitions in three years or something like that. And it was hectic, unbelievably hectic, because you’ve always got some company in some stage of being integrated from a data business process management personnel, um, branding, all of those, all of those standpoints. It is a significant effort. So they must my guess. And this is purely a guess. There must be some private equity backing there that has made this a strategic play. And they’ve used lineage as the vehicle to do that, to consolidate the market a bit excellent perspective that only Greg white, at least on this live stream can share. I love that Greg, but Ben, Gordon’s not watching you probably know and be able to refute me immediately. Um, Jeff

Scott Luton (38:36):

Ads, transit time, inventory control, product quality, pedigree security, all of these key supply chain characteristics are amplified and cold chain and stuff there, Jeffrey. Okay. We’re going to keep driving and, and, uh, Chris says, thanks for the shout out. You bet, Chris. Um, great to have you here with us here today. All right. So let’s talk about supply chain insiders, Greg. Yeah, so we launched just probably two, three months ago. Um, and, and, you know, like with any new offering, what we’re trying to best engage our audience and kind of give them a different channel to engage in and share perspective on. And here recently, Stephan who’s part of, I think, still part of live stream share. Uh, and I’ll only call it a little bit of it to share with our audience, but it was all about servant leadership. And he had had a couple of epiphanies in recent years about servant leadership.

Scott Luton (39:28):

And I want to share this with our audience today. Uh, so this is again from supply chain insiders and I’m sure Amanda and clay can share how to, how to join our insider’s group. He says, quote, I learned that leadership is not about being the smartest guy in the room. On the contrary. It is about assembling your personal Avengers, like that word, each an expert in their area. The leader’s responsibility is to equip your team with the tools, hardware software. And most importantly, he says education that they need to reach their full. And yes, sometimes that means that one of your teammates might surpass you, which I would see as the ultimate Testament to servant leadership in quote, I enjoyed the whole exchange, him and their fide in the insiders had a great back and forth. They shared some really neat things from their personal journey, but, you know, I’m, I’ve always been infatuated Greg with this, with the notion and the concept of real servant leadership.

Scott Luton (40:29):

And so this really stood out to me, your, your, uh, your thoughts on Stephen’s perspective, Greg, uh, I’m a huge fan of the whole concept of servant leadership, and you can still follow the founder of the whole concept, um, on social media, probably on LinkedIn as well. But I like this discussion. I would love it if folks would chime in on this. And let me also just a little bit, uh, because I just had a phone call with Stephen last week and he’s not even in supply chain right now, but seeking to be. And that was what we were talking about was, you know, kind of assessing his gifts and superpowers and how, you know, what he might do in supply chain. Um, one very driven, uh, major studier, um, and, and loves, loves data and analytics and that sort of thing. So he’ll, and any has a financial background, which is perfect. You know, we see Scott so many people, I mean, and this is really the point not to embarrass Stephan, but this is really the point.

Greg White (41:35):

Um, we see so many people coming to industry from other areas of the business, because it is so encompassing as Jeff and others have talked about today. It is so all encompassing of so many things that impact the business. And, you know, I keep going back to Dominic’s, Winkle’s no product, no program. And that is true, whether it’s a charitable program or it’s a for-profit program, if your business is to create and move or sell goods, then you know, that supply chain is the greatest impact on your business. So anyway, um, I really appreciate, uh, really appreciated his approach when we talked clearly his knowledge is a great fit for supply chain. He’s just got, uh, and he’s, he’s got a job now. So I don’t look, I don’t think he’s looking boss. He is passionate about

Scott Luton (42:31):

Global supply chain and clearly he’s learning and adding to the skillset since tool belt. So I admire that. Well, it’s important for all of us, regardless of where we are in our, in our journey to con that continuous learning is so critical, especially in this day and age where the rate of change is, is faster than ever before. So, um, all right. So you just said one of our favorite phrases from, from a episode this year, which Dominick twinkle said, who, uh,

Greg White (42:56):

She’s all about helping, um,

Scott Luton (42:59):

Uh, the world and their healthcare needs, right? She works in Africa right now.

Greg White (43:05):

That’s right. Talking to her about, yeah.

