Intro (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 (00:00:41):

Hey, good morning. Or good afternoon, rather. Scott Luton, Greg white and Karin bursa here with now. Kerryn, Greg. Good afternoon. Hey, good day. It’s good to be with you guys. And congratulations on number 500 way to go. Thank you so much, Greg. That was a, you, you, you said it well in your, in your LinkedIn posts, that was a Friday afternoon after a full week full conversation trying to condense 500, uh, shows into yeah, I would say 90 minutes, right? Yeah. And still I was energized after the fact, right. I mean, that’s the thing is we’d had a really, really full day that day. I think I had a board meeting and everyone else had all kinds of meetings going on. I don’t remember the day. I just remember the feeling now. Right. And everybody brought it. It was fun. I agreed. Great milestone, great team.

Scott Luton (00:01:34):

Uh, I wish we could have had everybody on the, on the episode. We’ll do that next time. Like we did for the previous milestone, but uh, now there’s so many more everybody’s that’s right, right. It’s hard. Hard to fit everybody. And if so, how long did that episode wind up being Scott about 90 minutes. And we’re gonna have to get a bigger boat, bigger bus, whatever folks have a drink. Absolutely anything really. We know we’re also gonna touch on where we spent the morning of Friday, but really quick, uh, to our, all of our audience, welcome to today’s supply chain buzz. We go live every Monday at 12 noon where we’re, we’re typically sharing some of the latest and greatest stories that you should be tracking in the industry. Um, today we have, we have two special guests. We have Chritton bursa. Who’s already here with us, uh, host of our tech talk, digital supply chain podcast, one of our newest and hottest properties here at supply chain. Now. So Kerryn, we look forward to picking your brain momentarily, but we also gets the best dressed award. Look at that. Very nice. Um, we also are going to be hearing, uh, in featuring Sophia Reavis, Herrera, supply chain, ambassador, extraordinary and enthusiast. And, and I’ll tell you, everybody is asking Sophia for her thought leadership. And we’re pleased to have her here today to share kind of the reader’s version of a recent publication she had, right?

Greg White (00:03:03):

Yeah. Right. I mean, everything she does is stellar. Right. She has a modest touch. She just recap. What’s going to happen this week already. Right? So it’s like the Sophia newsletter.

Scott Luton (00:03:17):

Yes. I love it. That’s a great way of putting it. Uh, but Hey, to our audience, we’re gonna say a Lowe’s here in just a minute, a minute quick programming note, if you enjoyed today’s episode, be sure to find it some subscribe wherever you get your podcasts from. So you don’t miss a single thing. All right. So we have got a, we’re going to say hello to a few folks. We’re going to mention a couple of events and then we’re going to dive into some cool things that Kerryn is working on. Want to say low. Uh, we’ve got a bunch of folks already here, Greg and Korea. Chris Barnes of course, was with us own number 500. Great to see it. Chris, Tom Raftery is with this year via LinkedIn. He’s joining us along with Alexis Bateman, this coming Friday on a sustainability circular economy, themed episode, a live stream. Looking forward to that, Tom.

Greg White (00:04:02):

Yeah. Well, I’m hoping. Yes.

Scott Luton (00:04:08):

So if you’re here in this year, uh, would love for you to, uh, bring three official Tom Raftery.

Greg White (00:04:14):

Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:04:17):

Mike gave her a Hey great to see connect connect with Mike last week. Uh, appreciate that. Congratulations on 500 Gary Smith Fasten, your seatbelts is going to be a wild ride. Agreed Gary. And we look forward to sharing some of Gary’s thought leadership with our audience here in coming weeks. Sylvia, Judy, Greg, you can’t have a lobster room without Sylvia, right?

Greg White (00:04:38):

I can’t even have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Scott Luton (00:04:43):

Hello, Sylvia prey teak. Great to have you, uh, Daria. Hey, thanks so much. Uh, we’re gonna, um, share a couple of things here towards the end of today’s episode. Appreciate your note earlier, Kayvon, Erin Gorky. Great to have all of you in Gorky looks like we’ve got an audio issue there. Hopefully sometimes that can, um, can ease up as we get through, uh, the live stream. So hopefully that works well. All right. So we got, we got to dive right in to let’s see here. My mouse is not working all of a sudden on the lobster and that’s always nice. Isn’t it? Yeah. Um, all right, here we go. So Greg, let’s hit a couple of events really quick. We’ve got a big webinar coming up. Um, now look, Kerryn and Greg IOT is nothing new, right? It’s already a cliche. It was a cliche. Maybe when it, when it, when it was lot of technology was, was implemented. However, there are some really cool things and powerful ways that companies are leveraging internet of things. Um, and in new ways shapes and forms. And that’s what Bob is going to be talking about on this webinar, right, Greg?

Greg White (00:05:50):

Yeah. I mean, and Bob can bring it on the IOT, just like Mark Morley can bring it on integrations. Um, w such a talented team at this company we had never heard of before OpenText. Um, and it’s really interesting to hear from these pros, right? Mark has become kind of a celebrity in his own, right. In that integration space.

Scott Luton (00:06:11):

Agreed. Um, and this, you know, um, so bring your, bring your questions, bring your comments, bring your observations. You know, this is going to be a, a lively session, like all of our webinars. So, uh, November 19th, uh, Bob Slevin with open text, I think we’ve got the link to register in the show notes

Greg White (00:06:30):

Just real quick. I mean, on IOT folks are, are using that, um, really interesting talk to a company in Canada, a couple of weeks back called rhythmic. And I think we may have talked about this a little bit, that those giant dump trucks that you use on mining sites and all the huge equipment there, they’re monitoring that because if those things go down, it costs millions of dollars a day for them to be out of production. So it’s a pretty, uh, pretty important technology. Right.

Scott Luton (00:07:01):

Agreed. And, and, um, and it continues to evolve like all technologies. So tune in November 19th or hear some of the latest and greatest, Hey, Tom says the hats he typically wears are a Akubra bruhs so, uh, yeah, I’m, uh, I’m going to Google that white one.

Greg White (00:07:17):

I can tell by the name. I can’t afford it. That’s right.

Scott Luton (00:07:24):

David is asking, Hey, is she your jam hookup, Sylvia, uh, Greg

Greg White (00:07:30):

Still waiting David, but I mean, I can’t even, I can’t even make a PB and J without thinking, I wonder how this would taste with silver.

Scott Luton (00:07:40):

Right. And finally, Jeff Miller is here with us. Uh, the, the voice behind supply chain is the business lot more to come on that really soon. So Jeff hope this finds you well. All right. So one more event, the tackle before we pick Corrine’s brain on a couple of really cool things. Yeah. I love this, this, this whole angle they’re taking with the 2020 safe picks virtual conference. Their hashtag they’re using is not just another webinar. I love that. Although a lot of virtual events have become just that, but two days all about achieving that perfect 20, 20 supply chain vision for 2021 and beyond. And Greg, our role here is we’re going to give a snapshot, a couple of our favorite, um, uh, conversations from 2020 and trivia is back, Greg.

