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Supply Chain is Boring
Episode 44

Episode Summary

James R. Stock is a University of South Florida Distinguished University Professor and Frank Harvey Endowed Professor of Marketing. He has interviewed many of the greatest minds in transportation logistics, a practice area we call supply chain management today. He shared those interviewed with the Supply Chain Doctor, Chris Barnes, to be republished as part of the Supply Chain is Boring program.

In this interview, Stock speaks with Kenneth B. Ackerman, a well-known warehousing guru, consultant, and Army Veteran about his experience in the military, what it was like taking over the family business from his father, and why it pays off to be a “reasonable risk taker.”

Listen to their conversation to learn more about this well-known luminary in supply chain management.

Episode Transcript

Chris Barnes (00:06):

Hey, it’s Chris. The supply chain doctor and host of supply chain is boring. Over the years. I’ve interviewed some of the brightest minds and successful leaders in the world of supply chain management. In May, 2020. I sat down with Ken Ackerman to learn more about him, collect a little supply chain management history. After our discussion. Ken told me about a similar interview he had with Dr. James stock many years prior, and the related work Dr. Stock was doing in November, 2020. I was able to catch up with Dr. James stock to learn about his work as an academic in the field of transportation logistics. And now what we call supply chain manage ment Jim was well connected to many of the original academic thought leaders in the space. Jim did interviews with many of these original thought leaders and shared them with me. The list includes Ken Ackerman, Don Bauer, SOS James Hasket, bud littleand John Langley, Jr. Tom Menser, Tom SP and Daniel Ren To carry on the great work started by Dr. Jim stock. I’m dusting off these interviews and bringing them to you on supply chain is boring.

James Stock (01:12):

Uh, what was the most difficult aspect of being in the military?

Ken Ackerman (01:16):

It was a piece of cake. I, I, I didn’t wanna be there, but once I got there, I had a wonderful time. Mike Culver training got me through basic training really easily, cuz I knew pretty much what to expect. So, uh, basic training, uh, I say it wasn’t fun, but uh, there weren’t any great surprises and the assignment was a very great and very pleasant surprise. I could have gone to Korea or one of these garden spots safari. Well, thankfully if you were still involved in, uh, running, it made the basic training much easier physically. Yeah. Uh, the interesting thing is I was in there at, I guess, age 23, we of a bunch of teenagers, uh, who were, you know, five years younger than me. And, and because of that, possibly in better shape, but I was a trainee platoon leader, a job I got because I demonstrated that I knew the drill and I figured, you know, I can’t drop out I’m up at the head of the line. I set the example. So I was probably in better physical shape when I got out of basic training than I had ever been before or will ever be again. Do you think the Culver, uh, experience helped you in the military? No question. It did sure. Prepared you for the regimen and absolutely those things. Yeah.

James Stock (02:45):

Now, do you consider your duty as having a positive or negative or neutral impact on your profession?

Ken Ackerman (02:52):

Very positive because I think that the military experience, which so few young people today get is an laboratory for leadership and you learn a great deal about leading people and getting people to follow you and, and, uh, communicating with them. I think the military is one of the greatest preparations for leadership that there is

James Stock (03:18):

Very good. So in terms of, once you finished your military, uh, two years at Walter Reed, you went back to work for your father.

Ken Ackerman (03:28):

Yes.

James Stock (03:29):

Uh, how long did you stay there before sort of branching out expanding?

Ken Ackerman (03:34):

Well, I, I was, as I, I think I said before, I was sort of reluctant to go into a family business, uh, when I went to Harvard business school and went through the interview process and they said, why do you wanna be here? I said, I wanna be here. So I have some options and not be sort of trapped into going into a family business cuz I can’t do anything else. So, so I went into it hesitantly. Uh, I told my father that I absolutely would not be junior sitting in the next office I had in Chicago, seen the head guy come out and say where’s junior. He was literally called him that I said, I don’t wanna be that way. So, uh, my father said, well, we’re opening in Columbus and that’s 90 miles away. Isn’t that far enough away. So I can’t yell at you. So I came down here and because I was 90 miles away very quickly, uh, felt fairly independent.

James Stock (04:35):

Right. How long did your father stay in the business after you started after military? Right.

