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 entities Stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on supply chain now.

Scott Luton (00:31):

Hey, good morning, everybody. Scott Luton with supply chain. Now welcome back to the show. We’re continuing our coverage here at the 18th annual reverse logistics association conference and expo here in Vegas, which is a center of the universe for all things, returns management and reverse logistics at least this week. And I’m joined here with a special guest for today’s show Scot Case, vice president, corporate social responsibility and sustainability with the national retail Federation. Scot, how you doing?

Scot Case (00:58):

Very good. Thanks for having me, Scott. It’s exciting. You

Scott Luton (01:01):

Bet. Well, you know, he’s already made an impact. Uh, we should have been taping the pre-show because you, you have a lot of personality and great stories and, and what I hear maybe some good pictures, but we’ll have to be good after.

Scot Case (01:13):

Oh no, no. The pictures stay private. So

Scott Luton (01:16):

Lots of personalities let’s get know you a little better for before. Get into some heavy lifting about industry and all things. You’re doing things that you and NF are doing. Let’s get know Scott Case a little bit better. So let’s start with, where did you grow up, Scott?

Scot Case (01:28):

So I grew up in, uh, Charlotte, North Carolina. Okay. So you know, just little north of you queen city. Absolutely.

Scott Luton (01:34):

And that’s grown dramatically in recent.

Scot Case (01:36):

It has. In fact, I got lost on my way to my parents’ house once. So mom is still mad about that, but that city changed for dinner

Scott Luton (01:43):

Dinner. All right. Now let’s switch over to sports. I don’t wanna make any assumptions around the great city of Charlotte and it’s great sports teams. Uh, I was kind of the Charlotte Hornets when I was a kid with Alonzo morning and Larry Johnson, Mugsy bosy bogs. Those are some of the teams I tracked Del

Scot Case (02:00):

Curry.

Scott Luton (02:01):

Yep. Del Curry. The three point shooting machine. That’s right. And his son is now of course,

Scot Case (02:05):

Apparently he’s famous too

Scott Luton (02:07):

Freaking records, but tell me what, what, what’s your favorite all time sports team,

Scot Case (02:11):

All time. Favorite sports team. You’re not gonna know this team, but you should.

Scott Luton (02:15):

Okay.

Scot Case (02:15):

2019 Wilson high school bulldog field hockey, state champions, two daughters on the team. Yes,

Scott Luton (02:24):

Man. State chance,

Scot Case (02:26):

State chance hockey. There you go. So

Scott Luton (02:29):

I don’t know a whole bunch about field hockey. I’m assuming there’s Are there positions like ice hockey, like defense and offense?

Scot Case (02:37):

It is a, it is a crazy sport growing up in North Carolina. I’d never heard of it, but it is basically, you know, so soccer with sticks. Yes. And, uh, and shards, it’s a, it’s a mean sport.

Scott Luton (02:49):

So you had two daughters on that team. I don’t know if your background is like mine. I don’t think other than bowling, which is kind of weird, which I’ll say that story for a later time. I was never on a team that won like a big title. Certainly not a state title. So your, your daughters had a chance to enjoy that. How meaningful was it to them? It,

Scot Case (03:08):

They loved it. I mean, being part of a team that succeeds, I mean, that’s, everyone’s dream whether you’re like, you know, middle school, high school professional. Right, right. Being on a team that win that’s fun.

Scott Luton (03:19):

Yeah. Awesome. All right. So, um, favorite movie or book one of your favorite

Scot Case (03:25):

Movies, favorite movie or book

Scott Luton (03:26):

Or one of them. Wow.

Scot Case (03:28):

Boy, you’re throwing all sorts of curve balls. So, you know, that’s growing up. I have to be a star wars fan. So you gotta throw that out there. Yeah. But on the book side, um, probably something like net positive, which is kind of a more the book right now. Yeah. Right. Net positive. It’s really all about sustainability and business, making money, addressing some of the most significant environmental and social issues out there.

Scott Luton (03:49):

Wonderful. And as, uh, let’s see, we’re talking earlier with, uh, Dr. Allen Amling and Tom Osby, I believe. And both of them we’re making the point that, uh, there’s gotta be profit involved for it to be more sustainable. Is that, and, and be more permanent and kinda locked in a bit.

