Take all the modern challenges of the supply chain, then throw them into the most complex government, defense and intelligence projects across the country, and you’ve got Alex McGuire’s job. In this episode, Scott and special co-host Allison Giddens of Win-Tech chat with Alex about the unique demands involved in supporting the global supply chain needs of government missions. You’ll also get his take on the importance of strong supplier relationships, risk mitigation, automation and more.

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 (00:29):

Hey, good morning everybody. Scott Luton, Allison Giddens here with you on supply chain now. Welcome to today’s show Allison, how we doing?

Allison Giddens (00:37):

I’m good. I’m good. How are you

Scott Luton (00:39):

Doing wonderful. You’re just getting from another trip. I think I saw you keying. Yes. Uh, at a, a cyber related conference is that,

Allison Giddens (00:46):

I don’t know that that makes me sound a lot more important. Uh, it was one of one presentation of many and, uh, yeah, it was good time Tampa.

Scott Luton (00:53):

Well, we’ll have to debrief you later, but great to have you here today. We’ve got an outstanding, uh, show line that we’re gonna be diving into the story of a supply chain. We leader doing big things industry, especially from a technology leadership standpoint. So Allison one heck of a show teed up, huh?

Allison Giddens (01:08):

Heck yes. I’m looking forward to it.

Scott Luton (01:11):

All right. Well with that said wanna dive right in when welcome in our featured guest, Alex McGuire, vice president and chief supply chain officer for general dynamics information tech analogy. Hey, Hey Alex, how you doing?

Alex McGuire (01:31):

Hey, good morning. I’m excellent, Scott. Thanks for having me.

Scott Luton (01:34):

We are tickled pink to have you here, Alex. I know how busy you stay. We appreciate your time looking forward to getting to know you a little better, uh, on that note, Allison, where are we starting with Alex? Oh,

Allison Giddens (01:45):

Well I just recently got connected to Alex, so I’m very excited to get to know him a little bit better and kind of wanted to, to level set, learn a little bit about you. Can you tell us about where you grew up and maybe anything that you’d like to share from from those days?

Alex McGuire (02:01):

Sure thing, Allison, um, let’s see. I grew up, uh, on long island, uh, great place if, uh, if you’ve in there great place. So when I was a kid able to hop on the bike ride, five minutes, 10 minutes down to the water. It’s not a big I big island, uh, north to south. So you could head to the water and fish, um, pretty much any day after school. Um, great place to stay, uh, connected with the, the Yankees and Mets. Um,

Scott Luton (02:27):

Oh, you’re breaking our heart.

Allison Giddens (02:30):

We won’t. Yeah, no doesn’t mean you’re a bad person.

Alex McGuire (02:35):

Well, in my defense, you know, I, when I, the time that I grew up watching the Yankees was the, uh, time between, you know, their, uh, their win in the late seventies and, um, their win in the, in 96 with, uh, jet and crew. So, yes. Um, I like to tell people that I actually grew up going and watching them lose every year and people would tell me, Hey, you know, it’s easy to be a Yankees fan. I would say, what are you talking about? They’ve never won in my waking life. Um, and that’s obviously changed again in 96.

Scott Luton (03:06):

Yes. It what a, uh, what a run. All right. So we gotta talk really quick about the 96 world series. Cause that’s one that for Atlanta Braves fans, like Allison and I has stung forever, um, Jim, Lares hitting a three run Homer off mark woos. Uh, you know, man, that was, and that was, that was Andrew Jones, which should be a hall of Famer hopefully soon that was like his coming out party. I wanna say he hit three homers as a rookie in that world series. I think Allison does that sound about right? What,

Allison Giddens (03:36):

What did you have? What did you have for breakfast? Scott? Do you remember any of that or just the 96 world?

Scott Luton (03:41):

No,

Alex McGuire (03:42):

No. Yeah. That’s amazing. I, I can’t believe that that memory, I, you know, I could not, I couldn’t give you stats or, or specific plays. I just remember the win, but maybe that’s it in there.

Scott Luton (03:52):

Well, I forced off, I can appreciate true fans that stick with your team during, during the losing years. And then there were awarded, uh, uh, I wish all fans were awarded like the Yankees fans were during, during that run, but they’re rewarded when things turn and it makes those good years so much better and more special. It just had, it just came at the cost. We, we thought the Atlanta Braves were going back to back from 95 and 96 even had the series lead, but Hey, that sport, that’s how it goes. Um, so more of a Yankees fan than a Mets fan Alex. Is that, is that accurate?

Alex McGuire (04:27):

Oh yeah, for sure. Uh, you know, that’s inherited, right. My dad is watching the Yankees. I watch the Yankees.

