Supply Chain Now
Episode 503

Episode Summary

In this episode of the Supply Chain Buzz on Supply Chain Now, Karin Bursa and Sofia Rivas Herrera join Scott and Greg for the top news in supply chain this week and more.

Episode Transcript

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

Would you rather watch the show in action?

"The Supply Chain Buzz: Scott & Greg Chat with Karin Bursa & Sofia Rivas Herrera"

Featured Guests

Sofia Rivas Herrera is a Mexican Industrial Engineer from Tecnologico de Monterrey University, class 2019. Upon graduation she earned a scholarship to study MIT’s Graduate Certificate in Logistics and Supply Chain Management (GCLOG) 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. Former Data Analyst within the airport industry in Latin America at Pacific Airport Group, performing benchmarking reports and predictive analysis of future market behavior.

Currently working as Sr. Staffing Analyst within the S&OP team in Mexico at the biggest ecommerce company in Latin America: Mercado Libre. Responsible for workforce forecasting and planning through the analysis of demand, productivity, capacity, cost & time constraints. Sofia self identifies as Supply Chain Ambassador, sharing her passion for the field in her daily life. She has been recognized as upcoming thought leader in the field and invited to participate in several podcasts (Freight Path Podcast, Supply Chain Revolution Podcast, Let’s Talk Supply Chain, Industrificados) to discuss topics such as digital transformation, automation and future skillsets for supply chain professionals.

She is a frequent featured guest at Supply Chain Now and appointed co-host for their new series Supply Chain Now en Español. Global Ambassador for ISCEAs Sustainable Supply Chain Professional Certification (CSSCP) and keynote speaker at World Supply Chain Forum 2021 by ISCEA Indonesia. Sofia will be giving a TEDx at Penn State University WilkesBarre’s event “The Young. The Undiscovered” this upcoming October, 2021.  Connect with Sofia on LinkedIn.

Karin Bursa is the 2020 Supply Chain Pro to Know of the Year and the Host of the TEKTOK Digital Supply Chain Podcast powered by Supply Chain Now. With more than 25 years of supply chain and technology expertise (and the scars to prove it), Karin has the heart of a teacher and has helped nearly 1,000 customers transform their businesses and share their success stories. Today, she helps B2B technology companies introduce new products, capture customer success and grow global revenue, market share and profitability. In addition to her recognition as the 2020 Supply Chain Pro to Know of the Year, Karin has also been recognized as a 2019 and 2018 Supply Chain Pro to Know, 2009 Technology Marketing Executive of the Year and a 2008 Women in Technology Finalist. 

Hosts

Greg White

Principal & Host

Scott W. Luton

Founder, CEO, & Host

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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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Joshua Miranda

Marketing Specialist

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

Donna Krache

Director of Communications and Executive Producer

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

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Vicki White

Controller

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

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Katherine Hintz

Creative Director, Producer, Host

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

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Kim Reuter

Host, The Freight Insider

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

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Kristi Porter

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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

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Sofia Rivas Herrera

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

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

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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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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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Tandreia Bellamy

Host, Supply Chain Now

Tandreia Bellamy retired as the Vice President of Industrial Engineering for UPS Supply Chain Solutions which included the Global Logistics, Global Freight Forwarding and UPS Freight business units. She was responsible for operations strategy and planning, asset management, forecasting, and technology tool development to optimize sustainable efficiency while driving world class service.

Tandreia held similar positions at the business unit level for Global Logistics and Global Freight forwarding. As the leader of the Global Logistics engineering function, she directed all industrial engineering activies related to distribution, service parts logistics (post-sales support), and mail innovations (low cost, light weight shipping partnership with the USPS). Between these roles Tandreia helped to establish the Advanced Technology Group which was formed to research and develop cutting edge solutions focused on reducing reliance on manual labor.

Tandreia began her career in 1986 as a part-time hourly manual package handling employee. She spent the great majority of her career in the small package business unit which is responsible for the pick-up, sort, transport and delivery of packages domestically. She held various positions in Industrial Engineering, Marketing, Inside and On-road operations in Central Florida before transferring to Atlanta for a position in Corporate Product Development and Corporate Industrial Engineering. Tandreia later held IE leadership roles in Nebraska, Minnesota and Chicago. In her final role in small package she was an IE VP responsible for all aspects of IE, technology support and quality for the 25 states on the western half of the country.
Tandreia is currently a Director for the University of Central Florida (UCF) Foundation Board and also serves on their Dean’s Advisory Board for the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Previously Tandreia served on the Executive Advisory Board for Virginia Tech’s IE Department and the Association for Supply Chain Management. She served on the Board of Trustees for ChildServ (a Chicago child and family services non-profit) and also served on the Texas A&M and Tuskegee Engineering Advisory Boards. In 2006 she was named Business Advisor of the Year by INROADS, in 2009 she was recognized as a Technology All-Star at the Women of Color in STEM conference and in 2019 she honored as a UCF Distinguished Aluma by the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems.

Tandreia holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University and a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management Systems from UCF. Her greatest accomplishment, however, is being the proud mother of two college students, Ruby (24) and Anthony (22).

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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