Supply Chain Now
Episode 790

Given the last two years, I don't think there are any naughty supply chain professionals. I think everyone is nice or higher.

- Mike Griswold, Vice President of Research, Gartner

Episode Summary

Mike Griswold is the Vice President of Research at Gartner, specializing in retail with a particular focus on forecasting and replenishment. He is responsible for Gartner’s annual Top 25 Supply Chain ranking and joins Supply Chain Now on a monthly basis to discuss the latest in retail supply chains from an analyst’s perspective.

In the spirit of the holiday season, Mike joined us to share his gift-giving recommendations for all of the supply chain professionals on your list. While most of Mike’s ideas won’t fit under the tree, they are also unlikely to be out of stock – not even due to supply chain disruption.

In this episode, which was created as part of a Supply Chain Now livestream, Mike shares his creative gift ideas for supply chain teams with co-hosts Greg White and Scott Luton:
• The C-level position that every world-class company needs to add to their org chart as soon as possible (and why)
• This year’s ‘must have’ supply chain control tower visibility (batteries and clean data not included)
• And finally, rather than finally dishing out a pile of cash for a stationary bike, we should look at the possibilities of the hype cycle, knowing that we’ll all be facing a ‘trough of disillusionment’ of one kind or another come the first of the year.

Episode Transcript

Intro/Outro (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 (00:31):

Hey, good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. Wherever you are. Scott Luton and Greg white here with you on supply chain. Now, welcome to today’s live stream, Gregory. How we doing? I’m doing

Greg White (00:42):

Quite well. How are you doing?

Scott Luton (00:44):

I’m doing absolutely wonderful. It is gorgeous outside today. Have you been

Greg White (00:47):

Outside? Yes, I have. And I gotta tell you, I saw the outside better than I have for some time. I’m trying out contacts today. I have never in my life worn contacts. I gotta say you look pretty good, Scott.

Scott Luton (01:03):

So world I’m putting you on notice because as it was Gregory S. White never missed a thing. If he sees better than he ever has watch out folks watch out. Well, Greg, great to see you here today. Looking good. Yeah, of course. And warm and looking forward to get outside after today’s stream. But Hey, today we’re continuing our series supply chain today and tomorrow with the one only Mike Griswold with Gartner. Yeah. Uh, today we’re getting into the spirit of the season, Greg and offering up a holiday gift giving guide for supply chain professionals that may hold those special places in your heart. So you ready to get going? It’s gonna be fun.

Greg White (01:43):

Well, it may hold a special place in your heart and it may be the only thing you can get hold of also

Scott Luton (01:49):

<laugh>. That is so true. That is so true. And we’re gonna say hello to a few folks. We’ve got, uh, uh, a couple of, uh, folks that join us earlier in the week already tuned in and look forward to their POV here today. But before we get started, and before we say to some folks, Greg, let’s knock out a few, uh, quick programming notes. So today’s show is produced in sponsorship with a arc Greg who built our stunning new website supply chain now.com and is a leader in user experience design, uh, in development of websites, but not just websites, custom software or applications specifically for the supply chain industry. Big thanks is a here and the, a team over at maybe the, a team. Yeah. A arc. You can learn more@aarc.com. Greg.

Greg White (02:38):

Yeah. If you another example of what they’ve done, I mean, obviously look at the supply chain now site, but also vector global logistics and that transformation. Um, they did, they did their work as well. So, um, great team over there. They know tech, they know software as well as just websites. Not that it’s just a, there’s no such thing as just a website anymore. Is there, um, in fact, we were just talking to somebody who was having trouble with their website, something to do with like capturing leads or something like that. Right. So, yes, it’s amazing what we attempt to do with these websites. And these guys are great at making it happen for

Scott Luton (03:13):

You. They have certainly evolved, uh, a greatly, uh, over the last couple decades and it’s, uh, a formidable tool, but you gotta work with the pros. So y’all check out as arc.com. Also talking about working with the pros Greg transplants. Who’s had a bit of a big year. Yeah. Is joining us, uh, next week, huh?

Greg White (03:31):

Yeah. I don’t know. What was the, what was it? The something happened with them? I can’t remember what it was exactly.

Scott Luton (03:37):

They only joined forces with one of the, uh, big old business brands across the globe as they, uh, partner with Uber freight. So big things to come. Right.

Greg White (03:46):

Right. For all, all of you companies out there that say you wanna be the Uber freight. I, I got news for you. Trans place is already the Uber freight. <laugh> I love that. Along with Uber freight. <laugh>

Scott Luton (03:58):

I, I got at news for you with Greg white new series coming to your podcast channels in 2022. Hey, but it’s all about accelerating innovation through collaboration, right? In a very meaningful way. Innovation collaboration, those cliches are throw around all the time, but trans places on the move, you can join Karen Bura and I, and I who are hosting next. Week’s free webinar on December 9th at 12 noon. We’re joined by Christy and Michelle, both with trans place. And we’d love for, to, to also be joined by you. So look forward to a link to joining us on that webinar on December 9th at 12 noon. And we hope to see you next week. And then finally, Greg, you know, a little passion project of ours and yeah, mine and Kelly Barners is this week in business history where we drop a new, uh, podcast episode every Monday, really focused on the intersection of business and history, especially little known stories you may not know about. So this week I stole, uh, you know, my son, Ben is all about video games and comic books and video games. I learned a lot from him. Oh,

Greg White (05:03):

DC or Marvel. Does he have a preference?

Scott Luton (05:06):

Both. And he’ll tell you exactly. What’s what? And if you get it wrong, he’ll tell you that too. That’s good

Greg White (05:12):

To we, we need to have him on. Yeah,

Scott Luton (05:14):

We do. So I wanted to dive a little deeper in, in video game history. Of course, I’m a gen Xer from the eighties. NTEN entertainment system was a big part of my upbringing, but Greg did, you know? So the Nintendo entertainment system, I think came out in 85 that’s, you know, almost 30 years ago, check that 20, 80

Greg White (05:34):

Years 85 is 35 years, right.

Scott Luton (05:38):

About five years ago. Well, that platform is still the 13th best selling all time in terms of consoles. Right. Despite it being original Nintendo.

Greg White (05:48):

Yeah. Wow.

Scott Luton (05:50):

And get this. So Atari. Yeah. Had a, a tentative hand, you know this? No, no, no, no.

