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 afternoon, everybody. Scott Luton and Greg White with you right here on Supply Chain Now. Welcome to today’s livestream. Gregory, how are we doing?

Greg White (00:00:41):

I’m doing quite well, thank you, in the lovely City of Kansas City today. City of Kansas City today.

Scott Luton (00:00:47):

So, what time will you be back in #supplychaincity, Atlanta, GA?

Greg White (00:00:55):

So, I’m only bouncing in Atlanta and then going on to the Gulf Coast to watch it rain for a week. But I get back to Atlanta 7:00-ish, 7:30-ish. And then, I’m going to get to eat some Popeye’s at the airport.

Scott Luton (00:01:21):

There is nothing better than that is there?

Greg White (00:01:21):

Because that [inaudible] so –

Scott Luton (00:01:21):

All right. Well, safe travels. Enjoy those travels. Of course, you had a big Chiefs win over the Cleveland Browns over the weekend. But we’ll have to save that post-game analysis for another day, huh?

Greg White (00:01:32):

Yeah. The other day when I’ve got my voice back, the loudest fans in football lived up to their title.

Scott Luton (00:01:43):

It was loud. That’s right. And I tuned in fourth quarter for some of that. And you could just about make out the football game was getting played, but there was no hearing of the audibles.

Greg White (00:01:53):

Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:01:54):

All right. So, today, it’s all about Supply Chain Buzz, where we bring you some of the leading stories, topics, leaders that have to be on your radar across global industry. And, today, we’ve got a special guest joining us in about 15 minutes or so, and a repeat guest at that, as Mark Morley with OpenTexts, Greg, is back by popular demand.

Greg White (00:02:18):

Yes. No longer can we say the biggest company you’ve never heard of, because by now so many people have heard of them. But, basically, the backbone of digital commerce, this company. So, it’s really cool what they’re doing.

Scott Luton (00:02:30):

Agreed.

Greg White (00:02:30):

And I looked at the diagram of what he’s going to share about, the topic that I’m not going to release too early. It’s very cool. Very cool and very timely, you know, considering everything going on in supply chain and commerce right now.

Scott Luton (00:02:48):

That’s right. Agreed. So, some of the topics we’re going to be talking about with Mark, ethical sourcing, which is one of the issues of our age of this day. And then, secondly, you know, we all hear a ton about supply chain control towers. And I bet there’s some of y’all out there that may not know what those are and how they work. I’m certainly not the expert in control towers. So, he’ll be speaking on those two topics and a lot more starting here about 12:15 or 12:20, so y’all stick with us.

Scott Luton (00:03:15):

Okay. So, Greg, we’ve got a slew of folks we got to say hello to in just a minute. But let’s knock out some announcements really quick. And, you know, we’re really careful here at Supply Chain Now to not toot our own horn. A big part of our M.O. and our culture is loving on the guests, loving on the topics, loving on the community, loving on the folks that show up, and certainly those key messages. However, we’ve got to share a little bit of an announcement that we were informed of last week.

Greg White (00:03:47):

Yeah. We got to share it. It would be unfair not to share it.

Scott Luton (00:03:49):

Yes. It would be unfair. And, really, this is attributed to all of y’all out there. We really appreciate y’all being with us through this journey, and listening, and engaging, and sharing your thoughts. So, the news here is, Greg, how many podcasts do you think are out there in the podcast sphere?

Greg White (00:04:10):

Millions. I mean, I know just two years ago it was over 800,000 and approaching a million. So, yeah, it’s got to be over 2 million by now, I would guess. Everybody has a podcast, don’t they?

Scott Luton (00:04:23):

That’s right. And that’s a beautiful thing. That’s a very democratic, beautiful thing. However, to that end, there’s over 2.65 million podcasts out there. Now, what’s cool about this, our friends at Listen Notes – y’all check them out. You can find a lot of new podcasts all across different genres and connect with those folks at listennotes.com – they’re a third-party that tracks all of these podcasts out there, whether there’s five episodes or over 700. And they have deemed, according to their research and their data, that Supply Chain Now is in the top one percent in terms of listenership and popularity out of all podcasts, not just supply chain podcast, out of all podcasts. Now, Greg, as proud as we are about that here at Supply Chain Now, I would say, for the industry, and for the profession, for the craft, for the people, the technologies, for what global supply chain is doing especially during these challenging times, this is a good thing and it’s one of those latest signals that supply chain is resonating with the global populace. Would you agree?

Greg White (00:05:33):

Yeah. I was thinking that exact same thing, Scott. It speaks to supply chain. It’s popularity. Frankly, it’s [inaudible] in commerce today. So, it makes good sense that supply chain is a hot topic. It’s good to be at the top of that list, too, that’s fantastic. So, I think that goes a lot to what you have done for years kind of transitioning from, you know, educational [inaudible] to radio, to podcasts, and in livestreams, and in video, you know, like YouTube and that sort of thing. So, it’s incredible, first of all, how technology has evolved to allow us to do this. And, secondly, how the craft has evolved. And that people actually care about, not just knowing what supply chain is, but knowing more about how to make it better.

Scott Luton (00:06:34):

Well said. Very well said. So, thank you to all of y’all that tune in with this, whether it’s livestreams, whether it’s our daily podcast, or any of our other shows, of course, that have their own feeds, including TECHquila Sunrise. But the community out there is why we do it. And, you know, we wouldn’t trade our community for any folks out there. It’s one of the sharpest savviest folks that bring a ton of creativity, innovation ideas to the table. So, thank you so much.

Scott Luton (00:07:03):

Okay. Enough about that. So, one of the things we’re going to be talking about here with Mark Morley is this big event tomorrow, OpenText ConneXions Summit 2021. So, Greg, it’s produced by CEO – sorry – CIO – never get those wrong – produced by CIO. It’s sponsored by OpenText. But, of course we’re collaborating with OpenText team once again for this free virtual event tomorrow. And, Greg, we’re going to be talking about supply chain resilience but in a really meaningful way. You buckled up and ready to go?

Greg White (00:07:39):

I’m ready. Let’s do this. Yeah. I think it’s one of the top things we need to speak more about is agility and resilience in the supply chain, right? We’ve realized that we can’t predict everything. And I think that we leaned on two things for too long, and that is trying to predict everything and trying to reduce costs on everything, at least as a primary focus. So, obviously, cost is a concern. But this agility and resilience is what is demanded by the consumers to make sure that they get the goods they want.

Scott Luton (00:08:09):

Agreed. All right. So, folks, again, it’s free to join us. It kicks off tomorrow morning Eastern Time. Hey, Amanda, let’s drop that link to make it really easy for folks to join us tomorrow. And, folks, you’re not going to miss it. Real conversation, real takes, not lip service. Just how we can break past this disruption that continues to come at us. And really big, a lot more healthy, practical, and successful resilience into your global supply chains.

Scott Luton (00:08:40):

Okay. And Keivan is saying, “Resilience one more time.” Yes. We’ve all heard it a million times or maybe 2.65 million times. But it’s one of the biggest questions of the day, for sure. Okay. So, real quick, I’m going to hit these, so next week we’ve got Flow 2021. Greg and I will be opening each of the days and closing each of the days, as well as leading a couple of panels. I’ll get one panel here. I’ll tell you, Doug Stephens, Kara Ashby, Jim Barnes, and Nabil Malouli talking about customer experience and how that’s transforming. It’s [inaudible] this panel. So, Flow 2021 next week, and you can register there on the link via the show notes.

Scott Luton (00:09:26):

October 5th, Greg – I think you perhaps traveled with someone from Verusen over the weekend.

Greg White (00:09:31):

I may have.

Scott Luton (00:09:34):

We’ve got a big event coming up, the State of the Supply Chain Report, more talk about building resiliency into your supply network. Also, free to join 12:00 noon on October 5th. You can check out the link in the show notes because we want to make it really easy. Join us for that. Okay. One final thought here before we say hello to folks, before we bring on our outstanding guest, is, Jennifer Hudson, Greg, turned 40 years old yesterday.