Scott Luton (04:33):

Love it, love it, Allison. Um, if I can, uh, intrude on your question here. I wanna about food for a second with Alex. So, uh, growing up in long island, what’s one dish that was just inseparable from your childhood.

Alex McGuire (04:51):

Oh man. Um, you know, two things come to mind, neither one’s really related, right. One again, you know, long island, you’re surrounded by water seafood, right. And if you’re out there, you know, catching fish, uh, with your family, uh, nothing like coming home at the end of that day and, uh, grilling up your own, your own catch. So that, that really was special. And, and, uh, I think I even appreciated how special that was since that was reality, that I could do that all the time. And you have, you know, great portions of the country where you can’t just go out and do that any, any day. Um, so that, that that’s one. Um, the other is, you know, um, my mother is, uh, um, is Puerto Rican. And so, um, I did, I grew up, you know, kind of getting to do the steak and potatoes life and then also some really, uh, some really great, um, um, kind of Spanish style dishes. So, mm

Scott Luton (05:43):

Lucky, Allison making me hungry, aren’t know about you. Oh

Allison Giddens (05:46):

Man. That’s and I, I love that, cuz that’s so different than, uh, I mean, if you think of New York, you think, you know, you’re pizza, you know, so I, I kind of figured you’d say something Italian, so I love the, the seafood and Spanish lean is that’s awesome.

Alex McGuire (06:01):

That was there too, for sure. But, but you’re right. There’s, there’s so much more, so much more to New York than pizza and bagels. Yeah.

Allison Giddens (06:08):

Yeah.

Scott Luton (06:10):

Well, um, we really appreciate the chance of kind of getting to know you a little better on a personal level. Um, if it did come at, uh, uh, poured, some saw our wounds didn’t Allison, well,

Allison Giddens (06:21):

You know, at least, but he is, at least he’s not a Dodgers fan. I mean, then we would have to cut the interview short. You know what I mean?

Scott Luton (06:27):

Yes. Oh yeah.

Alex McGuire (06:28):

Yes. Those fans in New York are, are Mets fans. Aren’t they

Allison Giddens (06:33):

Pretty much

Alex McGuire (06:34):

Couldn’t be a Dodgers fan. The Dodgers left. You couldn’t be, you have to be a much fan that’s

Allison Giddens (06:39):

You’re right. You’re right. I’ve got family in New York and they’re either, they’re either Mets fans or Yankees fans. And there is no, there’s no overlap.

Scott Luton (06:48):

Well,

Alex McGuire (06:48):

That’s

Scott Luton (06:48):

Right. I’m glad you connected those dots. Uh, and we’ll have to dive into some of those, some of the reasons why the Dodgers are not at the top of our love list, um, here lately, but we’ll save that for a later show. Uh, Alison and Alex, um, Alex, I wanna shift gears with you. Uh, I wanna, I wanna talk, talk business, talk leadership, talk perspective, uh, point of view. We’re gonna talk about your current role in general dynamics, um, uh, information technology in just a second, but prior to your current role, what’s, uh, a role or two that you held that really shaped your worldview.

Alex McGuire (07:23):

Yeah. Sometime before, uh, general dynamics from G D I T um, I was lucky enough to work for Pricewaterhouse Coopers, PWC. Um, you know, and I started in a, in a us regional role there in supply chain and procurement. Uh, but then I was lucky enough to get to lead, uh, global it sourcing and procurement, uh, at that company a and you know, as far as shaping worldview, right? There’s just nothing like, um, being in a role like that, where, you know, you’re, you’re working with a 150 countries across the, uh, the world, um, you know, to, to work on, on strategic sourcing and procurement and, you know, some of the, the, the biggest deals, um, that the company need to get done in order in order to keep the company operating. Um, right. So getting to work, you know, and plan on, you know, big, uh, end user device or big software procurement and deployments, and, and not just doing that kind of in your own bubble, but having to collaborate with people in Germany, China, um, Australia, um, south America, right? All these different places, um, you know, getting to leverage their unique skillsets, uh, their perspectives on how the deal, you know, needs be architected and satisfy their local needs. Um, it’s a, it was an amazing learning experience.

Scott Luton (08:49):

Mm. Um, Allison, uh, kind of a following to a follow up question, Alex, and also maybe pose this to you. Uh, Allison, uh, since you lead a manufacturing operation, we all value relationships, right. That’s certainly how Allison and I are geared is kind of what I’m starting to pick up from Alex. Um, you know, the value of investing, if we’ve learned anything, you know, through the pandemic. And now, unfortunately through what’s taking place in Ukraine in that, that region, um, the value of relationships, uh, especially from that, um, you know, the sourcing procurement standpoint, but just being able to make it happen and, and, uh, have a strong, vibrant supply chain upstream and downstream, uh, filled with trust. And you gotta, you gotta take care of your suppliers, right? Cause cause, uh, a supply chain’s only a strong as it’s weakest link. Um, Alex, if you first could speak to that and Alex, I’d love for you to speak to that as well, Alex.