Greg White (00:08:27):

All right. So I should probably prepare not for trivia, but yeah, I like this. I like this concept. And of course, Jenny Froome and the team at safe picks always, always bring it. Isn’t it fascinating that it doesn’t matter where you are, this is still relevant to you. I mean, that has that. If nothing else, it’s how the world has changed in the last eight, nine months. Right. Agreed, agreed. And

Scott Luton (00:08:57):

That’s right. Um, and Jenny and say, Pick’s, team’s doing some really cool things to help folks connect, help folks, uh, feel like they’re connected, learn, pick up best practices. And, uh, and it’s open to say pics members non-members so y’all check that out. We’ve gotten link in the show notes. Okay. So now we want to turn our attention over to Korean. So, um, but for starters, so Chris and Greg, we took the whole team out to a special event Friday morning. Uh, Greg T the TA tee tee things up a bit before we dive into Korean’s perspective.

Greg White (00:09:30):

Well, uh, man, I don’t know how to do it without giving the whole thing up, but it was a great opportunity for our team to get together physically in a single space and to do good give forward and be the change that’s needed in the world. So we are living our core values. That’s that to me was the most important thing, the second most important thing. And I hope Alison Giddens isn’t watching right now. I did eat lunch at tacos Del Chavo on Friday, but no, I mean, it was great. It was honestly the time flew by. We were there for like three hours and the time flew by and this, and of course I was one the working the latest it’s true. I was the slowest.

Scott Luton (00:10:15):

Um, so Kerryn, uh, uh, love for you to weigh in on exactly what empty stocking fund is. We, we did a lot of toy and supply picking in a warehouse on Friday morning.

Karin Bursa (00:10:26):

We did, we had to put some of those supply chain skills to work hands-on. Um, and the supply chain now team came and volunteered at the empty stocking fund, which is an organization that serves about 50,000 children in the Atlanta Metro area. And what they do is provide holiday gifts, uh, for children that are at poverty level. So they’re serving about nine counties in the Metro Atlanta area and Friday the supply chain now team we’re census little helpers, actually pick packing and, uh, and staging for shipment, um, toys and some hygienic products, uh, for kids in our Metro Atlanta area. So it’s a lot of fun. You guys, you think these guys are fun on live stream, you should see them in 3d just a great time.

Greg White (00:11:21):

I’ll tell you. I felt like their system was really strong. I mean, really they had, they had numbered and lettered Isles. They, you know, on the pink sheet, they identified the aisle that you were to go down for it. We even talked with the coordinator about digitizing, right about a digital transformation that would be relatively simple for the organization to do so. It was fun. And what a great, I mean, in a way, a great supply chain lesson as well. It was great what kids wanted. Um,

Scott Luton (00:11:55):

I had at least two families that had five kids and I’m just thinking, man, what, what a Christmas must be. Right. Agreed.

Karin Bursa (00:12:05):

But the longest pick list I saw was seven children in one household. So, um, so certainly a packed house. Yeah. But to be able to bring Christmas to seven kids and a family is pretty exciting.

Scott Luton (00:12:19):

Agreed. You know, and it’s, um, it’s terrible that there’s such a need for that. Um, and across the landscape, but I’d say it’s a wonderful, rewarding, fulfilling, fulfilling thing to, to be able to, to work and, and move the needle right there and, and know exactly what you’re doing, seeing the names of, of, and the numbers of family members and stuff. So, uh, Korean, let’s talk about, uh, transportation, uh, within the stock on, as they, they’re looking to disseminate all of these, these toys and gifts and Nita supplies.

Karin Bursa (00:12:56):

Absolutely. So first off, um, Greg identified some process improvements that, uh, that they’re able to act on almost immediately. So Greg, thanks for sharing those suggestions with the team at the empty stocking fund. So what are the big things is that the empty stocking fund has gone from a brick and mortar format, which they’ve operated in for more than 90 years and this year due to COVID, they’re going online and virtual and disparate distribution. So part of that is that those gifts that we’ve polled now have to be distributed out to the communities. And so there’s still a need. So the empty stocking fund is looking for a partner, um, in the Metro Atlanta area that can help them actually transport all of these gifts that are bagged and tagged out to 30 different Y YMCA locations around Atlanta so that the families can pick them up there based on their zip codes. So if any of you are out there listening and have the, um, have the wherewithal or the connections to, uh, to maybe get a conversation started about a partner who can help with that transport, uh, that would be fantastic,

Scott Luton (00:14:08):

Agreed brokers carriers, or if you’ve got a pickup truck, right. Sign ’em all up. Um, and w we added, this is, uh, our team shot. We had, uh, associates, we had family members, we had kids, you name it. We even had Kerryn, um, maybe a friend for your network that heard what you’re doing via your podcast. And Jan showed up to help out in the effort Friday morning.

Karin Bursa (00:14:35):

Absolutely. So a friend of mine, um, listen to the episode of tech talk that highlights the supply chain transformation that the empty stocking fund has gone through and just a six month window of time, so that they could serve the community, um, and keep everybody safe, um, and comply with COVID guidelines as well. And she heard about it got excited and was able to step in and work with us on Friday. So that was a lot of fun.

Scott Luton (00:15:03):

Yes, sir. It was. And you can check out more kind of story behind the story on the most recent podcasts that tech talk published, where Manda hunt, uh, was interviewed by Koreans, check that out. You can learn more about the organization to empty stocking fund.org. And of course, if you can’t find what you’re looking for via there, just shoot us a note. We’ll try to get you. We will definitely get you connected and appreciate what, uh, Curran, your longstanding leadership with the group. Uh, we’ve got a quick question from the audience. So Mike, uh, Mike aver wants to know full semi-truck loads, our courier, any comments there, current.

Karin Bursa (00:15:38):

So it was probably full truckload Mike, um, out to the distribution center. So one of the things that’s different with this year, selecting online and picking up in the community is that we’re able to start picking the orders much earlier, which is what we did last Friday. So historically, um, they’ll serve 50,000 children in 18 days in a brick and mortar format. Uh, but, uh, what we’re trying to do is group them together for efficient transport out to those distribution centers,

Greg White (00:16:08):

Palletize Mike, um, non stackable, just to be clear in case anyone’s wondering

Scott Luton (00:16:14):

Nice Greg, great point. And Chris says, Hey, this would be a great, uh, gratis consulting engagement. Absolutely. And you know, for folks that may not be in the Metro Atlanta area, just want to, um, maybe an obvious point I want to make there, there, I’m sure there’s this need in your neck of the woods. And, and if you do a little Googling, you’ll find organizations that do this or other similar, um, uh, charity work, food shelters, you name it. So reach out, they need supply chain support, uh, like, like any other organization. So, and, and leadership bandwidth. So, um,

Greg White (00:16:45):

And stuffing stuff in a bag. Now, our kids loved it. They get this. So the guy next to me who was, um, working next to me was, um, with Manheim, he was the inventory manager. Manheim is the big auction company for auctioning cars. He was the inventory manager for, for their, their, uh, car auction. So he was taking phone calls the whole time going, yeah, move this one there and make sure you got it. And then the ladies on the left of me were from Chick-fil-A. So every time, what did they say every time? I said, thank you for your help. They said, my pleasure and the team was so thankful. I got to tell you, look, w we, we try to do these kinds of things every year. And, um, you get far more out of it than you give you really do. I mean, you could see that Manda and, and the rest of the team,

Scott Luton (00:17:50):

They were working really hard hustling and cool. I had a guy driving an electric forklift, which was kind of cool. I’m certified to drive a forklift, but they still would not let me do it probably wisely, but man, where they were, they hustling. And it was a very impressive effort. It was great to be even just a tiny part of it. And it is so gratifying. So, uh, empty stocking fund.org for more information. And we also have it in the notes. All right. So Korean really quick, as we wrap up this front section here, you’ve got a big guest on the next version of tech talk. You’re about to publish, right?

