Supply Chain Now
Episode 434

Episode Summary

“My goal is to inform, enlighten and inspire you in your own supply chain tech journey.”

-Greg White, Host of TECHquila Sunrise

 

The ‘TECHquila Sunrise’ Series on Supply Chain Now shares the latest investments, acquisitions, innovations, and glorious implosions in Supply Chain Tech every week. If you are looking for a podcast about ‘so-and-so signed a contract with such and such,’ or ‘they just released version 20 of that same technology you didn’t buy last year,’ this is the wrong podcast for you. But if you are looking for real news and innovation, welcome to the Sunrise.

Episode Transcript

Greg White (00:00):

This week at tequila sunrise, I’m going to share the coolness of some of my favorite supply chain tech startups, and your lesson for the week is that I get to do that kind of stuff instead of investment lessons, because it’s 3:00 AM and no one is awake to stop me. Of course, we talk about the plethora of funding deals as well. And the tequila, sunrise ply chain tech stock index listen up. It’s time to wake up to tequila. Sunrise we’re unfortunately, without the aid of tequila, we opened your eyes to how startups and venture investing. Tech’s focused on supply chain tech every week, this unholy hour of the day. If you want a taste of how tech startup growth and investment is done, join me every Thursday for another blinding tequila, sunrise, Greg white here from supply chain. Now I am always happy, never satisfied, willing to acknowledge reality, but refusing to be bound by it.

Greg White (01:10):

My goal is to inform, enlighten and inspire you in your own supply chain tech journey. Hey, in case you’re listening in supply chain now main channel, you should know, you need to subscribe to tequila, sunrise, wherever you get, your podcasts will only be in the mainstream for a couple of weeks more. Go subscribe to tequila sunrise today. So you don’t miss a thing. Hey, do you think supply chain is boring? Lots of people do. My father in fact, was a retail merchandising VP back when a company called Kmart actually mattered and there was no such term as supply chain, believe me. He thinks it’s not only boring, but also that procurement purchasing logistics, warehouse and transportation, people are a pain in the ass. You might feel the same way, or you might just be awakening to this thing. We love to call supply chain wondering what all the fuss is about or hoping to increase your supply chain IQ and impress your friends at your next zoom happy hour.

Greg White (02:11):

And you want to know how you can learn more about it? Well, if you want to build your knowledge in supply chain, you need to listen to get this supply chain is boring. That’s right. Supply chain is boring with Chris Barnes. Chris is a practitioner. He knows distribution logistics, apex, and about a hundred other acronyms. But more importantly, Chris knows the who’s, who that got supply chain, where we are that point us to where we’re going and take us to the next level in supply chain practice. He interviews creators, inventors, and innovators that made supply chain, the facet, native Lee, boring discipline. It is today. Chris challenges, every guest to convince him that supply chain ain’t boring. So you know what I’m going to say, listen up and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Let’s see who’s up to the task of proving supply chain.

Greg White (03:08):

Isn’t boring. Hey, this is another supply chain now joint. So be careful. You might just find boring. Interesting. Alright. I’m not even sure I’m ready to do this, but it’s that time a week. So this could be a little bit of a crazy episode, so, but let’s do see what’s going on in supply chain tech this week, I’m still hearing and seeing that small deals are still way down from last year. It does seem like things are heating up. At least behind the scenes. A lot of VCs are looking for companies worthy of investment companies with big growth are getting big multiples and bargain hunting continues for less than astronomical growth companies. This week we had 236 funding rounds for $7.8 billion and 83 acquisitions for 14 billion. Several firms have been pretty active and I’ll put a link to a great Crunchbase article in the show notes that talks about one firm and list the others that are active stay active founders, stay in the game.

Greg White (04:10):

It’s coming around. All right, as for the tequila sunrise supply chain tech stock index, the market jumped out of the gate Tuesday, much like it did for many stocks last Wednesday before Malays and trailing off throughout the week. We’ll see how it sustains this week. As bad as last week was in the market for supply chain tech this week has been a comeback with many clocking significant gains on the general rebounds in the tech market over the week. There are just so many supply chain funding deals this week, and we’re barely scratching the surface. I’m going to go through these deals, give you a quick take. And then we’re going to have a little bit of fun. Just kind of kick back and talk about some of my favorite tech companies. Let’s talk about a few of these. Let me assure you that supply chain tech is in.

