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’s edition of The Buzz featured hosts Scott Luton and Greg White. In addition to covering top industry headlines, the team rolled out a new educational segment focused on three key things business leaders need to keep in mind when it comes to selecting new technology.

In this livestream, created in collaboration with a live Supply Chain Now audience, Scott and Greg discussed:

• What recent increases in the producer price index (PPI), 6 percent year over year in January, will mean for the prices consumers pay in the future

• Persistent geopolitical challenges being faced by companies in the semiconductor supply chain, including Apple, which is completely dependent on TSMC for their smartphone microchips

• One of the key things companies forget to think about when they are selecting a digital platform

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 (00:00:30):

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, Scott Luton and Greg White with you here on Supply Chain. Now welcome to today’s livestream, Gregory. How we doing?

Greg White (00:00:39):

We’re doing quite well. It’s a very relaxing weekend.

Scott Luton (00:00:42):

Yes.

Greg White (00:00:43):

Um, I think we call it bumming around the house, <laugh>, something like that. I, I dunno, I was trying to, trying to describe what it was I did this weekend, but it, uh, was not a lot

Scott Luton (00:00:53):

<laugh>. Well, uh, that’s good. It’s good to recharge the batteries a bit. And, uh, weather-wise today is absolutely gorgeous in the Lin area, right?

Greg White (00:01:03):

Yep. Today I’m working on my tennis swing in the afternoon, so,

Scott Luton (00:01:06):

Nice, nice. Well, we look forward to getting word of your next big championship win, uh, and one of these days I’m gonna get a chance to hold that gold plated trophy from your <laugh> from your last winning season. But, uh, hey, I digress. Um, today, folks, it’s all about, as y’all know, the supply chain buzz, where we share some of the leading stories across global business. We’re gonna be discussing a variety of news and developments today. And folks, you’re in for a treat. We’ve got a special educational segment towards end, end of today’s show focused on top things business leaders gotta keep in mind when it comes to selecting new technology. And we get to hear from one of the best. Been there, done that thousands of times. Of course, I’m talking about Mr. Greg White and hey folks, <laugh>. Hey, get ready cuz we wanna hear from you as well, Greg, looking forward to that tell end segment here today,

Greg White (00:01:55):

Right? Yeah, I think that’s gonna be a new, you know, we’re test, sort of testing this out as a new kind of educational segment of the buzz. I mean, once you get a buzz on, it’s a good time to learn, don’t you think? So, <laugh> new and education all in one folks

Scott Luton (00:02:11):

Piece of cake. That’s right. Um, all right, uh, we’re gonna share a couple programming notes here in a second, but yes, uh, big thanks Amanda and Katherine behind the scenes helping make it happen. Amanda says, happy buzz day, say hello, and let us know where you’re watching from. We’d love to connect the dots there. Hey, Shelly Phillips, uh, tuned in with us here today. Good morning. Hope you get to stay a little longer next time you’re in Denver, Shelly. I will, I look forward to that too. And hopefully we can, we can meet up. And Greg, we owe Shelly a big thank you. She had some high praise. I saw some more on LinkedIn. She shared, uh, supply chain now is the world’s best supply chain podcast, and Shelly really appreciate you being a part of that. We, oh, we’re like a, um, a nice steak dinner or something, I think, right?

Greg White (00:02:52):

Oh, we sent her a new football coach, so, uh, what more could they want? Right?

Scott Luton (00:02:57):

That’s right.

Greg White (00:02:58):

They may be pulling off quite a coup there in Denver. Yes. So, uh, Sean and Rex Ryan, potentially as the DC

Scott Luton (00:03:07):

For the Broncos.

Greg White (00:03:08):

Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:03:08):

Wow. Okay, man. Uh, well, some would say there’s nowhere to go but up based on, uh, recent performance. But hey, Shelly, most importantly, thanks for being a part of what we do here. Um, okay, so Greg, I’m gonna shoot through a couple program notes. Yeah. Uh, and then we’ve got some listener feedback we’re gonna share. So let’s, let’s share a couple of these things here. And I’m gonna start with, uh, the US Bank Freight Payment Index for quarter 4, 20 22. Now, Greg, you and I, uh, along with our friend Enrique Avarez, and of course, uh, Bobby Holland from US Bank, worked all the way through all this data, right? But folks, it’s free to get your own copy. Dog, dog market spill coffee. You wanna mark it up, you name it. And you can get that@freight.us bank.com. Greg, if I, if you had to pick just one of your favorite parts of what the Freight Payment Index delivers each quarter, what’s one of your favorite elements here?

Greg White (00:04:08):

That’s the practical insights from the people who use it and the kind of benefits that they use it from. And this particular episode within Enrique, who runs an n v OCC and also does some ground transport, um, seeing how they use it and, and frankly, how they interpret it was so incredibly valuable. We changed the format a little bit too. So if you didn’t get to see it, uh, look it up. It’s out there. If you follow us, you can find it

Scott Luton (00:04:35):

<laugh>. That is so true. And if you can’t let Amanda know, we’ll make sure. Uh, but, but most importantly, check out, get your own free copy, sign it Up, comes out each quarter Freight do us bank.com. And Greg, that’s a good recap there. Um, okay, moving right along. Let’s see here. We had our latest with that said, which is our almost weekly, uh, LinkedIn newsletter. The last one, uh, and I love this Clum Fly with us, it was Frank Sinatra inspired. Yes. But <laugh>, we’ve got so much programming this week and next week, so we’re really gonna be valuable. And it’s gonna be, um, informational, educational, and entertaining. Folks, check it out. Come fly with us as our invite from the whole team here to you. Uh, and y’all can check that out. I think we’re dropping a link to that in the chat. You can check that out there and let us know what you think.

Scott Luton (00:05:23):

And then, Greg, finally, you’re gonna get a kick outta this. So, uh, you and I, both, the whole team really, we get a ton of feedback, thankfully, from our listening family, uh, or across the globe. And I wanna share something I got over the weekend. So, Tucker Bledso, pictured here, I snagged it from his LinkedIn profile as a student at my alma mater, uh, the University of South Carolina, which has a supply chain management program that ranks high up, I think inside the top five, if I’m not mistaken, uh, on Gartner’s list. So he shared the following. Get this, uh, my name is Tucker Bledso. I’m a senior at the Dar Moore School of Business, double majoring. Cause I guess he likes punishment, pain, and punishment, operations and supply chain and finance. I’ve been listening to supply chain in our podcast for the last few months. Wanted to reach out and thank you for providing great material. And he’s enjoyed the current events and supply chain Crossman Industries, as well as our talk about food. Greg, you and I, guilty is charged here. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> now. He grew up, he is from Johnston, South Carolina.

