Supply Chain Now
Episode 483

Episode Summary

“Customer experience is the entire experience that your customer has with you. That is on-time delivery, price, packaging, good interaction with your people or your surrogates, all of that… It should clearly be the majority of it because it’s the reason you exist. Customer experience is the reason a company with a product at a price exists.”

-Greg White, Host, Supply Chain Now

 

In today’s episode of the Supply Chain Buzz, Scott and Greg discuss the top news in supply chain this week, and welcome special guests Kara Brown and Will Haraway with Lead Coverage to the podcast.

Episode Transcript

Intro/Outro (00:00:05):

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

Scott Luton (00:00:40):

Hey, good morning. Or good afternoon, Scott Luton, Greg white with you here on supply chain. Now. Welcome to today’s supply chain buzz livestream, Greg. Good afternoon. How are you doing? Good afternoon. Good evening. And good night wherever you may be. I’m doing well. How are you? I know. Well, let me know. I really want you to share how you’re doing today because people need to know this God. So I am in pain for sure. You know, the Braves blew a three to one lead, uh, in the NLCS the Dodgers will be playing Tampa Bay in the world series. And that hurts. We’ve been in for a long, long time braids fans, but Hey, you know what? I had some great context, some table setting over the weekend and it puts life in perspective and I’ve been re-evaluating my fandom for, for all things. And, and it’s, it’s neat to be a fan, but there are some much bigger things in life.

Scott Luton (00:01:29):

And that helps me balance the, the, the, the losses. So all told we’re doing okay, Greg outstanding. So today moving right along today, it’s all about supply chain buds, right? We’re going to take some of the big stories that’s taking place out there across industry, some of them and share the facts and give you our take on why it’s important and maybe what to look for. So stay tuned as we work hard, Greg and I, to increase your supply chain act, you and Greg, we have got two of our friends, biggest friends of the show we’ll hear away. And Kara Brown with lead coverage joining us about 1220, right? Yeah. Yeah. Looking forward to hearing what they’re going to tell us. I think we’re going to get an interesting perspective on one of our favorite words democratization. Yes, that’s right. Spazzin for the people we love that.

Scott Luton (00:02:24):

Love talking about that. Alright. So before we hit our programming notes and a couple of quick events, let’s say led to a few folks, Jeff Miller, I hope this finds you well, and I hope that you’ve had safe travels and great to have you back here on a live stream, right? Greg? Yeah. Yeah. No doubt football as well. There Latiya. Hey, good afternoon. Latiya great to have you back look forward to reconnecting with you soon. I invoked your name over the weekend. You may be getting a call from a young lady from Duke university or Kansas state, sorry, Kansas state, who is in the supply chain program there who could probably use some of your guidance. Fantastic Francoise. Great to have you back. Yes. That Braves upset, uh, was painful for sure. Great to have you here though. Petique awaited livestream is here. Good morning. Thanks for that.

Scott Luton (00:03:13):

Pretyt great to have you here via LinkedIn. One only Gary Smith is with us, uh, really enjoyed your perspective on these livestreams, Gary and I owe you an email. So I’ll be back in touch very soon on that, Gary. Uh, let’s see here, man. They’re rolling in now. Uh, part teak. Great to have you Daria, uh, Mike Guevara. I hope this finds you. Well, sir, as, uh, Kayvon, Kayla, uh, Pierre is here with this. Uh, they asked man, we know he’s a, he’s a, he’s a male T-square 2001 is back with us. Uh, last time he was, he was talking about reverse logistics and uh, previous, uh, trivia winter. Is that right? Did T squared, when that I think he came in top five, top 10. Last time we did that. Uh, let’s see Hillary, and then we’ll, we’ll also say hello to Atifa and Don, Don looking forward to your next, uh, is just a mountain.

Scott Luton (00:04:14):

I think you’re moving it to Saturday mornings, Greg. Okay. Have you, have you tackled that with what is it? So they go up, uh, and tackle, I think stone mountain, or one of the, you know, Kennesaw mountain stone mountain, um, Saturday morning kind of a motivational thing. And then they usually take a quick video up at the top with a inspirational motivational message. So really? Yeah. Alright. So let’s uh, a couple quick things, things here. So first off, um, if you enjoyed today’s live stream, be sure to check out our podcast where we get your podcasts from a subscribe. So you don’t miss conversations like this, but today we featured Mike and Bob, I think with SAP, it was Greg and we had a really neat conversation about baseball, about industry 4.00 right about, uh, one of my favorite parts Greg was, was how they were sharing some of the, um, some of the ways organizations have really dealt with the curve balls and adjusted their model to power through 2020.

Scott Luton (00:05:16):

Right. Yeah. Well, and it, I mean, you can sense the leadership from both of these folks, both at SAP, one for a very long while and the other by acquisition. So you can see some internal and external perspectives. Yup. And just incredibly knowledgeable and charismatic. They were, they were blast to talk to weren’t they? Yes, great time. And it was, it wasn’t, it wasn’t a neat balance, uh, work stuff and, you know, baseball and, and some of the fun stuff. So keeping it light. So y’all check it out where you get your podcasts from. All right. Let’s hit two quick events, Greg. Uh, so we’re really excited. We had a great planning session last week on this event. What are folks going to hear about at AME 2020 manufacturing, of course, and you know, and the most current events going on in manufacturing? I think we can all guess what that is, but also lean and the realities of lean versus the perceptions of lean.

Scott Luton (00:06:15):

And I think that’s going to be an important discussion. Yup. Agreed. I really enjoyed the prep conversation. And looking forward to that later in October, the link to this is in the show notes as always, and then a little bit later, about a week later, Greg, we’ve got the 20, 20 supply chain summit coming up from the great folks over at automotive industry action group. Right. Right. Yeah. And you know, again, pivoted to a virtual event first and, uh, are doing it again, very reasonably priced all about the automotive industry. I don’t know where you could learn more about a multi-tiered supply chain than automotive industry. Yep. Well put, and I’ll check it out. November 5th is jam packed whole themes about the future of supply chain, especially from five years out, right. They’re not talking 30 years out. They’re not talking next year. They’re talking really five years out.

Scott Luton (00:07:08):

So we’ve enjoyed our pre event discussions there. All right. So before we share a couple of news and notes, Greg, and bring on our featured guests, sailor, a few additional folks, Kim winter from the UAE is here with us. Great to have you here, Kim Jenny from we’ll say pics, looking forward to hear how she bought around the clock or she’s got clones. Um, and then I’m gonna say hello to one other friend here. We had Jason, there we go. Jason Moss, president CEO of GMA. Great to have you with us, Jason. All right. So let’s dive into, we’re going to, so today’s buzz is going a little bit different. Greg. We’re going to hit one new store on the front end. We’re going to talk key takeaways from a really neat and burgeoning area of business in the middle. And then we’re gonna bring on our two friends, Kara and will.