Greg White (05:57):

I, I just remember we got an Atari. Okay. I was a kid

Scott Luton (06:01):

P, which was a big right. P that was a, a, a, a, a big trail blazer that really got the video game ministry going in earnest. Well, Atari who had some big hits after P for sure. In the late seventies, early eighties, they had a handshake agreement to have the Nintendo entertainment system release under the Atari brand, but the deal fell through. And of course we all know what happened. And Nintendo obviously is still a huge, huge player. One of the biggest players, I think the, the latest console, I can’t remember what it is. Um, anyway, it’s like number two in, in all to time unit sold. So little, little miss there, but y’all check out five things. You didn’t know

Greg White (06:41):

What you’re saying is Atari could have been on like donkey Kong, but <laugh>, they weren’t cause the deal fell through. So Nintendo got donkey Kong. Yes.

Scott Luton (06:52):

Yes. Isn’t that such a shame? Did you play donkey Kong? I did on the, in television. On the, in television. Oh, wow.

Greg White (07:00):

So yes. I don’t remember. I don’t recall exactly when I started doing video games, but of course at first they were consoles in, well, in my case at Shakey’s pizza <laugh> or arcades, what was called an arcade. Right. I was pretty good at Galaga and okay. Apparent currently. So is my wife because one year for Christmas, I got her a Gallaga console. She came down the stairs, saw the Gallica console, started crying and said, and I quote, this is better than jewelry.

Scott Luton (07:32):

<laugh> Gallaga I love that man. And we all love Vicki, but man, I I’m gonna have to share that story with her. She’s a practical gift receiver, which is a good thing. No

Greg White (07:44):

Doubt. And she’s a hell of a Galaga player too, by the way. <laugh> don’t bet her don’t bet money.

Scott Luton (07:49):

Don’t bet money. I love that. Hey, check out this week in business history, wherever you get your podcast from and thank you, Josh goody own the money. Oh yeah. LinkedIn. It is at Nintendo switch, which is just has set, set the world on fire. And I believe that the, as of September, just a couple months ago, finally, the PlayStation five broke through cause a switch Nintendo switch had a three year headlock on the most popular consoles in terms of, um, of dollars. And I think units check me on that. But anyway, PlayStation five finally broke through. So, but the switch, which is what Ben has is extremely popular. Greg, I trust you have one.

Greg White (08:30):

No <laugh> no, I hung up my gaming thumbs

Scott Luton (08:36):

A while back. Okay. Hey Josh. Thanks for being there, Johnny on the spot. Great to have you back this week for another live stream, looking forward to your POV here today, as we work through our gift, buying God for those dear supply chain professionals in your life. Also a big shout out max Gomez is back with us. I think this is his third live stream with us this week. And Greg, I think I owe max a book. I’m gonna have to get on, uh, get that going to max.

Greg White (09:01):

Right? Cause he wanted, he wanted some information on supply chain education, right? That’s right. Um, yeah, that also, uh, what am I thinking of? There’s some really easy video. Um, Mosier, what does he call it? I’m so embarrassed. We’ll look

Scott Luton (09:17):

That up. Uh, so Amanda, if you can Google that Mosier has a wealth of supply chain ed education parked over at YouTube and across social. Yeah. And we will look that up and show easy

Greg White (09:28):

And cost effective access to some really good training. Right.

Scott Luton (09:33):

And practical and practical. Yes. So great to have everybody here today. Okay. So I want to welcome in if you’re ready, Greg, we’ve got a, um, a re another repeat guest. Uh, one of our most popular repeat guests we have to this time we had to go through his agent to get him booked because Hollywood was calling at the same time. That’s right. And it’s one of our most popular shows. I wanna welcome in Mr. Mike Griswold, vice president analyst with Gartner. Hey, Hey Mike,

Mike Griswold (10:03):

How you doing? Hey, I’m I’m, I’m glad you could work things out with my, uh, with my manager. So it’s, it’s great to

Scott Luton (10:10):

Be with you guys. See,

Greg White (10:11):

You did a wardrobe change since the green room.

Mike Griswold (10:15):

Yes, I was. I was not about to do any unsolicited sponsorship, so, um, yeah. <laugh> so, uh, it’s great to be with you guys. Um, my first gaming platform was in television, so I know I’m gonna date myself with that. I think there’s one probably in the Smithsonian and Greg, uh, kudos to the contacts. I had them for a while. I got laser surgery. I was never able to master contacts without a mirror. Yeah, me neither once you’re. So to me, those are the contact experts. The people that, you know, like in the middle of walking down the sidewalk, they can pop ’em out and pop ’em in. It’s like, that’s like next level contact management. I never

Greg White (10:55):

Got to that. I hope to never, or be that proficient. Adam, Mike <laugh>. Um, yes. And, and you know, my vision, isn’t terrible. As my doctor said, you’re a bit of a wimp when it comes to tolerating or he said most people would kill for the vision that you have though. That was a few years ago.

Scott Luton (11:13):

Well, I used to get away with a few things and now, uh, Mike, I’m not sure if I’m gonna get away with those, uh, now that Greg’s got better than 2020 vision,

Greg White (11:22):

I’ll tell you what, I’m gonna start shaving a lot better. Now I can tell you that <laugh>

Scott Luton (11:26):

<laugh> well, Hey, really quick, Sheldon. Thanks so much for joining us. Once again, here today. Great to see you via LinkedIn SCM dojo was what we’re after there with Dr. Moodier. So thanks being there. Max checkout, SCM dojo for a wealth of education and insights on supply chain and of course Gartner, which I’m sure we’ll touch on later in today’s show, uh, a ton of resources there, including one of our favorite things at top 25 in supply chain, we learned so much from what the leaders in the industry are doing. Okay. So Mike and gray, we’re gonna have a little more fun before we get into our holiday gift buying God, we’re gonna be talking about

Greg White (12:05):

What’s that I said hot dog. Let’s go. Oh, hot <laugh> okay. No, I didn’t mean like the food, although yeah. Well, it is amazing how often we on these shows,

Scott Luton (12:13):

Isn’t it? I thought you were guessing what day it is and, and no hot dogs are not related to today’s, uh, special day, but it is the history of business of popping corn day. Now I’ll tell you to tie in here, cuz that, that, that name does not just roll off the tongue on December 2nd, 1885, Charles CREs, the prod of Lebanon, Ohio invented the first large scale commercial oil, popcorn pop. And guess what folks? It was steam powered. How convenient is that? Steam powered popcorn. They really wanted, they really wanted some good popcorn back in 18 85, 18 85. So that,

Greg White (12:53):

I mean, so that should give you some idea of how important it was one and the kind of power that it takes, if

Scott Luton (12:59):

