The Supply Chain Buzz is Supply Chain Now’s regular Monday livestream, held at 12 noon 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!

In this episode of the Buzz, Scott and Greg welcomed special guest, Ochsner Health Chief Supply Chain and Support Services Officer, Regine Villain. Listen in as Scott, Greg, and Regine discuss:

• the collapse of Convoy
• the painful, ugly, and anxious housing market
• the “ridiculous” price of butter
• three top supply chain trends that Regine is picking up on in the healthcare industry

Intro/Outro (00:03):

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

Scott Luton (00:32):

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

Greg White (00:41):

I’m doing good. Excuse me if I keep looking back and forth like this because I just set up my new studio and you’re over here.

Scott Luton (00:49):

Okay,

Greg White (00:50):

Y’all are over here <laugh>. So I, I haven’t quite gotta the laptop right in front of the camera. So if I’m looking over here, I’m looking at you.

Scott Luton (01:01):

Okay. <laugh>. And so you’re not telling me no is what you’re saying. You’re not telling me No, you’re just looking at different screens. Okay, well you look <laugh>, you look good and you sound good. And folks, speaking of good, good, good. And great. This is a great show here. Teed up here today, right Greg?

Greg White (01:16):

Yeah, it’s,

Scott Luton (01:18):

We’ve got the buzz back with you every Monday, as y’all know, 12 in the Eastern time where we walk through a variety of news developments across global business, across global supply chain, you name it. And Greg, today we’ve got a big, big, big guest that’s gonna be joining us about 12:25 PM Eastern Time. Raje Valle, the chief supply chain and support services officer at Ochsner Health System is back with this. Greg, are you ready for this?

Greg White (01:43):

I’m ready. Are they ready? That’s

Scott Luton (01:46):

<laugh>. So as many folks know, we’ve had a really popular first season of a healthcare supply chain leadership series here at Supply Chain Now and regime was part of that, which we’re very grateful for. And so you’re gonna have a big healthcare flavor here on the buzz here today, Greg. And you know, I think it’s fair to say, Greg, that that’s probably a space that more folks should better understand in supply chain and elsewhere. Would you agree with that, Greg?

Greg White (02:10):

Well, your life depends on it. So I’d say yes.

Scott Luton (02:12):

Excellent point. So stay tuned about 1225 regime will be joining us and then throughout the show we’re gonna be tackling three stories on the front end and then learning more from regime’s perspective before we call it a day. And Greg, if folks are listening to this podcast replay, which we drop usually every Friday morning, you ought to consider joining us live on LinkedIn or YouTube or other social media channel of your choosing because Greg, we’d love to hear from these folks, right?

Greg White (02:36):

Because who listens to a podcast without seeing the podcast or something <laugh>.

Scott Luton (02:41):

Alright, so Greg, as always, you know, we’d love to, to help folks. We love sharing resources with folks and we’ve got a couple we wanna share with y’all on the front end here today. So, Greg, over the weekend we dropped with that said, which is our almost weekly LinkedIn newsletter, well I guess it hits LinkedIn also hits everybody’s email inbox. And we talked about a wide range of things and we really focused Greg on a lot of maybe some news stories that aren’t on people’s radar. It’s kinda what we do here today. Did you happen to check that out, Gregory?

Greg White (03:13):

Yeah, I did. And some interesting news. Yeah.

Scott Luton (03:18):

Also.

Greg White (03:18):

Yeah, but go, go, go, go, go up. Please go. Please go. You go first. You go first. You go first. <laugh>.

Scott Luton (03:23):

Well, the thing that I love, the quote that we featured up at the top, and it’s, I think it’s very related to news, is this is one of my faves from Mark Twain quote, it ain’t what you don’t know that gets in trouble. It’s what you know for sure. That just ain’t so end quote. If that’s not more relevant today than ever before, perhaps Greg.

Greg White (03:43):

I like that. Yeah, mark Twain was really genius in a sort of southern accent kind of way. I mean, I like the way he used that language, right? That a farmer would use to tell you just genius things. Agreed. His agreed observations on the world astounding.

Scott Luton (04:03):

And he kept it simple and funny and truthful. I think he was, I was being honest, his years perhaps I heard he wrote some good books. Greg, I don’t know. I, you know, <laugh>. So folks check out with that said, let us know what you think about be one of the 20 3001 80 subscribers. Give us your feedback. We thrive off that.

Greg White (04:22):

I love the precising in your numbers <laugh>. Well, you know,

Scott Luton (04:28):

As we put these graphics together each week, it’s just so happens that the sub number is conveniently located right at the top of the newsletter. So it’s been neat to see that continue to grow. Okay, Greg, I really wish as we dive into the first of three stories before we welcome on our wonderful guest Eugene here today. I really wish we had more good news, but it’s been a, a really rough time for many folks right? In industry and outside of industry for that matter. And we’re gonna start with this convoy story. So Greg, let me share this and I can’t wait to get your take here. Everyone’s talking about the demise of Convoy. Sadly, as reported by our friends here at GeekWire, the Seattle based logistics tech startup is closing its primary operations and laying off all but a handful of its employees. Last week, Dan Lewis, the co-founder and CEO of Convoy sent a memo to the organization that included the phrase, today is your last day at the company.