Karin Bursa (00:18:27):

That’s right. Uh, so coming up, we’re going to be talking with industry trailblazer, Laura Siri, who is the founder and CEO of supply chain insights. But I think our audience will just be amazed by her story and progression, um, with her career starting out as a chemical engineer. And, uh, so join us for that and take a listen. I’m sure that you’ll pick up on a few things that you’ll find interesting and informative in the process

Scott Luton (00:18:57):

Agreed Laura, what a home run and trailblazer pioneer. Those are, those are very meaningful and accurate, uh, tags in this case. So, uh, Korean love what you’re doing with tech talk, uh, folks, you can subscribe for it in its own channel, right? Tech talk, digital supply chain podcast, and reach out to Corrine, uh, for more information, we’ve got her LinkedIn profile in the show notes as well. Kerryn, always a pleasure. Again, really appreciate your leadership, your, your give forward perspective you’ve always had, and it was a pleasure. See you Friday morning.

Karin Bursa (00:19:29):

Yeah, it was great to see you. Thank you, Scott. Thank you, Greg. And thanks whole team at supply chain now.

Scott Luton (00:19:35):

That’s right. We’ll talk soon. Thanks so much. All right, bye now. All right. That was a special day. Um, special leader, special effort and love what the great folks at empty stocking fund are doing. All right. So Greg, we’ve got an outstanding second guests with us and we’ve got about three or four news stories between now and when we’re switching her own, are you ready? You broke it up. Ready to go? I am ready. All right. So let’s shoot through this and I’m going to get your take a I’m sure most folks have heard about this first deal as reported here by Shefali Kapadia at supply chain DOB Kupa boss llama soft in a 1.5 billion bees and Bezos deal is Coupa’s fourth acquisition of the year. Their CEO says it comes at a time when businesses are prioritizing agility and the ability to quote, pivot on a dime. There’s that word again, Greg, lots of mixed reactions to this deal. Evidently in fact, the article referenced Loris, a series take, which, um, she w uh, maybe less than enthused might be an accurate way of putting it, but what’s your take here? Well, you know, um, um,

Greg White (00:20:48):

I don’t necessarily differ with Laura’s perception. It is likely that this kind of muddies the water and that sort of thing. Um, and we’ve seen that we’ve seen that companies that go too broad, too fast, kind of dilute the, um, dilute the greatness of each individual application. But so far, the way that Coupa has has integrated the companies that they bought is they’ve effectively just absorbed the revenue and allowed the companies to run independently if they can allow that to happen so that those companies get to continue to use their superpowers and then integrate those solutions together and create leverage points that will be effective the IBM way of kind of making the company disappear into a sea of consultants. And the companies never heard from, again, I, I totally get Laura’s perspective on that. And a lot of people’s, uh, she’s not alone by the way in that perspective, but that hasn’t been the model that Cooper has used so far. Now, admittedly, they’ve just started this acquisition binge. So, but Llamasoft is a great technology. Um, I have a good friend who works at Llamasoft and they have been doing great things there. It’s not necessarily directly applicable to Kupa specific functionality, but, uh, I can see where there could be some synergies. Do I sound milk toast enough on that? You know, honestly, it’s been, I haven’t been able to, uh, to really assess it, frankly. I mean, I, I, I I’m cautiously optimistic.

Scott Luton (00:22:27):

Yep. Agreed. Now that you’ve got it. What do you do next? Uh, you know, the need of looking around corners, not just the first corner, but a second corner and maybe even a third corner is what everybody’s trying to gain. So it’d be really interesting to see how it all integrates together and, and, and, and, you know, bottom line, how they not just currently serve, serve current customers better and more comprehensively, more effectively, but, um, new customers. So we’ll see. But great point there, David. It may well be too big, too fast. We’ll see. Um, moving right along to the second story here. The, so Jennifer Smith, one of the best in the business from wall street journal, uh, it’s got this piece companies going small to go big. So Greg, this follows right along the line we’ve been talking about forever. Now. It seems like years upon years, robotics automation is enabling better utilization of space and tight urban micro fulfillment centers.

Scott Luton (00:23:24):

So unlike so many of the traditional distribution centers, we’ve got a ton throughout the Metro Atlanta area. For sure those are large in size, of course, labor intensive. And typically they’re out there. You’re not going to be smack dab them on Peachtree street. If you’re pick a right in the middle of things, right, because of the space requirements and the cost, these new tech heavy micro fulfillment, they are smack dab in the middle of the cities and helping to hit those tight delivery windows. There’s big commitments, we’ve all made. So one such center that article sites is in Tel Aviv, and it said to be able to process a thousand orders a day with four employees in the center is less than 7,500 square feet. So Greg what’d you hear what’d you read an article here.

Greg White (00:24:09):

This has been a long time coming, hasn’t it? I mean, we’ve talked about stores as fulfillment center. Um, target is putting, and I still don’t understand why, again, I would welcome anyone from target to explain this, but they’re putting a fulfillment center between the stores and the consumer, um, companies like stored have, have used, um, what I call edge fulfillment that, you know, a small segment of a big warehouse for this kind of fulfillment for very targeted fulfillment. Um, probiotics are inevitable. I mean, frankly, you can use robotics in any size warehouse where Amazon robotics warehouses are 2 million square feet. So it doesn’t have to be small for robotics. Robotics is just incredibly helpful for these small and Scott, our last live event at Moda X, we saw a number of companies with incredibly finite capabilities of technology and robotics to be able to facilitate this, but getting near the consumer is critical.

Greg White (00:25:14):

The death of the mall is helping facilitate this. The death of some strip malls is helping to facilitate this retailers who are converting their stores to fulfillment centers and, uh, show rooms or showcases, um, will help to facilitate this. But this is an absolute necessity to me. Um, you know, the, the transition of stores into fulfillment centers and stores. I think we were talking about that with JP Wiggins, um, about merchandise merchandise model, right? Where the stores are just a showroom and a fulfillment center. Yep. Agree, absolutely. See that. So, you know, we’ll go through a lot of iterations of how this gets done, but, um, and you know, we don’t live in a tight urban space either Scott. So, you know, it takes on a whole different meaning if you’re in New York city or London, right. Or, or pick a gigantic city, that’s really tightly spaced. Right.

Scott Luton (00:26:22):

Good point. Uh, Jeff ads, these facilities work well also because they maximize revenue procure per cubic foot of building volume, not square foot of floor space.

Greg White (00:26:32):

That’s true because these, a lot of these robots can crawl up,

Scott Luton (00:26:36):

Right? Yeah. Just like, yeah. Like the images and some of the videos they had, um, and Claudia and, and to our audience, I’d love for you all to weigh in, in the comments on Claudia’s question and Claudia, by the way. Great to see it. Do you believe these micro facilities are truly viable or an idea of how to reuse idle real estate? So we won’t have time to dive into that fully because we’re going to get to our featured guests, but folks would love for you to take a stab at that question in the comments.

