The Supply Chain Buzz is Supply Chain Now’s regular Monday livestream, held at 12n ET each week. This show focuses on some of the leading stories from global supply chain and global business, always with special guests – the most important of which is the live audience!
In this episode of The Buzz, made possible in partnership with the team at Azul Arc, Supply Chain Now hosts Scott Luton and Greg White find the strength to rise above the temptation to discuss sandwiches for the entire hour (inspired by this week’s episode of This Week in Business History – 5 Things You Didn’t Know About the Sandwich Industry).
Greg and Scott start the week by discussing a number of breaking news stories that supply chain professionals won’t want to miss:
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 (00:31):
Hey, good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. Wherever you are in the world. Scott Luton, Greg White with you right here on supply chain and welcome to today’s live stream Gregory. How are we doing?
Greg White (00:42):
Very good. It is the 1st of November. Can you believe that? It feels like the year, this year is sailing by an October in particular went quickly. Feels like,
Scott Luton (00:53):
Well, um, so that’s big news, but what’s bigger news is I see you’ve got your rock and roll express starter kit on your arm. What would, what was that again?
Greg White (01:01):
It’s my, uh, it’s actually a mask, but it really doubles nicely as a,
Scott Luton (01:07):
Were you around here? Well, we’ve established what a second. Both of us were wrestling fans growing up. You remember Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson when the rock and roll express?
Greg White (01:18):
Well, so I grew up in the Midwest, so our local wrestlers were a total different group, but I think I’ve heard of rock and roll express. Yeah,
Scott Luton (01:27):
The world renowned. They do this thing. Oh, they had, they had all that back in the eighties. Hairbands, bandanas. Yeah. They had them all up there, all up their arms around their head. You name it. They were really cool when you’re 12 years old watching wrestling, but anyway, Hey welcome folks. Today’s supply chain buzz not and buzz supply chain buzz. We’re going to be tackling some leading stories across global business. So buckle up and get ready because we want to hear from YouTube. So we’re going to say hello to a few folks here at momentarily, Greg, but tell us, uh, before we get started, you’re in Kansas city, right? What’s the weather like what, you know, what’s the game, tee it up for us.
Greg White (02:10):
Yeah. Well it’s a little bit rainy. I’m looking out here. It’s a little bit rainy, uh, till about two o’clock it’s 44 degrees feels like 40, which reminds you quickly when you’re from Atlanta. What winter feels like. I mean, I know I’m going to, uh, I just can’t wait for Gary Smith or somebody from upstate New York, Bobby Holland from USBank right to say, uh, you guys, you don’t know what winter is, but uh, I feel like I will, after being out in it, uh, you know, 40 to 37 or whatever it’s going to get to tonight for probably five and a half hours or so. So, um, yeah, but it, it, it’s actually pretty nice here. The leaves are changing. Um, it’s pretty good, but it is kind of a reminder of one of the soon to becoming common disruptions of supply chain, which is the weather. Right. I’ve had a few snow storms in, you know, in the west and Northeast a little bit already. Um, they’re predicting snow in just north of Kansas city in the next day or so light snow. I’m sure. But you know, it’s just, when you thought we were out Scott, they pull us back then.
Scott Luton (03:22):
Um, they do. You’re absolutely right. Well, good luck with Kansas city taken on it’s here tonight. Let’s you know, I’m gonna flip the script a little bit. I’m gonna go in and say hello to a few folks. We’ve got Peter bowler all night and all day with us. He says, good afternoon, good. Monday afternoon, day after scary Hallows night. Certainly on the braids front. Of course, Halloween. Yeah, we can’t Greg, we can’t talk about the Braves game today, right?
Greg White (03:46):
I can’t it’s too soon Scott and there’s nothing. I mean, let’s talk about it to this extent. There’s nothing like a grand slam in the first inning of a game. And I literally thought the game was over. I thought no way they come back from that. They just got crushed in the previous game. Houston, no way Houston comes back from that, but they came back with a vengeance anyway, let’s move on. But you know what, there was a little bit of relief here in Casey because it was also Halloween all Hallows’ Eve. And not only did we get to see people out in their costumes, but, um, I’m here with one of my previous coach, two of my previous co-founders, uh, from blue Ridge, just kind of a celebratory after we sold the company. And, um, I was regaled with stories about one of my co-founders whose father is a Baptist preacher. So they didn’t really, they didn’t and, and from Andy’s from The Bahamas. So they didn’t really celebrate Halloween. And his wife is Haitian and is like totally against voodoo. And she feels like, you know, there’s a lot of that kind of bad Juju around Halloween. So their kids have never they’re kids now 25 and 23 have never gone trick or treating. So, and I know you’re, I don’t think you’re a huge fan of Halloween. I mean, not against it or anything, but it’s not like your favorite holiday.
Scott Luton (05:10):
I was just saying that sounds like a wonderful upbringing, Greg, a wonderful upbringing, but so really quick folks, um, I gave, offered our kids a little, little Mo monetary deal. If they stayed home and gave out candy versus going trick or treating, we couldn’t close the deal. But anyway, yeah, th they’re, they’re tough negotiators, Greg, so
Greg White (05:36):
That
Scott Luton (05:37):
We know it’s right. Hey, let’s say
Greg White (05:39):
Load two judges. They’re tough. Judges are
Scott Luton (05:41):
Really tough judges as well. Uh, Josh, you great to see you here via LinkedIn and by the way, Peter, thanks for stopping in as always, we can’t do a budget without ya. Um, Sushil is tuned in via LinkedIn. Great to have you back. So she’ll knee-high is with us, uh, via LinkedIn as well. Great to see in the harm. Uh, let’s see here, CICU from Arizona field LinkedIn. Great to see a great to have you here today. Hey, Jean pledger Gregory from, uh, Northern Alabama is with us here. You think he’s a Todd fan.
Greg White (06:13):
All right. Thanks
Scott Luton (06:15):
Jean. Let us know if you’re roll. Rolling, uh, uh, Crimson Todd fan. Uh,
Greg White (06:20):
But I think that, I think that matchup, by the way, the Georgia Alabama SCC championship metric, I think it’s already locked up. Is that right? Did I
Scott Luton (06:29):
Hear that right? I think you might be right. That’s going to be a great, I know
Greg White (06:32):
That Georgia is definitely in really? Yeah. I don’t know about Bama yet. So
Scott Luton (06:38):
We’ll see. Ramen is tuned in from LinkedIn. Winners are coming you’re right. Whether we like it or not speaking
Greg White (06:47):
Game of Thrones, reference
Scott Luton (06:49):
Speaking, Gary Smith, he’s here live in person. We’ll have to ask him about that fierce New York winter. So gear lists
Greg White (06:57):
Totally tuned in after I was complaining about cold weather. When it’s above zero,
Scott Luton (07:03):
The big show Bob Boba is back. Once again, he’s out there. I believe Greg. So I bet whether it’s really nice out there and he’s a giants fan,
Greg White (07:12):
They got a bunch of rain. Um, and you know, cause they had a big storm come to shore, which I think actually helped because their reservoirs in California were down by 26%. Wow. I mean, you could see the part of lakes that was, has been underwater for decades, frankly. So it was very strange, but I think that helps. Um, well of course it also helped with skiing, which I heard from a listener who is, uh, uh, ski buff.
Scott Luton (07:40):
Awesome. Love it. Uh, Jose and so great to have you here, Bob, uh, Jose, he’s also a giant fan. We got some giants fans here tuning in Greg. We’ve got Jennifer, uh, from Memphis, one of the barbecue capitals of the world to, to be LinkedIn. That’s right. Ackbar man. You’re breaking my heart go Astros. He says hello from Houston and let’s talk tariffs and one final one. So cringy. Do you
Greg White (08:10):
Think we could put a tariff on the Astros? I love that. I
Scott Luton (08:13):
Love that idea. Ackbar. Let’s see if we can do that. Yeah. Um, how about a tariff on really bad home plate umpires? That’s what we should talk tax, but we’ll set that aside. Hey Kerryn. Great to see you here today. Host of tech talk, digital supply chain podcast, and she says Bama has to get through Auburn still Greg.
Greg White (08:32):
And you know, that’s no small task in any year. It’s no small task because that is a hate game and hate can fuel a lot of surprises in a football game. Like the Michigan, Michigan state game this weekend, where in Michigan scored 21 points in two minutes and 35 seconds. Wow. And still lost the game.
Scott Luton (08:51):
Unbelievable. Uh, great. See you’re Korean Delano. Good morning guys from beautiful Southern California. Happy November 20, 21. Can’t believe it’s already here. That makes grievance.
Greg White (09:04):
Yeah.
Scott Luton (09:06):
Kelly Gray, sunny, Phoenix, Arizona, LinkedIn. Great. See Kelly and welcome to
Greg White (09:11):
As to, yeah, Phoenix only has two to a weather forecast. It’s sunny and 70 something or it’s sunny and 120 something. It seems like. Hmm. But it’s always sunny.
Scott Luton (09:24):
Yeah. Two gears, two gears to two toggles or welcome everybody. And I got to throw this one more common here. Bob says, you mean the Houston asterix, Bob bringing it today. Hey, love
Greg White (09:37):
That
Scott Luton (09:39):
Truth. All right. Well Greg let’s, uh, it’s just you and me today. And, and, and I say just, but we don’t have any, there’s plenty is plenty. We got plenty of stuff to walk through. Um, I’m going to tee up our visuals here and we’ve got a couple of events. We want to invite folks to starting with Greg tomorrow. We have got a webinar or a free webinar coming up. We’re talking about CX customer experience, especially as it’s being fueled through visibility diversification in the agility. Now, uh, not only do we have Nate Endicott with rate links, uh, joining us, but he’s bringing a great friend. Andy helps with school specialty Greg. So I’m excited for yet another great discussion with our friends, right?