Alex McGuire (09:40):

Yeah. I couldn’t agree more and it’s, it’s been something that I’ve really had to learn in my career to be honest, right. I’ll just, just to be, you know, really transparent and, and honest, I think I started my career thinking, you know, just work really hard, right. Work really hard, be very technically good at your job and things follow and certainly right. Um, you know, you, can’t in supply chain, you can’t negotiate deals, you can’t, uh, mitigate risk, right. You can’t put, uh, big enterprise deals in place without, um, building your tech technical acumen. Uh, but you, you learn pretty quickly that that’s just, you know, one an ingredient, um, and that you’re nowhere without, without, uh, people and that, so to your point, that’s your suppliers. Um, are you treating each other, you know, well, are you treating each other respect, um, are you making time for each other when things are going well? So that you’re not just calling when things aren’t going well, um, you know, that’s important and of course, you know, we can talk about it, you know, now or later, right. But that extends to the team as well. Um, you know, it, you you’re, I, you, we are nowhere without that really strong team that’s around you and helping to make it happen every single day.

Scott Luton (10:54):

Yep. Love that Alex, uh, strong vibes, lots of it. There are lots of kindred spirits. Um, Allison love to get your take on this.

Allison Giddens (11:03):

No, I love that. I, I totally agree. And right when you said Alex about, um, making sure that, you know, you’re, you’ve got that good relationship with suppliers, even when things are going well, it really made me think, okay, who have I reached out to recently that just to say, thanks, or, you know, just to check in on ’em and it’s crazy, cuz my mind immediately went to, okay, well who’s done that for me. You know, it’s like, well hold on this, this is a two way street here. So yeah, no, that’s, that’s a really good point.

Scott Luton (11:31):

Awesome. Awesome. Uh, all right. So, um, I wanna move ahead to general dynamics information technology, G D G D. It is that right? Is that, can we call it that? Um,

Alex McGuire (11:45):

Alex? Yeah. G D I T that’s right. That’s GDI.

Scott Luton (11:48):

Okay. I might save seven minutes in this interview by being able to acronym. Um, but Hey, let’s let’s level set a bit, it’s one of our favorite words around here, right? Because it is, it’s really important to not assume that our listeners, you know, although we had the savviest most intelligent audience in all of digital media, I’ve been careful to level set what folks may not know and don’t assume anything there. So for the handful of folks that may not know what does the company do?

Alex McGuire (12:18):

Yeah. So I, I just, at the highest level, um, we provide technology solutions and it services to, um, the government specifically defense, federal civilian, uh, health intelligence and Homeland security markets. Um, so know our company is helping to, to build capabilities, to support, um, the government, some of the government’s most complex projects and missions

Scott Luton (12:44):

That is quite a niche, Alex. Uh, and, and, and it’s a niche, but it’s also a very broad, those, those niches that you mentioned, those are deep industries with, uh, common, but also unique needs. Right?

Alex McGuire (12:57):

Yeah. It’s really true. And, and it’s motivating, um, you know, I’ve, I’ve worked for a few different, um, types of companies, um, you know, and, and, you know, supporting them then their supply chain, uh, with great missions. But, um, it’s really inspiring, right. When you know, that we’re, um, that the work we’re doing right are enabling it systems or, or projects, um, that are supporting, you know, um, government missions, right. Uh, around things like the VA department of state, um, army, right. And the list goes on. Um, but to have that, uh, connectivity right with, with, you know, um, what some truly amazing people are doing in, in arm services and, and our government be able to support that it’s, uh, it, it really is amazing. I’ve, I’ve never loved being in supply chain as much as I do now supporting now. Wow.

Scott Luton (13:51):

I love that. I can hear, I can hear you jumping outta bed in the morning seriously. Uh, uh, cause of the, the types of folks and projects and organizations you’re supporting Allison along these lines, uh, you know, you and I are big military aviation buffs for a variety of reasons. Uh, buffs, I’m a big nerd when it comes to military aircraft, I’ll be honest with you, uh, Allison, uh, speak to cause you know, your company Wintec obviously plays in that space speak kinda along the lines of what Alex was just sharing.

Allison Giddens (14:21):

It’s really cool to see that the big picture. So we do a lot of aerospace defense products. So we do the product side rather than the service side. And it’s cool to see how it’s all integrated and how, I mean, going back to the supply chain in general and your suppliers that getting everybody to kind of play ball and be on the same sheet of music that no matter what you’re providing, whether government is your end user or your customer, no matter what, we’re all in this for the same ultimate goal. And that is USA U S a no, but it’s, uh, yeah, it is. It’s, it’s that, um, it’s that supporting, supporting our, our civilians, our government, our, our country.

