Supply chain: increasingly, it’s a game of “innovative or get left behind.” And what better way to innovate than robotics that empower the workforce and increase the accuracy, speed and quality of production processes? Join Scott, Greg and Karin as they chat with 6 River Systems’ Eran Frenkel about the rise of robotics as a key digital supply chain investment on this week’s Supply Chain Buzz.

Intro/Outro (00:00:03):

Welcome to Supply Chain Now, the voice of global supply chain. Supply Chain Now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues, the challenges and opportunities. Stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on Supply Chain Now.

Scott Luton (00:00:31):

Hey, good morning, everybody. Scott Luton, Karin Bursa, and Greg White with you here on Supply Chain Now. Welcome to today’s livestream. Greg, how you doing?

Greg White (00:00:39):

I am doing quite well, Scott. How are you doing?

Scott Luton (00:00:42):

Great to see you. And Karin, how are you doing?

Karin Bursa (00:00:45):

I’m doing great this morning. It’s good to be here with you guys.

Scott Luton (00:00:47):

Wonderful. We got quite a panel. We got a big guest joining us here shortly, but you know, Karin and Greg, today is a Supply Chain Buzz where we share some of the leading stories across global business every Monday at 12 noon Eastern time. So, as I mentioned, Eran Frenkel with 6 River Systems is with us here today. That’s going to be a fun conversation. We’ll talk about a variety of things. So, buckle up, folks, and get ready ‘cuz we want to hear from you as well. So, Karin and Greg, I’ll ask y’all a quick hitter of the start, one highlight from your weekend, just one highlight from your weekend. So, who would like to go first?

Karin Bursa (00:01:31):

I’ll go first, but I’m not sure anybody else is going to think of it as a highlight.

Scott Luton (00:01:38):

Do tell, do tell.

Karin Bursa (00:01:40):

I often start these projects in the yard when I ask for things a few times and it doesn’t miraculously happen. So, I started one of those yesterday.

Scott Luton (00:01:52):

Okay.

Karin Bursa (00:01:53):

And it took my husband and two boys to finish the project.

Scott Luton (00:01:58):

Wow. That was a massive project.

Greg White (00:02:00):

But they did.

Karin Bursa (00:02:01):

They did.

Greg White (00:02:01):

[Inaudible]

Karin Bursa (00:02:01):

And I very happy. I’m very happy with the results, so.

Greg White (00:02:04):

Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:02:05):

I love that. We’re going to have to get pictures. Greg, how about you?

Greg White (00:02:10):

My youngest daughter who just finished, what, her junior year of college came down to visit us. So that was a fun weekend. Interesting. And we were practicing all of the various cum laudes and what order they go in because she’s like one 100th of a point from summa cum laude, from her GPA standpoint, so.

Scott Luton (00:02:38):

She is really sharp like her parents, huh?

Greg White (00:02:41):

She is. And, you know, to quote the movie Clueless, I couldn’t be prouder if she’d actually earned an A, so.

Scott Luton (00:02:48):

Love that. Well, it sounds like both of y’all had wonderful weekends, and, hey, we’re teed up for a great conversation here today on Supply Chain Buzz. But before we do, Karin and Greg, I want to share a couple of quick announcements. And then, we’re going to say hello to a few folks out in the audience. I want to start with, hey, it’s all about purpose. It’s all about leveraging the resources you have to do good across the globe and [inaudible] team is really proud to continue our work in support of Vector Global Logistics as we look to leverage logistics for Ukraine. So, they’ve been doing these for a couple months now. It’s led to real impact, meaning containers on the water headed to folks with vetted needs in Ukraine and Poland and elsewhere. And basically, it’s a biweekly working session where folks with needs join folks with resources, folks who are looking to help or folks looking to learn about what’s going on and what updates on the needs and the situation. So, the next one is tomorrow at 11 am Eastern time. And I think we’re going to drop the link in the comments and then –

Greg White (00:03:53):

The newly crowned heroes of humanity, Vector Global Logistics by the Supply Chain and Procurement Awards.

Scott Luton (00:04:00):

That is such a great call out.

Karin Bursa (00:04:02):

Yes.

Scott Luton (00:04:02):

That is such a great callout. Karin and Greg, that was all last week. I think we’ve got a press release out there with all the winners, but Vector was deemed the champion of humanity. Karin, pretty cool, huh?

Karin Bursa (00:04:16):

It very cool and well deserved, well deserved. And, I love this particular initiative, which is just one of many that Vector has with time, effort, attention, their talent behind over the years as well.

Scott Luton (00:04:30):

That’s right.

Karin Bursa (00:04:32):

A good shout out.

Scott Luton (00:04:33):

That’s right.

Greg White (00:04:33):

You sometimes wonder how they have time to do business, but they’ve made this such a core part of their business that it really is just another one of those operational things that they do.

Scott Luton (00:04:44):

I love it.

Greg White (00:04:44):

I love how it’s in the forefront of their operations.

Scott Luton (00:04:48):

Great, great comments there, Greg and Karin. On a lighter note, a home run event coming up, a new event coming up with our friends at the National Retail Federation Supply Chain 360, June 20th and 21st in Cleveland, Ohio. Whenever I hear at Cleveland, it takes him back to Bernie Kosar and the Browns or Cleveland Rocks, which Drew Carey thing.

Greg White (00:05:13):

Drew Carey, yeah.

Scott Luton (00:05:14):

Karin, were y’all fans of that show?

Karin Bursa (00:05:16):

I was. I was. I like Drew Carey.

Scott Luton (00:05:18):

I think the president of the United States was the actual musical group that sang the song. Greg, you have to check me on that.

Greg White (00:05:25):

Is that right?

Scott Luton (00:05:25):

Yeah. I’m pretty sure.

Greg White (00:05:27):

The United States of America. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:05:28):

Yes. They also sing Peaches.

Greg White (00:05:32):

Peaches. Yep. That song.

Scott Luton (00:05:33):

Lots of others.

Greg White (00:05:33):

Millions of peaches.

Scott Luton (00:05:34):

Millions of peaches. Peaches for me. Hey, but y’all check out.

Karin Bursa (00:05:39):

This is a new event, right? Scott, the Supply Chain 360, right? And, Supply Chain Now is going to play a part in it. Right? What’s going on there?

Scott Luton (00:05:48):

Well, you know, so we’ve been collaborating with Jon Gold, NRF team, and this is another chapter in that collaboration. We may, Greg and Karin, we may be there in person. It kind of depends on a couple things, but Jon Gold’s going to be with us on a livestream this Wednesday talking about how many retail supply chains are really acting on how to bake more sustainability into their model. And he’s going to share, Greg, a couple of things that folks and supply chain leaders should be doing. Jon Gold always is a great interview, huh?

