Supply Chains Differ greatly by industry, but if there is one supply chain we have all been watching closely over the last year, it is the healthcare supply chain. During this time, UPS has been on a noble mission – playing an active role in distributing PPE, test kits, vaccines, and other necessarily materials despite the disruption caused by the pandemic. They have partnered with the government in addition to working with private industry, leveraging their air, road, and storage capabilities as needed.

Dan Gagnon is the Vice President of Global UPS Healthcare Marketing and Strategy and Tim Fosnough is the Senior Director of UPS Global Freight Forwarding. They have each played a direct role in this effort, finding ways to scale up quickly, using their own resources as well as working through trusted third-party partnerships to increase their capacity for cold chain logistics.

In this conversation, Dan and Tim join hosts Scott Luton and Greg White to share their stories of struggle and success:

• The three key innovations that UPS either unveiled or strengthened in order to support the pandemic effort
• Investments UPS has made to expand their healthcare-specific transportation and storage capabilities
• The pride associated with realizing that the work they were doing on a daily basis was making a difference to people in the U.S. and abroad

Intro/Outro (00:00:03):

Welcome to Supply Chain Now, the voice of global supply chain. Supply Chain Now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues, the challenges, and opportunities. Stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on Supply Chain Now.

Scott Luton (00:00:30):

Hey. Good afternoon everybody. Scott Luton and Greg White with you here on Supply Chain Now. Welcome to today’s livestream. Gregory, how are we doing?

Greg White (00:00:37):

Quite well. And I think everybody’s about to find out why today has got to be the luckiest Friday the 13th ever.

Scott Luton (00:00:47):

Well, first off folks, welcome to today’s livestream. We’ve got a great conversation teed up. It’s going to be all about healthcare from a supply chain and innovation and really a leadership perspective. So, stay tuned for an awesome opportunity to increase your supply chain IQ. But, Greg, before we get folks to buckle up and get ready and let us know where they’re tuned in from, and we say hello to some folks, you got to share that t-shirt you’ve got on because that’s going to resonate with, I think, lots of folks that we have on our livestream today.

Greg White (00:01:17):

I mean, today’s sponsor is Callahan Auto Parts.

Scott Luton (00:01:24):

The same auto part manufacturer that was part of the infamous Tommy Boy movie, which is iconic from the ’90a, right? Chris Farley.

Greg White (00:01:32):

Tommy sold a-half-a-million brake pads.

Scott Luton (00:01:38):

Well, the other thing we got to point out here is you are pretty infamous for saying that everything you ever want to know about salesmanship, you can learn in Tommy Boy. Is that right?

Greg White (00:01:48):

The greatest sales training movie ever produced unquestionably. Yes. Things you should and should not do in the sales process. Sorry.

Scott Luton (00:01:59):

Right. Including never mess if your prospect has any types of antique toys on their desk.

Greg White (00:02:03):

That’s right. Do not light them on fire.

Scott Luton (00:02:08):

Right. Lessons to live life by. All right. So, we’ve got a great conversation teed up. We’ve got a couple of our friends and executive leaders from UPS doing some big things in the pandemic relief that we’re going to dive into. But before we do that, I want to share this one event we’ve got that we are really excited about being part of, Greg. This is UPS Supply Chain Solutions Second Semi-Annual Supply Chain Virtual Connect, and this is going to be held on September 1st. We’re going to be a part of one of the segments. And, Greg, we’re big fans, we talk about a lot, is companies that invest in free opportunities to not only gather market Intel, but network and exchange best practices.

Greg White (00:02:48):

Yeah. The only thing that would make it better, Scott, is, if we were broadcasting from the nose of that plane. Would that not be cool, right? Let’s work on that. Let’s see what we can do about that. I mean, I think, look, we’re talking about this all the time and I think who better to give us some insight than UPS. And they’re bringing together such an incredible group of leaders. It’s going to be really valuable to sit down and learn from.

Scott Luton (00:03:23):

That’s right. Mark your calendars, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Wednesday, September 1st. And who knows, maybe the third semi-annual, Greg, we’ll be in the nose of that plane. We’ll have to check it out.

Greg White (00:03:33):

I love that idea though.

Scott Luton (00:03:36):

It’s a great idea, I think. And, really, you’re going to get a bit of a coming attraction with today’s conversation, I bet, because I’m sure we’ll be touching on a lot of things that healthcare supply chain, some of the challenges, and innovation has been thrust upon that industry.

Scott Luton (00:03:51):

All right. So, before we bring on our two special guests we really enjoyed the pre-show conversations with, let’s say hello to a few folks that are tuned in. Sage Logic via YouTube. Maybe a new individual is going to hold down that YouTube channel for us, Greg.

Greg White (00:04:06):

There you go.

Scott Luton (00:04:08):

Clay Phillips. Clay, Amanda, Allie, and Jada are holding down the production fort behind the scenes today. Big thanks to what all they do. Barbara via LinkedIn tuned in from Marietta, Georgia. Hello, Barbara. Great to have you back. I think she was with us –

Greg White (00:04:23):

She lives down the the street here.

Scott Luton (00:04:27):

Kevin says, “Sandusky, Ohio, Home of Callahan.” I love that.

Greg White (00:04:33):

A true fan.

Scott Luton (00:04:36):

A big fan. Dolapo, great to have you back. It’s been a long time since we last connected. Great to see you here. She’s tuned in from Alpharetta, Georgia. We exchanged notes this morning. So, Dolapo, great to see you. And I believe she is in the supply chain advisory business. So, y’all reach out, at a minimum, and connect with Dolapo. Great to have you here today. Rhonda, Dr. Bompensa-Zimmerman, from Arizona is back with us, “Hello, lovely folks.” Brian Piechocki – Brian, hello – via LinkedIn from Huntsville, Alabama. Ever been to Huntsville, Greg?

Greg White (00:05:08):

I don’t think so.

Scott Luton (00:05:09):

You got to go.

Greg White (00:05:11):

Why is that?

Scott Luton (00:05:13):

Well, you know, it played such a big role in our space program. And they’ve got the rocket museum there. And for your purposes, Greg, it’s also has a pretty vibrant startup and entrepreneurial community there.

Greg White (00:05:29):

Well, let’s stop in. I’m sure one of my younger brothers went to Space Camp in Alabama. So, I bet it was there, wasn’t it?

Scott Luton (00:05:36):

It could have been. I’m not sure where Space Camp is. But it was a good movie in 1986. I did enjoy Space Camp, The Movie. You missed that one?

Greg White (00:05:43):

There’s really a movie, okay?

Scott Luton (00:05:46):

There’s two now.

Greg White (00:05:45):

Hold on. I got to make a note.

Scott Luton (00:05:49):

My kids had just told me last week that they have an updated movie now from the ’86 original.

Greg White (00:05:55):

A remake of Space Camp.

Scott Luton (00:05:57):

A remake, how about that? Felecia is back with us from the Reverse Logistics Association. One of our favorites. We’ve missed you, too, Felecia.

Greg White (00:06:04):

She likes Fridays. She likes us on Fridays. Thank you, Felecia.