Right, right, right. No word. If Charles Kres ever hooked up with, with, uh, Robert Fulton to bring popcorn to the masses, we shall see. But Hey Greg and Mike, as I mentioned, we got this, uh, superior popcorn device and there’s, there’s several brands out there not to pitch just one, but the most important thing is it cooks the popcorn. Like you get movie theaters, ballparks and whatnot, and it doesn’t burn it like so many microwaves do. And I liked it so much. We gave my parents, my mom’s a big popcorn lover. We gave them one, uh, for the holidays. So my question to you and Mike, I’m gonna start with you. What’s your favorite popcorn and where do you get

Mike Griswold (13:38):

It? So like you Scott, a couple of years ago, I got my wife, one of those popcorn makers that, you know, sits on a stand. She even bought the plastic popcorn boxes like you, you can get, oh, so that that’s really good. But you know, if, if have, if I have an itch for popcorn, it’s usually let’s go to the movies. Right? For whatever reason, movie popcorn, you know, I’m a butter person. So I have to have my own. My wife is anti butter. So she gets her

Greg White (14:07):

Own <laugh> salt. Mike are salt, also

Mike Griswold (14:10):

Lightly, lightly salt. My wife is like 30 minutes with salt shaker. So if

Greg White (14:15):

She would put butter on, it would be like 30 seconds with the

Mike Griswold (14:19):

Yes. Yes. But you know, it’s all good. We have our own buckets, but usually it’s if, if I’m really looking for really good popcorn it for whatever reason and it doesn’t seem to matter the theater chain either. It just, it just tastes better at the movies.

Scott Luton (14:35):

Agreed hundred question. Agreed, Greg, how about you?

Greg White (14:38):

Yeah. Well it, uh, at least around here, it does matter the chain and of course it’s movie theater popcorn. What else would it be? But there’s this chain called NCG and everything is kind of out front. You buy your tickets, you buy your drink cups and your popcorn cup at the entrance. And then you go and you can refill all of it. Uh, yourself. Well, not the popcorn, but they do this amazing thing. And Mike, as a butter fanatic, you will, you will love this. They do this amazing thing where they will fill the tub. How halfway full let you go put butter on that. Oh yeah, yeah. Shake it around. Yes. And then fill it the rest of the way full and then you can put butter on it. So all of it gets very nicely butter. Yeah.

Mike Griswold (15:21):

That that’s always been the downside of movie popcorn, right. Is when they say butter and you say, yes, the, the bucket or the, whatever your contain, your size of preference is already full of popcorn. Yeah. So you’re eating a couple then you’re trying to do the shake, but not have it fly all over your seat. So that’s a great strategy. <laugh>

Greg White (15:41):

Great customer service. Yeah. I think it’s brilliant. And they, I mean, they’ve even gotten it figured out for the newbies. That’ll go. Do you want to have fulls and tell ’em why they would do that? You see people going, oh my God. Right? <laugh> what genius. This is. Yes.

Scott Luton (15:57):

So I think this is Amanda Garrett, cheddar and caramel popcorn in Chicago. So that’s gotta be, um, that doesn’t sound good to me. I don’t like mixing my, uh, sweet and my savory, but Hey, different strokes, different folks. And by the way, any

Greg White (16:10):

Flavor of Garrett’s popcorn is outstanding. Oh my gosh.

Scott Luton (16:14):

Yeah. Yeah. So Adam’s calling us out, uh, just tuned into the popcorn chat. Amazing. Say, Hey, we’re, <laugh>, we’re getting down to business in just a minute. Adam. We’d like to have a good little bit of fun on the front end. So great to have you here via LinkedIn and looking forward to what’s on your holiday gift buying guide for, uh, supply chain profess in your life. Okay. So Mike and Greg, again today, we’re gonna be talking about the holiday gift buying guide for all the naughty or nice supply chain professionals in your lives. And when I think we’ve got three main areas or gifts as it were Mike, we’re gonna be working through. So why don’t we start with the first one?

Mike Griswold (16:53):

Yeah, I think it’s there, there are given the last two years. I don’t think there’s any naughty supply chain professionals. I think everyone is, is nice or higher. Whatever’s whatever’s above nice angelic angelic. Perfect. Right. As I was thinking about, about what we wanted to talk about today, and I started to reflect on some of the things we’ve talked about over the course of the year in our time together, one, one came to mind immediately, and that is having companies wake up on the 26th and they have some type of chief sustainability officer, right? Somewhat. Now I I’m a little hesitant just to label it sustainability because what I’ve think companies really wanna find under their tree is a role that not only is championing the sustainability effort, but also the people effort, the de and I types of things, right? When I think about our supply chain, top 25 methodology, we have a component that we call ESG.

Mike Griswold (17:51):

It’s, it’s going to be 20% of the evaluation for 2022. Right. And we renamed it ESG because we wanted E for the environmental, but we also wanted the S and the G the social and the governance. So maybe companies can wake up and find, you know, a chief ESG officer on under their tree. If I think about what we’ve been spending a lot of time at Gartner talking about the theme of our keynote people, profit planet, right? All three of those things are becoming incredibly important to organizations, both internally. If you look at what you see in the press around associate sentiment of about the things that are important to the company they’re working for, that is definitely growing. And we’ve always had, and we’ve talked about it here quite a bit. We’ve always had that external pressure from our, from our customer. However, we define that in terms of wanting us to be more socially visible, more environmentally responsible.

Mike Griswold (18:49):

And now over the last two years, we’ve seen that really come to land at the feet of the supply chain. And we are being asked to be more and more responsible as stewards of the planet, being examples, uh, around social topics. And I think organizations that try to handle that P piece meal, meaning, Hey, we’ll have HR do this. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, uh, or we’ll have HR and someone else tackle this separately. I think you run the risk of, of mixed messages or, or frankly, no message. Right? So having someone that is going to be your champion on these incredibly important topic, I’d love to have organizations find that on the 20 on the 25th excellent

Scott Luton (19:36):

Point, you know, you can’t piece mill culture and, and that’s one, that’s kind of what you’re implying there. Uh, but Greg, what’d you hear there and what are your thoughts around this first suggested

Greg White (19:45):

Gift? Well, you know, we talk about a lot about visibility and supply chain and, and diversification, and all of those things have to be centered around the supply chain itself. So whatever you call that role, if you call it chief ESG officer, or you call it chief supply chain officer, or you make it, you make it combined role or something like that, the connection is critical because the opportunity to the flaws, the fragility, and I wish I could think of a third F but the bad stuff going on in your supply chain. I can, I just thought of a third F word, but I’m not gonna use it. The ability to, to really hone in on those things is as the product is moving, as you’re experiencing the transactions, as you are seeing the provenance of the product, as you’re seeing the handoffs of the product, as you’re seeing the, the fragility and resiliencies in your supply chain, and then doing something about it, the data is there in many cases to do things about it.