Greg White (00:06:22):

Unquestionably. I mean, he’s a huge advocate for retailers, right? He spends so much time in Washington, DC. You got to feel sorry for him. But this is a huge advocacy group. Right? And I think no better advocacy than what to do about your supply chain today, which is one of the things we’re going to be talking about a little bit later today as well. So, yeah, I love that NRF, aside from the big show, all of their advocacy, arguably lobbying and what else, whatever else they’re doing, they’re having these really focused operational shows on the important aspects of the business, very targeted.

Scott Luton (00:07:03):

Well said. So, y’all check that out. Registration is still open, Supply Chain 360 in Cleveland, and we’ve got the link we’re dropping in the comments. Okay. So, Greg and Karin, great comments and questions. You’re quite the one-two punch. Again, we’ve got Eran Frenkel joining us from 6 River Systems here in about 15 minutes. You don’t want to miss that. Let’s say hello to a few folks, and then I’ve got one story I want to get both of y’all to weigh in on, that both of y’all are very, very familiar with and been a part of it. And that’s, of course, the Gartner MQ, the Magic Quadrant, but we’re going to get to that in just a second. Let’s say hello to a few folks. Samaneh is back with us, via LinkedIn. Samaneh, let us know where you are tuned in from. Great to have you here today. Of course, Catherine, Chantel, Amanda, Klay, the whole production team is behind the scenes, helping to make it happen. Yes, it is rainy here in the Atlanta area this morning.

Greg White (00:07:59):

Okay.

Scott Luton (00:08:01):

All that mulch I put out this weekend washed away, and I’m kidding.

Greg White (00:08:06):

It’ll be holding water in here very shortly. Right?

Scott Luton (00:08:10):

Okay.

Greg White (00:08:10):

Which is the whole point.

Scott Luton (00:08:11):

Thank you for your optimism, Greg. I really appreciate that. Dr. Rhonda is tuned in.

Greg White (00:08:17):

I’m not seeing rain, guaranteed. She’s in Phoenix.

Scott Luton (00:08:21):

So, have y’all seen – so, Dr. Rhonda has been putting out some great content focused on a variety of things, including mental health and awareness. So, we’ll see if she can drop her podcast, a link to one of her latest episodes in the comments. Karin, have you caught any of those yet?

Karin Bursa (00:08:40):

I have. They’re very inspirational. Her energy just comes through in the conversation. So, I could learn a few things from Rhonda.

Scott Luton (00:08:50):

I love that. I love that. So, keep the good stuff coming.

Greg White (00:08:52):

Including how to hike up a mountain. It seems like [inaudible] a day, right? Oh, my gosh. Where does she get the energy? I don’t know.

Scott Luton (00:09:01):

Josh Goodey is back with us. Josh of the Seattle area.

Greg White (00:09:06):

Right. Of the Seattle goodies.

Scott Luton (00:09:09):

That’s right. The Seattle goodies. That’s right. We’re talking pedigree and lineage here. But Josh always brings it on the livestreams much like Rhonda and others. So, great to have you here. Let’s see here. I am thinking we pronounced two syllables, Pape perhaps. And if I got that wrong, let me know, but great to have you here, via LinkedIn, and let us know where you’re tuned in from. Jose Sanchez from Atlanta, via LinkedIn. Great to have you back, Jose. I saw also one of our favorites here, Gene Pledger. Karin and Greg, you can’t have a buzz without old GP, right?

Greg White (00:09:45):

There are a lot of ways to interpret that and hope both of them. At least the two that immediately come to mind are always true.

Scott Luton (00:09:51):

That’s right. That is right. And Gene is from the Northern Alabama area and I’m pretty sure – Gene, refresh our memory. Well, so Karin’s an Auburn alum. I think Gene might be on the other side of the fence, Karin. I’m not sure.

Karin Bursa (00:10:06):

I think he is.

Greg White (00:10:06):

Let’s not go there. Let’s just ignore them now again –

Karin Bursa (00:10:08):

Yeah. Let’s [inaudible]. It’s great to see you on the livestream today.

Greg White (00:10:14):

Let’s talk about something we can all enjoy.

Scott Luton (00:10:16):

Fair enough.

Greg White (00:10:17):

[Inaudible]

Scott Luton (00:10:18):

Hey, we can all team up on Jimbo, right? So, we’ll save that for a later time. Of course, Amanda is with the production team, behind the scenes, helping to make it happen today. Byron Evans Sr. from Waco, Texas. Great to have you back with us, from a beautiful part of the world. Pape from Senegal. So, ask and ye shall receive, and let me know, Pape, if I’m pronouncing your name correctly. Let’s see here, Dmitriy is tuned in via LinkedIn. Great to see, Dmitriy. Let us know where you are viewing from.

Scott Luton (00:10:52):

Okay. So, Karin and Greg, before Eran joins us and we talk all things robotics and automation. I want to get y’all’s take on a recent released report on supply chain planning solution providers from our friends at Gartner, and what I want to do, before I get y’all to weigh in, some of the folks out there may not be familiar with the MQ, right, as it’s called by some folks in the know, like the two of y’all perhaps. The Magic Quadrant is a regularly released series of market research reports, again published by Gartner. They release of a lot of MQs for a wide variety of market niches. I had no idea. I started diving into this over the weekend. 3PLs, salesforce automation, network services, and many, many more. And, as I mentioned, the popular supply chain planning solutions MQ has recently released I think just last week. And I wanted to get y’all the way in on some of the things that maybe stood out to you. And, Karin, we’ll start with you. Any observations specifically related to this MQ?

Karin Bursa (00:11:57):

Yeah. This MQ is probably the single most important or most influential report that gets published for the supply chain planning market space. The bottom line is it stimulates a ton of discussion and whether you agree or disagree, it is always interesting and there is always a little magic in the quadrant, thus the name magic quadrant. So, don’t you agree, Greg? There’s always just – there’s always a few surprises. I’ve been involved with this particular magic quadrant for more than 25 years. And I’ve seen it go through several different iterations and changes. There is some science behind it, so there are 15 critical capabilities that help to do some of the assessment of the solutions, and then it’s got that important X, Y axes, completeness of vision. So, vision is important for the solution provider and then ability to execute, which is the Y axis for it.

Karin Bursa (00:13:09):

And where you want to be? You’ll want to be in the leaders’ quadrant. You want to be in the upper right-hand side. And, you know, there are four quadrants. They’re all important, but there are 22 vendors in this year’s magic quadrant. The prior one for 2021 had 18. So, just making it into the quadrant is a huge accomplishment so don’t think that because a solution provider is in the niche quadrant, they aren’t worth considering. They are. They met the criteria to be included ‘cuz there’s another 10 in addition to those 22 that get honorable mentions. So, if you make the quadrant, there’s something special about the solutions you’re bringing to market.