Scott Luton (00:06:09):

I miss hearing Greg correctly pronounce your entire name, Felecia.

Greg White (00:06:12):

Do you want me to do it?

Scott Luton (00:06:13):

Please.

Greg White (00:06:14):

Przybyla. I think I might messed it up that time. Przybyla.

Scott Luton (00:06:18):

Regardless. Great to have you back, Felecia, and we look forward to continuing that Reverse Logistics series with our friends at RLA. Natalie Christian is back. Natalie, hope this finds you well via LinkedIn. Get ready, you’re going to want to chime in –

Greg White (00:06:32):

It seems like these people ought to be working on Friday, doesn’t it, Scott?

Scott Luton (00:06:38):

Maybe so. Flor Martinez from Mexico via LinkedIn. Great to see you here. Thomas Edland from Norway is tuned in via LinkedIn.

Greg White (00:06:46):

Wow. We’re coming up on winter in Norway, aren’t we?

Scott Luton (00:06:51):

I think, yeah. I guess they’ve reversed the seasons.

Greg White (00:06:54):

No, no, no. They’re just so far north that, you know, even though the seasonal lines don’t change, it still comes pretty early.

Scott Luton (00:07:03):

Well, you spent a bunch of time in the Scandinavian Peninsula, right?

Greg White (00:07:07):

I have. I love it up there. Norway is the quietest, politest, beautifulest place, really.

Scott Luton (00:07:15):

We will have to check it out in the nose of that plane at the third semi-annual event. We’ll see.

Greg White (00:07:22):

That’s a great idea.

Scott Luton (00:07:22):

Work out those logistics. Ashley Evans from San Diego – beautiful San Diego, California – via LinkedIn. Great to see you.

Greg White (00:07:30):

Yeah. We don’t need a weather report from there. We already know what it is.

Scott Luton (00:07:34):

Right. Hey, we’ve got UPS supply chain folks tuning in from Columbus, Ohio. Hello, Valerie on LinkedIn. Barbara – so the world gets so smaller when you do these livestreams. Barbara used to live in Huntsville. Now, in the Atlanta area.

Greg White (00:07:51):

I’m going to see how far that is from my house. I bet it’s not that far. I remember seeing the town.

Scott Luton (00:07:57):

We also have one of the senior leaders of UPS, Romaine is with us. And I believe Romaine will be one of the great keynotes at the September 1st event. Romaine, great to have you here. We look forward to hearing and connecting with you very soon.

Greg White (00:08:14):

So, no pressure on the stars.

Scott Luton (00:08:17):

No pressure on our two dear friends and featured guests here today. Are we ready to bring them into the stream, Greg?

Greg White (00:08:25):

I think it’s the appropriate time, Scott.

Scott Luton (00:08:28):

Let’s do it. Today, folks, we’ve got two rock and roll supply chain leaders. We’ve got Dan Gagnon, Vice President Global UPS Healthcare Marketing and Strategy with UPS Healthcare, and Tim Fosnough, Senior Director UPS Global Freight Forwarding. Good afternoon, gentlemen. Tim, Dan, how are we doing?

Dan Gagnon (00:08:45):

Good.

Tim Fosnough (00:08:45):

Wonderful. Rock stars.

Greg White (00:08:47):

Yeah. Right. Congratulations.

Daniel Gagnon (00:08:50):

It was up until the time, I think, we heard about Friday the 13th. I don’t think we were paying attention to the calendar until –

Greg White (00:08:56):

I wanted to warn you before you got on the air.

Tim Fosnough (00:09:00):

A little nervous.

Greg White (00:09:03):

We all should be, shouldn’t we? I mean, we should all be nervous together on Friday the 13th.

Scott Luton (00:09:07):

Well, plus Romaine is here with us. And we got to do it by the book here for sure. But, you know, we had a great time in the pre-show conversation. Dan, you and I met and have connected previous before. I’ve always enjoyed those interactions. And I really am looking forward to some of that subject matter we’re going to talk about here today. UPS doing some great things.

Scott Luton (00:09:27):

But before we get there, Greg, Tim, and Dan, we still have folks streaming in. Hello to – let’s see here – Junaidu – I believe – via LinkedIn from Nigeria. Great to have you here. Danny is tuned in. He’s excited about it being a Friday. I am as well, despite the fact that it’s the 13th. Antonio also looks like a UPS via LinkedIn. Great to see you there. One final one here, Charles Heeter, Dan and Tim, just to let you all know, Charles Heeter brings it. He’s like a closer, not for [inaudible].

Greg White (00:09:57):

He brings the heater.

Scott Luton (00:10:00):

He brings the heater. Thank you, Greg. So, Charles, looking forward to your POV here today. And, Romaine, we have the official permission, “Have fun. Not by the book. I love you guys.” I love that. All right. So, let’s have a little fun –

Greg White (00:10:13):

It is a good day, isn’t it?

Tim Fosnough (00:10:14):

It is.

Scott Luton (00:10:16):

It is a great day. Before we get into the heavy lifting, we’re going to be talking about some of the innovation in supply chain and healthcare supply chain that you are involved with. Let’s get to know y’all both a little bit better first. So, I’m going to start with Dan. Dan, tell us, we love to know where folks grew up, so fill us in there.

Daniel Gagnon (00:10:31):

Yeah. So, you know, I was telling you earlier, it’s a tough question to answer. I’ve lived both domestically and abroad. But born in Warrick, Rhode Island, but I think, you know, I did most of my growing up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I went to high school. I went to the University of Pittsburgh, both for undergrad and MBA. And I am a hardcore black and yellow fan, all sports. I’m pretty excited.

Scott Luton (00:10:55):

So, a huge Pitt fan. But when you say black and yellow, you’re referring to the Pittsburgh Steelers as well, right?

Dan Gagnon (00:11:01):

Oh, yeah. And Penguins. Yeah.

Greg White (00:11:04):

Oh, gosh. That’s right. And Pirates. Yeah. There’s only two colors in that town.

Dan Gagnon (00:11:10):

That’s right.

Greg White (00:11:10):

I didn’t even think about that.

Scott Luton (00:11:13):

I didn’t either. I didn’t either. Now, I know. But Mario Lemieux, there were some incredible Pirates teams from when I actively watch sports center. It seemed like they won every NHL season, legends.

Daniel Gagnon (00:11:25):

Yeah. Mario played hockey. It would have been awesome if he did play baseball, but he played hockey. And, yeah, he was phenomenal.

Scott Luton (00:11:32):

Yeah. Yeah. We got a Pittsburgh Steelers, football; Pittsburgh Pirates; baseball; and the Pittsburgh Penguins. I got that reversed. All right. Well, Dan, great to have you. Don’t go anywhere. We’ve got lots of questions, including a fun question coming up next. But let’s dive into Tim’s background. So, Tim, tell folks where you’re from.