Greg White (00:10:02):

That’s hard to believe, isn’t it?

Scott Luton (00:10:03):

Man, it is hard to believe. We’ve been watching Jennifer Hudson since she won or came in top two or three on American Idol, whatever it was.

Greg White (00:10:14):

She was really good. Yeah. I remember that. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:10:16):

Right. Amanda, you have to correct me if Ms. Hudson here won or came in top couple.

Greg White (00:10:24):

But you just let people know that she’s 40, so she may correct you if you got it wrong.

Scott Luton (00:10:31):

Maybe so. Maybe so.

Greg White (00:10:33):

She’s ready to throw down on your already, I’m sure.

Scott Luton (00:10:35):

Well, remarkable talent. She’s one of everybody’s favorites, right? So, she’s got a big project that may already be out there. But we’re looking forward to watching where she plays, you know, Aretha Franklin, the one and only. She anointed Jennifer Hudson as the actress that Aretha wanted her to play in any big Hollywood biopic once Aretha Franklin passed. So, she was anointed by the Queen of Soul. So, that movie is going to be released – I think it might already be out. I’m not sure, Greg. But regardless, I love this comment from Jennifer, and I went back and looked at some of her old interviews. You know, there’s all kinds of obstacles and barriers to success, but don’t let your own self-doubt be one of those. And, Greg, I know you can speak to this. I can hear your preaching already. Give me what’s between your ears when you hear this right here.

Greg White (00:11:32):

It’s funny that you say this, because we were talking about this at the game, believe it or not. I was there with Paul Noble, as you said, an entrepreneur himself, the CEO of Verusen, and a couple of investors. And, actually, this was on the way back from the game. We were talking about some other entrepreneurs and we’ve talked a lot about doubt getting into your mind. And I go back to my great uncle who ran a family farm in Western Kansas – and not precisely to this point – but the thing that he said that has always resonated with me is, “Do something if you do it wrong.” And self-doubt keeps you from doing something. And even if you’re wrong, we talk about it’s okay to fail, it’s okay to make mistakes all the time. But, man, you’re the only person who believes in you as much as you do as anyone can. So, you got to believe in yourself.

Scott Luton (00:12:30):

Agreed. Agreed. There’s an episode right there in what you just shared, so we’ll have to circle back one day on that. But as I’m getting corrected here, so Jennifer Hudson finished seventh in American Idol in 2004. So, talk about a talent.

Greg White (00:12:47):

Really? 2004?

Scott Luton (00:12:49):

Yeah. Can you believe that?

Greg White (00:12:51):

It may have been the last time I watched American Idol. I’m not even sure when it started. Is it still on?

Scott Luton (00:12:57):

It is still on in a different network and it’s been, of course, tweaked a bit. So, that was just after –

Greg White (00:13:04):

And that was Simon Cowell, right? Or is that the same?

Scott Luton (00:13:07):

No Simon Cowell, who was one of the – you know, talk about your hot takes and keeping it real, Simon Cowell did that for sure.

Greg White (00:13:16):

His favorite world, indulgent. Remember that? “That was indulgent.”

Scott Luton (00:13:21):

All right. So, enough fun, Greg. Enough fun. We got to say hello to some folks. And then, we’ve got a great guest, Mark Morley with OpenText joining us momentarily. So, buckle up for a fast paced conversation here today. We’ll start with Mohib who is tuned in, of course, from Wichita. Hope this finds you well, Mohib. Greg, anything you want to pass along to your best friend, Mohib, in Wichita?

Greg White (00:13:44):

Yeah. He sent me a magnet for the 125th anniversary, and I figured out how to affix it to my backpack so when I’m walking around, everyone can see it. So, Go Shocks.

Scott Luton (00:13:58):

Go Shocks. That’s right. Of course, Amanda is behind the scenes, along with Jada, and then probably Allie and maybe Clay helping to make production happen engaging all of you all. So, big thanks to each of you back there. Keivan, “Good morning, afternoon, night.” Keivan, hope this finds you well. I know you’ve been busy working on your PhD and then some. Greg, if you remember, Keivan is who coined the phrase at least around here, the new abnormal. It’s been a little while since we referenced that.

Greg White (00:14:29):

I remember him saying that. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:14:30):

Right on time. Clay – AKA Diesel Phillips – is with us. Hello, Clay.

Greg White (00:14:36):

Hello, Dawg.

Scott Luton (00:14:37):

The Dawg.

Greg White (00:14:37):

We got too many nicknames for him. We need one more Clay. We need one more Clay.

Scott Luton (00:14:43):

Raman, great to see you here today. Greetings from Canada. Let us know what part of Canada you are tuned in from. We appreciate you being here with us, Let’s see, Silvia Judy, Greg.

Greg White (00:14:53):

Wow. We haven’t heard from her in a while, have we? Good to have her back.

Scott Luton (00:14:56):

Absolutely. I bet she’s been busy there in Charleston dealing with the wild world of logistics, and ocean shipping, and a lot more.

Greg White (00:15:05):

Yeah. It’s crazy in the ports right now as we continually talk about it. The only thing we talk about more than resilience is the ports.

Scott Luton (00:15:14):

Is the ports. So, on a more serious note, with Peter Bolle, I hope this finds you well. He lost a dear friend, he says, to cancer last Friday. So, we really hate to hear that, Peter. It looks like celebration of life is this coming Saturday in Toronto. Peter, one of our dear friends, really, in a very genuine way, hearts, thoughts, and genuine prayers go out to his family and, of course, his circle of friends, which includes you. So, all the best there. And we look forward to reconnecting with you soon, Peter. All right. So, I don’t know who this LinkedIn user is, Amanda or Clay, if one y’all could let me know. But I appreciate this, it is very rewarding when you put your blood, sweat, tears, hard work, roll up the sleeves, and good work every day-

Greg White (00:16:09):

[Inaudible].

Scott Luton (00:16:11):

– yes. Right. – to create content, and work with great people, and learn from great people. And then, you know, as if that isn’t enough to see that that is consumed and to get the feedback that we get, it’s one of the best, most rewarding aspects to this whole journey. That was Koray Köse. Koray, great to see you here today and we look forward to reconnecting with you soon. All right. Davin is back with us. Of course, Davin doing big things in the procurement space. Right, Greg?

Greg White (00:16:43):

Yeah. Yeah. So, he just landed – am I getting that right? Did he just land somewhere new relatively recently?

Scott Luton (00:16:53):

Well, let’s ask him. Davin, what are you up to beyond off-roading and rebuilding that Jeep each weekend? Let us know what you’re up to.

Greg White (00:17:00):

[Inaudible] I dig the new pick, right?

Scott Luton (00:17:05):

Yes. Yes. Sheldon is with us as well via LinkedIn. Great to see you, Sheldon. Let’s see here, Andrew Chen. Andrew, great to see you here. So, Greg, if you recall – and I might get this wrong, Andrew, correct me – the National Supply Chain Foundation is what Andrew helped to cofound and they’re doing some really cool things to connect students that are either in supply chain programs or want to learn and network with each other, doing some big things. Andrew, he’s a wise beyond his years. We interviewed him here and we look forward to collaborating with him more in the weeks and months ahead. So, Greg, you got to meet Andrew as well.

Greg White (00:17:50):

Very cool. Yeah. Yeah. I think, we touched base once or twice. Good enough that he’s from Michigan, I’ll take that. Go Blue.

Scott Luton (00:17:57):

That’s right. All right. Great to have you here with us, Andrew. Okay. Well, as much as I wish we could catch up, you know, we had a busy week last week collaborating with Lora Cecere and the Supply Chain Insights Global Summit, Greg. And we will have lots of key takeaways there in the days –

Greg White (00:18:14):

[Inaudible]. Yeah. Incredibly powerful gathering. We learned what extreme networking is.