Greg White (00:13:58):

And particularly in the supply chain planning market where there are literally over a hundred supply chain planning solution providers. So, to be even considered for this, you have to be of a certain size and veracity as a company. You have to have a relatively international presence. All of those things go into determining the viability of the company and not just the technology itself. So, there are all kinds of aspects that are investigated here. It’s really important. I think it’s been Tim Payne who has been doing this for a long time along with Amber Salley. They’ve made a really conscious effort to shake up the status quo, if you will, and not necessarily leave companies in the leaders’ quadrant because they’ve always been there because technology has evolved and new players have come into the marketplace and they have been doing some really, really innovative things.

Greg White (00:14:54):

And I think one of the frustrations can be as an analyst, probably as an analyst, but also as a technology provider, which Karin and I have both been and participated in this magic quadrant, is that it’s so hard to rise above the noise because there are hundreds of vendors, but also to be recognized because the old school, if that’s what you want to call them, type vendors kind of rule the narrative in the marketplace, but there are plenty of other vendors out there. And as Karin said, don’t just look at the leaders, look at the visionaries, look at the challengers, even look at the niche players, because the reason some of them may be a niche is because of a very specific market that they focus on that could be your market. It could be you if you are a particular type of retailer or manufacturer or distributor or whatever. Those niche players can be very, very valuable. And, of course, the leaders are setting the standard in terms of new technologies and ability to reach the entire world. You know, this is not a US-centric thing. Almost all of these companies operate around the world in some aspect.

Karin Bursa (00:16:13):

Yeah. Absolutely. And this process is – for a solution provider, this is a big effort. This is not something you fill out an RFI and you’re done. I mean, are you with me, Greg? I mean, the process starts, they’re getting ready to kick off the next magic quadrant analysis. So, it will start in the kind of the June, July timeframe where they will survey the market and make the decision on who’s going to be in the quadrant. And then, there’s like an RFI process. There’s a briefing process. There’s customer reference process. So, for this one that just published last week, I think it was distributed on the 18th. It has a 16th published date on it, from May 16th. But when that started, it was July of last year. So, it’s taken –

Greg White (00:17:11):

Yeah. That’s true.

Karin Bursa (00:17:12):

All that time to come to market, to get vetted and to be reviewed. And then, the vendor gets to counter if they disagree with some of the rankings on them. They don’t get to see everybody else. They just get to see the write-up on their strengths and weaknesses.

Scott Luton (00:17:31):

Greg, I’m going to give you –

Karin Bursa (00:17:32):

Strengths –

Scott Luton (00:17:31):

I’m sorry. Go ahead.

Karin Bursa (00:17:32):

And opportunities. Strengths and opportunities.

Scott Luton (00:17:36):

Sounds good to me. Greg, I’m going to give you the final word.

Greg White (00:17:40):

Yeah. I think the important thing to understand here is unlike other evaluations, you can’t advertise or buy your way to the top of this list and it’s evidenced by the fact that some of the largest players with some of the largest marketing budgets in this one of the largest markets in supply chain technology are not in the leaders’ quadrant. So, it is as fair an evaluation as you can get. And as Karin says, they dig very deep. In fact, I don’t know if it comes out every year now, Karin, but it used to only come out every other year because so much work went into the research and analysis here. And, frankly, as a solution provider, I was thankful that it was only every other year.

Karin Bursa (00:18:27):

They want it to be annual. When it gets slowed down, it’s because of challenges either from the analysis process or with the review process. But the goal is that this behemoth of a report is to be an annual report. It doesn’t always make it annual, the 2021 took two years with COVID in the midst of it to come to market.

Scott Luton (00:18:54):

Well, check that out. And, you know, Greg and Karin, I imagine when Mike Griswold joins us next week. We’re probably going to touched on this. The top 25 is I think this week, I think. The Gartner Top 25 will be released I believe, so y’all stay tuned. I think it’s next – well, it’s next Wednesday, a week from this coming Wednesday. Join us 12 noon as we dive deeper into some of this stuff. Okay.

Greg White (00:19:18):

A great example is Mike is probably one of the most knowledgeable analysts in the industry and he, I think, has chosen, may even tell you that he actively avoids having his own magic quadrant because it is so much work and he has so many analysts, clients or, you know, analysis clients. So, it’s not something that you can do even part-time. It is – I mean, it really is a great and as objective and analysis as you’re going to get.

Scott Luton (00:19:50):

Don’t poke the bear. I think we’ve learned that from our monthly – we’ve learned that. It was his nickname, right? The bear.

Greg White (00:19:56):

Oh, that’s right. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:19:57):

Yeah.

Greg White (00:19:58):

Of course, Griswold, Griswold.

Scott Luton (00:19:59):

So, all right. So, really quick, I want to say hello to a few folks, and then we’re going to bring in our featured guests here today on the Supply Chain Buzz. Really excited. We’ll be chatting with Eran here momentarily. Gene is confirming. We can’t leave any unclosed loops. He is a big [inaudible] fan. Dmitriy is confirming. Currently from Kansas City, Missouri. How about that.

Greg White (00:20:21):

Go, Chiefs.

Scott Luton (00:20:22):

Go, Chiefs, as Greg always says. So, Dmitriy, welcome in. Dr. Rhonda appreciates our feedback. “You’re so kind. Super thankful to learn whatever’s happening in the supply chain world from your insightful community. And we need some rain here, for sure.” She says, “Haven’t seen rain since March 5th.”

Karin Bursa (00:20:41):

Oh, wow!

Scott Luton (00:20:41):

Wow. How about that? So, these –

Greg White (00:20:44):

So, starting July 15th, around that, that monsoon season in Phoenix, they should see it about every day.

Scott Luton (00:20:52):

Okay. That’s good to know.

Greg White (00:20:53):

For about 30 minutes. Floods the streets, and then they’re dry 30 minutes later. That’s the way it worked when I lived there.

Scott Luton (00:20:57):

I like your optimism, Greg, and your weather reporting. Own the money. Maybe we’ll get an update on the –

Greg White (00:21:04):

Almost as easy as San Diego, which today is 73 and something.

Scott Luton (00:21:10):

Right. Sadiq, great to see you here, via LinkedIn. Let us know where you’re tuned in from. Sayari from Tunisia, via LinkedIn, great to see you here today. Stay tuned. Debbie Grant is with us. Debbie, let us know where you are tuned in from. Great to see you here today. Jose, thanks for your feedback. “I love the show,” he says, “and the helpful information you bring us every week.” Thanks, man. I really appreciate that.

Greg White (00:21:33):

Yeah. Whatever gets you coming back, Jose. That’s what we’re going to do.