Greg White (10:23):
I always love it when we get to talk to a technology provider or a services provider and, and a customer who’s really done. I think that perspective is so powerful, right. To see how people are competing and thriving or struggling, or, you know, meeting the challenges of the day, uh, in practical terms. I think it’s fantastic. Cause we talk a lot about what ought to happen, you know, and talk about it kind of a theory about how it does happen, but, but how it’s happening for a particular person or company just really drives the point home. So every time we can do that, hello,
Scott Luton (10:59):
Excellent point. Join us tomorrow at 12 noon Eastern time you got to register, but the link to register is in the show notes. Uh, and then coming up next week, uh, I’ll be joined by Larysa Siri and Dr. [inaudible], uh, November 9th at 12 noon. We’re talking about resiliency and agility, Greg.
Greg White (11:16):
Yeah. Kupa is making some big moves. They just thought, uh, well, not just bought, but recently bought llama soft and have completely expanded their offerings. And of course, um, big have done some big things over the course of the last couple of quarters. So I think resiliency and agility or something we need to titular attention on. Now, you know, we’ve done a lot of optimization and a lot of, uh, editors Paribas, all of the things being equal, kind of planning and analysis. And now knowing that all things are never equal, we realized that we have to reduce fragility, increase agility and resilience and responsiveness in the supply chain. It’s going to be a good discussion.
Scott Luton (11:59):
Agreed. Uh, and by the way, if you haven’t watched the world series, holy cow, Coupa’s everywhere. They’ve really made a splash, uh, with their sponsorship throughout the playoffs. Really. Um, so join us for that November night, 12 noon, the link to sign up. If it’s not in the show notes, Amanda Jada or Allie, if we drop it in the comments, please, and then Gregory. So today appreciate it. We were talking about sandwiches. So on today’s episode of this week in business history, we dive into some of the business side of the global sandwich industry, a little bit of fast food sandwich. So own that note to folks, if you like the intersection of business and history, you can find this week in business history, wherever you get your podcasts, we’d love for you to describe, but, um, we’re going to be talking folks about your favorite sandwiches. We’re going to hear from Greg. We’re going to hear from folks on the production side, kind of behind the scenes, Allie, Amanda Jayda. And we want to hear about your favorite sandwich and where you get it. So give us about three minutes or four minutes to get through the next couple of notes, but we want to hear about one of our favorite things are really good sandwich, right? Greg?
Greg White (13:08):
Yeah. And I think what was enlightening and asking people is it’s really hard for people to pick one favorite sandwich.
Scott Luton (13:16):
Right? Everybody’s got seven or eight favorites. So yeah. Give us one, I’m looking forward to working through that. So also take a listen to our five things you didn’t know about the sandwich industry. Now, Greg, one,
Greg White (13:29):
Other, any of those include who invented the sandwich?
Scott Luton (13:32):
It does. We, we touch on that a little bit. Um, you know, the, the third Earl of sandwich, I believe. Right. Great. John Montague, John. Um, we, do
Greg White (13:44):
You know why we invented it? Do you go into that in the show? Because I don’t want to spill it if you
Scott Luton (13:49):
A little bit, a little bit. Yeah. Um, you know, he, he liked to gamble, so he had, he wanted one hand on his food and one handle his cards perhaps.
Greg White (13:59):
And it was a particular night when he was winning and he, he didn’t want to step away from the table because he was winning.
Scott Luton (14:05):
Wow. Okay. Well, we’re going to have to get a full-blown series around sandwiches and Greg white and really do it.
Greg White (14:15):
If you watch enough, um, whatever it is, the national poker tour or whatever, they tell you, all those, all the gambling stories. Really.
Scott Luton (14:24):
Yeah. Okay. There’s a lot more there. I feel like you’re not telling me, but we’re gonna dive into it. Uh, before you’d know it. I want to give a shout out Greg to our dear friends at Azle. So we’re producing today’s show in partnership with our friends as Ark who built our stunning yes, stunning new website at supply chain. Now that com now Greg, you and I have had, of course met was the here and the team. And we’ve even had him on the show. They’re leaders in user experience, design and development of websites. And Greg you’ll get a kick out of this custom software applications within the supply chain industry. So big, thanks to the here and a talented award-winning team at Azule arc. You can learn more@azuahrq.com, but Greg what’s one thing whether about Zahir, who is, is, um, talk about food was the, here we can have a whole series there or about what this team does from a, that UX, uh, point of view, what, what comes to mind?
Greg White (15:22):
Well, so, I mean, they, they start first with a really solid foundation of research of the persona of who will be using the technology. So I’ve actually talked to them about some technologies that I have about doing you UI and UX work for it before. First of all, great team, unbelievably talented, really, um, all the folks that I’ve talked to there are really, really strong zippers, you know, your leader of course. But, um, but yeah, I think the thing is that they really want to know the type of people like what, what their makeup is and also how they intend to be using it, mostly working back from the goals of how they’ll use the technology. And I think that is really, really powerful. Um, you know, I’m a strong believer that you build the UI and UX first and, and then you adapt the technology that underpins that to that, because the worst thing you can have is a really, really good piece of technology that nobody wants to use. It’s true. Right. I mean, and it happens all the time,
Scott Luton (16:23):
The point excellent point, uh, great advice. Well, Hey, y’all check out as all art.com. If you have any needs in mind, especially for the new year, as, as we’ve already celebrated, we’re in November already, which is tough to believe. Okay, so Greg, we’re gonna move, we’re gonna spend a couple minutes talking sandwiches, right? Because national sandwich day is Wednesday, November 3rd. I had no idea they celebrate sandwiches formerly, um, that requires tuxedos one day a year. And so
Greg White (16:56):
You gotta pick your sandwich carefully on that. Right.
Scott Luton (16:59):
So, and, and by the way, Sophia, great to have you back, um, hope this finds you and, and your family. Well, so yeah.
Greg White (17:07):
Uh, Greg, you always got to ask though, when you see Sophia, are you, you, are you your sister? Right? Because they are twins.
Scott Luton (17:14):
Right. Um, all right. So I want to ask you Greg, with national sandwich day coming up on Wednesday, November 3rd, what is your favorite sandwich and or where do you get it? Okay.
Greg White (17:26):
It could be as popular and, um, insightful as my, you know, what would you do after you made a pile of money? Landscaping answer. My favorite stuff is egg salad. I love eggs out unquestionably, head and shoulders above the rest next would probably be peanut butter and jelly. And then that, because when you start a tech company, you better like eating peanut butter and jelly. Um, cause you’re gonna need it for like two years. Right. And then, you know, the vast array of sandwiches, which I’m sure we’ll hear from the, you know, the crew in the, um, upper decks and the club seats today. So that’s mine. What about you? What is your favorite sandwich?
Scott Luton (18:08):
All right. So, uh, Patty Milt from waffle house that from waffles. Oh man. With some Tabasco, I’ve been eating that since a little less of it, but since high school days. And it’s just a thing of beauty. And then, you know, if, if we’re opting maybe for a few less calories, uh, a good Italian sub and a Jersey Mike’s is our franchise. We like going to, uh, we like the bread. They’re not a big subway fan, but hometown Aiken, South Carolina, there’s a great place called pats sub shop. They’ve been around for decades because they get it right. They do it right. And they build it. Right. And it’s delicious. So a Patty melt or an Italian sub,
Greg White (18:51):
I have a philosophical sandwich question for you. And that is, do you consider a hamburger, a sandwich or is it a burger unto itself? Is it a totally separate category or is it a sandwich?
Scott Luton (19:06):
Excellent question about that. My quick date is since a Patty melt, I get it on standard wheat toast. That makes it a sandwich instead of a burger. But I think that burger is a different category. It would be my take. Yeah.
Greg White (19:22):
It is funny how Patty melt is a completely different definition of food from a hamburger. It’s not
Scott Luton (19:29):
Now for the purpose of that podcast. On this week in business history, we kind of took a sandwich, but then an extended view of the food industry. Inclusive
Greg White (19:40):
Yeah. Sandwiches. That’s good.
Scott Luton (19:43):
All right. So I’m going to a really quick, and it looks like we’re getting some great sandwich suggestions here. We’re going to share from around the sky boxes. Let’s see Allie, who’s on our production team, uh, Turkey from Publix, uh, Amanda, who’s also behind the scenes here today. A club sandwich, not from, I mean, just from anywhere. She also likes making a mean club sandwich and then Jayda, Greg had a couple answers here. So she’s a big Jimmy John’s fan loves the Pepe. They’re at Jimmy John’s or the Hammond cheddar at Penn station, which I think is also a chain of maybe in the further up the Atlantic seaboard. Wow.
Greg White (20:23):
Yeah. Hammond chatter. I love a hot hand sandwich
Scott Luton (20:27):
I’m with you. So
Greg White (20:29):
Let’s, let’s see. That’s what makes it so hard,
Scott Luton (20:31):
Right? Especially when the cheese is just like flowing, it’s just soft and velvety and you’ve got a good piece of ham and good bread because the bread is what makes sandwiches. But let’s see what Peter says. Peter says have many his self in terms of the favorite sandwiches, bacon, grilled cheese, or Ruben Montreal smoked meat, best
Greg White (20:54):
The smoked meat sandwich. Everyone should eat one of those before you die. It is unbelievably spectacularly delicious.
Scott Luton (21:02):
Wow. Souvlaki egg sandwich club with meat and a fried egg list goes on and on. And he also left out the Philly cheese steak. He loves her a Sophia pulled pork sandwich, avocado and spicy barbecue. How about that?
Greg White (21:18):
Yeah, I think, I think a barbecue sandwich is kind of, it’s kind of one of those fringe categories because so often eat barbecue, not on a sandwich. Right. But when you do, yeah, I don’t even, I didn’t even click it that as a sandwich option. Uh, but I often need it.
Scott Luton (21:37):
Pete smoked meat. Can’t beat pizza meat. Is there a slogan? Thank you, Peter. Boulay uh, Stacy. Great to see you here today. Uh, via LinkedIn Corrine says momma Goldberg’s mama’s love with trademarks team bun. Gary likes a homemade permitted cheese with ham at home and from the store. Definitely the classic Chick-fil-A sandwich. Okay. Big show. Bob Bova. Claros Claros Claros Italian deli, a great grandpa, Joe or sausage and peppers on the Joe mortadella, capricola capricola, provolone draws, salami pepper and cheese. Oh man.