Ken Ackerman (04:41):

I’ve gotta think about that. Uh, I started in the business in 1957 and my father retired about 20 years after that, a little less than 20 years after that. Um, but he approached retirement, Uh, maybe 12 years after that. Uh, we lost my mother in 69. My father remarried a couple of years later to a lady who really wanted him to move to Florida and get away from the business. So he started backing away, uh, when he was much younger than he would’ve needed to because that’s what he wanted to do.

James Stock (05:31):

Okay. And so that business sort of formed the basis for what you did for so many years before it was required by Xcel?

Ken Ackerman (05:40):

Yes.

James Stock (05:41):

Okay. Very good. And um, why did you stay in the profession for so long without changing, you know, you, the uh, the company that your father had started and that you took over, um, essentially was yours until bought out by Excel?

Ken Ackerman (05:58):

Not really, not, not exactly the timeline. Isn’t quite like that. Okay. Uh, In the mid seventies, Uh, you know, less than less than 20 years into it, I came up with an, the idea that I did not want to work in, in corporate America until retirement. And the dream I had was to get out of the business before my 50th birthday and get out of corporate life before my 50th birthday and either get into teaching or consulting. I had decided that one of those two was something I wanted to do. And, and, and, uh, We had an outside board In my mid seventies, I should say, in the mid seventies, you know, timeframe, 75, 76. I started talking to our board members and to my dad and to a few other people who I was close to and said, I want to get out of this. I want to change careers. Uh, one of our outside board members came to me and said, I’ve got an idea that you never thought of. And that is to sell all the real estate and liquidate the company, which we did in 1980. Uh, the acquisition by XL happened several years later than that. But I joined the consulting division of Coopers and li brand in October of 1980 and then had to separate myself completely from the warehouse business because there was a potential conflict of interest, uh, Coopers and iBrand was the auditor to the company. So I couldn’t, couldn’t wear both hats. Okay. Couldn’t have, if I wanted to

James Stock (07:51):

Now, how did you get that desire to either consult or teach? Where did that come from?

Ken Ackerman (07:57):

You know, I’m really not sure strongest desire was I didn’t want to reach retirement age, come to the end of a career and still be in a small business and be trying to figure out how to get out of it. And I had seen my father restless about this, wanting to get away. And I see it so often today, a of, of business leaders who get into their sixties, uh, seventies, and, and they’re trying to hang it up and they can’t figure out how to quit or how to get out. And I said, if you are 50 or younger, you can change careers easy, easily when you’re much older than the people will never believe you can change. You may believe you can, but nobody else will.

James Stock (08:47):

Okay. When you think back, um, to that 50 plus years in distribution warehousing and supply chain management, what do you consider your most significant accomplishment as a professional?

Ken Ackerman (09:04):

Well, I think certainly in corporate life, it was to take a pretty tiny family managed business. And by the time I left it, it was a housing business that was in eight cities. Uh, I think in six different states, we went as far west, as Texas, as far south, as Georgia, as far east, as Maryland. And we had built a professionally managed company. It wasn’t a family business anymore. Uh, I would add that when I got into it, it was 100% union. And, uh, 10 years later was 100% union free. That was not an easy thing to do, but we did it, uh, wouldn’t want to go through those experiences again, but we did it. And, uh, so we had a vastly different business by the time I left it than it was the one that I went into.

James Stock (10:00):

Do you think part of that, uh, was your father more conservative as a business person than you or

Ken Ackerman (10:05):

No. No, not at all. No. He was less conservative than I was.

James Stock (10:09):

So why do you think you grew the business? Uh, so significantly and he did not,

Ken Ackerman (10:15):

I don’t think dad, uh,

Ken Ackerman (10:19):

Really was driven to do it. Uh, there were a lot of things that happened. Our lawyer suggested to us that we get an outside board and my dad’s reaction was I’ll try that. As long as we outnumber them, we gotta have more inside directors than outside directors, the outside board, uh, including folks like Jim Hesket, who you have interviewed were a great influence on me. Uh, pushing me to grow the company saying, you know, you could build a national company, you’ve got the right stuff to do it. So why haven’t you done it yet? So I tried to do it. And, uh, Uh, when, you know, we, we went into other cities. We even went into other cities, uh, uh, two or three times with no customer on pure speculation, putting up a warehouse saying we will build it and they will come. And by some miracle we got away with that.

James Stock (11:18):

So you’re willing to take risks

Ken Ackerman (11:21):

Less so now than I was then. Yes. But, but I guess I’ve always been a reasonable risk taker.