Scott Luton (00:21:36):

That’s right. And from one Jose here in Atlanta to another Jose out in California, one of our faves here. “Hello,” Jose Montoya says from Southern California, host of coffee with – I always get this wrong, Coffee on Logistics and Supply Chains. So, check that out. Jose does a lot of great work there. Okay. So, Greg and Karin –

Greg White (00:22:01):

Yes.

Scott Luton (00:22:02):

We have got a wonderful guest. We really enjoyed our pre-show conversation with the one and only Eran, coast-to-coast, Frenkel. So, let’s go ahead and bring in our guest. Please join me in welcoming Eran Frenkel, Vice President of Technical Operations with 6 River Systems. Eran, how are you doing today? Great to see you.

Eran Frenkel (00:22:27):

Hey, good morning. Thank you for having me.

Scott Luton (00:22:29):

Well, we’re excited to have you here. We’ve really enjoyed our kind of our monthly chitchats with you and members of your team. It’s really interesting to see all the things that you’re doing here in this commerce era we find ourselves in and then some. But, Greg, Karin and Eran, we’re going to start with a little bit of fun here. So, I bet, my bet is y’all had no idea that today is National Taffy Day. So, where I want to start, if you’re like me, a child of the ‘80s, Laffy Taffy, Now and Laters, that was part of my weekend. And if my folks let me, my daily diet back in the day.

Greg White (00:23:13):

What about carnival taffy?

Scott Luton (00:23:15):

Never had carnival taffy. Never. I don’t think so. So, all right. So, clearly, I mean, let me write that down there, Greg. But, Eran, let’s start with you. So, tell us if it’s not taffy, what’s your go-to candy?

Eran Frenkel (00:23:32):

Yeah. I’ll take you a little bit of the bit and track if you don’t mind. So, I’m going back to my childhood around the ‘80s, a little bit before, in Israel. My favorite thing back then, that is still the favorite thing today is chocolate-covered orange peels. I don’t know if you know that candy or not. I think that you can, but the combination of the bitterness of the orange peel with the sweetness of the chocolate still does it for me.

Scott Luton (00:24:01):

You know, we’ve gotten some –

Karin Bursa (00:24:02):

That sounds [inaudible] to me.

Scott Luton (00:24:03):

Right. We’ve got some really unique answers with these questions that we usually warm up with. That ranks up there, Eran. So, we’re going to have to check that out. Karin, your favorite candy, your go-to candy.

Karin Bursa (00:24:16):

Peanut M&M’s. I cannot be left alone in the room with a bag of peanut M&M’s, so.

Scott Luton (00:24:26):

Okay.

Karin Bursa (00:24:26):

Just be warned. Yes.

Scott Luton (00:24:28):

No. All right. Middle note, do not leave. Okay. Greg –

Greg White (00:24:33):

Or do.

Scott Luton (00:24:35):

What about you, Greg White?

Greg White (00:24:37):

I am such a sweet freak that it’s hard to pin it down to one thing, but it’s probably a Snickers bar.

Scott Luton (00:24:45):

Okay.

Greg White (00:24:47):

Yeah. Unquestionably, a Snickers bar. My dad and I used to sit down and eat them together. And I can tell you when they changed the formula in the chocolate and in the caramel –

Karin Bursa (00:24:58):

Wow.

Greg White (00:24:59):

Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:24:59):

Man.

Greg White (00:25:00):

Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:25:01):

I just love the commercials. I love the commercials, which [inaudible] folks –

Greg White (00:25:04):

You’re not yourself?

Karin Bursa (00:25:05):

Yes.

Scott Luton (00:25:06):

Yeah.

Karin Bursa (00:25:07):

Perfect.

Scott Luton (00:25:07):

Great commercials. Hey, really quick. And I promise we’re going to move into the heavy lifting in here. But Corey, hey, appreciate this feedback. Corey’s from Toronto, Corey Weekes. “Fantastic show. Always get great insights from these Monday lives.” Corey, hey, don’t be a stranger. Come on back. And we look forward to you weighing in today and we’re going to be talking a lot about some of the cool, innovative automation and robotics that are continuing to immerse themselves in supply chain organizations. Keep up. Dr. Rhonda says, “Yummy. My teeth cannot handle taffy. I bite them within minutes, not good for the caps and expensive implants.” Hey, I get that, for sure.

Greg White (00:25:45):

You can almost feel taffy pulling your teeth out of your gum. I mean, even just regular teeth out of your gums, right? Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:25:51):

You’re so right. You’re so right. All right. We’re going to circle back, maybe to some more candy talk. But, Eran, again, great to have you here today. And I want to kind of start changing gears, get to the center of plate topic. We’re going to be conducting, Eran, Karin and Greg, a bit of a state of the union update for robotics. You know, we’re going to be talking about what the landscape looks like out there. And, Eran, where I want to start with is, we’ve got a really neat article from our friends at Modern Materials Handling. Great read. It came out just not too long ago. And, I want to get your take. But, first, this is author, Bob Tribelcock, reflects a bit on big trade shows from 2007 and kind of forward, you know, ProMat, MODEX and stuff, and just how far automation has come and evolved since. He also shares some of the results in this survey. Y’all can check it out. Perhaps, we can drop link into comments.

Scott Luton (00:26:47):

He shares results from a recent survey focused on robotics automation that was conducted in the last few months. And one of my favorite takeaways from the data is that those companies according to their survey that are either looking to use robots or already are using robots, they’re not looking to replace labor, but rather they’re using robotics to empower the workforce, helping them to get more done and get it done easier. But that’s just one of my favorite takeaways. Eran, I want to – tell us, from this article and kind of in general, what are some of the things you’re seeing?

Eran Frenkel (00:27:20):

Yeah. I love it. We first started with dessert and now we are moving to the main course.

Greg White (00:27:27):

Very European.

Scott Luton (00:27:29):

Yes.

Eran Frenkel (00:27:29):

Yes, exactly. So, I start with general and then we can deep dive into the article. We see rich brands that are coming from the industry. First, we see a double digit year over year, eCommerce growth, that return to the pre-COVID levels, but with higher expectations for delivery times, delivery equality and the return process. Second, as you just mentioned, the labor shortages, both in the front line and the managers driven by the increased demand of warehouse employees, which reduce supplies of those employees. And, three, supply chain management delays to get product to the warehouse shelves, making it harder to manage inventory and to forecast. Those trends increase the gap between businesses that implemented robotics or add their industry from point on solutions into their businesses and fulfillment as compared to the businesses who did not, because those system had to optimize the labor, improve the productivity, reduce onboarding time and increase the employee retention.