Scot Case (04:06):

Yeah. I mean, it’s crazy. You can’t be sustainable if you can’t pay your bills. Right. It’s really, really a simple concept. So people seem to think it’s like adding all sorts of extra costs or all that kind of stuff. Just a different way of thinking about your business.

Scott Luton (04:18):

Love that, Scott. Okay. One last question. And then we’re gonna get into what NRF does and your role there. You mentioned star wars, which my son, uh, maybe he vibes with you for the biggest star wars fan ever. What is your there’s like 1727 movies. Now what’s your favorite one? Yeah.

Scot Case (04:37):

You know, I’m still an originalist. I was there in the, of theaters in 1977. Wow. So when that movie popped and that changed my whole world, right. You got good versus evil and I’ve been carrying that all the way through my whole career. So in

Scott Luton (04:50):

Space with lasers

Scot Case (04:51):

In space with laser, I mean, wearing the socks today. So awesome.

Scott Luton (04:56):

So, all right, so let’s switch over, uh, and, and have a little more fun with case NRF love what the natural retail Federation does. You mentioned John gold, he’s a friend of the show. He is a, a go to resource much like, uh, what, uh, your reputations preceded to hear, uh, we’ll touch on some things that you were doing up at the big show, but for folks for the three of out there, and it may not be familiar with the NF, tell us about what the organization does and then of course your role.

Scot Case (05:23):

Sure. So the, the national retail Federation is the world’s largest trade association for retailers. Ultimately we’re representing 4.2 million retailers across the United States. Some 52 million people work in the retail sector. Yeah. So our job is to kind of watch out for the industry’s best interests. My specific role is actually focusing on the sustainability aspects of it. So this industry in responding to consumer demand for more sustainable products for more sustainable retailers, retailers are pivoting to address new concerns that probably didn’t exist 15, 20 years ago.

Scott Luton (06:02):

It is a absolutely extraordinary time in retail here, uh, through the pandemic. It’s been amazing to see what retailers have done, of course, supply chain and all businesses, but you know, that customer experience is so, uh, synonymous with retail. It’s amazing what they’ve done. all of torpedoes, full speed ahead to kind of meet the people where they wanna be met. Right?

Scot Case (06:23):

Yeah, absolutely. Retail’s critical to everything and retail really stepped up during this pandemic. Yeah,

Scott Luton (06:28):

It sure did. And I love your focus on corporate social responsibility and sustainability. Of course, whether it’s consumers, whether it’s a investors, everyone is enamored with more of all of that stuff. So tell us how rewarding, you know, to, to be able to spend your time in that area, which is such in demand. Right. And we’re trying to find new ways of, of, of making even bigger gains. How cool is that to have a role in that?

Scot Case (06:53):

From that I I’m loving it. I mean, this is something I’ve been passionate about since third grade in this seventies, before they even invented the word, but I kind of got into the sustainability space early. So if, if you could spell the word sustainability, you were like an expert, right. So I got in early and started doing some work with, as a consultant with some of the, the big retailers out there, but looking at sustainability inside of the trade associations, a whole other game, right? 4.2 million retailers, every single one of them with a different business strategy, a different approach, a different way of thinking about things. So it’s really fun to kind of find what all those kind of commonalities are. Right, right. And how they can continue to be unique and still deliver sustainable value.

Scott Luton (07:34):

Gosh, so much, so many gains already, but so much more work to do. Right. So much more to do. So you mentioned it first hit your radar, the passion first developed and third grade, third grade,

Scot Case (07:45):

Third grade,

Scott Luton (07:46):

What was, is there a story? Is there a, a Eureka moment you had that kind of said, Hey, I love this stuff.