Tim Fosnough (00:11:52):

So, I’m from Marion, Indiana, the great Hoosier State. And graduated from Ball State University in the early ’80s. And most of us may not know that two infamous people from Ball State, David Letterman and Garfield, the cat. So, I’ll let you group those two into whatever category you choose. And one of my favorite things about going back to Indiana to visit is the fried pork tenderloin sandwich. It comes out about the size of a basketball on a bun. And it is good eating. Bad for your heart, bad for the cholesterol, but wonderful food.

Greg White (00:12:29):

That’s why you only eat it when you’re in college there, I hope, right?

Tim Fosnough (00:12:33):

That’s it.

Greg White (00:12:33):

But clearly you come from a long line of entertainers at Ball State. So, you’ve set the bar high again, Tim. That’s why you’re rock stars.

Scott Luton (00:12:44):

He’s thrown down the gauntlet when it comes to food. And that’s one of our favorite topics to talk about here. And by the way, Garfield, the cat, anytime cats come up, it reminds me of Greg’s cat named Shenanigan [inaudible].

Greg White (00:12:57):

It’s not Shenanigan. Thunder.

Scott Luton (00:12:59):

But let’s talk about that – Thunder.

Greg White (00:13:04):

Thunder cat.

Scott Luton (00:13:05):

Let’s talk about National Prosecco Day. Who would have thought we have a National Prosecco Day. It’s interesting if you start tracking to see how many things are celebrated each day of the year. But prosecco – so, question – I’m going to go back to Dan here. And, Greg, I’m going to get your take on this question too. During the weekends, when you can unplug, watch your choice of the black and gold game, whatever’s in season, what beverage and maybe what do you pair it with? What’s your go-to, Dan?

Daniel Gagnon (00:13:33):

So, what’s interesting, I had no idea there was a National Prosecco Day. I will say it’s my wife’s favorite drink. So, I don’t know if there’s some day drinking going on now at home or not.

Greg White (00:13:44):

You’ll find out.

Dan Gagnon (00:13:46):

When I get home, I guess we’ll find that out. I’m a simple guy when it comes to alcohol here, and I’m just a beer guy. I am just plain and simple. Of course, over 50, now I need to go to the Ultra and the Miller Lights.

Greg White (00:13:57):

You are [inaudible]. That’s sandy.

Scott Luton (00:14:02):

I love that. And Rhonda, you’re right, we do seem to be in lots of food discussions on Fridays. I think we’re all looking forward to breaking our diets this weekend. We’ll see. All right. So, that was, Dan’s answer. Pretty straightforward answer there. Tim, what about you?

Tim Fosnough (00:14:16):

So, I’m going to go for the red wine. My wife and I enjoy a little bit of red wine. We’re, probably, partial to the Pacific Northwest grape, maybe the Columbia Valley, a little smoother, a little fuller, and we enjoy that. And similar to Garfield, we’re going to pair that with lasagna or some type of Italian dish.

Greg White (00:14:32):

Are you going to do that tonight? Because I’m free.

Tim Fosnough (00:14:35):

Either tonight or tomorrow definitely, and I’ll think of the two of you when we’re done.

Scott Luton (00:14:41):

You know, I waited tables throughout my time in college. And Dynamite Vineyards, I think, is based up in the Pacific Northwest. That was always a big homerun. I think they had big cab that we sold a lot of it in the restaurant. So, I’m with you, Tim. All right. So, Greg, our culinary artists here, what’s your go-to?

Greg White (00:15:00):

I’m a bourbon guy. So, not that I won’t drink prosecco. It has its proper place in the meal. But I’m bourbon or scotch on the rocks or up. And that doesn’t really pair with food. It prepares you for food.

Scott Luton (00:15:19):

I love that. Okay. Well, now that we’ve made everybody hungry – and as Clay said that’s what we get –

Greg White (00:15:25):

And thirsty.

Scott Luton (00:15:25):

– yeah. And thirsty – for scheduling all of our livestreams at lunch. But another little interesting thing looking at the folks in the sky boxes here, Marion is turning some heads. So, Dolapo lived there in Marion for three years. That’s a fun small fact. And Marion, Natalie says, was home to James Dean as well. Is that right?

Tim Fosnough (00:15:44):

That is. From Marion, Indian. Yes.

Scott Luton (00:15:46):

How about that?

Greg White (00:15:46):

I would lead with that. Wow. That’s impressive.

Scott Luton (00:15:51):

Well, Dolapo and James Dean, two of the coolest people I know all from Marion, and Tim.

Greg White (00:15:55):

Tim, of course.

Scott Luton (00:15:57):

Three of the coolest people I know, all from Marion, Indiana.

Greg White (00:15:59):

That’s right. Who’s famous from Marion? Tim Fosnough and James Dean.

Scott Luton (00:16:06):

I love that. All right. So, one final question before I throw it over to Greg and we dive more into some of the neat things that y’all been involved with. Let’s level set a bit, starting with Dan, tell us what you do at UPS.

Daniel Gagnon (00:16:19):

Yes. Sure. I’ve been at UPS 32 years. About 17 of them have been in different roles in healthcare. Right now, I’m the Vice President of our Global Marketing function for our Healthcare Division. So, it is global. We focus on really, you know, the typical marketing things, promotion, go-to market plans, making sure the value propositions are crystal clear to our customers.

Scott Luton (00:16:42):

It’s just that simple. Man, I love how you succinctly put that in there like a well-spoken pro. Tim, he set the bar high. What do you do at UPS?

Tim Fosnough (00:16:53):

I’m going to struggle to follow that. So, 40 years or so in the freight forwarding industry and 13 years in the healthcare space, specifically in freight forwarding. And, again, senior director over a team that really builds the architectural blueprints for end-to-end supply chains globally. And then, we do something a little bit different in our team at UPS, is that we’re going to actually build that as a general contractor and then take the customer and the client through that as a punch list to ensure that it actually fulfills what they want. And we do that globally. And we do that as a turnkey process. And, again, that’s what our team does globally.

Scott Luton (00:17:31):

Stories, y’all could write a book. I can only imagine the stories we’re not going to be able to get to here today. But, hey, Sanjeev tuned in via LinkedIn from India. Great to have you here today. We look forward to your POV. All right. So, Greg, gosh, that’s a combined center two years worth of experience. Now, Greg, we have a rule of thumb around here, right? So, nothing over. We usually –

Greg White (00:17:48):

We never confessed to more than two decades, so that’s what keeps us young fellows. But that’s really impressive. And I think, you know what’s interesting? You mentioned writing a book. I think in the last 18 months, we could write a book about what has happened in supply chain with supply chain, with awareness of supply chain, and the impact that supply chain has had on the world, and, as Scott loves to call it, the noble mission. You guys at UPS Healthcare have contributed significantly to this noble mission of providing PPE and vaccines and other supplies during the pandemic, and all over the world. So, share a little bit with us about that experience.

Tim Fosnough (00:18:36):

Yeah. So, great question. And I tell you, it’s been a wild ride from a supply chain perspective, really dating back to early Q1 of 2020. And, you know, I maybe set the initial stage with the PPE piece. That really kicked off in February, March of 2020, and really the way that that was the first onset of the pandemic and really the impact. And through that process, we were challenged how do you have a specific region that was generating all of that PPE equipment and being able to scale up in a quick way, in an effective way, to help support really the government effort, the Project Airbridge, the FEMA.