Greg White (22:20):
That’s
Scott Luton (22:20):
Right. Finally, fully on what should we get everybody here at Felicia says hello, Felicia from our friends at RLA. My sister in Denver makes the best sandwich. No matter what I do, I can’t replicate it. Or maybe it’s just better when someone else makes it for you. Basic white bread, Turkey, cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado, and bacon. How about that, Greg?
Greg White (22:40):
Yeah, that does sound good. So I think I’m too old. He have caught on every sandwich, but I do frequently.
Scott Luton (22:48):
All right. Well, thanks for everybody’s sharing. Gosh, we’ve gotten deep into the show and we still gotta get to the news of the day, but Hey, we want to hear your take on three storage. We’re going to be talking about freight. We’re going to be talking about, uh, uh, partnership between sax and GX. Oh, we’re going to be talking about Amazon says it’s um, it is snarling snarl proofing its supply chain more to come on that. And then China’s manufacturing activity. Uh, we’re going to touch on all of that and more on today’s supply chain buzz. All right. So, uh, I’m going to pull this up, Greg, and we’re going to walk through suit. So Greg, as we do once a quarter, we had our friends from U S bank. Join us for the three Q 2021, uh, freight payment index this quarter. And I think show took place last week, maybe week four. Uh, Greg, we had, uh, Patricia from mandolins international who basically leads our north American, uh, transportation, uh, activities, which man wonder how much sleep she gets at night, but she was a home run guest. And it’s really neat to kind of hear the data side from Bobby and then the practitioner side from Patricia. Yeah. Um, I’ve got a couple of notes, but Greg, what was, uh, what was the key takeaway or two from you when it comes to their freight payment index
Greg White (24:04):
Inflation? There aren’t enough drivers. There’s not enough. Um, you know, the, I mean the cost of diesel fuel is so very high. Um, I think setting records now since we actually had that, had that show with them right there aren’t enough trailers, equipment drivers. Um, and, and one thing that I saw that was particularly interesting is that while there’s a lot of latent demand out there, demand is actually the ability to fulfill demand is actually tamping down demand in the marketplace because so many people are not even, they’re not even issuing forbids because they’re no trucks to haul this stuff. So it’s a really interesting point where it looks like demand is low. Um, but that’s only because so many people are out of the market.
Scott Luton (24:57):
Agreed and, and uh, a couple of things. And I’ll throw this graphic back up here really quick, Greg, everything’s up spinning in volumes in particular, third quarter spending is up 32.6% over third quarter. Last year. It has the second biggest increase ever, Greg. And if you check it out by region, check out the Western region here, when it comes to spend 44% increase in spend three Q a third quarter, 2021 over 2020. So no shortage of observations, no shortage of activity in challenges across the north American freight market. Uh, the best thing, perhaps the best news here, Greg, perhaps is you can get the freight payment index for free. If you go to freight that bank.com.
Greg White (25:44):
Yeah, don’t be, don’t be surprised by this information next quarter,
Scott Luton (25:48):
Right?
Greg White (25:51):
You can get on their mailing list and they’ll send it to you and then you can discuss it with us and our guests here.
Scott Luton (25:58):
See that. Yeah. We’d love to have your voice.
Greg White (26:01):
We had some of that. I mean, this time around too, we had several folks who were chiming in on what, what they’re seeing, right. Or why they think we’re seeing it. I love that discussion.
Scott Luton (26:11):
I’m with you. So Mohib mammo, heaps stolen down the gauntlet. He says, Scott, I know you like your food very much, but don’t you think it’s time to hit the gym as well. Two hours a day will make you look really good with your dash. And Erica may say, I love you too, man. I love you have this finds you well there in Wichita, Kansas, uh, Allie says, oh man, my favorite is actually the BLT. How did I forget that?
Greg White (26:40):
There’s a great harvest store near our house. They make a fantastic bop.
Scott Luton (26:45):
Sounds delicious. Especially during the summer with summer tomatoes, T squared who holds down the Fort for us on YouTube says, uh, Rachel is a good one. Just mess a Reuben with coleslaw instead of sauerkraut.
Greg White (26:58):
Huh? Okay.
Scott Luton (27:00):
You had me, you had me at Cole slaw. We love our Cole slaw around here. Okay, Greg, we got to keep driving. We still got a lot more information
Greg White (27:08):
Talking about the news yet. Right?
Scott Luton (27:10):
All right. So to that end, uh, I want to start, uh, news-wise Saks fifth avenue is partnering with GXO and fulfillment to try to keep it with e-commerce demand. According to this story, Colin Campbell, Colin Campbell, maybe over at supply chain down. So Greg get this luxury fashion demand foreign concept around these parts at least, uh, is expected to increase dramatic. It’s expected to increase dramatically over holidays. Thusly Saks is partnering with a new GXO logistics fulfillment center in Middletown, Pennsylvania. So it can ship directly to customers across the country. In fact, Greg, 70% of that new facility there, 70% of inventory is gonna be dedicated to Sachs. Um, your thoughts are Greg.
Greg White (28:00):
Yeah, so I, I posted a little bit about this article and there was some serious interest on this late last week. And GXO, and for anyone who doesn’t know is a spin-out of XPO XPO, sorry, there you go. Uh, cause you know, they’ve started spinning off business units to try and increase shareholder value and it’s happening instantaneously, but Sachs actually started a new business. This is actually a separate business from their regular retail for e-commerce. I’m not sure why that is. I think there’s a lot of synergies to be gained with it, with it being in the same company. But I think, um, I was actually really impressed to see a relatively old school you could argue, right? They’re one of the oldest luxury department store brands in the country, right. Um, to see them kind of tackle this and particularly for the reason that they did, they want to reduce complexity and risk in their supply chain.
Greg White (28:57):
Right. And not what I noticed right out of the gate was costs was not at the top of their list. I’m sure there is huge cost benefit, but cost is just one of the risks of supply chain. It is not one of the goals of supply chain, right? This is a risk balancing exercise. Often you’re, you’re weighing costs against optimal fulfillment, whatever you want, whatever that is for you. But I was really, uh, really impressed by their approach to this. I think it’s a very mature and innovative approach for this, particularly an established retailer like this.
Scott Luton (29:34):
Now did you know Greg, there are three towns named Middletown in Pennsylvania. I trying, I’ll try really quick for the show to look up and kind of see, you know, we’re where they decide to place this fulfillment center, but we’re going to do a little more homework cause there was no, there were no quick answers, but
Greg White (29:54):
Really interesting. Three towns named Middletown, right? Three different there’s a state that has two Springfield’s also, I can’t remember what state it is.
Scott Luton (30:02):
Come on. We can’t flood the market. Like come on let’s let’s pick one and get more creative, but uh, interesting to see what Saks fifth avenue is doing with GXO and we will see how these efforts, um, play out as we get through the holidays. So moving right along, Greg, I want to talk about, um, keeping up with demand. Now Amazon says it’s ready for the supply chain, snarls operative word snarls that will be coming with the days ahead. So, and before I came up to look, I tried to find when I think of the word snarl, what image comes to mind. So we’re trying to illustrate these powerful words they put in these headlines. So according to any Palmer over at CNBC, Amazon has stated in a blog post that the company is well positioned to quote get customers what they want when they want it, wherever they are. This holiday season, there was a big, big fight in words, but Amazon is also doing what other retailers, other retailers are doing encouraging shoppers to buy earlier for the holidays this year. In fact, I think I saw Amazon talk about, um, some, uh, black Friday ish looking deals already in October. Um, maybe trying to shift some of that demand,
Greg White (31:26):
Target and Costco too, then been doing it. Yeah,
Scott Luton (31:30):
Amazon says, and then my come get your take here, Greg, including your comments on our, our, our, uh, visceral pictures we used for the headline, uh, Amazon says it has amongst other things invested in inventory planning, doubled its shipping container processing capacity and partnered with more ocean freight carriers. Gregory. Are they going to be able to insulate themselves truly from supply chain snarls?
Greg White (31:56):
No. Is there anything else you want me to say? Um, of course, of course they’re not. Uh, and of course this is what they would say. I think if anyone can do it can be successful, there’ll be right at the top. But I think, you know, organizations like home Depot and Costco and others, who’ve basically chartered their own ships. So they’re in charge of whether they’re good, stay on the ship and that sort of thing. They’re in a much, much better position. Now, the other thing that Amazon has going for them is this vast fulfillment and logistics network that they have that is a service to their customers. The other thing that they have going for them is the plausible deniability of being able to say, well, that’s not that outage is not really on us. That’s on the, that’s on the merchant, that’s on the provider of those goods, right.
Greg White (32:44):
Or that’s on the, the seller in the marketplace. So, um, yeah, I mean, I think they’ll do as well as can be done, but as I was reading through this article and thinking about this, I’m thinking there are so many things that are already out of stock. It’s not like, and are presumably going to continue to be out of stock. They’re not gonna overcome that. What they’re really talking about is they hope and they believe that they have a strategy to, um, not get in snarled. I think not at fishing line line, by the way, when I think sorrow, that kind of sorrow. Right. But, um, but not getting ensnared in, you know, in further supply chain disruptions, and maybe they’re able to take enough control of what they’ve already got in motion or plan to have in motion or probably should already have here on our shores, um, that, that they, they feel that they can overcome it, but there are going to be far fewer skews, far lesser quantities of, of, um, products this holiday season. That’s just a fact, right. And it’s, you know, it’s impossible to avoid. I mean, the, the ships that have been waiting in the harbors for weeks or now in some cases, 90 days, they were, they were, and still are carrying goods for the holidays. And as we’ve noted today, Scott it’s now November. So, so it is effectively the holidays, right?