Scot Case (07:52):

So there, there is a Eureka moment and it’s like a third grade school teacher. So I was an asthmatic as a kid. Right. I spent time in a ha struggling to breathe. Wow. I had a third grade teacher. This is the seventies. Right. Third grade teacher puts a white sock on the muffler of her car. This is before catalytic converters it’s before clean engines and all that kind of

Scott Luton (08:10):

Stuff. Right, right,

Scot Case (08:11):

Right. What I learned in third grade, when she showed us how dirty that sock got is she pulled it off. The muffler of her car. What I learned was car companies were trying to kill me. And then it was not really cool. So I learned from that early age, that business decisions have hidden human health, environmental, and social impacts. And so that kind of moment, you just kind of carry it forward. Yeah. And now that kind of stuff is just common. Right? Investors under stand it, regulators, understand it, retail executives understand it. Everyone in the supply chain understands it right now. It’s just like, how do we all work together to optimize the profits, optimize the environmental, social and community benefits.

Scott Luton (08:54):

Yep. And consumers demand it. And not only do they demand it, they want the transparency and the visibility into seeing that it it’s being done. And, and the products are, are being sourced from where the, the little writing says they are. And, and, uh, they’re not taking advantage of a labor workforce. It goes on and on of course, environmental concerns. So much such an interesting aspect of global business.

Scot Case (09:16):

Absolutely. You picked up on that key term, which is transparency, right? So the investors want to see all the way deep into your supply chain. So the investors understand the risks and the opportunities. Yes. And the consumers do too. Right. Consumers now expect they can look at their phone and trace all the way down. Where did this come from? Where did the cotton come from? Where was this beef grown, all those kinds of issues.

Scott Luton (09:40):

I, I agree. And I can never remember the, the apparel company that offers this. Maybe Amanda, she’s listening over there can do a little research, but this apparel company, very successful apparel com uh, company allows you on their website to peer into their line and get a, really a true sense of how the workforce is treated.

Scot Case (10:00):

Absolutely. And this kind of thing is popping a lot. And what’s fascinating is there’s an interesting cycle. Consumers, particularly younger consumers expect that. Yep. And then technology enables it to happen. And once consumers see it happening, then they want more

Scott Luton (10:17):

Of it.

Scot Case (10:17):

Right. Right. And so the cycle continues and then investors think, whoa, there’s money to be made in this. Right. And the cycle really amplifies. And that’s what we’re seeing,

Scott Luton (10:26):

You know, uh, Scott, you’re not real passionate about

Scot Case (10:29):

These things. I try and keep calling. You told me to behave myself.

Scott Luton (10:32):

I love it. I love it. Um, so let’s talk about the big show, right? The big show, one of the biggest shows in the industry, it was back in person this year. It

Scot Case (10:41):

Was, and three dimensions. It was exciting.

Scott Luton (10:43):

And a bunch of folks came out, you know, it’s still a challenging environment. Uh, but a bunch of folks came out and I saw some of between you and John and Tony Sheroda and, and many others. I saw some great content come out. So what, we’re a couple of your favorite moments or key takeaways or what have you.

Scot Case (11:00):

And I think the most exciting thing, and I go to a lot of conferences, right. I go to like sustainability conferences. I go to industry conferences and at the industry conference, I might be like the green skunk at a party. But, but at NRF it was all about sustainability. Right. And supply chains. We had C after CEO, after CEO talking about the importance of sustainability. Yes. And all of it connected with supply chains because supply chains enable sustainability. Yes. So that’s why I kind of like that John gold guy,

Scott Luton (11:31):

I’m with I’m with you. Were there any hyphens in supply chains? Uh, big show where do, where this happen come from? All of a sudden, I guess it’s, it’s the latest thing

Scot Case (11:42):

Who knows green Scott

Scott Luton (11:43):

Editors too green Scott. That’s the first time I’ve heard that phrase. I might steal that one from you. So you mentioned there at ATF, the big show, uh, sustainability and supply chain, you know, to the, to your favorite topics. And then they were talked about, you know, uh, quite a bit, it’s like priority programming at the big show. Now you may disagree. But I will say when it comes to supply chain and sustainability, you know, the industry could, is one of the bigger offenders of creating sustained building challenges, right. At the same time, same time.

Scot Case (12:16):

Cause you’re getting it all backwards, but I’m being nice. It’s your show.

Scott Luton (12:20):

Supply chain is also in a unique position, right. To do something about it, right.

Scot Case (12:24):

Supply chains are enabling sustainability. Okay.