Scott Luton (15:01):

Yeah. It, it’s really amazing when you look at, uh, you know, you take your F 22, your C one 30, you name it, the supply chain that comes together to ensure, and, and, you know, those table stakes are, are critical. Uh, you know, not only protecting that pilot’s life, but also being able to support the mission national security and beyond. So it’s amazing. I appreciate what organizations like both of yours, Alex and Allison do to protect that and, and, and able that and optimize it. Um, so let’s keep going down. So, so, um, Alex, uh, beyond the military aviation, uh, nerds here, we’re also big supply chain nerds, and you’re a chief supply chain officer, uh, at GD it tell us, uh, um, you know, we, we could probably speak hours about all the things that your fingers and toes are in, but what are a couple key priorities you could share with us,

Alex McGuire (15:52):

Uh, certainly in this industry it’s risk. Um, you know, and I, and I’m gonna say risk with a capital R meaning, um, in its broadest sense, right? Because, you know, certainly we’re hearing about things like cyber risk all the time, right. That gets the, you know, big press. Um, and you’ve seen executive orders coming, um, about, you know, the focused on protecting, uh, you know, focusing on cybersecurity and improving cybersecurity in the government and, um, in the supply chain. Um, but it’s so much more than that, right. Um, you know, everybody knows now with COVID there’s delivery risk, you’s really risk really, really, um, and, and needs to be managed, um, right. Contractual risk, you know, there’s just, there’s a never ending list of, um, things you need to think about nowadays in supply chain. Everybody, I think knows it’s been talking about it. Um, it’s not just about negotiating a great deal anymore, right? It’s not about controlling costs. Can’t save your way to zero, all that kind of thing. Um, so really it’s, it’s, you know, um, negotiating great deals is, is your table stakes. And then on top of that, the great supply chain needs to be managing risk. And, and, um, that’s not easy to do so it’s top of mind, always for us,

Scott Luton (17:08):

You know, speaking of, uh, cyber risk, we we’ve seen just in the last couple weeks, uh, logistics firms, couple, uh, uh, household names get interrupted their operations, uh, from cyber tax Allison know this, that’s kind of up your alley of interest and, and expertise. Your quick comment there.

Allison Giddens (17:26):

No, you’re, he’s absolutely right. Alex is right, because there’s, there’s so many different levels to that risk too. So it’s not like when you tackle one, the other one goes away it’s these are, is compounding each other. And so it’s, it’s tough to, to Wade through the noise, but it’s there for sure.

Scott Luton (17:42):

It’s, everything is interconnected. It really is. Uh, and gosh, once, uh, some of these risks that y’all both were speaking to, uh, if, if you don’t mitigate one of them, you leave yourself open and your organization, your supply chain to, to many others. Uh, sometimes at the same time, as we’ve seen in recent re recent, uh, months and years, Alex, let’s talk about, um, how, how the supply chain management, uh, organization or team operations at G D I is supporting government programs. You’ve kind of alluded to that. Can any specific examples or, or, um, programs there.

Alex McGuire (18:23):

Yeah, of course. And, and you’re right. There’s cuz there’s two aspects to, um, our supply chain job here, right. One is actually just supporting internal operations, um right. Which is common for a lot of supply chain organizations, right. What is it that the company itself needs in order to run? Right. Um, but then for us, you layer on top of that, um, supporting our customers and our customers needs. So it broadens a, our, our supply chain quite a lot. Um, you know, for instance, we have the department of state is one of those programs, um, where, you know, our supply chain team is supporting, you know, their day to day needs. What do, what do they need? Um, and then that also includes when there are, um, you know, situations around the world, you know, things like when there are natural disasters like Irma, um, our supply chain is there in order to deliver, uh, what the department of state needs worldwide mm

Scott Luton (19:23):

It seems like contingencies. Is the name of the game these days. Uh, and it’s, it’s really amazing. I love to get your comment here. It’s amazing how proactive, so much of our planning has become based on, you know, the immersion of technology and how we’re using that. But the surprises just keep getting unfortunately bigger and it seems like more frequent, but Allison speaks to that a bit.

Allison Giddens (20:00):

It’s crazy too, to think that you can’t just create a template of a project and basically say, all right, here’s the plug-in play. When the government calls, we’ll give ’em this, and then we can plug in ABC. Every thing is so unique and the needs are so unique. I mean, speaking back to the, the, the global work that ultimately G D I T has their fingers in because we are, I mean, we are global. Everything is global in, in our industries, what we’re doing right now. So to think that there is no real plug and play, you know, so you’re having to cost constantly on the move, constantly evaluate, evaluating risk. Um, there’s a lot going on and it takes everybody, uh, again, singing from the same sheet of music.