Scott Luton (00:28:34):

All right. So, Greg, I’m going to come to you first. Eran just shared a lot there. But what’s one thing you heard him share or what’s one of your key takeaways from this article from Modern Materials Handling we’re referring to?

Greg White (00:28:47):

I think it’s fascinating, the juxtaposition of our perception of robotics here in the states versus Europe, for example, where, a good friend of mine, Lauren [inaudible] ran wine and spirits warehouses that were virtually completely lights-out, and where we are still apologizing for taking jobs away from humans who refuse to take the jobs that are out there. I think, you know, that juxtaposition of our perception and of Bob’s analysis versus what’s really going on in the world, I think is really, really important. For instance, I work with a company that does robotics operating systems in Southeast Asia, where labor is very, very cheap and still there is an incredible desire for robotics and autonomous in the workplace. And I think that this is a largely the lagging nature of the way the US and North America has handled this is a cultural issue that goes back to the ‘50s when you can’t take my job was the thing. Right? And I think we have to kind of welcome ourselves to this century, in this millennia, and say it is okay to use robotics because it’s not taking anyone’s job. No one. Not one single person. Remember, we had a two million workers shortage of supply chain talent prior to COVID and the explosion of eCommerce.

Scott Luton (00:30:25):

Right. Excellent points there, Greg and Eran. Karin?

Karin Bursa (00:30:28):

Yeah. I agree. I really like the article that that Bob Tribelcock put together. He always does his homework, but Peerless, the publishing group, did some actual surveying of the market as well. So, there’s some really good metrics in here. And I would encourage folks to read the article because if I’m remembering correctly, I was just looking back at it, but 40% of the respondents said they have no plans. That to me is –

Greg White (00:30:56):

That’s right.

Karin Bursa (00:30:57):

That’s a problem. So, I’m not saying you have to be there today or next year, but this needs to be in your five-year roadmap, where you start thinking about how you’re augmenting your teams, how you’re streamlining operations, how you’re creating efficiencies. So, for that 40% who answered no plans, let’s go back and take another look at the strategy overall.

Scott Luton (00:31:21):

Excellent point, Karin. And, Eran, I want to circle back to you because in our previous conversations with 6 River Systems, it’s not about just dropping robotics into warehouse or fulfillment center as Karin’s talking about. It’s holistic, you know, and it has a ripple effect on the operation and the organization far beyond, you know, having an army of Chucks around. So, speak to that, if you would, and any final points related to this article and the research behind it.

Eran Frenkel (00:31:49):

Yeah. And maybe I’ll start with the latter. I’ll take exactly what Karin just said and why 40% of the companies are not planning to use robotics. So, I think that the survey inside the article did a great job breaking down the reap. So, I find it interesting to look at those challenges that the companies are facing when they’re pursuing the robotics, because that can better explain why the companies are still hesitant to implement them. The first point that the article, the survey showed, and they send it to more than 200 people or 200 operators, the ROI, the operators are finding it hard to realize the promised value of the systems, but they also find it harder to measure as besides [inaudible] improvements the robot also have secondary benefits such as improving the quality, making the associates life easier and making it easier to flex up and down to address changing in peak seasons. The survey also speaks about the lack of robotics expertise and the impact on culture.

Eran Frenkel (00:32:50):

The operators are experts in running warehouses, but they are not experts in running robotic system. There are also concerns, to Greg’s point, how those robots will impact their labor and culture. Will it improve their life or create anxiety that the robots will take jobs? And, finally, the survey talks about the long time from first call to go live, the downtime associated with the implementation and the ongoing operations and the funding. In 6 River, we are looking specifically, we are not surprised, we were not surprised by looking at those survey results in trying to find ways to mitigate those risks during our GTM and operations processes.

Scott Luton (00:33:33):

All right. I want to circle back here in a second ‘cuz I want to get all three of y’all to weigh in on some predictions in the short term, because I believe that 40% figure that everyone’s is talking about that folks that aren’t considering, I bet that’s going to drop precipitously, if I use that Greg White word the right way, in the months and years to come. But really quick, on a lighter moment, we mentioned candy and folks are sharing here. So, I got to share a couple quick ones here. Dr. Rhonda loves peppermint patties in the freezer. Have you ever done that?

Greg White (00:34:07):

Oh, yes. Yes, of course.

Scott Luton (00:34:08):

And chilled peanut buttercups. I got to check that out. John Perry’s with us. John, great to have you here. Hopefully, you’ve brought your iconic sense of humor. We like John’s dad jokes around here. “Saltwater taffy from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Always the way to go.”

Greg White (00:34:24):

Eran, you’re going to get a shot at those here pretty soon, I think.

Scott Luton (00:34:27):

That’s right. We’re going to keep that cat in the bag. Amanda says, “Give me anything chocolate, especially with caramel.” I’m with you there. And, Jose, “Taffy’s a type of candy invented in the US, made by stretching or pulling a sticky mass of boiled sugar, butter, vegetable oil, flavorings, colorings until it becomes aerated, tiny air bubbles produced resulting in the light, fluffy and chewy candy.” Man, I wonder if his middle name is Mars or – he knows candy.

Greg White (00:34:57):

Okay. Next. How is chocolate made? Go with that?

Scott Luton (00:35:02):

That’s right. I love that, Jose.

Greg White (00:35:04):

He refuses to determine, to even state whether he eats candy. Instead, he describes it. I like – that was a nice dodge, Jose. Pretty good.

Karin Bursa (00:35:14):

I like his discipline. That’s a [inaudible].

Scott Luton (00:35:18):

Focused. Okay. So, speaking of discipline, we got to get back into the center topic here today, robotics automation, the impact on supply chain, kind of a forward-looking snapshot, which is what this survey is really – the survey’s kind of speaking to, again, the current state, but also where we’re headed. And, folks, again, we’re talking about the state of robotics that came to us via our friends at Modern Materials Handling. Y’all check that out. And, I believe Amanda dropped link to the article in the comments, check that out in the data that we’re all referring to.

Scott Luton (00:35:47):

Okay. Eran, we love talking predictions around here partially because as Greg always says, no one will ever know that you’re wrong ‘cuz they won’t go back and uncover your predictions. But, Eran, if you had to look, if you had to break out the crystal ball and think of what lies ahead for robotics and automation systems in industry, global business, global supply chain, two to three years out, what can we expect?

