Supply Chain Now
Episode 809

If you don't find ways to disrupt yourself, you will be disrupted. [...] I have a philosophy of always trying to encourage my organization to think of ways, particularly process organizations, but even in processes in supply chain, how we can disrupt ourselves before someone else figures out how to disrupt us and we lose market share, we lose customer confidence, whatever the case may be?

-Bonnie Fetch

Episode Summary

Throughout her career, Bonnie Fetch has worn her share of hats – including her current one as Vice President, Supply Chain at Cummins, Inc. Her depth and breadth of experience make her the perfect example of what it takes to thrive – and lead – in today’s changing landscape. Lucky for us, she’s sharing her invaluable perspective on this latest episode. Join us as she chats with Scott about her career trajectory thus far, the keys to managing successful digital transformation, a master list of challenges ahead for supply chain – and crucial advice for current and future leaders.

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 (00:32):

Hey, good morning, everybody. Scott Luton here with you on supply chain. Now, welcome to today’s show on today’s show. We’ve got a big guest lined up big convers lined up. Get this. Our featured guest is a transformational leader. That’s really had quite a successful and eclectic career full of diverse experiences and roles from logistics to manufacturing, to product design, even human resources, and a lot more she’s lived and worked abroad has traveled extensively in particular across six continents spend a lot of time in Europe and Africa and Asia and at Cummins, which is of course, a global leader in power solutions for more than a hundred years. Our featured guest leads the company’s distribution business segment also has leadership accountability for supply chain operations across the company’s footprint in north America. That that’s a lot get this. Our guest is leading a large scale supply chain transformation, uh, initiative across both Cummins Inc, and the newly formed Cummins global supply chain services organization. So on that note, please join me in welcoming Bonnie Fetch vice president supply chain at Cumins, Inc. Uh, how are we doing?

Bonnie Fetch (01:44):

Doing great, happy new year,

Scott Luton (01:46):

Happy new year to you. We blink. And the first full week of January, 2022 is almost all all passes, right?

Bonnie Fetch (01:55):

It’s crazy how fast time’s going, but we’re not getting any older. We

Scott Luton (01:58):

Right. <laugh> that’s right. I like how you think already. Um, so before we get in into, uh, gosh, what a journey you’ve had thus far, uh, a lot of what you’re doing at Cummins, one of the, uh, uh, global leaders let’s talk about, let’s get to know Bonnie fetch a little better. So tell us, where did you grow up and, and give us a few anecdotes related to your upbringing. So

Bonnie Fetch (02:20):

I was born in the Midwest in, um, Illinois, near Chicago. I was born to teenage parents, um, but didn’t stay married very long. And I had quite a, uh, difficult childhood with a lot of moves across the Illinois Chicago land area, and then eventually to Georgia and onto Florida and back to Illinois. So most of my childhood I spent in between the Midwest and the Southeast, um, had a single mother for many years and, um, spent some time living with dad some time living with mom, um, got accustomed to fitting into new locations. Um, it was probably in, in some ways challenging in, in other ways. Good for me because as I now have a very global role, uh, fitting into new environments, learning about new people and new cultures is pretty easy

Scott Luton (03:12):

For well, and, and as a follow up question beyond kind of how that forced you into that outgoing, uh, gregarious meeting, you know, not unafraid of meeting new people, new things, new environment, what else, you know, did that tougher than usual upbringing? How else do you think it impacted your leadership ability?

Bonnie Fetch (03:32):

It definitely has caused me to be very driven, um, very achievement oriented. I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be in a big role. I didn’t really know what leadership at that time was, but I knew I wanted to be in a big role and have a big impact and to not have to rely on others financially. So I always knew I wanted to lead. And in fact, I started my leadership career quite young. Um, I started working at 13 years old. Um, I started babysitting probably a little younger than that, but I started my first job in Augusta Georgia at a little place called wife saber chicken.

Scott Luton (04:10):

Right. I know this place, Bonnie <laugh>. I grew up at akin right across the river. I’m familiar with wife, saber chicken. All right.

Bonnie Fetch (04:18):

So, you know, it’s good. Best part about that job was employees got a punch card for every shift. You worked, you got a free meal and it was awesome. So I did start working pretty young, um, and, and making my own money and saving and, and buying my own things. I also, uh, was a part of RO OTC, uh, which is a reserved office training for in high school. And I was a part of the competitive drill team, which I really loved and actually thought I would have a career in leadership in the military. I met a boy and things changed. Um, but, but I think I always knew I was drawn to solving big problems, helping people and influencing in, in Broadway.