Greg White (00:06:25):

Is that near

Scott Luton (00:06:26):

<inaudible>? That’s in Edgefield County, which is the count one of the counties adjacent to Aiken County. And, uh, many of the restaurants he said that we talk about, he’s eaten at, or he’s adding it to his bucket list. So, uh, Tucker, keep up the great work. Uh, you and members of the now generation are what inspires so many of us. And we know that, uh, industry is gonna be in good hands in the years to come. Greg, your comment here from, from feedback like this,

Greg White (00:06:53):

Go, oh, sorry. Uh, I’m a huge South Carolina fan. Uh, and honestly, the pro, you know, something that should be on his, um, on his bucket list is unfortunately gone, I think forever from Columbia, which is yesterday’s the greatest chicken fried steak, or I think they say country fried steak in the south, in the world. That’s, and it’s right, a shame that that is gone. Uh, but, uh, it is great to see so many of these young people getting engaged. What a great link up though finance and supply chain, because one has so much impact on the other and, and vice versa. Uh, so that, I think more of that connection in companies is really, really important.

Scott Luton (00:07:41):

Excellent point. Excellent point. So, so, uh, Tucker, you are gonna be, um, quite the capable leader, uh, by growing your expertise in those fields. So we look forward to keeping our finger on the pulse and seeing where you go next. And Greg makes great point. Yesterday’s close a few years ago, it was, it was down in five points. Yeah. It had a famous, um, tub on the top, on the, on the, uh, kind of the entrance way with a cowboy sitting in it. It was, it was iconic. Five points, uh, restaurant for quite sometimes. Good catch, Greg. Man, you’re chalk. You’re, you’re Own it today, Greg.

Greg White (00:08:13):

Dude, if there is a, if there is a town, if I remember it, I know it because of food. <laugh>,

Scott Luton (00:08:20):

I’m with you. Thank you. All right, really quick, we’re gonna try to say hello to a few folks here. Uh, professor Z, great to see you here. Uh, uh, Amika tuned in from Cranfield University. Great to see you here. Um, Greg is back with us. Greg, hope this finds you well up there in Milwaukee. He says he’s got another snowstorm moving in later this week. Greg, you seen this?

Greg White (00:08:42):

It’s, it’s hard. I saw my, so my brother is in Boston and I saw him post something about something, and there was snow all over the place. And it’s hard when you live in the South to think that people are still exp it’s gonna be 72 here today. The people are still experiencing the depths of winter. Is is unbelievable.

Scott Luton (00:09:02):

Isn’t though, isn’t

Greg White (00:09:03):

Though. Yeah, I’d say it’s a, it, it’s kinda a transitory transitional time here in the south. Uh, I recall one time I went to New Jersey, forgetting that it was still winter up there with no winter coat, and it was 25 degrees below zero and a and a blizzard. I literally had to buy a coat while I was up there.

Scott Luton (00:09:22):

<laugh>, man. Okay,

Greg White (00:09:25):

<inaudible>, that probably reflects more on me. <laugh>

Scott Luton (00:09:29):

Planning, right? Planning, uh, love that. Uh, let’s see here. Abdul, uh, Kitter, uh, great to see you. Good night. Uh, happy to join you. Hey, let us know where you’re dialed in from, uh, there via LinkedIn. Great to see you. Now, Shelly says, the first football games she went to were the Broncos back to back Super Bowls. She has stories, but not family friendly. <laugh>. Okay, Shelly, we’ll get those out of you soon.

Greg White (00:09:51):

Yeah, that is, that’s for supply chain nerds. Top

Scott Luton (00:09:55):

Sport. Yes, that’s right, Shelly. We’re coming for you. Uh, Gino’s back with us, you know, hope this finds you well up there in northern Alabama. Mark Preston from Peachtree City to Mark. Uh, I think we shared this last week. He did a great show on, uh, how to reinvigorate continuous improvement. We’ll see if we can’t drop that link there. Uh, mark, I tell you, he is been doing it for quite some time. Greg, we don’t go over though, no matter how much experience you got, what’s our threshold?

Greg White (00:10:21):

Two decades.

Scott Luton (00:10:22):

Two decades.

Greg White (00:10:23):

Say more than two decades. But never say more than that. I mean, you, you’re welcome to say whatever you want. I just kinda like that.

Scott Luton (00:10:30):

<laugh>

Greg White (00:10:31):

Around two decades in supply

Scott Luton (00:10:32):

Chain. That is right. Mine is

Greg White (00:10:34):

Around maybe a little more than that, but

Scott Luton (00:10:37):

<laugh>, uh, Dr. Fao is back with us. Uh, she says, love listening to your Monday chats while making dinner here in Germany. Hey, thank you for your service and let us know what you’re preparing this evening. Greg, what were you gonna say?

Greg White (00:10:51):

Uh, that’s, that was my question, is I hope it’s shish food. I’m a huge fan of shish food, which is from the southern part of the country in, uh, what was then Bavarian. Well, Bavarians would argue still is the independent Republic of Bavarian.

Scott Luton (00:11:07):

Okay. All

Greg White (00:11:08):

Right. Founded on all sides by Germany.

Scott Luton (00:11:10):

<laugh>. Interesting. Yeah,

Greg White (00:11:12):

Shish food is quite good.

Scott Luton (00:11:14):

So, okay. Hey, making me hungry already. So, uh, Dr. Ferman, we will see if she weighs in with what she is preparing this evening. And Josh Goody is with us from Seattle. Josh says, and he’s talking about yesterday, as I believe it’s a crime to see it gone. I’m with you, Josh. That was a legendary place. Yeah. Was not just for the food. There was some legendary good social times. <laugh> as well. No, no more. Can’t say anything more there. Hey, Greg. Nerf is back with us. One of our, Hey, uh, let’s see here.

Greg White (00:11:43):

We unbanned him, un shunned him.

Scott Luton (00:11:45):

<laugh>, uh, I think we said, uh, the Jerry Seinfeld global supply chain. He asked, uh, is Greg recovered after that Super Bowl win? Greg, your response is,

Greg White (00:11:55):

My, my response is that after watching it 26 times, I have confirmed that the chiefs win every single time.

Scott Luton (00:12:03):

<laugh> trust, but verify. I like that, Greg. Yes. Right. <laugh>. All right. Well, Greg, we gotta get to work. Uh, these folks are depending on us to, uh, walk through a variety of key news stories and bonus today. Get some of your expertise in particular for tips on when, when selecting, uh, technology. Uh, and gosh, we’re doing that seems like every day these days, right? So let’s get to work. And we’re gonna start, Greg. I’m gonna be sharing a few headlines across industry. So, uh, <laugh> first, as reported by the Wall Street Journal Inflation. Well, it’s still hanging around like a house guest that has really outstay. It’s welcome. Now, according to the Producer Price index, which was released by the US Labor Department last week, US supplier prices rose 6% in January, 2023. Over a year ago. The Wall Street Journal quoted Kurt Rankin, an economist at P N C as saying the data is, quote, a setback in the battle against inflation.

Scott Luton (00:13:00):

Today’s producer price increases will translate into tomorrow’s consumer price, or rather consumer facing price hikes in quote. Good one there. Check out the link to the article. Drop that in chat. Next up, uh, I want to ask folks, you may have caught Greg’s supply chain summary earlier today on LinkedIn. Thousands of people have, he was talking about the semiconductor industry and US efforts to regain ground supply and some sort of strategic leverage. Well, in this intriguing article by Steve Banker via Forbes, he talks about how, as a title might suggest, not only does the semiconductor supply chain impact everything else, but it is arguably the most vulnerable supply chain. So here’s a little dig. You know, y’all check out the article. It’s a great read. Uh, but banker states that industry titan, that you’ve all heard of this name Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, A K A T S M C, that’s not only the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer, but get this, it is the only company that manufactures all, all of Apple’s highly advanced ships for their smartphones.