Scott Luton (05:21):

Just back in 2022. Though it was a much brighter time, convoy had raised $260 million based on a valuation of 3.8 billion. In April, 2022, the organization announced that it had expected to surpass a billion dollars in annual revenue. But it wasn’t long after that that unfortunately the layoffs began. The company would eventually downsize from about 1500 team members to about 500 before, of course closing of its primary operations last week. Now folks are pointing to a variety of factors, of course that incredibly challenging freight market out there to a lack of an ability for convoy to be able to keep up with innovative features as many of its competitors out in the market. And some Greg even point how Convoy had a conflict amongst leadership, whether it was a logistics company or a tech company. Nevertheless, a lot of folks are out of a job and we’ll be looking for new opportunities. So let’s all see if we can help out however we can. So Greg, I’m really looking forward to hearing your take on Convoy.

Greg White (06:19):

Well, let’s start with some good news on that front. Slink recently, remember Slink?

Scott Luton (06:24):

Mm-Hmm? <affirmative>

Greg White (06:25):

Slink. Chris Kirchner, the founder and CDO was recently indicted by the feds for defrauding investors out of $25 million. So hopefully he’ll be going to prison. <laugh>. Um, he recently slunk out from under his rock and mentioned that Slink will be shutting down operations as well. You know, they took the company away from him and tried to save it, but it was too late. Mm-Hmm. So the good news is the real crooks hopefully are going to jail

Scott Luton (06:52):

Alleged

Greg White (06:52):

And indicted by federal government crooks who wins 98% of their cases by the way. So,

Scott Luton (06:57):

Wow.

Greg White (06:57):

Only a 98% chance that he goes to prison

Scott Luton (07:00):

And

Greg White (07:00):

Is guilty <laugh>. But we’ll let the court sort that out. So that’s good news. There are real criminals, right? This was a monumental mistake. Horrible management. Incredibly poor judgment on the investors because as it turns out, digital brokerages are just brokerages.

Scott Luton (07:19):

Hmm.

Greg White (07:20):

I could have easily ended the conversation of whether they were a logistics company or whether they were a tech company when they started the company. They were a logistics company. I’ve been pitched by dozens and dozens and dozens of these digital brokerages. And it’s easy to make the distinction that they are brokerages because they all fall in love with the incredible fees that you get for

Scott Luton (07:42):

Brokerage.

Greg White (07:43):

And then they try to, excuse me, attach technology to it. But sometimes it’s proprietary, which is good and sometimes isn’t. And we’ve seen the not complete collapse, but the distinct fall of, you know, even billion dollar investments. Well I think Convoy did have a billion dollars invested, right? That’s right. Mm-Hmm. Like Flexport. And it turns out they are just brokerages with a lot of reports and technology and some of them are able to create intellectual property from it, not just pile reports and things on it. And that gives them a bit of a distinction. But the truth is, the brokerage is such a heavy draw in terms of revenue that it’s easy to get distracted when you’re going through this. So, you know, the real answer, a tech company would be a marketplace, it would not be a brokerage as such. It would be acting in a disruptive fashion instead of the 10 to 40% fees that brokers take. It would be taking a small transaction fee just like other marketplaces have that if disrupted businesses. But that is incredibly difficult to execute. So it’s a tragedy. Oh, and by the way, Scott, they also got a hundred million dollars in venture debt at the same time. So they really burned through $365 million in just over 18 months.

Scott Luton (09:00):

Wow.

Greg White (09:01):

That’s $2 million a month. No, no, that’s $20 million a month. They burned 20 million Is, am I doing the math right?

Scott Luton (09:08):

I, I need to break out my calculator. It’s a lot of,

Greg White (09:12):

They burned through 20 million.

Scott Luton (09:13):

Wow.

Greg White (09:14):

It’s a tragedy for the people and some of those who are actual tech people, they’ll find jobs and of course those on the brokerage side, there’s still a ton of brokerage business out there. So they’ll be able to land somewhere. But you know, I chalk this up to one of those FOMO moments in investment where they investors who didn’t know anything about the industry and frankly the founders didn’t either. Dan Lewis didn’t know anything about logistics and thought they understood what the disruptive force was that they were applying, but they didn’t.

Scott Luton (09:45):

I really appreciate your take and to all of our audience out there, hey, reach out to the convoy members in your network. Connect with them. What a tragedy as Greg put it there. So we’ll see. I think they kept a small contingent to see if they can find some strategic options, Greg, for the company. But yeah,

Greg White (10:03):

Strategic options means selling off the assets the company will cease operations is what I read. And it was about eight people I think that they kept. Wow. So it’s just liquidate whatever’s left and you know, wind it down. Yep. It’s not uncommon. I’ve had to do it myself as matter

Scott Luton (10:20):

Really.

Greg White (10:20):

Yeah. It’s not a pleasant day.

Scott Luton (10:22):

No, no it is not. Well hey, sending good vibes out to all the convoy team members and we’ll see if we, they to Greg’s point can find new opportunities quickly. Alright. I wish we had some better news with our second story, but you know,

Greg White (10:36):

We do remember Chris Kirchner could be gonna prison.

Scott Luton (10:39):

Well, <laugh> news. Well you know what, we shouldn’t glaze over that. That’s right. It’s a good point. ’cause you saw that early on, you know, when bad actors do bad things and nefarious teams with other people’s money, it’s good that they’re held accountable. I agree

Greg White (10:50):

With that. Hundred percent. It really is. All joking aside, it is an opinion aside, Chris, because I’m, I’m gonna get a nasty grant from you, but you don’t have a leg to stand up. All joking aside, you know, it is good when the truly bad get their comeuppance because, because like Dan Lewis just made a mistake, a monumental and very impactful mistake and so did the investors. But just a mistake. Right. He did not have any ill will or, you know, didn’t take advantage of people or defraud them or just, you know, at the very least. Right. Right.