Eran Frenkel (00:36:13):

Yeah. I’ll give you like the way that I see it. So first of all, as you mentioned, I’m going to see, we are going to see a significant uptake in the user of robotics automation as we go through the effects of the pandemic, the supply chain management that I mentioned before and the labor shortages. The second flavor, to Greg’s point, I don’t see a fully automated lights-out distribution management – sorry, distribution center in United States in the next five years. I think that COVID accelerated by five years the rush for lights-out due to the labor shortage and probably get us to up to 80% automation. But due to the long tail, the edge cases, those, in my opinion, will prevent it from happening in United States. And the third part of that, I see the hardware becoming more of a commodity and the software becoming the differentiator between the different OEMs. It’s the software that runs the robots, the warehouses, the WMS, the machine learning created from the sensors and the integration between the robot that is running inside the warehouse to the entire supply chain, from manufacturer to freight, to fulfillment, to sort center, to last mile. So, it’s kind of like a mouthful, but this is how I see the next three years.

Scott Luton (00:37:26):

It’s a mouthful like a good Heath bar as our friends, Colin Bansof mentions. I’m with you, Canadian coffee, toffee. All right. So, Greg, I’m going to come to you next. You know, as Eran was kind of painting his vision for where we’re headed next two to three years, what are some of your thoughts there?

Greg White (00:37:45):

In the next two to three years, and in fact it’s already started happening, I see companies building their fulfillment facilities, considering robotics first rather than second to labor because as I said this labor shortage is not going to cease. People are staying away from this kind of jobs and droves. And I see that happening. I see also one of the big objections in the survey was the integration, the implementation of robotics. I see companies like 6 River and others overcoming the, whatever you want to call it, customization so that robotics is more apified so that you can plug it in more easily. You don’t have to have robotics experts in the warehouse. Think of it as, you know, an iPhone-type implementation. And secondly, I see, or thirdly, I should say, secondly, among the software, I see companies creating this or removing the barriers between different brands where a 6 River and a whoever else might mirror or whoever can operate in the same warehouse using their respective strength and it is completely transparent to the users in the workplace, because there are companies working on a universal OS that allows, instead of, as Eran was talking about, instead of it being, you know, Mac versus Windows, it’s a universal operating system that allows these toys to play nice with one another.

Scott Luton (00:39:20):

I love that. I had no idea. I love that. Who knows? Maybe the same team can work on universal TV remote so we can get one for all TVs out there. We’ll see. That might be wishful thinking.

Greg White (00:39:30):

Well, when you say it like that, Scott, it makes robotics sound more, more impossible, not less.

Karin Bursa (00:39:35):

That’s right.

Greg White (00:39:36):

Think about how long we’ve been trying to conquer that.

Scott Luton (00:39:38):

Holy cow. But I do love – kidding aside, I’d love that prediction you’re making Greg about the different technologies working together without impact to the user. That sense of kindred spirits and collaboration is great for industry, I believe. Karin Bursa, what’s your bold prediction a couple years from now?

Karin Bursa (00:39:55):

Oh, couple – I mean, it’s coming. It’s coming. There’s already lights-out manufacturing facilities in the United States. So, we do have those, and those are going to be more complex certainly than a distribution center operation. So, the value proposition here, I mean, Greg just mentioned one of them that I hadn’t even considered, and that is shared facilities. And as we look at more and more direct consumer, so Eran mentioned eCommerce, right, so I’ve got more distribution centers, maybe with a smaller footprint that are serving my customers so they can get their products, you know, in a 24, 48-hour period of time, whatever the commit is to them, and to do that, this starts to make a lot of sense. So, I think we’re going to see 3PLs and 4PLs. We’re going to see them in the brand owner facilities as well. I think there’s huge opportunity for higher accuracy or reduced error rates and reduced injury and not necessarily replacing labor, but maybe we’re augmenting labor in different areas of the business. So, I think it’s kind of an exciting time to be in this sector. And it’s fascinating to go and watch if you’ve ever had the opportunity to, you know, even in manufacturing to see some of the robotic manufacturing processes. It’s really cool in a distribution center as well.

Scott Luton (00:41:27):

I couldn’t agree more. Hey, really quick, Eran, before we move to making sure folks kind of have a primer on 6 River Systems, I want to pose this question to you from Corey and, hey, happy for you to take this offline. And, Corey, a great question, but I’m going to see if he can weigh in here. “What about post receiving, putaway and picking steps? What is your outlook on pack kitting, value added activities being performed by robots?” Any thoughts you want to share there, Eran?

Eran Frenkel (00:41:56):

Yeah. Yeah. so, 6 River already operate in some of those facilities, sorry, in some of those process path. The way that – for example, putaway is something that we do today. Picking obviously that’s our bread and butter. The thing that I’m seeing there is that when you think about automation, I mention up to 80% of automation. It’s really looking at the bulk, or if you do [inaudible], you look at the 80% of the items and then you are trying to create automations for them, and then the 20%, those will be processed by exceptions, hospitals, et cetera. That’s the way that we are doing that. And really, we are looking at this world-to-world operations to manage everything that is happening inside the four walls with integration for outside supply chain, upstream and downstream processes.

Scott Luton (00:42:50):

Love that. And by the way, man, Corey has got some serious certifications. He’s got all of them. I feel that he could teach us something or two. Corey, great to have you today, and great question here. And Eran, thank you for addressing that kind of on the spot. All right. So, Greg, Karin and Eran, for just a minute, just for the handful of folks that may have not have caught some of your colleagues joining us here for The Buzz and some other programming, let’s just make sure that folks know, in a nutshell, what 6 River Systems does. So, Eran tell us what the company does.

Eran Frenkel (00:43:22):

Yeah. So, we are a solution provider that is working hard to make the fulfillment faster, easier, and simpler. We operate, as I mentioned before, with 3PLs, eCommerce and retail, B2B distribution, and medical. We have a flexible solution that is easy to deploy wall to wall that combines software and our hardware, the Chuck, which is our autonomous robot, that combines with artificial intelligence and our operational expertise creates a really appealing solution for our customers. I’ll touch on a point that Greg mentioned before. We spend a lot of time, and that’s my team. I’m the head of technical operations. We spend a lot of time simplifying the deployment process for our robots, and we accelerate that as part of the pandemic. Today, when you get a robot at 6 River, for example, you want to flex up and down, we will ship a robot. All the operators need to do is to take the robots out of the crate, turn it on, and the robot is already ready to go. You can start using that immediately. And then, when your peak season is over, you put it back in the crate and you ship it to us. We’re spending a lot of time thinking about it, simplifying our deployment operations, as well as simplifying the operations of that robot in the warehouse.

Scott Luton (00:44:40):

I love that. Does Chuck happen to play right field? Because my dear beloved Atlanta Braves could use an extra outfielder too. But –

Greg White (00:44:51):

Funny, you went to right field. I was thinking drums, but –

Scott Luton (00:44:54):

We’ll take both, take both. Thank you for sharing what 6 River Systems is up to. All right. So, what we want to do is, I think we’ve got a great resource, Karin and Greg and Eran, from our friends at 6 River Systems. I want to share that really quick here. There we are right here. And what this is focused on, this is a presentation, Eran, from Jerome Dubois, from 6 River Systems, on the Cost of a Mispick. I love this. I love quantifying these terms that we all assume. We know the cost. And I assume we know this. I assume we know that. Some of the key takeaways in this resource, and we’re dropping links in the comments, calculating the impact of a mispick on your bottom line, determining the value delivered in terms of investment payback, really important, and of course the benefits us on the work that Eran and his team are doing. But, hey, enough for me. Eran, what is your favorite aspect of this presentation by your colleague, Jerome?