Greg White (20:47):

And I, it falls to us as supply chain professionals to do that. So, um, and I think a lot of us have a passion for just generally fair trade. Nobody likes getting screwed over or screwed up by their vendors, and we don’t want to do it to the entire world or to, you know, or to the delicate populations or to the delicate environment either. So, uh, I think it’s a natural role for us to have centered in supply chain. However, it reports, it needs to ultimate ultimately be reporting up through supply chain because all of those things create risk in the supply chain. And it’s, you know, I say all the time, this is a risk balancing exercise, supply chain. And every time we eliminate unfair trade or poor sustainability practices or poor cost practices or whatever, we eliminate a fragility in our supply chain. So we do better by doing good.

Scott Luton (21:44):

I love that,

Mike Griswold (21:45):

Mike. Yeah. What what’s interesting, um, Greg is when you think about finding people for this role, right, it’s kind of a, there’s definitely, as I talk to the analyst on my team that covers sustainability, it’s really a double edged sword. On one side, there are a lot of people that are incredibly passionate about topic. And I think this is one of those topics that you really need people that are passionate about this. Yes, you want people that are interested in forecasting and replenishment, right? But there’s a different level of passion that, that at least I’ve come across in people that are interested in these ESG topics than some that is, I don’t wanna say just, but just interested in forecasting replenishment, that’s kind of the good news. The bad news is these people are getting scooped up very quickly. So it’s one of those things where, you know, if you decide and you agree kind of with this, this short conversation, man, I really need to find someone when you find someone you better grab them. Mm-hmm <affirmative> because someone else is gonna grab them. And we, we saw that when we were, when we were building our own sustainability team here at Gartner, in terms of, you know, we find someone, we like, we go through our process and then we wake up the next day and they’re gone. They’ve been scooped up by somebody else. So there tons of people out there that have the passion around this topic, when you find one, you need to move very quickly. Cuz if you don’t, someone else will

Scott Luton (23:17):

Excellent point, Mike. And, and that could, that could apply to the talent market in general right now,

Mike Griswold (23:22):

Right? Yes. For sure.

Scott Luton (23:24):

So, you know, for number two on Mike, on, on your list, it’s, it’s an interesting, you know, I was talking with, uh, a local TV station day, uh, on an interview. And as I was gathering my thoughts in the last few days, I was going back to look at a lot of what we were talking about pre COVID and surprise, surprise, surprise. Visibility has been a challenge for quite some time mm-hmm <affirmative> and here it sits on number at number two on your list.

Mike Griswold (23:51):

So tell us more. Well, it’s always good when we can get a Gomer pile reference into, uh, into our broadcast, whether that was intentional or not. And I’m definitely dating myself now. So when I, when I make a Gomer pile reference, everyone now in our audience is Googling, go, yeah, go anyway. Uh, yes. I mean, to me, this was, as I was thinking about, man, what, what would I wish for, for supply chain professionals, you know, going into 2022 it’s, it’s something around visibility and I know kinda, and, and Greg can certainly speak to this better than I can. You know, the easy answer is, is this idea of control tower, right? That, that was kinda one of the things that has been talked about for, for a number of years. I think even, even us at Gartner have spent a lot of time talking about control towers, but I think it it’s, it’s more than it’s more than a technological solution.

Mike Griswold (24:47):

It’s also just a, a, a, your earlier comment, Scott, around culture. It it’s a cultural kind of Renaissance that says we’re just gonna, we’re just gonna be more transparent and we’re gonna be more visible across the supply chain. And whether that’s, we’re gonna create ways where we have more internal visibility to things that are moving around our supply chain to Greg’s point around, you know, it’s hard to make those risk trade off decisions if you don’t have complete visibility, because then you’re making decisions with less than all of the information. And I know in the supply chain, we never have all the inform we would like, but we can get more of it than we’ve had in the past, through this idea of, of visibility. I think the other thing that’s that I found fascinating is I talk to, and I think this is to, is I talk to technology companies and Greg would love your perspective on this.

Mike Griswold (25:41):

What I’m finding is I talk to technology companies is they’re pushing their customers to think about control towers in, in some different ways, right? Not just where, where are my physical assets, which is kind of how control towers grew up, right? A big map. Here’s where all my trucks are. Here’s where all my DCS are. Here’s the little dots moving around the country. That was kind of how control towers got started. <affirmative> as I talk to technology companies, now they’re saying, Hey, that’s still important, but you also need to know where inventory is. Yeah. You also need visibility to forecasts. You need visibility to orders, so that as you layer these different elements of visibility into your network, you can start making maybe different decisions than maybe we’ve made in the past. So I encourage people, right? If they’re making their list of Santa to ask about like, how do I get more visibility? Because when I look at our leading companies, resiliency and agility are, are two common denominators that’s enabled for those companies through visibility. Mm.

Scott Luton (26:50):

All right, Greg, I know you’re chopping at the bit.

Greg White (26:52):

Yeah. A hundred percent agree. And I think it’s on, it’s on the, what the logistics industry calls the shippers to open the doors to trans, to parent, to me, the, the absolute necessity of visibility is transparency. It’s sharing what in the past, Mike, you and I have talked about this a lot. What may be uncomfortable, but is ultimately beneficial, right? There are lots of things that in our retail practices, we were not comfortable sharing with our vendors. Just imagine if we had right. Somehow figured out to sh how to share data during times of COVID, how much better we could have been, or how much quicker we could have responded or even recovered after catastrophe hit. And yeah, I completely agree. The other thing I agree with is you’re talking about is visibility, right? And control towers, control towers are a rail road notion, right?

Greg White (27:45):

It’s if you think about it, it started with knowing where the cars and the various engines and whatnot switchers are in the yard. And it’s been, as you said, largely a transportation notion, but it needs to be more broadly applied and it needs to be applied to not just product in motion, but when should product be in motion, when should POS be cut? What should we expect? How do we rate carriers and things like that. So there is a lot of opportunity, especially with the wealth of data out there today, to be able to be preemptive, not just responsive, not just know what’s wrong, but to predict what could go wrong and to do something about it, to, to mitigate that risk in advance. You know, we talk a lot about that. Scott immediately, Shannon Valen court and the team at rate lengths. I think of them immediately because they right have been pitching visibility since 2001. And, you know, and, and we all, I have always been someone who I prefer to preempt the problem rather than to respond to the problem. And with all of that visibility, you can start to build a data set that allows you to say, it’s likely this customs office is gonna go slow. It’s likely that this carrier is, is gonna be late, or, you know, things like that in the old days when Mike and I, to doing this, you basically pushed out a PO and you hoped <laugh> right. That was your strategy. Right? Hope.