Greg White (00:27:01):

Yeah. And real quick, I just think it’s a little bit of both. Yeah. Yeah. We can talk that through later, but yeah.

Scott Luton (00:27:07):

Fair statement. Um, all right. So third headline here, Jennifer Smith, again, she she’s working double time or maybe she’s got a clone. She’s great though. One of the best in the business, uh, logistics hiring spree, it shouldn’t surprise many folks October payroll’s climbed a good bit. Warehousing trucking and delivery operators added a combined 46,000 jobs in October factors included. Of course, e-commerce holiday peak hiring though. We’re going to have several peaks, two, three, maybe 17 peaks this year and inventory restocking of course played a big role there. Uh, Greg, as we learned in the U S bank livestream on a special episode of the buzz last week, that new driver funnel to industry has really taken a hit, right, because of one team social distancing, we’re not getting nearly as many new drivers, uh, that are graduates of that school. And then the article Mark Rourke, uh, CEO of Schneider, uh, national was, uh, was talking about how big of a factor that was so good news, bad news, uh, you know, need more drivers. And then we’ve been, we’ve been, uh, on that mountain top screaming, the good news for, for 10, 15 years, it seems, but, uh, at least paint, at least folks are getting new opportunities in supply chain to meet this, uh, this incredible consumer demand.

Greg White (00:28:26):

All right, this is not uncommon at this time of year, right? Um, it’s news it’s news because the economy is coming back from an absolute collapse, but it’s not, you know, it’s the same news every year, right? Everyone is hiring to fulfill or to move goods this year. It might, there might be a little bit more of a blip or there might just be a little bit more publicity around it. Um, but the good news is pop. Um, unemployment did drop the 6.9%. And if anyone’s watching has watched the market early upon opening, I don’t know what it’s doing now. Clearly there was some enthusiasm around that and around, um, the surety relative surety of, of the election being having been called. So I think that, um, that will bode well for us going forward, but this, I mean, this is not unlike what we just talked about in the previous thing. I mean, even, even facilities with robotics require human beings and robots can’t do everything in every facility.

Scott Luton (00:29:31):

Sure thing, those are sure things, uh, absolutely. Uh, we, this trend isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. So, uh, neat to see it. And we look forward to continuing to talk about the opportunity for humans in this ever growing robotic and automated, uh, supply chain that we’re in here. All right. So let’s talk about completely shift gears. This, this story, really, when I saw this in my LinkedIn feed, I’m like, man, we’ve got to bring Sophia in here to talk firsthand our community. Um, so we’re gonna be talking marigolds, uh, talking about the supply chain behind marigolds talking about some of her observations here, as well as maybe some of the, some of the observations that are transferable across cultures, because obviously flowers, you’ve got to, they have a very unique, uh, supply chain bring them into the country or in the various countries. So let’s welcome in Sophia Reavis, Herrera, supply chain, ambassador, and enthusiast to the show. Hey, Sophia. Hi. Great to have you back here on supply chain now, Greg and I both really enjoyed, uh, your, uh, podcast interview you did with us.

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:30:41):

Yeah. I, I enjoyed it too. I’m so excited to be on the live stream like physically.

Scott Luton (00:30:50):

Well, uh, we, you know, we enjoy your comments in these live streams and, and your instant analysis and your posts live stream analysis. Right? Greg, it seems to get everybody’s conversations going. Yeah, no doubt. I mean, it’s, I think it’s a great recap for everyone and you’ve already previewed the week of events for this week as well. Right. But this most, this most important article though, I had to actually text to my mother, she’s a big Marigold fan, so I wanted to make sure she knew well, you know, on that note. Yeah. I don’t have a green thumb as much as I’d love to have one. And I’m, I’m pretty new to Marigold. So I’m gonna, I’m gonna set this, this interview up just to submit your Sophia. So you had this article appear in the logistics world magazine, where it was all dedicated about the mayor gold supply chain and opportunities for folks. Um, so Greg, for starters, uh, Sophia tell us about, you know, the significance of the flour itself.

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:31:46):

Yeah. So Mary gold in Mexico has a very important significance around day of the death, which is a celebration, a big celebration here in which we remember everyone that has passed away and we build altars for them the first and the 2nd of November. So these flower, uh, is used to guide these periods, uh, to your altar or to visit you in these days, right. Because of its male and its color. And yeah. So in Mexico we call it [inaudible], which is a word from, uh, indigenous language, uh, before this, before Spain came. So it means, uh, a flower 20 petals or, or 20 flowers you can say. And yeah, it has a lot of meaning. It’s very iconic. And we will say mostly for decorations, only these particular things, right.

Scott Luton (00:32:55):

Love that. Uh, see Greg, I’ve learned, uh, five things new already, and we’ve only just started with Sophia, but great.

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:33:03):

Counted the pedals on a Marigold before. So that’s fascinating. I did not know that. What is the language Sophia it’s called now? Okay. So it is still exactly the original people from Mexico. It was one of the languages they spoke that you can still meet people in Mexico that speak that language. And it’s actually very interesting because it makes total total sense. Right. It’s a compound words. And if you have to, if you want to keep saying more words, you just add pieces to it. Right. So, yeah.

Scott Luton (00:33:46):

So, uh, really quick, uh, it looks like your sister, Andrea is here with you. Uh, I know that you, as we talked about in the podcast, you and your sister are extremely talented and, and she especially, so I believe in the, um, in the, um, production arts, if I said that, right. So great to have you Andrea, and, uh, looking forward to learning more from Sophia about marigolds. Okay. So Greg, we won’t too, based on the article and based on what we know about Sophia, we want to pull more from Sophia’s brain and Matt marigolds, right?

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:34:22):

Yeah. Tell us a little bit more about the story itself is fascinating. So tell us a little bit about the significance of the supply chain for this. So, uh, on average per year, there is like 21,000 tons of these flour produced and bought for these alters. So that’s like the demand of, of the flowers, but we still don’t measure it, uh, correctly or enough to say if we’re producing enough or, or less we’re meeting, uh, costumer needs. Right.

Scott Luton (00:35:02):

FIA real quick to clarify. So we’re not measuring demand enough to, to understand where production really falls. Is that what

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:35:12):

Yeah, exactly. So we have, uh, uh, like, uh, traditional producers that every year know that at a certain point they have to start planting and producing the flour in that from the 27th of October to the 2nd of November, they will sell it, but they’re not really connected to, especially for more markets. So we know that most of the flour is wasted, but we don’t know how much. So the latest article that I read like two days ago was that it was estimated that 40% of demand this year because of COVID and, and restrictions, uh, fail, right when it was wasted because they couldn’t sell it. And this is basically because you can buy these flowers in an informal way. So you can see it around the streets, how the people directly from the field come with their trucks and you buy it. But if we could connect these producers to a more formalized way, then they could access more people. Right. And they could access the markets that are demanding these flour.