Scott Luton (00:14:11):

Check that out, and you can check out the link in the comments. And then finally, speaking of Apple, its efforts continue at trying to lessen its resilience on China. So here, Reuters reports that Apple is facing some new setbacks, especially as it attempts to ramp up production in India. One casings factory in southern India recently produced at a 50% yield man, meaning, of course, that only half of the components met quality standards to be sent on down the line. Wow. Now, trade leaders within the Indian government have recently stated that Apple is looking for the country to ultimately handle 25% of all production. It’s gonna be really hard at 50% yield, but that, that will change Currently, that figure in terms of how much of Apple’s production is in, uh, Indian manufacturing infrastructure is somewhere in the five to 7% range. Okay. Greg, pulling you back in here, a little walk quick walk through some of the head headlines that stood out to me. Your take.

Greg White (00:15:13):

Well, uh, as you talk about these things, I think about the discussion, uh, that Pat Gelsinger had while he was in Davos about over the next five decades, supply chain, uh, technology supply chains will be more impactful and more impacted by geopolitics then oil, uh, oil reserves and oil, uh, production are today. And I have no doubt that that is definitely the case. I would amend that to say that supply chains, um, will become the critical factor in the future, the defining the future of humanity because of environmental concerns and geopolitical disruption. So regardless of whether it’s technology or it’s food, which is also has its own challenges. Now all things supply chain will lend strongly to the future. And we’ve seen that they can become weaponized over the course of the last several years. So that’s what I think about when I hear about, uh, some of these things that we’re, you’ve mentioned here, Scott.

Scott Luton (00:16:18):

Yep. Now, um, in the, in your summer today, we’re gonna talk about a different supply chain. Summer you did last week here in a few minutes. But man, folks have been eating that up. You’ve really, um, you’ve hit a nerve with what you were talking about today, right?

Greg White (00:16:33):

I, I think so. Uh, look, um, you know, essentially this was part that was part of the discussion was around supply chains generally. And, um, I think it’s good that Pat Gelsinger Intel, the CEO of Intel, if I didn’t mention where he is from, but, um, identified semiconductors as a future point of, of geopolitical interest. He says the point, I think not, but it is one of the points and probably one of the driving factors, and certainly one of the critical part portions of society. And I think a lot of people are really interested in understanding that. Um, they probably also should understand that a lot of petroleum products go into the construction of semiconductors and the products made there from. So, uh, I think that’s why I, when I think about these things, I think about the labor supply chain and the educational supply chain, because those are gonna be great hurdles for the US because building of semiconductors, for instance, takes a lot of PhD in engineer engineering talent, and two thirds of all engineering talent in the US is foreign born. And because of the policies of the US government, it’s very difficult for them to remain in work in the us. So they’re gonna have to be some other things, things changed in order to, to, uh, enable that, that particular supply chain. And you can just see how it continues to broaden out.

Scott Luton (00:17:57):

Yes. More folks should know what you just shared there. I think also water consumption for making chips. That’s where, when I, when I, the, the big Arizona investments, right? We’ve talked about here, and that’s the first thing that came to my mind is the impact. Where

Greg White (00:18:10):

Does that water come from, right? Yeah. I can’t imagine it. And that’s where TSMC is making, yeah. T SMC is making their investments. That’s where they are buying and building additional plants. And, and, um, that, that article that I com that I got the commentary from that article is about a company, um, te Texas Instruments a min, or adding on to a micron plant in, in Utah, where there is also very restricted water. So I, at a complete loss where you could, you could, um, find enough water to, um, you know, to manage 300,000 households, basically a city the size of Austin, Texas,

Scott Luton (00:18:55):

Right?

Greg White (00:18:56):

10 million gallons every single day is what that plant requires.

Scott Luton (00:19:01):

And, you know, maybe, maybe there’ll be optimism. You could get it today, but gosh, in 10 years when many of these plants will finally be up and running, I mean, the concerns then will be even further off the chart. So we’re gonna keep our finger on the pulse of that. I, I really en enjoy, I love your summaries as do the rest of <laugh> of, uh, social media. So folks, um, if Amanda and Catherine, if y’all can grab his Greg’s summer today that we’re talking about, and just put the direct LinkedIn link in the chat. We’d love for folks to read it and comment. Uh, that’s the best part. Beyond Greg’s always witty and humorous, uh, and, and in the know commentary, seeing all the reaction, okay.

Greg White (00:19:37):

Or if not any of those things, at least bite

Scott Luton (00:19:39):

<laugh>. Right? Amanda is, uh, Dr. Fa, I should say steaks. She, she’s preparing as she listens to US stakes from a local, local butcher and traditional German spa. How you say that? Spit

Greg White (00:19:54):

Spitz. Ok. So that is shish, that’s Aish dish. Sp it’s, uh, like rotini. It’s like potato rotini in a lot of cases. That’s usually the kind of shape it takes. Um, and it is unbelievably delicious buttery cream sauce. Oh man,

Scott Luton (00:20:12):

Man. So Tucker, if you’re listening today, I’m sure we can maybe find a version of that in the C S R A, also known as the central Savannah River area. That’s a thing. But, uh, I don’t know, maybe not nearly as good as, uh, what Dr. FAO is preparing. Um, okay. So Greg, we, uh, want to, speaking of the summaries, uh, let’s say, I’m gonna pull up this graphic here because as I’d mentioned on the front end, you published, uh, something last week, uh, a summer last week that focused on this supply chain dive article, which focuses on manufacturers tackling supply chain costs. And you delivered again in a way that really resonated with folks. So kind of summarize what you were talking about last

Greg White (00:20:53):

Week. Yeah, I think, um, the article itself was talking a lot about forecasting, but while forecasting is a big challenge, it’s not the core challenge in, in supply chain, 100% of the problem is labor. Um, that’s what caused the initial shortages was the, uh, lack of availability of labor because of shutdowns and things like that. And the slow return of labor to the, to the workforce. Uh, for whatever reason in the US it was because of concerns about health. It was about, um, massive subsidies, keeping people home and without the need to work. Um, and then it was about this generational shift as baby boomers left the, uh, the workforce in droves and their younger progeny, uh, gen X, Y, and Z said, we don’t want those dirty, dark, dangerous, indulge jobs. So, uh, that, that’s a big part of it. But there are a ton of environmental factors.

Greg White (00:21:50):

And, um, our race to do, you know, to try to save the environment has in some cases, inadvertently, I think, endangered the environment in other ways. And I, and what I challenge people to do in this article is to think through that and in previous articles as well, is to think through that and not shift one environmentally destructive methodology, oil and, and, um, you know, and fossil fuel emissions for another, scraping the face off the planet to get to semiconductors and batteries for EVs and that sort of thing. I just want us to think ahead this time, right? We have the benefit of knowledge and, and we need to think about alternatives. And I have long been an advocate for any alternative besides lithium cobalt based batteries. There are other technologies, and we should be spending lots of money trying to, um, trying to, to root out how to make those feasible.