Scott Luton (20:44):

No kidding. And, and the music changes sometimes by the hour, maybe even sometimes about a minute on some of the tougher days. Uh, and, uh, so, uh, Alex, I wanna shift gears once more. We’re a fast moving conversation. I think we’re throw a lot throwing a lot of stuff at you. Uh, it, it’s the only way to be, right. It’s the only way to be slightly the basket and Robins approach. Uh, I don’t want just the butter up P can. I want to have, uh, some of the double chocolate, some of the Oreo, I wanna horn a little bit of it all. Um, we keep

Alex McGuire (21:12):

Coming back to food here. I, I wonder if you did have breakfast,

Scott Luton (21:16):

Hey, you know, it takes a lot of comfort food to get through the times that we’re facing. Right. Uh, it’s, it’s good to depart from email and from the news and, and down with, with, uh, something good to eat. I’ll tell you, um, let’s, let’s look at the, uh, when it comes to global supply chain, then let’s broaden our conversation a bit, uh, Alex, when it comes to global supply chain, you know, we, we, we’ve kind of talked a lot of different things here from risk mitigation to relationships, uh, sourcing, uh, some of the, uh, unique aspects of the projects, the types of projects and customers that you are serving at G D it, but what else has your attention, whether it’s news, innovation, challenges, you name it, uh, good news, whatever what’s one or two things that has your attention more than others right now.

Alex McGuire (22:04):

Uh, you know, I mean, we talked about a couple for sure. You know, imagine rest day’s top of mind, but probably, you know, data analytics and automation. Um, you know, I just find that exciting, um, you know, just finding those ways to, um, um, create a more efficient supply chain, right. And, uh, reduce the amount of, of, you know, manual touches that our team has to, has to make on a day to day basis. So that, um, you go back to the importance of people, right. Continuing to refocus their efforts on, you know, the strategic, right. So, um, you know, instead of spending time trying to track various risks manually, right? The, or data analytics and kind of risk alerts that we’ve got, and that are being kind of processed in, um, machine kind of, um, form right. More that we can, uh, focus our people on analyzing those risks on, you know, uh, socializing those risks with the right decision makers through governance, right. Uh, engagement with, you know, our, our CISO engagement with our programs. Um, right. So automation for the sake of making sure that our folks can really be focused on the strategic.

Scott Luton (23:24):

I love that Alison come to you for a quick follow up in just a second, but Alex, uh, also kind what you’re speaking to, what I heard is also freeing up your people from selling mundane activities that you can really apply, uh, you know, modern day technology, uh, to, and, and creating opportunities for them, not only to bring more value to the table using their judgment and expertise, but probably, uh, in a more rewarding way for their career path. Right?

Alex McGuire (23:55):

Yeah, absolutely. It’s more rewarding for the career path. Uh, it’s fun to think about those innovations and work with some incredibly talented teams. We have to actually implement them. Uh, it makes everything more fun. And then, you know, the, the really exciting part of it is, you know, moving more and more away from reactive, right. We’re never gonna be able to, um, you know, completely predict everything that happens. Right. Um, so we’re, you’re always gonna have aspects of, of reactiveness that are in the supply chain, but really exciting to think about, you know, a helping people, like you said, enjoy the job more and put yourself in a position where you, we can get to more predictive about, you know, whatever it is, risk price, et cetera.

Scott Luton (24:39):

I love that Alex, uh, Allison, speak to that a second, and then I think we’re gonna, uh, unless Alex wanna share anything else that we’re gonna shift gears a bit, but Allison, to, uh, what Alex is talking about there kind of putting your people in a position to not only deliver the most value to the organization, to the mission, but also to, in a role that is most rewarding and fulfilling to them.

Allison Giddens (25:01):

Yes, definitely. And I also heard a lot of being able to take the stuff that we know and that we’re good at and applying it to whether that’s automation or whether that’s, um, being able to do the, the simpler things more effectively and efficiently. Um, just making us better at our jobs in general. And I think that the, the idea of implementing a lot of the automation and being able to take out the mundane, I think that’s also key to attracting the next generation, the next, the next workforce, because you know, the younger generations, they don’t wanna do the, the boring stuff. They, they have already become light years ahead of many of us. So let’s put their skills to better use. So in, in light of that, and kind of migrating into the workforce conversation, Alison,

Scott Luton (25:50):

If I, I can interject for a second, uh, cause I gotta speak to, uh, with three children at home. Uh, oh yeah. I’m glad you said light year’s plural because holy cow, to see what they’re doing now with technology at their ages of, uh, 12, nine and eight, it’s amazing. Uh, amazing you more jobs. Yeah. Hey, Alison, we’ll make the connection. We’ll see. I got one more football analogy before we move into, um, your next question, Alison, both of y’all made me think of, as you’re, you’re describing about the use of technology these days, um, you know, we hear the phrase blocking and tackling all the time, right. And it’s really kind of to, um, not to de demean the skills that are really involved in football when it comes to that. But it’s really meant to be like the stuff that just has to happen, right. Almost in your sleep. Imagine a football team, if you could just ensure you could apply technology where blocking and tackling was gonna be world class and you could save all your time to the next level. Imagine how dominant that football team would be. It’d be like the, uh, I’m assuming you’re a New York giants fan Alex.