Scott Luton (00:07:59):

And we’re gonna dive into a lot of, of the, uh, most recent and important developments. So are you buckled up ready to go? I’m ready. My hands and arms are inside the vehicle. All right. So let’s talk about this first story here. So big, big new joint venture taken off in Vietnam, GLP, which did you know, is the largest warehouse operating operator in China is partnering with sea logistics partners, which is a logistics facility. What sounds more like a, just a general industry facility, facility, developer, and operator, because I think they’ve also built out manufacturing sites, but regardless together, they’re investing a whopping $1.5 billion in Vietnam in a, so this story comes from supply chain, DOB, Greg. But I picked up in, uh, an article from IPE real assets that they said the next three years to partnership plans to develop some two point million

Greg White (00:08:56):

Square feet of facilities. That’s what that 1.5 billion gets them. Look, we’ve heard plenty of talk in recent years about Vietnam, right? Yeah. I mean, it’s supposed to be one of the China plus one countries, right. That’s right. Um, but get this. So I know for many folks it’s been just recently, they’ve been hearing more and more about Vietnam, but import from Vietnam have already doubled between 2013 and 2018. Um, and the country is already the seventh largest importer of goods into the U S so this has been building for awhile. So add to those trends, right? That’s some of the pressure that the pin DEMEC has put on the diversification of operations out of China, which you just alluded to, uh, Vietnam certainly stands to gain even more, but here’s a neat point made in the supply chain dab article, Dan Craston Stan, I believe is how you say it, Dan. I apologize if I got that wrong from pro-con Pacific points out. There’s plenty of trade offs here. There’s no silver bullet in sourcing, right? Vietnam’s labor costs are about a third of what companies pay into,

Scott Luton (00:10:02):

But as of 2019

Greg White (00:10:05):

Vietnam’s infrastructure and labor were already near capacity, right? So maybe if you find, if you can find it, you might save money when it comes to labor and, and, and space and facilities, but it’s not gonna be easy necessarily. So looking forward to maybe how this, this big investment might build out that infrastructure, Greg, what’s some of your takes here. Well, I mean, we’ve been talking about this since this whole spirit of re reassuring and near shoring and China plus X number, uh, has come up in the COVID age. And, you know, the reality is you can look around the planet and you can’t find enough labor and infrastructure to do what China does, which is why China does it. Um, and so, yeah, there’s, there is definitely no silver bullet, but it’s better to diversify than not. Right. And people are trying to find places all over the world to, to diversify at least to give options to China and, and options generally in the supply chain, which you definitely need.

Greg White (00:11:08):

You need a plan, a, a plan B in probably at this point, a plan C. I love that take, I think Gary Smith also shared the same thing on one of our last live stream. So one of the key tenants that if we didn’t know it already, and many people did, but certainly the broader supply chain did not. Is that in supply chain, you must assume that everyone will fail you and, and prepare for that. That’s what risk management is. Right? I’ve said that for years, that sounds like a kind of a dark take, but the truth is it’s a great, you know, the way that you become number one is you will eliminate any opportunity to lose. So

Scott Luton (00:11:50):

I’m with you. Um,

Greg White (00:11:51):

Let’s say hello to a few who move on to S

Scott Luton (00:11:54):

Uh, SAP CX takeaways. Daniel Hartnett says hello from Reston, Virginia. Yeah. Finally able to join again, live as he listened Zen while painting the bathroom on his day off, man, Hey, we’re moving up on, on how folks engage with our platform. And he gets Monday off. I mean, raise your hand if you would like to get Monday off. That’s right. And as, as we’ve been saying, since Kobe every day is Monday. So Larry Klein is back with a lawyer, had some really neat stuff to say about our lien discussion a week or two ago. Yeah. It’s a hard day for Georgia sports fans say the least down with the Todd and the Dodgers. All right. Because the dog play is in, he’s in a bad place right now. So lifting because he shares clearly his fan sentiments with are the one and only Fred where he he’s a friend says he needs the buzz to pull him out of a fuck dogs and Braves made for a long weekend.

Scott Luton (00:12:51):

Agreed, agreed. Agreed. Alright. So let’s keep driving. We’ve got a jam packed episode here today. Um, this next thing we want this next big topic we’re gonna talk about Greg is CX right. Customer experience. Now, if you’re like me and maybe like grail at Greg, speak for himself, you know, w we, when I’ve heard the phrase customer experience, I really think about, um, uh, you know, the voice of customer, uh, I think about it more informally, right? It was just recently that I uncovered, this is a very formal, strict discipline of best practices and it’s permeating supply chain. And, and it’s really important that it does that because supply chain is a, it helps make it happen. It helps, helps optimize customer experience the goal. Yeah. So as I was, uh, getting involved with SAP in their, their CX live event, which is a yearly event this year, they made it virtual and they made it free ton of good content.

Scott Luton (00:13:48):

I want to share a couple of key takeaways, but before we do, I want to bridge it back to supply chain because as I was doing my homework, Greg, our friends over at CSC and P partnering with blue Jay solutions and Adelante SCM in 2019, and they surveyed over 500 supply chain professionals. One of the key takeaways here, it was over the next five years. Customer experience will overtake price and product as the number one brand differentiator. Do you agree to disagree? 61% of those surveyed agreed with that assertion? So quick kit from you, Greg, I think it should already have, but yes, but I think we ought to talk about what CX is because there are multiple perceptions of that, right? So for instance, coming from the tech world customer experience, there’s, there’s UI and UX user interface, or right. And user experience and CX is similarly considered kind of a technical gift, but you really need think of it from

Greg White (00:14:52):

Customer experience is the entire experience that your customer has with you. That is on time delivery, right. Price, right. Packaging, good interaction with your people or your surrogates, all of that. And yeah, of course that has, I can’t believe that that’s not already the top. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:15:15):

So you’re, you’re saying that 61% should be,

Greg White (00:15:18):

But a hundred percent I’m saying it should, well, I don’t know if it should be a hundred percent, but I’m saying it should clearly be the majority of it because it’s the reason you exist. Customer experience is the reason a company with a product at a price exists. Yup. Well put and

Scott Luton (00:15:36):

David agrees with you. Customer experience means way more than it did 10 years ago. Completely agree. Right.

Greg White (00:15:42):

It means way more to companies. It means exactly the same to customers, right. They may not have been able to express it and we may not have been as aware of it. And it may have been able to get away with ignoring it, but no more. So this segment

Scott Luton (00:16:03):

That’s all right, Greg just broke out is now a Jim sunglasses. So let’s talk about, I’ve got three key takeaways that I really enjoyed from the SAP CX lab event. One of them came from a senior technology leader from malware, Jim and Greg, we were talking pre-show about some of these points here and what Maui Jim shared in one of these breakout sessions, all of it’s on demand. You can go to the link we’ve got in the show notes, but two things first off now we, Jim is really elevating. They want to make their repairs experience as successful as the purchase experience, right? What they found as they really were trying to optimize that for their customers is that these robocalls, this robocall environment, that we’re all living in, uh, it’s shaping consumer behaviors to take less phone calls. So all their repair phone calls that coordinated the returns and, and you know, what’s wrong and getting them back to the consumer or folks weren’t answering the calls.