Scott Luton (29:13):

Yep. Well, you know, I can relate to that, right. This very instant as I’m in search of, uh, shocks Andrus for a vehicle. And they’re very particular set and I have learned more about, um, automotive parts and where we are today and about a strategy of hope that I’ve ever learned before. So we’ll see, we’ll see if these parts come in and we can hit the road again, but Mike circling back, giving, giving you the last thought on, uh,

Mike Griswold (29:41):

Visibility. Yeah. Hope. I mean, I don’t know who said it, someone much smarter than me. Hope is not a strategy. Right. Hope is hope is not a plan. So, um,

Scott Luton (29:50):

Well the other, I don’t argue it is, it’s just a really poor one, right?

Mike Griswold (29:55):

Yeah. No great point. Yeah. You are, you are correct. I wanted to react Greg to, to of Greg’s observation around the rail industry. And as you were describing that, Greg, what I agree with it completely, what came to mind is, is we need to move and I’m gonna kind of mix metaphors here. We need to move from being conductors. If I think about the rail industry to, and, and how people maybe traditionally use control towers to orchestrators, right. We, we need to be able to, to see ahead to, I agree with you, we, we wanna be more proactive and less reactive. The trick is how do we use visibility slash control towers? How do we use them to be more predictive, right. And be more proactive and less reactive. And some of that will come down to skills. Yeah. Right. Comes back to your earlier comments, Scott, about the war for talent. Uh, it will come down to an orchestration. Skillset is much different than a conducting skill. And how do we find those people? Hey, one

Scott Luton (30:59):

More comment about this. And we’ll talk about predictive and analytics. And Greg, I wanna oppose this to you, you know, for, for predictive analytics to be very impactful and successful in supply chain today. And moving forward, they don’t have to predict the next black Swan event. It doesn’t have to predict the next epidemic, pandemic, whatever it can predict. Some of the, some of the, the smaller disre in that occur every day. Right. And help and help, uh, massage and smooth that out. Is that right?

Greg White (31:29):

Yeah. That’s an excellent observation. I mean, the, the thing that we don’t realize is that there is a vast, vast amount of the supply chain that just runs relatively smoothly. And we manage that with largely the same strategy as we do the exceptions, if we can virtually automate the standard, right. Then that gives us more time. And, and you, and the ability to use different techniques to tackle the exceptions, the, the disruptions, the black Swan events, whatever you wanna call ’em. But that’s part of the problem is we manage everything. So in so many cases, and I gotta tell you, Mike, every time I see this, I feel like it was it’s 25 years ago that so many things are handled so manually and they are all handled the same. And we use this average paintbrush where we just go on average. We, you know, we do this with the data that’s available today.

Greg White (32:23):

We absolutely can. And absolutely should be addressing not just different segments of items, because immediately when you’re in supply chain, you think treat the, a items this way and the B items this way, and the C items that way, it’s this item and its unique characteristics can use this technique, this item in this location and its unique characteristic can use this methodology, et cetera, et cetera. And the ability to manage all the way down to a SKU location level has been around for literally decades, literally since the eighties. And, um, it’s time to really leverage that, uh, you know, to kind of tackle that from a planning, a preemption and you know, not only predictive analytics, Scott, but I think prescriptive analytics technology can now not just tell us what could happen. It can also respond to what did happen, tell us what to do, or even do it for us. It happens right all the time and we need to make that more prolific through supply chain.

Scott Luton (33:26):

So what you’re saying is we, we gotta stop steam popping or popcorn and get, get with the Tom, right? So that’s share this. I wanna, your Cora Jose is back with us. Uh, one of Mike’s colleagues, Eric Gardner, he says, unfortunately, supply chain mapping, isn’t common in supply chain. Nowadays. The hope is high since 70 plus percent planned to implement it in the near term, mapping is fundamental to risk management in terror, incognito. Ah, <laugh> about that. Uh, well,

Greg White (33:56):

You know, he’s gotta use terms like that because he was, he, he was just made an adjunct professor at Northeastern university, by the way. Congrats,

Scott Luton (34:05):

Congrats, Corot. Congratulations. Fantastic. And I think Greg, you’re gonna be sharing some of your POV with some of those students up there. Right.

Greg White (34:14):

If only if he’s foolish enough to invite me. Yes. Okay.

Scott Luton (34:18):

Uh, I’ll, I’ll get some popcorn in a diet Coke sit the back of that classroom.

Greg White (34:21):

I have, I have imparted my, whatever you want to call it wisdom or at least opinion on Georgia tech, Wichita state, university of Georgia duke Emory. Why not Northeastern, but as not, I told him yesterday, spring is a good time to be in Boston. <laugh>

Scott Luton (34:39):

Uh, Sheldon says supply chain has got to move to community advantage. We’ve seen that what we thought were competitive advantages in supply chain is just shared services. Intercompany, inter industry collaboration is key to true visibility and transparency. I would add. That’s a, that’s an excellent comment, Sheldon, especially it brings my mind to the ports or right. And, and as we’ve heard, as we’ve seen, even port directors, gene, uh, Soroka I believe is one that said our ports are decades behind other ports, uh, globally. And part of that challenge is what Sheldon’s talking about is that sharing of the data that, that does exist amongst the stakeholders across the port and use port operate the port. Okay. So up next we we’ve tackled executive leadership. All right. ESG, chief ESG ESG officer we’ve tackled right visibility. And now my, what is number three on the list. Number three, I wanna get super,

Mike Griswold (35:37):

Super tactical. And I wanna talk about a piece of research that we produce every year called the hype cycle and what the hype cycle does. And, and for people that are, are super, super smart, they would recognize that it’s actually a wave. It’s not a cycle, but I think hype wave doesn’t sound as cool as hype cycle. So it’s called a cycle. It sounds

Greg White (35:57):

Like exercise when it, you call it hype cycle. So that’s

Mike Griswold (36:01):

<laugh> yeah. Yes. So, so what we do in the hype cycle for those, maybe they haven’t seen it is, is we plot process and technology, uh, over the course of its life. From the beginning to, you know, kind of, it’s getting super hyped to my favorite all time, Gartner graphic, the trough of disillusion. Yes. It doesn’t get any better than that in terms of, of naming out to, um, basically where, where items or, or activities, process and technology are, are pretty much mainstream. And what we found is we talked to leading companies is there are three activities that they’re doing that I’d ask people to think about as we go into the holiday season, as it relates to the hype cycle. Now it doesn’t, I’m using the hype cycle, cuz that’s what we produce from a Gartner perspective. Really what I’m asking people is, however you think about your tech roadmap.