Tim Fosnough (00:19:18):

And I’m happy to say that through integrating some of our own equipment, own aircraft crews, infrastructure, brick and mortar with trusted third parties, we were able to flex up, and over, really, a two month time period managed 131 dedicated aircraft, 26 million pounds of PPE equipment. And that’s the equivalency of a hundred 747 freighters – I’m sorry – 200 747 freighters or almost 40,000 airline positions of PPE that we were able to scale up and manage, and quite a feat. And, you know, think about it, the actual cost for a charter, typically, out of that region was 300,000 per flight. We were seeing a ballpark pricing of $1, $1.1, $1.2 million. So, not only the challenge of finding equipment crews, but also the cost structure as well. And I’m real proud of what the team accomplished for Project Airbridge.

Greg White (00:20:17):

Yeah. That is fantastic. I mean, you had to mobilize relatively quickly. And especially, I don’t know if everybody kind of remembers the timeline of the vaccine coming out, and all of that sort of thing, and how that all happened so relatively quickly. And, of course, you know, some of the vaccine producers, they decided to start by trying to manage the supply chain themselves. And the phrase that many people say, “How’s that working for them?” So then, you and others had to also come in as kind of backup when, ultimately, they weren’t able to handle the volume.

Daniel Gagnon (00:20:55):

Yeah. It kind of advanced through on Project Airbridge. The next way for us, Greg, was really the COVID test kits. And we went from the PPEs and then pivoting to how do we get out and help the general audience and population to be able to manage that through the medical process. And we were given the challenge by one of the major COVID test kit companies to find a way to take from manufacturing in the U.S. 48 in the American islands territories, and really manage those COVID test kits to get them pushed out. And integrating our package network, integrating the 4D network, integrating in our healthcare logistics and distribution in line with our capacity management. And from a forwarding perspective, we’ve delivered 22,000 pallets, almost 45 million tests kits, exceeding the customer SLAs and getting those tests kits out, the COVID test kits out into the population. And, again, having to scale up trusted partnerships and then also our own brick and mortar own infrastructure, our own assets, and seeing that come together. And absolutely awesome feat for many, many men and women within our organization.

Greg White (00:22:14):

Yeah. That’s incredible ramp up. So, [inaudible] of these things, and Dan, I mean, maybe you can share kind of from your perspective, what was it you were doing while Tim was doing all this work?

Scott Luton (00:22:30):

Twindling his thumbs.

Tim Fosnough (00:22:30):

Having beer.

Daniel Gagnon (00:22:32):

I’ll tell you what though, it is amazing, 26 million pounds. Every time I hear Tim talk about it, just amazing. You know, it’s interesting when you think back in January of 2020, where everyone was just worried about protecting themselves. And the other side of the business, we have a group called Marken that focuses on clinical trials. So, pharmaceutical manufacturers were busy trying to figure out how to solve it. And our division that manages clinical trials was right in the mix. So, when you look at the top 20 viable vaccine solutions back then, we were managing ten of them in the logistics of getting the trial samples to the patient, getting diagnostic specimens back for testing. So, that first quarter was pretty crazy.

Dan Gagnon (00:23:24):

I will say this, that process of us really being engaged, January, February, March, April, allowed us to really understand what was coming. And we knew back then that we were going to see these very innovative vaccines at negative 20, negative 80. And it really kind of helped us build our operating plans to invest in our freezer farms and invest in our facilities. I think this just happened last week, we’re at a- half-a-billion doses delivered over 106 countries. Just amazing.

Scott Luton (00:23:57):

Scale.

Greg White (00:23:57):

Wow. I don’t even know how to relate to that scale. I mean, that’s pretty substantial. But, hey, I have worked in the food industry and this notion of freezer farms, frankly, is new to me. So, I think it would be valuable for the community to learn a little bit more about that. So, zero and subzero and sub-subzero exists in the food supply chain already, but you really had to ramp up to deliver this. And I think it’s been a while, right? It’s been almost a year, I think, since we started hearing about the requirements of these vaccines and things. And I think people’s memory has gotten a little bit cloudy on it, but it was a real pressing issue in the moment. So, can you share with us a little bit about that channel?

Daniel Gagnon (00:24:51):

Yeah. No, you’re absolutely right. I mean, traditional vaccines and biologics are normally at two to eight degrees Celsius, right? So, there’s a supply chain and storage for that. What was really fascinating is, the most effective vaccines created or what they call mRNA vaccines, which are unique. There are usually negative 20C to negative 80C, and the infrastructure wasn’t around. And although we had managed freezer farms in the past, we aggressively had to expand them in order to kind of keep up with what was about to happen with vaccine distribution.

Dan Gagnon (00:25:29):

I will say this, and this is just an interesting part of it because I think a lot of people feel like, well, at the time we were building a church for Sunday where you’re investing in all of this infrastructure. But the reality is, is that, mRNA solutions, cold chain and biologics, it’s half of the drug pipeline right now. So, what’s going to happen is these investments that were made specifically for COVID vaccines, they’re just going to continue to be used as we move through the coming years.

Scott Luton (00:26:02):

We’re getting a ton of comments here just talking about the scale and what’s been done. I want to go back to Rhonda’s comment here, because this is a big part of it. So, I appreciate looking forward to hearing your perspectives on how you led the way for the safety of frontline workers, including our supply chain industry and our medical community. And, Greg, one of the point as you commented about how do you kind of wrap your head around the sheer scale? Hey, having been in the Air Force, the United States Air Force [inaudible] world-class standard since 1947, that’s exactly where my brain goes when I hear about the scale of this global operation and all the marshaling of resources to make things happen. So, very few players could do that, especially when we had to get it done, going back to Rhonda’s point. So, Greg, before we talk about innovation, any other comments, follow up on your side?

Greg White (00:26:57):

Well, I mean, I think probably the biggest point is just how cloudy our memories have gotten about this. And how proximate and how urgent it was at the time and how important it was to mobilize. And, frankly, it was difficult. I mean, it was difficult even for a company with the wherewithal of UPS to do that, and yet it was done. And I think we talk a lot about the frontline workers and, of course, we really appreciate what they did. But the strategy – I almost said the P word – the pivot – let’s just say it, what the heck – the pivot – let’s go back to 2020, the pivot in these unprecedented times that had to be made to accomplish this took a lot of heads in dark rooms with white boards, and duct tape, and bailing wire to try and figure out how to construct something that had never before existed, never before existed, and to do so in the amount of time that it had to be done. And it was a monumental effort. I mean, I imagine it was a little bit like, you know, Apollo 13, failure is not an option.

Dan Gagnon (00:28:11):

Yeah. That’s it.