Scott Luton (00:17:04):

So they shifted over to texting and by doing so. And of course, making sure their reverse logistics game is on point. They’ve been able to trim 24 to 36 hours out of the turnaround time for repaired shades. The other thing that I know you’re going to appreciate Greg, cause you’ve talked about this numerous episodes the last few weeks. So, uh, Jim was re Jim Furillo with the senior technology leader with Maui Jim. He was really honest in this conversation, really transparent. He talked about how at the end of 2019, he and his team had formulated the Bulletproof three year strategic plan. And they were, they loved it. They pass it up. They were so excited about it. They’re they’re about to take it into the CFO’s office and get approved and then 2020 hit and then drag your specialty or your sound effect,

Greg White (00:17:55):

They’re going to happen. That’s right. So now they’re not,

Scott Luton (00:17:59):

They’re not looking that far out three years, they’re looking, he said, they’re trying to focus on execute and over the next three months, and so many businesses and business leaders can, can relate to that. Right, Greg?

Greg White (00:18:11):

Yeah, no doubt. Well, and look that, I mean, that is the world we live in today is you have to be looking at, as I have been promoting for years, but now this has brought it into stark relief. Past performance is no indication of future success, right? So we have to think about the world in a new way. Um, Hey, let me share a couple things on Maui, Jim, because it’s interesting that they are so aggressive in improving their customer experience because this is the second pair of these glasses that I’ve had. They’re actually prescription glasses and I played tennis in them. I play golf in them. I drive cars into my ride motorcycles in them. I don’t do everything, but yard work in these things. And, and I have broken them before. And because they’re prescription, I went through my is an optometrist eye doctor sounds good.

Greg White (00:19:07):

And they send them back. They send them back and, and all that was wrong with them was a screw had broken somewhere. And what Maui Jim did was they sent me an entire new set of frames. And I was like, why did they do that? And they said, because you represent our brand every single day. Awesome. And that’s how important customer experience is to this entity. And I just feel like that was really impressive, but is an unpaid endorsement. I don’t even know if it’s an endorsement. It’s just, you know, I’m a customer service and customer experience Hawk and whereabouts today. So one of the greatest customer experience companies in the world, sweetwater.com and, um, and I’m really looking forward to that. But I, when you, when you showed me this article, I had to think about that because these I have broken yet again, I’ve broken them yet again, but I do have the confidence that when I send them back, they’ll, they’ll come back over delivered. Yes. They think about things that way. If you’re out there thinking about how to handle customer experience, look at this company,

Scott Luton (00:20:14):

Be confident because they’re serious about not just a purchase experience, but to your point, Greg, the repair experience, it was really neat to hear a very transparent Frank conversation about how they’ve been able to do that. So

Greg White (00:20:25):

Really quite you’ve changed things, right? So you have to be Frank and transparent. So,

Scott Luton (00:20:31):

Um, we’re going to hit these next two key takeaways quickly, and then we’re going to bring our, our dear friends will and Kara on with this. So Ashton Kutcher and middle admittedly, I have not been tracking him nearly as much in the last 10 years. And we all are familiar with Ashton, probably with the punk series and MTV on, um, dude, where’s my car, the movie, a variety of all this stuff. Yeah. Right. Well guess what, Greg they’ve invested in a movie or two, he and his partners at an investment firm have invested over $300 million into a wide variety of startups over the last 10 years. And he was asked in this, in this really neat conversation with Paula Henson as part of this, the CX lab event. And what do you look for? How do you, what are some of the criteria? Well, Ashton kept it really simple and really focused.

Scott Luton (00:21:18):

And it really meant a lot to me as a, as a founder and an entrepreneur, he, he built his whole answer around this notion of enduring happiness. And he looks for that great products and brands are built by those that deliver enduring happiness. And it was, it was one of those moments. Beautiful simplicity is what came to my mind. And, um, it really spoke to me, Greg, what we talked about this a little bit last week on a couple of sessions. I mean, do you, are you bond that I am. I mean, look, I think however you word it right. Enduring is that is the key word there. Whether you insert in during relationships and during happiness in during performance enduring return on investment, whatever it is because of your niche in the marketplace, enduring is the key word. So Ashton is his investment thesis is mostly focused on consumer products, right? So of course they need to, they need to produce happiness, but whatever your niche in the marketplace, there is a lesson here and that is enduring great point lesson learned for sure. And then finally, um, and, and, and that we need to dedicate a whole livestream, uh, a yearly dose of last streams, this subject, there’s a great breakout session on purposeful diversity and inclusion. And two quick points here. One came from Kelly Green on the left. Um, Cali was asked,

Scott Luton (00:22:47):

Uh, how,

Scott Luton (00:22:48):

How can they improve the black experience in the tech space? And her very Frank response was start by hiring black people in tech. And it was a, you know, it was a, it was a wonderful, there’s beautiful simplicity, right. Um, and I wish I could, you know, there was a ton of numbers shared in this breakout session in terms of the under being underfunded or an over mentored and some, some comments like that. But the other one I really liked came from Erica Davis, who shared that quote. We should all recognize the benefits of catering to your, not to non typical stakeholders in your ecosystem.

Scott Luton (00:23:26):

And, you know, um,

Scott Luton (00:23:29):

Certainly something to act on as, as business leaders, as investors, as entrepreneurs, you name it. I mean, thinking about all the folks that may not be as she put it, your non tickle, typical stakeholder, and thinking about that as you productize, as you go to, and you’re in your messaging,

Greg White (00:23:46):

In your hiring and your promotions and your investments really neat stuff there from Kelly and Erica, your last take on that, Greg, before we end bring on Kara and we’ll. Yeah, I think, look, I think we need to just look at people as persons generally, and, you know, in the spirit of Kelly’s, uh, discussion or her point is ask black people, right. I mean, because we’ve heard this before from Tandra and I was talking on a blended at another show about diversity about that tan Drea Kelly probably don’t claim to represent the entire black community. So you just have to continue to ask your constituencies regardless of who they are, because it’s interesting, this whole typical and non typical thing, we had this whole discussion around the words we use. I mean, look at our audience here. Who’s typical in our audience, right? Who’s even between the two of us, we had that discussion with Elba Bria Gallagher last week.

Greg White (00:24:48):

Right. Um, I mean, there’s a lot that people could assume about our respective, um, cultures or ethnicities or whatever that they could be surprised about. So I think we just have to experience people as people and that then becomes the solution. Agreed, great comments there. Uh, and we’re gonna be talking a whole bunch more about that topic, uh, because we need to, and look forward to a lot more learnings like we had last week with Elba and frankly like, like I’ve had from your background journey, but more to come on that. Um, so we are excited, uh, at this point on the buzz here on October 19th and it’s all, it’s halfway to November. Um, we’re bringing on Kara Brown, chief revenue officer lead coverage, and her colleague will way chief content officer with lead coverage for an enlightening conversation right now. Hey, will Kara good afternoon.