Scott Luton (00:22:47):

Well said. Y’all check that out. We included a link to that summary, uh, here in the comments. You can check it out. Leave us your take on. Um,

Greg White (00:22:57):

Yeah, we even got trolled on that one.

Scott Luton (00:23:00):

<laugh>, really

Greg White (00:23:02):

Somebody looking for a fight over EVs and batteries and that sort of thing. So it’s, it’s a really interesting, um, you know, as trolls typically are less than intellectual, mostly just, mostly just political positioning or whatever they wanna call it. Uh, but it was a fun conversation, so, and it, it was, it’s all there in the commentary.

Scott Luton (00:23:23):

That’s right. Uh, so y’all checked that out. Uh, couple comments here. Uh, and, and folks, we also placed the links to each of the news stories I shared on the front end here, like the one where Apple’s facing some of the production obstacles. Y’all check that out and give us your take. All right. So Josh is commenting, you know, as we go back to, uh, you know, Utah and Arizona and some of those big chip investments, he says, can’t think of a single place in Utah that has a water flow for it, maybe down near, uh, the confluence of Green River near Moab.

Greg White (00:23:54):

Maybe this is Lehigh, and I don’t know Josh where Lehigh is, but there’s a Micron plant there that, uh, Texas Instruments bought, I think two or three years ago.

Scott Luton (00:24:06):

Hmm. Um, and then Greg, speaking of Apple says, we’re still waiting, he says, for Foxconn to figure out what’s going on with their plant in Wisconsin.

Greg White (00:24:16):

This article that I commented on was fairly short, but as many do, it prompted a lot of thoughts. But in some of the background research that I did, uh, there was an article that talked about, I didn’t, they didn’t mention Fox Foxconn specifically, but they did mention Wisconsin plans

Scott Luton (00:24:32):

As well. Yep. All right, so couple quick programming notes, and then we’re gonna get into this educational segment here today. I’m, I’m really looking forward to it, especially as how relevant technology selection, you know, whether it’s big platforms, small apps, doesn’t matter. We’re doing it every day. Um, alright, so Greg, we have got an outstanding session coming up, uh, in about a month or so, March 21st, we got a webinar on five tips for creating effective Digital Content. Now, this is live webinar. We’re not doing that program that, that recorded stuff. This is, Hey, we want to hear you. And we’re gonna be sharing some, some of, uh, the things that we have learned and have, have applied to our journey. And man Ursula ring with s a p and Brandy Boatner from I, IBM m to true rock and roll stars when it comes to creating content that resonates.

Greg White (00:25:21):

Yeah. And you may hear those companies.

Scott Luton (00:25:25):

That’s right. Not

Greg White (00:25:27):

As supply chain network.

Scott Luton (00:25:30):

That’s right. Uh, folks, we want you to join us, bring your feedback, bring your questions, you name it. Uh, bring a Turkey sandwich if you’d like. Uh, we’re gonna drop release to register in the chat. And that’s, uh, teed up for March 21st, uh, 12 noon Eastern Time with our dear friends, Ursula and Brandy, and then Greg. Well, I’ll tell you what, before I move forward, any, any other big, you know, why do you think this matters, Greg? Why is this important, you think?

Greg White (00:25:55):

Uh, well, well, I can tell you as a pre, you know, technology provider myself before getting the word out and getting leads into your funnel or, or getting your knowledge shared, webinar is and has been for a long, long time. The most common way of doing it. We get tons and tons of questions. You know, we do it on behalf of, of, of, of some companies. But many, many people come to us going, Hey, how, how do we make a webinar effective? And, you know, these two companies have been doing it literally for decades, maybe more than two decades, Scott and <laugh>. So, so we just thought we’d put some of that knowledge out there, share that with the community, and let them learn from it. You know, if they decide they want to do their own, their own, um, kind of digital content production, I think you can always learn.

Scott Luton (00:26:44):

Ah, I agree. I agree. And, you know, uh, Greg, just to pile on a little bit, uh, we had a wonderful conversation with Jason hok, um, and Sean, I can’t remember Sean’s last name. They’ve done big things. I mean, you know, like number ones in Apple Podcast and their rankings, and, and there’s something about getting folks together like this webinar’s gonna really be where we have a very common kindred spirit in cr in creating meaningful and genuine and helpful content. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, right? It, it, it goes, it’s like breaking bread with, with family members. Uh, right. As we kind of walk through that and share, you know, what we’ve learned, what we’ve, what we learned to do, what we’ve learned not to do, and a lot more. So folks, come join us. We’d welcome you at our, uh, our lunch table, uh, again, March 21st at 12 noon Eastern time.

Scott Luton (00:27:32):

Um, alright, one other quick programming note, Greg, uh, talk about purposeful. Uh, we’ve got, you know, we’ve been supporting very proudly been supporting the leveraging logistics for Ukraine and this ship going on. It’s about a year now, um, over 670,000 pounds of aid humanitarian aid have made it to folks in need in Ukraine and Poland and the region. And unfortunately, the need will continue, uh, for months and months on end. Well, hey, good, good news here is folks like Vector Global Logistics, Enrique and Christie and Maureen, they’re doing something about it. Uh, the next planning session for this very noble, big Noble mission initiative is Tuesday, March 7th at 11:00 AM Eastern time. We’d love for y’all to join us. Just sit in on it. If you don’t, you don’t have to talk, you don’t have to contribute. You can sit in and connect the dots and see what’s going on. Greg, your thoughts about this mission?

Greg White (00:28:24):

Well, I mean, we’ve all contributed time, effort, or, or, uh, whatever you wanna call it capital to, to this initiative. And, um, seeing the kind of results that it’s getting, obviously that is not something that is gonna end soon. Um, and has gone on for, I think, way longer than any of us thought it could and continues to evolve or devolve whatever. And likely will not be done until Putin can get his little, um, pipeline under his command. So, um, this will continue to cause tragedy throughout the region. It has put strain, not obviously on Ukraine, but not only Ukraine, but the countries that are supporting that. Now, there are some concerns that Moldova may a tiny, um, and completely neutral country may be at some risk because they have some strategic important importance to whatever Putin is trying to accomplish. So, um, you know, keep your eye on this. It’s important. This is a grassroots initiative, not a 5 0 1 [inaudible] [inaudible] but I can vouch for the fact that your initiative, your efforts, your givings will go where they’re intended 100% of it. Yeah. No one is taking a single dime of salary, um, or any other compensation for this.