Scott Luton (05:00):

I love that. And of course, going back to a minute to the, uh, the food industry there in Augusta, you know, that notion of service and serving others and, and being right there with the, the customer as they get their product. I mean, those are irreplaceable experiences. Um, alright, so clearly I can, you can already tell based on just a little bit, you’ve shared how driven and, and kind of those early leadership lessons that, that help form who you are aside from kind of the work side of the early Bonny fetch. What one other aspect about your upbringing? What else did you have really a passion for maybe in your free time? Did you like reading? Were you a sports? What else did you like doing kind of aside from, from those formative activities?

Bonnie Fetch (05:42):

I’ve always been a writer. Uh, so I always like to write, I used to write poems. I used to write in a journal. I subsequently as an adult wrote a book, uh, which I did not think I would do when I was younger, but I always had the gift of putting words into print. Um, so I spent a lot of time there. I also spent a lot of time caring for a younger sister and brother, uh, who were several years younger than I, so I spent a good part of my childhood helping to raise them.

Scott Luton (06:12):

Wow. Okay. You, you should write another book, maybe a third. Uh, you’ve got so much, you tackled early on. No wonder you’re doing the things you’re doing now. Let’s, um, let’s shift gears a bit and move, move further, uh, into your professional journey. You know, you had a, a long career even before, uh, successful career before you even joined Cummins, Inc. But let’s talk about what got you in the global supply chain and a couple of those key positions as part of your journey that really shaped your, your worldview.

Bonnie Fetch (06:42):

Yeah. So I fell into supply chain before supply chain was even a function. So sometimes I feel old saying that <laugh>, but supply chain as a function is actually quite young. Um, but I fell into a logistics role back in the early nineties. Um, an inventory control role that I was only, um, intending to do for a few months when I was pregnant with my third child. Um, I actually fell in love with the logistics space. So I was on warehousing, uh, operation where I had inventory control responsibilities. I went out on maternity leave and they called me back several months later and we negotiated a return to a full-time role. Uh, I went into, um, what was a continuous improvement role prior to six Sigma, really being a, a corporate initiative. And I then landed in warehouse operations where I led logistics, uh, operations and receiving office operations and found that I really enjoyed the fast pace I enjoyed leading people.

Bonnie Fetch (07:43):

Um, I enjoyed, you know, building my leadership ability to help people connect what they do and the importance of doing it. Um, and, and, um, helping them to feel engaged, uh, and really giving a hundred plus percent to the company. That’s how I fell into it. Initially. Never thought that would be my career. I, I moved from that operational role into a human resources role. I had a leader that thought I was pretty good with people and asked if I would take an HR role. And I said, I’ll try anything once. And, uh, went into HR and

Scott Luton (08:15):

Let me interject really quick. Bonnie, what did that leader that tapped you on the shoulder and brought you into HR role? Was there some aspect of your, of how you interact with others or manage others or were around others? What do they see in you? Is there any, any, any specifics?

Bonnie Fetch (08:32):

Well, this particular leader said, you’re, you seem to be good with people. People wanna work for you, people wanna do what you ask them to do. Um, my productivity and performance in any role that I’ve led, um, has, has been good. Uh, and I, I don’t think that has a lot to do with me personally, uh, doing the work, but it has to do with clarifying for people, uh, the importance of the work and treating people with dignity and, um, letting people know that I appreciate them. Mm. And so consequently, he thought I would be good with a human resources role. And I found that I actually quite liked it. Um, I liked the strategy element of human resources. I also liked the people interaction and the ability to solve problems, uh, for the business, but also help people solve personal, you know, challenges. And so I spent about a third of my career in HR, um, which I, I enjoyed.

Bonnie Fetch (09:27):

And then at some point I had, um, a boss who asked me what I wanted to do, uh, with the rest of my career. And I said, you know, I really enjoyed HR, but I’d like to get back to running a business. I ran a business before I joined, uh, the logistics industry. I ran a restaurant. Um, I ran a small travel agency as, as an owner. And, um, and he said, okay, um, I’ll, I’ll see what I can do to help you move into, um, a leadership role in this HR role. I spent a lot of time in the, um, in the warehouse and subsequently in manufacturing operations. And I found that I really loved being in the operation, right. And so I ultimately had a chance. Um, and this was a pivotal moment in my career where this leader, um, moved me overseas to Europe to run a transmission business.