Scott Luton (00:28:11):

Yeah. So, I think that’s a great analogy, right? That was trying to get something done that’s never been done. There are some unforeseen challenges once you got into space. These times we’re living in, I mean, yeah, we could draw on some long-held best practices and norms. But, gosh, so much of it was new so it just adds to the level of complexity as we all know. I would also add – I think we’re going to talk about innovation in strangest places here – Greg, you and I, and the team, and certainly UPS, we all know that it’s the people. In this era of technology, it’s still the people that get stuff done. But as we’ve talked about a lot, one of the many silver linings, if you look forward related to the pandemic, is the awareness in the eyes of the consumer and folks that don’t play a role in supply chain that have led to some much overdue appreciation for the people, especially in the frontlines that make globally supply chains happen.

Dan Gagnon (00:29:07):

And, Scott, can I just jump in on that one? Because I think that’s actually a really important point. You know, UPS got between 500 and 600,000 employees. And one of the things that you know all the way through the frontline is everyone knows and knew at the time they were absolutely part of the solution. And there’s a sense of pride because they’re delivering in their neighborhoods. And it’s their communities that they’re supporting. And I think we ran, gosh, about 99.9 percent on time effectiveness in getting these vaccines delivered. Certainly, there was technology, but, to your point, it’s people. And everyone just kind of kicked in and did what they needed to do.

Scott Luton (00:29:48):

Definitely a binding agent when you’ve got that degree of a noble purpose to what you’re doing. I love hearing that. And Ignacio has got to have, perhaps, the phrase of the day, outstanding supply chain prowess, he says on LinkedIn. I love that, Ignacio. Great to have you here. All right. Let’s put Fabio’s comment up here too, “From the unknown, vaccine supply chain was to billions of doses delivered. Very proud.” We’ll put there, Fabio. Certainly a global effort there. All right.

Scott Luton (00:30:18):

So, I love this phrase we talked about pre-show and, Dan, I am going to start with you here. Innovation in the strangest places, so speak to us a little bit about what you’re seeing when it comes to innovation across supply chain across this pandemic environment.

Daniel Gagnon (00:30:34):

Yeah. So, there have been so many innovations. I mean, when you think about the medical side, just getting these vaccines outdone through regulation and into arms. But I think if I stick with supply chain, there’s probably three areas. One is tracking. The technology that is available and that we’ve leveraged for tracking is unbelievable. And I’ll use a simple example, our vaccines actually have very specific RFID technology on it. And if it’s in a building, our operators have phones in which, as they walk closer to these packages, it acts as a Geiger counter. And as they get closer, dat, dat, dat, and, literally, they can get right on top of these packages within a yard, which is pretty impressive. The tracking technology is big.

Dan Gagnon (00:31:22):

The other one is mobile freezer units. We have a couple of partners, and if we get a chance to talk about humanitarian, I’ll tell you what these have done with some of the more difficult countries. But mobile units that can hold negative 80C, that can plug into your car lighter, that can hold about 12,000 doses. Very impressive technology. And the third, and this is, I guess, the unlikely, is the use of drones. I think we’re up to in Ghana almost 35,000 doses delivered by drones. And, again, it’s taking a five hour car ride to 62 minute transit straight to the point. And I think those are some pretty cool things that have come out of necessity of getting these vaccines to the markets.

Scott Luton (00:32:07):

Agreed. And really practical. I love those practical applications. You know, Matt says, “Out of crisis comes technology advancement and innovation. It expedites continuous improvement.” I agree with that. And, also, Greg, it’s changing and shaping industry. So, oftentimes many of these, I believe, we’re learning from these lessons, we’re learning from these breakdowns. We’re applying it so that the path forward, in many cases, is going to be stronger. I don’t want to use our word, being resilient, because it’s been overused so much that I think sometimes folks are losing the definition of what it really means. But lessons are being learned and applied. Greg, your take – I’m going to flip it over to Tim in a second – based on what on Dan shared.

Greg White (00:32:46):

Yeah. Undoubtedly. I mean, five hours to 62 minutes, that’s huge. And you think of the terrain and the road quality, I mean, we’re talking about Ghana. So, you’re basically putting yourself over the top of all of those obstructions and going straight to the source. And what is it? Necessity is the mother of invention. I mean, humankind does not advance at that scale because we want to. We do because we have to. To whose point was that? Was that to Matt’s point? You know, we do these things because we have to. And we are starting to hone in on some sustainable, some continuable –

Scott Luton (00:33:41):

I’ll go with that.

Greg White (00:33:41):

There you go, Scott. There’s mine for you. Some things we can use going into the future. I mean, right now, probably not cost-effective, but innovation never starts out as cost-effective. It starts out as effective and we bring cost-effectiveness into it.

Scott Luton (00:33:57):

Right. Yes. All right. So, now, I feel a little bit more normal. Because, usually, Greg is the perfectly spoken one and I’m the one making up words all the time.

Greg White (00:34:04):

We know how Friday the 13th has impacted me, it’s my vocabulary.

Scott Luton (00:34:09):

Greg, we’re going to talk about investment here in a minute. But, Tim, sticking on innovation, and certainly all of your experience, you’ve seen a wide variety of innovation through the years. Probably, you know, nothing like what we’re seeing here today in terms of the unique environment. But any additional thoughts in terms of what you’ve seen and what gets your juices going?

Tim Fosnough (00:34:29):

Yeah. I want us to kind of focus back on the people side of the business. It’s important and a lot of our great successes, not only through PPEs, through the COVID test kits, but also through the vaccine distribution. I mean, let’s face it, it’s speed without giving up the quality component to it. We’re delivering to Gabon, Northern Mariana Islands, Chad, Mongolia. These are nontraditional places. And we’re executing in hours and days as opposed to weeks, and do it effectively without giving up that quality component.

Tim Fosnough (00:35:05):

And then, when you think back even on the scale of the PPE and the COVID tests, having a seat at the policy tables, sitting at FEMA’s table, sitting at Operation Warp Speed, having representatives there, so that we’re a part of that communication flow. And then, bringing that back into our supply chain organization to be able to build out the proper architecture. Even within our business unit, having daily calls with our global owners and making sure that that communication is effective and appropriate and we’re responding in real time has been effective and something that we’ll continue to push forward in the healthcare supply chain well beyond the COVID pandemic, for sure.

Scott Luton (00:35:47):

I love that. All right. So, Greg, I’m about to toss it back over to you. I want to pull out a couple of things. Rhonda says, “Global connectiveness, pretty spectacular.” I agree with you, Rhonda. Great comment there. And so, John Martinez, great to have you back. He’s down in San Antonio, I believe. He’s a fellow veteran and he’s a continuous improvement guru, by the way. John has got a question, and I’ll toss it up to either Dan or Tim. John says, “Do you see the drone advantage in everyday retail a possibility as a lean strategy? And how will that affect supply chains with the people aspect?” Any commentary there, Dan or Tim?

Daniel Gagnon (00:36:22):

Yeah. No, it’s a great question. And this is an area, obviously, UPS as a whole, certainly, focuses on to try to understand it. We do run pilots on the medical side with, I’ll just say, a big pharmaceutical retailer. But I’ll say this, generally, the governance with the use of drones it’s around regulation. And in the U.S., we have FAA who has very, very strict protocol and they’re trying to balance the use of drones commercially with the planes that are up there. And pilots certainly have some issues with it. If I shift, there are other countries that are a little bit more relaxed, which is why you’re seeing the use of drones in some of these other countries. They’re adapting it for commercial purposes at a much faster rate. So, I would say right now, the jury still out at least in regions like Europe, North America. But you’re certainly seeing applications in Africa and certain countries in Asia.