James Stock (11:29):

Now, you mentioned after that long experience in, in the business of warehousing that you wanted to go into consulting or at education, right. Um, do you have regrets that you didn’t make that decision earlier and to perhaps go into education or consulting very early as opposed to the

Ken Ackerman (11:51):

Business? No. No. I, I think that, uh, I’ve been better at what I did because of what I did earlier. No, no regrets at all. I think, uh, I think that people who go into consulting, I, I’m not gonna discuss education cuz I haven’t been there and done that. But I think people who go into consulting right out of school knowing nothing are, You know, they, uh, they know, uh, what questions to ask, but they don’t know how to answer them.

James Stock (12:24):

So in terms of your profession now, business leader, warehousing consultant.

Ken Ackerman (12:33):

Yeah.

James Stock (12:34):

And now we’d also also include author lecture, those kinds of things. Uh, have you achieved most of what you wanted to do?

Ken Ackerman (12:44):

I think so what you didn’t mention is the thing I’m spending more time than anything else is a group leader for Vistage international, which really in involves business counseling. And my group members, I have one in the logistics business of the 13 in my group, but the others are in a wide variety of businesses with a wide variety of problems and a 30 year spread from oldest to youngest. Uh, and that’s very stimulating and the lot of fun to try to, to help people, uh, to lead the group, I’ve watched the group help each other. And this is a very satisfying thing. And this is my next career. This is what I’m moving more into and, and gradually away from the logistics consulting business.

Ken Ackerman (13:34):

I’m,

Ken Ackerman (13:35):

I’m not announcing that I’m quitting or anything, but I’m just spending less time

James Stock (13:39):

At. So it’s a natural evolution for

Ken Ackerman (13:40):

You. Absolutely.

James Stock (13:42):

Okay. Now did, um, you have a, you mentioned a few people here and there, the, the one teacher, for example, that gave you the love of reading and literature. You mentioned Jim Hesket, who influenced you when he was on your board. Are there, did you have mentors as you were developing and who were those?

Ken Ackerman (14:03):

Well, since we’re sitting on the campus of Ohio state, I’d have to say that the distinguished professor here, the name of art Coleman, who, I don’t know if you knew art or not, was a huge influence on me. I think he may have introduced me to Jim, but I’m not sure about that. Uh, but, but was very, I think everybody that was close to art was strongly influenced by him because he was just a natural mentor. I’ve got a think about some others. Uh, the, the fellow who was partner in charge at Coopers. And IAnd when I joined the firm, taught me a lot about the consulting business so that when I went on my own leaving Coopers, I felt like I really was prepared to be on my

Ken Ackerman (14:54):

Own.

Ken Ackerman (14:55):

And, uh, so those are two that I think of quickly

James Stock (14:59):

As mentors. Now, did those mentors choose you or did you choose them?

Ken Ackerman (15:04):

I don’t know that

Ken Ackerman (15:06):

That’s

Ken Ackerman (15:07):

Hard to say. It’s just, I guess I really should also say that that bud LAN here at Ohio state has been a great friend and mentor and, and I’ve often said I can learn more over breakfast with bud than I’ll learn the rest of the week Because he’s, he’s always, always on the edge with great ideas and, and you didn’t mention it, but the Harvard business review article that, uh, we did was jointly done bud. And I wrote it together, had a lot of fun with it. Uh, we’ve done some consulting together, so, uh, he’s been a great influence as well.

James Stock (15:48):

Now, do you have, uh, with all these things that you’ve done, both in the family business, um, growing it into a, uh, uh, multi-region distribution center operation, then going into consulting Coopers then on your own, um, now involved in writing and lecturing and, and your, uh, uh, your counseling activities that, uh, are becoming more important, what would you say would be maybe your personal mission statement or, um, those things that code of contact that drives you to do all of this? I think

Ken Ackerman (16:35):

That very few people are successful in leadership and, and I like to think I’ve learned how to do it. I’m still learning. And I like to think that I’ve taught others to be better leaders By maybe showing them what they do, that’s wrong and what they do, they it’s right. And, and so, uh, I look upon, uh, this counseling activity with Vista as sort of a laboratory for leadership.