Alex McGuire (27:00):

I’m gonna disappoint you. I, no, I, I, you know, I, uh, I never got into it much while I was there. And then when I went to school in Boston, I became a Patriots fan, so, oh,

Scott Luton (27:10):

Well, that’s a perfect, that’s even a better example, frankly. So better example and no, no, not throwing these shade to our giants fans, listeners, you know, they had some great years 91 with O Otis Anderson. Right. But man Patriots,

Allison Giddens (27:25):

Like how do

Scott Luton (27:26):

You just nerd, I’m a big nerd Allison, but, um, Alex that’s even better example because gosh, talk about just, um, the table stakes and the basics, uh, of what the Patriots have been able to do so that they can spend more time and attention on the proverbial skill positions in the game. And it’s led to what, five or six, whatever how many titles they’ve had. Right?

Alex McGuire (27:52):

Yeah, no, it’s so true. Um, and it’s funny cuz I know I’m, I’m gonna go back to baseball too. Right. Um, cause I, I use this metaphor all the time, uh, which is kind of small ball. Right. Um, really focusing on those singles, hitting those doubles, you get that, that small ball strength down, um, the same kind of concept, right. Everything else that then you start to layer on top of it, the home runs. Right. And, and you win games. Um, absolutely. That’s uh, that’s how I see it for, for supply chain as well. Love ask those basics and be strong with that.

Scott Luton (28:26):

That’s right. I love that one even better, you know, uh, analogies like, uh, uh, speed, never slumps, you know, or in basketball, you know, length, you know, height does never slumps the, these, some of these basics. Right. You put yourself in position, uh, to build the basics. Okay. Allison, thank you for, uh, uh, allowing me to kind of go down one little more path, but uh, what are we talking next, uh, with Alex

Allison Giddens (28:49):

Of course, any, any chance I can hear more stats and you just pull these, you are a veritable encyclopedia Britanica and for that next generation, what those are, those are books that they used to have. No. Um, so yeah, no on

Scott Luton (29:04):

That in Waals fun. And Waals, as I thought, you know, that that’s, I’ve had

Alex McGuire (29:07):

To explain that to my daughters too.

Speaker 5 (29:10):

Did she? Right. So those are both funny, Alison,

Allison Giddens (29:15):

These are those things. Great. No, so for that next generation and for those, uh, for the, the younger, uh, folks looking for a career in this industry and supply chain, what would you Alex give, give as a, as career advice? Um, key piece of advice. You’d offer them if they thought, you know, I wanna be in Alex’s shoes one day.

Alex McGuire (29:37):

Uh, it’s a funny question to even answer, right. Because I don’t know about you guys, but, uh, I, I don’t feel internally older than 22. Um, so I still feel like the person who’s starting in his career. And so it feels a little strange, uh, and alien to give anybody else advice. Um, but, um, but I do reflect on, on some things, you know, like we, and we talked about some of the, some of these concepts right about, um, you know, that I once thought, you know, technical proficiency was, was everything. And then I really had to learn that it is, you know, people it’s relationships, um, valuing those. So I, um, you know, along those lines, I, I think that things that, that I’ve learned that I, I think about every single day, um, you know, one, um, you know, that technical skillset that’s, that that’s important.

Alex McGuire (30:27):

Right. And there’s gonna be times when you, you guys have probably been through this, you know, just working too many hours, um, you know, you going through rough patches, you don’t realize it at the time, but it’s actually a value. Um, you, right. I mean, I remember feeling frustrated at times where, and kind of looked at the number of hours and the amount of work as, um, a little bit of a burden. And I think I, I realized over time that I had to reframe that and realize it was an op an opportunity, um, right. And that I could shift to, instead of, I have to do this thing today, I get to do this thing today. Um, I get to learn, I get to help. Um, right. I get to just be a part of making something a little bit better. And I think when I learned to receive the, the day to day in that, in that way, it was a shift for me.