Kara Smith Brown (00:25:49):

Hey guys.

Scott Luton (00:25:53):

Well, you know, uh, really quick and, and, and, um, we’re excited to continue to take our partnership to a whole new level. I think some of the folks may have seen, uh, some of the press releases we put out there, but, but excited about the partnership, but also here in the moment, we’re excited about some of your recent observations on what is going on in the wide world of supply chain. Yeah, yeah,

Kara Smith Brown (00:26:16):

Yeah. I think one of the things we’ll, and I’ve been talking a lot about is sort of the democratization to use Greg’s term from earlier, thanks for Q and a sup for that. Um, some exciting stuff happening even like in our client base, right? So we focus on supply chain having industrial and tech in our practice, which is awesome for your audience. I think one of the things that we’re seeing is, um, the, the deed disruptors in the TMS space, specifically supply chain technology space are getting together, right? We saw truckstop.com and transport pro today announced something. We’ve got our friends at torch doing cool stuff. And so I think we’ve been seeing these sort of these, uh, these smaller, disruptive technologies that are hooking up to sort of compete with the big guys, which we think is really neat,

Greg White (00:27:07):

Love that a supply chain for the people was a phrase that we talked about. Pre-show um, all right. So Greg, you want to comment on that before we, we go over we’ll and kind of pick his brain on some things he’s saying, well, you know, when the D word is used, I I’m all for that. Look, the market doesn’t change because big giant ships, um, change direction, right? The market changes because companies come in and force change on the marketplace. And we’ve talked about this for the last couple of weeks, that in the physical logistics space, one, there are a lot of companies approaching this space and call it freight tech. You can call it whatever you want, but there are a lot of companies approaching this space. And two, it clearly needs to change. We’ve talked about the, um, inefficiency in the marketplace. We’ve talked about, uh, intentional obfuscation and all sorts of issues that exist in this marketplace.

Greg White (00:28:01):

That in order to make a fair marketplace, I’m talking to you and her thought, and in order to make a fair marketplace, we need to have more transparency and more of this disruption in the marketplace. I agreed. And by the way, hello, [inaudible] and Keith Duckworth, or they’re talking about, uh, broccoli and Brussels sprouts for the first time, probably ever on a bus. Love this cake happy after a steak. All right. So we’ll, Hey, good afternoon. Tell us what are some things you’re tracking? Well, you know, um, just some of the things that Carrie talked about. Yeah, for sure. Like the last mile and the first mile, I mean, it’s really starting to get, it’s really starting to get, uh, as you guys had said democratize, and then you see, and, you know, the, uh, even going down to like carry your TMS is, and drayage TMS is, and on down the line, I mean, uh, th th th th the tech disruptors are really starting to take over the shop.

Will Haraway (00:29:03):

Um, one of the things that I wanted to talk about today, uh, we had another report from our friends friend of the show, right. Resilience three 60. Oh yeah. They put out another one of their, uh, you know, uh, big reports. This one is navigating the COBIT environment and the trends and risks facing global tech supply chains. And it’s, it’s pertinent because it, it definitely refers back to some of the things that Greg was talking about in the buzz number one, right. Um, the, the, the number one story, uh, certainly around Shannon, cause one of the I’ll with this one, one of the tech trends that they talk about in this report, and you can find it@reresiliencethreesixty.com is the override over reliance on China. Like this is certainly revealed, uh, th this entire year has revealed the overreliance on China and leaning on things like your regional supply chain with your three PNLs, you know, that have more agility that have more flexibility.

Will Haraway (00:30:08):

Um, certainly supply chain visibility is another one, again, just for the same exact reason, you know, uh, it continues to, uh, you have to be as flexible as possible. And by doing that, you definitely need to know where everything is going to be. Um, shifting supply chains is a, is a third one. Um, as far as, uh, you know, uh, again, sort of, as you talked about earlier, when it comes to Vietnam, you know, moving from, uh, you know, looking at things like South Korea, like Taiwan, you know, um, India. Yeah. I mean, there’s so many options, even Africa. Yeah, exactly. And, and, and, and something that we talk about with, uh, one of our clients of Redwood, they have Redwood, Mexico. Um, the whole division is what they had seen is that so many of the home appliance, so many of the home appliance, uh, uh, manufacturing is done in Mexico. And that’s where you’ve seen so much demand over these last several months is, you know, uh, just home goods and home applauses. And so you’ve seen a lot of shifts back to the back to, uh, to Mexico manufacturers and suppliers, um, which, you know, is, uh, is, is really, really, uh, constraining their capacity as well. So, so it’s just like one pinch happens here and other pinch happens, happens, uh, you know, other, other places in the, in the globe down the chain.

Scott Luton (00:31:38):

Well, I can tell you this speaking of home appliances, uh, clearly there has been a rush on the market for dishwasher, spare parts, because we, we waited about a month and a half, uh, owned some spare parts. And I can tell you, I know all, all y’all have kids that are here, try having three kids and going back to manual dish-washing. We had dishes everywhere in that kitchen, but to your point, we’ll see, cause you’re right. So many that spare park, uh, spare parts market for appliances and others have really been disrupted. Uh, and so naturally companies are looking to move some operations around so they can feel some orders. You know, I think one of the things that we’re seeing is

Greg White (00:32:17):

In certain markets, we’re starting, just starting to see, I’m trying to look up some information here, but we’re just starting to see the impact of the shutdowns that occurred maybe months ago. So rain’s who was on the show last week, he’s a road biker like serious, like brides hundreds of miles a day, which is insane. He’s not on Izzy, he’s riding his bike. He’s not on,

Kara Smith Brown (00:32:46):

He said

Greg White (00:32:47):

Working with my local bike shop guy, and that supplies world is a mess. He’s gotten a total of five bikes since may, and is only scheduled to receive nine more in 2020. And he’s scared to death that the parts supplies, Wendling, because service is the only thing keeping him open. So, so we’re just starting to see the impact of some of these disruption. So, I mean, there’s a lot of, a lot of that yet to come in in the industry.

Kara Smith Brown (00:33:17):

Yeah, for sure. And yet capacity is tighter than ever, right? It’s the dichotomy of people. Can’t, you know, the small businesses can’t get the parts they need or the bikes they need. Right. I’m sure, sure. This guy’s neighborhood bike shop is doing a super small order right now, a lot harder to get six bikes than it is to get 6,000 essentially. Um, so it’s putting even a tighter squeeze on the small businesses, right. That are just trying to sort of get things into the hands of people, which is probably the hardest for everyone. Agreed. Agreed. Alright. So we’ll, um, uh, we, we kind of, couldn’t have

Scott Luton (00:33:53):

Some things you are sharing, but I think all of us really,

Will Haraway (00:33:56):

Uh, felt some of what you were sharing personally. So yeah. But keep, keep driving. Well, what else you got? Well, there’s just two more that I’ll, that I’ll bring up and then I’ll, I’ll turn it over. But, uh, but, but one is obviously something that could, you know, you know, it’s not even really covered related to this. It’s just the climate, you know, national, natural disasters continue to, you know, to add additional disruption, you know, one that even be, you know, around the globe. I know we focus on what happens in the Gulf and the hurricane Delta a couple of weeks ago, but, you know, uh, in September there were two back-to-back typhoons and, uh, in Malaysia and I’m sorry, in Japan and Malaysia, and they caused tech manufacturers to call it their op operations. Again, just, you know, disrupting so much of this, uh, sourcing and supplying, uh, on top of what we’re already experiencing.