Ken Ackerman (17:05):

Uh,

Ken Ackerman (17:07):

It was fun having a leadership position in a professional society like the group that’s now called CS MP because that’s a different kind of leadership. You, you have no power over anybody to get them to do anything. Uh, you can only hope you might motivate them to do something. And my first job for what was then called CPDM was to run an annual conference. And the guys who after me to do this said, well, Ackerman, if you fail at this, we’ll be out of business. If this conference fails, the council will be broke and it’ll be your fault, but there’s no pressure do whatever you’d

James Stock (17:48):

Like. And that sounds something that George EIT might have said

Ken Ackerman (17:51):

There was even prej actually, I, I got that job, I believe just before George came on board, George was a friend before he, he know he lived in Columbus before he went to, to join the council. But It, uh, Leadership in, in volunteer organizations is a different kettle of fish. As you know, and as some people discover late, you, you can’t manage volunteers the way you can manage people in when you sign their paycheck. So there’s, it’s a tricky thing to do, and it was fun to do

James Stock (18:31):

Good. Well, you looked at all those jobs you’ve held. What was the ideal job?

Ken Ackerman (18:38):

Oh, gosh. I’ve had fun with all of them. Uh, it was fun to run a company, but I didn’t wanna do it forever. Uh, it’s been fun to be a particularly, unless business gets bad and the phone quits ringing, which does happen in consulting, I, I don’t think there’s any one ideal job, Jim I’ve I’ve enjoyed most of them.

James Stock (19:04):

Is there anything that you, uh, have not done that you would’ve liked to have done?

Ken Ackerman (19:12):

I haven’t been an outside board member of a, of a business. I’ve been a board member of nonprofits. I I have, and, and I won’t be UN highly unlikely that anybody, my age gets invited to join an outside board. Uh, in fact, most people there’s an age limit for most boards. So I won’t be, I wish I had, I wish I had been on some corporate boards just didn’t happen.

James Stock (19:44):

Well, that’s not, uh, you’ve done a lot without having had that on your resume. Yeah.

Ken Ackerman (19:48):

It doesn’t bring tears to my eyes, but I, I wish it had happened

James Stock (19:53):

Now earlier in our interview, um, you were talking about, uh, meeting your wife yes. As one of the highlights of

Ken Ackerman (19:59):

Absolutely. Um,

James Stock (20:02):

Tell me about her, how you met and, um, do you have children? If so, how many, what are they doing? And, and so on?

Ken Ackerman (20:11):

Well, uh, we first met because I met her older brother who was, uh, providing a home to a Chilean student. And this, I, I, squired a group of Chilean young ladies in Washington who were part of the same student group that I’d gone to Mexico with you and this girl came home and said, uh, I met a soldier who wants to take me out to dinner. My wife’s brother was fairly alarmed. He felt that he was responsible for this girl and he wondered what kind of soldier she met.

Ken Ackerman (20:47):

And

Ken Ackerman (20:48):

So I met her brother who decided I was all right, let me take her out to dinner. And then he decided he wanted me to meet his sister. So that’s how I first met Jean. And then I met her later at a party in Washington and we had a whirlwind romance,

James Stock (21:04):

So, okay. So how long did you date before got married?

Ken Ackerman (21:08):

Oh, three or four months.

James Stock (21:09):

So it was a fairly quick, uh, courtship and yeah. Yeah. And you’ve been married how long now?

Ken Ackerman (21:15):

53 years.

James Stock (21:17):

So war was courtship, but lasted 53

James Stock (21:20):

Plus years. It sucked. Yeah.

James Stock (21:23):

Um, and your children,

Ken Ackerman (21:25):

The oldest, my lives in Manhattan and is in television, uh, special effect. And his wife is a, uh, writer of children’s books. So they both make a living in the arts and somehow don’t starve.

Ken Ackerman (21:43):

Uh,

Ken Ackerman (21:43):

My middle one is a professional engineer. So specializing in water, which is a hot field for engineering and lives in Virginia And is divorced and has, but has a great business career. My youngest is a clinical psychologist living in Hanover, New Hampshire. Uh, her husband is, uh, I don’t know what his rank is, but he’s on the faculty at Dartmouth.

James Stock (22:15):

So two boys and a girl or two girls,

Ken Ackerman (22:18):

Two girls and a boy. My son is the oldest and then the two girls.

James Stock (22:24):

Okay. What was your main goal as a parent?

Ken Ackerman (22:29):

Uh, I, I think just survival. Wasn’t a very good parent traveling too much, but my, my wife is a very good parent, so she makes up for me. And, uh, I just, you know, you, all you want is your, for your kids to stay out of trouble and be successful. And, uh, they didn’t always stay out of trouble and they, but they’ve been reasonably happy and successful, which is all you can hope for.