Greg White (00:37:25):

Interesting. Yeah. When the skies are open, it makes perfect sense.

Scott Luton (00:37:30):

I love that. Great question, John. All right. So, Greg, where are we going next?

Greg White (00:37:32):

Yeah. Well, a lot of what we’ve done has required a significant amount of investment. So, I’m curious, Dan, what you guys are focusing your efforts on in terms of investment at UPS Healthcare.

Daniel Gagnon (00:37:47):

Yeah. No, thank you for asking that. Because it certainly has been. You know, over this last year, we have put a lot of money into healthcare. We’ve expanded our footprint, our compliant footprint, globally. We’re at 11 million square feet. And a lot of people don’t know this. I mean, a lot of people don’t realize that UPS actually has a division and we store pharmaceuticals, biologics, narcotics. We have freezers and coolers. We manufacture our own dry ice for diagnostic specimens. I thought Tim was going to talk a little bit about some of the special packaging that these guys use, active and passive, to control temperatures when it’s on an aircraft. So, a lot of investment has gone into those kinds of competencies.

Dan Gagnon (00:38:31):

The other layer is technology. We have invested, especially on our small package side and tracking technology, like I mentioned earlier, so we can see where these packages are. More importantly, our operators can see what’s coming in, they see what’s in their building, and then they also see what just left. So, it’s perfect accountability. I think the third place – and I don’t know if we’ll get a chance to talk about this – it is in the equitable distribution of vaccines. So, UPS has put $1 million into just supporting getting vaccines to the right place. It’s crazy. And I noticed you had a few folks, I think from India and Africa. Right now, there’s 92 countries on the more lower income side, out of 2 billion doses they were supposed to get, they only got a 100 million. And UPS is trying to do, through the use of our forwarding business unit, we have loaned executives in countries to help manage the logistics. We do gift in kind services. And we’ll work with our pharmaceutical partners just to try to get vaccines into these markets. And I think that’s a key focus.

Greg White (00:39:37):

That was one of the concerns early on was how would all of this get distributed to countries and then within some of these countries with lesser infrastructure, right? So, that’s a great contribution. That is a noble mission for certain. So, you continue that great work. So, I’m curious, to whatever extent you can look into the future, and I recognize that may be difficult for you, and it’s been difficult for all of us, hasn’t it? But, you know, as you’ve talked about innovation and as we’ve talked about the disruption that you’ve already managed throughout supply chain, the disruption hasn’t ceased. It’s just changed shape. So, I’m curious what you guys see in the future or how you’re kind of tackling the future of healthcare supply chain.

Dan Gagnon (00:40:29):

So, there are three areas we’re focused on. I’ll start with the obvious, since it’s part of our discussion here. It is sterile and biologics. Vaccines, clearly, in this COVID, this pandemic, that’s forced us to invest. It was the place we were going to invest anyway, it just accelerated it like it has for many business models. So, we’re going to continue to focus on that area. And when I say that, it is going to be investing in technology over freight, ocean, small package, to make sure that when a pharmaceutical manufacturer ships something, they can see where it is regardless of mode, regardless of storage, and really be able to make better decisions.

Dan Gagnon (00:41:11):

I think some of the other areas, though, that probably are more interesting is cell and gene therapy, which I know it sounds a little over scientific. But medicines are changing, and now what’s happening is, the medical industry is able to extract cells out of our body, re-engineer them, put them back into our body to fight the cancers, the respiratory illnesses, and even diabetes. And that cell and gene therapy is something that we’re going to continue to focus on and get very, very good at it. And then, I think the third, and this is probably a very obvious one, is home health. Everything is being pushed to the home. You can do diagnostic samples at the home, send it into the lab for testing. Matter of fact, I just sent my cholesterol, and I won’t tell you what it turned out to be.

Greg White (00:42:01):

Well, you’re from Pittsburgh so we have a pretty good idea.

Daniel Gagnon (00:42:07):

[Inaudible].

Greg White (00:42:06):

[Inaudible] brothers sandwiches, right.

Dan Gagnon (00:42:10):

Yeah. Home health is a big one. And, certainly, how we integrate with our partners and how we make it easier for our partners to get into the home and get specimens out is a key focus.

Scott Luton (00:42:20):

Yeah. Tim, anything else you want to add?

Tim Fosnough (00:42:23):

A little different tact on my side and really some interesting things that Dan shared. What we’ve seen through the pandemic is the integration of a single network, where we see the power of each of the business units, the small package, the Marken, our healthcare logistics, the freight forwarding arm, our managed transportation. And, historically, we’ve operated independently and tried to join them. What we’ve found is, single face, single approach, single architectural to the client to speed up the process to make it easier for them to transform their supply chain was speed. And then, we managed the puppets behind the scenes, that we bring the power in. And what we’re seeing is weaving in and out of those business units in a seamless way for the client. Now, it sounds easy on paper. Much more difficult in scale and scope in a company like UPS. And we’re successfully doing that in the vaccine. We did it in the PPEs. We did it in the COVID test kits. And we believe that’s going to be a great innovation as we continue to scale that and mature that process going forward in the supply chain.

Scott Luton (00:43:28):

You know, Greg, we had Steve McMichael with us last week, which has also brought considerable expertise to the table in incredibly challenging times. One of the big takeaways there for our team from that conversation was the dynamic aspect of the UPS solution and how critical that is in this environment right now, where things are moving by the minute. But it sounds like between this dynamic duo here with Dan and Tim, these are the folks, the seasoned pros, they should be on your bat phone shortlist when you got to get stuff moved or there’s a challenge that we’re going through now. Greg, now’s not the time for resources we can’t trust, right?

Greg White (00:44:11):

You’d be hard pressed to find a number of entities that could attack challenges and complexes as what we’ve seen in the last 18 months. Well, now 20 months. Time flies whether you’re having fun or not. And I think you’re right, what’s interesting about, Tim, what you just said is, even within your own organization, you’re finding new ways to collaborate amongst your organizations. So, my buddy Dan Dismukes, when I invited him to this – he works at UPS – when I asked him about this, he said, “Hey, is there going to be a replay?” And the good news is, yes, Dan. There is going to be a replay. I know. I’m sure he’ll be glad that he got a shoutout on this show.

Greg White (00:45:00):

But I think what’s important about this show, and I think makes it worthwhile to go back and look through it, is to think about the context of the times. If someone can go back and look through what we’ve just discussed in the context of the times in which it occurred, it makes it all the more amazing. So, I mean, it really accentuates what we know to be the truth, which is UPS is one of the premier logistics, supply chain, parcel, you name it, healthcare, companies out there.

Scott Luton (00:45:33):

And we got to add, ad for Ben Harris’s sake, one of our friends in the Metro Atlanta Chamber, a vital cog and #supplychaincity.