Scott Luton (11:20):

Let’s, I know we throw a bunch of numbers out there, you know, with layoffs and stuff, but man, each one of those numbers are, is someone’s job and career and family.

Greg White (11:29):

You know, Scott though there is, I mean I think a lot of these people will land elsewhere and there is a certain sense of freedom because I know a few folks, we know a few folks at Convoy and they felt the heavy weight of what was going on there even before it was apparent. Right. And just having that heavy weight off of your psyche is, is freeing. Yes. So their eyes will be wide open. They’ll go into their next business, much, much more aware. They’ll ask the right questions. Right. They’ll dig a little bit deeper and they’ll be better for it. And frankly they’ll be great resources for the companies that they go to because of it.

Scott Luton (12:04):

Hmm, excellent point. Excellent points. Let’s shift gears. Let’s talk about this housing market. You know, some of y’all, a handful may be asking, well why are we talking housing on the supply chain buzz or the buzz or any, well it is critically important the housing market for our economy, depending on what numbers you look at. Anywhere from 18 to 2220 4%. Wow. So let’s talk about, uh, the housing market. So as reported here by CNBC, it was painful, but now Greg, it is just plain ugly for the first time since 2000 mortgage rates have hit a whopping 8%. Now it’s a bit of a perfect storm. And as we’ve always <laugh> put out there, I am not an economist but I’m gonna play one here on this live stream. It’s a bit of a perfect storm. Rates up, prices up, but sales down and supply down. Now on that last point about supply, Mm-Hmm

Greg White (12:52):

<affirmative>

Scott Luton (12:52):

Greg, did you know that the great recession and all those ensuing repercussions caused many home builders to build less homes over the last 10, 12 years. Which is one of the primary causes of the lack of supply. And according to the US Census Bureau, new housing starts in September, 2023. We’re up about 7% over the previous month, but still down over seven percentage points year over year when compared to September, 2022. So they’re not making up that ground from a supply chain standpoint though, here’s a little bit of good news. The good news is that home builders are reporting far less problems when it comes to getting what they need to build houses. However, there still seems to be challenges, especially associated with procuring electrical equipment like switch gears, transformers, you name it. Also one last data point here, Greg sales of previously owned homes in September, 2023. So just last month where they dropped to the slowest pace since October, 2010, 13 years ago. So Greg, your thoughts on what we’re seeing in the housing market?

Greg White (13:55):

Yeah, it’s crazy. It is now 52% more expensive to buy a home than to rent one.

Greg White (14:03):

And that is higher than during the great re recess when it was only 35% more expensive to buy a home than to rent one. And all of those combinations of issues that you talked about make it one of the worst times to buy a home in history. In fact, I would strongly suggest that if you’re in the market, just rent, right? Rent right now. My oldest daughter, they sold their house at the peak, went and rented. The other thing, this is another dynamic in the rental industry, Scott, is rents are now not rising as high or, and in some cases falling. And both of my daughters, my oldest and my middle daughter, both rent and both of them had just minor increases to their rent.

Scott Luton (14:45):

Mm-Hmm.

Greg White (14:46):

And probably won’t go up after the next six or 12 months, whatever they renewed for

Scott Luton (14:51):

Because

Greg White (14:51):

The market there is softening as well. You know, as people batten up the hatches and tighten their belts and all those other cliches that we use to talk about getting sensible with our money.

Scott Luton (15:01):

Yeah. Surviving Gino says the only demand is in new builds where you can buy down the interest. All other is dead per Gino’s family in real estate is what they’re telling him.

Greg White (15:12):

So, you know, you know, we have home and a resort.

Scott Luton (15:14):

Yep.

Greg White (15:15):

And what some home sellers are doing is buying down the mortgage a couple of points on behalf of the buyer.

Scott Luton (15:22):

Right.

Greg White (15:22):

To get them to buy. So, I mean, just at the same time, I just saw a house listed for $2,461 a square foot. Wow. So, I mean it’s a resort <laugh>

Scott Luton (15:37):

That’s gracious. That’s outta my zip code. It’s outta my universe there, Greg. Yeah,

Greg White (15:40):

Right. I didn’t even know, I never even thought about paying that much a square foot. Right. But there are some crazy dynamics and when the market gets crazy like this, you know if you can, but only if you can let it swirl a little bit and settle out. But I’m telling you, not an economist, never been an economist. Do have <laugh>, I have a minor in economy, in economy economics, but this is my disclaimer. Right. Every bit as often as they’re, which is all so seriously should consider renting.

Scott Luton (16:14):

Yes. Great advice. We’re gonna keep our finger on the pulse of this market for sure. Y’all check out this, this interesting read really takes a deep dive, touches on a variety of things that Greg just shared as well. So check it out from our friends at cnbc. Couple quick comments before we hit one more story and folks hang on. ’cause the good news is this great guest we got coming probably about five minutes from now or so, David Glover says, and yet most salaries haven’t caught up with this increase. It’s crazy what could be afforded many years ago versus today. Well said Mary Kate says, those buy downs that Greg referenced very common now in fact extraordinarily common versus kind of the track record of how they’ve always been used. So great point there.