Greg White (00:36:26):

Gotcha. So they pretty much only have farmer farmer’s market type access rather than access to maybe big, big purchasers or group organizations. Interesting. Yeah,

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:36:40):

Exactly. Because these flower is sold, uh, like already pulled out of the, of the earth. So it’s, uh, it’s mostly for decorative purposes.

Scott Luton (00:36:53):

I want to share a few comments, Greg and Sophia that we’re getting here. Chris Barnes and Tom are having an interesting discussion about, uh, the busiest airports for some flower supply chain. So Chris is asking if there’s any true to the rumor that Atlanta ATL, when the world’s busiest airports is the business airport for flower supply chain. Tom says he thinks that shippable, if I send it right,

Greg White (00:37:15):

Scaffold that to Amsterdam’s airport, like they’re going out of style. So that’s probably what he’s thinking of there.

Scott Luton (00:37:23):

I wonder. So if we have, if good old Malcolm could jump on and see who, what is the busiest airport for the flower supply chain,

Greg White (00:37:32):

Sylvia? I bet Atlanta’s ships a lot more azaleas than skiffle. Those though. That’s a good point.

Scott Luton (00:37:38):

That’s a good point. And with masters week,

Greg White (00:37:41):

This week, this week, right.

Scott Luton (00:37:43):

Sylvia said she loves Mary golds, but we’ve got to keep the deer and rabbits away. Greg, I think you were having the same challenge with your tomatoes over the summer.

Greg White (00:37:52):

Yes. Yeah. Um, yeah, we, we were, uh, we got involved in the, the fence post and, uh, chicken wire supply chain. Agree is she is Sylvia. Let’s clarify. There is Sylvia saying they do keep away deer and rabbits, or you need to keep them away. Do you know Sophia is, are, do these keep away deer or no,

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:38:19):

I have no idea, but I would say they have a very strong smell. So perhaps the repellent. So, but I don’t know.

Greg White (00:38:29):

Yeah. W we’ve got, Sylvia will clarify for us.

Scott Luton (00:38:32):

Oh, definitely. Um, Claudia says, uh, in India, the price of Marigold doubles during the festival is that Nevada virus. I said that correct. Uh, maybe, um, but Claudia great point. And, uh, Daria says Indian festivals are the boom season for flowers. And then we’ve got a question from the Robie, uh, Sophia and or Greg, if y’all might know, are those flowers exported to other Latin American countries or are they only distributed in Mexico?

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:39:03):

So most of the production, uh, here in Mexico is for Mexican market. So it’s neither exported or flown over to other places which we could start doing because these celebration has been adopted by several other cultures and other people around the world. I think, uh, one of the booms of day of the day could be when everyone saw the movie and doubled all seven and James Bond and was like, what is that? Or when Coco came out and everyone learned a little bit more about the tradition, and I guess it is a very nice, uh, tradition in Mexico that could connect with other people around the world. So the market could be potentially out there as well, because if you go to the numbers, for example, India in China, or the greater predecessors of miracle in the world, but there are particular for different reasons right here, our production is for these particular celebration is not used for anything else. I think only 12% of it is used for breeding stock and for craft beer. But yeah, so they make like special craft beer in this season. Right now we’re talking. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:40:37):

All right. So, um, Sophia really enjoy this article. How did, um, how did it come about, how did you get connected with the logistics world?

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:40:47):

So I, it all started because I was curious about these, uh, flowers supply chain because of the, yeah. The CSUN. And because I was, I was building my altar at home, so I was thinking about, yeah, so what happened? Of course there’s a supply chain behind him, like it’s everywhere. Right. So I, I wanted to research about it and I shared a post on LinkedIn and one of the directors of the magazine, Sendak, who team she, uh, we met, uh, earlier in the year at MIT. So she contacted me and said, yeah, I read your research. I one article about

Greg White (00:41:34):

It because it’s such an important part of our culture. And I think a lot of people can feel connected to it as well. And that’s how it went by.

Scott Luton (00:41:45):

Yeah, no, Greg, I’d love to get your take on this because one of the, one of the great things about articles like Sophia’s here is, uh, it connects to consumer that may not be thinking about supply chain, but it gets them connected with things that are very important to them in different parts of the year or year round, in some cases with some of these other articles. And I love that about this article, Greg, what’s your take?

Greg White (00:42:08):

I think that, you know, the important alignment here is we talk a lot about the coffee supply chain, right? And the difficulty in the growers getting to the greater market at a, and at a fair price. And this is, this is a similar business problem. It is, it is some of the smaller growers being able to get to the marketplace that has great need and to do so in an economically efficient way and get a, the right access and a fair price for their products. So I think also it’s just cool because it’s so timely from a seasonal standpoint, right. Details is essentially Halloween and everyone was kind of, um, you know, interested in it at the time. And I just think it’s a very timely article. So applause on that as well, tying it, not only to a very practical supply chain problem, but also to a timely event. So that was pretty cool. I think that’s just being able, just being able to tie that in make creates interest and gets people interested in supply chain that might not otherwise be so great point,

Scott Luton (00:43:17):

Greg, you Sophia, you keep raising the bar, you keep raising the bar, I’ll tell you what, just like you got a busy week lined up more folks, want to get your POV on things. Um, a quick side note, uh, to y’all and to our comments, we, we had a call last week with a great friend of ours in London, and they were talking about the pumpkin shortage. And Greg, I think you and I have not seen that here locally. Uh, and I haven’t read anything about it. So Sophia and your neck of the woods, um, any pumpkin shortages there.

Greg White (00:43:48):

So I think, um, I think it happens because of perhaps everyone being locked down and trying to bring that tradition again and feel connected to that as special season. And also because pumping, pumping are sold in a formal market. So the access to them are, it’s a bit easier, right. To find a pumpkin at a supermarket than finding a Maryville flour there. Right. So challenges. So I think that that’s, that’s mainly the point, right? To be well at some point as a short date, and then for year you plan it

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:44:32):

Better. Yes. And I think because it is a great opportunity that is seasonal. And so every year, you know, that it’s going to happen that except time, and, you know, perhaps the places that celebrate that tradition the most. So then I think it’s a bit, uh, predictive to know how much you will sell or how, how to better prepare for it. You, you ran now. I think it’s Starbucks fault, pumpkin spice latte, frankly.

Scott Luton (00:45:06):

Oh, I’m not, not a big fan of pumpkin spice myself.

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:45:11):

They’re actually in that lab, right? Yeah. We still will have enough pumpkin for pumpkin pie. So that’s,

Scott Luton (00:45:26):

Uh, Sylvia says deers hate them. And David says it supposedly has a bitter taste and scent to deer and rabbits Greg’s our investigative journalists are on it and Marigold is good. If you have a deer problem, it sounds like

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:45:39):

You should plant that around your tomatoes. Is that like a barrier Marigold fence?