Bonnie Fetch (10:14):

There was an end to end business about a 400 million business. And, uh, I knew nothing about transmissions. I knew how to lead people and I had a passion for running business, but I had a lot to learn. And that was probably my big break into supply chain, cuz I had direct responsibility for manufacturing, for purchasing, uh, for really the end to end business. But those were two important components. And then from there I moved, uh, back to the us and I had, uh, the opportunity to be a GM for a very large business, right. 42 manufacturing plants, uh, about an $8 billion business. And then I ended up back in logistics. I was asked to actually lead the aftermarket parts distribution business for my previous company, which was, uh, global in nature over 2000 employees in 21 locations, very substantial, um, part of the business. And I really found that supply chain is the glue that keeps a company in business. Right. Agreed. We understand what our customers require that we’re able to plan for it. We’re able to produce it, we’re able to deliver it. And um, so I’ve kind of found my home again, which incidentally, you know, all these years later is where I actually started my industrial career. <laugh>

Scott Luton (11:32):

All right. So you shared a lot there and I wish we had about five hours of time, cuz I’d love to dive into a lot more of those, those pivotal roles, especially those massive, uh, roles of massive responsibility. I wanna back all the way up to when you talked about that leader that brought you into the transmission business overseas and you didn’t know anything about transmissions. I think a lot of folks listening can relate to, you know, if you wanna, if you wanna advance in your career, you gotta tackle things. You, you don’t know, right. You gotta lean on your expertise, but you gotta tackle things you don’t know. Is there any, anything you did to learn that business so that you could effectively lead effectively lead and, and, and be successful in that role when you <affirmative> do, uh, when you enter the transmissions industry?

Bonnie Fetch (12:16):

Yeah. That’s a great question. So the very first thing will sound a little silly maybe, but I’m the type of person that tries to figure out what to do when I don’t know what to do. And so when I knew I was going to a foreign country to lead a business that I knew little about, um, my father actually was umm, a mechanic and prior to being a mechanic, he was a welder. So he was very much in the, in the industrial world. I called my father and I said, dad, I’m moving to England and I need to come and visit you this weekend. And I need you to tell me everything I need to know about transition. And so when I arrived at his house, he had all this service manuals laid out. He was very excited, waiting to tell me everything I needed to know about gear ratio and SHA manufacturing.

Bonnie Fetch (12:59):

And the reality is I remember about 10% of what he shared with me, but it gave me the confidence that I had a little bit of context. I understood what a transmission was, the importance, some of the terminology. And then, then really I spent a lot of time in my role as the leader of the business, talking to the experts that know the job, just the best, right? The people on the shop floor, the engineers that are designing the transmissions, they know, and more than willing to teach. If you treat them as though they are the, the experts with the respect that they deserve and you’re really willing to listen and what, which is ultimately how I found my way through, um, two and a half years of leading that business

Scott Luton (13:44):

Wholeheartedly agree. Uh, I, I love the story with your dad. I bet I, I can just, I could picture that as you shared that story and completely agree, you gotta go to the gemba, that those folks are the true experts and that’s how we all get better as leaders. All right. So let’s talk, one of my favorite questions is about these Eureka moments. You, and you’ve already shared a couple of what I’ll call maybe pseudo Eureka moments, but anything else stand out, whether it’s it’s one from some of these earlier journeys you’re talking about or something, the wealth of Eureka moments that we’ve all experienced these last couple years.

Bonnie Fetch (14:16):

Yeah. I’ll go back all the way. Um, before my industrial career, when I was running, um, a, a small travel agency. So prior to the internet being a thing, um, small travel agents like myself would book, you know, airline tickets, hotel reservations, um, and, and we were disrupted by the internet in the mid nineties, uh, which again makes me feel old to talk about. I was, I was running the business before the internet was a thing. Um, but the reality is it was a lesson for me very early in my career that if you don’t find ways to disrupt yourself, you will be disrupted. And we all know stories like Kodak and other companies that didn’t disrupt themselves and they got disrupted. And so that’s really stuck with me my whole career. And I have a philosophy of, you know, always trying to encourage my organization to think the ways, particularly product organizations, but even in processes in supply chain, how can we disrupt ourselves before someone else figures out how to disrupt us and we lose market share, we lose customer confidence, whatever the case may be.