Will Haraway (00:34:48):

And the last one that I found really, really interesting is, uh, uh, cybersecurity threats have been, uh, you’ve seen a number of those over the past several months. You know, everyone from cannon, uh, LG has seen one, Xerox has seen one. So, uh, I think you’re seeing cyber cybercriminals sort of take advantage of the uncertainty to do the, uh, you know, where they come in and do the, basically the hijack of the data and then ransom the ransom. And, and you’re seeing a lot of these guys just go ahead and pay it. I’d rather than deal with it. Um, so, so you’re starting to see people continually beating up their cybersecurity processes, but, but this whole report, like I said, is available and resilience three 60, uh, encourage everybody to go check a look. It’s interested in supply chain, which is everyone that listens to this podcast, right? They’re

Greg White (00:35:38):

Really sharp people there. Greg we’ve had them on own show here. I love talking to analysts that really have their finger on the pulse. Um, before you weigh in Greg, I want to share just a couple of comments from the audience here. So first off, uh, Gary says you don’t have to have kids to appreciate any home appliances. Well put Gary, I apologize, but I’ll tell you my three little Copland’s is Halloween theme, right? They were staying, we had to put them to work. Um, let’s see, Francoise says a hundred percent agree that the appliance shortage is due in large part to construction being put on hold. How many builders are seeing three month lead times, even from home Depot, a lot of them rethink how they’re sourcing their finishing materials. So I don’t know if everyone around the world knows this, but housing sales are booming in the States. Yeah. I mean, my daughter was trying to do a home viewing on Saturday. She said on Thursday night I had 10 houses on my list. And on Friday morning I had three, the other seven had sold. So, wow. So that is because of course as houses sell or get built new appliances, or,

Kara Smith Brown (00:36:48):

And I’m also hearing that the renovation market’s up too, right? I mean, it’s a, it’s people have told me if you want to do something here, I better love it. And the same thing expect it to take twice as long and cost twice as much. So, you know, what’s good about that though. Someone’s winning in that, in that economy, right. Someone someone’s winning there. So I like it, even though it might cost me half as much to get my deck enclosed one, I have a deck that I can close, so good for me. Right. And too, like some paying somebody to do it. So that’s great

Scott Luton (00:37:20):

To your, to your point there, FOD says in Canada, it was the hottest housing market in September on record ever. Wow. Uh, they’ve been says, my parents always said they had two dishwashers. Me and my sister. Well, I like that. And going back to cyber attacks will, so Dan Hartnett said, we’re starting to see cyber attacks no longer just against the soft underbelly of small sub tier suppliers, given the massive number of remote working attackers now going directly after large corporations to shift. And then one, let’s see a couple of final points here. Uh, Mike seen a huge demand shift from multifamily homes and condos to single family homes since

Kara Smith Brown (00:38:05):

Everyone’s was trying to get out of their condo and more space to get away from their kids.

Greg White (00:38:10):

Uh, true. Uh, Jeff Miller says, Hey, a new home construction in Florida has seven to nine months lead time. Wow. People are literally buying homes, sight unseen. Uh, one of the houses that my daughter was going to look at, they insisted that any purchase, they would not sell it to any purchaser who made them an offer sight unseen. Yeah. Interesting. Right. Very. I want to circle back on something. Uh, Kara, I think you were talking about, you mentioned TMS in the DeMar, uh, the democratic taxation of supply chain tech boy, that’s a word I needed to cut out of the cup. Couple of cups of coffee. Um, Kara, we published an episode with 3g TMS, uh, I think last Friday, and I know all of us got a kick out of, uh, the service merchandise model. Greg. I know in particular you did that. We were talking about with JP and his background.

Greg White (00:39:01):

Yeah. It was really a Greg, I think verbatim, you said that service merchandise was the Amazon before Amazon and in some ways, right. Well, I mean, it was the precursor to curbside pickup. I mean, if you think about how retail is done showrooming, right? You go, you order it online or pick it up and pick it up in the store. I mean, they had an outstanding model, which was one of everything on the floor. So you could try it out or try it on, and then you could, you could fill it out in the store. You could order it through a catalog. You could pick it up in store or you can have it delivered to you. And that was in the eighties just to give you an idea, right? Service, merchandise, best products. And there was, I think one more, they called them catalog stores, right.

Greg White (00:39:53):

And JP gets it. I mean, JP Wiggins, you know, I couldn’t help, but comment when we published that article, that that, which is old, is new again. And JP experienced that so many times and the brilliance of his understanding, and I’m telling you, you have to listen to that, that episode. The brilliance of his understanding is that he was able to see these things coming and apply them because he internalized those kinds of experiences. And he went back to them in his mind to say, we could use this old methodology in this new age, that it is a gift, a great conversation, fun conversation. He also in his spare time umpires, uh, baseball games and donates his earnings to charity. I mean, we’re really a neat thought leader. And Kara, when you talked about democratizing TMS, it was one of the first things that come to mind. Well, your comment, Oh no, I was just agreeing emphatically.

Kara Smith Brown (00:40:55):

He’s like talk more about it. I remember, you know, my Nia, I think my mom actually worked at the service merchandise where I grew up, like as like a part time gig when we were really, really little cause I remember she, I think she worked the jewelry counter like a million years ago. My dad tells a story, the building 600 West Chicago where echo global logistics is when I first got a job there in 2006. It was where the old Montgomery ward, um, service center essentially was. And so same idea, right. They had pick pack and ship out of this giant warehouse at Halstead and Chicago, downtown Chicago. Um, so just the, even the changing of, you know, how people are doing business and the way they’re doing business with three D is really cool. They’ve got some really cool stuff. Um, and they’re really forward thinking, which I think is what I really like about them and that they are, um, forward thinking in terms of the full supply chain, right.

Kara Smith Brown (00:41:48):

And the end for, um, for, for any and all shipper, broker or carrier. Um, and it’s, uh, it’s exciting to sort of be a part of what these new and up and coming transportation management software services are doing the business, the software companies way back in the day of echo of used with, I think I’ve told this story before to you all about, we were the sort of the first of what tech enabled or technology check broker sort of together back in the day. I don’t take credit for that. That was all Doug Wagner, but, um, being able to be a part of that. And then 10 or 15 years later, people thanked me, well, you know, there’s no technology in supply chain and this is an old antiquated industry. And I’m like, are we in the same space? Cause I feel like I wrote that copy. And 2006, come on, let me show you what we’ve got. Right. Which is super exciting. And seeing these yet these young businesses, uh, these real disruptors coming at it from a software perspective, I think is super exciting, Greg, you know, sort of all about this more than, than we do.