Scott Luton (00:29:48):

Yeah. Thank you for sharing that, Greg. That’s a powerful vouching statement there, and it’s absolutely true. Um, and it’s been our honored support and contribute and, um, you know, they, they’re brush breath of fresh air over there at Vector. Um, okay folks, we’ll drop the link to that. Um, join us on some in some way, shape or form, uh, on a much lighter note. Greg, this just hit me a minute ago. Hit me in the pre-show and I’m meant the, uh, create a little graphic for it, but, uh, I wanna sh I gotta share this before we get into our educational session. I saw Amanda and I saw a wonderful mu uh, do you like music documentaries? You know, where kind of tells a backstory. Yeah. You know, bands, singers, where

Greg White (00:30:26):

Are they now? Kinda stuff. Yeah. Yes. Yeah, I love that.

Scott Luton (00:30:29):

Well, H b o Max has got this newer documentary focused on Dionne Warwick. And, you know, as a child of the eighties, uh, I really, I knew her for like, um, that’s what friends are for, right? Smash Single, dedicated to, um, the a the the AIDS victims, right? And, and relief for them still still raising money for, for all those folks. Um, but man, this documentary walks through her entire trailblazing and ground shattering career and it’s really good. And of course, but be one of the best things about these musical documentaries is all the, all the tunes they pack in it, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, old, new, the whole journey. So, uh, folks check it out. A H b o max, I think Amanda’s gonna save me here and drop a direct link. Y’all check it out. Yeah, it is. Like, music tunes. Greg, uh, Dion Warwick, was she, uh, did you have CDs of Dionne Warwick back in the day?

Greg White (00:31:25):

Uh, well, Scott, probably, probably before CDs. So my parents were huge. Uh, they were big time hippies. We, uh, also lived in Detroit for a portion of my childhood and huge Motown fans. My kids are huge Motown fans, and of course, Deion came out of that era. Um, so yeah, of course. I mean, I don’t know how you could have been a kid in the late seventies or eighties and not known who Deion Warwick was,

Scott Luton (00:31:53):

Right? It should be illegal. If so, it should be illegal

Greg White (00:31:56):

<laugh>. Well, it’s definitely, it is definitely, uh, to your detriment if you don’t, so go back and listen. Yeah, that’s great. I did not know that that was happening,

Scott Luton (00:32:05):

So gotta check it out. Gotta check it out. Um, all right, so Greg, we’re getting in and folks, we wanna hear from you. We want this to be, you know, we’re gonna, um, as, uh, as Greg has shared and lived, he’s been through thousands of these technology selection implementation processes. Uh, so we’re gonna get some of his perspective expertise, but we want to hear from you as well. Let us know what you’re learning, uh, have learned to do and what not to do when it comes to technology selection. Because as we said, business leaders, they’re doing it, we’re all doing it all, all the time, right? From big e r p platforms, you know, those selection processes, it might take, you know, months <laugh> to, you know, all sorts of applications, middleware, you name it. That may be quicker, uh, more expedited, but regardless, there’s some best practices here. So, Greg, core question here. What are three things that business leaders gotta keep in mind when it comes to the selection process for new technology?

Greg White (00:33:05):

Uh, that’s a great question, and I wanna reiterate a specific part of that question, which is the selection process for new technology, not the entirety of determining the success of your, of your technology implementation, but these are three things that you have to consider as you are selecting the process. And to me, number one is forget about, completely forget about, um, a, a mandate around what the solution must do, right? Um, in instead you wanna identify the goal, the underlying challenges, the day-to-day problems, the financial impacts, and the other impacts to your business, and present the problem. Uh, and then, and then find and expect practical, well-founded creative solutions and, and, and accept only goal-driven solutions, not tactically or operationally driven solutions that are supported, enhanced, or e even conducted, even, uh, taken over or run in the future by technology. Because what a lot of companies do is they come out with this 46 page questionnaire as if they know how to fix their own problem, which if they did, they could have done.

Greg White (00:34:30):

And I think that in thousands and thousands of implementations, some enormous, some small, um, some a week long, some years long, um, I’ve experienced universally that if the, if a company knew how to solve their problem, they would. Mm. Um, and, and, and so you see, um, you see these big specification documents that say, Hey, this is what we, this is what we are looking for. Can your product do this? Can your team do this? Can it do that? And instead, I, I think, you know, Scott, I’m a big begin with the end in mind type person. And I think it’s really, really important to think about what you’re trying to accomplish and the challenges that you face, or the hurdles that you must overcome today to, to, that keep you from getting there. So I think it’s important to tackle, uh, tackle your selection from that perspective.

Scott Luton (00:35:31):

So, if I can, so that first one, first of the three, and folks want to hear from you as well, uh, the first one I think could is the a billion dollar idea. You know? Cause to your point, Greg, I think one of the points you’re making there is folks may be setting off on the wrong foot to solve pain. They may be, uh, setting off on the wrong foot because they think they know what they need to do, but it, right, that’s wasted time. That’s a, that is, that is a bad start. And, and that’s a bad answer to the why, is what part of what I’m hearing you say there. Is that right, Greg?

Greg White (00:36:05):

Yeah, that’s exactly right. I mean, you know, throw away the RFP right in for anyone who do they, they’re called RFIs, RFPs, request for proposal, request for information, whatever, throw those away. Yeah. And instead, enunciate the problem that you have, the goal that you’re trying to seek. And that will, that will change the entirety of, of the process, and it will greatly simplify it, especially when you, when you do the next couple, uh, things that I’m, I’m gonna advocate number two, yes.

Scott Luton (00:36:38):

Being

Greg White (00:36:39):

First, okay. Be willing to change your ways. You are likely in this situation, in whatever is challenging or, uh, subverting your business goals because of yourself, right? And recognize that process change may be necessary. Hell, it’s likely, right? Um, for, for any technology implementation to be successful, you’re going to have to change the process because it’s not just the technology. Technology’s just a bigger hammer. Mm. Um, and a bigger hammer will still drive the nail in the wrong place if your process is, is, is incorrect, right? So acknowledge that, uh, it’s, it’s likely internal, it’s process, it’s business design driven. It could be even be, uh, job design driven. Um, but recognize that and, and also enunciate that to your service provider. You know, these are the challenges we have with these processes, uh, the results they’re from, et cetera, et cetera, expect to have some sort of business analysis conducted, um, in order, in order to help you find the right technology, but also in, in order to enable that technology. Yeah. So to to these two points, I want to go back and combine them for this purpose. And that is that anyone who you seek to purchase technology from should know your industry, know your business, at least at a high cursory level, or at least at an industry level, and know what businesses in your industry are typically trying to accomplish. And when they know that, and if they have real live business experience, then they will be much, much more valuable partner to you.

Scott Luton (00:38:24):

Okay, man. Uh, I’m, we’re gonna owe you a, a consulting invoice, uh, before we end, finish up this hour. Yes,

Greg White (00:38:31):

Course, Scott. I’m preparing it right now.

Scott Luton (00:38:33):

<laugh>. Well, hey, before, uh, so Greg, I’m gonna oppose this to you. Yeah. Right? Would you rather knock out number three and then we’ll go through some of the, uh, ideas that folks have? Uh, or would you rather me share a couple of

Greg White (00:38:48):

What? Yeah, let no, let’s, let’s talk, let’s hear what the crowd has to say. All

Scott Luton (00:38:52):

Right. So Shelly was agreeing on your first point.