Scott Luton (00:18:22):

Right. And how not to take a fun run lightly. My friends, if you’re challenged to a fun run, you better bring it that day. Is that right, Greg?

Greg White (00:18:34):

[Inaudible].

Scott Luton (00:18:35):

Yeah. That’s right. Okay. So, what we want to do here is we want to bring in our special guest. If you haven’t heard, if you’ve been one of the three people not to catch one of Mark’s previous appearances with us, then you’re in for a treat today. So, I want to bring in, with no further ado, Mark Morley, Senior Director of Product Marketing with OpenText. Mark, good afternoon. Good evening your time. How are you doing?

Mark Morley (00:19:06):

Very well. Thank you. Great to be back on your show. It’s great.

Greg White (00:19:08):

Yeah. Welcome aboard.

Mark Morley (00:19:08):

And by the way, I just want to say congratulations on your top one percent award. Well-deserved. And it’s been great to be part of that journey.

Greg White (00:19:16):

Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. You’ve helped a lot. Seriously, people listen to what you say, Mark, so thank you.

Scott Luton (00:19:25):

You’re right, Greg. And I’m glad you pointed that out because, as you might imagine, Mark, we get a lot of feedback on each guest in different shows. Certainly, more on others than some of the rest. But, always, all your appearances, we love the altitude you keep the conversation at. And, you know, we use this phrase “Been there. Done that.” It’s tough to use that phrase in this time where it’s evolving and there’s not always an opportunity to have been there and done that. But with you, you bring the experience and expertise, you bring it in spades and with a personality. And, Mark, that’s really important these days. You know what I mean?

Mark Morley (00:20:06):

I totally agree. I totally agree.

Scott Luton (00:20:06):

So, on that last note, so personality – Greg, we’ve got a couple of easy to answer, hopefully, lightning round questions that we’re going to start with Mark Morley. And, folks, we want to hear from you too. Y’all let us know what your responses are to these questions. So, first up, Greg and Mark – Greg, thanks for helping me know how to pronounce – Roald Dahl. So, Roald Dahl, of course, the former Royal Air Force fighter pilot, intelligence officer, diplomat. But perhaps more what everyone knows about Roald Dahl, famous storyteller and author. So, I want to ask you first, Mark, what is your favorite or your family’s favorite Dahl story or book?

Mark Morley (00:20:54):

I think from my side, it has to be Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But, unfortunately, my parents would have disagree at that time because of the huge dentist bills. [Inaudible].

Greg White (00:21:06):

Everlasting Gobstoppers are hard on the teeth.

Mark Morley (00:21:09):

Exactly.

Scott Luton (00:21:11):

But what a great movie. And, in fact, I’ve got a dentist trip in my future this week. So, Mark, thanks for bringing up what’s going to be a painful experience. But you’re right, not only was the movie and the book great, the movie great. But then, to be able to walk in and buy, you know, Willy Wonka candy, whether the Gobstoppers that ruin your teeth or all kinds of other things – doesn’t Willy Wonka make the Nerds candy, Greg?

Greg White (00:21:38):

I can’t remember. I know that there were a ton of them when the movie first came out, the Gene Wilder version back when we were kids. And I think they may have reinvigorated that. Because I remember they had something, whatever that bar was that you could get the golden ticket in, they sold that when I was a kid. And you might actually get a golden ticket now. You didn’t win the whole factory or anything like that. I think you get a free candy bar.

Scott Luton (00:22:09):

Well, Clay and Amanda both are weighing in. So, Clay, “James and the Giant Peach,” was his. Amanda loved that, Matilda, the BFG – I’m not familiar with that one – The Witches. A lot of good stuff there.

Greg White (00:22:24):

Is that The Big Friendly Giant?

Scott Luton (00:22:26):

I think it is, The Big Friendly Giant. That’s a good one. And Clay, he’s Johnny on the spot with that one. I think the whole Mr. Fox series. And I was doing some reading –

Greg White (00:22:36):

Really? I love that.

Scott Luton (00:22:37):

One last thought about – yes – is, I think, Gremlins perhaps started with a concept that Roald Dahl had as they talked about gremlins kinking up the aircraft works and whatnot. I’m not sure if that’s what spurred the ’80s movie Gremlins, but we’ll have to get our crackerjack research team on that. Christopher Traylor says –

Greg White (00:23:03):

Wonka Bar, of course, that’s what it was. Yes.

Scott Luton (00:23:04):

Wonka Bar.

Greg White (00:23:08):

That big.

Scott Luton (00:23:09):

Yes. I think this might be Koray Kose, “Nerds are a Wonka product.” How about that? Okay. A lot of good stuff there. All right.

Scott Luton (00:23:18):

So, Mark, I want to circle back on a different question. The hard hitting questions. Only the hard hitting questions for, the one only, Mark Morley. So, today, is also Positive Thinking Day, Mark. So, when you think about kind of protecting the healthy mindset that we all need to have in these crazy times, what’s a go-to best practice that you have, Mark?

Mark Morley (00:23:40):

I don’t if it’s so much a best practice, but in terms of what I do, I just like to switch off and just focus on my favorite passion outside of work, which is really motor sports, and especially Formula 1 because I spent a year working for the McLaren Formula 1 team back in ’99. And I’m always very passionate about following what they’re doing. And I was right there, actually, they got a one-two yesterday for, I think, the first time in 12 years. So, just being able to follow the motor sport, the technology, what goes on behind the scenes, it’s just a passion of mine.

Scott Luton (00:24:08):

I’d forgotten that, Greg. That’s one of the things y’all have in common is a love for motor sports and automotives, right?

Greg White (00:24:16):

Anything with wheels. Anything with wheels, and particularly McLaren. So, a long time ago – probably before you worked there even, Mark – a fraternity brother of mine who graduated from Wichita State with an aeronautical engineering degree worked for McLaren on aero designs, you know, refining the designs, of course, of some of their models. I don’t know exactly when it was, but it would have been early ’90s, something like that.

Scott Luton (00:24:45):

Very cool. Talk about great content. Lots of movies on McLaren and auto racing and F1 across Netflix and Hulu and everything else right now. We’ve enjoyed a couple of them.

Greg White (00:24:57):

How appropriate to be a McLaren expert in the tech world, which is when everyone makes money in the tech world, they’d go buy a McLaren. They never drive it.

Scott Luton (00:25:08):

Is that what happens?

Greg White (00:25:09):

It is. I’ve seen Silicon Valley. Haven’t you spent to watch Silicon Valley? You need doors that go like this.

Scott Luton (00:25:17):

So, Peter says, “Loved Ricardo’s race to the first corner. Brilliant race for him and the McLaren team.” Is that a recent race there?

Greg White (00:25:27):

That’s the race he’s talking about.

Mark Morley (00:25:27):

Yeah. [Inaudible] over the weekend.

Scott Luton (00:25:28):

Well, maybe Peter Bolle is also a big fellow Formula 1.

Greg White (00:25:34):

Undoubtedly. Undoubtedly. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:25:35):

Well, maybe Peter will have to tell us about his grandmother and some of the speed racing they did together. Peter, you have to resurrect that story. We love that one. Okay. So, let’s get down to business though, Mark and Greg. Greg, hang on a sec. Let’s pose the same question to you. So, Mark likes to disconnect and kind of sink into automotive racing and F1 and whatnot. What’s your go-to best practice for protecting what’s between your ears?

Greg White (00:26:02):

Well, it’s an abundance mentality. You know, I remind myself there’s abundance in the universe. This is not nothing. It’s a zero sum game. And if you didn’t win this thing, there’s still an opportunity to win the next thing, whatever. And I had a cool little trick that I did with my daughters when they would go to bed in their dark room, they’d be afraid. I can’t remember how this came about. I think me and my oldest kind of put this together. She was kind of afraid and didn’t want to go to sleep. And I said, “Well, let’s think of some good things together.” And she said, “Okay. Birthday cakes.” I said, “Okay.” “Ponies and Grandpa Charlie.” So, whenever they would go to bed and they were scared, I was like, “Think of birthday cakes, and ponies, and Grandpa Charlie.” And it worked every single time.

