The Supply Chain Buzz is Supply Chain Now’s regular Monday livestream, held at 12n ET each week. This show focuses on some of the leading stories from global supply chain and global business, always with special guests – the most important of which is the live audience!

This week, Scott Luton, Greg White, and Kevin L. Jackson welcomed Ellen Patridge from 6 River Systems. She shared her insights on the inventory complexities still facing retailers, and what they are trying do to guard their bottom line without failing to serve their customers’ changing demand.

This week’s news stories include:

• Evidence that suggests American Eagle is not just a supply chain leader, but that they are closely connected to consumer sentiment as well

• The significance of Panasonic’s new electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant in Kansas

• New technologies being applied to perfect the operation of checkout free convenience stores

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, Hey, good morning, Scott Luton, Greg white, and Kevin L. Jackson here with you on supply chain. Now. Welcome to today’s livestream, Greg, how you doing?

Greg White (00:00:40):

I’m doing great. I’m I am, uh, looking forward to another week at this one will have to be a lighter week for you than it than, than last week. That’s right. We put in the time last week, man.

Scott Luton (00:00:53):

We sure did. We sure did. We cranked out the donuts and they were really good tasty donuts, but Kevin, how are you doing?

Kevin L. Jackson (00:00:59):

Hey, I’m great. Last week was my New York week, man. I started it off, uh, on the hill at Wimbleton I, well, I was in New York city, but I was with IBM and they actually streamed the Wimbleton finals. And, uh, uh, I was on the hill there at, uh, Brooklyn bridge right next to Brooklyn bridge and I was on a New York, uh, television show over the week, uh, last week and a radio show. Hey, I’m a new Yorker now

Scott Luton (00:01:31):

Forget. So Kevin, uh, Greg to my ears, at least it sounds like the only person that had a bigger week last week than Kevin would be, uh, cam who, who won the, uh,

Greg White (00:01:46):

Smith

Scott Luton (00:01:47):

Cameron,

Greg White (00:01:48):

Cameron Smith. Wow. Put the lights out. I mean, he

Kevin L. Jackson (00:01:53):

<laugh>

Greg White (00:01:54):

Aint under in the final round of, of the open championship made it look easy, frankly. I mean, yes, it was the smoothest calmest crushing of the greatest players in the world that I’ve recently maybe ever seen, man, just no sweat. He just didn’t sweat whatsoever. And his playing partner also named Cameron, right. The Cameron’s as they were calling him. <laugh> finished second.

Scott Luton (00:02:21):

So, so, uh, that, that was, that was my CTV yesterday I thought. But, uh, Kevin Wim Wimbledon sound, your Wimbledon trip. Sounds wonderful as well. Yeah. Uh, that’s always a treat each and every year and Hey, but today speaking of

Kevin L. Jackson (00:02:35):

Treats cup, have you ever heard of a PIs cup?

Greg White (00:02:38):

I hope yes. PIs is a local Laur or something, right?

Kevin L. Jackson (00:02:45):

Yeah. It’s a gen Laur, but that’s what you drink when you’re at Pembleton uh, is a general cure with, uh, a strawberry in it and it’s cool. And it’s really good. First time I’ve had one. So, uh, okay. A pens cup.

Greg White (00:03:02):

I’ll have to, actually, it’s funny, you mentioned that Kevin, because I saw some opportunities for Watson to learn some things, by the way. Um,

Kevin L. Jackson (00:03:10):

For Watson screwed up big time.

Greg White (00:03:13):

I mean, it’s, it’s gotta be really hard. It, this was an AI analysis, Scott, where Watson said curios would beat, uh, Djokovic, obviously not taking into account, uh, um, mental toughness and stability because I could never have seen it happening. And in fact, I don’t know if you saw this too, Kevin, but as you looked back on the first set, you realized that Djokovich was trying some things to see how KIOS would respond. Um, and also KIOS was crushing every single serve. Um, and, and it just took him a minute to figure out his game. Uh, Joe lost the first set and just decimated the poor guy in the next set

Kevin L. Jackson (00:04:03):

That served. Right. And he just figured out, you know, it was a mental game. It wasn’t physical. It was, it was

Greg White (00:04:11):

Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:04:12):

Well, uh, tune in here next week for, uh, tennis analysis live. <laugh> watching now. Uh, but I know Greg, you play and Kevin, you may play as well, but regardless sounds like you had quite the experience, uh, up at Wimbleton. Um, on that note, talking about quite the experience today, it’s the supply chain buzz digital transformer’s edition, right? You’re third, third week, uh, every third, Monday of each month, um, we’re gonna be sharing some of the leading stories across global business. And we also have got a special guest joining us about 1225. Um, Ellen Patriot with six river systems will be joining us as we talk, uh, a lot of retail, a lot, lot of things, retail here today. Uh, but we’re gonna be talking about a variety of topics and, uh, Greg and Kevin, we want to hear from folks what your thoughts are, uh, in the cheap seats or the sky boxes or whatever. We wanna refer to the folks in the comments. We’d love to get your take on what we’re talking about. Uh, speaking of which Greg and Kevin let’s say hello to a few folks, uh, Shelly Phillips is back with us. We gotta get, um, Shelly’s story. Kevin Shelly shared with us last week that she was part of a team that went from zero to $60 million. And she was like employee number one. So we gotta get Shelly’s story at some point.

Greg White (00:05:26):

Yeah, she might have been CEO if I’m not mistaken.

Scott Luton (00:05:30):

I think that, that makes a lot of sense to me. Uh, Greg Catherine, of course, Catherine and Chantel and Amanda, all part of our are, uh, incredibly talented production team. Big, thanks to what they do Katherine, up

Greg White (00:05:42):

In the north Georgia mountains by a lake, just reminding us all that. It’s not always 95 degrees and 95% humidity in Georgia. Right?

Kevin L. Jackson (00:05:52):

<laugh>

Scott Luton (00:05:53):

You, you right about that? Uh, Savannah is back with it. I think Savannah was with us, uh, last week on a session. Great to see you here today via LinkedIn. Hey, let us know where you’re tuned in from. We love connecting the dots. Um, this is, I think Susan Christopher is tuned in from Nebraska via LinkedIn folks. If you ever get a LinkedIn user graphic like that, it’s just a little security setting on your LinkedIn. You can change that. Uh, if you like, but welcome in Susan, uh, Michael Rowan from Cleveland, Ohio via LinkedIn. Great to have you here, Michael, Greg, I gotta know what you’re laughing about.

Greg White (00:06:27):

I just love, I love your LinkedIn tips. This ought to be the, the supply chain buzz and LinkedIn operat operating tips, right.

Scott Luton (00:06:34):

And tennis and tennis.

Greg White (00:06:36):

I know you can’t stand to see it when you can’t see their names. So you’re, you’re one person at a time trying to educate people on how you share, share their profile.

Scott Luton (00:06:46):

That’s such a great observation

Kevin L. Jackson (00:06:48):

Audience. Yeah. You know, Scott’s all about connecting with the

Greg White (00:06:52):

Audience in truth. That is in truth, right?