Greg White (16:53):

That’s a signal that the market is cooling. It’s just another negotiating tactic. Just like instead of lowering the price. Yep.

Scott Luton (17:00):

Right.

Greg White (17:00):

Buy that more. Or maybe even in addition to.

Scott Luton (17:03):

Yeah. Well I wish we could see with our third story as we make this little segue into our third story before our guests here today. I wish we could say that we could all sink our teeth into comfort food during these challenging times, but that we’re, we’re seeing some historic prices there as well. So let’s talk butter for a second. Simply put, according to our chief culinary analyst, Amenda Luton butter is ridiculous. <laugh>. That’s right. As supported by our friends at supply chain diet butter prices have hit record highs in October, of course just in time for the holiday baking season. Now many are pointing to market challenges. For example, milk supplies down. So that’s of course a key ingredient in butter. Imports are down demand for buttercream and other food manufacturing is up and butter production in August was at about a five year low. Hmm. So Greg, your thoughts on what we’re seeing here in, of all places the butter market,

Greg White (17:57):

This one really hits home for me because my wife, her family owned a bakery distributorship and they got me hooked on buttercream icing, which is by the way, the best way to make icing only way. And now butter is expensive. So it’s a real problem. <laugh>, when it affects me, then it’s a real problem.

Scott Luton (18:14):

Right, right.

Greg White (18:16):

No, I mean this is, you know, this is cyclical. These kind of things happen as, can you remember all the reasons that we have milk production down and all that sort of thing. But we know we have had that down and it takes a while for these things to come home to roost. So it happens frequently with these commodity items. You know what I was thinking about on this, Scott, is it used to happen and people just said, oh, butter has gotten expensive. Commodities do that. Well, I think now we’re starting to see how much the supply chain plays into that, how much impact supply chain has on it. And yet there isn’t much that you can do from an operational standpoint of the supply chain.

Scott Luton (18:58):

Mm.

Greg White (18:58):

Right. So, you know, it’s not, it’s not that the trucks are too expensive that are hauling milk around, it’s that there isn’t enough of it. So

Scott Luton (19:08):

Yes, kind of reminds me of what you shared there of another Mark Twain is, I think this is Mark Twain. Uh, everybody talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it. It’s

Greg White (19:17):

Mark Twain. Yeah, it

Scott Luton (19:18):

Is Mark Twain. Thank you <laugh>. So

Greg White (19:20):

Everybody talks about the butter, but

Scott Luton (19:23):

Ain’t nothing, ain’t nothing we can do. Ain’t nothing T squared. He says greed, deflation ain’t gone nowhere.

Greg White (19:30):

Well, okay, so let’s talk about that. I mean, that’s gonna also increase milk production and you know, the higher prices, I mean this is the ebb and flow of, of economics, right? The higher prices will cause people to produce more and of course they’ll overproduce and of course then they’ll bring the prices dramatically down.

Scott Luton (19:49):

That’s right.

Greg White (19:50):

Not down as fast as their costs go down, but it’ll go down. It’s funny how fast costs go up and how slow

Scott Luton (19:58):

Down shoots up and slows down. All right, <laugh>. So good stuff there. We got a great guest I want to introduce here today a great repeat guest, a hall of fame guest. Maybe we’ll touch on that here in just a moment. Oh, <laugh>. I want to introduce and welcome in our friend Raje Valle, chief Supply Chain and support services officer with Ochsner Health System. Je, how are you doing?

Regine Villain (20:25):

I’m doing good. I was just on my way to get some butter <laugh> <laugh>

Scott Luton (20:31):

Stock up now, or maybe, I don’t know, maybe don’t stock up now. But regardless, it is so great to have you back. We really enjoyed our sit down a few months back. Congrats on some of the recognition that we alluded to a minute or two ago. Maybe we’ll touch on that in a minute. But Greg, what we uncovered about regime is y’all and maybe the three of us, but certainly y’all two have something big in common. You both love the travel. So regime, before we get into some topics related to healthcare industry and some other things, tell us first over the last year or so, what’s been one of your favorite places to visit

Regine Villain (21:03):

By far in the last year, actually I spent about three weeks in Japan and it was absolutely phenomenal. We traveled up, down, you know, south, north, east, west in Japan. As you guys know, it’s not a big island, but such an amazing culture and great food. Unfortunately, I came back with a very expensive habit, which is Wagyu beef <laugh>.

Greg White (21:31):

Oh boy. And and once you’ve had Japanese Wagyu, I’m telling you, don’t even bother with New Zealand.

Regine Villain (21:39):

Oh gosh, you’re speaking my language, Greg. My wallet is not happy. <laugh>. Yeah, I’m just, you know, I found myself actually to a Japanese farm and ordering Wagyu. The good news is I’ve only ordered like once and I said I was gonna do it once every six months because it’s quite expensive. But I tell you, it is just phenomenal. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, once you taste that Japanese Wagyu, like Greg said, there’s no going back. There’s

Greg White (22:08):

No shaking it. Yeah.