Mike Griswold (36:59):

There’s three things that I saw this year from leaving companies. There’s things that they’re piloting, things that they’re reexamining and things that they’re scaling and the hype cycle, you know, does a good job of giving you examples of things to pilot things, to reexamine and things to scale. I think what we learn from companies over the last 1824 months is leading companies still were investing in those piloting types of activities. Even when times were tough, they were making decisions around what technology or process do I think might differentiate me. And I just wanna see what it does. Right? And how, what are the applications that I might be able to find for my company or my industry, this reexamine. Those are the things that if you look at the hype cycle, tend to land in that traffic disillusionment. Those are where people are saying to themselves, Hey, we tried this, it didn’t work.

Mike Griswold (37:58):

Mm-hmm <affirmative> but let’s look at it again because maybe now we know why it didn’t work. Maybe we weren’t ready for it. Maybe the technology wasn’t ready for us, whatever. It might be reexamining things and not just saying, Hey, it didn’t work. It will never work. Right. The leading companies are getting away from that. And then the last piece is this, you know, kind of the scaling aspect, which is, Hey, there are things that everyone has been doing and, and is doing and is proving successful. If you look at the hype cycle, one of the things that you would find at that end are centers of excellence. Centers of excellence are not new news, or they shouldn’t be new news to, to companies, right? Being able to build expertise in critical areas and establishing these centers of excellence. Those are things that leaders, you know, have been doing for a while. So what I guess if I boil it down to what would I like people to find underneath the tree, I’d like them to find a balanced it roadmap and I shouldn’t call it it cuz there’s process stuff as well. Right. But find some type of roadmap under the tree that looks at the next 12 to 24 months. And you’ve identified activities that you wanna pilot that you wanna reexamine and that you wanna scale. That’s my, that, that was my third wish.

Scott Luton (39:22):

I like that. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and I like, uh, one of the earliest points and what Mike just shared is that, uh, some of the leading companies out there did not allow the pandemic and other disruption of being an excuse to stop innovating, right. And stop the piloting and stop experimenting different ways of, of serving their consumers, serving their supply chains, even they’re serving their team members better. Um, you know, Greg, what comes to mind is we were hosting a, along these lines, we were hosting a webinar. And I can’t remember, I think it was with, uh, Omni partners, but in particular there was an executive from a ACE hardware on the panel. Yep. And she was talking about how pre pandemic and I can’t remember what exactly it was had. Maybe it had something to do with expense reports for their employees or whatever, and pre pandemic, their leadership team.

Scott Luton (40:10):

If I got this right. Kind of shot down this idea to make it easier for employees related to some bogie us, you know, documentation or something, whatever it was. And then during the middle of the pandemic, as we were remote everywhere, automating everything. She’s like, what were we thinking? Mm-hmm <affirmative>, you know, just do it. Right. Yeah. And it was one of those Eureka moments. And I bet every organization had ’em what was such a big deal, pre pandemic. What was such a big moving of the cheese pre pandemic, all that became small potatoes. When we, you know, had other bigger fish to fry, to some extent, not to keep using food analogies, but you get my drift right with Greg <laugh> we’re all hungry now. Right. Cheese, sorry. I was popcorn hot

Greg White (40:52):

Dog. I was thinking what kinda cheese got moved? Um, you know, I think, I think we’d all like, like to believe and, and, you know, ha all of us, all three of us having been in practice in supply chain, in relatively sophisticated companies, we’d all like to be leave that we ha have a really strategic perspective on where the company is going. But sometimes that strategic perspective is so high level that we leave some things alone, that, and if you’ve ever been a, you know, a newbie, an up and comer in a company, you’re like, why are these idiots not dealing with X? Right. <laugh> because X is, is not contributory enough to the strategic perspective. But the other thing is that a lot of times companies operate based on an old precept, which is necessity or crisis is the mother of invention. Right. We, we don’t pay attention to some things we know are a potential exposure, like the entirety of supply chain for most companies.

Greg White (41:54):

Right. The advent of e-commerce, which is stunning to me that there are companies that are just getting into that now. Yeah. Um, and, and other things like that, that seem really strategic after you get punched in the face. Right. But, um, you don’t see as important because you struggling to strategically manage or even tactically manage those things that are core to your business, clearly ACC, creative to your business and low, relatively low risk to in improving your business. And you’re struggling just to tackle and manage those. So as much as we’d like to think, we’re really strategic. We really are. So often just down in the weeded of what is, is putting bread on the table today. Right. I love companies are collections of people. I mean, and think about Maslow’s hierarchy of need, right. I mean, we, as individuals, we have to reach certain plateaus before we recognize what some of those other opportunities. And it’s similar with companies, right?

Scott Luton (42:56):

The, with the, uh, Lombardi trophy at the top of the top step there, Greg,

Greg White (43:01):

We’ll see, we’ll see. Yes. Another Lombardi char

Scott Luton (43:04):

Trophy. Yes. Another one. That’s right. Let me clarify, uh, a creative, what a great word, Greg. I’m gonna go look that up. I need to add that to my vocabulary. Okay. So Mike, I’m gonna give you the last one where we, we covered, you know, even trying to keep it just to three, there’s so many different elements and wrinkles of the conversation, especially as it applies to, you know, across industry. But I give you the last word as, uh, we’re talking about the third item

Mike Griswold (43:28):

Here. Yeah. I think if I think about all three of the ones we we’ve been te uh, talking about, and I’m reflecting on this conversation, it really comes down to all three of these are within an organization’s own control and their own sphere of influence. Right? You don’t need, you don’t need to wait to go find an ESG officer. You don’t need to wait to, to build your, your system and process us roadmap for the next two years. And I think it’s incumbent on organizations to recognize what do they have control over right now? And what can they action right now? Mm-hmm <affirmative> versus having to either, you know, wait for permission, wait for some, you know, external environmental thing to happen to them. Um, I think that right now people have it within their own power to, to take advantage of all three of these things and other things that we’ve talked about, frankly, all year, you know, we, we rarely talk about something that people couldn’t go do tomorrow, right?