Scott Luton (43:07):

So no program, our, our, um, uh, no product, no programs is what she said. Well, one of my simple phrases I’ve liked forever is very similar to the blockchain makes it happen. Right? We used to have this little, this little saying on our, um,

Greg White (43:22):

A table

Scott Luton (43:24):

At supply chain days at Georgia tech, uh, because really as consumers, the great thing now is consumers are figuring out, okay,

Greg White (43:32):

As we’ve said, timelessly, you know, how

Scott Luton (43:35):

They can get how they can get things in, in a day or even two days, big, small, uh, cold, hot, you know, you name it. And, and one of the greatest silver linings about all of this is that they’re making these connections. They’re starting to understand exactly what makes things happen. And, you know, it’s global supply chain that touches everything. So it’s a special time to be serving this industry. And it’s a special time to, to see consumers that you’re related to, or that you, uh, go to church with rebel bows with kind of have these Eureka moments and it dawns on them exactly what all this means.

Greg White (44:13):

Oh, been telling me for two decades. Yeah. I think, you know, um, you know, one of the things to recognize is, is that the ubiquity of it, it is now an impact on your brand image, not just that thing that happens in the back, right. Are those dusty places we call warehouses or whatever. Now it is, first of all, warehouses are much cleaner now. And, and, um, now it is part of your identity. It can actually define your identity from how well you, how well you perform financially to how well you serve the customer experience to your support for sustainability, the environment, fair trade, all of those things that can impact your, your corporate brand identity.

Scott Luton (45:01):

Well put, well put. And, uh, so about supply chain now, insiders, that’s a LinkedIn private group. I think we’ve already dropped the links in the comments. We welcome you all to join. And once you join, get involved, um, uh, share your perspective, pose your questions. We’ve got, we’ve got a pending question from, um, uh, Rushdie, I believe is his name about supply chain certification. So I’m open that, that Chris Barnes, I’m a call you out. Chris hopefully weighs in because Chris knows that stuff more than, than most. Uh, so, um, all right. So one of the interesting things, Greg, that, um, that kind of piggyback in what we were just talking about, how, um, educating consumers and, and broadening the tent that is global supply chain is such an important thing, especially when it comes to talent pipeline coming into industry, as it comes to solving problems, you name it. Uh, so those reasons are some of the reasons why we are launching new series, including tequila, sunrise, which comes from the supply chain tech and the entrepreneurial and the into venture and M and a kind of niche, um, which is different than all of our other content this week in business history is very, very different. It’s, uh, for history dorks, like, like myself, uh, which, you know, kind of wants to know the story behind the story. And, you know, it’s all about broadening this tent to really make sure folks can connect things

Greg White (46:27):

Back to global supply chain. So what’s coming up,

Scott Luton (46:31):

Uh, Greg, uh, with tequila, sunrise, what’s next?

Greg White (46:35):

Yeah. So, um, we’re going to start having actual guests. So, uh, I mentioned Ben Gordon who’s with Cambridge capital who funds a lot of tech, uh, not just tech, but a lot of supply chain companies, Colton Griffin, who’s the CEO of flourish, um, which is a, uh, a track and trace supply chain. Technology has a great pedigree coming from Manhattan associates, which most people will know. Um, and they’re in the cannabis industry. So that one will be fun to talk about. And then a slew of other, uh, people that we’re gonna, we’re gonna start getting, we’re gonna, you know, we’ve done a lot of education. We’ve done a lot of notification of the deals that are happening and companies that are making it and not making it in some cases, but we’re also, we also want to get, allow the, to hear

Scott Luton (47:30):

From firsthand from the mouths of the people who are doing it every single day. So they don’t have to listen to smooth jazz voice. Although I could listen to that. I think most people could so good stuff there love the new series. A, I believe were eight episodes instead of benign. So it will be nine. Yeah. Okay. Thursday will be episode nine. So check it out. What’s that hard to believe it is hard to believe, but you can check out tequila, sunrise, wherever you get your podcasts from. We’ll take a few comments from the audience that a lot of chatter about servant leadership here. And I want to share a couple of these, um, AA says, Hey, wow, that’s depth talking about Stephen’s commentary. Uh, in his 10 years of teaching in the university, I was very happy to find three talents who have surpassed everything I’ve taught.