Scott Luton (34:12):
That’s right. Hey folks, let us know what you think is Amazon, how are they going to be able to mitigate or to what extreme and get around some of these challenges, let us know. You may already be seeing some things play out, uh, with Amazon or other e-commerce retailers. I’d say, Greg, you know, we’re going to talk about the power of diversification tomorrow with rate links when it comes to managing your supply chain. Um, I think part of that, well, something we’ve been doing around here at least as a consumers is diversifying where we place our orders. I probably have used Amazon the least amount in 2021 since I became a, you know, a regular user at Amazon, uh, whether it’s books from Barnes and noble and some other sources cause really, uh, and, and oftentimes for me, Greg, I don’t know what it’s like for you, but I, I really, I’ve tried to embrace the fact and fight against that, that, um, I need it now kind of human element when it comes, it comes, I don’t need that book tomorrow. I don’t need that book two days from now. And so when you really start to kind of peel that layer of human psychology back, you can really get what you need it of wide variety of places other than Amazon.
Greg White (35:21):
Well, and the truth is Amazon can, in a lot of cases, um, they can’t meet the two day delivery thing even for prime members, which I am. And I’m sure you are in the millions, hundreds of millions of Sr. Um, they can’t meet that. And then, and you know, it’s funny because two realizations, one, my wife told me that coffee, and if your coffee is going up substantially to give you an idea, I usually buy a six pack of coffee, beans and ground coffee beans. And they are where they were $88 for 4, 6, 2 0.2 pounds, a thousand kilogram bags. Um, I basically buy a key of coffee, only coffee, um, but it was $88. The last time I bought it at this time to buy it $118. So that is a substantial inflation rate. Um, there’s obviously things going on in Brazil and some of the other producing countries, but I was still able to find a coffee that must already be in stock at, at closer to my previous price. And I did what I, what I call a forward buy, which is really what got me into supply chain, hedging, hedging inventory against cost inflation. So I bought like three times as much as I usually do really did a little quick calculation, could determine what I expect the price to go up to and bought about three times as much as I usually do. Um, so that I hopefully won’t have to buy again until the price goes back down.
Scott Luton (36:57):
Wow, man, I love that Greg, you need to teach some classes around that. Hey, um, I want to add one other note and Amanda Jayda, Allie, if we can drop this in the comments, as we look to diversify our spin and look at other resources, a spousely.com is a great resource. It’s a community and a marketplace built and comprised of veteran entrepreneurs, military spouse, entrepreneurs, and first responder entrepreneurs. And when Greg talked about coffee, uh, we got a big old five-pound bag of coffee from one of the wonderful retailers there at spousely. So it’s a great resource to consider as we get into holiday, I’ve already been in holiday shopping season. So if we can drop that in the comments there, Amanda, that’d be wonderful. Um, let’s see here. Sophia says
Greg White (37:40):
I went out just one more thing before we get to Sophia. One thing that this really struck me when reading this article is the article referred to Amazon as the retailer, not the marketplace, not the tech company or anything that when they, when they use that specific term, it made me think that in a lot of ways, Amazon is just another retailer. They really, in so many ways, are there vendors in their case, they call them sellers, but their vendors sell goods that they then make sure make it to the consumer just like Saks fifth avenue or just like target or Walmart or, you know, whoever else. And when you think about it that way, and you know, Amazon stock has been wavering to put it kindly all year. In fact, it’s down over the year, uh, for some portion of the year. Um, when you think about it that way, it makes you think because that’s a big part of their business and it’s also the least profitable part of their business.
Greg White (38:44):
How much of a drag is this retail on Amazon? And how long will they tolerate that? Because clearly they have not fixed the cost benefit scenario in the retail aspect of their business. They make all of their money off of AWS, Amazon web services, hosting servers, right? So I don’t know why that just happened to strike me today in thinking about that. And they use that. So intentionally I’m getting pretty good at that. So intentionally, um, in the article, I think it’s worth a read. I’d love to get people’s perspectives on that or, sorry, let’s go back to Sophia.
Scott Luton (39:20):
No, I love that. I love that. I love that spin. I think a lot of folks may, you know, a lot of consumers may be looking at Amazon much more transactionally versus kind of that strategic overview of the model that you offered up there. Greg Sophia says, I believe that as much as Amazon can hold accountable sellers for delays or prove they are not responsible for the out of stocks, customers will sadly always blame them.
Greg White (39:45):
The sellers. Is that what you think? That’s what you mean? The south sellers or Amazon, because I don’t think it’s sad at all and blame Amazon. They’re the one taking responsibility for it.
Scott Luton (39:55):
Sophia, if you can clarify that remark, that’d be wonderful. And I’m so glad you’re here. Uh, Stacy says, I agree with Greg, Amazon might have strategies in place to make their supply chain better, but to completely avoid the problems that they are already having. I’ll take a whole lot of more and better management and accountability is what she is saying. That Amazon’s got
Greg White (40:18):
To agree with that. Yeah. All
Scott Luton (40:20):
Right. Wonderful. Uh, and then Jose says, Hey, Greg truck Colombian coffee from coffee bean. We’ll have to check that out.
Greg White (40:29):
Uh, yeah. So I don’t know what the source of the coffee is. I know it’s a, it’s an Italian brand, I, which I’m not going to name cause I don’t want you people there buying it out from under. But, um, but um, I think some of the beans are sourced from Africa and some are sourced from Columbia. I’ll have to look and look that again.
Scott Luton (40:52):
Wonderful.
Greg White (40:53):
Colombian coffee is spectacular, right? I mean, it really is. Um, Enrique and the team at vector global logistics have done a couple of different episodes of logistics with purpose where they talk about not just Colombian coffee, but fair trade, Colombian coffee, where the growers are part of the co-op and are appropriately compensated for their, um, you know, for their wares. So yay. Columbia. Yeah. You to these cooperatives
Scott Luton (41:24):
A quick trivia question. So Greg Brazil leads the world in at least in terms of 2020 production for coffee. Do you know the name of the country that ranks second as of 2020 production
Greg White (41:37):
Ethiopian?
Scott Luton (41:37):
No, that’s a good guess. Vietnam, can you, yeah. Can you believe that? Um, and, and I got that little nugget from a great site called visual capitalist.com. Amanda, if we can drop that in the notes, if you like infographics and like really interesting infographics, that’s really data-driven checkout visual capitalist.com. It really
Greg White (41:58):
Surprised me. It’s crazy. I would never guess that. Yup.
Scott Luton (42:01):
Wow. Uh, let’s see. Sophia does clarify, uh, she, she’s talking about sellers get
Greg White (42:07):
And blamed. Yeah. That’s exactly what Amazon wants.
Scott Luton (42:11):
Right. Let’s see here.
Greg White (42:13):
And, and to, to the previous comment, that’s where they need to take accountability. They are almost fully responsible for not only the sourcing or not only the fulfillment, but also the sourcing, uh, logistics for a lot of those sellers as well.
Scott Luton (42:29):
So Shashi was owned the money, man. He knows his coffee. I love that Shashi. And he also said, Amazon not responsible for out of stock. How would they manage accountability? Interestingly
Greg White (42:44):
Right there, they have a grand voice. They have a great, great voice. Right. They have the bully pulpit. So,
Scott Luton (42:49):
And you see Greg they’ve been investing in some of these commercials and these campaigns that talks about how it counters the news narrative out there in terms of how it treats the company treats its workers. Have you seen
Greg White (43:03):
Yeah. The F the, the Filipino guy who, um, yeah. Who’s become a nurse, thanks to them, right? Yeah. I mean, good on them for doing that. I don’t know if that’s the exception or the rule, but certainly good on them for that. And for anyone who speaks to Gallo, I love to know what he says in the last part of that commercial, you know, that the commercial I’m talking about. So he talks about his, he talks about the whole story, and then he says something into gala the Philippine language. And, but I don’t speak it. So I don’t know what he’s saying has a great,
Scott Luton (43:36):
No, I can barely speak English. Um, I struggle with that enough. Um, but Greg, you know, you don’t miss a thing. We’ll see if someone knows exactly what he says there towards, in that commercial. I don’t, I don’t think I’ve picked up on that, but, uh, Hey, you got to give Amazon credit. I do. You know, I love to see a really good meaningful story, even if it is perhaps the exception versus the rule, uh, good on the company for doing what they did, uh, on that story. All right. You gotta start somewhere. You gotta start somewhere. That’s good. Good point. All right. So finally, as we approach, gosh, we’re only, we’re about quarter til the top of the hour, and we’ve got so much more fun to have Craig. Uh, a lot of, a lot of good folks in the sky box is here today.
Scott Luton (44:17):
So according to Jonathan Chang, over at the wall street journal, China’s manufacturing activity has contracted for the second consecutive month. October’s numbers showed a bigger contraction than September and the overall manufacturing for China should the lowest reading since February, 2020. Now it’s a great article. You should check it out, be the wall street journal. We can’t do it fully justice here kind of walks into a variety of different, uh, different, uh, factors that are kind of colliding and intersecting, but a couple of them, they pointed out weak domestic demand related to, um, uh, uh, a variety of factors, including tightening regulation, especially when it comes up, uh, uh, property management, whatnot investment, and also, you know, they’ve had, uh, isolated breakouts of COVID all that has, and other things have helped to weakened domestic demand, but also the widespread power shortage, which some are calling China’s worst energy crisis in decades. So Greg, some of your thoughts.
Greg White (45:19):
Yeah, it is definitely that. I mean, and they have a very, very dangerous combination. They are already in a state of economy that for those of you who haven’t heard it called this before, it’s called stagflation where demand is flat or declining, and yet prices are still rising. Their, uh, their PMI, their producers management index and, and, uh, consumer pricing index are both on the uptick big time because the energy scarcity, um, you know, causes an increase in pricing. Um, the pricing of raw materials is, is well above the, you know, the article mentions an index, um, of the pricing of raw materials. And that is way up, way up. Um, and you know, there’s just a lot going on. So they are really, really struggling as an economy and their bank, their, their, uh, central bank is disinclined to start to kind of manipulate the money supply or anything like that.