Scott Luton (00:26:50):

I love it.

Greg White (00:26:51):

Yeah. It’s funny how those things become very cleansing, right?

Scott Luton (00:26:55):

Yes. I agree. Well, check this out from TSquared – TSquared, thanks for holding down the fort for us in YouTube – he says, “A best practice from A Different World -” I think he’s talking about the sit-com “-relax, relate, and release.” I love that. And, Peter is also referencing, I think it was he and his grandmother were shooting off cross-country in a 63 Spitfire.

Greg White (00:27:15):

Yes. I remember that story.

Scott Luton (00:27:18):

All right. So, we got to get down to business. Mark, I want to talk, first, about ethical sourcing. I know you’ve got a bunch of thoughts, and then we’ll get Greg’s take in it first. But before we do, I want to talk about this story here that came to us from Fortune Magazine. Now, folks, I’m a bit slow. We’ve long established that, right? And I’m going to illustrate some of my ignorance here on this story. But when I think about ethical sourcing, one of the products that immediately comes to my mind is jewelry, gems, diamonds, for sure. So, I didn’t know that lab grown gems are actually a current thing.

Scott Luton (00:27:58):

So, this article here by Sophie Mellor over at Fortune Magazine speaks to how lab grown gems is one of the big dynamics that’s fueling Pandora’s – one of the big players there – growth here lately. In May of this year – just a few months back – Pandora announced that it would completely end the use of mined diamonds. And they were one of the first major jurors to do just that. Diamonds made in a lab, according to this article here, they create the same level of quality, at least according to the folks at Fortune. And they come at a lesser cost as well. I want to say a third of the cost is what the article cites. And, of course, they come without the concern of some of the human rights abuses that plague this industry and others. So, Greg, I want to start with you. Well, we learned pre-show, you’re well-aware of this lab grown gem opportunity out there. Tell us more. What’s your take here?

Greg White (00:29:00):

I think anything that forces the diamond industry to become more ethical is powerful and meaningful, and it’s about time. Because aside from the human rights issue, there’s some dirty little secrets in the diamond industry. And one is that diamonds are not rare. And they’re only expensive because a certain organization or family, basically, that owns, essentially, the market on diamonds forces the price higher. So, there is a lot wrong with that industry. And I’ve seen some of these stones, they’re incredibly high quality. They don’t have the inclusions, which are the little frailties leftover coal – leftover coal, right? – bits that age under the proper pressure that creates the little nicks in the diamond itself so they are perfect.

Scott Luton (00:29:55):

I’ll go with it.

Greg White (00:30:01):

And the process they go through is incredible. The pressurization of whatever it is they use as a core – I assume it’s coal also – is pretty impressive. It simulates – whatever it is – four billion years worth of pressure to actually create the diamond.

Scott Luton (00:30:26):

So, I’m getting an education, a certification in diamonds. I had no idea of a lot of what you just shared there. But, Mark, I want to circle back to you. Your take on lab grown diamonds, do you like how they’re bypassing some of the big challenges out there?

Mark Morley (00:30:42):

Certainly, I actually read the story, I think, about three weeks ago when it first started to hit the news- wise. And I started to get to thinking about, “Well, would people prefer those inclusions in there?” Because it makes the diamonds more unique. Whereas, if you grow lab diamonds, everyone’s going to be identical. And then, how’d you price it? [Inaudible] similar price point for every diamond, effectively, irrespective of the carats. So, I think it’s an interesting area to watch, and also whether it’s going to impact other jewelry items that gets produced in the future.

Scott Luton (00:31:11):

Agreed. And I got to get this comment in really quick, Greg. James says, “Why didn’t Greg wear any bling for this segment?” Greg got a little bling there. And, also, really quick, Christopher Traylor says – going to Greg’s earlier point – “They control the supply which drives the pricing.” So, no shortage of topics here. But, Greg, you’re about to add something to Mark’s comment?

Greg White (00:31:36):

Yeah. And I forgot it now. Sorry guys.

Scott Luton (00:31:39):

My bad. My bad.

Greg White (00:31:39):

No, no, no. It’s okay. I think it was around – no. I don’t know. I’ve lost it now. Sorry. I’ll come back to it. I’ll raise my hand.

Scott Luton (00:31:49):

Well, we want to do far beyond. And I guess, first off, to be transparent here or to be upfront, there are concerns related to carbon and carbon output from lab grown diamonds. Now, I’m not an expert in that. As we are prepping for this story, I saw some concerns around that. But if there’s a way that we can address the labor issues and the ethical sourcing issues, and then offset that carbon, who knows? Maybe we can get our cake and eat it too.

Greg White (00:32:27):

Well, there is a way to address that. And that’s the same way we encourage people whenever any ill deeds are being done, and that is vote with your wallet. Ultimately, to Mark’s point – sorry. Now, I got it. Ultimately, to Mark’s point, the question will be, will consumers buy lab created diamonds? They buy other gems that are lab created in great mass. Emeralds and rubies and sapphires are very popular in terms of lab grown because they are actually somewhat rare. But that’s going to be the ultimate question is, will we buy lab created diamonds? And that’s the top end, the bottom line, the beginning, and the end.

Scott Luton (00:33:20):

Great point. Great point. So, beyond just jewelry, Mark, when we talk about a big topic, you know, one of the challenges of our time, which is ethical sourcing, what are some of your thoughts in this area?

Mark Morley (00:33:35):

Yes. It’s certainly an interesting area for procurement teams, and so much so that we decided to do a global survey recently. And the results of that are going to be published at the end of this month. But we wanted to try and find out what’s actually driving those responses, you know, where’s the interest coming from. And through some of the comments we’ve seen already in this discussion, you know, it’s definitely consumer driven. Consumers wants to know where are those diamonds coming from? Where are the parts coming from that go into the products that are being manufactured at the car plants, for example. But even the ingredients going into food products, they want to know and they need to know from the manufacturers what’s the provenance of everything that’s going into those products that they manufactured. And the survey that we conducted sort of confirm there is an increasing consumer interest, even before COVID versus after. Which I think is interesting, maybe that’s because people spend a lot more time online buying goods for hours, and et cetera during that COVID period.

Greg White (00:34:31):

Yeah. I think you’re right.

Mark Morley (00:34:33):

But it’s something that’s not going to go away. And I think it’s a wake up call as well for supply chain and procurement teams that you need to listen to the consumer and publish that information about where those goods are coming from.

Scott Luton (00:34:46):

Well said. Greg?

Greg White (00:34:47):

I can’t believe I’m going to say this, Scott. I love the United States Government’s take on this, and that is to presume that there are bad deeds and bad acts being done, unless it is proven that they are not. For instance, you cannot enter and observe a De Beers facility when they are mining diamonds. And for what reason other than some of the, maybe, proprietary technology, would you not be able to. Especially if you were to say, “I specifically want to see how you’re treating your workers.” Which, most anyone can do without revealing proprietary knowledge.

Greg White (00:35:34)

So, I just think consumers should assume that unless a company is transparent as Adidas has been, they were contributing to slavery in Xinjiang province, they pulled out, they made an announcement about it. They’ve been de-company-ized or whatever in China because of it. They’ve paid the price. And I think, unless companies show that level of transparency, you should just assume. You don’t necessarily need an affirmation of bad deeds. You can assume bad deeds if they are not, in fact, transparent. And, Mark, I think we’re going to talk about this a little bit later, but you guys have a facility, a tool set, that allows people to understand, not just provenance and sustainability, but also human rights, all of those kinds of issues around products and their supply chain.