Scott Luton (00:06:54):

Both of y’all you, you you’re dialed in you’re dead on. Right. And plus, uh, to be able, not to attribute wonderful input and t-shirt isms to the right people, you know, but it’s all about making a connection. Y’all both. So, so right. Um, Ts squared. Hello? Hello. Hello. Uh, tuned in from YouTube’s holding down to Fort force as always. Great to see you here today. Gene pleasure. Good. Old GP is back with us from north Alabama. Great to see you here, Jean, uh, to Greg’s point earlier, Catherine is not bragging.

Greg White (00:07:26):

No, not bragging at all. Right.

Scott Luton (00:07:29):

Three and breezy, man. I’m jealous Kathryn.

Greg White (00:07:32):

Yeah. And she’s either looking at a forest, a mountain or a lake, right. I mean there’s only three views up there, so

Scott Luton (00:07:40):

<laugh> beautiful. Um, well, great to have everybody and y’all keep chiming in. We’ve got a lot to get through here today with Greg and Kevin and, and our, uh, wonderful guest. Um, Ellen’s gonna join us about 1225. So I wanna start though, Greg and Kevin, uh, today we published an outstanding episode, uh, Enrique and Al uh, Alvarez. And I sat down with shaker NA Raja last, uh, couple weeks ago. And he has got Greg and Kevin an incredible backstory, you know, came, came from a very, um, poor family. I think he had eight or nine siblings in India. Um, his brother came here because he had a health condition. Shaker came with him, you know, with, with next to nothing. And then he, uh, found his American dream. And, and now he he’s the fearless supply chain leader of one of the, uh, big retail brands doing special things across global business. And that’s of course, American Eagle. Uh, so y’all check out this, this incredible episode that we published here today, wherever you get your podcast, you can just find and subscribe to supply you now. Um, Greg or Kevin, Kevin, go ahead. You’ve been tracking American Eagle and what they’ve been up to

Kevin L. Jackson (00:08:52):

Well, yeah, I’ll say what, what a life. I mean that, uh, you know, a, a brand shows its worth when it can, um, can change itself, modify itself, upgrade itself with, uh, with its audience and, and American Eagle is one of those that, that, you know, uh, tunes in with their audience and it, it, it modifies it change it, it listens to its audience. Um, and I know a as a supply chain leader, you, you gotta go with the flow. So I’m sure that was a great story.

Scott Luton (00:09:24):

Uh, well, it really was, he was very transparent and authentic in, in what he shared. Uh, Greg, uh, you’ve been tracking American Eagle and what they’ve been up to,

Greg White (00:09:33):

I haven’t, uh, so much, but I, you know, I have, uh, two, two, uh, gen Z daughters and a millennial daughter. So I’ll make some references back to them and see what they’re seeing. <laugh>

Scott Luton (00:09:44):

Love it. Uh, y’all check, check that out. And, you know, uh, Amanda, you reminded me Amanda, wasn’t, uh, a member of the American Eagle team back in college. Uh, I don’t, I think I’ve forgotten to share that with shaker, but, uh, y’all check out the, the wonderful conversation we had, uh, with, uh, shaker and Enrique. Um, George is tuned in from river falls, Wisconsin via LinkedIn. George, you gotta give us, you know, <laugh>, if we talk anything around here, is weather, give us a weather update from what is going on in river falls, Wisconsin, um, and where

Kevin L. Jackson (00:10:17):

Food, those are the two top topics on supply chain. Now

Scott Luton (00:10:20):

What’s that

Kevin L. Jackson (00:10:22):

Weather and food.

Scott Luton (00:10:23):

Yes, that’s right.

Kevin L. Jackson (00:10:26):

Food

Greg White (00:10:28):

Weather.

Scott Luton (00:10:29):

We

Kevin L. Jackson (00:10:30):

<laugh>,

Scott Luton (00:10:31):

We’re elevating the conversation with weather and food. That is right. Kevin and Greg, uh, and Shelly, uh, I agree with you. He is absolutely visionary and he’s not doing things as they’ve always been done, making some really big moves and yes, very humble. So I appreciate that. Um, Shelly, um, okay, so Greg and Kevin, what I wanna get into wanna get into the news, right. We got a couple stories we’re gonna cover before Ellen joins us. And, uh, Greg, I think we’re gonna start with some really cool things going on in Kansas, your home state and, and a estate where I spent two years with the air force in Wichita. Tell us what’s going on there.

Greg White (00:11:08):

Yeah. Uh, so Panasonic is, is opening this $4 billion electric vehicle EV plant, uh, battery plant in Kansas. So let’s talk about that first and then what we can talk a little bit about why, at least I think that matters in Kansas anyway. Um, first of all, EV vehicle sales are up 13%. Um, and, and a lot of that would be higher if it weren’t for the fact that you can’t build them, which is why they need battery plants. Hmm. Um, 66% of the EV market is Tesla, which is Panasonic’s biggest customer. So, um, this is predominantly their, uh, B uh, battery and electronic division. Um, you know, Panasonic’s a very broad company. People may or may not remember that they bought blue yonder, a technology company, a supply chain technology company, and they intend to spend another, uh, $4 billion on that. So, um, they are all, all over the place and, and trying to keep up with this demand.

Greg White (00:12:13):

And I think one of the cool things about it from a native can standpoint is Kansas has, you know, has at times been very, very prominent in the manufacturing industry. I mean, the aircraft industry it’s Wichita, Kansas is known as the air capital of the world, Cessna beach li jet Moony and Steerman all started there, uh, innumerable other companies that have operated outta there, not to mention Boeing who built a number of their aircraft fuselage and, and componentry in, uh, the Wichita area until they consolidated things back to Seattle. But, but there are a ton of other companies that you, you know, that I think, uh, people don’t think about and Panasonic’s business case for this was that there’s such a great manufacturing skill set in, uh, in Kansas. So the town that they’re operating in is called DeSoto. It’s just west of Kansas city, the suburbs of Kansas city between Kansas city and Lawrence, which is where the university of Kansas is.

Greg White (00:13:17):

Um, so they’re gonna build this facility to, in addition to one, they just built, uh, near sparks Nevada Reno, uh, to try and keep up with demand from Tesla who is, you know, obviously making things happen in the EV space. So, I mean, there, there are a ton of, there are a ton of points of pride, right? If you think about this, uh, lots of companies, you probably never thought about not to mention pizza hut, but that’s not really manufacturing, is it <laugh>, um, the Coleman company, spirit Aero systems, Heston field queen AGCO, farm equipment, um, Hills pet food, uh, spirit, a systems Bushnell and garment all are or have been home in, uh, in Kansas. So, okay. And, and not, and there are pharmaceutical companies, Roach was there, Cerner is still in Kansas city. Um, so, uh, you know, there’s a lot of good talent there. And what have we been talking about over the last several weeks? People are staying away from manufacturing jobs in droves. So if you can find a population that wants to work in manufacturing, uh, go there. Right? Yep.

Scott Luton (00:14:30):

So Kevin, I’d love to get your thoughts here, you know, as a former aviator that air capital world and which Todd’s gotta resonate with you, but what are some of your thoughts here, Kevin?