Greg White (00:38:55):

Well definitely wanna hear that. I’m glad we inter interrupted it for that. Thanks, Shelly.

Scott Luton (00:39:00):

<laugh>. So, but seeing it time and time again, I think, and I think that, uh, she, she submitted this when you were talking about how folks and companies think they know what their problem is, right? Well,

Greg White (00:39:10):

Often they know the problem. Yeah. The problem is thinking, you know, what the solution is.

Scott Luton (00:39:16):

Ah,

Greg White (00:39:17):

Right? Because you’re so often too ingrained in your own processes and, and people, structures and politics to, to be able to, um, to get, get that sort of blessing of naivete that you can get from an outside party.

Scott Luton (00:39:33):

Excellent point. Blessing of nav. What’d you say? Blessing.

Greg White (00:39:39):

Right? Thank you very much. Yeah. See that three times fast.

Scott Luton (00:39:41):

I need another pot of coffee. I think. Uh, all right. Jonathan says customizing too much and it, uh, compacts the issues involved. Your thoughts on, on over customization, Greg?

Greg White (00:39:52):

Yeah. Well, that’s, uh, that’s gonna go to right to my third point, which we don’t need to talk to yet. Ok. But that, I think that’s an excellent point, is that, that customization also come, comes from mandating the solution, right? Point one or 0.2 often cause that problem of, of, um, too much customization because companies are, and even monumental failures of largely e r p type solutions, and some are world famous, right? Hundreds of millions and or billions of dollars wasted Yep. In complete failure that nearly bankrupt companies, um, is largely the fault, not of the implementer or of the technology company, but of the client who continues to try to force fit a new technology into total crap processes.

Scott Luton (00:40:45):

<laugh>, that’s a technical word, total crap processes. Tcp. Yeah. Um, all right. So let’s see. A couple other quick comments here. Shelly talks about how sidenote thousands of companies were down for 24 hours last week as NetSuite Boston servers were down. How about that? Yeah. Um, gene Geno says it’s really a difficult job to define when technology is outpacing your ability to implement.

Greg White (00:41:12):

A good point goes to point number two also, which is adoption is the key to success. Mm. And not only is this a great opportunity to, uh, assess your processes, but also to assess your people and to upskill or uplift both, right? Um, because you’re right, sometimes it is. And that, that is one of the biggest problems. That is the number one objection that I have ever heard in thousands of technology implementations and sales processes, frankly, is I don’t think my people are ready for this. I don’t think my people are strong enough for this. And the chances are largely because of the fact that we’re looking past needing to change their processes or their drug drug job structures, probably drug structures as well, <laugh> job structures, um, and the politics within the organization, they may not be ready for it. On the other hand, you’ll be surprised at how many of them have just simply wanted to do their job better and have been held back from being able to do that and would gladly embrace making their job better.

Greg White (00:42:21):

Part of that adoption process. The key to op adoption, and the key to enabling your people to adopt change is to solve urgent problems, fiscally compelling problems that impact human beings every single day. Mm-hmm. Right? They just want to do a better job, and they want to be able to leave it at the office when they go back home. And, and if you think about it from that perspective, uh, I know that sounds incredibly simple, but it Yep. And it is. But if you think about it from that perspective, the easiest way to get adoption is to solve a problem that your people give a about. So that’s, that’s a huge part of what Gene’s talking about,

Scott Luton (00:43:06):

Man. Absolutely. Good stuff there, Greg. Um, very inspiring. You got me ready to run through the wall back behind me. Uh, Mark Preston talks about the importance of building that charter with deliverables versus just the, the rfq. Yep. Excellent point there. And by the way, folks, if you wanna find out what rattlesnake hunts, what the heck that has to do with driving improvement in manufacturing and sales environments? Go ask Mark. Good stuff there. Finally, <laugh>, finally, Shelly says, employee buy-in to the point you’re making, Greg. Yeah. Employee buy-in is crucial. You’ve got to help them see the bright side because it’s, yeah, completely agree. Cause that adoption that you and Greg both are talking about is paramount without it, what do you have, Greg? Without adoption, <laugh>, you’ve got, uh, a lot of wasted resources. Wasted. Yeah.

Greg White (00:43:56):

I

Scott Luton (00:43:56):

Mean, you go

Greg White (00:43:57):

Ahead. You, you’ve got a big hunk of metal, or in this case, virtual metal just sitting there wasting desktop space, right? I mean, it’s, um, you know, solutions are conceived in the boardroom, but they’re delivered on the desktop.

Scott Luton (00:44:11):

Ooh. That’s a t-shirt. And, and, and as an addition, you know, the, and now we’ll get you your third point. And I wanna make one last one quick point and one hit your number three is, you know, team members, associates, your employees, they’re all digesting change so much. Uh, I would argue faster than, at least than, than I’ve seen in industry. Um, and so there’s limited, you, you’ve got limited tolerance there for more change. And man, if that change doesn’t deliver and make their jobs easier and make them, to your point, Greg, put them in position to deliver better, cause that’s what the overwhelming majority of folks wanna do, then you’re gonna burn you. You’ve got that burnout factor, and then they’re not gonna trust the next big project, uh, that you’re gonna, uh, try to do with the team. So that’s a very real threat. Um, alright, so Greg, this is, man, this is, I wish, uh, I should have brought my diet Coke and a bag of popcorn. You’re <laugh>, you got us, you got us all fire, uh, uh, hit on all neurons. So Greg, what’s your number three again, we’re talking about, um, key considerations business leaders gotta gotta have in mind when it comes to selecting new technology.

Greg White (00:45:18):

Number three is less ethereal, less philosophical, less, uh, inspirational. It’s more tactical. And it is, make them prove it. I’m a firm believer that you should only ever believe that any tech can or ever will do what the company’s selling it to you promises. If they can display it right now, not later, not after two and a half weeks of configuration, not after a month, not in the next version, not in the spring. And this is an old joke in the software technology trade, which is, we said that was coming in the spring. We didn’t say what year. So

Scott Luton (00:45:58):

<laugh>,

Greg White (00:46:00):

So o only believe that the technology can, I wanna repeat this. Can and ever will ever, at any time in the future, be able to do what it does right now when you ask for the problem to be solved, see it, see it solved, confirm that it is the way that will work for your organization, or start the dialogue on how can we adapt this to assure that it solves the problem to meet our goals. Remember, we’re focused on goals, number one. Um, so because too many times people have been sold, is it up the river, river or down the river, whatever. They’ve been sold

Scott Luton (00:46:39):

<laugh>

Greg White (00:46:39):

And the product never quite gets to where they they need it to. And, uh, you know, a subtext of that is bigger is not necessarily better. We’ve already talked about, and I think it was Shelly who talked about some of the massive failures in e R P. It’s not just e r P. Yep. I mean, you know, supply chain technologies have endured incredible lawsuits. Companies have literally nearly been driven outta business. And we’re not talking about small companies. We’re talking about companies like Nestle, um, with, uh, magnificent failures in terms of technology, uh, implementations and others who have struggled so much. But there are two things I wanna, I, I feel absolutely compelled to impart E R p unless the solution, the, the goal is global finance simplification. And, and homogenization E R P is almost never the solution. That’s what E R P does, that’s what it’s built for.