Mark Morley (00:36:21):

And I was just going to say, I mean, you raised a great point about, I guess, North American supply chains. But since 2014, when Obama introduced the Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative, since then, I would say, many of the North American companies are actually ahead of the rest of the world in terms of that kind of procurement. Because they have to report every year to the SEC and prove where they’re sourcing their materials from. And it’s only, I think, up until now that Germany, this year, are actually implementing a similar process. They’re one of the first EU countries to do so. So, I think it’s interesting that the U.S. took the lead at that time and now has been spread around the world to various other countries.

Scott Luton (00:36:58):

Yeah. Great point. Great point. So much to dive into here. I want to share a couple of comments from our audience. Sheldon says, “It’s consumer behavior that drives firm strategies. Right now, it’s all about sustainability. But what happens when consumer behavior trends back to exclusivity associated with natural diamonds?”

Greg White (00:37:19):

To Mark’s point, I mean, that’s exactly the point. At some point, you know, some people probably never will be able to get away from that exclusivity, but many will. I mean, Pandora is more of, I want to say, custom jewelry, but it’s more – I can’t remember what they call it, but it’s not, like, the top brand in jewelry. So, they play to a certain audience and that is a huge audience, and I think that’s a good thing. If the vast majority of people are out there buying conflict-free minerals and jewels, that’s a huge impact. Because, otherwise, if they wanted, they’d have to go buy natural diamonds.

Scott Luton (00:38:05):

You know, in our household, I got to tell you, it’s a bit of a non-factor. It’s been a while since we bought diamonds here, much to Amanda’s chagrin perhaps. But, Greg, I think great companies, of course, know their consumer market and their base and their target market. And who knows, for those bigger players, if that trend does become a lot more demand on natural diamonds, we’ll have to find a different way to address these really heinous challenges that are out there when it comes to workforce issues. [Inaudible] –

Mark Morley (00:38:45):

[Inaudible] comment around blockchain. Because it’s the here and now use case for blockchain as far as I’m concerned, knowing the provenance where those goods have come from. And one of the use cases I’ve been using relating to conflict minerals is sourcing gold, that goes into gold connectors, that gets fitted to a wire harness, that goes into a car. What happens if there’s a fire on that vehicle and the wire harness is found to be at fault, and it’s a substandard gold that’s fitted to the wire harnesses? You got complete traceability and provenance where the minerals have come from for that particular part of the vehicle.

Scott Luton (00:39:18):

That’s a great point. Excellent point. Mark, one of my favorite things about your appearances – Greg, we’ve talked about – is those examples that kind of brings it to something anyone can relate to, so keep the story. And, Mark, who knows? You and Roald Dahl could probably both tell a lot of great stories.

Greg White (00:39:40):

Marky and Manufacturing.

Scott Luton (00:39:45):

There you go.

Greg White (00:39:41):

We’ll figure it out. Mark Morley and the Manufacturing Facility.

Scott Luton (00:39:44):

So, Mark, was referencing this great comment from Mohib where he talks about, “We definitely need blockchain certification to deferential, natural, and lab growth diamonds. There goes the price up and beyond my forever love again.” Let’s see, Dvir – I’m going to go with. And, Dvir, if I got your name wrong, let us know. We’ll have to get it right – he says, “A brilliant movie based on the diamond industry is Blood Diamond. Incredible movie that explores the human and humanitarian costs of the diamond industry.” Excellent point.

Greg White (00:40:17):

And a great South African accent by – oh, my God. I forgot who it is who’s the star. He’s an American actor that does a pretty good South African accent.

Scott Luton (00:40:28):

Let’s see, I think we’ve got it. Leonardo DiCaprio.

Greg White (00:40:32):

That’s right.

Scott Luton (00:40:33):

Amanda and Clay, quick on the trigger there. I love that. Okay. We’ve got a ton of comments.

Greg White (00:40:39):

As soon as I open my mouth, they knew I was going to make a mistake so they started researching.

Scott Luton (00:40:44):

All right. And, hey – gosh – we never hear this, but we got it right, so thank you for that confirmation. We really appreciate that. Thanks for being a part of our livestream today. Okay. I want to keep moving for the sake of time here. I know, Mark, you’ve got a thousand things cooking. I want to talk about one of the technologies out there that more and more companies are leaning on to help navigate through all of the disruption that’s out there, and that is supply chain control towers. So, I think what we’re going to do, Greg and Mark, is we’re going to kind of walk through from defining what control towers are to a concept of how they operate. Two, Mark has been peeking on some other things we’ve been working on. And Mark has brought a concept for supply chain 2030. That was to incorporate a little bit of virtual reality, and that would be the third item we’ll tackle. But, Mark, just for setting the table, before we get into the definition, how are you seeing control towers leaned on by organizations out in the industry?

Mark Morley (00:41:52):

So, I think today, it directly links even with the topic we just discussed around provenance and knowing the location of goods. And, literally, just in the last week, I’ve had two large automotive manufacturers, c car manufacturers, reach out to us requesting what can you do around supply chain control tasks? Or how can you help? And the reason for that is the chip shortages. You know, manufacturers need to be able to better predict where the chips are in the supply chain so that their production is not interrupted at any state. So, I guess you could fill in the dots after tower of dot, dot, dot. You know, the one that we’ve been looking at is sort of tariff pilot, that ability to aggregate information into one place that people can visualize and leverage depending on their role in the business.

Scott Luton (00:42:37):

So, Greg, your follow-up comment.

Greg White (00:42:40):

Leverage. I love it when he speaks actual English. I love that. No, I mean, that’s really key is, look, if control towers, like many other words in supply chain, they’re at great risk of becoming cliche. And Lora addressed this last week, she called it the tower of stupidity. The exact opposite of what Mark is talking about. But her point there, Lora Cecere in her conference, was that people take inappropriate data, they analyze it in inappropriate and amateurish ways, and they don’t get the result out of a control tower that they should. And we’re in a very unique time. There is an incredible wealth of data there. It’s incredibly broad and complex and unstructured, as we love to talk about. That makes us feel really important when you say unstructured data, doesn’t it, Mark? And it needs to be turned into something useful, and then presented appropriately, and then used correctly as well. So, that’s really where that tower of power concept really hits home, is, assuring that the data is structured, and presented, analyzed, and even produces recommendations that a user can interact with the technology or with other humans. So, there’s a ton of power there. You just have to do it the right way.

Scott Luton (00:44:14):

So, you’re saying that tower of power is hundreds of stories tall, is that right? So, Mark, we want to continue to level setting with kind of a definition, or at least maybe how Gartner defines a control tower. Is that right? We want to go ahead and move there. Do you want me to show the visual? Okay. So, walk us through this, if you would, Mark.

Mark Morley (00:44:36):

Yeah. So, this is a slide I put together for a conference that, actually, we both presented that and revolved two weeks ago, at SAPICS, and that’s South Africa Supply Chain Conference. And that’s Johannesburg Airport control tower on the right. [Inaudible] the presentation. But, essentially, what companies need to do is be able to sense, you know, get the real time information flows, be able to analyze and drive insights, be able to predict what’s likely to happen based on that incoming information, being able to resolve potential problems or shortages in the supply chain, being able to execute. So, being able to continuously learn, sense, and respond, and learn, you know, moving forward what happens in the future if this situation rises again, what historic information we got that we can grow on to plug the gaps and solve those supply chain issues.

Greg White (00:45:28):

I think, you know, it’s funny the predict aspect of it – not to gloss over the rest of it – but the word prescription really leaps out at me. Because, to me, that’s one of the key things that’s critical, Mark, is that we don’t just present the data and say, “Hey, here’s where you stand”. With the wealth of data that you’re talking about here and that companies have these days, technology can actually assist in the decision-making and actually present a potential solution – this solve, right? – present an actual solution to the user who then, with the knowledge they have that is outside of what the data presents, then they can participate in the solving and execution aspect of this. That’s a really solid model. I like that.

Scott Luton (00:46:17):

So, moving from definition, let’s dive a little deeper into kind of how it works. And so, Mark, I think we’ve got another visual teed up here. So, walk us through these various pillars and layers.