Bonnie Fetch (15:25):

And oftentimes when you’re innovating, when you’re thinking about these disruptions, people are fearful of failure, failure. And so I, I take the approach of think big start, small act fast. What’s the smallest step that we can take toward this innovation or this disruption that isn’t gonna cost us a lot of money. If we fail, we’re gonna learn from it and we’re gonna iterate on it. We’re ultimately gonna have breakthrough results. And I’ve had had many times in my career since learning about, you know, disruption that I’ve been able to unleash an organization to do things that the organization itself didn’t think they were capable of doing. And so that has really stuck with me. Um, I still today think about, you know, how, how could we be disrupted as a business? This, uh, as you probably know, Cummins very much thinks about, you know, our, our role in the, um, in the power systems world and with reliance on diesel over time, reducing with our own commitment to a carbon-free world, you know, what does that mean for our business?

Bonnie Fetch (16:31):

We are heavily investing in new technologies and in effect disrupting ourselves before we get disrupted. So I’m very excited to be a part of that. Um, and that’s just in general, a, a, a rule that has stuck with me and, and that kind of plays out in every role that I have. That that’s one that sticks out the most. Probably the other one I would say is leading people. Um, isn’t as difficult as I think sometimes people make it seem right. I think that people wanna be heard. I think people wanna understand the why behind the, you know, whatever we’re asking people to do or whatever answer we’re giving people and people wanna know that their leader genuinely cares about as a person. And I’ve had these moments in my career that have reinforced that. Um, and so those are a couple things that I carry with me, regardless of industry, regardless of

Scott Luton (17:24):

Business. I love that. And going back to your first point there about disruption, it it’s also coming faster, faster than ever before. I think of Airbnb and what it’s done, I think of, uh, Netflix and block Buster talk. There’s a lot of good stories there. It it’s, you can’t afford to sit it on your hands for a single second these days. So I love your thoughts there. Okay. So you mentioned a Cummins ink and, um, that’s a great segue now. So tell, talk to us about your current role with Cummins, Inc, and where you spend your time and where do you love spending your time related to your role?

Bonnie Fetch (17:59):

So my role a, as you mentioned before, is quite eclectic, um, and broad. And so I do have responsibility for a significant portion of our supply chain. Our distribution business is the business that, um, provides all of our sales and service to our customers. So once an engine or a gen set is, uh, delivered to a customer, we provide the parts and the service in the aftermarket, through our distribution business, uh, channel. We also service smaller OEMs through that channel. And it, it’s a very large, very large global organization with many small sites, 600 plus sites around the world, and many dealers that we also work with. Um, I also have responsibility for operations across multiple supply chain functions in north America. North America happens to be one of the largest regions in our, our portfolio. And as you mentioned, I’m leading a large scale transformation.

Bonnie Fetch (18:54):

So we’ve established a global supply chain services organization. That’s helping us to get more efficient and effective at, at many of our supply chain processes, but also looking at what we need to do for our supply chain to continue to build resilience, to continue to meet ever changing customer expectations, uh, and to in the current environment to stabilize, you know, after the shocks and the, on, I guess, ongoing shocks, it’s not even after ongoing shocks of, uh, the pandemic for the last two years, the place I enjoy spending my time most is with my people, uh, my direct team, but also I really enjoy getting out to the sites where the work is getting done, whether that’s a service shop or that’s a manufacturing environment, or that’s an office, you know, in one of our supply chain services organizations, I like to be where the work is. And I like to be out, um, visiting with customers and understanding how well, or in some cases not so well, we might be serving our customers so that we can continue to improve.

Scott Luton (20:00):

All right. So I wanna ask you one additional question and I don’t want you to get, of course, I don’t want you to share information you can’t, but when you’re leading, you know, I think a lot of folks listening can definitely relate to, uh, not just transformation, but leading change, whether it’s in their office, if it’s across enterprise, you name it. And so when you’re leading a massive transformation project that you’re leading, I can just picture the conversations, the big, uh, you know, for, for summit it’s whiteboard. If you’re visual communicators, you’re working through a problem, you get stuff down, folks can see it. Have, have you learned anything that you can share in terms of, of what helps leaders lead big change transformational projects?

Bonnie Fetch (20:44):

Yeah. I still make my fair share of mistakes, but I will say that some of the things that I’ve learned that have helped me to be successful is, um, James quote, I think, uh, uh, oh gosh, I can’t even think of the guy’s name. So I wanna try to quote him. People don’t care how much, you know, until they know how much you care. Yes.