Greg White (00:47:38):

They have acquired or built all kinds of modules to do all kinds of other things, but they’re literally thousands of other specialist solutions that built right into these e r P solutions and, and can do the job far better for far less and far faster. So, um, so when I say bigger is better, I’m saying those big e r P companies are not always your answer. And I just told you when I think they are so <laugh>, um, and you’ll often in, in presenting alternative solutions to these big get the, uh, in, in the boardroom. Why not this e r p or that E R p? Because that’s, you know, that’s the question that that board members, we, we board members are taught. Um, when you meet your pals at the bar or country club or whatever, who are executives at these big companies. And that’s part of the strategy. The other part of the strategy is these enormous implementations. So the technology doesn’t cost nearly as much, in some cases as little as one 400th of the total of the entire project. And the reason that companies continue to be pitched these technologies is because the big three or four or however many big technology or a big, uh, uh, consulting firms exist, they make hundreds of millions of dollars, in many cases, billions of dollars a year implementing these technologies. Why? Because they don’t do jack out of the box

Scott Luton (00:49:10):

<laugh>,

Greg White (00:49:11):

Not jack in the box <laugh>. Um, they don’t do jack out of the box, which means tons and tons of revenue and tons of kids from Chicago campuses crawling all over your company learning how to do business. You’re basically paying $300 an hour for these kids to learn how to understand your business or business in general and, and define the solutions for you. So I think that is an old and outdated model. I think we need to think more about amplifying technology, understanding with that expertise that I alluded to before, with that expertise, you can often create a technology that, that overarchingly covers an industry or a business problem. And then with switches and dials, right? Instead of customization, um, to Jonathan’s point, um, with switches and dials, allows you to adapt or configure rather than customize the technology to solve your problem.

Scott Luton (00:50:04):

Love it. All right. And so does Jonathan, he mentioned this when you said the, uh, boardroom and desktop. I can’t remember that quote. Uh, what, what would you say? You said something about solutions

Greg White (00:50:16):

Are conceived in the boardroom, but they’re delivered on the desktop.

Scott Luton (00:50:20):

Yes. Quote of the day. I agree with you, Jonathan. I’m, we’re gonna all have that on the back of a t-shirt very soon. Gino talks about upper management buy-in is also critical, Greg.

Greg White (00:50:30):

So let’s talk about that, cuz I think that’s critical. The throwing away, I didn’t get to that point. So thank you for bringing that up, Jean. The throwing away the RFP and having the, having the goal be to meet a goal will inherently interest the executives that have to push, have to sponsor, and have to champion this transition of the company. Because it is, it’s more than just a technology implementation, it’s a transition of the company’s business. And when you have a strategic level, um, goal than it’s easier. It’s a hundred percent necessary and they enjoy getting engaged. If it’s a feature function assessment, they may never see the bigger picture. But when you start with the bigger picture, then you can always get management to get involved and to drive the process, uh, to champion the process for improvement.

Scott Luton (00:51:27):

All right, man, goodness gracious. Uh, we got more than we bargained for today. But yet look, this is the, you know, when we’re thinking about kind of, okay, what do we wanna share today, uh, when it comes to technology and, and what is really practical, I would argue that the last 20 minutes, if that’s not actionable, uh, been there, done that.

Greg White (00:51:50):

Good lord, was that 20 minutes,

Scott Luton (00:51:52):

Was that <laugh>? My, okay, my, my timer, my timer’s not working. It could have been <laugh> maybe 14 minutes. I don’t know. Uh, let’s see Here is Islam says, uh, indeed, e r p is only a tool and firms just need to choose which tool will fit to your business model. Good stuff there. Uh, uh, mark says people are not afraid of, I’ve heard Mark say this before, people are not afraid of change. They’re afraid of uncertainty.

Greg White (00:52:17):

That’s right.

Scott Luton (00:52:18):

Maybe what with what that change will bring Greg. Huh?

Greg White (00:52:20):

Yeah. Unquestionably. That’s our lizard brain.

Scott Luton (00:52:23):

That’s right. <laugh>. That’s right. Mark. Uh, Shelly says she agrees with Mark and no one needs more uncertainty here these days. Excellent point, Shelly. I agree with you. Okay, Greg, good. Uh, about 1252 here. Got a couple more minutes.

Greg White (00:52:39):

What do you think? I mean, I’d love to kinda get your take on, on all of

Scott Luton (00:52:44):

That. Look, um, I, I really ire, you know, Martin, we thought we’d, we’d tackled this topic on the buzz. It’s like we’ve got the perfect resource and Greg White been there and done that. But one of the points you mentioned about how we, we need to amplify technology, I would argue that maybe, you know, if, if we were to put e r p decisions aside, right? Because those are those the bigger, more rigorous lumbering selection. You know, let’s put all that aside. I think there’s two quick points. I think I think of the smaller technology decisions that folks are making without, because there’s a $49 a month of subscription fee or whatever. It’s so easy to to do it. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and the cost is so low. But I think what business leaders aren’t thinking about and hey, I’m guilty as charged from time to time.

Scott Luton (00:53:33):

Cause we view it as a, um, a small investment. We are not thinking about the impact positive or negative that will have on the team. And, and that’s where the, going back to adoption, it doesn’t matter if it’s e r p or, or an app or middleware or it, whatever, but the adoption of the team, so there’s not just one more thing to download on their, on their, you know, laptops or phones or what have you, is so critical. We do our homework regardless of how big the investment is. And I think secondly, and Greg, this is something you and I chat about all the time because as much as we get approached Greg about with, with what we’ll call glorious feedback from our listener listening family, which I’ll tell you that’s one of the best parts about this journey is hearing from y’all. Like, like Tucker.

Scott Luton (00:54:18):

Yeah. Um, but we also get solicited all the time, Greg, and you’ve, you’ve really taught, um, me and many others that, hey, when those sales folks and hey, we’ve all been there, got gotta love on those sales folks, but the best you’re gonna get is when they want to make this sale. So if they’re not responsive to your questions or your needs, or, you know, getting references or whatever, and you buy from ’em, <laugh>, that’s, that’s as good as its gonna, that’s on you, right? <laugh>. Yeah. And they’re gonna ignore similar needs after you make the purchase because their incentive is gone. Is that right Greg?

Greg White (00:54:55):

Right? Yeah. I think that’s one of the things that we have to think about in all of these evaluation processes is is incentive. Right? The world is driven, it’s not pleasant and, and it’s not nefarious either, but the world is driven by incentive. Warren Buffet said something to that effect, or Charlie Munger said something to that effect. That the world is not driven by insight, it’s driven by incentive. Something to that effect. And nothing could be true. And if we’re all honest with ourselves, that is the truth for us too. Right? What’s in it for me? That’s the question that everyone does and frankly should ask. Look, that’s how we were pro we were programmed as cave dwellers. If I, should I go outside and confront that dinosaur? What’s in it for me if I do that? <laugh>. And, and if you think about it to, uh, to Shelly’s point, uncertainty is what people fear. Was it, was it Shelley? Uh, well,

Scott Luton (00:55:49):

Uh, it was Mark started it. Yeah.