Kevin L. Jackson (00:14:40):

Well, actually it it’s sort of a little personal because, uh, my son, he had a, uh, a card lease and he was, he was he’s, uh, needed to turn his lease in. And he was debating whether to get a new lease or, um, uh, or not, or buy a car. And in, in talking with him, we surprisingly got into a conversation about electric vehicles, uh, because the, the market for electric vehicles is blowing up while, whereas the, the market for used vehicles are getting kind of soft. And if you get into, at least you are, you’ll probably be committed to four or five or six years. And if, if you look at the market at that time, gas cars will definitely lose their value. So we’ve started talking about, uh, electric cars. And, uh, one of the things that kind of jumped out to me is that where, why as the, a electric car, if you just look at its price is about $10,000 more than a, uh, uh, uh, traditionally fueled car.

Kevin L. Jackson (00:16:00):

Okay. The federal government gives you actually a $7,500 credit to buy an electric vehicle, which brings the price down to about, uh, the same, but, but more important is that the tax credit is based upon the vehicle. Yep. So they, um, it’s, it’s like, uh, when a manufacturer sells, gets this, you get this credit on a manufacturer’s car up until they sell their 200th vehicle. Hmm. So the federal government is actually subsidizing the market in order to get more electric vehicle manufacturers. And in fact, you, you can’t even get the, uh, credit if you buy a Tesla because interesting, the Tesla, they sold their 200th vehicle back in, in 2018. Um, so the, the, the electric EV market is gonna get much broader. So it’s like, and these credits are gonna go away. So in four or five years, the value of an electric car is going to, you know, go through the roof, not even wonder well, but how can I actually charge it because there’s not enough charging stations and, and things like that. But, you know, um, it’s really becoming an important discussion, right? When you’re thinking about your, your vehicle

Scott Luton (00:17:42):

A agreed. And I think it, mm-hmm, <affirmative> the infrastructure aspect of this, this whole, uh, subject matter deserves. It’s, you know, we could have a, we could be talking for a week straight on all the ramifications, but regardless big win for Kansas, Greg big win, congrats to you and, uh, any, uh, uh, native canons. It’s great to see. And, um, and Kevin, I appreciate your kind of how you personalized it with you and your sons, uh, car buying conversations that perfect. Greg quick comment there.

Greg White (00:18:11):

Yeah. I think that’s important to understand is it is far more economical if it’s a city car, think of it as a city car, which is most drivers on the planet. It’s far more economical to use an EV than to use a gas, uh, fueled car, right. Because yeah, the, the big NOx Kevin was talking about our range and charge, you know, in charging stations. Right. So, um, yeah, I think you and I did not know that it was that close. I remember doing the evaluation back in 2014. Um, talk about a personal story, Scott and I did the math with my middle daughter and, and she goes, oh, daddy, it, it, it’s only gonna take you 10 years to, to offset the cost of gasoline if you buy this car. And I was just like, uh, cuz I was really kind of in the ether about it. I just wanted an electric. And then when she put it like that, she was trying to be helpful. She was just a little kid

Kevin L. Jackson (00:19:14):

<laugh>

Greg White (00:19:15):

And I was just like, oh my God, it doesn’t make sense. Does it? But, but I, it, it sounds like it’s coming closer and closer. Oh

Kevin L. Jackson (00:19:24):

Yes. Right. And in fact, the, uh, some of the manufacturers, they were actually installed a charger in your home, in your garage at no price, no charge.

Scott Luton (00:19:34):

How about that? All right. So really quick for the second time, we’re gonna have to move to this next story. Folks.

Greg White (00:19:39):

We

Scott Luton (00:19:39):

Got Ellen <laugh>. We got Ellen with six river systems joining us here about 1225 ish. Looking forward to her, getting her take on all things, retail inventory, and more, uh, really quick George river falls, Wisconsin, 89, sunny and dry. Thank you for that. George painting that picture. Um, SI I, where is the fifth car? I’m not quite following you, but Hey, it’s not the first time. If you can, uh, uh, clarify a little bit there. Uh, Hey, Dr. Julio is back with us, Julio. Great to see you here today. Really always enjoy your take on what we’re talking about. Um, Kevin, as we keep tracking, uh, kind of moving into a different topic here, let’s talk about retail. And in particular, when you first shared this article and, and kind of this, this topic, I was, I was, uh, I misread it. I thought you were talking about the, um, customer checkout lanes that, um, are growing in demand, but you’re talking about an actual checkout free store, which is also a big trend. So tell us more Kevin,

Kevin L. Jackson (00:20:40):

Right? E exactly. So EV everyone, you know, well, my wife excluded likes the self checkout lane. My wife says, I want somebody checking me out. <laugh> but you were there. But, but now, uh, and Amazon sort of pioneered this, you sort of walk in, you pick up anything you want, uh, and you walk out, you, you don’t have to check out. Right, right. As you are picking stuff out, they, if they have a camera and they scan and it automatically scans, like it’s built into the, uh, cart, what you put into the cart, um, and, uh, they already have your, your credit card number. And so you just pick it up and, and walk out, uh, and you, you may sort of think, well, what’s so big about that, you know, there’s computers, right. And there’s, uh, they’ve been around for a while. It’s you just need a camera and RFI scanning.

Kevin L. Jackson (00:21:41):

That’s, that’s no big deal. Right. Um, but when you sort of lift the hood, you say, well, where are the computers that are doing all that calculation? Well, if you were a store, you would, you know, if you gonna put those computers in the back room, that would cost you a lot of money and it’s prohibited the cost of the computers to do this is prohibitive. And then you say, well, no, no people wouldn’t buy their own computers. They would use the cloud. <laugh> right. Everyone’s using the cloud now. So, so this is easy, just, you know, push all the video up to the cloud and, you know, do all your compute in the cloud. But if you think about it, even with your smartphone, sometimes you’re trying to do video and you get the spooling because you don’t have enough bandwidth, um, plus that bandwidth cost.

Kevin L. Jackson (00:22:41):

And if you have any type of, um, outage, the store has to shut down. So the cloud is really not a good solution. You may use the cloud to sort of test it out, but it’s not something that you can go operational with. So how is Amazon actually doing this? And it’s using edge computing, not cloud computing, right. And it’s using artificial intelligence. That’s right there on the, uh, the floor when you’re coming in. So all the compute is being done locally, and it’s not just Amazon care for Sansbury seven, 11, and circle K are all transitioning to this environment where shoppers just pick up what they want and, and walk out the cost of these cameras. And sensors is just dropping as well as the artificial intelligence models. This is, what’s making this a reality and, and think about it. You can be in a small seven 11, and in order to do this, you will need up to 200 cameras. Okay. So that’s a lot of bandwidth that you would need if you were just pushing that video up to the cloud. Right? So edge computing is really changing the re the face of retail.