Scott Luton (00:45:47):

Yes. Uh, Mike aver says his large day of the dead celebrations across our Latin American community here in Atlanta as well. Yep. Claudia says, uh, salad, a cut flower market has crashed to the major events being canceled as COVID continues to grip the world. Um, and you know, along those lines, Greg, we talked about a few months back. It’s not quite the same, but beer, you know, we had a huge glut of, of, of beer unused beer because of all the major sporting events that a lot of beer was produced for. And, and, and, and of course they got canceled and, um, and I’d love to get my finger back on the pulse of where that has evolved to Aaron says, yeah,

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:46:30):

You have a new assignment for free, or except for Budweiser’s born on date. I don’t know that anybody knows how old the beer they’re drinking is. Right. So I need the least some research. They we’re dumping it for sure. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:46:50):

Aaron says, shouldn’t be any pumpkin in the pumpkin spice lattes. It’s supposed to be just the spice blend from pumpkin pie,

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:46:57):

By the way, anything that covers up that burnt coffee taste

Scott Luton (00:47:06):

Well. So Aaron, by the way, Aaron, we publish veteran voices interview featuring Aaron’s perspective on this past Saturday. And as I’ve mentioned on social media, it’s one of those that it just, you capture it and it just keeps baking. And, and, and I keep going back to different things he’s shared. So check that out, wherever you get your podcasts. Aaron really shared some, some perspective for folks in transition, regardless if you’re a veteran or otherwise. So great to have you here in the live stream. Aaron. All right. So Sophia, uh, you’re not going to be a hard person to catch it with this week. It sounds, but let’s make sure that our listeners can connect with you. So what’s the easiest way beyond LinkedIn, which we’ve got a link to your profile on the show notes.

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:47:51):

So you can also contact me by Instagram. I have an account it’s called Sophie being serious because right now I’m not being serious, but yeah. So you can just send me a message. I do appreciate when people send me a message, cause then I can start conversation with them. So, and I do enjoy talking. So just write a small message and I will reply to it.

Scott Luton (00:48:20):

Well, we appreciate that Sophia and to our audience, check it out. She makes any conversation more intelligent. We’ve enjoyed it here and enjoy learning from you, Sophia. Hey, um, w um, really appreciate what you shared here today. Sophia, thanks for, with the supply chain side and kind of the cultural side. A bit more folks are going to leave this conversation may be knowing now how important Marigold is in certain parts of the world.

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:48:47):

Yeah, for sure. That’s the goal and yeah. If you want to start celebrating this day that we do yeah. Feel free to read the article or read more about it. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:49:00):

I’ve got one final curveball question. Actually, this comes from your sister here, Sophia. So I’m going to put you on the spot a bit. Okay.

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:49:06):

And she’s like in the other room, but okay. The other room. Yeah. He’s not interrupting your session. Right. Right.

Scott Luton (00:49:17):

So, uh, Calla van, uh, let’s see here, Calla, veranda, maybe one of the biggest events here in Guadalajara. So she won’t tell us about that. Uh, Sophia,

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:49:29):

So, okay. That’s an issue. So there is these, um, these, the guy that has, uh, the started, this started there. I would say that right now, it’s a big company. So he is in love with theme parks. So all his life, he, he was going on back and forth to Disneyland or Epcot and all those places, because he loves the experience of how it makes this magic co feeling within you. So he said, I’m going to start my own business, but for Mexican traditions. So why he Dean, he started at these theme parks that they built out of nowhere. And it’s called [inaudible]. That is a theme party called day of the death here in Guadalajara. So if you ever want to come visit that theme park, it’s absolutely amazing. It’s, uh, you fail if you watch Coco. Cause I think it’s a big reference, right? So if you watch Coco, you will feel that you are in that movie and the songs that, the decoration that everything is insane. And this happens, it has happened like for a couple, a few years in our stadium. And it’s very, very nice. So he does that in other events throughout the year, uh, to remember people about these traditions and to also make them feel the same thing he felt when he was like at Disney or other theme parks. So yeah,

Scott Luton (00:51:17):

Their own local twists, his own local twist on yeah. What you get at the big corporate parks. I love that Sophia. Um, it makes it more of a learning experiment experience. So I’m glad your sister threw that curve ball right now. A little bit more.

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:51:34):

I’ll put a video of him in the comments later so that people see it actually, I mean it surpasses everyone’s expectation is not just like walking around and seeing that curation it’s like a live event. I don’t know. It’s very moving. Wow. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:51:55):

Well, um, really appreciate what you shared, Greg always, uh, we always leave these conversations more enlightened after we talk with Sophia, right?

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:52:04):

Yeah. Yeah. I have a feeling I’m going to be in Guadalajara next, next Halloween, because it’s my wife’s favorite holiday. So I think, yeah, it’s so nice in our house at all times. Sophia. So all-time so I know I can think of where one is right now in the foyer. So,

Scott Luton (00:52:25):

Well, uh, if Vicki is in the next room, hopefully you heard what Greg said now you’ve got him. You can book the trip, you’ll be there next fall. So we’ll see.

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:52:34):

Yeah, you’re already, you just never know. So it’s not a terrible drug.

Scott Luton (00:52:40):

Uh, Gary asked if we can post Sophia’s article. It is, we’ve got a link to it in the notes. Uh, Amanda and clay, if y’all want to throw it in the comments, that’d be great too, but a great piece. Uh, you’ll find that really one click away in the show notes. So Sophia, thanks so much. Sophia Reavis, Herrera, supply chain, ambassador, and enthusiastic. Great to reconnect with you look forward to doing so again soon.

Sofia Rivas Herrera (00:53:04):

Yeah. Thanks for inviting me on your fifth 500 episodes. All the best. Bye, bye.

Scott Luton (00:53:18):

You know, Greg, uh, always getting that swoosh timing. Correct. Cause there’s so much other stuff I wanted to ask the FIA, but we, we jammed so much into this episode. Yeah.

Greg White (00:53:27):

The buzz, right. You know what I want to ask her, I want to ask her what Andrea does. I want to know what she does for a living. Right. Because I think they’re twins, right? Are they not twins?

Scott Luton (00:53:37):

You’re right. Uh, and I, I wanna, uh, uh, you know, my three kids have ruined my memory, but I want to say that she was director or producer, um, in the industry in there in Mexico, but I’m not sure maybe Andrea could get answer in the comments. We’ll see. Um,

Greg White (00:53:57):

But that’s good, you know, um, watching long way up, which I’m not sure if you’re familiar with it, but you and McGregor and his buddy, Charlie Borman, they ride motorcycles all over the place and they’re going from tear it off way, go to Los Angeles. Um, and, and I want to do they have long way up long way round and long way down. I want to do all the way up and go from Tierra Del Fuego all the way to, to Alaska. So we might need a producer in central and South America.

Scott Luton (00:54:29):

Love it. Uh let’s let’s let’s leave today. Are you ready? All right. So, uh, great, great conversation. Great perspective. And, and POV shared thereby Sophia really, really enjoyed that. Love the article. Again, I love an article that can, um, be broadly consumed, right? And, and folks can, can learn more and make those connections as it relates to how the supply chain community makes it happen and where there’s opportunities to improve certain skills.

Greg White (00:55:00):

It’s a bit of an awakening for folks, right? To realize that that’s a supply chain task. I think you’re right.

Scott Luton (00:55:06):

Agreed. Not so much for our community, of course, because they are AAA and they always bring it. But for general consumers, that, that are still kind of uncovering why they can get things in two hours or a day or two days. Um, so along those lines, Greg, we wanna encourage our, our members of our community to, Hey, we want to hear from you. And we’ve got this tool that we’ve been experimenting with, uh, that you can find on our main site is that you see that black tab there, I’ve got circled there on, on the, uh, the visual, you can record up to five minutes of what’s on your mind. And, and one of the questions, Greg, we’ve kind of thrown out there to, um, our website visitors is, Hey, what’s, what’s not getting enough coverage in industry, but you know, there’s probably other, uh, really important questions that they could answer as well, Greg.