Eran Frenkel (00:45:55):

Yeah. So, remember when we spoke about the survey results and we saw that the number one challenge there is calculating the ROI, and that’s really what this presentation is about because it’s not just the labor and comparing the robot versus the manual labor. It’s those secondary effects that improve the ROI, the accuracy, the service level, the ability to hit the truck, the critical pull time. And, what Jerome showed is that when you take all of those under consideration, you get to a really lucrative ROI in the example that he provided less than six months, which is very appealing for our customers, because they can see the benefits right away. That combined with the quick implementation really create a killer replication, and you can sign up in August and get going in October, right in time for the holiday pick.

Scott Luton (00:46:51):

I love that. I love that. Greg and Karin, I’m going to circle back for your key takeaway there based on what Eran is sharing. But first, Jose is speaking to Corey. I love the conversations between the conversations. So, Jose was part of the demo at Vert and 6 River Systems in Atlanta. And most of the processes that Corey was asking about and Eran was speaking to were covered and that took place around MODEX here just a month or so ago. Ashish, I’m with you. I like the word that different technologies work together. There needs to be more of that. So, Greg, I’m glad you brought that up. And as we mentioned, Amanda dropped the link to the webinar on demand, the Cost of a Mispick, and more as what Jerome talks about.

Scott Luton (00:47:37):

Okay. Karin, I’m going start with you, whether it is the importance of truly quantifying what these operational errors and challenges cost us, whether it’s the return on investment of doing, you know, making the investment, doing what you are predicting. It’s going to happen more and more. It’s a tidal wave of automation and robotics. But what’s a key takeaway for you from today’s conversation?

Karin Bursa (00:48:01):

Yeah. The first thing is I believe the ROI is there. And it, you know, can be put together for each company and its unique opportunities. In fact, you know, I’m going to plug a recent episode from TEKTOK that just published on framing your business case for digital supply chain investments. This is a digital supply chain investment. This is augmenting what you’re doing in the physical world and is physically moving goods. So, I firmly believe the ROI is there. I think there are learning opportunities and it will cause you to be more disciplined about your operations and that’s going to lead to good things as well.

Scott Luton (00:48:46):

And I’m so glad you brought that up. That is episode 37 of TEKTOK. We blink and you knocked out 37 episodes. That’s three times the average episodes for podcasts out across universe.

Karin Bursa (00:48:58):

[Inaudible]

Scott Luton (00:48:59):

Yeah. Usually, it’s less than 12 for the 2.5 million podcasts out there. Great episode. It’s been well received. Amanda, if we can drop the link to that in the comments, that would be great, Framing your Business Case for Digital Supply Chain Investments. Good stuff there, Karin. All right. Greg White, we’re talking investments, we’re certainly talking your language, supply chain of course, much like Karin, what’s one of your key takeaways from our conversation here with Eran?

Greg White (00:49:25):

Well, so having been a service provider and a retail practitioner and before and now still a consumer, I can tell you that the cost of a mispick is absolutely devastating, devastating to the credibility of your organization. You’ll have to determine what the actual dollar amount is, but, I mean, just think about. Everyone, just close your eyes for just a split second. Don’t go to sleep. Close your eyes and imagine that your favorite retailer sends you the wrong thing, right, in the two days in which they promised it. How pissed off are you? I mean, we actually had this problem in warehouses shipping to our stores and we had – I worked for a big retail chain, now O’Reilly Automotive. At the time we had 790 stores. And if you mispick to a hundred of those stores, you got 110 phone calls because you also got their district managers calls. So, it is hugely impactful, not to your bottom line only, but to your top line and your brand esteem and credibility as an organization. So, yeah, I mean, this is a pet peeve of mine, mispicks, as you can tell.

Scott Luton (00:50:41):

I can.

Greg White (00:50:42):

I think, not just being able to – not just being able to account for it, but also, and most importantly, being able to avoid it. There have been technologies forever trying to avoid mispicks. We started with visual assistance, VMware, if you’ve heard of VMware, by the way, who just got bought by Broadcom. But all of these things where we try to make humans able to not mispick and it’s still unbelievably difficult, even I bet, Eran, the robot-assisted humans may even occasionally mispick, right? So, it’s something that’s very costly. Obviously, it’s one of the key ROIs for robotics and autonomous.

Scott Luton (00:51:29):

Well said. And now I know, I’m adding to my short list of things that really gets Greg White going.

Karin Bursa (00:51:36):

[Inaudible], man.

Greg White (00:51:37):

Do not send me the wrong thing.

Scott Luton (00:51:40):

Well, hey, I want to circle back to something because I think Eran needs to say a little bit louder for the folks in the back, because, you know, deeds not words is a mantra of ours here at Supply Chain Now. But, you know, there’s time to take action prior to the coming season, right, like so many companies are doing.

Greg White (00:52:01):

Good point.

Scott Luton (00:52:02):

So, Eran, let’s go back to that timeframe. You just kind of probably, you know, picked. Folks can still act and get the system implemented to benefit their organization, this peak.

Eran Frenkel (00:52:14):

Yeah. You can. You can. You’re probably two months or so to finish all the red lines and learning about the system, certain action. And then, we will work hard, work with your operations, plan the ideal solution, deploy it, make it live and ramp it before the BFCM weekend.

Scott Luton (00:52:41):

Wow. How about that, Greg and Karin? I mean, that’s real deeds not words, in my book. A couple things here, I think Amanda agrees –

Greg White (00:52:53):

Sorry. Can I just ask a quick question? And you can watch three heads nod in unison. And that is, as three solution providers, I can assure you that we all agree on this singular point and that is you will not be waiting on your solution provider. Your solution provider will be waiting on you to solve this problem.

Scott Luton (00:53:13):

I love that. Excellent point. And there were –

Greg White (00:53:15):

I think that’s the beauty of the way technology has gone in the last few decades is it is so much easier to run as what you said, so much easier to implement and the companies are so far ahead of the game.

Scott Luton (00:53:27):

You got four heads nodding all at once I believe there. Karin, what would you add to that, what Greg just shared?