Scott Luton (00:24:25):

Mm love that. That’s exciting. And you gotta give the people what they want. Uh, I have not been to a checkout free store yet. Uh, there’s something psych Greg, I’m coming to you next, uh, for your quick comment, but there there’s something psychologically, right. To, to walk into a store, picks something out and walk, walk, you know, put it in your pocket and walk out. I’m gonna have to rewire my brain a bit, but Greg, your take on this checkout, free store concept and technology behind it.

Greg White (00:24:50):

Yeah, truly. I think it’s gonna do away with a whole industry shoplifting. So, uh, I think it’s a little bit unfair shoplifters because now they’ll just pay for stuff when they leave the store.

Kevin L. Jackson (00:25:01):

<laugh>

Greg White (00:25:02):

So if so, I guess to get used to it, you have to think like a shoplifter. So, um, but yeah, I think so I’ve had the, I’ve actually had the opportunity to see these stores some years back. And at previous company that I ran, we worked with Amazon and it is fascinating. They form a visual net. That’s about, uh, a quarter of an inch by a quarter of an net inch, by having all these cameras, um, cross, you know, they cross their beams and, you know, they’re shooting everything from a hundred angles basically. Right? It’s it is a very, very impressive, uh, initiative, an edge computing for anyone who doesn’t know, instead of going all the way up to the cloud. Maybe you just go over to a little Bush, they’re starting to put computers seriously. They’re starting to put computers where phone switching devices are and cable boxes and things like that, where they only need a relatively small amount of compute power.

Greg White (00:25:58):

It can be much more proximate to the store. Right. Um, and there’s all kinds of ways. If just, if you don’t know, just Google edge, compute comput, Kevin’s the expert. It is fascinating to, uh, to just envision what that could mean. So, yep. Um, but anyway, I think it it’s important. And you know, what’s interesting about this is I just had on my new letter today, an article about how omnichannel, right. Is now the baseline for con the com consumer experience. They expect you to be prem. They expect it to be easy, right. As Kevin said, I’m, I’m a laggard, right. Lots of people. And I see it every time I go to the grocery store, which is more and more frequent now, Scott, by the way. Yeah. Um, I’m now allowed to shop <laugh>, but, um, there are people, you know, in, in a Kroger store, let’s say there are eight of, of these self checkouts and they are always just rotating people through there. And maybe two or three of the 13 or 14 regular registers right. Are open. So, uh, people are definitely buying off, off on it. For sure. That’s right.

Kevin L. Jackson (00:27:13):

So one thing we gotta think about from a supply chain point of view, though, um, uh, think about the data that you’re getting in real time and how fast the supply chain has to respond, uh, to these changes, these real time changes. So the importance of data, that’s the feedback to the supply chain that has to go all the way back to the source of those products that people are picking up off the shelf and walking up. Yeah.

Greg White (00:27:47):

Well, and what, and what have I always said, we don’t forecast items because items don’t do anything. Right. Items don’t sell, they don’t trend, they don’t grow, they don’t die. They don’t do anything. What do they do? They wait, they wait for a shopper to come in and select them with 200 cameras in a store. You can start to create images of those shoppers and say, oh, here comes Greg, that idiot’s gonna go to the regular register and

Scott Luton (00:28:14):

He’s gonna comes be an

Greg White (00:28:16):

Apple, a bunch of bananas and some intimates donuts. So,

Scott Luton (00:28:20):

So, well, the, the planning, so we’ll have to save the rest of this conversation for later. But the, the, the planning impact is a fascinating one. The, the impact to customer experience is a fascinating one. And Hey, it’s coming to a city near you, uh, store near you. So y’all check that out, uh, about

Kevin L. Jackson (00:28:35):

We’re the pick and pack job, right? The customers are doing the pick and pack. Right,

Greg White (00:28:40):

Right. That job is rendered useless. So then soon so will be the, will be the, uh, the cashier.

Scott Luton (00:28:47):

Yes. Right. All right. So we’ll have to, uh, Paul’s a conversation here. I wanted to say hello to a couple quick folks. Jonathan Hernandez, welcome in via LinkedIn. Let us know where you’re tuned in from. We’d love to hear your thoughts on what we’re talking about. T squared, uh, maybe to shoplifts and take another form. It probably will.

Greg White (00:29:03):

Yes. Take oceans 11 to do shoplift. Now you’re gonna have to knock out the power, dig a hole, right.

Scott Luton (00:29:10):

And listen to this impact that Ronald has, uh, identified. I wonder how self checkout will impact the pulse shopping, uh, impulse shopping market. No more tabloid magazine sales at register. Not a joke,

Greg White (00:29:23):

Not a joke. There are no watch. AALL its at the self checkout lane, which is why I don’t another reason I don’t use it.

Scott Luton (00:29:29):

That’s right. Ryan hope this finds you well in akin, South Carolina. Great to have you here. Um, okay. So, uh, we got a great guess as much as I’ve enjoyed the, uh, the conversation on the front end and we’ve had to kind of move kind of quick today, uh, on this lightning round of, uh, the supply chain buzz here at supply chain. Now we’ve got a wonderful addition to the conversation. So Greg and Kevin joined me in welcoming Ellen senior product manager with six river systems. Ellen. Good afternoon. How you doing?

Ellen Patridge (00:30:02):

Hello doing well. How are you guys?

Scott Luton (00:30:05):

It’s so great to see you. We enjoyed quite a, an eclectic pre-show conversation with Ellen. Uh, had a lot of fun talking about the garbage plate and Rochester, New York. Y’all have to Google that for the sake of time, but

Kevin L. Jackson (00:30:18):

Yeah, also it’s not just, you know, can’t get the, uh, uh, portrait portraits. What’s that? Come get happy. I know on

Scott Luton (00:30:29):

Yes, I was misreading Elm’s last name, Kevin.

Ellen Patridge (00:30:33):

Yeah. I just

Scott Luton (00:30:34):

Out there,

Ellen Patridge (00:30:34):

I just have to spoil it for everyone and say it’s Patridge instead of Partridge. And

Kevin L. Jackson (00:30:40):

You did it all the time though, don’t you?

Ellen Patridge (00:30:42):

Yeah. All the time Partridge in APA tree, you know, whatever it takes, plenty of song references all around.

Scott Luton (00:30:48):

Well, so, uh, now that Kevin has outed me there, uh, Ellen and my, my incredible ability to misread, uh, names and, and whatnot. Ellen, I wanna talk about, um, uh, before we get into retail and inventory, I wanna talk about one of the countries I’m, I’m guessing here least favorite holidays. It is fresh spinach day here on July 18th across the country.

Kevin L. Jackson (00:31:13):

How far man? You know, maybe <laugh>

Scott Luton (00:31:17):

Oh gosh. Alright. So clearly Kevin’s a fan. Greg is not a fan. I tend to be a little bit with Greg. I try to sneak in some, some raw spinach in my salads from time to time, but Ellen, if it’s not spinach <laugh>, if it’s not spinach, we’re in the middle garden season for so many folks, what is one healthy, you know, vegetable you do get in your diet regularly.