Scott Luton (21:04):

Is that Simon Sinek?

Bonnie Fetch (21:06):

Yeah. Might have been Simon se I was thinking it was John, but I couldn’t think of John’s last

Scott Luton (21:09):

Name. We’ll double check before he published. How about that? Yeah, it’s also

Bonnie Fetch (21:12):

An author. Um, and, and what I mean by that in the business context is as an organization in supply chain, we’re at the center of the corporation trying to influence change across many different businesses. And these business, us leaders that have responsibility to deliver to customers, to deliver on our shareholder, um, obligations and, and targets. You know, they have a lot on their plate that, that they’re concerned about. And if they don’t feel that I care about their business success, they don’t really care about what kind of transformation I’m trying to, to drive. So I guess it really gets back to change management and really understanding what’s important to your stakeholders. There’s also an element of credibility, like rather than trying to implement large scale changes all at once because we’ve sat, you know, at a whiteboard behind closed doors planning and, uh, convincing ourselves that our assumptions are accurate.

Bonnie Fetch (22:11):

When in many cases there’s no way for us to know the outcome, right? My belief is small steps build, you know, design build, test iterate, you know, do things in a way that you get small scale success. And then you build on that scale at our it quickly, or as one of my former bosses used to say, build capability and then build capacity, if you build capability and you prove that it works, then the businesses start pulling on you to say, how fast can you come to my, my unit and do that same thing. And so that, that has helped me in, in the transformations and oftentimes where I’ve seen it go wrong is when a function in the center of an organization tries to push change from our perspective, as opposed to, from the business perspective, we often get that resistance, uh, from the businesses.

Scott Luton (23:03):

Hmm. You know, uh, going back to a point you shared just a second ago, gosh, if other aspects of the enterprise is asking you to bring whatever you’re doing to their site or to their operation, you know, you’ve hit the nail on the heads. I love that love hearing that. Um, okay. Any, I wanna go in a second to your visit to Stanford, uh, not too long ago and, and get some of your thoughts, Sarah, anything else when it comes to maybe a little more broader how global supply chain is transforming, how the industry is evolving right here in front of our eyes, it in the last, in, in the hour or so we’ll spend together here, plenty of change has taken place. Right. Any other additional thoughts you wanna share

Bonnie Fetch (23:45):

There? Yeah, I think some of these changes were changes that were, were inevitable before the pandemic, but certainly the pandemic has, um, created a lot of reason to go back and, and rethink, you know, supply chain strategy. So certainly, you know, very global supply chains. We will always have global supply chain, but I think there is going to continue to be moved toward more regional supply chains, given some of the trade issues that we’ve had over the last number of years, given certainly the logistics challenges, the transportation challenges that we’ve seen throughout the pandemic. Um, certainly, um, moving from single source supply to dual or a multisource supply is an ongoing trend that will continue, um, moving from a just in time kind of capability, which for decades we’ve been working to have just in time inventory to really taking a view of agile and resilient supply chains.

Bonnie Fetch (24:41):

And what are the implications on how much stock you hold, um, automation, you know, was already increasing in, in velocity, but really with the challenges that we’re having now with people, resources, I think automation becomes all that much more important for us to identify where can we take the work and automate it so that we can put people on higher level tasks, certainly, you know, preparing for uncertainty, right. There are always going to be shocks to the supply chain. Uh, we can’t always perfectly prepare for what those shocks are going to be. And so moving away from event driven, you know, kind of, um, uh, resilience to continuously monitoring and preparing, you know, how do you make your supply chain resilient, not even knowing what the future shocks are gonna be, but how do you evaluate where your vulnerabilities are and build resilience so that whatever it is, whether it’s a ship stuck in the Pinal or whether it’s a pandemic or whether it’s a trade issue, you know, how do you build into the supply chain?