Mark Morley (00:46:31):

Yeah. So, we’ve got two definitions. Let’s consider this one as the 2021 definition. And the next slide we’ll talk about 2030 and where things potentially could go. So, at the top, in the control tower itself, you’ve got different users across the business, whether it’s business users, technical users, partner users. Now, before they can get access to information in the enterprise, we need to be able to secure their access to that information. And that’s what we refer to as identity and access management. We’re able to make sure they get access to the right information at the right time based on their role in the business.

Mark Morley (00:47:03):

Now, when they do get access, they can get access to, for example, the AI machine learning platform. This is providing you the insights, what’s going to happen next. You’ve got the data harmonization, you know, this aggregation of data within the data lake, all of the information flowing across the supply chain, and being able to draw those insights, being able to orchestrate, define workflow, so who’s got to review information at the right time. Shipment visibility, if there’s anything there about IOT and the value there around sensor-based shipment visibility. But also being able to collaborate with your supply chain, on the right-hand side there, with the trading partners.

Mark Morley (00:47:39):

Now, all of this information being underpinned with data coming from a business network of some description. The kind of data I’m thinking of there are the transactions, the purchase orders, the invoices, you know, where’s my stuff. That’s the kind of information that populates this. And then, externally, you’ve got all the external feeds, weather information, traffic information, you know, what’s happening to my goods as they move through the supply chain. So, being able to aggregate information this way, I certainly believe, provides that tower of power and visibility. And I would say, this is the kind of 2021 view as we’re at this moment in time.

Scott Luton (00:48:19):

Okay. So, Greg, there’s a lot going on there. However, we’re not doing small things in supply chain, right? So, what are some of the things you heard Mark speak to that folks should really be paying attention to?

Greg White (00:48:33):

Yeah. The identity access management, one, hits a security button. You only get access if you have authority. And, two, it saves a lot of us practitioners from the boss getting in and meddling in the data and screwing everything up. Because it’s a role management vehicle, I think, Mark, right? Where you can say, “Hey, the boss can see and look, but can’t touch.” Which is perfect because I know there are a lot of people out there who have experienced this. They go in and mess with the dials and switches and then something goes wrong and they blame you for it. And that’s just one fun example. But, I mean, there are appropriate levels of information. For instance, as you include your suppliers in this, you want them to be able to see only their information, only their data. They don’t see their competitor’s data or other vendors or consumer data. And you can limit them to what is valuable and necessary for them.

Greg White (00:49:32):

And then – I don’t know that. I’m going to call that royal blue as a Royals fan – that royal blue B2B application and data integration layer, to me, that is critical to the success of these things. Because below that is ERPs, and TMSs, and all those other technologies and data sources that create this jumble of data that I was talking about before. And I think there’s one particular benefit of it – I was talking about this weekend, believe it or not – and that is, people are going to cease to replace their ERPs. Because an ERP is what it’s really good at, it’s really good at, transaction data, financial things, and managing masses of data. What it’s not good at is some of these specialty capabilities that the supply chain requires. But in the past, in the ’90s, in the early 2000s, we would replace Oracle with SAP or vice versa to try and get some of that capability and spend tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. And instead, what Mark is proposing is, to put a data layer on top of that to collect and assimilate and prepare and present all of that data without having to change and strip out a hundred or $500 million worth of technology. So, that’s critical and that’s going to be really game changing for companies that are saddled with these old ERP systems in particular.

Scott Luton (00:50:59):

So, Mark, feel free to address any of that. I’ve got one more question for you before we move on. Anything you want to add to Greg’s POV there, Mark?

Mark Morley (00:51:09):

No. I completely agree 100 percent.

Scott Luton (00:51:11):

Okay.

Greg White (00:51:12):

You’re a mistake, Mark.

Scott Luton (00:51:14):

Easiest interview ever. Hey, Mark, a question for you. I know, this is a high level aspect of how control towers work and all the layering and integration and whatnot, speak to implementation for a minute. You know, what have you seen? How easy, how difficult? What are some things you’re seeing when it comes to implementing this?

Mark Morley (00:51:39):

Yeah. I mean the key thing here, we’ve talked about a lot of the technologies just on this one slide that companies would have to embrace. But the most important layer is the one that Greg highlighted, the royal blue layer at the bottom, because if your information moving across the enterprise or the supply chain is not digitized, you can’t take it into AI and machine learning. You can’t drive those insights of what’s gone wrong, what’s likely to happen in the future. So, getting that end to end digital supply chain is job number one for anyone. Because once they have that, they then have the visibility of what’s going on. They can then pull in the other data feeds and get those insights through this kind of control tower concept.

Scott Luton (00:52:14):

All right. So, I’ve got a couple of questions here and comments I want to pose to you. So, the first one starting with Christopher Traylor, and he says, “Does this work with an existing ERP or does it work independently?” Mark, any comments there?

Mark Morley (00:52:28):

Yeah. So, ERP was listed as one of the sources of information feed in the control tower, but it could be any enterprise system. It doesn’t have to be ERP. It could be a transport management system, a warehouse management system, any enterprise system that’s producing data that could be feed into this control tower would benefit different uses. That’s really what we’re talking about here.

Greg White (00:52:50):

If they’ve already got a data layer on top of that ERP, can you read from that too? I assume.

Mark Morley (00:52:56):

Potentially yes, because we have APIs on our network that allows us to go into that data lake or their data lake and pull the data out.

Scott Luton (00:53:04):

All right. I’ve got a couple of comments. I’m going to move to this view so that we can get them in here. Sheldon says, “Sounds really good. I think the only thing left to do is to remove that social side of the strategy (i.e. self-interest, self-promotion, personal incentives). Once we can align the whole organization, we should be able to use control towers for a purpose.” I love that. Mark, any comments?

Mark Morley (00:53:28):

A scenario I haven’t really considered. But, certainly, looking at self-promotion and how people are leveraging information, maybe their own gain across the business, certainly, an interesting aspect which I hadn’t even considered before. But it’s something I’m certainly going to be taking a look at, that’s for sure.

Greg White (00:53:44):

Yeah. It’s funny because when you talk about transparency, I think about data hoarders. People in the past – I know them. I could name them. But I won’t – who have hoarded that data to protect or promote their own self-interest or even their job in this world of transparency, that’s going to be harder and harder to do, and the value will be much easier to extract for the enterprise.

Mark Morley (00:54:08):

But even the data silos that exist between the finance team and the procurement team, for example, just integrating those systems together and sharing it around the business, that’s a challenge that many companies face.

Greg White (00:54:19):

Yeah. No doubt.

Scott Luton (00:54:20):

Agreed. Okay. Are you ready to move on to kind of that supply chain 2030 look? Okay. Let’s do that. Here we are. All right. So, Mark, what are we seeing here?

Mark Morley (00:54:31):

Let me do a two minute recap or a one minute recap of this slide. So, we’ve progressed onto 2030. This is actually a topic I looked at way back in ’92 as part of my master’s degree on virtual reality. So, because supply chains have reached the top table, the boardroom, we’ve got a physical environment for conference table, a conference room – you see it on the screen. What I’ve done here is actually overlay 3D graphics that you may be able to do through a Microsoft HoloLens, for example. So, with HoloLens, you can actually combine 3D graphics with a real world environment and be able to leverage information in a different way.

Mark Morley (00:55:06):

So, what you’re seeing on the table here is a virtual representation of the supply chain. On the left-hand side, you’ve got the factories, you’ve got the corporate HQ. On the right hand side, you’ve got a 3D representation of the suppliers. The little documents that you see floating in between are documents that are actually floating across our network. So, we have these transactions, the purchase orders, the advanced ship notices, and that basically notifies a company when the parts are coming into the factory. But, also, more importantly, the invoices, you know, when are the suppliers getting paid. So, being able to use HoloLens to be able to touch one of those transactions, like the purchase order and see a virtual representation of that purchase order in front of you.

