Jeff Miller

Want to hear the latest supply chain trends and industry news? Make sure to catch up on all the latest episodes, interviews, conversations, and livestreams right here! On Saturday, Scott Luton and Vector Global Logistics’ Enrique Alvarez welcomed Patrick Nelson, a decorated combat veteran whose received the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart Medal, to hear his thoughts on what makes an effective leader in a challenging year like this.   On Monday, Scott welcomed Rod Sherkin with ProPurchaser.com back to the podcast to discuss one of our most asked topics: how to optimize the job search and truly stand out amongst the crowd.   On Tuesday’s podcast, we welcomed Sandro Natale with AT&T and Thomas Carter with TNS – Total Network Service to discuss digital engagement and digital transformations plus its role and purpose with your customers, employees, and partners.   On Wednesday, special guest Zachary Ramirez with Ally Logistics joined Scott and Greg to talk all about simplifying logistics in an ever more complex world.   On Thursday, Dale Wilkinson, Founder of goodgigs, joined us to share the trends he’s seeing among mission driven companies as the workforce remains virtual in the foreseeable future, the other media channels…

Special Guest Blog Post written by Bernadine Henderson Ms. Henderson, senior director of procurement at Protolabs, lifts the lid on buying in manufacturing and why relationships are central to it.   Simply put, the job of a buyer is really about buying the right thing at the right time for the right price. It sounds simple, but it really is very complicated because everything that’s going on in the world impacts the timing, the availability, and the price of the product. This means that buying has recently got a lot more complicated. World events have very real consequences on global supply chains. Just one example is the way in which buyers have responded to tariffs in the U.S. by re-routing sourcing locations. It takes a certain amount of agility to be a buyer in 2025, and this quick responsiveness is helped along by one key ingredient, and that is strong relationships with suppliers. Relationships Built on Trust A widely held misconception is that buyers are only interested in getting to the lowest price possible. In fact, the most important thing to a buyer is for suppliers to bring solutions that deliver overall value. In my experience, a really strong supplier…