Ellen Patridge (00:31:39):

Sure. Yeah. I mean, well, if we’re saying that regularly, I’d say like broccoli pretty much just gets paired with everything, but we’re talking about like favorites that’s uh, I, I love a good stealth. Veggie is my go to like, anytime, you know, you talk about putting into like smoothies or on salads or different things. Uh, my favorite is, uh, grading up zucchini and getting that into like chocolate cupcakes or chocolate cakes. So like, it adds a little bit of moisture into cake. Um, but also just kind of a casual stealth veggie getting into interesting dessert. Um, yeah, veggie. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:32:15):

That’s interesting.

Ellen Patridge (00:32:16):

Zucchini, super versatile. Put it in pasta sauce, put it in chocolate cake, you know, whatever it takes. Uh,

Scott Luton (00:32:22):

Ellen, you’re blowing my mind here. I’m gonna have to compare these, uh, practices with what, you know, Amanda does a lot. She’s an incredible cook. Uh, and uh, we just get picked up some squash and zucchini from the local farmer’s market. We’re gonna have to check out this, these stealthy vegetables, uh,

Kevin L. Jackson (00:32:38):

Just don’t seem to go together.

Ellen Patridge (00:32:41):

I mean, they’re great though. Yeah. I feel especially if you just have extra zucchini. Yeah. You just, it same as a banana and banana bread, you know, just different

Scott Luton (00:32:50):

<laugh>

Ellen Patridge (00:32:51):

Well, maybe not quite the same. All

Scott Luton (00:32:53):

Right. Well, so Ellen has talked about, she brought some new, uh, culinary practices to the table with the stealthy vegetable and, and, uh, also broccoli. We’re all. I think most of us, big BR big fans of broccoli. I could eat just about every meal. Uh, Kevin’s a big fan of spinach, Greg. You’re gonna last word here before move to retail and inventory. Talk with Ellen, Greg, your thoughts on what’s your go-to vegetable.

Greg White (00:33:15):

Uh, I’d have to say, uh, broccoli, cucumbers and or okra. Any, anything that can be fried? Of course, yes. Is my favorite vegetables. So

Scott Luton (00:33:25):

I’m with you. Okay. So, uh, now we, that was the shortest celebration of any holiday on the buzz. Uh,

Greg White (00:33:37):

I dunno about you. I don’t, I avoid spinach, but to your point, if it is steal placed into if it’s a spinach pasta or it’s in a pasta. Yeah. Right. I actually eat spinach.

Kevin L. Jackson (00:33:51):

Spinach is delicious.

Ellen Patridge (00:33:54):

<laugh> also though. Yeah. Yeah. There are a lot of ways to do it. Right. But unfortunately there are ways to do it wrong. So, you know, it kinda

Scott Luton (00:34:03):

Well, so let’s, let’s do something where we can find maybe more consensus and that’s talking supply chain, talking, retail, talking inventory, and Ellen, I appreciate what you bring to the table. Uh, and your expertise in this regard. I wanna, um, you know, we know you’re, you’re tracking these things with what you and the six river systems team do. Uh, there’s an interesting article that hit all of our radars, uh, over the last couple days, uh, from our friends at retail, dive telling us what I would argue. And we probably all would argue what we already know. Normal is still nowhere in sight, whether it applies to inventory or supply chain, you know, it’s Greg and Kevin, we’ve all talked about that. Genie’s not going back in the bottle, but that’s where we wanna start a conversation with you, Ellen, you know, what are some of the observations you have, uh, related to, you know, this article via retail dive or in a bigger picture with what’s going on, uh, in the retail space, across the country?

Ellen Patridge (00:34:54):

Sure. Yeah. Um, I feel like the, the word uncertainty can kind of cover a lot of the things that, that article dives into. So like as they point out, uh, being able to forecast demand and manage your inventory out into the future has been really hard. Uh, consumer trends are not very steady and they’ve definitely shifted since the start of the pandemic. So going back to 2020, but also like looking into this year, like dealing with inflation, dealing with gas prices, like there are so many things that kind of impact that inventory planning. And so because of that, like a lot of the customers that we’re talking to, you know, like they’re trying to forecast, you know, what is our peak going to be like, what do we expect to come out at the end of the year? Um, but they may not even be able to rely on like peak forecast from last year or even just looking at last quarter to know what the end of their year is going to look like. Just a lot of uncertainty.

Scott Luton (00:35:44):

Yep. Well said, Ellen, uh, Greg, I wanna circle back to you, uh, based on what she’s already shared or some of your observations when it comes to retail.

Greg White (00:35:52):

Uh, yeah. Well, uh, let me state first that I was wrong. Scott,

Scott Luton (00:35:57):

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a second. Wait a second. Let’s record

Greg White (00:36:01):

That again. I’ll say it again. I’ll say it again. Yeah. I was wrong. What did I say that the key word for supply chain would be this year stability. We can’t even begin to approach stability, right? We, we can’t even begin to, uh, think about stability because as Ellen said, predictability is also out the window. So, uh, think, think about, uh, where some of these retailers are that, you know, the target instance is well known by now. They’re not even the worst offender. There were many, many who are worse. They were just Mo more prominent and had just spent 4 billion on supply chain technology and planned to spend $2 billion a year. They had just gotten done bragging about all of that when they cut their, uh, um, they cut their earnings forecast because they had flubbed on this. And then two weeks later, cut it again dramatically.

Greg White (00:36:58):

So this is how far from normal we are. And even the best, the brightest and the highest spending in the industry are struggling to keep up what, uh, I will argue to our, our previous point in, in the show. They’re still forecasting off of last quarter or last year. And they’re still forecasting items, which is a huge gap in, in allowing companies to predict the future. Because as I said, those I, those that toilet paper didn’t jump off the shelf into people’s shopping carts during the great toilet paper shortage of 2020 people hold it off forcefully and stuffed it into shopping carts at Costco, and then ran out the door with it. Um, so I, I think we have to think about how we can, can close that gap, but in this day and age, the best we can do is be supremely responsive and start to shift our gaze towards the future. Because even the most advanced technology does not support that very well. These days shift our gaze towards the future. However, we can do it and towards the consumer, whenever we can.

Scott Luton (00:38:03):

Okay. Beautiful. Beautifully said there, Greg, Kevin, I’m coming to you next, but really quick T squared going back to food, he says he, or she says, uh, he says, try rhubarb for the dead taste buds, uh, hashtag tart, but Ron shepherd. That’s what I hear Ron agrees with Kevin spinach is awesome. So Kevin, you got some allies there, Kevin, but coming back to retail and inventory and observations there, what, what do you seeing Kevin?

Kevin L. Jackson (00:38:34):

So what I am seeing is, uh, organizations refusing to learn. Right? All right. They’re putting more money into how to forecast better using what happened last month or last year. I mean, it’s all, it’s like take that money and put it into systems that sense what’s happening today, right? Like these, um, uh, checklists, uh, uh, check checkout list, retail stores, right? Right. You have to monitor and get data on what the customers is doing right now in order to feed and design your supply chain. It’s just a waste of money. Well, why, why do people refuse to, uh, you know, listen, listen to their own ears and see what their own eyes are telling them and, you know, feel the pain that they’ve experienced in their wallet because they failed to forecast based upon they continually fail to forecast based upon the past mm-hmm I mean, stubbornness

Scott Luton (00:40:01):

And so many folks are doing it. Kevin. Excellent comment. Tell you and Greg, quite the one, two punch and throw Ellen there. We got like a, uh, a threeway tag team championship team right here. Yeah. Ellen, Ellen. You’re in.