Scott Luton (12:27):

And

Scot Case (12:27):

It it’s only these like these transparency trends, right. That have taught people, Hey, wait a minute. Every single consumer purchase, every business decision has hidden human health, environmental and social impacts. Now that we can see that, yes, we’re in a position to do things better. Okay. And retailers ultimately wanna make consumers happy. Right. Right. And consumers want to know that retailers are taking these kinds of issues serious. So retailers push deep into the supply chain to make improvements that, that improve the lives of millions of people in the process.

Scott Luton (13:02):

Okay, good. So supply chains, aren’t scapegoat. They’re simply doing what the retailers and what the consumers

Scot Case (13:08):

Supply chains do, whatever you prioritize. Right. And so when you’re optimizing supply chains, if you only look at price, you get different outcomes than if you say, wait a minute, we’re looking for high quality. Right. We’re looking for durability. We’re looking for good, um, materials, sustainable materials. We’re looking for workers paid, right? You optimize a bunch of different aspects. You come up with better results. Oh, I, that consumers like investors like government regulators, like even you like

Scott Luton (13:38):

Everybody’s aligned

Scot Case (13:39):

Everybodys aligned. Oh.

Scott Luton (13:40):

You’re like,

Scot Case (13:41):

I love this down. I like that.

Scott Luton (13:44):

All right. So now that we have learned a lot more about the connection between supply chain sustainability and really just the, the holistic ecosystem. Right? Good. You words, right?

Scot Case (13:55):

Fancy. It’s an ecosystem.

Scott Luton (13:57):

So let’s talk more about the returns management and reverse logistics aspect of this, this, this ecosystem. That’s here, the center of the universe for that at least for this week. So what’s a couple of topics in the reverse space that you’re really tracking right now, Scott. Yeah.

Scot Case (14:12):

This has been an amazing conference. So the reverse logistics association has done a great job. Shout out to Tony. Who’s done some amazing stuff. Agreed. It’s really interesting. Cuz there’s sustainably pieces everywhere. Right? So if a consumer buys something maybe online, they buy three pairs of shoes cuz they’re not sure what size sending two of those pairs back includes environmental. I mean, those are environmental impacts, financial impacts, et cetera. So there’s that piece, right? The kind of that quick return, but there’s another piece to rev reverse logistics, which is say that, that jacket that you’re wearing. Right. Right. At some point you decide, yeah. You’re not wearing it much anymore. You could sell it to another consumer, right. That brand could make money selling the same jacket twice or three times. And that’s another piece of reverse logistics. Agreed. It’s kind of the big circular economy. That’s been a very hot topic here at the conference.

Scott Luton (15:05):

All things re right.

Scot Case (15:07):

All

Scott Luton (15:07):

Things

Scot Case (15:08):

Redesign, reuse, recycle, re per refurbish

Scott Luton (15:11):

And going. I’m gonna go back to the example. You, at the beginning of your response there, that you shared where, uh, retailers allow folks encourage folks perhaps, or three pairs of shoes, trauma at home and then a consumer. Cause they can, will send two back. That’s a perfect illustration of your earlier point supply chain and just do what the priorities are. Right? What the, what the leadership has determined are the priorities for the organization. Exactly.

Scot Case (15:38):

But here’s where it gets fund consumers get upset at the retailer. Like you made me buy three pairs cuz I, so what’s happening. Consumers are expecting to reduce waste to eliminate these kind of adverse impacts. So there are technologies out there, right? We’ve heard about ’em on the stages where they will like measure your size. Right? You can, my size scan your footprint. Right. You know exactly what you’re looking for. So there’s a financial incentive for retailers to do the environmentally. Correct thing. Love that. So this is where there’s real business value in this sustainability perspective.