Mike Griswold (44:31):

Or later today, right. With their popcorn, their hot dog, their potatoes, and all the other food that we referenced in the last 45 minutes. But to me, I think organizations, you know, often are just, I don’t wanna say paralyzed, but, but they don’t move at the speed at which they move. They could move with things that they have control over. And I think that if I was to, to kind of put these in, you know, these three Christmas presents in one big bucket, the bucket would be, you know, you are empowered to do this. Just go do, I mean, just go do it. Right, right. To steal a phrase,

Scott Luton (45:05):

You know, along these lines, Greg, we, we were chatting with Kelly Barner on the buzz on Monday, which, which, uh, stream every Monday at 12 to Eastern time folks, you should join us for that American Eagle purchasing quiet logistic, I believe. Right. To bring that into the fold and to your point, Mike kind of gain more control and more supply chain wherewith officer, for sure. That’s that is fascinating. We’ll see how that plays out. Okay. Greg and Mike, this has been a delightful 47 minutes thus far, but we’re gonna take it back. As we wrap up, the, the book in here is also gonna be more on a personal side. So folks, you have heard a holiday gift buying list, uh, three items that supply chain professionals in your network and in your family in your lives certainly are craving. Uh, but we wanna hear from you drop, drop what’s on your, uh, suggested gift list in the comments. We’d love to share that, but leaving that there, Mike, I wanna talk about as, as we’re already in December, this blows my mind where it’s December 1st, 2021, we’ve got holidays all around us. Uh, all types of holidays. What’s one Griswold family tradition you had this month. <laugh>

Mike Griswold (46:16):

Well, I mean, that’s your own Griswold family that that’s too easy. Scott, it’s obviously watching Christmas vacation. Right? We, we, we watch it at least once. Uh, and I don’t know if I’ve shared this with everyone, obviously Griswold in, in the, in the Christmas vacation, but a couple of things that hit home in the very first vacation movie was my grandmother’s name is Edna. And she lived in Arizona <laugh> so yes, yes. When my wife and I first saw that movie, we were like laughing the loudest, I think in the theater, no one knew why, but it was, it was because it really, it really hit, uh, close to home. Oh, oh

Scott Luton (46:53):

Man. That is, we, we watched that last weekend. It’s, it’s a mid ki family. Amanda’s family tradition, uh, for sure. And yeah, you, you watch a movie for the ninth, seventh time, you pick up kind of a few new wrinkles you do, but you do Greg, I’m coming to you next for your tradition. But I, since we’re talking movies, you know, plane, planes, trains, and automobiles, of course, a big, uh, Thanksgiving movie tradition, I think it was released, uh, about 35 years ago and rip, you know, rest in peace, John candy, but how powerful that, you know, it’s all the whole, thing’s a comedy and it’s a classic one, but at the end where John candy shares that, you know, his wife was no longer with him and it really changes the whole story right there in that moment. And it really reminds me kind of kidding aside these times, you know, these, whether it’s a pandemic, whether it’s a holidays, whatever it is, whether it’s a folks out there, don’t get a chance to hang out with the family as much as other folks do, the folks are hurting and we gotta, we gotta really put and wear, uh, that empathy hat first, uh, especially for all the hard working folks that make global business and global spot chain happen, but I’ll stop being a downer, Greg, cuz I wanna hear your, uh, white family tradition.

Greg White (48:04):

Yeah. Well let me go back to that point. Uh, you know, the great Stephen Covey, the first of the seven habits of, of highly effective people seek first to understand. And he tells the story of sitting on a subway train with a guy who’s paying no attention to his kids and his four or five kids are running all over the train, wreaking, all kinds of havoc. And finally he says something to him, Hey, you know, your kids are, you know, they’re kind, kind of going mad here and driving people crazy. And the guy says, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even notice their mother just passed away and we’re on the way home from that. So that empathy is well demonstrated by exactly what you talk about, about poor Dell and that sort of thing. But yes, if we could only convince any portion of our population to seek first to understand than, um, I think we would all be in a lot better places in a lot of different ways that said my favorite 100% since I was a child.

Greg White (49:05):

And now that I’m, uh, you know, almost a grandparent, my favorite is tradition is we open one gift on Christmas Eve and it is so funny to watch 20, 25 and 30 year old young persons come up to you and go, dad, dad, can we open our, our Christmas Eve present now? Can we open? <laugh> absolutely hilarious. So I, I think that, you know, that’s probably one of the, the most fun we had and of course we talked about, did we talk about it on the show or maybe just pre-show my grandmother’s birthday. Yes. Is, was Christmas Eve. So we always opened a present for her and then she would let us open a present on her birthday and that’s how the whole thing started. It was very cool.

Scott Luton (49:50):

Love it. Love it. Okay. Couple quick comments. And we’re gonna make sure folks how to connect with Mike Griswold. Sheldon says diehards. Oh

Greg White (49:58):

My gosh. Absolutely.

Scott Luton (50:01):

Oh

Greg White (50:01):

Yeah, absolutely.

Scott Luton (50:03):

Mark says, I start looking for gum under railing. That’s gotta be one from one of the movies. I’m assuming mark and I might be running a little bit slow today, but mark, great to have you here with of this really enjoyed your contributions other day.

Greg White (50:14):

Oh alone. I mean, if we’re talking movies, <laugh>

Scott Luton (50:17):

Be curious, not judgemental as the famous Ted lasso says. And then T square says that’s the fourth habit. The first habit is to be proactive. How about that?

Greg White (50:28):

Ah, okay, there you go. Um, why does it say seek first to understand

Scott Luton (50:32):

<laugh> <laugh> that’s a good question. That’s a good question. Max says here in Mexico, we have a special edition beer called NoBoy having it with the family is always a tradition. That is so cool max and their role at, uh, mark says El of course, that is, that really is. And will Ferrell shut down a sequel because he didn’t think he was good enough to, um, to book in the first one. So thanks. Good for sharing everybody. Yeah, no kidding. All right. So, uh, Mike, I know we gotta get you outta here. I’m sure you’re book booked, booked and booked up. How can folks come connect with you and Gartner, uh,

Mike Griswold (51:09):

LinkedIn, and, uh, also feel free to email me Mike dot Griswold, gardner.com.

Scott Luton (51:14):

Happy to hear from folks just that easy way to from our supply chain now, family to yours and the extended Gartner family, which you know, all the, the, the happiest of holidays, the Marus of Christmases. And we’re all hoping for at much brighter and more successful new year in 2022. Thanks so much, Mike, same

Mike Griswold (51:32):

Thing. Thanks. Have a great Christmas byebye.

Scott Luton (51:36):

All right, man. I tell you all, we should start just asking and we talk food a lot. I’m gonna have some movie trivia questions looks like we got plenty of Mo movie buffs and Hey, T squared says, Hey, my mistake, it’s a fifth

Greg White (51:51):

Habit. Wow. It’s funny. That’s the one that always comes first to my mind. Is it? Yeah, I’m gonna have to recheck the order. I mean, I’m gonna, I might have to re read the book

Scott Luton (52:01):

<laugh> so I I’m glad T squared is one that can own up when he is wrong. Just this week I was going and back and forth fast and furiously with the auto parts organization. I’m not gonna name anybody. And after about, I don’t know, 3,247 tech exchanges, uh, who’s counting. Right. I finally, I finally realized I was wrong and, and what they were saying is coming from a different entity. And I apologize, Greg, I, I had you over my, you know, how

Greg White (52:31):

I feel about auto parts?