Ellen Patridge (00:40:13):

<laugh> great. Go. Let’s do it.

Scott Luton (00:40:14):

So, Ellen, if you would respond to what, you know, Greg’s talking about shift to gaze, Kevin’s like folks, what are, y’all doing? Ellen respond, and then we’re gonna kind of pulse, uh, you with what you’re seeing business leaders do. So your, your, uh, thoughts, Sarah Ellen.

Ellen Patridge (00:40:28):

Yeah. I mean, just like the main things are just saying like, yes, for the things Greg and Kevin are saying, you know, we’re looking at folks who are facing a ton of uncertainty and because of that, like their, uh, responsiveness is important is, uh, Greg, I believe you said that we’re just perfect. And I think flexibility, uh mm-hmm <affirmative> and basically that’s the word I had in mind, but I feel like both of those are the same, like being able to, you know, react to what you’re seeing and not just keep looking to the past. Right. And not just keep trying to improve the way you did do things, which I think it’s like heaven, what you’re saying, you know, we shouldn’t just keep trying to like, oh, we just need to do what we’ve always done a little bit better. Like, we need to be thinking about things differently because of, you know, kind of what we’re facing right now. Right.

Scott Luton (00:41:13):

We gotta be, we gotta be better at being, uh, contortionist, if I can say that word. Right. Uh, and, and changing how we view kind of what Greg and Kevin and Ellen, what are all saying, changing what we do, changing, how we view, uh, supply chain management for that matter and retail and inventory, all good stuff. Um,

Kevin L. Jackson (00:41:31):

It’s like fighting the last war <laugh> over and over again

Scott Luton (00:41:37):

And fighting the urge to do business as usual. Right. Greg, you were gonna say something.

Greg White (00:41:42):

Yeah. Supply chain, uh, academia does not help. You know, I keep saying we’ve been teaching the wrong thing for decades and decades because, and this is a world Kevin, that you’re not familiar with in supply chain. We used to have, uh, a complete lack of robust data. All we had was what had sold as data, right? So we had to do that in 1868 and 1903. When a lot of the forecasting techniques that are used today were created, by the way, that’s not a joke. I mean, that’s serious, right? These are re regression techniques and all these other techniques were, were created before any of us were born. Mm. And, um, and now we have much more robust data where we can, that’s why we need to shift our gaze because we still think in the industry, we still think we’re forecasting items. And I’ve been fighting this battle for now 15 years. And eventually we have to recognize two things. One that we are forecasting, the wrong thing. We have to think of three things actually to Ellen’s 0.1, we’re forecasting. The wrong thing. Two forecast is not the only, uh, the only answer because there are two kinds of forecasts, Scott, wrong and lucky. And 99.9, 9% of forecasts are not lucky.

Kevin L. Jackson (00:43:06):

So <laugh>,

Greg White (00:43:08):

So we have to, to Ellen’s point, we have to focus on resilience and responsiveness and flexibility and agility, whatever you want to call it because of the forecast is going to be wrong, right. At least for the foreseeable future, the next five, 10 years, probably.

Scott Luton (00:43:25):

Right. So

Kevin L. Jackson (00:43:26):

Your sweaters, a forecast forecast is a guess, and we’re putting more money to be able to guess better

Scott Luton (00:43:31):

Guessing

Kevin L. Jackson (00:43:33):

Money to actually looking at what’s happening. <laugh>

Scott Luton (00:43:37):

All right. So, uh, Ellen, we’ve got a passionate crew here today. Ellen, I’m coming back to you in just a second. Wanna share a couple quick comments? Ts square says it looks like the efficiency, responsiveness, uh, responsive and agile supply chains are converging to making a new type of supply chain given the wanted retail customer experience and the requirements needed to meet it. Excellent analysis, Ts squared, Tony. Great. See you here, Tony, via LinkedIn, let us know where you’re tuned in from agree with Kevin about forecast. And he said, look, what he says, supply chain now says it <laugh>

Greg White (00:44:08):

Yes. I

Kevin L. Jackson (00:44:09):

Love that. There you

Scott Luton (00:44:12):

Manav says, I think we all

Kevin L. Jackson (00:44:14):

Tshirt

Scott Luton (00:44:15):

That’s right. Says I think we need to also look into crisis management, uh, and, and you know, what we need when you reinvent, uh, our approach to crisis management, perhaps. Um, alright, so Ellen, I’ll circle back. There’s so much to get through here today. Uh, a lot of passion, a lot of expertise, but Ellen, you know, you, you talk a bit, you and your team talk with business leaders all the time, you know, what do you see business leaders doing, uh, to have a different and a much better peak season,

Ellen Patridge (00:44:44):

Right? Yeah. Um, so as I break it into a few different buckets, so, you know, we get into this like inventory planning idea of just continuing to keep a pulse on the industry that you’re in and the customers that you’re working with and checking in frequently with those trends and different things that you’re seeing. But I think overall, like what we’re getting at here is, you know, like it can be really like, was it forecast are either wrong or lucky and they’re probably not gonna be lucky. So because of that, <laugh>, I’m like, was that a good, like generalization of that? I forgot the percent you gave. Um, yeah,

Greg White (00:45:16):

That’s good.

Ellen Patridge (00:45:17):

Uh, yeah, probably, probably not. Um,

Scott Luton (00:45:20):

OK.

Ellen Patridge (00:45:21):

So because of that, you wanna be able to create a system that’s flexible when inevitably those forecasts are wrong. So how we’re seeing people create that flexibility is through both labor flexibility, as well as automation flexibility. So like labor flexibility is like creating a system and a, uh, like fulfillment center that is able to easily bring people in and that people want to work for. And that is huge, especially in the labor market today. Like being able to make your warehouse be somewhere where, when you have peak CS and demands, or you have changes, you are able to get folks in from the labor market. Because right now, like I go to warehouses and it’s so common for folks to be like, yeah, we’re losing people to the warehouse just literally right across the street. Mm. Like, right down the road. And the people that I see who are doing it well and are able to retain that labor.

Ellen Patridge (00:46:13):

It’s not just about pay because oftentimes they’re all offering the same or similar pay, but it’s about perks incentives and creating a team, uh, creating folks who are like, you know, kind of there and working together and understand like, you know, the company and what they’re trying to go for. Um, and then just creating a job that they want to come to every day. Mm. Which kind of gets into that flexible automation in those things, like taking away redundant tasks and having easy to kind of bring in and roll out automation based on whatever throughput you’re getting at. So like, you know, if you have, uh, kind of, you know, static kind of monolithic structures, like, you know, those are only gonna be made for a certain throughput, but being able to bring in robots or different things that you can scale up or scale down as you need, that’ll help with the labor in terms of like making their jobs easier. But it’ll also help you with your throughput to respond as needed based on the demand that maybe you weren’t expecting.