Scott Luton (16:16):

Well, so how, what is your take, I’m gonna, I’m gonna throw another, uh, uh, hypothesis out there, careful for one with old Scott Case here, I’m

Scot Case (16:25):

Liking these multisyllabic words here, Mr. Scott,

Scott Luton (16:29):

The, uh, the consumer active part, right. Uh, Greg white likes to say to consumer starts at the supply chain starts and ends with the consumer. So their, their role in, in those situations you just described, you know, we’re making these conscious decisions that really deeply impact the ti wave of returns and, and, and all the things that global supply chains, especially on the reverse, uh, reverse side. Also the returns processing side to get into hopefully, uh, um, not going to landfill, but getting back in, in, on shelves where other folks can buy my, my tracksuit. Right? Yep. What, what must consumers do differently perhaps to help, help improve this situation? Ooh,

Scot Case (17:11):

That’s a good question. I mean, and so there’s, there’s kind of a split thing, right? There are some consumers that are driving this hard, right? Particularly the younger gen Z consumers, some of them would rather buy used than buy new. Mm. So there’s kind of interesting consumer demand, right? But as retailers respond to that demand, it’s becoming easier, are an easier for people like my mom to do kind of circular economy stuff. Right. Because they’re optimizing it and making it as easy as possible. So that even older generations, sorry, mom, but older generations now realize, Hey, wait a minute. They can be sustainable and still buy the kinds of products they want to buy from the kinds of retailers they like to shop at.

Scott Luton (17:58):

Agreed. More choices, more choices, more options,

Scot Case (18:02):

More sustainable choices. Yeah.

Scott Luton (18:03):

More sustainable choices. And even for folks that may not be geared naturally, not, not picking on anyone in your family, but may not be geared to choose some of those more sustainable choices. At least they’re they’re there. And see,

Scot Case (18:15):

This is where this you’re brilliant. So what’s happening.

Scott Luton (18:19):

I’ve never been accused of that. I’ll let you say it though.

Scot Case (18:21):

What’s happening right. Is the investors really want the retailers to behave in more sustainable fashions because they’re trying to avoid risks that might exist steep in a supply chain. The fact that someone like my mom is behaving sustainably without even knowing it doesn’t mean a lot to my mom, but the investors see the value in that the retail executives see the value in that. Right? So at some point it stops being sustainable and just become convenience.

Scott Luton (18:50):

Right. And I would argue if the consumers see the value and the investors see the value, everything else will follow to it. It might be this a little simplistic please

Scot Case (18:58):

To fall into place. Yeah. That’s

Scott Luton (18:59):

A lot of, a lot of the heavy lifting. I feel like I’ve earned some kind of certification here over the last

Scot Case (19:04):

Months, what you

Scott Luton (19:05):

Think Darren and Ron. Um, okay. So let’s, I’m shift gears and ask for a big, bold prediction. Anything else when it comes to, you know, this reverse side, the returns management side, any other interesting observations you wanna share with us? Well,

Scot Case (19:20):

I, I think the hottest topic in sustainable retail right now is this circular economy, right? And the circular economy simply doesn’t without reverse logistics agreed. So what’s going on right here at this event, what the reverse logistics Association’s doing, what the national retail Federation is busy, kind of encouraging and, and talking about is in fact, the emergence of this circular economy and the, uh, the greater efficiencies of this reverse logistics supply

Scott Luton (19:48):

Chain agreed. And, you know, uh, had a lot of the conversations with some of the companies that are innovating in this space here over the last couple days. Naturally. There’s also been just a lot of investment out there and interest in, uh, the reverse and the returns side of things. And, and that’s great for industry too, right? We’re gonna, we’re gonna gain some innovations and gain some options and gain some efficiencies because of that. Right? You gotta give the people what they want.

Scot Case (20:13):

Absolutely. Maybe make a little money while you’re doing it.

Scott Luton (20:16):

I like how you think. All right. So big, bold prediction that you can make for 2022. What we’re gonna see more of this year,

Scot Case (20:24):

Big, bold prediction. So it’s gonna sound trite, right. But what we’re gonna see is more and more emphasis on sys sustainability, right? We’re gonna see it from, uh, government officials. We’re gonna see it from investors. We’re gonna see it from consumers and we’re gonna see it from everyone along that value chain, deep inside supply chains, suppliers, the smart ones are saying, Hey, here is how I can help you as the retailer be a little more sustainable. Here’s how I can help you deliver more sustainable value to the consumer. So what’s happening is everybody along these value chains is understanding the importance of sustainability, right. Cause everyone has to please the consumer, right.