Greg White (05:03):

So a company called Axel received a $27.7 million boost of debt and equity financing to advance its platform that manages cash flow for freight brokers. This is pretty cool. Anthemis and Techstars Techstars, big nationwide investor participated in the round. That includes $2.7 million in equity and $25 million in debt financing. So in January axle raised a $1.4 million pre-seed round led by trucks, venture capital. You can call this an a round and their sales must be banging to take on this much debt. It appears the debt will be used to provide the company with additional lending capability. Axle is built to help freight forwarders and brokers provide quick pay solutions to carriers that methodology when brought to the market over the last several months by big carriers has hurt some of the smaller freight forwarders and brokers. Over the past 12 months, axle has processed millions of dollars in invoices and continues to grow it.

Greg White (06:02):

Get this over 40% month over month. The article on this raise and the problem they solve is definitely worth a read I’d love to hear from Jayman Enrique Alvarez or other freight gurus on their take on this company and the market that it’s approaching. I’d love to hear some experts sound off it’s in the show notes, and I’ll forward it directly to you. If you hit me up on LinkedIn or Twitter, Gregory S. White Makena rocks, a Seoul, South Korea based industrial AI solution startup focused on manufacturing raised 10 million in series a funding, a few episodes back. We talked about how people were funding companies in South Korea because there weren’t as many companies in the market in the States because of the COVID shut down here. And soul had gone back to business as usual or more usual, a little bit earlier. Makena rocks specializes in an industrial AI tool set with a primary focus on intelligent control for anomaly detection.

Greg White (07:01):

Meaning is the machine breaking down. The company has already collaborated with its major corporations in various industries to apply this solution to a wide range of product lines, its solutions enhance the product and product processes of various industries, such as semiconductors, automobiles, batteries, and energy backers included LG technology ventures. Yes, that LG Hyundai motors applied ventures, financial investors, Korea development bank de song, venture capital shin Han investment corporation, and H B investment. This company wants to use the funds to expand its portfolio and get this develop a software as a service platform, SAS platform built on the existing on premise solutions to secure domestic and international customers. They’re going to hire data analysts, AI developers, and business development people. So that means they are taking this on premise solution in 2020 to the cloud. So in their 2018 seed round, they received funding from SK telecom Hyundai, motors and NAVAIR.

Greg White (08:08):

This one is interesting because, well, it’s in South Korea. They are a little late to the cloud party, a decade or so, but better, late than never having taken a company from on prem to cloud architecture myself back in 2011, I can tell you that it is not a small lift from either a tech development or revenue model standpoint to do this. I’ll be interested to see how this company fares parcel a San Francisco, California based connected worker platform raise $60 million in series D funding series D. So that’s fourth major round of funding parcels connected worker platform enables employees to collaboratively execute their work using digital work instructions on mobile devices, meaning step by step instructions on how to do X install, a new compressor on an atrium unit. That sort of thing. In addition to measuring every step and action workers can raise issues and provide feedback in real time so that every process is quickly analyzed and improved.

Greg White (09:10):

So with parcel companies get visibility into their operations, uncovered detailed data about their work processes and attract more talent, which is desperately needed in some of these trade industries. Customers include that list of companies here is incredible core Teva. Agriscience Grupo, bimbo, Georgia, Pacific Henkel, shell Suntory, and a whole bunch of other global producers of consumer packaged goods, PA paper and packaging, transportation, and energy. This company’s platform is deployed already in 130 countries in 14 languages. So the round of funding brings total funding to date, to just in excess of $133 million. It was co-led by new investors, activate capital and Glade Brook capital partners with participation from other new investors like Cisco investments and existing investors, Lightspeed ventures, big fund future fund another one and B 37 ventures as well as a number more than deal also includes strategic investments from Honeywell. Yeah. And Saudi Aramco energy ventures, the company will get two new board members and a board observer yeah.