Bonnie Fetch (25:48):

And I think the final thing that I would say is a continued reliance on, um, AI technology. Um, artificial intelligence know we in supply chain are data rich and often insight core. And so relying on more machine learning and artificial intelligence to take this massive amount of data that we’re all trying to consume on a daily basis and show trends and insights, uh, that we may not so readily, uh, be able to see through a manual lens, uh, I think is going to be an increasing trends and then customer expectations. And let’s face it. The pandemic has changed test some expectations in a big way for virtually every industry, right? So how do we ensure that, you know, we are able to serve our customers in the way that customers are, are, uh, going to require us to serve them, whether that’s means, you know, more of a, of an e-commerce presence, how do we make it easier for customers to get what they need easier for customers to return what they don’t need, uh, easier for customers to have visibility to when they’re going to receive the product. Um, those are, you know, they we’re on the radar already, but I think we need to accelerate our ability to meet customer expectations,

Scott Luton (27:07):

Man, that is a master list of items we just shared there. Uh, I, I appreciate that. What, and I love your comment. One of my favorite, you know, with automation being implemented at such the pace and such the skills that is, I love when I leaders talk about how let’s, let’s pick our spots and then let’s, let’s, uh, give our people the opportunity to add more value and do more meaningful, more rewarding work. Let’s tap into some of their abilities, maybe that their current or previous roles haven’t been allowing them to do. So I think that’s thes way of looking at, uh, the automation opportunities. So appreci sharing, all right. Let’s shift gears. I love when executives, uh, go back to, uh, students and classes, universities, high schools, you name it and offer their perspective and, and, and challenge ’em and, you know, tell stories. You never know what door, what window, what epiphany you’re gonna create that could change one of those students journeys, right? One of their, they could uncover one of their interests. So you, I believe were back at Stanford a few months ago. Uh, some of your old stopping grounds, I believe, um, talking strategy culture amongst other things with students. So one question is, um, any exchanges with your, with the students there that really stick out to you?

Bonnie Fetch (28:26):

Yeah, it was a really interesting conversation. And what stuck out to me were, you know, the insightful questions that students were asking, you know, when I was in university, I was not talking about culture. I was not talking about diversity and inclusion. And to some extent I was talking about leadership, but not to the depth that these students were. So they were, were very interested in learning about, you know, the culture at the companies that I had led, um, interested in understanding how to balance company culture with a drive for more diversity and inclusion. So we spent a lot of time talking about diversity and inclusion in part, because I’m a pretty vocal advocate or diversity and inclusion, uh, in part, because I think, you know, it’s, it really is on their mind. Um, and then a lot of questions about, you know, leadership and, um, things that they should be thinking about if they start their leadership career, uh, is a really engaging conversation for me.

Bonnie Fetch (29:21):

I always find, you know, I go to give back and I often walk away in, in these kind of conversations. Cause you know, students ask questions that challenge me a thing. Uh, a few of the students caught me afterwards and, you know, wanted to talk to me about their own personal experience, particularly young women, you know, that are very interested in supply chain and inspired to see, you know, a woman in a senior level position in an industry that’s male dominated. Um, and so, you know, I’m always happy to, uh, provide opportunities for mentoring and, and learning from my experiences and also my mistakes. But, you know, I think what stood out to me most is just how, how, uh, up, up to speed, they were on current events and, and this true interest in as a leader, how you craft a culture where people wanna work for you and where you can attract the kinda diversity, uh, that we’re seeking to

Scott Luton (30:15):

Attract. I appreciate you sharing. And I’m gonna circle back to, uh, some of those conversations you had in, in a question, uh, just here in a moment, but speaking of culture, I am a big culture. Nerd love studying it as we, you know, try to create and optimize and always improve the culture we have here at supply chain. Now it’s really important to me, in your words, Bonnie, what’s one element to culture that you believe really inspires, motivates and liberate a workforce.

Bonnie Fetch (30:43):

I think there’s a number of things. If I had to, if I had to name one, I would say that people want to feel like they belong and that they’re appreciated. I think they also want to have a clear purpose. They wanna know that what they’re working on is actually important and they wanna understand in how it links, you know, upstream and downstream. They, as I said, wanna feel heard. So, you know, I found oftentimes as very transparent leader that even if I’m delivering a message that people don’t particularly like, they appreciate the transparency and they appreciate the willingness to listen to the feed. The, that might be that they really don’t like and engaging, you know, unapologetically in this conversation, whatever the topic, um, and truly hearing people, um, and, and listening to people, even if at the end of the day, we decide to do something that they don’t particularly agree with.