James Stock (22:54):

I think it was mark Twain who said, uh, as children grow, you put ’em in a box. Okay. Uh, with a hole and sort of feed them and give them information periodically when they become teenagers, you seal ’em up the hole.

Ken Ackerman (23:11):

Well, it was eventually who said, uh, all children should be locked in the closet till they’re old enough to read Greek. It’s a similar idea.

James Stock (23:21):

Okay. What ways do you think you influenced your children the most?

Ken Ackerman (23:27):

I’m not sure I influenced them at all. Uh, I, one family activity that’s been very good for us and, and, uh, we do, we can’t do it as well, or my wife can’t do it at all anymore was, uh, family ski trips. And, uh, for many, many years, uh, we spent every Christmas skiing,

Ken Ackerman (23:52):

Uh,

Ken Ackerman (23:53):

For about 15 years. We owned a property in Utah and, uh, that was just the, you were expected to be there Christmas. And everybody came and, you know, was, we got grandchildren. It got to be a bigger and bigger pile of people, but everybody out on skis. And it’s a great family activity, which, uh, I still ski with my brother-in-law and my son. And sometimes my son-in-law. So, you know, we, we still do it and it’s a lot of fun. It’s a great family building thing.

James Stock (24:24):

That’s so it wasn’t horseback riding.

Ken Ackerman (24:27):

That’s too expensive. I’ve done a little of that, but to get a whole mob doing it, uh, is, is cost even more than skiing.

James Stock (24:35):

Wow. Okay. If, uh, I had your children here, how would they describe you as a parent? Do you think,

Ken Ackerman (24:44):

Wow,

James Stock (24:45):

What would they say?

Ken Ackerman (24:47):

I’m really not sure. You’d probably have to ask them. I think, uh, they all speak to me. None of them are angry at me today and, and haven’t been, uh, A lot of needling they’re, they’re politically very liberal in this election season. There’s a huge amount of needling back and forth, uh, about, uh, the merits of various candidates and so forth. Uh, but I think we’ve all gotten along well together and, uh, and that’s a great blessing.

James Stock (25:20):

So Ken relating more, uh, to, uh, family issues. Uh, you mentioned your parents, um, in what ways do you think your father and your mother influenced you?

Ken Ackerman (25:35):

Well, my mother was, uh, very interested in education. Uh, she was, uh, at the time of her death, the president of the school board in Lima, Ohio, which I considered to be terribly funny irony because she’d always been an enemy of the public schools in that town. And then, uh, all of a sudden she was leading the charge. So I think that she particularly made me appreciate how important education was. Uh, my FA was very much a risk taker and an entrepreneur. And, uh, I think that he showed me some of the possibilities in the business world.

James Stock (26:18):

Okay.

Ken Ackerman (26:19):

They both were great travelers and I am too. I, I probably should have mentioned that. I, one thing that we love to do is travel. The only continent we’ve not been on is Antarctica. So, uh, we, we move around a good bit. Uh, I will be in, uh, central America, this winter be in Mexico for Christmas. Uh, last winter we were in Peru and, you know, we move around, enjoy traveling.

James Stock (26:48):

So Ken, what you need to do is take the cruise, goes below south America. Yeah. And then take the little

Ken Ackerman (26:55):

Boat

James Stock (26:56):

Shuttle or helicopter over to Antarctica, visit every continent.

Ken Ackerman (26:59):

I I’ve thought about that

James Stock (27:02):

Last, like you I’ve been on every continent, but that one as well. So that’s my, uh, plan. Yeah. Just find time. Yes. To do that. Uh, which of your two parents, do you think you’re most similar to your mother or father?

Ken Ackerman (27:16):

Probably my mother. Uh, my father was much more easygoing in and relaxed than I have ever been. And I’ve always said that, uh, if my son had come into the business, I probably would’ve killed him or he would’ve killed me. Uh, my father was, was the kind person who let me make all kinds of dumb mistakes and never complained about it. So, uh, I, I think I’m more my mother

James Stock (27:44):

And of course you were 90 miles away.

Ken Ackerman (27:46):

That’s true. That helped,

James Stock (27:47):

That helped. That helped.

James Stock (27:49):

Um,

James Stock (27:50):

So do you think the manner in which your parents raised you affected the way you developed as a business leader?