Greg White (10:26):

On this funding. And what they want use the funds to do is accelerate growth in several international markets invest in their network of global partners and integrations and further extend the capabilities of the platform. Okay. Here’s a really interesting tidbit on this thing. Forbes reports that that valuation was not discussed closed for this round, but that parcel says it was a quote unquote up round, meaning the valuation of the company. Yeah. This round was higher than the valuation from the previous round. The valuation from the previous round of investment in 2018 was $250 million. When parcel was apparently doing $5 million in revenue. That is a massive valuation of 50 times revenue, 50 X. So forget about 10 X. They went 50 X, the company doubled revenue in 2019 to $10 million. This round of funding was oversubscribed, meaning they only wanted $40 million and they got more than that than they were actually asking for and got the full 60 million.

Greg White (11:33):

So these are good indicators if they maintained valuation rate, which I doubt meaning I don’t think they’re at 50 X revenue anymore. This company would be worth over $500 million and with $133 million in investment, that is a good return. Chances are better that it’s lower than X valuation. There are some signals there in the way that they reported. They felt the need to note that it’s not a down round at a lower valuation. And to say that it was an up round. So it’s probably not as up as the previous round, but still they appear to be growing well again, another great one to take a look at and keep your eyes on parcel pattern, salt Lake city, Utah based global eCommerce business solutions provider closed $52 million first round of funding. Now less, do you think this is a startup? This company was founded in 2013.

Greg White (12:28):

They use this technology and data to help brands gain profitable e-commerce growth on both their own websites, as well as on global marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Google team, all J D and Mercado Libris its offerings include products called predict and shelf. And those help brands use data-driven views into their eCommerce operations or performance ACOs across key metrics like SEO, advertising ratings and reviews, pricing, competitive anus, global distribution, and more. The company has over 400 employees. They have 18 global locations and they serve brands like Nestle, Panasonic, zebra, and Skechers plus more. The round was co-led by Ange advisory and KSB global. And what the company wants to use the funds for is to keep developing tools, to make decisions based on real time data. So these folks at pattern are helping e-commerce CPG brands, make good decisions, position their product better, promote it, better, understand how consumers evaluate it, see it, rate it and use all of that data to make the marketplaces that they’re selling in.

Greg White (13:45):

Be those stores or online much, much more effective they’ve been around for awhile. And now they’re just now seeking funding. There’s not a whole lot of news on this company, yet. At least there wasn’t. When this released could be interesting to watch, you can do a lot of damage with $52 million. All right. Here’s the thing I get to talk to some really cool companies all the time and what I’d like to do today rather than a formal education session and for no particular reason other than I just felt like doing it. I’d like to give a shout out to a bunch of these companies just kind of riff on these things and I’ve had my eyes on or capital in, or just observed that are doing some really, really cool things. So you may have heard me talk about Verisign before. So I’m an advisor to Verisign, but the cool thing about this company thing that really gets me excited about this company is they are making waves in MRO.

Greg White (14:40):

And if you don’t know what MRO is, that’s maintenance, repair, and operations. That’s the stuff that keeps plants right. To build the products that we buy pulleys and bearings. And what they do is they do this thing called data harmonization. They make sure that if call it a bucket and I call it a pale, it’s the same product we identified as the same. And we can use the inventory better instead of having a hundred buckets and a hundred pails, we recognize that we have 200 bucket pails and we can use those interchangeably and believe it or not, that is a big, big problem in MRO. What really has me compelled to think and talk and share about this company is that they are going to grow nearly 10 X this year in revenue because they built a solution that reduces MRO costs by tens of millions of dollars in less, then six months, often inland, less than four months.

Greg White (15:34):

And that is unbelievable in terms of implementation and results. Timeline. This whole team is stellar. Paul Noble, Jeff Wilson, Darryl Lou, Robert, Peter. I can’t even name them all. They are so singularly focused. They are collaborative and they are clearly interested in solving this problem. I know they’ll go far. Another one. This is really interesting. Eros Faizi and Roshaun. The Nash of Iran are the founders cofounders of a company called cipher. Nothing, almost nothing to do with supply chain, but it’s just such a cool application that I have to tell you about it. This is a cybersecurity app that they started with an appliance that you can just plug in to your home router and it starts protecting your entire network, every device in seconds. And now they’ve built the technology so that it can reside on your ISP, your internet service providers network on their servers, on their network.