Scott Luton (48:23):

They are award-winning supply chain management leaders. And examples love to hear that AA and great to have you here today with us. So Jeffrey says his favorite saying from his days leading supply, a supply chain ideas lab for big consultancy quote, the supply chain is the business in quote like that. Jeff really good point on that, um, in distribution and often in retail, unless they own their own real estate inventory is the largest asset in the entire business. So it is significantly impactful. Yup. Agreed, good point. There. Sophia might have perhaps a quote of the day. Good one here, regardless. Sophia says you are a leader. If you are able to make people walk with you, otherwise you’re just taking a walk.

Scott Luton (49:21):

Well, it is well said. All right. So Chris, uh, as he was responding to Stephan, so we’ve talked about supply chain is boring, which is another one of our series here at supply chain now. And I want to share his comment here because he talks about the next episode of supply chain is boring with Greg Cronin. Uh, in part two, he discusses how supply chain is a great fit for nontraditional professionals. And he specifically mentioned business and financial analyst that is going to be a home run episode. What’s the legs there. That’s pretty impressive. Yup, absolutely. So y’all check out these new series this week in business history, which published today is all about Marshall field, the, the really a pioneer and innovator, uh, uh, business person. Well, before his time, you may have heard the phrase. The customer’s always right. He scorn that phrase.

Scott Luton (50:16):

Um, uh, he was amongst the first, if not the first retailer to give money back, regardless of what the reason was, he offered he one of the first retailers to put cafes in the stores in Chicago, the main store, so that consumers didn’t have to leave and grab lunch and come back. I mean, really an innovator fascinating store. We talked about Marshall fields. We talked about, Oh, coach Chanel, which the non-fashion Easter in may. We learned a lot about that, that backstory there. We learned about WMS. That’d be a J in Detroit. And of course, as we sit on the front end, Motown Motown records, fascinating backstory there you can share at this week in business history. All right, Greg, we are making we’re really efficient today. I got 1251. Yeah.

Greg White (51:07):

People get to a lunch early, I guess. Right? Absolutely got one more thing. Okay.

Scott Luton (51:12):

Greg, tell us, let’s talk about this webinar. We’ve got coming up this Wednesday.

Greg White (51:17):

Yeah. Well, Kelly Barner and rod Scherchen are going to talk about what supply chains need to do to adapt after. Well, probably by the time we do this, it’s going to be while you’re coming out of, of the depths of COVID-19, we’ve already talked about some of the recovery that’s under undergoing. So if you’re struggling as the economy, as the supply chain, as the new normal, I had to say it as it, as it starts to occur, this would be great to tune into and get some tips. I agreed. It’s going to be a good one. A couple of comments here. We’ll start with [inaudible].

Scott Luton (51:56):

He says, Greg, I want to feel more of that. Listen up finger in your podcast. I love it. When you are connected,

Greg White (52:04):

You know, it’s funny. He says that when I do that, listen up, I’m always, I’m always wondering what somebody who’s seen that video for the first time is doing, you know, are they going, why is that guy pointing at me and commanding me to listen to his show?

Scott Luton (52:20):

It’s mesmerizing, Greg, Chris agrees. He agrees with us. He says, Sophia’s comment is the best of the show. Good stuff there. Alright. So we’ve talked about the webinar. Uh, folks were really joy, the feedback and the engagement that all of y’all bring to whether it’s our live stream or social or some of the feedback we get

Greg White (52:43):

Podcasts. Some of the events we do. Yeah.

Scott Luton (52:45):

Keep it coming, you know, tell us, yeah. Tell us what you want to see, what gets under reported and under covered in global supply chain. Let us tell us what you think. Uh, you can check us out. Yeah. Supply chain now rated.com or Gregg. If they can’t find what they’re looking for, what should they do?

Greg White (53:04):

They should do what we do, which is call Amanda. And her number is no way that’s happening. Amanda, at supply chain now radio.com. That is right. Um, so, uh, kind of a brief

Scott Luton (53:21):

Expedited episode here today, we kind of shot through the news want I got, well, it is a Monday, right? At least, uh that’s. What’s what Amanda told me as we came on. Is it Monday, Greg? It is Monday. Every day is Monday Scott. Well, we’ve enjoyed today’s version of supply chain buds. Again, check us out wherever you get your podcasts from on behalf of Greg white and Chris Barnes and Amanda and clay, and for the whole team here, uh, wishing you nothing but the best to our audience in the days ahead, do good, give forward and be the change that’s needed. And on that note, we’ll see you next time here on supply chain now.