Alex McGuire (31:16):

Right. And I just, I didn’t have that in my twenties and my thirties. There may be a lot of people in their twenties and thirties who do, but I didn’t. Um, I, I think once I learned to see the day to day as, um, an opportunity to learn, to grow, to get stronger, um, that shifted for me. So that, that attitude mindset, um, you know, and just knowing that when you come out the other end, you know, of putting together, um, the day to day significant effort, um, right. That may be painful at times. Um, you do, you come out stronger, um, and that’s really what that’s, what gets you where you want to be

Scott Luton (31:53):

Allison. I really like

Allison Giddens (31:53):

That. I like that your take. Yep. I like the idea of, I don’t have to do this, I get to do this. I like that a lot.

Scott Luton (32:01):

Yes. It kind of embraces that, uh, uh, that daily gratefulness or gratitude rather, um, that, you know, sometimes can, if you’re having a tough day, sometimes that’s maybe the last thing on your mind, but really when you think about what’s going on in other places around the world, we’ve got it really good. And, uh, being grateful and, and, and Alex, how you spoke to how that kind of allows you to really lean in more war and, and probably have a bigger impact, uh, hour to hour, day to day. Um, alright, so Allison, you skipped over questions. So since you skipped over question, I’m gonna pose it to both of y’all. Uh, so Allison, we’re gonna talk about Eureka moments, one of my favorite questions. So I’m gonna pose it to Alex, and then I’m coming to you too. Allison, you’re not getting outta, you’re not getting outta answering that question.

Scott Luton (32:45):

So when you think of the last, uh, couple of years, again, it’s, it’s one of the things of our conversation. Just, just, uh, how much, uh, not only is it different, is it more challenging, but it’s, it’s new challenging, right? It’s, it’s, uh, we we’ve had some long, the industry supply chain global businesses had, um, some long held challenges, but man, we have really loaded up the cart on new complex, uh, new challenges that are new to business leaders and organizations alike. So, uh, with that as a backdrop, uh, when you think of the Eureka moment, maybe one in particular that really has been intriguing and impactful for you Alex in recent years, what would that be?

Alex McGuire (33:28):

You know, um, some are probably worth repeating. I think that we’ve talked a little bit about, you know, when you think about COVID and you think about, you know, um, supply chain constraints, um, you know, the, the, you know, one of the things was that, you know, I always knew that supply chain could be strategic, right. Uh, and that you could rely on supply chain to really, you know, help you with better deals and to manage risk. Uh, but certainly the past couple of years have, have, um, showed me that it’s even than that, right. I, I, it’s no longer about having a strategic supply chain in my mind. Supply chain really can be your competitive differentiator. Um, I’m not sure before the last couple years that I necess, I personally necessarily saw, you know, supply chain as, as a competitive differentiator even, right. But nowadays you just see it and you there’s certain companies where their supply chains are or were more durable going into this. Um, and they’re moving through, you know, we’re navigating through this environment, um, in a more agile fashion than others. Um, and, and it’s amazing to watch you, so certainly Eureka moment, um, supply chain, not just strategic, but it really can be, you know, the difference maker at a lot of companies

Scott Luton (34:48):

Agreed, agreed. And, you know, part of that, uh, comes from how we’ve empowered consumers via e-commerce, but also in retail and in, in other different ways to, uh, expect to, for companies and business to meet them where they are price that they want, uh, with the product and the choice and the quality and the experience. And by the way, uh, with, uh, especially from a retail standpoint, we’re gonna take it back and make that easy, uh, to, to, to ensure they’ve got what they want. It’s, it’s fat it’s, I’ll tell you, I’m not sure what we’re gonna be tackling in 50 years from now, but this, this era we’re living through now, to your point about how supply chain is, is positioned to be one of the most, uh, important differentiators, uh, and difference makers in business, it is absolutely fascinating. Um, Allison, uh, Eureka moment for you in the last couple years,

Allison Giddens (35:39):

I think for me, it’s really been the new understanding that so much more is interconnected than I think I gave it credit for the, the systems thinking angle of things that, of course we can look back and say, well, of course that happened. That’s because of that. Um, everything from, I mean, I know for months we talked about the toilet paper shortage during COVID, you know, and then all of a sudden then when we started seeing bull whip effect, and you started seeing sales on toilet paper, because there was too much, um, things like that, those kind of like mini pieces of supply chain, uh, were fascinating to me, but now that we’re dealing with this off ramp of COVID, um, and the workforce challenges and, you know, fall out from everything from the push to get vaccines out to just all these pieces that are interconnected, that ultimately are playing into a lot of the things that Alex talked about earlier, those the, the risk assessment of, okay, I need to plan accordingly because if this happens, I need to pivot and do this. So a lot of those kind of conversations just seems to me to be moving a lot quicker.