Greg White (00:55:52):

Yeah. I mean, they don’t even have to answer a question. I’d just like to hear what people are thinking. Right. But you got me thinking what is not getting enough coverage. So Scott, if I was to ask you that question, what would you say?

Scott Luton (00:56:04):

Ooh, um, what a great question.

Greg White (00:56:07):

Sorry. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. It just, it gets you thinking that question, doesn’t it. Um,

Scott Luton (00:56:13):

So, um, couple of things quickly come to mind. We, we, we want to feature more expertise around cold chain. Cold chain clearly has gotten a lot more here lately, but in terms of, of, of deeper dive coverage on some of the unique aspects of, of, of coal chain that we want to, I think that is still underrepresented. Uh, prior to the pandemic, I would tell you that professionals and practitioners, um, pickers, Packers, machine operators, certainly truck drivers definitely don’t get enough attention. And, and we still got miles and miles ago in that regard, but fortunately that’s been one of the silver linings as it relates to the pandemic. And, um, I would one of the one last thing I’d love to get your take here, Greg is, um, I want to say how education, how, uh, professional education for supply chain practitioners. And I’m not talking, I’m talking in a broader sense, right?

Scott Luton (00:57:11):

You’ve got all these associations and schools and in other entities, a supply chain dive that a really neat piece of a month or two back on how that’s evolving. And I think that needs to get a lot more attention because we’re, we’re, we’re, we’re not only using those programs to create awareness of supply chain opportunities and, and, and the profession itself, but we’re using it as a means of delivering skilled and educated workforce, as you know, through the pipeline into industry. And naturally just as much as the industry has changed via the pandemic, those, those important, critical, uh, pipeline programs are going to have to evolve as well. So those are three quick things that come to my mind about you. Yeah.

Greg White (00:57:51):

Education definitely needs to evolve. I mean, I’ve worked with a couple of schools who have said that precise thing is that the change is in supply chain, even prior to COVID were happening very rapidly. And most academics knowledge is 15, 20 years old, right? I mean, that, that is a PR that is a problem that they acknowledge that the best supply chain schools in the world. And one of the problems that we’re trying to solve is how to bring that up to date. How do we, how do we stop using or encouraging ancient methodologies that now have been proven to be inadequate? Right. So I think that is a big hurdle at the same time though, Scott, you and I have been able to do it without formal supply chain education. I think the beauty of supply chain is that it is physical. It is real, it is event driven, right?

Greg White (00:58:45):

There’s a lot of human intervention. It’s something we see every day, even if we don’t notice it. Right. And I think that gives us a lot greater ability to absorb and adapt to it and, and evolve our knowledge in it. So I think we’ve compensated somewhat for the lack of modern academic education. Right. Do you need to say both anyway, clearly I didn’t get one. Um, but by understanding it from a physical, uh, theoretical perspective. So, um, that, you know, there, there is a lot of opportunity there and, and yet somehow people have managed to get this far. What I think we need to do is we need to think forward. Instead of think back, we still think about things the way we’ve always, always have how we were taught in some class 15 or 20 years ago. Um, or some theory that’s a hundred plus years old, right? I mean, um, we need to shift our paradigm, right,

Scott Luton (00:59:46):

Because it’s there, it stays there year in and year out, uh, and a huge generality. But, um, I think that’s whether it’s academia or whether it’s private industry, there’s some of that. I mean, it goes back to that most dangerous phrase. That’s how it’s always been done. But I look forward to, you know, we got a lot of folks, uh, in the comments that have gone through different programs, but professional and academic, uh, what to have a dedicated conference. And for that matter, we’ve got some instructors we need to have Chris Barnes on here and talk about and get some of his thoughts on how things are evolving.

Greg White (01:00:19):

Well, yeah. I mean, when we’re talking about warehouses, we got to have Chris on here. Don’t we? I didn’t, yeah, I agree. Yeah.

Scott Luton (01:00:25):

The Garland thrown down, mr. Chris Barnes, the godless bro been thrown down, Hey,

Greg White (01:00:30):

Can make the buzz boring.

Scott Luton (01:00:34):

Uh, Andrea says she’s a project manager at AVAC brand strategy, a branding and design company. But what I think I remembered from that interview is that she was an organizer and panel director at an event of the Universidad Panamericana Panna, Americana, sin up, uh, Greg, that fits right into your whole line of, well, listen up, buckle up, sent up. How about that? Thanks for sharing. Claudia says, I think what’s not getting enough. Coverage is a passenger airline industry. I was amazed by my experience in traveling. Um, I’m not sure where Ord, what is

Greg White (01:01:12):

Or D is O’Hare isn’t it or no. Or is that, I’m sorry. I’m flown in so long. I forgot. Well, Oh no, that’s probably Orlando.

Scott Luton (01:01:23):

She was, uh, so Claudia,

Greg White (01:01:25):

Tell us more. Yeah, I’ll have to look it up. Yeah.

Scott Luton (01:01:28):

Um, Pierre says education and career path with the advent of the fourth industrial revolution where robotics and AI will have a dramatic, a dramatic effect on historical supply chain employment. That is a great, great point there. Mike says the raw raw commodity side needs to get more attention.

Greg White (01:01:46):

Yeah, it says both of those

Scott Luton (01:01:50):

One supply chain area does not get a lot of play. Our public sector, supply chains in many areas, areas. They are a generation behind the times, at least one, uh, one more comment here, and then we’re gonna wrap Greg Claudia freed says safe and good talking about our flight from last week, more technology on the Mexican side and very safe flight attendants don’t mess around. She noticed how much, uh, older the crew was and both flights had a female pilot, or that is really cool. Um, all right. So Greg, uh, really enjoyed episode number 500 and you know, out of the, uh, bevy of messages we got via social media and email and some others, we had a neat one come in from a regular live stream participant here in our community. And we want to bring in Amanda Luton, our CMO really quick. And I think she’s going to share some of it with,

Amanda Luton (01:02:44):

Okay. Hello, Amanda. How are you? I’m great. Hello everybody. Unlike Sophia’s sister who was in the next room, we’ve got cameras on people in the next room. I am also in the next room. That’s right. The little hamster in our modem is spit is just running as fast as he can trying to keep up the bandwidth here. Right.

Scott Luton (01:03:13):

So Amanda, uh, as a pleasure having you on with us, uh, as part of the 500 episode, it was your believe or not. It was your second appearance and 500 episodes we’re gonna have to change.

Amanda Luton (01:03:25):

I think it was my third, third of 400 or 300. I forget. They were, the three of us did one early in the pandemic and then I was on episode 400 and then now 500. Okay. Yeah.

Scott Luton (01:03:43):

All right. So tell us, we’ve got a message from our friend Daria, I believe share some of that.