Greg White (00:55:50):

Mark Creston. Yeah. But anyway, that uncertainty is what people, uh, fear, right? Because nobody, we, we have been programmed since our genesis of, uh, in, in a way to keep ourselves out of danger. We are inherently lazy. Why? Because we had to preserve so much energy because we were undernourished when we were, when we were created or whatever <laugh>, you know, in, in, in our old form. Um, and we are inherently afraid of uncertainty. Why? Because uncertainty almost certainly meant death. Yeah. And you know, I mean if you think about the thousands, hundreds of thousands, whatever it is, years of evolution, if anything has been programmed into us, it is don’t waste energy, right? Your own energy will waste everybody else’s. Don’t waste your own energy and avoid death. Yes. <laugh> the simplest thing. True, right? And uncertainty equals death when you get far enough back into our subconscious.

Scott Luton (00:56:53):

Yes. That’s in our bones and our dna. N now Greg, you took it really back old school to the <laugh>, to the caves, dinosaurs. But hey, it’s so true. Um, all right, I’m gonna take one last comment here and we’re gonna wrap up. Uh, mark, you are a foun of you and Shelly and all y’all are fountains of knowledge today. Mark Group makes a great point. Training and sustainment processes, they’re critical with more and more software that you have to learn. And with more and more people leaving companies that tr and taking that tribal knowledge with them. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, it’s a big risk to businesses. A great point there, mark.

Greg White (00:57:26):

It’s been a huge, that has been a huge problem as baby boomers leave the, the workforce, which they did is in record numbers, um, in 2021, because so much of what they did was not written down. Yep. Not only do people not wanna do it, even if they wanted to do it, they wouldn’t know how, because so much of it has not been, um, what do I wanna say? Memorialized.

Scott Luton (00:57:48):

Yes. That’s a great word. Yeah, that’s a great word. Uh, you used a, you used a word this morning in your summary that I need, I had to look it up in dictionary. I’ll, I’ll think of that in a second, but I wanna share Corey’s comment. Yes. Let me circle back. So, <laugh> Corey says, great point on being driven by incentive. A lot of incentive in the current tech sales process is targeted at the CFOs or finance team as opposed to really solving the underlying problem. Greg. Agree.

Greg White (00:58:18):

Unquestionably. <laugh>. Yeah. Unquestionably. And, and you know, a lot of times the incentive for reps, uh, is counterproductive to what you hope to accomplish at a company. You have to be very, very, Scott. We have, I mean, we have, I think we’ve done a great job of that with our, our sales team. I don’t think it’s shame to say that we have a sales team, right? Yeah. We love diesel, right? I mean, um, and we’re growing, by the way, if you’re looking for a great sales gig, um, um, but, you know, that incentive is critical because we have certain things we want to accomplish for our, our customer base. And that is to, that is to enhance their message. To expand their reach, right? And to increase their credibility. And we wanna make sure that how that, how we do that starts with how we engage with people from the very beginning. Yep. And you, you do, you have to be very, very careful about <laugh>. That’s my boy right there.

Scott Luton (00:59:14):

That is right. Clay doing, uh, uh, clay and Amanda and Catherine, uh, and, and, and Chantel, all the folks out there making it happen. Uh, really appreciate what y’all do. And Clay <laugh>, I like this. And, you know, over the weekend, um, man, we’re just gonna take it. Uh, we’re gonna be very transparent here. I loved his email response, uh, to us Greg, cuz he, he had heard that phrase, uh, from a legendary figure. I gotta kick outta that Clay. Um, alright, so Greg, uh, we’re gonna be, we’re right at, we’re right on time. I really appreciate Yeah. Uh, all of what you shared. Hey, folks in the comments.

Greg White (00:59:51):

Yeah. That was super helpful.

Scott Luton (00:59:53):

Yes. We need to publish a book after today’s, uh, hour long conversation, but really, and have enjoyed y’all’s submissions. I know we couldn’t hit everybody’s, but, uh, yeah. Y’all can find supply chain buzz every Monday at 12 noon Eastern time. And as Greg and I share on the front end beyond news and headlines and analysis, hey, we’re, we’re trying to make it more productive and educational and informative, uh, with market intel or practitioner expertise, you name it. We’re gonna be making a lot more of that into these sessions. And, hey, thank you there, Lee. Lutin, it’s good to see you this weekend. <laugh>. That’s right, mom. Love you too. Uh, she says, kudos to your behind the scenes team. Hey, they, they’re the ones that make it happen, right? They’re, we are standing on the shoulders of giants, uh, undoubtedly. Okay, Greg, uh, as we wrap off right before our sign off here today, we’ve covered a lot of ground, uh, from the news to, um, to, you know, manufacturing, trying to tackle supply chain costs, uh, to chips, which is gonna be front and center for quite some time to your summaries to, again, the second half show is really focused on, you know, how to some best practices of how to make better selection decisions when it comes to all the technology platforms that we bring into our organizations.

Scott Luton (01:01:07):

If you had to boil it down to one thing that folks have to take away from today’s conversation that you can forget everything else, but there’s one thing that folks gotta keep front and center, what would that be?

Greg White (01:01:21):

Begin with the end in mind. I, I probably have said that before, but that, that has to be it to how you design your supply chain, to how you select the technology, to how you take, take in and process this news to how you use the, um, the data from the freight payment index to how you interact with us, to how you interact with everyone that you interact with all day. Begin with the end in mind. I think the great Stephen Covey, whether you’ve read the Seven Habits or not, starts with a, imagine you’re at your own funeral. What would you want people to say about you in their eulogies at your funeral? That’s the end that you should start with.

Scott Luton (01:02:01):

Outstanding. What a way to wrap, uh, Greg home run stuff today. Really appreciate, uh, what you brought to the table as always, a pleasure to knock out these shows with

Greg White (01:02:10):

You. Yeah, well, likewise, thanks. I mean, this is a blast. I’m glad we’re doing this. I hope I’d love to hear, I, I hope people like this, this teachable moment segment.

Scott Luton (01:02:19):

Yeah, Greg, that’s a great, great comment. Let’s wrap with that folks. Let us know what you think about today, especially the second half of the show, and kind of how we’re, uh, wanting to bake more, whether we call it the teachable, teachable moments as Greg just coined or basically been there, done that practitioner expertise on a wide variety of topics. That’s what we’re looking to do in the bigger sense. So let’s know what you think, but, but whatever you do. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> making, not making a decision is unfortunately making a decision. It’s all about taking the action, taking the action, leading. Not none, none. No lip service. Leadership deeds, not words on. With that said, Greg, mm-hmm. <affirmative> big thanks everyone that, that came out here today. Thanks for all the great comments. Big thanks to the whole team that makes this happen. Scott Luton challenging all of our listeners everywhere, including the one and only Tucker and Johnson, South Carolina. Do good, give forward, be the change, and we’ll see you next time. Right back here at Supply Chain now. Thanks <inaudible>.

Intro/Outro (01:03:22):

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