Greg White (46:26):
Interest rates to try and stimulate the economy so that, you know, we’ll have to see what’s happened, but they are already according to some analysts in, in a state of stagflation. And it’s probably a precursor for the, you’re not gonna wanna hear this. Scott we’ll, we’ll talk we’ll, we’ll spin it positive. Somehow. That’s probably a precursor for what’s going to go on in the rest of the world, as well as, um, you know, as increasing pricing starts to drive down demand in the marketplace. Um, we’re going to start to see a lot of stagflation and possibly even recession around the world. I only say that because it’s better to be informed and prepared than surprised and broken
Scott Luton (47:06):
Well, uh, I hope you’re absolutely a hundred percent wrong, but, um,
Greg White (47:11):
Good point. That’s an excellent point. I hope I’m a hundred,
Scott Luton (47:15):
But I’ve learned as I’ve learned, don’t bet against Greg white. Uh, he knows what he’s talking about all too often. Um, you know,
Greg White (47:24):
It also, just to be clear, it’s got it also doesn’t mean it’s imminent in other parts of the right, but I mean, let’s face it China as goes the world these days, or guys go to China these days. So it goes the world in a lot of cases though, I still think that, you know, the way that their government manages and manipulates their, their economy and their industries, because they’re all owned by the state, of course, in some form or fashion, um, they do have a unique set of circumstances or there is a chance that it doesn’t impact the whole world. Right?
Scott Luton (47:59):
Um, well, we will keep our finger on the pulse for sure. Wide ranging a episode of the buzz. And again, this last article that we’ve been pointing to, uh, you can find in the wall street journal, and that was, uh, uh, written by Jonathan Chang. So good stuff there. Good reporting. Um, okay, so Gregory, uh, it got about 10 til man. We got through that a little bit faster than I thought we would, um, in possible. So, um, you’re in Kansas city, uh, for a couple of days here. Is there one legendary, um, uh, restaurant that you Def E each trip in the Kansas city? When you go to the, you know, football games, you hit up every single time.
Greg White (48:45):
Yes. Uh, there is the Arthur Brian’s is, is a place that I always go. It’s old school, Kansas city, barbecue. Um, it’s in a part of town where by the way, you can make a study of logistics because that part of town has kind of transitioned over the years. And there are just a ton of there. Of course, there’s a ton of trucking in Kansas city. There’s, there’s a bunch of, uh, logistics yards and truck yards, uh, right around place. So you have to be very judicious about what time of day you go to eat there, because you could get behind, uh, a couple hundred truck drivers and spend a lot of time in line, but that’s great. Um, majestic, which is, uh, possibly the best steakhouse in America. Um, and yes, I have eaten at Peter Luger’s Gary Smith. So I’ll stand by that. Um, so, uh, but yeah, I mean, that’s good. And, and always, if there is, uh, a new but reputable barbecue joint, um, 2 39 is another one, one of the newer, newer ish ones, at least to me. Um, and that was spectacularly delicious and Casey Joe’s, um, I’m a particular fan of Casey Joe’s because I liked the way they pull the smoke into and through the, the food.
Scott Luton (50:08):
Love it. I love it. Um, so gosh, we can, we need to talk a lot more food around here. Maybe we don’t need to talk a lot more food around here because Mohib is already encouraging me to go into jail and we talked about food, but Hey,
Greg White (50:24):
Pretty good, by the way, in your new swag, look at that, Scott. I love that quarter. Zip man, that is very styling. I’m surprised nobody, nobody commented on that. I mean, seriously, it looks fantastic.
Scott Luton (50:37):
Well, we got, we got a lot more coming, hitting a few supply chain snarls, as you might imagine, they’re Greg. Um, but Hey, nobody is immune these days. Nobody is immune. Um, I want to wrap on one thing that we don’t talk enough about folks. Um, you know, there’s a lot, there’s a wide variety of ways. You can engage what we do here at supply chain now. And by the way, your engagement is the best part of this journey. We’re on really enjoy hearing from all of you. Um, Amanda and Allie and Jayda, really the whole team here, um, produces a weekly e-newsletter and yeah, there’s plenty of them, but we have really been reinventing how we do it. And it’s called the voice right after the voice of supply chain. It drops every Wednesday and I’m gonna give a man a chance to, uh, find the link and drop it in the comments, because I want to pose a challenge out there to folks. Um, so if we can drop that link in the chat, and by the way, Jennifer says, I’ll weigh in. When you come to Memphis, if you don’t have a favorite barbecue joint, all Jennifer, you can’t mention that and not come on, you got to let us know your favorite. Uh,
Greg White (51:44):
Yeah, actually I have been to Memphis, um, and I have to confess, I wrote it down so I didn’t commit it to memory, but there are a couple of pretty good places. There’s one, I think grand Concourse, which is really famous. I’m not sure that’s not, that’s a good one. It’s not at the top of my list. I cannot remember what it’s as somebody’s name or nickname or something
Scott Luton (52:06):
Embarrassing. Quirky is that it is it Jennifer Corky’s is a name.
Greg White (52:12):
You can’t leave the place without smell. Like you’ve been barbecue. Right? Which I love.
Scott Luton (52:17):
Alright, well, Hey, back to, so a weekly newsletter, um, chock full of not just our stuff, uh, headlines, some humor, uh, some giveaways, you name it, but sign up for the voice link is right there and I’m going to sweeten the deal a bit. So, um, for the next three subscribers that, uh, subscribe to newsletter, but then also let us know. And whether you send us a note on social, or you can shoot an email over to amanda@supplychainnow.com. We’re going to send you some goodies. We’re going to send you some goodies. Uh, it may be chili reps. It might be Allie’s
Greg White (52:54):
Championship winning,
Scott Luton (52:57):
But we’ll make it worth your while. So if you, if you, the first three folks that subscribe and shoot us a note, we want to send you something good. And by the way, Jennifer says Corky’s is good for a chain. Oh man, we said that we said the wrong thing.
Greg White (53:12):
Um, I’m trying to figure out what the place is. Oh, rendezvous is that’s. That is a really good one. Yes, that’s it. And it’s not grand Concourse. I’m not thinking there’s one, that’s in a train or something like that. But rendezvous,
Scott Luton (53:32):
Kevin L. Jackson popping in, uh, happened,
Greg White (53:35):
Which has happened November. I’m glad you made it home safe to see you on Friday.
Scott Luton (53:41):
It was great to see you. Kevin has came into Atlanta for our, uh, Atlanta hot Chile championship. Cook-off which Allie one. And you know, of course, uh, Kevin leads our digital transformer series and many other things across a global business. A great see here, Kevin, thank you, Bob. The voice, I think, uh, at Amanda rally or Jayda came up with that. So I appreciate that Eric Germantown commissary, one of my favorite places in Memphis
Greg White (54:07):
Commissary. That’s right?
Scott Luton (54:11):
Yeah. Now Jennifer responded Memphis barbecue company. You got to get the barbecue nachos there or central barbecue. It all sounds good to me, Jennifer. Um, Rhonda view is touristy. She says, but has amazing barbecue shrimp.
Greg White (54:28):
Maybe the one. Yeah, I know Scott. We got to wrap this up,
Scott Luton (54:35):
Stacy. Hey, I want them goody. She says, Hey, we’ll make sure you sign up. Make sure you let us know. And uh, thanks for everybody being here today. We had a lot of fun talking sandwiches, talk in Kansas city and little bit of football, a little bit of baseball, not much baseball, a bit of football. We’ll see what happens in the next two day. Next two games between the Atlanta Braves and the Houston asterix. According to big show, Bob Boba, just kidding. That was, Bob had said that, um, well-deserved well-deserved and a lot of other things taking place across global supply chain folks, make sure you sign up for the voice. Make sure you let us know. So we, you can, uh, be part of the, uh, very rough, informal drawing, best wishes, Greg safe travels to you and the contingent, the delegation out there in Kansas city.
Greg White (55:24):
Have a thank you. I think we’re going to have a good time.
Scott Luton (55:27):
So have a wonderful time. Hope you win the game tonight against the giants and folks. Most importantly, beyond football and sports and anything else do good. Give forward. Be the change is needed. And on that note, see you next time. Right back here at supply chain. Now thanks for buying.
Intro/Outro (55:46):
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.
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Host, Logistics with Purpose
Kristi Porter is VP of Sales and Marketing at Vector Global Logistics, a company that is changing the world through supply chain. In her role, she oversees all marketing efforts and supports the sales team in doing what they do best. In addition to this role, she is the Chief Do-Gooder at Signify, which assists nonprofits and social impact companies through copywriting and marketing strategy consulting. She has almost 20 years of professional experience, and loves every opportunity to help people do more good.
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From humble beginnings working the import docks, representing Fortune 500 giants, Ford, Michelin Tire, and Black & Decker; to Amazon technology patent holder and Nordstrom Change Leader, Kimberly Reuter has designed, implemented, and optimized best-in-class, highly scalable global logistics and retail operations all over the world. Kimberly’s ability to set strategic vision supported by bomb-proof processes, built on decades of hands-on experience, has elevated her to legendary status. Sought after by her peers and executives for her intellectual capital and keen insights, Kimberly is a thought leader in the retail logistics industry.
Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol
Sofia Rivas Herrera is a Mexican Industrial Engineer from Tecnologico de Monterrey class 2019. Upon graduation, she earned a scholarship to study MIT’s Graduate Certificate in Logistics and Supply Chain Management and graduated as one of the Top 3 performers of her class in 2020. She also has a multicultural background due to her international academic experiences at Singapore Management University and Kühne Logistics University in Hamburg. Sofia self-identifies as a Supply Chain enthusiast & ambassador sharing her passion for the field in her daily life.
Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol
Demo Perez started his career in 1997 in the industry by chance when a relative asked him for help for two just weeks putting together an operation for FedEx Express at the Colon Free Zone, an area where he was never been but accepted the challenge. Worked in all roles possible from a truck driver to currier to a sales representative, helped the brand introduction, market share growth and recognition in the Colon Free Zone, at the end of 1999 had the chance to meet and have a chat with Fred Smith ( FedEx CEO), joined another company in 2018 who took over the FedEx operations as Operations and sales manager, in 2004 accepted the challenge from his company to leave the FedEx operations and business to take over the operation and business of DHL Express, his major competitor and rival so couldn’t say no, by changing completely its operation model in the Free Zone. In 2005 started his first entrepreneurial journey by quitting his job and joining two friends to start a Freight Forwarding company. After 8 months was recruited back by his company LSP with the General Manager role with the challenge of growing the company and make it fully capable warehousing 3PL. By 2009 joined CSCMP and WERC and started his journey of learning and growing his international network and high-level learning. In 2012 for the first time joined a local association ( the Panama Maritime Chamber) and worked in the country’s first Logistics Strategy plan, joined and lead other associations ending as president of the Panama Logistics Council in 2017. By finishing his professional mission at LSP with a company that was 8 times the size it was when accepted the role as GM with so many jobs generated and several young professionals coached, having great financial results, took the decision to move forward and start his own business from scratch by the end of 2019. with a friend and colleague co-founded IPL Group a company that started as a boutique 3PL and now is gearing up for the post-Covid era by moving to the big leagues.
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The founder of Logistics Executive Group, Kim Winter delivers 40 years of executive leadership experience spanning Executive Search & Recruitment, Leadership Development, Executive Coaching, Corporate Advisory, Motivational Speaking, Trade Facilitation and across the Supply Chain, Logistics, 3PL, E-commerce, Life Science, Cold Chain, FMCG, Retail, Maritime, Defence, Aviation, Resources, and Industrial sectors. Operating from the company’s global offices, he is a regular contributor of thought leadership to industry and media, is a professional Master of Ceremonies, and is frequently invited to chair international events.
He is a Board member of over a dozen companies throughout APAC, India, and the Middle East, a New Zealand citizen, he holds formal resident status in Australia and the UAE, and is the Australia & New Zealand representative for the UAE Government-owned Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), the Middle East’s largest Economic Free Zone.
A triathlete and ex-professional rugby player, Kim is a qualified (IECL Sydney) executive coach and the Founder / Chairman of the successful not for profit humanitarian organization, Oasis Africa (www. oasisafrica.org.au), which has provided freedom from poverty through education to over 8000 mainly orphaned children in East Africa’s slums. Kim holds an MBA and BA from Massey & Victoria Universities (NZ).
Host, Logistics with Purpose
Adrian Purtill serves as Business Development Manager at Vector Global Logistics, where he consults with importers and exporters in various industries to match their specific shipping requirements with the most effective supply chain solutions. Vector Global Logistics is an asset-free, multi-modal logistics company that provides exceptional sea freight, air freight, truck, rail, general logistic services and consulting for our clients. Our highly trained and professional team is committed to providing creative and effective solutions, always exceeding our customer’s expectations and fostering long-term relationships. With more than 20+ years of experience in both strategy consulting and logistics, Vector Global Logistics is your best choice to proactively minimize costs while having an exceptional service level.
Host, Logistics with Purpose
Kevin Brown is the Director of Business Development for Vector Global Logistics. He has a dedicated interest in Major Account Management, Enterprise Sales, and Corporate Leadership. He offers 25 years of exceptional experience and superior performance in the sales of Logistics, Supply Chain, and Transportation Management. Kevin is a dynamic, high-impact, sales executive and corporate leader who has consistently exceeded corporate goals. He effectively coordinates multiple resources to solution sell large complex opportunities while focusing on corporate level contacts across the enterprise. His specialties include targeting and securing key accounts by analyzing customer’s current business processes and developing solutions to meet their corporate goals. Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn.
Host, Logistics with Purpose
Jose Manuel Irarrazaval es parte del equipo de Vector Global Logistics Chile. José Manuel es un gerente experimentado con experiencia en finanzas corporativas, fusiones y adquisiciones, financiamiento y reestructuración, inversión directa y financiera, tanto en Chile como en el exterior. José Manuel tiene su MBA de la Universidad de Pennsylvania- The Wharton School. Conéctese con Jose Manuel en LinkedIn.
Host, Logistics with Purpose
Nick Roemer has had a very diverse and extensive career within design and sales over the last 15 years stretching from China, Dubai, Germany, Holland, UK, and the USA. In the last 5 years, Nick has developed a hawk's eye for sustainable tech and the human-centric marketing and sales procedures that come with it. With his far-reaching and strong network within the logistics industry, Nick has been able to open new avenues and routes to market within major industries in the USA and the UAE. Nick lives by the ethos, “Give more than you take." His professional mission is to make the logistics industry leaner, cleaner and greener.
Host
Allison Krache Giddens has been with Win-Tech, a veteran-owned small business and aerospace precision machine shop, for 15 years, recently buying the company from her mentor and Win-Tech’s Founder, Dennis Winslow. She and her business partner, John Hudson now serve as Co-Presidents, leading the 33-year old company through the pandemic.
She holds undergraduate degrees in psychology and criminal justice from the University of Georgia, a Masters in Conflict Management from Kennesaw State University, a Masters in Manufacturing from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Certificate of Finance from the University of Georgia. She also holds certificates in Google Analytics, event planning, and Cybersecurity Risk Management from Harvard online. Allison founded the Georgia Chapter of Women in Manufacturing and currently serves as Treasurer. She serves on the Chattahoochee Technical College Foundation Board as its Secretary, the liveSAFE Resources Board of Directors as Resource Development Co-Chair, and on the Leadership Cobb Alumni Association Board as Membership Chair and is also a member of Cobb Executive Women. She is on the Board for the Cobb Chamber of Commerce’s Northwest Area Councils. Allison runs The Dave Krache Foundation, a non-profit that helps pay sports fees for local kids in need.
Host
Billy Taylor is a Proven Business Excellence Practitioner and Leadership Guru with over 25 years leading operations for a Fortune 500 company, Goodyear. He is also the CEO of LinkedXL (Excellence), a Business Operating Systems Architecting Firm dedicated to implementing sustainable operating systems that drive sustainable results. Taylor’s achievements in the industry have made him a Next Generational Lean pacesetter with significant contributions.
An American business executive, Taylor has made a name for himself as an innovative and energetic industry professional with an indispensable passion for his craft of operational excellence. His journey started many years ago and has worked with renowned corporations such as The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT) leading multi-site operations. With over 3 decades of service leading North America operations, he is experienced in a deeply rooted process driven approach in customer service, process integrity for sustainability.
A disciple of continuous improvement, Taylor’s love for people inspires commitment to helping others achieve their full potential. He is a dynamic speaker and hosts "The Winning Link," a popular podcast centered on business and leadership excellence with the #1 rated Supply Chain Now Network. As a leadership guru, Taylor has earned several invitations to universities, international conferences, global publications, and the U.S. Army to demonstrate how to achieve and sustain effective results through cultural acceptance and employee ownership. Leveraging the wisdom of his business acumen, strong influence as a speaker and podcaster Taylor is set to release "The Winning Link" book under McGraw Hill publishing in 2022. The book is a how-to manual to help readers understand the management of business interactions while teaching them how to Deine, Align, and Execute Winning in Business.
A servant leader, Taylor, was named by The National Diversity Council as one of the Top 100 Diversity Officers in the country in 2021. He features among Oklahoma's Most Admired CEOs and maintains key leadership roles with the Executive Advisory Board for The Shingo Institute "The Nobel Prize of Operations" and The Association of Manufacturing Excellence (AME); two world-leading organizations for operational excellence, business development, and cultural learning. He is also an Independent Director for the M-D Building Products Board, a proud American manufacturer of quality products since 1920.
Host
Tandreia Bellamy retired as the Vice President of Industrial Engineering for UPS Supply Chain Solutions which included the Global Logistics, Global Freight Forwarding and UPS Freight business units. She was responsible for operations strategy and planning, asset management, forecasting, and technology tool development to optimize sustainable efficiency while driving world class service.
Tandreia held similar positions at the business unit level for Global Logistics and Global Freight forwarding. As the leader of the Global Logistics engineering function, she directed all industrial engineering activies related to distribution, service parts logistics (post-sales support), and mail innovations (low cost, light weight shipping partnership with the USPS). Between these roles Tandreia helped to establish the Advanced Technology Group which was formed to research and develop cutting edge solutions focused on reducing reliance on manual labor.
Tandreia began her career in 1986 as a part-time hourly manual package handling employee. She spent the great majority of her career in the small package business unit which is responsible for the pick-up, sort, transport and delivery of packages domestically. She held various positions in Industrial Engineering, Marketing, Inside and On-road operations in Central Florida before transferring to Atlanta for a position in Corporate Product Development and Corporate Industrial Engineering. Tandreia later held IE leadership roles in Nebraska, Minnesota and Chicago. In her final role in small package she was an IE VP responsible for all aspects of IE, technology support and quality for the 25 states on the western half of the country.
Tandreia is currently a Director for the University of Central Florida (UCF) Foundation Board and also serves on their Dean’s Advisory Board for the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Previously Tandreia served on the Executive Advisory Board for Virginia Tech’s IE Department and the Association for Supply Chain Management. She served on the Board of Trustees for ChildServ (a Chicago child and family services non-profit) and also served on the Texas A&M and Tuskegee Engineering Advisory Boards. In 2006 she was named Business Advisor of the Year by INROADS, in 2009 she was recognized as a Technology All-Star at the Women of Color in STEM conference and in 2019 she honored as a UCF Distinguished Aluma by the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems.
Tandreia holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University and a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management Systems from UCF. Her greatest accomplishment, however, is being the proud mother of two college students, Ruby (24) and Anthony (22).
Host
Marty Parker serves as both the CEO & Founder of Adæpt Advising and an award-winning Senior Lecturer (Teaching Professor) in Supply Chain and Operations Management at the University of Georgia. He has 30 years of experience as a COO, CMO, CSO (Chief Strategy Officer), VP of Operations, VP of Marketing and Process Engineer. He founded and leads UGA’s Supply Chain Advisory Board, serves as the Academic Director of UGA’s Leaders Academy, and serves on multiple company advisory boards including the Trucking Profitability Strategies Conference, Zion Solutions Group and Carlton Creative Company.