Mark Morley (00:55:46):

But what happens if there’s a tornado that’s going to rip through Texas? How’s that going to impact my supply chain? Which suppliers are likely to get impacted? And can we deal with source and bring in another supplier really quickly? The interesting aspect I like about this is running what if scenarios. So, if I wanted to add in two further suppliers to this scenario that you see on the screen and run a simulation of my supply chain, that’s where things get really interesting. And I think with, you know, all of these discussions around resilience, visibility, provenance, I think this, for me, is sort of the holy grail in terms where I think things could go in the future. And I know, Greg, we’re talking pre-show about you [inaudible] exactly the same thing a few years ago.

Greg White (00:56:26):

Yeah. I think this is a great way to do it. There are movies – which I cannot name – where you can, like, touch the things and move them around. And that changes the operation of whatever it is you’re doing. In their case, I’m sure it was something more like or space like. But just imagine being able to resource one of these 850s, the purchase order to supplier one or to supplier two because supplier three got hit by a tornado, which I think is what some crisis has befallen them. So, it allows you to do this in real time.

Greg White (00:57:06):

It’s funny, Mark, we were talking with Kevin Jackson last week about interoperability. So, more than just integration, right? Integration is the data part. But as you said, these silos between different organizations, internally and externally, need to come down. And this is the kind of thing that could create that direct interoperability, where everyone is looking at the entire picture or even just their portion of the picture, and watching as the changes or proposed changes are made, that would be incredibly valuable and cut a tremendous amount of time. And, frankly, it would be a heck of a lot more fun than the way we do it today. So, yeah, I love this vision. This is fantastic. And I hope you got a good grade on this.

Scott Luton (00:57:55):

So, I got to ask a question, I love how you wove in the Johannesburg control tower at the airport in that previous slide. You got to tell us, Mark, what city are we looking across here?

Mark Morley (00:58:09):

I knew you were going to ask that question, because that building on the left there is quite distinguished. But I, honestly, don’t know. It’s an image I picked up somewhere but [inaudible].

Scott Luton (00:58:18):

That’s okay. I love it. I love the visual factor here. Okay. So, what we want to do lastly, and we may go over a couple of minutes if that’s okay. Mark, are you okay to stick with us for a couple more minutes? Okay. If you like what you’re hearing in this conversation, we’ve got a big event tomorrow which – you know, Greg, we’ve talked about this a thousand times – companies like OpenText and, of course, CIO here with a collaboration with Supply Chain Now, creating these learning and networking and exchange opportunities virtually, and then make it free for folks to sign up and participate and engage. There’s a ton of value there, and one of the things we’ve admired organizations doing these last 18 months. But, Greg, speak to that a bit if you would.

Greg White (00:59:04):

Mark Morley will be present, what more do you need to know? Look, we’re talking about a world that it’s not more disruption. It’s not even new disruptions. There aren’t really any new disruptions. By the way, ships have gotten stuck in the Suez Canal before 2020 – or was that this year? I don’t even remember. But, now, those disruptions are in the forefront of our minds. And more importantly, as supply chain practitioners, those disruptions are in the forefront of the C-suite and the consumers’ minds. So, we have to be that much better. We asked for a seat at the table. We asked for more visibility. We asked for more recognition. And we’re getting it. So, now, we have to start to perform at a level that warrants that recognition. And that’s what this is really all about, is, the tools, the techniques, the mindset – that Mark clearly has – that we need to take on to really perform at the level we’re expected to.

Greg White (01:00:11):

We used to kind of be able to sit back and laugh when a company did their quarterly report, if they were public. They would always talk about sales and marketing. Now, they talk about supply chain. So, we can’t hide in the shadows anymore. We are not just simply infrastructure. People realized that sales happen or don’t happen because of supply chain. So, this kind of information – that kind of what Mark has just teased us with here – is really powerful in elevating our performance, our knowledge as supply chain pros.

Scott Luton (01:00:41):

I love that. I love that, because there is no hiding. No more hiding. But, Mark, speaking about ConneXions 2021, which kicks off tomorrow, just kind of fill in the dots. What is it? And what was the OpenText team’s why for doing it?

Mark Morley (01:00:58):

So, the main reason for doing it is to raise the awareness of the importance of business integration. You know, throughout this whole discussion today, we’ve been talking about provenance and digital supply chains. But, unless, you have all of those systems and trading partners integrated in the supply chain, you’re not going to get the value that you need. So, we have got a number of large companies involved with the event tomorrow: Lear Corp., the CIO of Lear Corporation, huge in automotive, key suppliers at GM and other companies. Godiva, so going full circle to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. No reason for getting there, but they’ve got a really interesting story around debt section and the importance of ERP integration. And then, Nestle, to sort of round off the day. So, I sort of described it as Business Network 2025. But we’ve already advanced that by five years just in this conversation. So, it’s going to be interesting seeing where we can go. But the rationale was really to emphasize the importance of integration. Because without it, many CIO’s are not going to achieve those digital transformation initiatives that they need to grow their business.

Scott Luton (01:02:07):

It’s candy, cars, all at ConneXions 2021. Let’s see how many more Cs we can fit in there. All right. So, you’ve kind of talked about what it is. Well, you also spoke about some of the companies. We’re on a panel tomorrow, what are you looking most forward to that specific aspect of the discussion, Mark?

Mark Morley (01:02:28):

I think the panel is going to be interesting because we’ve got the lead analyst from IDC, who’s got great depth of knowledge of the space that we serve from an integration perspective. But, also, Simon Ellis is the VP of Supply Chain Research at IDC as well. Then, we’ve got the Head of Engineering here at OpenText who’s a bit of a visionary. But he’s the one that actually says what we can and can’t do with the technology and what we’ve built as a company here at OpenText. And then, myself sort of providing, I guess, a bit more color around the edges in terms of where we think companies are going to go in the future.

Mark Morley (01:03:04):

I know there’s a comment earlier about resilience being one of those words, you know, a bit like where are we going next, the new normal. But it is a fact, you know, companies are going to have to increase resilience, whether they like it or not. And that’s certainly a theme of this particular event.

Scott Luton (01:03:20):

Excellent point. And, Greg, while resilience has become a cliche – and we have a lot of fun with that kind of stuff – whether it’s that or blockchain or you name it. There’s no shortage of cliches in the industry. But they’re cliches because of how important they are and how companies are deliberately and meaningfully trying to find a resilient strategy that actually works where it’s not just lip service. So, Greg, speak to that for a second.

Greg White (01:03:47):

We can only consider it a cliche if you’re really just kind of looking at it from the fringe. If you’re really embedded in it, things like digital transformation, resilience, agility, supply chain optimization, all of those things, integration, interoperability, all of those things, are very real to you. So, you know, it seems cliche if you’re a reporter or a fringe observer or something like that. But the truth is every one of those cliches exist because it’s actually getting done, and it actually is having an impact, and it’s actually really important.

Greg White (01:04:20):

So, I think it’s funny as you were talking, Mark, I thought, we keep talking about new normal. Man, we’ve nailed them all – I’m just going to go ahead and say it – pivot and unprecedented. Flash back to 2021, right? If you think about it, it’s really the new disruption. If you think about it, normal is going to be disruption. I mean, it always has been in the supply chain practice anyway. Because if it’s going normal, nobody even notices. I think I’ve talked to several folks, I think Andrew Paul Nobles CTO at Ferris had said, “The best supply chains are the ones that don’t make the news.”

Scott Luton (01:05:07):

Right. Excellent point. Let’s see here. Sheldon says, “I love what’s taking place. It’s like using connected strategies and applying them to commercial relationships. Fantastic stuff.” We appreciate that, Sheldon. And, Peter, I think you’re talking about a second registration page. I think there’s a lot of GDPR compliance that is required with any event, and especially the free events, of course. But keep the feedback coming. Feedback is a blessing, as we like to say around here, Mark and Greg. And I think I stole that shamelessly from Phil Ideson over at Art of Procurement. Hope you’re doing well, Phil.