Scott Luton (22:11):

So three weeks in Japan. Yes. What a wonderful, wonderful trip. Was that

Greg White (22:15):

All vacation or was there some work in there? Did you make an excuse to

Regine Villain (22:19):

Well, I mean this with work, when I’m on vacation, there’s always time for me to catch up with work. But frankly it was vacation. But I did, I did put in work and the time difference makes it a little bit easy. Mm-Hmm. Yeah, yeah,

Greg White (22:33):

Yeah. You’re half a day ahead of this. That’s

Regine Villain (22:35):

Right. That’s correct. <laugh>.

Scott Luton (22:38):

I bet next time you come back, we’re gonna have to take a deep dive into that trip. Three weeks in Japan really. Sounds wonderful. All right, so Greg, and for the folks maybe that hasn’t caught you, some of your other interviews for their context, your little information about Ochsner Health system and, and your role there.

Regine Villain (22:55):

Sure. Again, thank you Scott for having me. Since the last time I’ve been following you, I just love your nuggets of information, your tidbits of wisdom. It’s just really phenomenal. So I’m really honored to be back. So those of you who don’t know me, my name Isin Vile and I am the Chief Supply Chain and Support services Officer at Ochsner Health in, uh, Louisiana. Primarily. However, Ochsner is the leading not-for-profit healthcare system in the Gulf South. So we are in more than one state. We are practically in three states, Louisiana primarily. We also have facilities in Mississippi and a little bit in Alabama. We are a 48 hospital owned, managed and affiliated and some specialty hospitals as well. And about 38,000 employees. And we are basically serving patients in every state in the country. And also since, you know, we talk about travel being something that’s an anchor for me, I believe we cover about 62 or 63 countries in the world where we receive patients. Wow.

Scott Luton (24:09):

Wow. So if that, Greg does an impression, I think what’s really cool that came out in the interview is some of the really forward-thinking innovative things that regime did, especially in the earliest days of the pandemic. You’ll have to check out our episode to dive deeper into that. And Greg, as we had uncovered and talked a little bit about in the green room regime has been enshrined into a hall of fame for her. You know, we, we have our two decade rule around here. We don’t break the two decade rule. Right. But for all the mountains you and your teams have been moving. That really had to be some really cool recognition there regime.

Regine Villain (24:42):

Absolutely. I mean, it was a surprise. Certainly I’m not usually at a loss for words, but when the call came that I was actually nominated and received the award, it’s the AM award for bellwether. So those of you who don’t know about bellwether, it’s basically it’s, you talk about the hall of fame of supply chain, especially in healthcare. This is a place to be and to be seen and to know people. And so when you get that call and that nod, that is an industry recognition. It’s not one of those things that is sought after where you have to vote and all of that. It is truly something that comes from colleagues. And so it was quite an honor to receive that.

Scott Luton (25:26):

Wow. Uh, Greg, your response, your thoughts based on the footprint regime just shared and that incredible recognition

Greg White (25:33):

Wow. Was my response because I mean, that’s really in impressive, it’s interesting that it almost sounds like a lifetime achievement award. I mean, it can’t be a lifetime achievement award for you. Yeah, yeah. Too young. But let’s call it an early to mid career achievement award. That is correct. All of that. Okay.

Regine Villain (25:48):

Yes.

Greg White (25:49):

So yeah, I think that’s fantastic. Look, there are a ton of practitioners out there doing fantastic things. I think whenever we can highlight folks like you and all of the goodness that you’re doing for supply chain and for healthcare, which, you know, Scott asked me, why should people care about healthcare supply chain? It’s because it could save your life. That’s correct. It’s a heavy burden. And uh, really appreciate that. In fact, I’ve worked with healthcare companies in the past and they, like you do take that very seriously when it has to be there, it has to be there. Mm-Hmm mm-Hmm. <affirmative> because somebody’s life is probably at stake. So

Regine Villain (26:28):

Not probably somebody’s life is at stake. And that’s really al true north. That’s my true north when it comes to anything and everything that I do. And you know, in my chair, everything, every call, every request, every email that comes is attached to somebody’s life. And so it’s an amazing, awesome and scary responsibility and, you know, take that very seriously.

Scott Luton (26:54):

Mm-Hmm.

Regine Villain (26:54):

And of course I wouldn’t be able to do that without my team and the wonderful team that I have. And so I say all that recognition and all of those things, the accolades that come my way, it’s really a testament of their hard work. Mm-Hmm. Because they really wouldn’t be able to do all of that without them.

Scott Luton (27:11):

Well said. All right, so let’s shift gears for a second. ’cause we’re gonna try to help our global audience really better understand, especially some of the supply chain trends or challenges in the healthcare industry perhaps that they should know more about. So whether it’s two or three things regime, what are a couple of topics that come to your mind that more folks should know about, especially supply chain folks?

Regine Villain (27:32):

I gotta tell you, I am sure in other industries, outside healthcare, there’s a lot of conversation around technology, specifically ai.

Scott Luton (27:44):

Mm.

Regine Villain (27:45):

AI has become, you know, the buzzword, right? And so it’s no different in healthcare supply chain where we are increasingly relying on advanced technology for efficiency and accuracy. And of course this includes the use of AI for predictive analytics, blockchain for secure and transparent transactions, automation for repetitive task. And all of those things are things that we deal with on a daily basis with supply chain. And so when you think about the advance of AI into healthcare supply chain, it makes sense, you know, but we’re still dabbing into it and understanding exactly how it can help us instead of it just being buzzy, how can it really help us and help streamline the operation and really reduce errors and mitigate costs and all of that. And there are applications in AI where we think that we can definitely make some headways, but technology generally is something that is becoming more and more of a topic of importance in healthcare supply chain.