Scott Luton (21:04):

That’s

Scot Case (21:05):

Right. And the investor. Well,

Scott Luton (21:06):

So how can we, I loved your, um, your third grade moment where your teacher put the sock over the M you know, clearly that you finally, or for the first time, maybe you got it right. You got it. Even with all the additional emphasis on sustainability for any of the holdouts out there, what would give them their sock over the muffler moment? Ooh,

Scot Case (21:26):

I like question Scott. What’s the current. I think actually what we’ve seen is COVID right, right. Because what happened is all of a sudden people had more spare time. They actually felt the disruptive impacts of hiccups and supply chains. And they actually started realizing, Hey, wait a minute. Something that’s in some city in China that I’ve never heard of right. Is affecting my ability to get the products that I want. Right. And so all of a sudden people started realizing that things don’t just materialize outta thin air. There are supply chains to provide the products they want. And they’re beginning to realize that the environmental sustainable social impacts that exist throughout those supply chains, they can trace. Yes. So I think, you know, the white muffler on the sock for me, that was easy in the seventies. Right. But now I think COVID actually has shown a really, really bright green spotlight on supply chains and consumers get it that and TikTok. Yeah.

Scott Luton (22:27):

That is an excellent point. And you know what, we’re gonna have to add that we regularly talk about, you know, there’s always good news if you look for it, right. Uh, we regularly talk about the silver linings that have existed over everything else that’s transpired the last couple years. And one of those silver linings that you’re, um, the spike in the football on is how it’s added to the, uh, a more agreed upon value of sustainability and, and, and a greater, uh, a moment for consumers that kind of have that year, own their own Eureka moment about how they’re maybe contributing to the problem.

Scot Case (23:00):

Absolutely. So everyone’s kind of seeing the world differently. And luckily, a lot of ’em are looking through green lenses these days. That

Scott Luton (23:07):

Is wonderful news. That is good news. So we’ll wrap on that. So final question for you. How can folks connect, uh, with you Scott and NRF?

Scot Case (23:14):

Very good. So you can, obviously, you can find the national retail Federation online@nrf.com and I’m pretty easy to find on LinkedIn, although I spell Scott properly with one T. So it’s Scott Case, you know, I don’t know about these wasteful extra T keys you have there, but you know, it’s all about sustainability being efficient with your resources.

Scott Luton (23:34):

Oh, Scott, you need your own TV show. You are, we’re

Scot Case (23:38):

On TV, I’m on your TV

Scott Luton (23:39):

Show. True. We’re gonna have to, we’re gonna have to talk with your agent. I love your personality.

Scot Case (23:43):

She’s sitting over there.

Scott Luton (23:45):

I love the personality, energy and the practical examples. I think, I think the, uh, sign of a great communicator that knows what they’re talking about is being able to take practical everyday examples that sock on the muffler is a brilliant VI cause anyone can get that. And even whether you’re in industry, you got a couple toes industry or maybe completely new, you understand where you come from and you do really good at that. So big. Thanks for taking some time with us here today.

Scot Case (24:11):

Thank you for the opportunity. Thanks to John gold. Yeah.

Scott Luton (24:13):

John gold. That’s the agent

Scot Case (24:16):

Will be the agent. Absolutely. He’ll keep us both straight. Right?

Scott Luton (24:18):

Thank you for your time. Don’t go anywhere just yet. I’m gonna be signing off here. Uh, all right, folks, that was a rock and roll. I know 27 minutes, Scott, I believe, but 27 minutes well spent with the one and only Scott Case with the national retail Federation. Make sure you connect with them. Hey, uh, hopefully enjoy this episode. We’ve had so many great conversations from different angles here at the 18th annual reverse logistics association conference and expo sounds like, like Lala pollution. Oh,

Scot Case (24:45):

Aus reverse.

Scott Luton (24:47):

Reverse. Let’s come up next. Um, but folks, whatever you do, make sure you connect with Scott. Number one, but number two, on behalf of our entire supply chain, now team Scott Luton signing off challenge in, do good. Give forward, be the change that’s needed on that note. We’ll see you next time. Right back here at supply chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (25:05):

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