Bonnie Fetch (31:39):

If they feel heard, um, they feel good about that. And then the, the appreciation can’t be underscored enough. And by appreciation, I, I, I’m always careful to say it. Isn’t about just the, the thank you that doesn’t have any meaning behind it. It’s appreciation in terms of giving feedback about specifically what the individual did, why you appreciate it and being heartfelt, being genuine. Um, and then the final thing is people like people, leaders in particular that are authentic, right? People want leaders that walk their talk that say what they mean, mean what they say and the, the real people, right? Make mistakes, own your mistakes. The number of times that I’ve had employees say to me, like your authenticity and your willingness to say it, when you make a mistake is truly inspiring, you know, tells me that what people want is to know that the people that they work for care for them, and they’re real. Hmm. It seems really simplistic, doesn’t it <laugh>

Scott Luton (32:46):

Well, you know, but, but, but it’s accurate. And that is that’s. You gotta give the people what they want. And, and one of the big things that we hear time and time again, whether it’s, uh, culture at organizations, whether it’s is content, whatever it is, they want real people having real conversations and AU uh, that authenticity. So I appreciate you sharing that recipe for part of that recipe for crafting the, an empowering culture. All right. So now I should have, I should have moved this question. Speaking of owner mistakes, I should have kept this question right after, uh, your Stanford comments. Uh, but it a, it is what it is. So if you’re speaking to a room full of students that really wanna break into supply chain, right. And move up the ladder to executive roles like yours, two part are here, general advice that you might offer ’em. And then speaking of your time, and those smaller circles at Stanford were, you’re having those conversations with other women that wanna get into what is still a male dominated industry. And especially as you move up the, uh, into the executive suite, the disparity gets massive. What advice would you give that, that captive room of, of, uh, students? Yeah,

Bonnie Fetch (33:55):

The first thing that I would say is no one will ever care as much about your career as you did. And I actually didn’t really, and truly understand that until I was about mid-career. I was about mid-career when I said, I want to run a business, I want to be a senior leader. And then the leader that I worked for made it happen for, I am certain that if I didn’t say that, if I didn’t own career journey, I may have had opportunities. I’m not sure I would’ve had the opportunities that I ended up having. So the first thing is clarifying what you want and not assuming that people know, but actually being willing to articulate what did, what is it that you’d like to do? And it may not be a specific position. I always encourage people to think about influence the type of work you like to do, cause roles, change organizations change.

Bonnie Fetch (34:47):

So, you know, being focused on a particular role in, in, in general doesn’t work, but being focused on how you’d like to be able to influence an organization. You know, when I had this, this opportunity to say, I wanted to lead a bit, I also said I would like to be an executive, helping to run a company, something. And it was a little scary to articulate that. Cause if you say it out loud and then you don’t achieve it, it’s disappointing. Um, I’ve been, of course, you know, very blessed to have great opportunities and, and I’m now helping to run a company. And, and so that’s the first thing own your career, be vocal about what you wanna do, and then be willing to do the hard work, which sometimes means take a sideways move sometimes means step out of your comfort zone, go do something you don’t really feel comfortable with.

Bonnie Fetch (35:39):

And you might actually fail and, and be willing to get breadth of experience. Once you’ve got some foundational expertise. Um, I think taking those risks calculated risks or, you know, safe risks, conservative risks. However you wanna say it is really important. I mean, big breakthroughs in my career have been times when I thought I am definitely not the most qualified person for this job. And I’m scared to death that I may fail. Those are the big moves that have been game changers in my career. I think the, the last thing I would say is invest in people along the way. You know, if you wanna be an executive leader, I don’t care what industry you’re in. You’re not in the business of manufacturing, transmissions, manufacturing, engines, designing product. You’re in the people business. When you lead people, you are in the people business. And so first and foremost, as a leader, you need to understand what it means to be a leader. And do you want to care for other people, genuinely care for other people help other people succeed? Not everybody wants to do that, right? Not everybody’s is, you know, has a desire or, or is cut out to be a leader. But if you are, you have to be willing to invest in people along the way.

Scott Luton (36:54):

That’s a really important point. The really last one, you may aid, cause it’s not one size fits all. You know, you have a wide range of, of, of plethora. <laugh> I should use that word, use that word in a long time of, of career aspirations, right? Some folks have no interest of advancing into the challenges that are part of the executive suite. So I think, um, adding maybe to your list is understanding your audience and, and what their objectives and motivations are. Bonnie. This is home, this is gold. This is not just supply chain gold it’s leadership gold. All right. So how can, if folks want, want to connect with you, maybe they want to pick your brain. Maybe they wanna check out your book. Maybe they wanna learn more about, um, all the cool things that Cummins is up to, uh, these days. How can they connect with you in the organization?