Scott Luton (28:56):

So ra, if I can, that’s the first one. I know we got a couple more. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> Greg, I know that she is talking your language when it comes to talking technology in healthcare and especially real outcomes focused, not just as just she put it because it’s buzzy and you know, a lot of folks wanna embrace it, but really where we get results and, and in this case maybe raise those service levels and, and those patient outcomes. I think, Greg, your thoughts?

Greg White (29:20):

Yes. That’s what we’ll do. <laugh>. Well I’m gonna, what I was thinking was in, in healthcare, you know, you have such a great example because they’ve been using AI for years in diagnosis and in practice. So it opens your eyes to what everybody loves to say because they feel like they’re defending people’s jobs. They love to say AI is generally a party trick and it’s never gonna do this and it can’t do that. Let me assure you that is absolutely wrong. Except chat gt. It’s a party trick. Yeah. But that party trick is an enabler of much, much greater things that have been being used for decades in healthcare, in practice and in in the operating room and things like that. And it really opens your eyes to what it can do in an area like supply chain. And I think healthcare is a great place to look for advancements generally. But now when you think about how they’re using ai, the example that they have before them, it’s no wonder that that they lead with that.

Scott Luton (30:20):

Yeah. Yep. So Raje, before we move to your second challenge or trend or topic, anything else you wanna add about AI based on what Greg just shared? Raje?

Regine Villain (30:28):

Well, I mean I agree with um, that AI has been used in a lot of, you know, applications in healthcare, generally in the clinical world for sure. But certainly supply chain as an enabler of services and as facilitators who we are, of everything that happens in the healthcare world, this is definitely a time and focus that is well warranted because we are the ones that are, like I said, the enabler and the facilitator for care. We have a slogan that we use and we basically fill the hands that heal. And so it’s really important for us to be able to have all of that at our disposal as well. Yeah,

Scott Luton (31:12):

Well said. I would just add, since we started with technology, you know, October is cybersecurity month, I believe. And as we’ve learned that the healthcare industry is one of the most targeted when it comes to the bad actors and stuff. So more and more we’ll probably see AI used in cybersecurity measures as well. Right. Let the machines beat the other machines perhaps. I don’t know. Alright, so Raje, first in technology, what’s the second trend or challenge or topic that comes to mind when you think of healthcare and supply chain and maybe that intersection?

Regine Villain (31:41):

Well, I mean there’s a lot of emphasis these days on transparency as well. Especially after the pandemic. There’s been a lot, a lot of conversation about how transparency needs to become a lot more important in the healthcare supply chain. Basically. You know, we need to make sure that we have solid information about the sourcing and production of the material. I mean, we’re now going all the way up in the supply chain to truly understand providence and understand, you know, what is at stake and what could be an issue when it comes to our ability to source and our ability to get products, you know, to our bedside. Like you said, the patient is my number one priority. The person at this bedside is the person that also I wanna make sure that they have everything they need in order to care for those patients. And so when you think about transparency, you know, that also helps to ensure ethical practices, prevent counterfeiting, and you know, just builds trust with the community around the whole patient care and the healthcare providers. So I think transparency is definitely something that’s on trend and we’re challenging our vendor partners to really go there with us and you know, as part of the her board, which also promotes transparency and we’re working on badging and we’re working on implementing that as part of something that we hardwire in everything that we do.

Scott Luton (33:13):

Mm. Folks, I told Jah this was gonna be home run stuff. And in that second point with what shared, we could have a six hour series. Greg, she mentioned one of your favorite words of all time provenance your thoughts based on what Regina just shared.

Greg White (33:28):

Yeah, well we have to get to this transparency because provenance is so important in supply chain. And it’s not just for life-saving materials, it’s for everything, right? I mean, we wanna know where it’s made, we wanna know how it’s made, we wanna know by whom it’s made and hopefully it’s made by free people.

Regine Villain (33:45):

Yep.

Greg White (33:46):

And we wanna know what kind of materials that it’s made from and hopefully non-conflict materials and things like that. So that’s what’s so critical. And you know, supply chain has long been a business of obfuscation, right? Trying to keep everyone from knowing your secret. Not usually for nefarious reasons, but mostly because your position in the marketplace is so tenuous that just about anybody could do it in many, many cases. And you know, in a lot of parts of business, if anyone can do it, lots of people do do it. And prices go down and, and transparency goes up and that sort of thing. And I think we’re starting to see the tide shift towards opening that up. I mean, the governments frankly are really forcing that.

Regine Villain (34:31):

That’s correct.

Greg White (34:33):

Emissions standards and you know, human rights standards for shipments vis-a-vis the supply chain. And so I think we’ll start to see more and more of that. And it will accrue to the benefit of everyone because we’ll get the bad actors out of the industry. It will change pricing for the better, I believe. And we’ll start to see more reliable and more available products and products that are more sustainable and probably better quality. Because most of the cheaters are creating, are building junk. Yeah.

Regine Villain (35:04):

Yeah

Greg White (35:05):

And trying to sell it as quality materials that’s more prevalent even than human slavery or counterfeiting or any, well I guess that’s arguably a type of counterfeiting than, you know, in conflict minerals and all that. It’s just poorly produced product that nobody kind of knows where it comes from.