Scott Luton (36:49):

Well said, Allison completely agree. Um, okay, Alex, we have reached near the end of our time with you here today. Thanks so much for joining us. Uh, really we’re gonna have to have you back, uh, and we’re gonna maybe bolt on a couple more hours so that we can really dive deeper into your sports past, um, Alex and your culinary, uh, past. But, um, how would you suggest, I, I, I imagine beyond all that’s on your plate, uh, with, uh, at general dynamics information technology, I imagine you’re pretty active in industry doing a bunch of different things, but how can folks connect with you and learn more about G D I T?

Alex McGuire (37:27):

Um, yeah, absolutely. We’re always looking to connect with folks, uh, especially amazing talent. Um, so for us, you know, G D I T website, uh, I’m on LinkedIn, uh, anything like that works, uh, we want to hear from folks

Scott Luton (37:45):

Wonderful, wonderful, uh, Alex McGuire really have enjoyed your time here today. Thanks so much for spending it. Uh, Alex’s vice president and chief supply chain officer for general dynamics information technology, and we hope to see you again really soon. Alex,

Alex McGuire (38:00):

Thank you so much for having me appreciate it. You

Scott Luton (38:02):

Bet.

Allison Giddens (38:02):

Thanks Alex.

Scott Luton (38:07):

All right, Allison home run guest. I tell you, we shot he’s

Allison Giddens (38:12):

Fun.

Scott Luton (38:13):

He really is. Uh, and I’ll tell you, we could have, we could have spent so much more time on the front of that conversation, but also old

Allison Giddens (38:19):

Food and sports.

Scott Luton (38:21):

Right.

Allison Giddens (38:22):

But always isn’t it that way. I mean, you can really steal a person,

Scott Luton (38:26):

Uh, and judge your character as long as he likes sports and food. Right, exactly. Right. There you go. I think from a, from a leadership standpoint, uh, Alex seems to be a very, uh, conscious deliberate study of, of, uh, forward looking leadership. So I gotta ask you, Alison, I got two quick questions before we wrap with you. Uh, first thing is what if, if you think back what everything that Alex McGuire, which GD it shared with us here today, what’s one thing that you would, you would, uh, suggest to our list terms that they really wrap their head around?

Allison Giddens (38:57):

I think it’s really important that the people piece, he stressed it from an early point, even from, you know, riding his bike, to go get seafood with family as a kid and, and spending time all the way through enabling his team to be able to be, uh, efficient and effective using auto and technology and, and just teamwork in general. But those relationships I think are vital. And that’s, that’s, I think the, the key theme today

Scott Luton (39:24):

Agreed, and, and also to, to, uh, add to that empowering your people, whether it’s technology or, or other things, right. Um, I’ve talked about this a lot, but we were having a, a panel session, uh, about a year or so ago, and it was a supply chain executive from a big hardware organization, a well-known hardware organization. And she was talking about how some basic, uh, she was talking about how some employee requests pre pandemic one was related around expense reports and how they can make it easier. All the employees were asking for certain things and they leadership said, no. And then she was talking about that here in the middle of a pandemic where everything else has changed. And she was like, what were we thinking? Of course let’s do this. This is easy. And it was just, it was a very powerful Eureka moment for me, because sometimes you’re dealing the small potatoes and you don’t even know.

Scott Luton (40:17):

Right. And, and, and that should be just table stakes. Let’s make it E let’s make it easy stuff. Let’s make it easy. Right? Let’s take care of our people and make their day to day as easy as possible, especially based on everything else or tackling. Um, so I, I love Alex’s take on, uh, on some of things here today. So Allison, thanks for, for facilitating today’s interview, but let’s make sure folks know how to connect with you. You’re, uh, not only at win tech where you lead the, uh, the company there, but you’re doing a lot of great, great work in the community with things like the Dave crate, you foundation. How can folks connect with you?

Allison Giddens (40:52):

Uh, find me on LinkedIn. I’m happy to connect there. I’m there a lot. Allison Giddens on LinkedIn and, uh, yeah. Feel free. You reach out.

Scott Luton (41:00):

It is just that easy. She’s everywhere folks. She’s everywhere. Allison, a pleasure to have these conversations with you. Uh, big thanks to all of very great

Allison Giddens (41:08):

Work. This was fun.

Scott Luton (41:10):

It was a lot of fun. And I appreciate your, your time here. Big, thanks again to Alex McGuire. Uh, with general dynamics information technology home run interview you here today. Folks, thank you to our listeners that, uh, make all this possible. Hopefully enjoy today’s episode. Wanna encourage you to find supply chain now, wherever you get your podcast. So you don’t miss conversations just like this one, but whatever you do, Hey, be like Alex and Allison. Hey, do good. Give forward. Be the changes needed. And on that note, we’ll see next time, right back here at supply chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (41:42):

Thanks for being a part of our supply chain. Now, community check out all of our programming@supplychainnow.com and make sure you subscribe to supply chain. Now anywhere you listen to podcasts and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. See you next time on supply chain. Now.