Greg White (00:42:46):

Yeah. I think that’s, I mean, I think that is the beauty is, um, you know, I, I’ve done a lot of studying on startups of course, and especially technology startups with not only the investing and advising that I do, but also for tequila sunrise. And one of the interesting things that I read is, and I put this in my, what, so you want to start a technology company episode? I can’t even remember my own title, but it was something like that. And it was both an encouragement, um, and uh, a harsh awakening for potential founders, but a company that has someone 50 years or older as a cofounder, it’s something like 40% more likely to succeed. Why do you think that is? Because, you know, if you, if you know, history like service merchandise, you can apply those memories to here’s how you can use that with today’s technology.

Greg White (00:43:41):

So much of what we did in the past was not because we didn’t know any better it’s because we didn’t have the data, the technology didn’t exist. And now you can take some of those principles and apply those to the future and apply them to now. And I think we talked about that a little bit with JP because, you know, I think he said this, and this has been said many times that, which is old is new again. Or, you know, whoever does not study the past is doomed to repeat it. I would encourage people to look at how you can take good concepts like Juul, Kara you’re from Chicago, Juul who delivered groceries in their fifties homes and how to apply technology to that and how to make that economical, um, or, or service merchandise or other models.

Kara Smith Brown (00:44:28):

Oh, right on it. And I think the ability of back democratization, right? The idea that you can use other people’s tech to do this right, Greg, like you don’t have to be a technologist. You can use other people’s technology and theme it’s, you know, weave it together with other pieces of tech to come up with something that’s really exciting. I mean, API based TMS, right. Um, are super exciting folks that, that are finding interesting ways to use new technology and not necessarily building it for themselves. Right. But being able to use other people’s tech even together to solve a very specific problem to Will’s point on we’re seeing drayage TMS, cartage, CHAM, masses, right. We’re getting so myopic in the problems we’re solving, which I think is cool. I think it’s great. I think the ability to sort of cobble these together is going to be super exciting to watch.

Greg White (00:45:18):

So I agree. One last one and I want to bring in Darias points. So I’m going to ask y’all a yes or no question at the end of this, this point from Daria goes back that one of the things that we’ll shared and we’ll, we’ll, we’ll put you, you’re going to be going first here. So Daria says referring to Will’s third point, there is a need to have accountability and responsibility at the Seasuite considering the fact that climate change is the impending disruption. We’d like to know whether it’s time that we carve out a chief climate change officer in order to prioritize sustainability on the driver’s seat. Okay. So yes or no question to adding a chief climate change officer as Daria points out in the C suite? Well, I mean, from an aspirational perspective yes. You know, uh, I guess it really depends on, on the, on the company, but I mean, certainly I know personally, I would like to see that, uh, ask me in a month, uh, and maybe depending on how these things could with the election, we might have, it might be a more clearer. Yes. Okay. That’s fair and Dari. I love, by the way, I love to comment. Appreciate that. Uh, Kara you’re take yes

Kara Smith Brown (00:46:33):

For sure. Hands down, hands down. I think someone at the C suite level needs to be responsible for holding companies accountable for what they say they’re going to do. I think it’s, it’s, uh, it reminds me a lot about what’s happening now with, uh, diversity. Right? You’re seeing a lot of companies, but this chief diversity officer in place, it makes a lot of sense. Right. You got to, someone’s gotta be the chief, everyone salutes to.

Greg White (00:46:55):

Yeah. That is a great point care. I appreciate you bringing that up. Uh, Greg, you’re taking, I think it’s the chief supply chain officer. I mean, I’m not sure. I mean, it, it probably needs more focus than that, but nothing contributes more to environmental impact than the supply chain in any company. So to me, I feel like companies, I mean, don’t, you wish, don’t you think we all wish that companies had been more aware of climate change, dumping stuff in the river and you know, all of this that’s been going on for just literally centuries. I

Greg White (00:47:30):

Think it’s definitely time to apply that. Maybe it is time for that. I can’t give you yes or no, but I can tell you that as, as I think, I think we’ll set it best aspirationally. Absolutely. Right. Whether, whether companies will do that. I don’t know, but yeah.

Scott Luton (00:47:48):

Good. Well, thank you all each for answering the question. One word answer. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:47:53):

Hey, this LinkedIn, no one listens to the directions these days,

Scott Luton (00:47:59):

LinkedIn, I don’t know who this is. Maybe clay or Amanda can pop this in the chat, but a great idea. He or she says to make sure there is focus on, it might be in place already at some companies as the chief sustainability officer.

Greg White (00:48:13):

Well put, yeah, that could go towards climate change,

Greg White (00:48:20):

Even environmental factors

Greg White (00:48:23):

And fair human practice. All of those things are, are equally critical things.

Scott Luton (00:48:29):

And that was Tim Bushway that just said that about the chief sustainability sustainability officer. So thank you for that, Tim. Great point. Alright. Well, Kara, we never have enough time when we get together, but we look forward to continuing our collaboration and our partnership. Hey, let’s make sure folks know how to connect with both of y’all. And just so you know, I do have your LinkedIn profile

Scott Luton (00:48:51):

Notes for each of you, but Carol, how can folks connect with you? Yeah, we are@leadcoverage.com. So you can get ahold of us@caraatthecoverage.com. Well, we cover.com or just head over to the website, fill out a form and Amber will be calling you back shortly.

Scott Luton (00:49:08):

Will any, anything else to add on that?

Will Haraway (00:49:12):

Nope. Nope. As Kara said, you go on the website. Andrew is going to find you, she’s going to practice what we preach,

Scott Luton (00:49:26):

Really enjoy all the I’ll bring to the table. Love our conversations. We’ll look forward to getting you back on some of our supply chain, city stuff, and even more. I know we’re fast approaching little curve ball for you. Well, I’m hoping that we have some kind of concert with the blue doll are the, um, uh, the sundogs here year end. Any, anything you can share with the,

Greg White (00:49:51):

I wish I could, uh, I could go. And, um, I’m a little hurt that you guys are talking to sweetwater.com later when you didn’t invite me, but that’s a company where they’re very good at customer service with the, you know, with their, you know, their music selection is excellent. I don’t know they’re good, but, um, but nothing I’ll say about a month ago when it started to get cool, as we all were, this is the best way that we get around Atlanta. So I was so excited, but it did bump me out just a little bit because as the weather starts to cool, that means these

Will Haraway (00:50:28):

Outdoor opportunities are going away because no one’s going to, people are not interested in seeing concerts in a theater, in a bar or wherever. I mean, at least they’re not, they’re not comfortable with it yet. Um, so, you know, man, just like with all of this other stuff, we just gotta be patient that’s right. That’d be patient, probably wait for the weather to come back and then hopefully the vaccine and all the things that we’re all looking forward to. Maybe we just need this calendar year to just flip, I guess probably every day. I’m just starting a new year. Every day. I’m not waiting for 2021. Well, I have really enjoyed this conversation with care Brown and we’ll hear way both with lead coverage and guys we’ll be reconnecting again real soon. Yeah. Thanks for having us. Thanks. Have a great day. Bye guys love our conversations.