Greg White (00:45:41):

That’s right. We got all our shoutouts. We got Tommy Boy. We got Danny Boy and we got Benny Boy.

Scott Luton (00:45:48):

So, just a couple of questions ago – I want to circle back on the event and then we’re going to make sure folks will know how to connect with y’all directly, folks out in the sky boxes and our community. And Tim, hey, we hate that you’re late. Especially, Tim is deeply involved in healthcare supply chain. Stay tuned, replay will be available. One quick, simple question, especially given all of y’all’s experience, and we like talking about eureka moments, I want to give you all a chance to think about that, especially whether it is the last 20 months, as Greg spoke about, or going a little bit further back, especially as the information age came upon us, what’s a powerful moment that you had as you navigate these times, especially when you compare and contrast it with other aspects of your career. Any comments there? And if you want to take it offline, we can. But, Dan, any things come to mind?

Daniel Gagnon (00:46:43):

There’s a couple, and, I mean, the ones that stand out, I think I’ll never forget our first Operation Warp Speed call because it was a great collaboration. You had HHS, it was military run, we had FedEx and UPS on there, you had McKesson. So, it was a great collaboration of public and private organizations. And I think one of the aha moments, and this is literally the second call, you know, a military run call, so very strict. Every time they say something [inaudible] over.

Scott Luton (00:47:18):

That’s by the book.

Dan Gagnon (00:47:19):

Yeah. “UPS, FedEx, you got that? Over” But, anyway, it was just one of these things where you recognize the significance of what this team was about to do. It wasn’t talk about politics, not blue or red. It was about the activity. And I think I walked off of that second call – and I was with my boss, Wes Wheeler – and I was just so impressed with that. This group was going to get it done. And they ended up being one of the leaders as far as getting vaccines developed, choosing the right vaccines to populate our U.S. community with, and then getting it right from the manufacturer into arms. And that was a pretty big, big thing for me.

Dan Gagnon (00:48:01):

I think the second one, if I can throw another one in there, we’re all working from home and our kids are all over the place, regardless of what age. And I can remember, it was, like, maybe the third or fourth call where we’re talking about what’s going to happen. And then, some news thing comes on and my kids are hearing me talk about the program and it’s also the same programs being talked about on the TV. And, again, it was one of those things where kind of you realized how significant of an event it was. And those were two moments. I’m sure you have [inaudible].

Scott Luton (00:48:30):

I got to say really quick, Tim, before you start. Dan, thanks so much for sharing. I know there’s probably a number of personal and kind of private moments and public moments as we fought through these 20 months together, but that’s got to be some fulfilling hours as part of your very successful career. And, again, for me, that takes me back to the Air Force and the post 9/11 days. And, Greg, we’ve chatted about that before. But those are unifying times, and put party, and some of the conflict and vitriolic stuff aside, and let’s fight through this together. Tim, your comments.

Tim Fosnough (00:49:03):

Yeah. I tell you, I’ve been absolutely floored and blown away by the depth of care, and sincerity, and compassion globally for people doing the right thing and sustaining that. Now, we’re talking about 20 months of hard running. And the folks today that we engage every single day globally still have that deep seated compassion and fire and drive to serve the public and the people groups of the world. And you don’t make that up. It comes from the depth of within character. And it’s awesome to see.

Scott Luton (00:49:36):

It makes you jump out of bed, I’m sure, everyday. That’s good stuff. All right. So, Greg, we’re going to talk about this event here in a minute. I tell you, after what they both shared, to go to an event, I feel like we could dive into some of these things they’ve been a part of. But what’s the thought, Greg, based on what Dan and Tim just shared that comes to your mind?

Greg White (00:49:56):

Well, I think, Tim, what you said about running hard for 20 months and no end in sight, and just the agility and the flexibility and the pure unadulterated drive of, frankly, every supply chain professional. And many people, whether they were associated with supply chain or not, doing very much the same thing. And I think we all deserve a round of applause, frankly, for doing that. And it is really energizing to see what humankind can endure if we have to. And I think, to me, that speaks volumes to what is going on here. And UPS is a 500,000 person microcosm of that. But I think just the human spirit that has survived and, frankly, thrived through this is what’s really, really inspiring.

Scott Luton (00:50:52):

Constructive dissatisfaction, I’m sure, played a big part in making this thing happen. Now, Desire or Desire – I apologize if I got that wrong – but I love this comment here, “Pretty impressive how companies mobilized to tackle COVID related bottlenecks, especially with limited data about the virus -” which that’s a big point there, the constraint. “- developing the vaccine, and, most importantly, getting the vaccine to different areas and varied conditions.” And equitably, as Dan referenced, to making the investment. And, Tim talks about the last mile being a big challenge for Operation Warp Speed.

Scott Luton (00:51:27):

Tim, to your question, I was a 2R051, a maintenance data systems analysts. A lowly data analysts in Air Force. But on exercises and other operations, they pulled us into to lock down pallets in the aircraft and elsewhere. And those were some long days. But, man, some kindred spirit and camaraderie driven days. So, very rewarding.

Scott Luton (00:51:51):

Okay. Barbara says, “The pandemic has and continues to stretch supply chain professionals for sure.” And, you know, Barbara, great point, and it will continue to do so. Supply chain is being leaned upon for so many reasons, surely with the vaccine, but also all the other means and missions that protect the psyche of consumers and allow them to get things safely a number of different ways. And so, I appreciate UPS’s role. And by the way, Dan, I appreciate, as you talked about, all the players on that call, not only did politics not get in the way, but rivalries did not get in the way. It was all about [inaudible].

Greg White (00:52:28):

Yeah. Everybody knows purple and brown don’t go together. So, that was a big move right there.

Dan Gagnon (00:52:34):

It was.

Scott Luton (00:52:35):

Agreed. For the greater good. And as Tim mentioned, it comes deep down from character when you can pull that and make that happen. Okay. I really enjoyed this last segment – the whole conversation, but especially the last segment. Let’s talk really quick about this event coming up, a great resource for supply chain professionals and others around the world, The Second Semi-Annual Supply Chain Virtual Connect, powered by UPS Supply Chain Solutions. So, Dan, let’s start with you, what’s one thing you’re looking forward to as part of this event?

Daniel Gagnon (00:53:06):

Oh, for these kinds of events, for me – and this is maybe a little personal – I love the networking. I love to be able to connect to peers and really have those kinds of conversations that you might not have. Content is going to be great, but I really love to be able to interact. And I think that’s usually worth the money of entrance, you know.

Scott Luton (00:53:32):

That’s right. That’s worth the purchase. And in this case, they make it really easy, sign up and be a part. Tim, what are you looking forward to as part of this event?

Tim Fosnough (00:53:40):

I love the fact that it’s a collaboration between folks that are inside UPS and then industry experts, so you’re hearing a lot of different voices. Quite similar to what Dan said, it’s a networking opportunity, but it’s thought leadership in its basic form. And we’re never too old or never too smart to learn something from somebody else. And that’s the beauty of it.