Karin Bursa (00:53:33):

Well, I’m passionate about getting the right things, but I’m not quite to Mr. White’s level. But customer acquisition cost is huge, right? And to lose some of your best customers is a challenge in any market, but especially in today’s market. So, I agree that the technology providers are really kind of leading and ready to go. If I had, you know, 60, 90 days to get something in place, I’d be working hard on it right now, especially with where we are from a human capital perspective and having a workforce that’s going to be trained and available to work long hours and handle increased volume.

Greg White (00:54:21):

Excellent point, Karin. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:54:22):

That’s right. And y’all noticed, Eran used a new acronym, at least to me, that I picked up on a couple months back, BFCM, Black Friday Cyber Monday. That’s a thing. That acronym is a thing as I’ve learned. So, it’s kind of like IRL. I learned IRL. IRL is in real life. Now that [inaudible] are back in-person. They’re meeting all their digital friends for the first time. So, hey, oftentimes, my kids are teaching me these acronyms lately, but I learned from –

Karin Bursa (00:54:58):

Be careful. Be careful with those.

Scott Luton (00:54:59):

No kidding. You’re so right.

Greg White (00:55:01):

Always know what they mean.

Scott Luton (00:55:03):

So, Amanda was talking about what Greg was alluding to. It just happened to us for a birthday gift for one of our kids, and she was very annoyed and you don’t want Amanda very annoyed. I promise you. Dr. Rhonda is sending congrats, good vibes to Karin on TEKTOK and the great journey and content coming out of that podcast. Great work, KB. Okay.

Karin Bursa (00:55:27):

Thank you, Dr. Rhonda. Thank you. I appreciate that.

Scott Luton (00:55:30):

All right. So, Eran, you know what I love about your interview here and, you know, we’ve just met – I feel like we’re like second or third cousins based on kind of just how you share what’s on your mind. But, Greg and Karin, is it just me or is it like when Eran’s talking about how you can change your organization and prep for peak, he’s like, it’s done, it’s easy button. It’s what we do. Is that – Greg, I know you’re nodding. Is that the air you get from Eran as well?

Greg White (00:56:01):

Absolutely. I mean, again, I think, you know, what we have to acknowledge as practitioners is that when we implement a new technology, we may do it only once. Right? Most likely only once. Eran and his team do it over and over and over and over and over again every single year. So, they have to be better at it.

Eran Frenkel (00:56:27):

No, we actually have [inaudible].

Greg White (00:56:28):

You’ve refined the process.

Eran Frenkel (00:56:29):

We have a name for that, Greg, internally that I share with you, the rapid deployment machine. That’s RPM.

Scott Luton (00:56:37):

RPM.

Karin Bursa (00:56:37):

I like it. I like it.

Scott Luton (00:56:38):

Love it all. So, let’s do this. Let’s make sure folks know how to connect with you, Eran. And we’ve already put the link to the Cost of a Mispick, that resource, out in the comments looks like across social. But how can folks, you know, if they reach out, want to grab a cup of coffee with you or compare notes, you know, talk about some of the things that make up the real art of the possible here in short order, how can I connect with you in 6 River?

Eran Frenkel (00:57:04):

Yeah. I would love to meet your listeners either in-person or virtually. I’m not a big Twitter person, but LinkedIn will be the best way to reach me. And if you want to follow 6 River and connect with 6 River, you can do it via LinkedIn or Twitter.

Scott Luton (00:57:20):

Wonderful. It is just that easy, really have enjoyed our time with Eran Frenkel here, VP of Technical Operations with 6 River Systems. But before you go, before we wrap, we’re going to wrap here in just a minute or two, Karin, I gave Greg the opportunity to kind of share a final thought a moment ago. Same thing for you. Beyond inviting people to check out TEKTOK, what else would you add as we wrap up here today?

Karin Bursa (00:57:47):

Oh, just same thing I always say. It’s a great time to be in supply chain. And if you’re not innovating, you’re going to get left behind. So, I would encourage folks to get started, and I’m not telling you have to boil the ocean but start with one distribution center or start with one initiative and build your, what is it, muscle memory. Dr. Rhonda, muscle memory coming back. So that you can just enhance those capabilities and start changing your culture. If culture is the problem, let’s start changing it a little bit at a time.

Scott Luton (00:58:19):

Well said. So well said. And by the way, Ashish picks up on something Greg said a moment ago. He says, “Hey, Greg, rightly said that it is about how much pissed off leads to change the direction to new technology.” That that is so well – that’s so right, you know, because if it doesn’t prompt organizations to do something about it, it prompts entrepreneurs to jump in and fix old or new problem that is causing a lot of conservation across the world of consumers. So, I love that. Well said, Ashish. Okay. Folks, a great conversation here today. Greg, really quick, the Hilton Head global logistics, transportation, supply chain carrier index, what’s that number at today?

Greg White (00:59:04):

Scott, I have to tell you, it got really high last week. So, outside of the Port of Savannah, which is the smaller of the two, there were 17 ships. And here they come again. So, I’m going to do a really quick count, 4, 8, 12, 14, 15, not in motion, including two oil tankers and the rest cargo ships. And one on its way into port. So, not as backed up in Charleston as we have seen in the past so I’m not sure exactly what’s going on there. But, Scott, I am willing to run over to Savannah, grab a cold beverage and talk to the port authority over there.

Scott Luton (00:59:51):

Let’s do it. Let’s do a show. We’ll do this afternoon.

Greg White (00:59:53):

Sweet tea is what I mean, Scott. Why are you laughing?

Scott Luton (00:59:56):

Well, I love that, Greg, and we’ll get another update on the index maybe later this week. Folks, be sure to join us Wednesday as UPS joins us at 12 noon for a live and then Jon Gold with NRF, as we mentioned, joins us Thursday at 12 noon. Big thanks to all of you. Big thanks to production team. Big thanks to our featured guest, Eran Frenkel with 6 River Systems. Eran, really enjoyed your perspective today. I look forward to having you back.

Eran Frenkel (01:00:22):

Thank you. Thank you for inviting me. It was fun.

Greg White (01:00:24):

You bet. Thanks, Eran.

Scott Luton (01:00:25):

Hey, make sure y’all connect with him on LinkedIn. Big thanks to my cohosts, Greg White and Karin Bursa. Be sure to check out Tequila Sunrise and TEKTOK, digital supply chain podcasts, respectively. And, folks, whatever you do, hey, speaking of what Karin was talking about, just take action. If it’s a baby step, if it’s a massive leap, you know, dip into that RPM that that Eran was talking about and really whether it’s robotics or automation or other changes that you need to make in your organization to really capitalize on this environment that we in because as Karin said it is a beautiful time to be in supply chain. Folks, whatever you do though, do good, give forward, be the change that’s needed. And on that note, we’ll see you next time right back here on Supply Chain Now. Thanks, everybody.

Intro/Outro (01:01:10):

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