In this edition of This Week in Business History, Kelly Barner remembers key innovations, inventions, and firsts that took place between August 30th and September 3rd. In our main story, she tells the wild but true story behind the discovery of the Slinky and the journey that it started for one family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We’ll also hear about the founder of the first African-American owned magazine, the introduction of the ATM, and mark a few business history birthdays.
More Podcast Episodes
reverse logistics
Podcast
October 13, 2025
From Afterthought to Advantage: Reverse Logistics at Enterprise Scale
In this episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott Luton sits down with two leaders shaping the future of reverse logistics from the floor to the classroom: Troy Campbell, Director of Reverse Logistics Centers at The Home Depot, and Dr. Glenn Richey, Jr., Harbert Eminent Scholar in Supply Chain Management at Auburn University. Troy opens the doors to Home Depot’s four Reverse Logistics Centers: Phoenix, Pittston (PA), McDonough (GA), and Indianapolis, showing why a people-first culture remains the operating system for returns at scale. He gets real about “automation when the box isn’t a box,” how rethinking inbound flows through 3PLs reduces touches and transportation cost, and why simple vendor conversations (like consolidating daily pallets into a single weekly load) can unlock outsized impact. His north star: make associates’ days easier, and the entire reverse network improves. Glenn zooms out to the macro shifts: the move from minimizing returns to maximizing returns within a circular economy, generative AI for scenario planning and real-time decision support, and reverse logistics as the operational backbone of sustainability. He maps the skills the next workforce will need, calls for clearer industry coding to separate reverse data from forward logistics, and outlines how universities can build…
Digital Transformation
Podcast
April 12, 2024
The Buzz, Digital Transformers Edition, for April 12th: Mainframes turn 60 and AI Crashes the Party
The Buzz is Supply Chain Now’s regular Monday livestream, held at 12 noon ET each week. This show focuses on some of the leading stories from global supply chain and global business, always with special guests – the most important of which is the live audience! In this week’s Digital Transformers edition of The Buzz, hosts Scott Luton and Kevin L. Jackson welcome special guest Anton Karnaukhov, Co-founder, VP of Application Delivery with XpertMinds, to the show. Together they discuss: What generative AI means for supply chain work As mainframes turn 60, how skill gaps threaten the enterprise workforce How AI is disrupting the supply chain industry Anton’s expert perspective on the implementation of new technologies in supply chain And much more!