Scott Luton (01:05:43):

Okay. Mark, big event teed up. I think this is our second or third event with our friends at OpenText. I have enjoyed them keeping it real, that real factor. Mark, you mentioned that you’re there to kind of offer – in your words – a bit of color commentary. Mark – oh, no – you bring it in dump truck loads, my friend. And that’s what we learned about Mark Morley.

Scott Luton (01:06:07):

Okay. So, one final thing – and, folks, thanks for sticking with us here as we’ve gone a few minutes over. Too much to tackle on this Monday, September 13th – Mark, how can folks connect with you and the OpenText team in case they cannot make the event tomorrow?

Mark Morley (01:06:22):

So, if you want to reach out to me directly, via LinkedIn is probably the quickest way or via email, which can be provided in the chat directly afterwards. To be honest, that’s probably the easiest way. And if there are any problems with registrations, please let me know and I’ll accelerate those through and try to help as much as I can.

Scott Luton (01:06:38):

Well, we appreciate that. Appreciate what you, and the OpenText, and, of course, CIO organization is doing. We’re looking forward to a successful event tomorrow and some new conversations that will offer new practical ideas that actually work in today’s ever-changing global business environment. Greg, I’ll give you the last take, the last thought with Mark Morley before we bid him adieu and close it out.

Greg White (01:07:03):

Well, this is a particular area of passion for me, which Mark knows because I’ve talked about this. The last of the big solutions that I built and marketed to the industry was around integrating – let’s just say, integrating – consumer demand all the way up to production. This is what really has me excited, we’re now in an age where that transparency is available, to know whether someone is doing good deeds, to know whether someone is doing their work sustainably, and whether you’re getting product. We talk about provenance, one of my favorite words. But whether you’re getting the product you’re paying for. And that, aside from all of the real time data that Mark was talking about, creates efficiency and resiliency and agility in the supply chain that we really have to have today because of the consumer and enterprise demand. So, I love this topic.

Greg White (01:08:05):

I was thinking about this as we were kind of going through the model, Mark, of how you take the data that you’re presenting, and that you all are pulling together, and how you broadcast that or bring it together – I’m not sure what you’re doing, which I would be doing – but how I could use that data to help solve some of those problems that exist in the supply chain and do so much, much more rapidly. From just data to action and prescription – that word prescription, you know, Mark, stuck in my head.

Scott Luton (01:08:44):

Well, going back to your earlier point, it’s kind of like, let’s see here, George – who produced Star Wars? George?

Greg White (01:08:53):

Lucas.

Scott Luton (01:08:54):

Lucas. Right. So, you know, George Lucas, from what I have read, he started with a certain point in the whole Star Wars script – you know, storyline because of the technology that existed at the time for special effects and whatnot. So, Greg, to your point, all these things that we’ve been waiting for and waiting to act on for so long, the technology is finally here to actually act on and do it and execute, and create opportunity both for practitioners and, of course, bottom line results for consumers. So, a lot more on that and many of these topics tomorrow. Be sure to join us at ConneXions 2021.

Scott Luton (01:09:33):

Okay. So, Mark, I’ll tell you, we fit Mark Morley and George Lucas into the same sentence. That’s a win there for sure. Mark, really love your appearances with us. And we look forward to reconnecting with you tomorrow. We’ve been talking with Mark Morley, Senior Director of Product Marketing with OpenText. Thanks so much, Mark.

Mark Morley (01:09:53):

Thanks, guys.

Scott Luton (01:09:56):

Take care. All right. Folks, we told y’all, you are in for a treat when Mark Morley joins us. I think that was probably his fifth or sixth appearance, Greg. But who’s counting? Always Mr. Consistency, maybe a new nickname for Mark. I don’t know. Greg, your take.

Greg White (01:10:14):

I just think that what they’re doing at OpenText is really important to give us all of these things that we, as consumers, are or should be demanding. And I think that the ability to do that without spending hundreds of millions of dollars, meaning having to replace your ERP system, or even if you’re a small company, hundreds of thousands of dollars, I think that is democratizing transparency throughout the supply chain by enabling everyone to do that in a relatively affordable fashion. So, that’s so powerful and really necessary for what we’re trying to accomplish in supply chain.

Scott Luton (01:10:51):

And we love that trend too. Democratization is a wonderful, welcome trend taking place in a meaningful fashion across global business. Lisa Jennings says, “This was terrific. Thank you.” Melissa, we appreciate that instant feedback.

Greg White (01:11:03):

Thank you. Feedback is a blessing.

Scott Luton (01:11:06):

Keivan says, “Data should become high quality before being leveraged.” Greg, I’m sure you got a comment there.

Greg White (01:11:16):

Yeah. And that’s part of the solution that Mark was presenting was the assembly. I can’t remember the term he used, but, basically, the assembly and cleansing – it’s not necessarily the right word. Sometimes it is. And sometimes it’s not. But, anyway, making data useful is a critical part of that. Tower of power.

Scott Luton (01:11:37):

Agreed. Tower of power. Harmonization, I think, was one of those terms there. Sheldon says, “Great stuff. I love it when we can see a concept through someone else’s eyes.” That almost sounds like a 1980s song that I cannot think of right now, Sheldon. Maybe the one where the guy is holding the boombox over his head, In Your Eyes.

Greg White (01:11:56):

Say Anything. Say anything.

Scott Luton (01:11:58):

Maybe. Maybe. Is that it?

Greg White (01:11:59):

That’s the movie.

Scott Luton (01:12:01):

Okay. We’ve got to think of the song. I’m sure Amanda – In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel. I knew it was right there. But, Sheldon, I appreciate you being here with us today and all the POV you dropped into the comments here. Let’s see, I want to share – Mohib, thanks for your comments here. He says, “Really a thought provoking session today.” If you get Mohib’s thoughts going – I know at least for me – he has several pay grade levels above me when it comes to technology and supply chain.

Greg White (01:12:34):

Indeed. Let me assure you. All of us, frankly.

Scott Luton (01:12:35):

That’s right. So, great to have you with us here today. And great to have everybody. I know we couldn’t hit everyone’s comments today. But big thanks to, again, Amanda, and Jayda, and Clay, and Allie all behind the scenes helping today’s production take place. Big thanks to, the one only, Mark Morley and the OpenText team. Folks, it is a wonderful thing to see organizations create opportunities to learn, and to network, and to be heard with events like you’re going to be a part of tomorrow. So, join us at ConneXions 2021. And, Greg, your last thought before we sign off here today.

Greg White (01:13:14):

Wow. The last thought that comes immediately to my mind has nothing to do with supply chain – Go Chiefs. I mean, I think the panel that you’re going to see tomorrow is going to be really valuable. As Sheldon said, it’s always good to see it through someone else’s eyes. And you’re going to see a whole slew of new eyes tomorrow.

Scott Luton (01:13:34):

A slew of them. A slew of them. I think that’s S-L-E-W, if we’re spelling that right.

Greg White (01:13:38):

It is. Indeed. Kelly Barner could tell us.

Scott Luton (01:13:42):

Kelly Barner will definitely tell us. And by the way, folks, tune in for a special livestream this Thursday at 12:00 noon Eastern Time as Kevin L. Jackson and Kelly Barner, it’s The Kelly and Kevin show, and they’re assembling the guests now. But you’re in for a treat this Thursday at 12:00 noon. Okay. So, on behalf of our entire team here, hey, folks, come out and join us tomorrow, first off. Secondly, make sure you connect with Mark Morley. He’s a great person to follow on Twitter and connect with him on LinkedIn. But most importantly, if you hear anything here today, hey, do good, give forward, be the change that’s needed. And on that note, we’ll see you next time right back here at Supply Chain Now.

Intro/Outro (01:14:26):

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