Scott Luton (00:51:24):

Oh, we’ll still with us. I think we’ll, we’re going to have a accent and Encore or for the musician. Oh boy. Didn’t bring his guitar. Yes. Uh, so just to circle back and make sure our audience knows. So we’ll play in a great band called sundogs and we’ve all really enjoyed their music and they have a, they’ve been having a Tom petty show at the end of the calendar year. I think going back for numerous years. And as he was saying, you know, with the current situation is probably not going to take place this year. So I want to connect the dots for everybody. Um, want to also share Greg, a couple of comments here from the audience? Uh, Mike says carbon taxing in Europe helps because it incentivizes taking carbon footprinting into consideration. Good point there, Mike, uh, Evelyn, Asher, Evelyn, hope this finds you will love.

Scott Luton (00:52:12):

I’ll always love our LinkedIn exchanges. Uh, she says David Attenborough, newest documentary life on this planet addresses what man has done against man and how we can, what we can do the impact, our environment. Good stuff there, Don. Thank you. And hopefully you’ve climbed that mountain Saturday morning at 9:00 AM and find next time you’re around Kennesaw mountain. Let me know Don, uh, to your point about flipping calendars, Keith says hindsight’s 2020 and come January 1st, 2020. We’ll be in hindsight. Yeah. What you did there, Keith. Very nice. Alright. So Greg, as we start to wrap up today’s show, we’ve got some, we’ve got some really cool news that, um, much to the chagrin of our CMO. I let out over the weekend. I think they’re, they want to build a campaign. I love you, Amanda. Uh, I jumped the gun a little bit, cause I’m really that excited about this, uh, this option we’re rolling out. So let’s bring this back into the stream here. If I can work the buttons today. So this is a great quote from Oprah. And uh, she said, everybody just wants to be heard, validate them. I see you. I hear you. And what say

Greg White (00:53:26):

Matters to me? What Greg, if you know, this is baked into the culture here, the DNA of approximate now, right? Supply chain. It’s all about the voices supply chain. And not just to folks, we feature here, the leaders, the practitioners, the thought leaders, the professionals, you name it, but equally, if not more important, it’s about our audience’s voice and how can we amplify that? Yeah. So Greg, before we roll out, what speak to that. I mean, that’s what we really are. We act on that every day to figure out how we can more effectively and successfully amplify that voice. Right? We’ve been having discussions over the last several weeks of how to message that, you know, we’ve gone through quite the identity evolution ourselves as an organization and um, how to enunciate this whole voice of supply chain. We want to be the voice of supply chain, broad supply chain, the entire supply chain, transportation, technology, retail, distribution, manufacturing, all of those aspects of it.

Greg White (00:54:32):

And it’s important to hear from everybody in the supply chain so that we all get a perspective because it’s very easy to live in your niche. If you’re, if you’re, if you’re in physical transportation to live in physical transportation, if you’re in manufacturing to lose perspective on retail, if you’re in retail, even possibly to lose perspective on the, on the consumer. And as everyone here knows, we are firm believers that the consumer is the beginning and the end of the supply chain. So what we want to enable is for everyone in supply chain to share their perspective and, and to be heard by us and highlighted by us and shared with the entire community. So Scott, tell them how we’re going to do that. Yes. And when Greg says community, we use that word a lot because we’re passionate about it, but we’re really referring to global community, right. Um, and we’re, we’re gonna, we’re going to really work to expand that and amplify that, those, those community members, as, as much as we can, it’s our, it is our North star. So

Scott Luton (00:55:34):

To the end and this, and look, this is not, um, you know, this isn’t a

Greg White (00:55:40):

Launching a, a revolutionary app phone or, or the model T back in its day or, you know, but what this is is a small little feature that’s really easy to use and really fits that mission we’re talking about. Yeah. So we have uncovered this little tool and built it into our website. We’re going to be building a page behind it really make it as easy as possible. But if you look there, this is the snapshot of the top of our website right now to the right hand side. There’s a little black tab that says, uh, what does that say? We want to hear from you just like, we’re what we’re telling you. Cause we do. And what that allows you to do to our audience members, they can jump on, they can click that button. It takes them to a simple popup that I think I typed in their name, their email, so

Scott Luton (00:56:24):

We know who it is. And then you can record into that device up to five minutes of your, your point of view and your insights perspective. And we’re working to elongate that a bit so that you have a little more room, but, but we wanted to start reg the first question we want to throw out there to our audience, to you to use this tool so that we can make sure it works well. And then, and then figuring out how to amplify that content is, Hey, what’s not being covered enough. What doesn’t get enough visibility when it comes to global supply chain, we’d love to have folks take five minutes, four or five minutes to pop on that device and share their, take their right Greg.

Greg White (00:57:00):

Oh, I’m sorry. I’m going to the site right now. Okay. Yes. Sorry. I was just going to record it right here. What’s not getting enough covered. Yeah, absolutely. We want to hear, um, you know, this is a community to us and, and um, you’re not the audience followers or influences or whatever you might be in some other worlds. This is, I mean, this is about all of us and we want all of us to contribute to this.

Scott Luton (00:57:28):

It’s just that simple. It really is just that simple. We’re going to take these snippets.

Greg White (00:57:34):

I’m laughing at David’s car. Okay. You gotta pop that up.

Scott Luton (00:57:40):

So David says, can you imagine how much trouble I can go in five minutes?

Greg White (00:57:43):

That’s I can’t wait. You know, I bet it’s a lot. Bring it, bring it, bring it.

Scott Luton (00:57:51):

Yeah. We’re going to, we’re going to try to take it. We’re gonna, uh, we’ve thought about having, you know, dropping a show maybe like from the front lines or from the field, the supply chain field and baking it into a show that we can offer a variety of perspective. We’ll drop some different questions out there, but we really, at the end of the day, we want to hear from you and we want to amplify. So other folks can hear from your point of view. Um, and it’s very, hopefully that comes across as poignantly, genuine as, as I’m trying to make it. Cause that’s, that’s, that’s at the heart of this engine here at supply chain now. Alright. So I want to share this comment, Greg, because the speaking of what we’re passionate about, um, you know, trying to connect people within the community particular veterans, um, you know, as an air force veteran, uh, uptake that role very seriously and you know, Tom wood, I think we referenced him when the last stream, he recently relocated to the upstate and, uh, he’s looking to jump back in supply chain and so really cool to see this.

Scott Luton (00:58:52):

Uh, I think we, we were trying to connect him with some of our LinkedIn networks and he says big, thank you to both of you and a few of your listeners I’ve never met who provided a positive endorsement in job search campaign mode received some positive feedback and new connections. That is a beautiful thing, Tom, uh, Greg, that makes your day.