Ken Ackerman (27:55):

Of course it did. It does with everybody, I think. Sure. Uh, I, I was raised to be curious, to be interested in learning and raised with the expectation that I would do well. So, you know, high expectations and tried to meet them.

James Stock (28:14):

Now, you briefly alluded to this in responding to family. Um, do you have brothers or sisters?

Ken Ackerman (28:21):

Uh, none surviving. Uh, my, I lost my sister her about nine years ago. She was five and a half years younger. And, uh, I think my mother lost two in childbirth, so, uh, but the only I did have one sibling and no don’t today.

James Stock (28:39):

Okay. So no one in your family other than your father was in your business?

Ken Ackerman (28:43):

That’s correct. Okay.

James Stock (28:45):

Is there some reason for that, that everyone chose other professions?

Ken Ackerman (28:49):

Well, my sister had no interest in business. There wasn’t anybody else in the family to do that. So it wasn’t even an issue. However, this was an interesting thing, uh, as our company grew, uh, distribution center, Inc. My right hand guy suggested that we have a known nepotism policy and I grabbed that. I said, bill, that is a great idea. And one of the reasons I thought it was a great idea was I was looking around at my management team and they all had kids. And I thought, if this could really be a rats nest, if everybody wants to pull their kids into the business, I wasn’t really worried about my kids. Uh, I suspected that my son had no interest in it anyway. And when I was challenged on that by a friend who said, how can you do that to your children? I said, well, if I ever have a child who wants to be in business, I’m gonna hope I’m in a position to be his or her banker

Chris Barnes (29:56):

Supply chain is boring as part of the supply chain. Now network the voice of supply chain, interested in sponsoring this show or others to help you get your message out. Send a note to chris@supplychainnow.com. We can also help with world class supply chain, education and certification workshops for you or your team. Thanks for listening. And remember, supply chain is boring.

 

Featured Guests

Dr. James Stock has been honored internationally three separate times for his achievements in supply chain and logistics management by the industry’s leading professional organizations. This year, he will receive the Supply Chain Management Professionals’ Distinguished Service Award – the highest honor that an individual can receive for their achievements in supply chain and logistics management. In addition, he will also be honored with the Special Lifetime Logistics Service Award by Yasar University in Izmir, Turkey and the 9th International Logistics and Supply Chain Congress for his outstanding achievement and continuous contributions to the field.

During the course of his 35-year career, Stock has also been honored with, DC Velocity magazine’s “Rainmaker for 2006” and has been awarded the Eccles Medal and the Armitage Medal by SOLE – The International Society of Logistics.
Stock has more than 150 publications in the field. He has authored six books and his publications have been translated into five different languages – Chinese, Czech, Portuguese, Russian, and Thai. He has also traveled to 46 countries on six continents to conduct research, lecture, or do consulting work for various organizations and universities.

Before coming to USF in 1989, Stock, the Frank Harvey Endowed Professor of Marketing at the College of Business, taught at Michigan State University, the Air Force Institute of Technology, the University of Oklahoma, and the University of Notre Dame. He holds a BS and MBA from the University of Miami (Florida) and a PhD from The Ohio State University. Stock is an active member of numerous professional organizations, former editor of the Journal of Business Logistics and International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, serves on many international editorial review boards, and is on the USF Honors and Awards committee.

Ken Ackerman has been active in logistics and warehousing management for his entire career. Before entering the consulting field, he was chief executive of Distribution Centers, Inc., a public warehousing company that is now part of Exel Logistics USA. In 1980, Ackerman sold the company and joined the management consulting division of Coopers & Lybrand. In 1981, he formed the Ackerman Company, a management advisory service. Ken is the editor and publisher of Warehousing Forum, a monthly subscription newsletter. His newest books are Lean Warehousing and Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management, both published in 2007. His other recent publications include Auditing Warehouse Performance and Warehousing Tips. Harvard Business Review published “Making Warehousing More Efficient,” co-authored with Professor Bernard J. LaLonde. The New York Times published his bylined article “Just In Time, Right For Retail.” He is the author of numerous other articles dealing with warehousing and management.

Some additional credentials – B.A., Princeton University M.B.A., Harvard University. Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals – Past President Warehousing Education and Research Council – Founder

Connect with Ken on LinkedIn.