Bonnie Fetch (37:44):

The best way to connect with me is on LinkedIn. I do have a pretty good presence on LinkedIn. I post a lot of blogs. I share a lot of Cummins news information. And so that’s probably the best way to connect with me. I do get, I have quite a few followers and a lot of people reach out for, for advice. And so a little bit of patience. I can’t get back to everybody right away, but I do pride myself on getting back to people. Uh, and then cummins.com is a great place to check out. There’s a lot of exciting things happening at Cumins right now, not only in the product sense and our, our path to zero, but also our focus and actions to improve, um, our diversity and inclusion within our own company, but also in the communities that we live and serve in. Um, uh, we, we just have a lot of terrific and exciting things happening and, um, and a lot of opportunities, uh, with 2021 being the great resignation, all companies are, are challenged with, um, continuing to look for great talent and we are right there with everyone else. So cumins.com/cruise also has, uh, all of our current opinions.

Scott Luton (38:50):

Wonderful. I appreciate you sharing and, and to our listeners, Hey, if, uh, you heard it straight from Bonnie Fe here today, that type of culture and, and challenge and industry you name it appeal to you checkout, uh, the, the, the website there, Bonnie, a pleasure to finally connect with you. I really appreciate as busy as you are. Goodness gracious. You got three full plates right now, but as busy as you are, thanks so much for carving time out with us. He here today on supply chain now. Thank

Bonnie Fetch (39:17):

You. Its my pleasure,

Scott Luton (39:18):

Seth. All right. We’ve been talking with Bonnie fetch, vice president supply chain at Cummins, Inc. Uh, folks hopefully enjoyed this conversation. Another masterclass, uh, not just in supply chain, but, but global leadership hopefully enjoyed it as much as I did be sure to connect, uh, with Bonnie and with Cummings Cumins to learn a lot more and Hey, check us out. Supply chain now.com. If you like conversations like this, of course you can subscribe to our podcast wherever you get your podcast from. But most importantly, if you hear one thing beyond, I’ve got about 18 pages of notes here, Bonnie of really good, actionable takeaway from our interview, but Hey, be like Bonnie, do good. Give forward. Be the change is needed on that note. We’ll see you next time. Right back here at supply chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (40:02):

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. We’ll LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. See you next time on supply chain now.

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Featured Guests

Bonnie Fetch is an executive officer at Cummins Inc. where she joined in 2018 and has rapidly grown her influence, accountability, and impact. She leads the global supply chain for Cummins’ Distribution Business Segment, and she has leadership accountability for Supply Chain Operations across the company in North America. She is currently leading a large scale supply chain transformation across Cummins and leads the newly formed Cummins Global Supply Chain Services organization. She previously also had accountability for the Distribution Segment sales, service and support business in four growth markets – Africa, China, India and LATAM. Prior to Cummins, Bonnie spent 20 years at Caterpillar. She led Caterpillar’s global aftermarket parts distribution organization serving 2,000 dealer locations and leading 5,000 employees in 21 locations around the world. In this role, she developed and began executing on a transformation strategy that enabled new capabilities, including additive manufacturing, drone deliveries, and predictive logistics to be developed while achieving a 20% cost structure improvement and enabling all-time record sales. She also served as General Manager for Caterpillar’s Components and Work Tools unit with global responsibility for design, manufacture/procurement and go to market strategies for this multi-billion dollar business. During her tenure, she led significant cost structure improvements >20% while encouraging breakthrough innovations including addititive manufacturing, proprietary product design and business model changes enabling > 15% profitable sales growth. Previously, as Managing Director for Turner Powertrain Systems, with P&L accountability for this $400 million business, Bonnie improved profitability during a worldwide recession through significant restructuring efforts. She then strategically invested in R&D during this down cycle enabling the business to compete as the industry began to recover. Bonnie’s experience beyond leading businesses includes serving in corporate roles as Chief Learning Office, Human Resources Director, and Global Supply Chain Executive Director. She also owned a small business of her own in the travel industry. Bonnie completed a BS degree in Applied Organizational Management, post graduate studies in Leadership and Organizational Behavior, and Executive Programs at Stanford University and Singularity University. She has served on numerous privately held for-profit boards as well as non-profit boards. She is a published author and active leader for diversity and inclusion, and she is an active leader in communities where she lives and works. Connect with Bonnie on LinkedIn.

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Scott W. Luton

Founder, CEO, & Host

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Demo Perez

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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 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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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.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Host, Logistics with Purpose

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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