Greg White (16:33):

And it just works to protect your devices. Yeah. It protects your devices using your internet service providers servers. Please don’t ask how they do that. I don’t know. Hopefully we can get Eros to share that with us. They are@cipher.co. So if you want to check them out, take a look at that. But this thing is so simple to use that even I can use it in that’s miraculous. So this is great for consumers as well as corporations. They had this whole plan. They’re already working with some regional ISP, great folks, great team, again, the key and, and a great market. Now we’re going to get serious. Okay. Now we’re going to get into serious fun anyway. So flourish. You’ve probably heard me talk about this company. I’m on the board of directors of this company. So I’ve gotten to get a really, really intimate look at this company.

Greg White (17:25):

So Colton Griffin, in fact, the CEO of flourish will be our first guest ever on tequila sunrise. So I don’t want to give up the whole goods on this company, but suffice it to say cannabis. Yeah, weed supply chain. And the whole solution is about your ability to never lose so much as a leaf in tracking and tracing this product. We’ve already recorded the interview with. So it’ll be coming out soon. It’s going to be good. He’s an interesting cat, a supply chain expert who went into the cannabis industry. And that’s the inverse of how most companies have attacked this. His co-founders won and Bennett also supply chain and technology experts that kind of stumbled not literally into the cannabis industry and have built this solution. And it is rock in the market. So light him up and listen up for that one. And as long as we’re on the topic of weed, just today, I talked with Sarah and Phil at growth, Sayer growth, Sayer.

Greg White (18:27):

Okay. Admit it. That is a cool name, what they have done. And this is close to my heart. They have simplified and advanced forecasting planning, replenishment for the cannabis industry. So think all of the dispensary’s, they got to know how many pre-rolls Raul already rolled joints, how much flour, which is the actual weed, how many edibles and various other products need to be in a particular store? You know, when, and in what quantity they’re using AI to improve the forecasting and the roll up of demand upstream. And they are moving towards forecasting, the customer and what influences customer purchases. You know, that I have mandated that forecasting go this way. You are not forecasting items. You are most definitely forecasting the customer and what makes them act. So this team has gotten the message and this app is so smart. It makes decisions for you.

Greg White (19:22):

So that’s really great. If you’re stoned out of your gourd or just busy as hell, making customers happy, it’s a great solution to make sure dispensary’s manufacturers and growers have what they need when it’s time to supply. So we’re moving out of weed into Canada. So the next couple of companies, both from Canada, so rhythmic, R I T H M I K, of course, it’s tech company. We have to misspell it, this Canadian bunch of geeks. And I mean it, they are doing cool stuff. Chris is Feld and Kevin Urbanski. They are deep mining geeks. I was on a call with these guys, man. They had, they knowed mining in side out and they’ve built this technology. And fortunately, they’ve got some adult supervision, their CEO, Amanda, true. Scott is making connections with big equipment companies, driving the vision and Marty marketing. It’s a great team dynamic, but you want to talk about a niche.

Greg White (20:20):

Imagine you have a bunch of giant machines on a mine site. One of those machines goes down, not only do the repairs cost you up to half of your operating budget. That’s just astounding. Plus the potential of millions in lost production. That’s a big, big deal. You plug this monitoring application into that big old dump truck. And it tells you when something needs to be repaired to avoid a breakdown. It says to you, Hey, the flux capacitor is out of whack. It’ll last another 30 days. You better order. Now of course they use AI IOT, API APIs, and a bunch of other acronyms to make this happen. But this stuff works in the roughest, dirtiest and most dangerous conditions. Apparently these big dump trucks and mine sites provide more beating than planes, trains, or even semi-trucks take. It’s a really cool solution. Give them a look just for interest. And if you are a founder, understand that you can find a really tight niche and make a bundle and really make a difference. Okay, this next one also Canadian. I’m not even sure I’m allowed to talk about this one. What the hell? I’m I think she’ll forgive me. Sarah Barnes Humphrey, who is also on let’s talk supply chain is rolling out a company called

Greg White (21:38):

S H I P Z.