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Chris Barnes

Host, Supply Chain is Boring

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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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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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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

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

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

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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Marty Parker

Host

Marty Parker serves as both the CEO & Founder of Adæpt Advising and an award-winning Senior Lecturer (Teaching Professor) in Supply Chain and Operations Management at the University of Georgia. He has 30 years of experience as a COO, CMO, CSO (Chief Strategy Officer), VP of Operations, VP of Marketing and Process Engineer. He founded and leads UGA’s Supply Chain Advisory Board, serves as the Academic Director of UGA’s Leaders Academy, and serves on multiple company advisory boards including the Trucking Profitability Strategies Conference, Zion Solutions Group and Carlton Creative Company.

Marty enjoys helping people and companies be successful. Through UGA, Marty is passionate about his students, helping them network and find internships and jobs. He does this through several hundred one-on-one zoom meetings each year with his students and former students. Through Adæpt Advising, Marty has organized an excellent team of affiliates that he works with to help companies grow and succeed. He does this by helping c-suite executives improve their skills, develop better leaders, engage their workforce, improve processes, and develop strategic plans with detailed action steps and financial targets. Marty believes that excellence in supply chain management comes from the understanding the intersection of leadership, culture, and technology, working across all parts of the organization to meet customer needs, maximize profit and minimize costs.

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Laura Lopez

Marketing Coordinator

Laura Lopez serves as our Supply Chain Now Marketing Coordinator. She graduated from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente in Mexico with a degree in marketing. Laura loves everything digital because she sees the potential it holds for companies in the marketing industry. Her passion for creativity and thinking outside the box led her to pursue a career in marketing. With experience in fields like accounting, digital marketing, and restaurants, she clearly enjoys taking on challenges. Laura lives the best of both worlds - you'll either catch her hanging out with her friends soaking up the sun in Mexico or flying out to visit her family in California!

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Jake Barr

Host

An acknowledged industry leader, Jake Barr now serves as CEO for BlueWorld Supply Chain Consulting, providing support to a cross section of Fortune 500 companies such as Cargill, Caterpillar, Colgate, Dow/Dupont, Firmenich, 3M, Merck, Bayer/Monsanto, Newell Brands, Kimberly Clark, Nestle, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Sanofi, Estee Lauder and Coty among others. He's also devoted time to engagements in public health sector work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. At P&G, he managed the breakthrough delivery of an E2E (End to End) Planning Transformation effort, creating control towers which now manage the daily business globally. He is recognized as the architect for P&G’s demand driven supply chain strategy – referenced as a “Consumer Driven Supply Chain” transformation. Jake began his career with P&G in Finance in Risk Analysis and then moved into Operations. He has experience in building supply network capability globally through leadership assignments in Asia, Latin America, North America and the Middle East. He currently serves as a Research Associate for MIT; a member of Supply Chain Industry Advisory Council; Member of Gartner’s Supply Chain Think Tank; Consumer Goods “League of Leaders“; and a recipient of the 2015 - 2021 Supply Chain “Pro’s to Know” Award. He has been recognized as a University of Kentucky Fellow.

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Marcia Williams

Host

Marcia Williams, Managing Partner of USM Supply Chain, has 18 years of experience in Supply Chain, with expertise in optimizing Supply Chain-Finance Planning (S&OP/ IBP) at Large Fast-Growing CPGs for greater profitability and improved cash flows. Marcia has helped mid-sized and large companies including Lindt Chocolates, Hershey, and Coty. She holds an MBA from Michigan State University and a degree in Accounting from Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay (South America). Marcia is also a Forbes Council Contributor based out of New York, and author of the book series Supply Chains with Maria in storytelling style. A recent speaker’s engagement is Marcia TEDx Talk: TEDxMSU - How Supply Chain Impacts You: A Transformational Journey.

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Luisa Garcia

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Luisa Garcia is a passionate Marketer from Lagos de Moreno based in Aguascalientes. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Universidad Autonoma de Aguascalientes, Mexico. She specializes in brand development at any stage, believing that a brand is more than just a name or image—it’s an unforgettable experience. Her expertise helps brands achieve their dreams and aspirations, making a lasting impact. Currently working at Vector Global Logistics in the Marketing team and as podcast coordinator of Logistics With Purpose®. Luisa believes that purpose-driven decisions will impact results that make a difference in the world.