Regine Villain (35:22):

Gosh, I so agree with that. I think, Scott, you’re gonna have to have Grant and I back and just have more conversation around that. There’s so much to unpack there.

Scott Luton (35:31):

Completely agree. But you know, the good news since the front end of the show, we’ve focused on so many negative developments out in the industry is I love kind of both of y’all. One positive. Yeah. One positive one. That’s right. <laugh>. But in the last couple minutes here, I love how both of y’all kind of painted a picture of where we’re going and the future and just how positive, because both of y’all are speaking to the truth out there. And so many of these things that have been long, what’s this phrase that Greg used the business of obfuscation had to say that real slow. ’cause that’s a big word, but it’s so true. And now thanks to technology, thanks to trends, thanks to real leadership, action driven leadership and many other things’re able to bring these issues, these travesties up to the surface and better yet do something about it. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. So Ra and Greg, I’m with you Ra I’ll give you the last word before we move on to the third topic.

Regine Villain (36:22):

Well, I mean, I don’t necessarily need to add to that, but it’s adding a little bit to what Greg alluded to. The third piece that I think about is there’s an increased focus on sustainability and community impact as well. Hmm. So the growing trend towards sustainable and more sustainable practice in the healthcare supply chain, reducing waste, you know, more echo friendly materials and implementing more efficient logistics strategies. When you think about, for example, I mean I worked in New York for a long time. You think about how jammed and how packed New York City streets are, if you can think of a way to avoid having multiple deliveries, for example, driving down a tiny loading dock all day long. That’s a big impact, not only on your operation, but also there’s an environmental impact that one has to definitely be aware of. And so the, the aim is to minimize all of those environmental impact, impact and everything else that we know on the healthcare operation while making sure that we’re ensuring high quality patient care.

Scott Luton (37:36):

Hmm.

Regine Villain (37:36):

I mean, there’s a whole movement around making sure that we’re diving a little bit more and becoming more grounded in understanding how we’re impacting everything around us. Certainly patient care, again, is a true north, but then we think about the impact on the environment, the impact, and now communities. Mm-Hmm. You think about a place like Auctioner that’s in Louisiana, and unfortunately Louisiana and I love me, my Louisiana, I’m not born and raised, but I definitely love Louisiana. But from a health outcome, Louisiana is 49 or 50 outta 50, right? Mm-Hmm. It’s not the best. And so as a supply chain leader, it’s also important to understand what I can do to help impact the outcome, the health outcomes of the communities, and then expand a little bit more outside of the four walls of what people think about when they think about supply chain.

Scott Luton (38:35):

No shortage of challenges. And I’m glad you brought that back up. I know we talked a good bit about that Yeah. In your previous interview. And I think that’s such a noble mission beyond the kind of the isolated individual outcomes, just elevating the whole region to a more healthier state. And I love how y’all have been really embraced that beyond words in your actions and your initiatives, Greg, when it comes to sustainability and community impact. I think that was the kind of how we couched that third topic. Your thoughts, Greg?

Greg White (39:00):

Yeah. I mean, I, I will, I’ll argue till the day that I die, that sustainability and reasonable cost and reliability and speed in the supply chain, they’re all compatible,

Greg White (39:12):

Right? I mean, I spent most of my career trying to get things here cheaper, faster, right. And with more reliability at a higher level than we could before. And I know it can be done. I mean, it, it can definitely be done. And I think the new technologies that we talked about right out of the gate and transparency and all of those things lend to that. And honestly, it doesn’t matter because this political debate we’re having in the states doesn’t matter because all of the other countries in the world are just mandated. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. So American companies will have to comply with this thing that’s such a hot potato here in the state because the rest of the world is going that direction. And they will find, because that’s what we do in America. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, they will find a way to make it economical.

Greg White (39:55):

Yeah. So it, it can definitely be done. You opened, when we started talking about waste and, and all of that sort of thing. You opened with waste when we started talking about sustainability. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, there is just so much waste that if we just eliminate that, we reduce cost and increase sustainability. That’s correct. Right. And if we start with that, which is the core of what supply chain has done for so many decades, that’s kind of the basic table stakes when supply chains. So if we just start with table stakes, then there’s a lot of opportunity here and there is so much efficiency that can be created. And we have so many brilliant minds. And now with the assistance of AI and blockchain and various Sri other technologies, we can do it. I know we can.

Scott Luton (40:39):

Absolutely. I’m

Greg White (40:40):

I’m gonna make sure we do <laugh>.

Scott Luton (40:42):

So it’s interesting you said table stakes conversation comes full circle back to stakes, right? Yes. <laugh>. Alright. Sorry folks. I had to say it. I like the way you think <laugh> <laugh>. I, I I wanna protect your time. I know, uh, I can only imagine how busy of a Monday. You have two final questions. So one regime we get asked all the time, in fact I’m surprised it hasn’t come up in today’s live stream, you know, for career advice, for folks that wanna end up in the c-suite like you regime, what’s one critical piece of advice you might would offer up?

Regine Villain (41:13):

So you’re talking executive, not just supply chain, correct?

Scott Luton (41:16):

That’s right.