Greg White (21:40):

Of course, tech company has to be misspelled. This is an ocean and air freight marketplace that connects shippers with forwarders and carriers without wasting anyone’s time. Apparently there’s this problem where, you know, it’s hard to find a, a forwarder or a carrier to take your freight, but there’s also this issue where shippers just kind of toss requests out there for information, and just hope that somebody bites and it takes up a lot of forwarders time when there’s not really a load that they’re going to actually win the opportunity to move. Sarah was literally born to do this. She got the idea from working with her father’s company in the logistics industry. And this thing is built to reduce market friction and streamline the quoting and the booking process for air and ocean freight, with all the disruptions for airlines, ocean carriers, and shippers alike. During this crisis, I love where this market is going.

Greg White (22:34):

And Sarah and her team will be a great catalyst to marketplace efficiency. This has happened in a lot in trucking, but there is just a lot again, of industry knowledge here that I think is really, really valued and valuable. And it’s being instilled in the product and you can’t overstate the benefit of that industry knowledge so that the technology doesn’t have to learn by making mistakes. It learns from taking the input of experts in the industry. And that’s really incredibly accelerative for a technology company. Man, there are so many more I’d like to dig into, but I only have time for mention of a few more this time, honorable mentions, I guess, this time around, but we’ll probably get into them later automated intelligence, which is a cool digital twin technology shelf aware which allows you. And that’s in the MRO space. Also, we need to connect them with Verisign.

Greg White (23:30):

Andrew, if you are listening, we’re going to connect you with Paul Noble at Farrison. Uh, but shelfware helps companies manage their inventories better. And then source connect, which is a company Kevin L. Jackson has been on the show he’s COO and they help companies manage their diverse supplier networks. And it’s an incredible accelerant to that as well. I’m sure there are a few that I’ve missed and I’m going to get some of those WTF messages. We’ll get to you another time. I promise. Shout out, shout your name. I’m apologize if I’ve missed you this time around the show can only be so long, right. And I’m out of time. Yeah, that’s right. And yes, that is all you need to know about supply chain tech for this week. Don’t forget to get to supply chain now, radio.com for more of our supply chain now series interviews and events.

Greg White (24:28):

And now get this. We have two live streams per week. The most popular live show in supply chain, supply chain buzz each Monday at noon Eastern time with Scott Luton and me plus our Thursday live stream to be named later when we bring you whatever the hell we want. Like last week when we interviewed our producer clay, the DOE Phillips that’s worth a listen by the way. Thanks for indulging me in this jam session and spending your valuable time with me, letting me get this off my chest and remember acknowledge reality, but never be bound by it.

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Watch as Greg introduces you to TECHquila Sunrise through our YouTube channel.

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Greg White

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Demo Perez

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

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

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Mary Kate Love

VP, Marketing

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

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

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Joshua Miranda

Marketing Specialist

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

Donna Krache

Director of Communications and Executive Producer

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

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Vicki White

Controller

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

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Katherine Hintz

Creative Director, Producer, Host

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

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Kim Reuter

Host, The Freight Insider

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

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Kristi Porter

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Sofia Rivas Herrera

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

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

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Katherine Hintz

Sales and Marketing Coordinator

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

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Kim Winter

Host, Supply Chain Now

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

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

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

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Adrian Purtill

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Kevin Brown

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Jose Miguel Irarrazaval

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Nick Roemer

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Allison Giddens

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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

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Billy Taylor

Host of Dial P for Procurement

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

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

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

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

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Lori Sofian

Marketing Coordinator

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

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Chantel King

Social Media Manager

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

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

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

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Trisha Cordes

Administrative Assistant

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

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Clay Phillips

Business Development Manager

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

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Amanda Luton

Vice President, Production

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

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Constantine Limberakis

Host

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

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Mary Kate Soliva

Host, Veteran Voices

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

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Kelly Barner

Host of Dial P for Procurement

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

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Enrique Alvarez

Host of Logistics with Purpose and Supply Chain Now en Español

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

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

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Kevin L. Jackson

Host of Digital Transformers

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

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Tyler Ward

Director of Sales

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

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

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

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Chris Barnes

Principal, Supply Chain Now
Host of Supply Chain is Boring

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

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

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Greg White

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

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

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

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Scott W. Luton

Founder, CEO, & Host

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

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

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