Marty enjoys helping people and companies be successful. Through UGA, Marty is passionate about his students, helping them network and find internships and jobs. He does this through several hundred one-on-one zoom meetings each year with his students and former students. Through Adæpt Advising, Marty has organized an excellent team of affiliates that he works with to help companies grow and succeed. He does this by helping c-suite executives improve their skills, develop better leaders, engage their workforce, improve processes, and develop strategic plans with detailed action steps and financial targets. Marty believes that excellence in supply chain management comes from the understanding the intersection of leadership, culture, and technology, working across all parts of the organization to meet customer needs, maximize profit and minimize costs.
Marketing Coordinator
Laura Lopez serves as our Supply Chain Now Marketing Coordinator. She graduated from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente in Mexico with a degree in marketing. Laura loves everything digital because she sees the potential it holds for companies in the marketing industry. Her passion for creativity and thinking outside the box led her to pursue a career in marketing. With experience in fields like accounting, digital marketing, and restaurants, she clearly enjoys taking on challenges. Laura lives the best of both worlds - you'll either catch her hanging out with her friends soaking up the sun in Mexico or flying out to visit her family in California!
Host
An acknowledged industry leader, Jake Barr now serves as CEO for BlueWorld Supply Chain Consulting, providing support to a cross section of Fortune 500 companies such as Cargill, Caterpillar, Colgate, Dow/Dupont, Firmenich, 3M, Merck, Bayer/Monsanto, Newell Brands, Kimberly Clark, Nestle, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Sanofi, Estee Lauder and Coty among others. He's also devoted time to engagements in public health sector work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. At P&G, he managed the breakthrough delivery of an E2E (End to End) Planning Transformation effort, creating control towers which now manage the daily business globally. He is recognized as the architect for P&G’s demand driven supply chain strategy – referenced as a “Consumer Driven Supply Chain” transformation. Jake began his career with P&G in Finance in Risk Analysis and then moved into Operations. He has experience in building supply network capability globally through leadership assignments in Asia, Latin America, North America and the Middle East. He currently serves as a Research Associate for MIT; a member of Supply Chain Industry Advisory Council; Member of Gartner’s Supply Chain Think Tank; Consumer Goods “League of Leaders“; and a recipient of the 2015 - 2021 Supply Chain “Pro’s to Know” Award. He has been recognized as a University of Kentucky Fellow.
Host
Marcia Williams, Managing Partner of USM Supply Chain, has 18 years of experience in Supply Chain, with expertise in optimizing Supply Chain-Finance Planning (S&OP/ IBP) at Large Fast-Growing CPGs for greater profitability and improved cash flows. Marcia has helped mid-sized and large companies including Lindt Chocolates, Hershey, and Coty. She holds an MBA from Michigan State University and a degree in Accounting from Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay (South America). Marcia is also a Forbes Council Contributor based out of New York, and author of the book series Supply Chains with Maria in storytelling style. A recent speaker’s engagement is Marcia TEDx Talk: TEDxMSU - How Supply Chain Impacts You: A Transformational Journey.
Host, Logistics with Purpose
Luisa Garcia is a passionate Marketer from Lagos de Moreno based in Aguascalientes. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Universidad Autonoma de Aguascalientes, Mexico. She specializes in brand development at any stage, believing that a brand is more than just a name or image—it’s an unforgettable experience. Her expertise helps brands achieve their dreams and aspirations, making a lasting impact. Currently working at Vector Global Logistics in the Marketing team and as podcast coordinator of Logistics With Purpose®. Luisa believes that purpose-driven decisions will impact results that make a difference in the world.
Host, Logistics with Purpose
Astrid Aubert was born in Guadalajara, she is 39 years old and has had the opportunity to live in many places. She studied communication and her professional career has been in Trade Marketing for global companies such as Pepsico and Mars. She currently works as Marketing Director Mexico for Vector Global Logistics. She is responsible for internal communications and marketing strategy development for the logistics industry. She is a mother of two girls, married and lives in Monterrey. She defines herself as a creative and innovative person, and enjoys traveling and cooking a lot.
Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol
Sofia self-identifies as Supply Chain Ambassador, her mission is to advocate for the field and inspire young generations from diverse backgrounds and cultures to join the industry so that thought diversity is increased and change accelerated. Recognized as Linkedin Top Voice and Linkedin Community Top Voice in Supply Chain Management, as well as Emerging Leader in Supply Chain by CSCMP 2024, Top Women in Supply Chain by Supply & Demand Executive 2023, and Coup de Coeur Global Women Leaders in Supply Chain by B2G Consulting in 2021.
Public speaker at multiple international events from keynotes and panels, to webinars and guest lectures for bachelor's and master's degrees, discussing topics such as sustainability, women in the industry, technology and innovation. Writer at different online magazines on logistics, supply chain and technology. Podcast host and guest on different recognized programs in the industry. Sofia has more than 5 years of experience from academic research and field studies to warehouse operations, demand planning and network design. She has worked in manufacturing, airport operations, e-commerce retail, and technology hardware across Latin America, North America and Europe.
Currently working as Supply Chain Network Design and Optimization Manager at HP within their Global Supply Chain and Logistics team.
Host
Karin Bursa is the 2020 Supply Chain Pro to Know of the Year and the Host of the TEKTOK Digital Supply Chain Podcast powered by Supply Chain Now. With more than 25 years of supply chain and technology expertise (and the scars to prove it), Karin has the heart of a teacher and has helped nearly 1,000 customers transform their businesses and share their success stories. Today, she helps B2B technology companies introduce new products, capture customer success and grow global revenue, market share and profitability. In addition to her recognition as the 2020 Supply Chain Pro to Know of the Year, Karin has also been recognized as a 2019 and 2018 Supply Chain Pro to Know, 2009 Technology Marketing Executive of the Year and a 2008 Women in Technology Finalist.
Host
Vin Vashishta is the author of ‘From Data To Profit’ (Wiley 2023). It’s the playbook for monetizing data and AI. Vin is the Founder of V-Squared and built the business from client 1 to one of the world’s oldest data and AI consulting firms. His background combines nearly 30 years in strategy, leadership, software engineering, and applied machine learning.
Vice President, Production
Amanda is a production and marketing veteran and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience across a variety of industries and organizations including Von Maur, Anthropologie, AmericasMart Atlanta, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Amanda currently manages, produces, and develops modern digital content for Supply Chain Now and their clients. Amanda has previously served as the VP of Information Systems and Webmaster on the Board of Directors for APICS Savannah, and founded and managed her own successful digital marketing firm, Magnolia Marketing Group. When she’s not leading the Supply Chain Now production team, you can find Amanda in the kitchen, reading, listening to podcasts, or enjoying time with family.
Founder, CEO, & Host
As the founder and CEO of Supply Chain Now, you might say Scott is the voice of supply chain – but he’s too much of a team player to ever claim such a title. One thing’s for sure: he’s a tried and true supply chain expert. With over 15 years of experience in the end-to-end supply chain, Scott’s insights have appeared in major publications including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and CNN. He has also been named a top industry influencer by Thinkers360, ISCEA and more.
From 2009-2011, Scott was president of APICS Atlanta, and he continues to lead initiatives that support both the local business community and global industry. A United States Air Force Veteran, Scott has also regularly led efforts to give back to his fellow veteran community since his departure from active duty in 2002.
Principal & Host
When rapid-growth technology companies, venture capital and private equity firms are looking for advisory, they call Greg – a founder, board director, advisor and catalyst of disruptive B2B technology and supply chain. An insightful visionary, Greg guides founders, investors and leadership teams in creating breakthroughs to gain market exposure and momentum – increasing overall company esteem and valuation.
Greg is a founder himself, creating Blue Ridge Solutions, a Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader in cloud-native supply chain applications, and bringing to market Curo, a field service management solution. He has also held leadership roles with Servigistics (PTC) and E3 Corporation (JDA/Blue Yonder). As a principal and host at Supply Chain Now, Greg helps guide the company’s strategic direction, hosts industry leader discussions, community livestreams, and all in addition to executive producing and hosting his original YouTube channel and podcast, TEChquila Sunrise.
Principal, Supply Chain Now
Host of Supply Chain is Boring
Talk about world-class: Chris is one of the few professionals in the world to hold CPIM-F, CLTD-F and CSCP-F designations from ASCM/APICS. He’s also the APICS coach – and our resident Supply Chain Doctor. When he’s not hosting programs with Supply Chain Now, he’s sharing supply chain knowledge on the APICS Coach Youtube channel or serving as a professional education instructor for the Georgia Tech Supply Chain & Logistic Institute’s Supply Chain Management (SCM) program and University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Center for Professional Education courses.
Chris earned a BS in Industrial Engineering from Bradley University, an MBA with emphasis in Industrial Psychology from the University of West Florida, and is a Doctoral in Supply Chain Management candidate.
Director of Sales
Tyler Ward serves as Supply Chain Now's Director of Sales. Born and raised in Mid-Atlantic, Tyler is a proud graduate of Shippensburg University where he earned his degree in Communications. After college, he made his way to the beautiful state of Oregon, where he now lives with his wife and daughter.
With over a decade of experience in sales, Tyler has a proven track record of exceeding targets and leading high-performing teams. He credits his success to his ability to communicate effectively with customers and team members alike, as well as his strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.
When he's not closing deals, you can find Tyler on the links or cheering on his favorite football and basketball teams. He also enjoys spending time with his family, playing pick-up basketball, and traveling back to Ocean City, Maryland, his favorite place!