Greg White (00:59:13):

Yeah, it does. That is awesome. And all over the world’s got people going, which state is upstate. So that’s the Northern part of South Carolina is known as the upstate here in the South. So, um, but yeah, so he’s in Greenville, he’s in the Greenville Spartanburg metroplex, correct? Yep. GSA. Yeah, that’s right. Um, great part of the state BMW is there, um, I think Mercedes-Benz has solely there and one of the scariest airports you will ever land in, you come in right over the top of the trees over a Hill. So that is a great part of the great part of the country. And Tom, we appreciate you. And we’re glad that you’re getting some connection to the community,

Scott Luton (00:59:56):

Undoubtedly, and you know, Tom, Tom’s got some great, but supply chain expertise already. So he, I think he built new home or something moved and looked and jumped back in. So all the best, if you’re in the lab stream comments, Hey, connect with Tom. You know, a great network certainly helps. And Jeff says, Michelin’s got a, got a place up in the upstate. All right, well, one final resource folks, and you can find links to this in the show notes, we’ve got an outstanding standup and sound off event coming up, October 28th, just nine days away. We’re gonna be featuring Elba and Anya. Uh, talk about some of the things they’re doing to move that equity needle in their fortune 500 organizations that they work in. Respectively looking forward to that. And Greg, yeah. Radio is dead at at least a supply chain now, right?

Greg White (01:00:43):

Digital killed the radio star. So, uh, I have a feeling we won’t have to say this for very much longer, but now we are no longer a supply chain radio. Now supply chain, radio supply chain. Now radio supply chain w radio radio, uh, whatever, what we discovered was that forwards was too much for us. And that we’re much better with three. And yeah, I mean, I think now is the key. I mean, it could now be more important ever before than it is now.

Scott Luton (01:01:17):

I liked that we’re gonna have to bake. We’re gonna have to bake that in Greg. You’re just, you’re a ever flowing fountain. I think that’s a him too, but, but you are of great stuff,

Greg White (01:01:26):

So well, okay. I’m glad you think. It’s great. I love it.

Scott Luton (01:01:29):

But I love the art with audience brought today. And this was, um, you know, we had so much to share today on today’s live stream that the ratio would, might’ve been a little too much in our outbound communications, uh, side, but regardless appreciate what everybody’s shared, appreciate what you do looking forward to, um, get your feedback on this little tool we’ve got as we build that.

Greg White (01:01:52):

And, um, Greg, what keeps coming to my mind as we

Scott Luton (01:01:56):

About sign off here is enduring happiness. Yeah. You know, what can you do every day to create that and deliver it? Um, it just is part of the noble mission road here.

Greg White (01:02:07):

You’re right. That’s just not even just a corporate thing. That should just be one of your life goals to create enduring happiness

Scott Luton (01:02:15):

On that note. Hey, y’all check out supply chain. Now that com thanks so much for tuning in for today’s version of the supply chain buzz big, thanks to will and Kara over at Lea coverage for joining us big, thanks to all the outstanding comments, uh, Dave and I, hopefully you do get in trouble. Please get in trouble. Uh, in five minutes, looking forward to hearing your, I think David should collaborate. Wouldn’t it be nice if they could both record at once? That would be hilarious and you’re right. Kim global supply chain immunity, right? Bringing it all together. That’s what it’s always about. So great to connect with you in the recent weeks and looking forward to reconnecting soon on that note, um, you know, be like Ashton Kutcher be like Greg white, uh, on behalf of our entire team here. Hey, do good. Give forward, be the change that’s needed, but create that enduring happiness. And with that said, we’ll see you next time here on supply chain now.

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Watch as Scott and Greg welcome Kara Brown and Will Haraway to Supply Chain Now through our YouTube channel.

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Kara Brown was one of the first employees at Echo Global Logistics. Echo grew quickly in three years and her name is on the company’s 2009 IPO press release [NYSE: ECHO]. At a Nashville-based supply chain management company Kara weathered a major communications crisis with almost no market exposure before moving home to Chicago to start a family. Kara arrived in Atlanta in 2016 and started SmithBrown Marketing with no network. SmithBrown marketing is a team of marketing and sales enablement consultants specializing in all the pieces of the B2B conversion cycle: mar-tech stack building (CRM/Automation), sales/marketing operations and enablement, inbound/outbound content, SEO/SEM, social conversion, and measurement. Less than two years later, she has a team of four full-time employees and a client list that includes Atlanta heavyweights. Kara is also an active force in cultivating Atlanta’s female economy, being a Co-Founder of CloseHer, a community for women in sales. In 2017, Kara joined forces with Will Haraway to kickoff LeadCoverage, a PR and lead generation consultancy focused on supply chain, heavy industrial and tech.  Learn more about Lead Coverage here: https://leadcoverage.com/

Will Haraway is the Chief Content Officer for Lead Coverage and the Founder & Lead Evangelist at Backbeat Marketing. Will has 20 years of executive experience in B2B Technology Marketing. Will is a certified analyst relations practitioner by the Knowledge Capital Group and has helped companies including Manhattan Associates, Aptos, Atlantix Global Systems, American Software and Rubicon Global improve their brand reputations with marketing results that help increase sales. Will also serves as a member of the APICS Atlanta Executive Advisory Board.

Hosts

Greg White

Principal & Host

Scott W. Luton

Founder, CEO, & Host

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Demo Perez

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

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

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Mary Kate Love

VP, Marketing

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

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

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Joshua Miranda

Marketing Specialist

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

Donna Krache

Director of Communications and Executive Producer

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

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Vicki White

Controller

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

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Ben Harris

Host

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

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Page Siplon

Host, The Freight Insider

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

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Kristi Porter

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Sofia Rivas Herrera

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

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

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Katherine Hintz

Sales and Marketing Coordinator

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

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Kim Winter

Host, Supply Chain Now

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

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

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

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Adrian Purtill

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Kevin Brown

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Jose Miguel Irarrazaval

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Nick Roemer

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Allison Giddens

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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

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Billy Taylor

Host of Dial P for Procurement

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

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

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

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

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Lori Sofian

Marketing Coordinator

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

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Chantel King

Social Media Manager

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

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

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

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Trisha Cordes

Administrative Assistant

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

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Clay Phillips

Business Development Manager

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

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Amanda Luton

Vice President, Production

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

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Constantine Limberakis

Host

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

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Mary Kate Soliva

Host, Veteran Voices

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

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Kelly Barner

Host of Dial P for Procurement

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

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Enrique Alvarez

Host of Logistics with Purpose and Supply Chain Now en Español

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

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

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Kevin L. Jackson

Host of Digital Transformers

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

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Tyler Ward

Director of Sales

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

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

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

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Chris Barnes

Principal, Supply Chain Now
Host of Supply Chain is Boring

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

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

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Greg White

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

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

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

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Scott W. Luton

Founder, CEO, & Host

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

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

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