Scott Luton (00:54:02):

Continuous learning. Everyday learning. Big believer there, Dan and Tim. Again, September 1st, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The link to join that is in the show notes. But, also, Clay and the team have made it really easy. It looks like all of us have made it really easy to sign up. They dropped the link in the comments there in the sky boxes.

Scott Luton (00:54:22):

Okay. So many more questions, so many more stories, an hours never long enough especially with folks like Dan and Tim that have so much experience and journeys drawn. But let’s make sure folks can connect with you both. So, Dan, how would you suggest folks connect with you?

Daniel Gagnon (00:54:38):

So, you know, there’s three sources, we’ve got our UPS Healthcare website, which is very easy connect. And then, we’re also UPS Healthcare on LinkedIn and on Twitter. And, certainly, you can find me out there. And I love to hear from folks. So, yeah, please don’t be shy.

Scott Luton (00:54:54):

Awesome. Thank you so much for that, Dan. And Tim, how about you?

Tim Fosnough (00:54:57):

Much the same way. And you can connect through LinkedIn or through the UPS Healthcare website as well.

Scott Luton (00:55:03):

It’s just that easy. I got to share a couple of comments before we let y’all go. Tim says, “Everyone needs to let logistics do what we do and no one will get hurt.” I love that. Lisa says, “Really proud to be part of the team,” via LinkedIn. I love to hear that, Lisa. And there was one other comment, let’s see, Tim says – you know, I was talking about loading the aircraft, he’s been there, done that too with the 463L aircraft pallets. That’s what I remember as well, strapping those things down. And I could never figure out – I still can’t never figured out – how to work those ratchet belts. Oh, gosh. I’m terrible with that.

Greg White (00:55:36):

Ratchet straps, yeah. I’m a pro. I got you, boo.

Tim Fosnough (00:55:41):

So, we can put you to work at UPS [inaudible].

Scott Luton (00:55:46):

Absolutely. As long as I can earn a coin, like I earned one – the colonel of our Maintenance Logistics Squadron, I think it was called, popped in and the whole room went to attention. And he came over to my desk and I thought, for sure, when a full bird colonel comes over to you unexpectedly, my mind is racing, “What did I do wrong?” And he extended this coin, and it’s one of those simple things that sticks with you for a lifetime.

Scott Luton (00:56:13):

So, we, on behalf of Supply Chain Now, admires what outstanding companies, like UPS, has done during these ever challenging times that seems like some days no end in sight. But the good news is great people are coming together across all types of lines to make things happen and to help folks around the world. So, big thanks to Dan Gagnon, Vice President Global UPS Healthcare Marketing and Strategy with UPS Healthcare, and Tim Fosnough, Senior Director at UPS Global Freight Forwarding. Thanks to you both.

Greg White (00:56:46):

Thanks, gents.

Daniel Gagnon (00:56:47):

We appreciate it. Thank you.

Tim Fosnough (00:56:48):

Thank you. We enjoyed the time.

Scott Luton (00:56:50):

Greg, man, you know, whenever we have little extra time, as anyone that’s ever been on any of our growing inventory of episodes, I like a good interview framework. I think it helps put our guests at ease and it’s very conversational, authentic, but it kind of helps people prepare for what they’re going to share. And we had a little extra time this afternoon and I’m glad we didn’t go straight to that event. We love hearing people’s eureka moments. And then, that last segment, Greg – all of it was genuine – it was, like, straight from the heart. You could see the purpose, I think, in Dan and Tim of why they do what they do.

Greg White (00:57:28):

Yeah. Clearly. Clearly. I mean, it made me think, this was the right industry to be so heavily impacted by this crisis. Because folks like Dan and Tim and really all supply chain professionals, we’re used to disruption. We weren’t used to the level of disruption that, of course, this great seismic societal disruption has created. But who could have been? If this had been a sales problem – and I’m a sales guy at heart – I mean, I’m just so glad that it was supply chain people into whose laps this problem fell because the ability, the drive, the experience to have met these kinds of challenges in the past, and to adapt and improvise and overcome to make this happen, I don’t know what could be greater evidence than the discussion we just had right here.

Scott Luton (00:58:25):

Excellent point. They were called the global supply chain community and leadership. Their number was called and they answered the call. And we still have heavy lifting to do. But if this story here doesn’t get your Jesus going, doesn’t create more intrigue and interest in what goes on across global supply chain, you got to check your pulse, I’m telling you. And you could tell in the comments, Romaine, “I told you they’re rock stars.” We knew they’re rock stars, Romaine. I’m with you. I am with you. I love that. Barbara, “Big thanks to Tim and Dan for sharing the UPS Healthcare story. Dolapo, great point here, “To each of our unsung heroes, we appreciate each and every day.” Especially, folks across the frontline that never had the chance, you know, to be interviewed. Rhonda, “I can’t wait to connect with these young spirited men.” I agree with you. Tim, “All loggies deserve a coin during these days, behind the scene heroes.” Tim, excellent point. Greg, we’ve got to add a coin to our next order –

Greg White (00:59:22):

I was thinking about that when you used that story. I was thinking, I wish we had a couple of coins to offer to Dan and Tim, right?

Scott Luton (00:59:29):

We’re going to have to do that for sure. Esmie, I’m with you, I love what they have shared here today. Dolapo, offering up thanks. Tim says, “The part I liked the most, all logistics professionals put away the logos and work together to get products to those in need, an awesome job.” And Natalie, finally, “This is why I’ve been in supply chain for at least two decades.”

Greg White (00:59:54):

Natalie’s got the message.

Scott Luton (00:59:56):

She’s on it. She’s on it. Okay. So, as much as we hate to wrap up this episode, I loved Tim and Dan’s message here today. Some of these, you want to just bolt on an extra hour, Greg, and dive deeper, and go ahead and get the book written that both of these folks could probably write here today.

Greg White (01:00:16):

Or narrowly, I would say, yes, Scott. But two things, one it’s Friday the 13th and I don’t want to press my luck. And two, it’s National Prosecco Day.

Scott Luton (01:00:24):

That’s right. We got to get to it. Lots of food.

Greg White (01:00:26):

We got to make sure that Tim and Dan can get home, and get home safely, and to celebrate with their beloved spouses on National Prosecco Day.

Scott Luton (01:00:39):

Absolutely. On that note, folks, y’all join us at the Second Semi-Annual Supply Chain Virtual Connect on September 1st. The link is in the comments. Make sure you connect with Dan and Tim, all the great folks at UPS Healthcare and UPS Global Freight Forwarding. On behalf of Greg, and Allie, and Jada, and Amanda, and Clay, the whole team here that helps make production happen, hey, if you hear one thing, hear this, do good, give forward, and be the change that’s needed. Take action like these folks did. And on that note, we’ll see you next time right here at Supply Chain Now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (01:01:13):

Thanks for being a part of our Supply Chain Now community. Check out all of our programming at supplychainnow.com, and make sure you subscribe to Supply Chain Now anywhere you listen to podcasts. And follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. See you next time on Supply Chain Now.