Amanda Luton (01:03:49):

Yeah. So it was just this, of course we’ve had tons of wonderful comments and, uh, congratulations and everything all over social media, but we got this email this morning and I forwarded it as the whole team. Like, y’all gotta read this. It’s just so nice. But I just wanted to, um, read this kind of an expert, um, from Daria is email that says, of course, congratulations. Um, I vividly remember the first time that I watched Greg and Scott on a LinkedIn live stream because it was an icebreaker moment for me, I’ve been engulfed in pandemonium related to my career path and it was at the crossroads listening to the domain experts and learning from their insights provided me with the much needed clarity to pursue a career in supply chain. Uh, the diverse community of supply chain professionals, academics and students spanning across the glove and holding multifunctional roles at various industries has been the USP for supply chain now.

Amanda Luton (01:04:39):

And it just goes on to congratulate us and to tell us, you know, this very valuable to listen. And I just thought, I mean, is that not what it’s all about? You know, uh, creating value. Um, I think he even mentioned that, and I didn’t say this, um, kudos to the entire supply chain now team and the entire supply chain now community. So this is not just us, you know, putting this content misinformation out there. It’s all of you. It’s the whole community. It’s the wonderful, I talk with my hands a lot. It’s the wonderful folks in our comments, um, that dissipate, you know, during every live stream. So it’s just the big, the big group, the whole community. I’m

Greg White (01:05:18):

All about creating good value and, and wonderful information to share. Just sharing that voice of supply chain

Scott Luton (01:05:24):

Connectivity. As we learned in the, in the pre-show Sophia, I think had connected with Daria and, uh, this way. And, and, you know, that’s a beautiful thing. I think the world’s better off at the, that the stronger we can make the bonds that tie us all and the connectivity. And, uh, and you know, if anyone listens to that episode 500, if there’s one thing that, that I hope that they’ll take away, if they can make it through all 90 minutes is it’s all about the community. That’s it, it’s it really, it, 500 is not a big deal. It’s a big deal to us because we know what goes into each one of those, but to the market who cares about 500, it’s about what have you done for us lately? And that’s, that’s our North star is serving as a information. Uh, repository is serving as a, um, you know, a connecting platform and, and most importantly, it amplifying the voice of supply chain. That’s the mission, that’s what we have tattooed on her right shoulder. So, Amanda, I really appreciate you sharing that Daria. Thanks so much for,

Greg White (01:06:28):

It means a lot to us. It really does.

Scott Luton (01:06:32):

It’s a ton and we, we, we, we’re proud that you’re part of our community. You make us all smarter and more talented. So, um, Oh, David says he’s got 20 minutes left.

Greg White (01:06:44):

All right.

Scott Luton (01:06:45):

So Greg I’ve, I’ve, I’ve babbled on for a little bit there, but why is that important to you?

Greg White (01:06:50):

Uh, uh, you know, any small part we can play in, um, sorry, it’s a little dusty in here. Any small part that we can play in, in encouraging or igniting or catalyzing someone’s interest or experience or life or career, man, that’s just such an honor to be able to do that. So, um, and, and you wonder, right. You wonder if, if you impact somebody, it’s just great to hear it. I mean, it’s encouraging, it’s uplifting, it’s affirming. Um, not that we need affirmation. We just affirm one another all the time. So people like me, I mean, but it is, it is good to know that you can impact people like that. And it’s not just the us, and it’s not just because we’ve got this public forum to do it. I mean, um, the supply chain now insiders in the small groups, even, even when the supply chain now, even within the supply chain now inside a group, um, encouraging and uplifting and educating and sharing with one another. And this just, this live experience is just so powerful. So greed, you know, we’re all, we all are helping to uplift one another right there in a challenging year, for sure. Um, and

Amanda Luton (01:08:16):

To think that we might have played a small part in connecting people that may have not otherwise been connected. I just think that that’s, it’s just so wonderful. It’s a great feeling. It’s, what’s what we exist for, right. That’s right.

Scott Luton (01:08:30):

Well, you know, selfishly, um, I’m working on my third volume of notes and best practices and stories from all of our guests and our community as they share each and every one. And that was the coolest part of the episode we did for 500 is we were able to kind of go back down through memory lane and remember, uh, you know, you can’t remember all 500 shows at once and, and, and kind of helping each other remember different aspects of different conversations and anecdotes that were shared that were very meaningful. So we appreciate that by tuning in, uh, today at the big thanks to Kerryn bursa and Sophia Reavis Herrera, it was, it was, uh, such a joy to be here and reconnect with both of them and, and, you know, them share their what’s on their mind and, and some of your thoughts and insights with our community, but we love it. And it’s great to have those messages back from our community. So, um, Amanda and Greg, we’re going to have to we’re 10 minutes past, we are overdue.

Amanda Luton (01:09:27):

We’re starting to cut into David’s time here. I’m curious how long it was, how long episode 500 was before Chris Barnes got ahold of it. I was wondering that too. I was like, I wonder how long

Scott Luton (01:09:46):

Agreed. It’s funny. Um, I think we’ve made a joke during the recording that, um, he gets the final say. So anyway, um,

Amanda Luton (01:09:58):

It takes out 42nd pauses between every word, everything. Yeah.

Scott Luton (01:10:06):

Well, Hey folks, uh, if there’s something you can not find between the notes we publish and the comments, Hey, check us out@supplychainnow.com. You can also shoot us a note to Amanda at supply chain. Now that com we use that because she doesn’t miss anything, um, as always, um, but check, check us out is so important for y’all to know that this is all about amplifying the voice serving as the voice amplifying the voice, amplifying your POV so that, um, the global business community and really beyond here’s what’s on your mind. So with that said, Amanda Luton, Greg white, really on behalf of our entire supply chain. Now team, Greg, did you want, did you want me to give you the last hot take before we sign off? Anything else that you, I thought I saw something stirring in your left eyes I’ll we’ll gleam, and I thought I’d give you one lie. One last,

Greg White (01:10:58):

Last shot. Now, you know, I know, I think, I think we’re good look, 500. This is now 501 just like that, right? Yeah. You know what? This is what I would like to say on Friday. I don’t know if it was on or somewhere, but

Greg White (01:11:14):

One of those apps that reminds you, you were here a year ago, it was Scott, you and I on that park bench, um, next to the guy who we gave our lunch to cause he asked so nicely, um, and maybe a few bucks in Austin, uh, when we filmed that just really quick video for was that episode 200, I think it was episode. Yeah, I think you’re right. One year ago we’ve done 300 episodes in one year that I need some time off. Well, I’ll tell ya. Uh, wow. It’s just hard to leave the scale of this thing. And it’s also hard to believe how different and how we can celebrate the 200 do it in person. Right. And Austin, when, before the world had, had changed in many ways and certainly before the States changed to now, but you know what, we’ll be back.

Scott Luton (01:12:14):

We’re going to all get back in studios and offices and, and enjoy each other’s in-person company sooner than you think and own that note, Greg, uh, Greg and Amanda appreciate being on this journey with both of y’all and clay back behind the scenes and the whole rest of the team.

Scott Luton (01:12:33):

What’s that Kerryn and Jeff and Kevin and Kelly and everyone now. I mean the list so long now, right? Music is playing in my right ear. So bounce and episodes on behalf of our entire team here. Really appreciate you being a part of today’s buzz. Hey, do good gift forward. Be the change that’s needed. And on that note, we’ll see you next time here in supply chain. Now