Scott Luton (00:47:08):

Okay. Uh, systems level thinking. No, no.

Greg White (00:47:12):

That’s. And with all respect to Matt Fitzgerald’s mother, um, there’s no reason to apologize for automation anymore because automation is not taking anyone’s job. No, one’s, it is not taking, especially not in a fulfillment facility, people as we about earlier, they’re staying away in droves from the dark, what they perceive as the dark dirty, dangerous, and dead end jobs in warehouses. So, um, there there’s really no other choice. It’s much like, uh, you know, the, the checkout free stores and all of these other options. It it’s, it’s more flexible. It’s more responsive to the consumer in the moment and it, and it allows companies to continue to operate with a dearth of, of, uh, human capital. So I, I, I don’t see that there’s really any choice here. And, um, and I, I think that I love the, um, the chucks, right? The, your that’s what you call your robots, correct.

Greg White (00:48:11):

Uh, that they can be assistive, um, and cobots, or, uh, or, or they can do the, the, the work themselves. So it, it allows a lot of flexibility into a facility we’re coming into peak season. We keep talking about this it’s time to be building capacity. All you gotta do is just call Ellen or one of our colleagues and say, we need 10, 20, 50 more. Yeah. And then, and then, um, what is it, we’ve heard this story before you took somebody and up their, up their Chuck capacity, right. Um, by something like 30 or 50% in just days, right?

Ellen Patridge (00:48:56):

Yeah. I mean, yeah. Basically once you have, yeah. Once you have one, it’s easy to add in more. So like, if the system’s set up, you can keep filing more checks in based on the throughput that you have and whether that’s a peak rental or just adding into the fleet that you already have.

Greg White (00:49:12):

Um,

Kevin L. Jackson (00:49:12):

So one thing I, I, for some reason I keep thinking about, you know, how much wood is a wood Chuck. No, anyway, so, but, but, um, you know, I’m an engineer, right? And I’m thinking of a warehouse warehouse as inputs and outputs, that output is, uh, uh, output is what you put out on the floor, right. But an input in the traditional supply chain is your forecast, right? The input to what a warehouse does is its forecast. But that input is changing. It’s changing to be, what’s actually happening. Mm-hmm, <affirmative> on the sales floor, whatever you are selling. So you need to have that warehouse, that house that not only can sense what’s happening on the floor, but can, uh, reflect that need and deliver what’s needed so that the trucks can know what to pick and pack and put out on, on that floor. So the, the, the warehouse, the automation you have in a warehouse is critical. It’s crucial to this transition from the old world of doing these 99 plus nine, 9% wrong forecast to tell you where else to be, to actually looking at what’s going on on the floor.

Scott Luton (00:50:37):

So this is a perfect segue. Uh, uh, you know, you mentioned Matt, um, uh, Matt Fitzgerald, Ellen, earlier, one of your colleagues at six river systems, he made a great point. Uh, you know, he said, uh, to paraphrase, we’re not six river robots, we’re six river systems. <laugh> I think, I think this is an important clarification. So with that said, tell us in a nutshell, what six river systems does, Ellen.

Ellen Patridge (00:51:04):

Sure. Yeah. I love that phrasing from Matt. She, um, yeah, so, you know, we are, you’re essentially a wall to wall fulfillment solution. So, you know, we have Chuck the robot, that’s able to autonomously move and work as a cobot with folks, um, picking, but also work and drive, um, separate from people. Uh, but in addition, this, we also have an entire suite of cloud services meant to manage this work as they come into the system. Um, so with this, we are looking to essentially optimize across all the processes that you have help to offset labor shortages by making it easier to attract train and retain associates like that UI, that screen, that folks are working with having an easy to use workflow, um, as well, like trying to increase the efficiency of folks, like how do we group that work together? Like how, what order do we pick it in? Right. What boxes does it go in? Uh, kind of, you know, focusing not just on the robots themselves, but all the operations that you need to do in order to get work done at the end of the day.

Scott Luton (00:52:06):

Ellen, I’m so glad you shared that. Cause yeah. Uh, what Kevin was just saying earlier about being an engineer and kind of the layout of the warehouse. I mean, these are areas that, that your team can impact as well, not just about the, um, the automation technology side, but kinda the process side as, and, and of course the impact on, on people, uh, and making it life, making life easier for our dear people and hardworking folks out there across, uh, supply chains. So I love that, Ellen. Um, alright. So one more question, Ellen te this has been a fast moving, uh, quick hitting Greg, Kevin and Ellen. I’ll tell you what, uh, the three of y’all are operating at a high level this Monday, Monday morning already. You don’t need a couple days to get warmed up. What’s that Kevin

Kevin L. Jackson (00:52:50):

Don’t stop the fun, lets keep on, on,

Scott Luton (00:52:54):

Well, on that note, speaking of fun, Kevin, uh, if I can pull this graphic up, we Greg and I had a blast, uh, with Ellen’s colleagues, uh, let’s see, that was will and John from six river systems and we had this webinar focused on how to solve three common peak challenges we made. We made Greg have talked about music and led Zep quite a bit throughout the hour. Um, but Ellen, did you catch this webinar and not no spinach mentions Kevin. Um, <laugh> Ellen, did you catch this and uh, your key takeaway here.

Ellen Patridge (00:53:31):

Yeah. So I think, you know, will and John awesome folks, uh, I think the main takeaway here is, you know, there are, uh, essentially, you know, peak is coming, but it’s not here yet. Which means that you still have time to prep. Scott, I’m stealing some of your words here, please. So please. Yeah. Uh, so I would just say the main takeaway here is, you know, you should definitely check out this webinar. It digs into like how to empower your labor force. A lot of the stuff that we talked about earlier around labor planning, how to deal with seasonal spikes and demand, um, and also how to improve customer satisfaction and retention. So kind of, if the stuff we’ve been talking about today resonates with you. I think that webinar is going to be an awesome thing to check out.

Scott Luton (00:54:12):

Um, agreed. Yeah. Ellen, and you know what we also talked about in this session, Greg, if you remember CROs CROX, the CROX is talk about popularity and that I can’t imagine, uh, how CROX plans and forecasts cause my kids love, they can’t get enough CROs and that’s been one of y’all’s partners that you, that you, you have helped op optimize their operations and make it easier to meet their demand. Um, enormous demand, uh, here in recent years. So y’all check out the webinar. We’ve got the link in the comments, uh, Greg, and we’ve talked about it. Like you’re not here a little bit, but, uh, your takeaway from that webinar and a lot of fun we had,

Greg White (00:54:49):

Well, I mean, I think about, um, how supply chain plays into the bigger picture of companies these days and how, um, you know, you’re not, you’re not just satisfying your current customers. You’re also defending your brand identity and CROX is a great example of that, by the way, one of the most capital efficient public companies on the planet. Hmm. Um, and, and a lot of that has to do with how they manage their supply chain and, you know, think that taking, and, and you nailed this, um, is that this is the year of responsiveness, right? First it was supply problems. Then it was demand problems. We are not predicting effectively, which we’ve talked about and nausea here, but also the supply problems right now. I mean, think about this Scott, as we were, as I was preparing for this show. Yes. Which I know it’s hard to believe, but I do.