Host of Digital Transformers
Kevin L. Jackson is a globally recognized Thought Leader, Industry Influencer and Founder/Author of the award winning “Cloud Musings” blog. He has also been recognized as a “Top 5G Influencer” (Onalytica 2019, Radar 2020), a “Top 50 Global Digital Transformation Thought Leader” (Thinkers 360 2019) and provides strategic consulting and integrated social media services to AT&T, Intel, Broadcom, Ericsson and other leading companies. Mr. Jackson’s commercial experience includes Vice President J.P. Morgan Chase, Worldwide Sales Executive for IBM and SAIC (Engility) Director Cloud Solutions. He has served on teams that have supported digital transformation projects for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the US Intelligence Community. Kevin’s formal education includes a MS Computer Engineering from Naval Postgraduate School; MA National Security & Strategic Studies from Naval War College; and a BS Aerospace Engineering from the United States Naval Academy. Internationally recognizable firms that have sponsored articles authored by him include Cisco, Microsoft, Citrix and IBM. Books include “Click to Transform” (Leaders Press, 2020), “Architecting Cloud Computing Solutions” (Packt, 2018), and “Practical Cloud Security: A Cross Industry View” (Taylor & Francis, 2016). He also delivers online training through Tulane University, O’Reilly Media, LinkedIn Learning, and Pluralsight. Mr. Jackson retired from the U.S. Navy in 1994, earning specialties in Space Systems Engineering, Carrier Onboard Delivery Logistics and carrier-based Airborne Early Warning and Control. While active, he also served with the National Reconnaissance Office, Operational Support Office, providing tactical support to Navy and Marine Corps forces worldwide.
Host of Logistics with Purpose and Supply Chain Now en Español
Enrique serves as Managing Director at Vector Global Logistics and believes we all have a personal responsibility to change the world. He is hard working, relationship minded and pro-active. Enrique trusts that the key to logistics is having a good and responsible team that truly partners with the clients and does whatever is necessary to see them succeed. He is a proud sponsor of Vector’s unique results-based work environment and before venturing into logistics he worked for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). During his time at BCG, he worked in different industries such as Telecommunications, Energy, Industrial Goods, Building Materials, and Private Banking. His main focus was always on the operations, sales, and supply chain processes, with case focus on, logistics, growth strategy, and cost reduction. Prior to joining BCG, Enrique worked for Grupo Vitro, a Mexican glass manufacturer, for five years holding different positions from sales and logistics manager to supply chain project leader in charge of five warehouses in Colombia.
He has an MBA from The Wharton School of Business and a BS, in Mechanical Engineer from the Technologico de Monterrey in Mexico. Enrique’s passions are soccer and the ocean, and he also enjoys traveling, getting to know new people, and spending time with his wife and two kids, Emma and Enrique.
Host of Dial P for Procurement
Kelly is the Owner and Managing Director of Buyers Meeting Point and MyPurchasingCenter. She has been in procurement since 2003, starting as a practitioner and then as the Associate Director of Consulting at Emptoris. She has covered procurement news, events, publications, solutions, trends, and relevant economics at Buyers Meeting Point since 2009. Kelly is also the General Manager at Art of Procurement and Business Survey Chair for the ISM-New York Report on Business. Kelly has her MBA from Babson College as well as an MS in Library and Information Science from Simmons College and she has co-authored three books: ‘Supply Market Intelligence for Procurement Professionals’, ‘Procurement at a Crossroads’, and ‘Finance Unleashed’.
Host, Veteran Voices
Mary Kate Soliva is a veteran of the US Army and cofounder of the Guam Human Rights Initiative. She is currently in the Doctor of Criminal Justice program at Saint Leo University. She is passionate about combating human trafficking and has spent the last decade conducting training for military personnel and the local community.
Host
Constantine Limberakis is a thought leader in the area of procurement and supply management. He has over 20 years of international experience, playing strategic roles in a wide spectrum of organizations related to analyst advisory, consulting, product marketing, product development, and market research.
Throughout his career, he's been passionate about engaging global business leaders and the broader analyst and technology community with strategic content, speaking engagements, podcasts, research, webinars, and industry articles.
Constantine holds a BA in History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an MBA in Finance & Marketing / Masters in Public & International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh.
Business Development Manager
Clay is passionate about two things: supply chain and the marketing that goes into it. Recently graduated with a degree in marketing at the University of Georgia, Clay got his start as a journalism major and inaugural member of the Owl’s football team at Kennesaw State University – but quickly saw tremendous opportunity in the Terry College of Business. He’s already putting his education to great use at Supply Chain Now, assisting with everything from sales and brand strategy to media production. Clay has contributed to initiatives such as our leap into video production, the guest blog series, and boosting social media presence, and after nearly two years in Supply Chain Now’s Marketing Department, Clay now heads up partnership and sales initiatives with the help of the rest of the Supply Chain Now sales team.
Administrative Assistant
Trisha is new to the supply chain industry – but not to podcasting. She’s an experienced podcast manager and virtual assistant who also happens to have 20 years of experience as an elementary school teacher. It’s safe to say, she’s passionate about helping people, and she lives out that passion every day with the Supply Chain Now team, contributing to scheduling and podcast production.
Social Media Manager
My name is Chantel King and I am the Social Media Specialist at Supply Chain Now. My job is to make sure our audience is engaged and educated on the abundant amount of information the supply chain industry has to offer.
Social Media and Communications has been my niche ever since I graduated from college at The Academy of Art University in San Francisco. No, I am not a West Coast girl. I was born and raised in New Jersey, but my travel experience goes way beyond the garden state. My true passion is in creating editorial and graphic content that influences others to be great in whatever industry they are in. I’ve done this by working with lifestyle, financial, and editorial companies by providing resources to enhance their businesses.
Another passion of mine is trying new things. Whether it’s food, an activity, or a sport. I would like to say that I am an adventurous Taurus that never shies away from a new quest or challenge.
Marketing Coordinator
Lori is currently completing a degree in marketing with an emphasis in digital marketing at the University of Georgia. When she’s not supporting the marketing efforts at Supply Chain Now, you can find her at music festivals – or working toward her dream goal of a fashion career. Lori is involved in many extracurricular activities and appreciates all the learning experiences UGA has brought her.
Director, Customer Experience
Katherine is a marketing professional and MBA candidate who strives to unite her love of people with a passion for positive experiences. Having a diverse background, which includes nonprofit work with digital marketing and start-ups, she serves as a leader who helps people live their most creative lives by cultivating community, order, collaboration, and respect. With equal parts creativity and analytics, she brings a unique skill set which fosters refining, problem solving, and connecting organizations with their true vision. In her free time, you can usually find her looking for her cup of coffee, playing with her puppy Charlie, and dreaming of her next road trip.
Chief of Staff & Host
Mary Kate Love is currently the VP of marketing at Supply Chain Now focused on brand strategy and audience + revenue growth. Mary Kate’s career is a testament to her versatility and innovative spirit: she has experience in start-ups, venture capital, and building innovation initiatives from the ground up: she previously helped lead the build-out of the Supply Chain Innovation Center at Georgia-Pacific and before that, MxD (Manufacturing times Digital): the Department of Defense’s digital manufacturing innovation center. Mary Kate has a passion for taking complicated ideas and turning them into reality: she was one of the first team members at MxD and the first team member at the Supply Chain Innovation Center at Georgia-Pacific.
Mary Kate dedicates her extra time to education and mentorship: she was one of the founding Board Members for Women Influence Chicago and led an initiative for a city-wide job shadow day for young women across Chicago tech companies and was previously on the Board of Directors at St. Laurence High School in Chicago, Young Irish Fellowship Board and the UN Committee for Women. Mary Kate is the founder of National Supply Chain Day and enjoys co-hosting podcasts at Supply Chain Now. Mary Kate is from the south side of Chicago, a mom of two baby boys, and an avid 16-inch softball player. She holds a BS in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Marketing Specialist
Joshua is a student from Institute of Technology and Higher Education of Monterrey Campus Guadalajara in Communication and Digital Media. His experience ranges from Plug and Play México, DearDoc, and Nissan México creating unique social media marketing campaigns and graphics design. Joshua helps to amplify the voice of supply chain here at Supply Chain Now by assisting in graphic design, content creation, asset logistics, and more. In his free time he likes to read and write short stories as well as watch movies and television series.
Director of Communications and Executive Producer
Donna Krache is a former CNN executive producer who has won several awards in journalism and communication, including three Peabodys. She has 30 years’ experience in broadcast and digital journalism. She led the first production team at CNN to convert its show to a digital platform. She has authored many articles for CNN and other media outlets. She taught digital journalism at Georgia State University and Arizona State University. Krache holds a bachelor’s degree in government from the College of William and Mary and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of New Orleans. She is a serious sports fan who loves the Braves. She is president of the Dave Krache Foundation. Named in honor of her late husband, this non-profit pays fees for kids who want to play sports but whose parents are facing economic challenges.
Controller
Vicki has a long history of rising to challenges and keeping things up and running. First, she supported her family’s multi-million dollar business as controller for 12 years, beginning at the age of 17. Then, she worked as an office manager and controller for a wholesale food broker. But her biggest feat? Serving as the chief executive officer of her household, while her entrepreneur husband travelled the world extensively. She fed, nurtured, chaperoned, and chauffeured three daughters all while running a newsletter publishing business and remaining active in her community as a Stephen’s Minister, Sunday school teacher, school volunteer, licensed realtor and POA Board president (a title she holds to this day). A force to be reckoned with in the office, you might think twice before you meet Vicki on the tennis court! When she’s not keeping the books balanced at Supply Chain Now or playing tennis matches, you can find Vicki spending time with her husband Greg, her 4 fur babies, gardening, cleaning (yes, she loves to clean!) and learning new things.
Creative Director, Producer, Host
Katherine Hintz, MBA is a marketing professional who strives to unite her love of people with a passion for positive experiences. Having a diverse background, which includes nonprofit work with digital marketing and start-ups, she serves as a leader who helps people live their most creative lives by cultivating community, order, collaboration, and respect. With equal parts creativity and analytics, she brings a unique skill set which fosters refining, problem solving, and connecting organizations with their true vision. In her free time, you can usually find her looking for her cup of coffee, playing with her puppy Charlie, and dreaming of her next road trip.