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Astrid Aubert

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Astrid Aubert was born in Guadalajara, she is 39 years old and has had the opportunity to live in many places. She studied communication and her professional career has been in Trade Marketing for global companies such as Pepsico and Mars. She currently works as Marketing Director Mexico for Vector Global Logistics. She is responsible for internal communications and marketing strategy development for the logistics industry. She is a mother of two girls, married and lives in Monterrey. She defines herself as a creative and innovative person, and enjoys traveling and cooking a lot.

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Sofia Rivas

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

Sofia self-identifies as Supply Chain Ambassador, her mission is to advocate for the field and inspire young generations from diverse backgrounds and cultures to join the industry so that thought diversity is increased and change accelerated. Recognized as Linkedin Top Voice and Linkedin Community Top Voice in Supply Chain Management, as well as Emerging Leader in Supply Chain by CSCMP 2024, Top Women in Supply Chain by Supply & Demand Executive 2023, and Coup de Coeur Global Women Leaders in Supply Chain by B2G Consulting in 2021. 

Public speaker at multiple international events from keynotes and panels, to webinars and guest lectures for bachelor's and master's degrees, discussing topics such as sustainability, women in the industry, technology and innovation. Writer at different online magazines on logistics, supply chain and technology. Podcast host and guest on different recognized programs in the industry. Sofia has more than 5 years of experience from academic research and field studies to warehouse operations, demand planning and network design. She has worked in manufacturing, airport operations, e-commerce retail, and technology hardware across Latin America, North America and Europe. 

Currently working as Supply Chain Network Design and Optimization Manager at HP within their Global Supply Chain and Logistics team. 

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Karin Bursa

Host

Karin Bursa is the 2020 Supply Chain Pro to Know of the Year and the Host of the TEKTOK Digital Supply Chain Podcast powered by Supply Chain Now. With more than 25 years of supply chain and technology expertise (and the scars to prove it), Karin has the heart of a teacher and has helped nearly 1,000 customers transform their businesses and share their success stories. Today, she helps B2B technology companies introduce new products, capture customer success and grow global revenue, market share and profitability. In addition to her recognition as the 2020 Supply Chain Pro to Know of the Year, Karin has also been recognized as a 2019 and 2018 Supply Chain Pro to Know, 2009 Technology Marketing Executive of the Year and a 2008 Women in Technology Finalist. 

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Vin Vashishta

Host

Vin Vashishta is the author of ‘From Data To Profit’ (Wiley 2023). It’s the playbook for monetizing data and AI. Vin is the Founder of V-Squared and built the business from client 1 to one of the world’s oldest data and AI consulting firms. His background combines nearly 30 years in strategy, leadership, software engineering, and applied machine learning.

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Tevon Taylor

Host

Tevon Taylor is a dynamic leader at Pegasus Logistics, where he has made significant contributions to the company’s growth and innovation in the logistics industry. With a background in supply chain management and operations, Tevon combines strategic thinking with hands-on experience to streamline processes and enhance efficiency.  Since joining Pegasus Logistics, Tevon has been instrumental in implementing cutting-edge technologies and sustainable practices, driving the company toward a more eco-friendly approach. His leadership style fosters collaboration and empowers teams to excel, making him a respected figure among colleagues and industry peers.  Outside of work, Tevon is passionate about mentorship and actively engages in community initiatives, sharing his expertise to inspire the next generation of logistics professionals. His commitment to excellence and continuous improvement has positioned him as a key player in shaping the future of logistics at Pegasus.

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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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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 & Host

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 Cisco, Microsoft, 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 University, O’Reilly Media, LinkedIn Learning, and Pluralsight.  Mr. Jackson retired from the U.S. Navy in 1994, earning specialties in Space Systems Engineering, Carrier 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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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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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 seasoned production and marketing professional with over 20 years of experience across diverse industries, including retail, healthcare, and digital marketing. Throughout her career, she has worked with notable organizations such as Von Maur, Anthropologie, AmericasMart Atlanta, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Currently, Amanda manages, produces, and develops digital content for Supply Chain Now and its clients, delivering modern, engaging solutions for a wide range of audiences.

A former Vice President of Information Systems and Webmaster on the Board of Directors for APICS Savannah, Amanda also founded and led Magnolia Marketing Group, a successful digital marketing firm. Outside of her professional life, she enjoys experimenting in the kitchen, reading, listening to podcasts, and spending time with her 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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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

Director, Customer Experience

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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Mary Kate Love

Chief of Staff & Host

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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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

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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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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