Greg White (00:55:43):

<laugh> um, I was thinking about where we are in peak season and that a lot of goods for peak season are landing now or will be, or should be, and will be landing in the next two, three months. I mean, that’s how early some of these goods get here. And then I started thinking about some discussions we’ve had, or some news we’ve heard about, uh, iRobot who will probably be selling Roombas from last year because of the port backups. They didn’t receive their Roombas before Christmas and only received them in the first quarter of this year. And, uh, and how many companies have become more responsive to avoid that scenario for this peak season. And, um, I think it’s really, really important. And I think Ellen, you nailed it. That responsiveness is the theme of the day for supply chains

Scott Luton (00:56:36):

That, and take action. Now don’t send your hands and, and say, woe is me and we gotta stuck there’s options out there. Hey, Kevin, I’m gonna get your last word. But before I do really quick, Jonathan, uh, agrees, you know, culture. We we’ve mentioned that throughout the conversation here today. Uh, big part, uh, completely agree with that. Uh, Dr. Julio is talking about, um, going back to forecasting, it’s not about the methods rather how they are misused and not understood. That’s a great point, Fred Berg’s with us here today. Great summer. It’s a great summer day to be in supply chain, Greg. That is the hook

Greg White (00:57:11):

Doc holiday of supply chain.

Scott Luton (00:57:12):

Yeah. Holiday of supply chain. Thank you. Yes. Um, and I’m not ignoring, we couldn’t get all the comments here. We got a link to the website, but, uh, uh, why is GSU making some great points here? We’ll have to have a, a full blown forecasting and, and, uh, planning conversation soon, but Kevin, your final word about, um, kind of, you know, retail inventory getting ready for peak, your final thoughts here, Kevin.

Kevin L. Jackson (00:57:36):

So I was looking at TV day and they were talk, they were interviewing this woman and it’s June. Right. And she was talking about how she is already finished her Christmas shopping now, now, now, now why? Because <affirmative> because of last year there were so many shortages. She started at the normal time. Right. You know, people are starting little couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, right. To do Christmas shopping, you know? Um, and she said, I am not gonna be caught, um, hot, um, without the toys under the tree this year, because of last year. So how many of the forecast models have what happened last year in them? Right. So how many of them are going to forecast customers that are going to start buying stuff because they believe, or they feel there’s gonna be supply chain issues this year. Mm. So that’s almost guaranteed that, right. You know, it’s not gonna mean 99.9, 9% wrong. It’s gonna, you’re gonna put like another seven nines on that. <laugh>

Scott Luton (00:58:57):

It’s gonna be like, Wimbleton like the Wimbledon mistake.

Kevin L. Jackson (00:59:02):

So, um, so you, you, you have to leverage automation and understand your customers today. They have the experience of last year and that’s how that’s gonna drive their actions.

Scott Luton (00:59:17):

Amen. Well said, Kevin and Greg, uh, and Ellen, you’re gonna get the final word here today. Um, let’s make sure folks know how to connect with you, Ellen. Uh, also six river systems. What’s the easiest way we’ve got the webinar out there, but what’s the easiest way.

Ellen Patridge (00:59:31):

Yeah. So easiest way to connect with me. You can find me on LinkedIn. I believe that everyone has found me just by searching Ellen, Patrick, um, the image. But in addition, I would say if you wanna check out six server systems, so we have six river.com. If you wanna check out our website and also you can follow six server systems on Twitter and LinkedIn are the two best spots.

Scott Luton (00:59:52):

Excellent. And, you know, uh, beyond the webinar, we’ve got, there’s a ton of resources that you can check out via, uh, there, their social handles, uh, and connect with Ellen. Uh, we’ve really enjoyed our conversations with Ellen. She’s very connected, um, uh, with what’s going on in the industry and very personal, we had a lot of fun talking food to sports to, to you name it. Um, so Greg and Kevin, uh, heck of a show here with Ellen, uh, patron with six river systems, Kevin really quick, how can folks find you lead? Of course, digital transformers, one of our most popular, uh, uh, podcasts here at, at, uh, supply chain now almost at six river systems at supply chain. Now, um, Kevin, how can, how can folks find, find your show?

Kevin L. Jackson (01:00:35):

Well, always on digital transformers, I’m gonna plug next week. We release our new July, um, addition of digital transformers. And we’re gonna talk about the largest blockchain implementation currently in the us federal government called Emma. So that’s gonna be that’s that big show actually have the project manager from the, uh, us census bureau gonna talk about digital transformation of the us federal government. So that’s gonna be a big show and you can find on, yeah, so you can find me on supply chain now.com digital transformers, Twitter, Kevin underscore Jackson, or LinkedIn.

Scott Luton (01:01:22):

Wonderful. It’s just that easy. And of course you can look up digital transformers with Kevin Jackson, wherever you podcast and subscribe. So you gonna miss a thing. Uh, Ellen, Greg and Kevin. One of my favorite acronym acronyms, uh, lately has been VUCA stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, uh, Jose Montoya. Great to have you here. Love your great work you do. But as Jose says, it’s in our daily life, therefore we have to be prepared. It’s not going anywhere. George is like, Hey, can we say bull whip effect? <laugh> uh, yeah, say it louder for the folks in the back George excellent point. Um, but folks, whatever you do, Greg, throw down the gauntlet, uh, issue your challenge. And then I’m a son off here with Ellen and Kevin and me and you issue your challenge. What do folks gotta do?

Greg White (01:02:09):

Well, I mean, we’ve gotta focus on responsiveness. Uh, uh, and, and, and we’ve got to make sure that we are looking to the future. We are forecasting the right things, casting our gaze into the future, but yes, I have to, I have to stipulate that with this. I feel so good about the future of supply chain with people like Ellen out there, uh, to carry on mantle as some of us get old. So thank you, Ellen. I appreciate, I appreciate your point of view and your expertise

Scott Luton (01:02:38):

<laugh>, um, shifting your gaze. That is such a, uh, a shakes period. Very dramatic. I’m gonna completely steal that from you, Greg, but I agree, uh, a lot of passion and expertise and, uh, content we covered here today on the supply chain buzz big, thanks to all of y’all that tuned in most importantly, also big thanks to Greg, Kevin and Ellen, uh, for the conversation today, make sure you connect and follow these folks across social. Make sure, Hey, if you’re a supply chain leader, business leader, retail leader, make sure you take action. There’s so many great resources out there that can help you make it easier on your people through this upcoming peak season. But Hey, they’re not gonna do it for you. You gotta, you gotta take the first step and reach out. So connect with Ellen and the six river systems team, uh, but whatever you do, folks, uh, big thanks, uh, to the production team as well for making it happen today. Uh, Scott Luden challenging you to do good to give forward and to be the change that’s needed. And with that said, we’ll see next time, right back here. Won’t supply chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (01:03:39):

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.