Regine Villain (41:17):

Well, I mean, I think I can borrow from what I know in my chair as a supply chain officer, basically, I think it’s important to gain an understanding of whatever it is that you are interested in. So for example, for me it was all about understanding and knowing all of the aspects of supply chain. So it’s everything from understanding, you know, procurement, logistics, inventory management, customer service, the whole nine. And so in whatever your trade is, it’s really important for you to go deep and wide so that you can ascend and be able to support. The other thing that I would say is, you know, developed strong leadership and strategic thinking skills, right? Because whatever it is that you are going to be doing, you’re gonna be leading a team, you are gonna be making strategic decisions that impact an entire organization. So it’s gonna be very important for you to be able to communicate effectively with other top executives and basically operate at the top of your skills.

Regine Villain (42:28):

Strong leadership, like I said, you know, so make sure that you are learning, you are attending training programs and mentoring is also something that is truly, truly important. People underestimate the power of mentoring, both as a mentor and as a mentee. And so I would definitely encourage you and challenge you to make sure that you are either a mentor or a mentee or both. I mean, there’s nothing wrong in being both and making sure that you have a compliment of folks around you that can help you and challenge you so that you can experience what it’s like. And so for me, what I would end with is I would just say be curious, right? Be bold, first of all, the whole idea of that, no, you know, I’m not gonna do that. It’s not really my job, you know, that should be banning your vocabulary.

Regine Villain (43:23):

So you need to be curious people, be flexible, be authentic, but be humble as well. You know, know that you’re not the person who knows the most in the room just because you have a title. And the difference to expertise is something that I practice every day when I am standing at the loading dock, talking to my receiver, he or she is the expert and I need to allow them to let me understand exactly what’s going on so that perhaps I can help. And so the difference to expertise and understanding that you’re not the smartest person in the room is a huge, huge, huge thing.

Scott Luton (44:01):

Well said. Ra, hall of fame advice from a hall of famer. And I love how practical that advice was. I mean, clearly you’re sharing things that you’re living and and doing, which is where some of the best advice comes from. Greg, I’m gonna get your favorite takeaway from RA’s appearance here today in just a minute. But I wanna protect RA’s time. I know that you’re extremely busy, but you occasionally get out for, you know, a keynote here or industry meetings or what have you. Or I bet you love to talk shop, you know, over maybe a, a coffee or a good meal, I don’t know, work

Greg White (44:31):

Game.

Scott Luton (44:32):

Yeah. <laugh>. <laugh>. How could folks connect with you as well as the Ochsner Health System?

Regine Villain (44:39):

Well, certainly they can reach out to me on LinkedIn and happy to, to chat. And to your point, I love to learn. For me, learning is a lifelong thing. And so if there are other industry gatherings and other things that I can participate in or I can lend my voice and you know, so-called expertise to, I’m happy to do that. And you know, love to continue to expand my horizon when it comes to the ability to reach out to as many people as possible. But I appreciate this platform. I know that you also have a varied audience and you know, I just love that I can be a part of it.

Scott Luton (45:17):

Well, we’re two for two and you brought it and advertise. I can’t wait till the next conversation. Yes, we’re gonna get you and Greg back together for maybe a bigger bonus episode of The Buzz. We’ll see. But in the meantime, big thanks to our friend and hall of Famer Valle, chief Supply Chain and support services officer with Ochsner Health System. Thank you so much regime, and look forward to seeing you again soon.

Regine Villain (45:40):

Thank you. Thank you Greg. And thank you Scott. Thank you Amanda and everybody behind the scene working on this.

Scott Luton (45:48):

That’s right. Have a great week.

Regine Villain (45:50):

All right, you too.

Scott Luton (45:51):

All right, Greg. I really wish, you know, we say it a lot, but man, you know, we’re not doing her justice. Just how innovative some of the things she did, especially more recently at the beginning of the pandemic, she saw some things that the whole industry in the world was really late in seeing and, and better yet, she saw it and did things about it. But Greg, out of everything she shared here today, what is one of your favorite takeaways from the 30 minutes or so we spent with Regina Valle? First

Greg White (46:15):

Of all, of course she has her own ideas and she’s her own person. But my God, that last bit, it was like she is channeling the late great Sandra McQuillan. You could just feel the spirit, the words, the approach to business, the approach to leadership, the approach to mentoring, all those things. They must have been separated at birth.

Scott Luton (46:35):

Hmm.

Greg White (46:36):

So similar and similarly visionary and, you know, committed to excellence and committed to sharing that excellence and the credit for that excellence, you know, throughout the organization really just wow.

Scott Luton (46:49):

Mm, I agree

Greg White (46:50):

Ly eerily similar, right?

Scott Luton (46:52):

That was like a two minute masterclass. You know, next time we have regime back, we’re gonna have to structure it as a masterclass. And not just healthcare, supply chain leadership, but leadership, you know, for that matter. Well, really enjoyed the buzz. We’re up against our time here today, Greg. A pleasure. This was a great one here today. What a great way to start the week. Big thanks to, uh, you Greg, and also all the folks, we couldn’t get all the comments, but thanks for being here. Thanks for all your contributions. Big thanks to Catherine and Amanda behind the scenes. Yeah. For helping to make today happen. And folks, whatever you do, as y’all know, we wrap very similarly with every show. But this is a perfect example here on behalf of our entire team here at Supply Chain. Now, Scott Luton challenging you to take something else said here today, put it into practice. Be like regime, right? Do good impact your community. You know, look for real results and outcomes, not just lip service. The world has plenty. Too much supply of lip service comes down to action. So with that, I challenge you to do good, to give forward and to be the change. And we’ll see you next time, right back here at Supply Chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (47:58):

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