Scott Luton (52:33):

<laugh> well, Hey, speaking of which the drive, I I’m new to this, maybe I’m, I’m slow be already aware. The drive on Twitter is all automotive related from history to tracking folks that are making cross country, uh, tracks. You name it. You got, I check out the drive on a great, is it a show? Great content there. It’s it. It’s it’s I think it’s a mix mul, just multimedia. I imagine there’s a show out there. Maybe it’s tied to, but I’ll share it with you after the show. Josh goody says Bailey’s cocoa and a peppermint straw that and putting up the tree the day after Thanksgiving. Yeah. Greg is your tree.

Greg White (53:10):

It is not, you know, ours. We were expecting to be different places during Thanksgiving than we wound up. So that’s kind of jumbled things. Also, Delaney and clay have got a new homestead as of today. So we’ve had a lot of transition going on in the, in the white house, um, this year <laugh> I said, Hey, I, I wanted to, somebody mentioned Ted lasso. And as we mentioned, uh, Gomer pile, right before, think about the alignment between those two characters, sort of happy go lucky, always very positive. Somehow unconsciously genius. I think, I think there’s a lot of alignment between Ted lasso and Gomer pile. I mean, not as slap sticky and you know, kind of clumsy as Gomer pile, but right. There’s there is a lot of alignment in those characters. I think I’m gonna talk to Jason, Suda us at the chief’s game this weekend <laugh> and ask him if he had Gober pile in mind in any way, when he created Ted

Scott Luton (54:10):

Lasso, is, is he a big Kansas city fan? Is that where he is from? Oh

Greg White (54:13):

Yeah. Is it? Oh yeah. Well, you know, the precept of Ted lasso is, have you watched this yet?

Scott Luton (54:20):

Uh, I, I watched first few episodes. I just couldn’t get into it foot head

Greg White (54:24):

Football coach, which OFS state university Scott.

Scott Luton (54:27):

I knew that’s right. That’s right. I remember that now how man <laugh>, you know, and he hates

Greg White (54:32):

Tea enough

Scott Luton (54:33):

Said I remember that as well. Um, I put, so I’m putting two and two together and I got it. Now, mark, I start looking for gum under railing. That is a line from L L right now. That makes, I got mark I’m a little bit slow. I’m not, I didn’t graduate from Georgia tech. I little bit slow, but hope you and the Preston family are doing well. I’m not sure who this is. This might be co still Ry. Amanda, let me know. Listen to wham the last Christmas’s album. A great song.

Greg White (55:01):

Yeah. It’s

Scott Luton (55:02):

<laugh> it’s a song. Amanda says it’s not an album. It’s says song God, it’s a song. Sorry, Amanda got that wrong. Okay. I gotta brush up on my wham discography. I reckon. Uh, Jesus. That is a great comparison, Greg, that Gomer pile.

Greg White (55:19):

It’s funny how these things just kind of strike you, right? Um, it does make me wanna go back and watch Gomer pile. That is the name of the show, right? It is Gomer pile

Scott Luton (55:29):

Gomer C that’s right. That’s right. Uh, spinoff from of course the Andy Griffiths show. That’s

Greg White (55:36):

Right. All right. Holy

Scott Luton (55:39):

<laugh>. Oh man. We could, we could, we could be here all afternoon doing some impressions there. Um, especially with you that knows every, every good one line from every movie, this side of Hollywood, but I digress, Greg, uh, enjoyed the last hour. Uh, Mike Griswold always brings it. He’s more reliable than, uh, Stetson. What’s the

Greg White (56:02):

UJAs quarterback, Stetson Ben at the fourth. Yes.

Scott Luton (56:05):

AKA the postman, right? Or the, the mailman. Yeah, the mailman, I think always brings always consistent and good luck to the dogs this weekend. Hey folks, this has been a, uh, busy livestream week, right? I think this is our third livestream in a row. Uh, we always love having Mike Griswold pop in with us once a month from the heavy hidden Gartner team. Uh, let us know though, uh, we’re always seeking out new, uh, uh, uh, content ideas, new show ideas for that matter. So be sure to shoot us a note to amanda@supplychainnow.com and uh, hope this finds you and your family. Some, uh, blessings, uh, some time to unplug over the next three or four weeks and Greg to reflect on the year. That was 2021. So happy. 1st of December, all Greg, your last thought, and then I’m a son

Greg White (56:54):

Off. Yeah, my last thought is if you find any one of these things in your corporate office at Christmas time, a chief ESG officer, you know, some and technology tools that help you increase visibility, pre predictability, and prescriptive decision making. Or, and I, I was doing it while we were doing it. You probably saw me. I’m looking at the hype cycle, take a look at the hype cycle and see where the mature solutions are. Those are some of the best gifts you can give to yourself as a pro in supply chain. This Christmas, that

Scott Luton (57:26):

Is, uh, that’s gold there. Jerry, that is absolute gold. Greg, always a pleasure big thanks by, by the way, behind the scenes Jada and Amanda hold the Fort down, making production happen. Really appreciate what y’all do. Hey, thanks for everybody that showed out, uh, here on a Wednesday, first of the month, which is always a busy time, I think for everybody, uh, best wishes to you all, but Hey, most importantly, listen to Greg, listen to Mike, but even more important. Do good. Give forward, be the change that’s needed on that note. We’ll see. Next time. Right back here at supply chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (58:00):

Thanks for being a part of our supply chain. Now, community check out all of our programming@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.

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Featured Guests

Mike Griswold serves as Vice President Analyst with Gartner’s Consumer Value Chain team, focusing on the retail supply chain. He is responsible for assisting supply leaders in understanding and implementing demand-driven supply chain principles that improve the performance of their supply chain. Mr. Griswold joined Gartner through the company’s acquisition of AMR. Previous roles include helping line-of-business users align corporate strategy with their supply chain process and technology initiatives. One recent study published by a team of Gartner analysts, including Mike Griswold is Retail Supply Chain Outlook 2019: Elevating the Consumer’s Shopping Experience. Mr. Griswold holds a BS in Business Management from Canisius College and an MBA from the Whittemore School of Business & Economics at the University of New Hampshire. Learn more about Gartner here: www.gartner.com

Hosts

Scott W. Luton

Founder, CEO, & Host

Greg White

Principal & 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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