“It’s good to notify companies, but it would be better if these American companies who are otherwise so high and mighty on all of their other social issues would refuse to continue to do business with companies that are so clearly conducting business by using slave labor.”

– Greg White, Techquila Sunrise

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, Supply Chain Now Co-hosts Scott Luton and Greg White talk through a few of the most recent developments from the White House regarding international relations, competition, and regulation. As we’ve come to expect, Greg pulled no punches – especially in defining the space between the Federal government’s intent (or objectives) and their options (or limitations) for taking meaningful action.

In this week’s top stories, Scott and Greg open the virtual floor to discuss:

· Recent steps taken by the Biden Administration to expand the list of Chinese companies on their trade blacklist for human rights violations

· An effort to have the Federal Maritime Commission get involved with ocean freight to increase competition between large players and bring down costs for shippers

· Good news on the trade front from USMCA, which was able to help authorities resolve a labor dispute involving workers at a General Motors plant in Mexico

Intro/Outro (00:00:03):

Welcome to supply chain. Now the voice of global supply chain supply chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues. The challenges and opportunities stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on supply chain now.

Scott Luton (00:00:32):

Hey, good morning, Scott Luton, Greg White, with the here on Supply Chain Now welcome to today’s live stream Gregory. How are we doing? I’m

Greg White (00:00:39):

Doing very well. How are you doing? Uh,

Scott Luton (00:00:41):

You know, it’s been a challenging Monday. It was a challenging weekend. Of course, our, our beloved Atlanta Braves lost a young phenom, uh, Ronald Akuna Jr. Due to injury. And it was, it was, it was really tough to watch. Um, but he’ll be back. And as he says, if he, if he was giving 500% to this point, he’s gonna double down and give a thousand percent when he gets back on the field. So he’ll be back soon. Wow.

Greg White (00:01:06):

Well, um, it’s been a rough season in a lot of ways for, for the brain. Hasn’t it? I mean, that’s right. They’ve had some on, on field and I’ll feel difficulties. Right. Agreed,

Scott Luton (00:01:22):

Agreed. Um, but you know, uh, it’s good just to have sports back and we were talking, uh pre-show we got team members, uh, you know, making plans to go to concerts, which is awesome to hear. We got, uh, folks, you know, we, we were able to get together for dinner last week. Uh, we got sports back. Um, all of that, uh, is, is certainly some good news,

Greg White (00:01:44):

Right? Well, yeah, as long as you’re not making plans to go to the Tokyo Olympics because they just ban fans from that. And you know, I’m a huge fan of the U S open. And we, uh, my wife and I and friends, we usually go many, many years. If not every year, it seems like it’s been more than just a year that we have gone, but they’re still, they’re still promoting buying tickets, but I wonder how long that’s going to last the numbers, at least in the states, don’t seem to present that big of an issue, but you just never know some of this is real. Like it is so many of these Asian countries, some of it is optics for these governments. So they don’t wind up feeling the backlash of, of the community if they’re wrong and rightfully so. I mean, they should be very, very cautious about this. Yep.

Scott Luton (00:02:38):

Well, uh, you know, we’re going to tackle a ton. You meant, you mentioned governments. I think today is going to be like the white house version of the supply chain bus. We’ve got a lot of stuff to get into, and I’m so glad you’re here to help make heads or tails of somebody that somebody’s storage. We’re

Greg White (00:02:54):

Gonna be talking about. Um,

Scott Luton (00:02:57):

Well, we should mention though, so today is all, is a spotting buzz. It comes at you every Monday, 12 noon, Eastern Tom. Uh, we’re talking about some of the key stores and issues taking place really across global business today’s show is powered by our friends over at Omnia partners where they are reshaping Gregg, the future of purchasing. In fact, I’d say they’re reshaping the current state of purchasing, right?

Greg White (00:03:19):

Yeah. You know, especially they’re, what’s called a GPO, right. A group purchasing organization. And they do a lot of negotiation for a lot of companies and create economies of scale. So this is not something that’s new to the industry. I think over the past, gosh, Scott, what is it? Year or two, we have talked to a number of their folks there, um, who are, as we’ve determined, built for this, right? They are built to help companies do this. And there’s procurement has become more and more in the spotlight, just like broader based supply chain. I think it’s important for companies to really figure out how to be really, really effective. Imagine the difficulty getting indirect and direct materials for companies these days, with all of what’s going on in supply chain, having somebody who has a broader purview over the marketplace feels really, really important these days. It feels like it would be really so much more powerful than a company going it on their own. Agreed,

Scott Luton (00:04:18):

Agreed. You can’t have enough true subject matter experts to weigh in and help you navigate through today’s business environment and on the partner, just that. And Greg and I, as Greg has mentioned, we’ve had a chance to see up close and personal and as well as get feedback from the marketplace. Um, so speaking of Greg Omnia partners, we’ve got a great opportunity for all of our friends across, uh, our global community to get to know them better. So we are going to be in Miami at their big annual event coming up in September.

Greg White (00:04:48):

That’s right. Even better now

Scott Luton (00:04:51):

Connections 2021. So get this Greg. So first off we love folks that offer free events to come out and, uh, network, uh, taking the keynotes, you know, uh, professionally develop and, uh, attend the expo the whole nine yards. Right? I think they, they even have jacks, uh, Jeff Foxworthy, I think this year as kind of a comedic, the comic relief, but it’s free for supply chain sourcing and purchasing leaders. So check that out 400 plus attendees, having a great time down in magic city, which is one of Miami’s nicknames. That was new to me.

Greg White (00:05:26):

Yeah. I didn’t know that. Okay. A

Scott Luton (00:05:30):

Few others, but I’ve chosen. Maybe that’d be the easiest one to talk about. Uh, we’re going to be broadcasting live down there in person, uh, in Miami or Miami as Bobby Bowden used to say, uh, September 27th through the 29th, you can check out more via the convenient link. We have dropped in the show notes and come out and join us, uh, at a very minimum, make sure you connect with the Omnia partners team. Uh, they offer a ton of expertise, ton of, you know, a ton of resources for folks making big, big purchasing and other business decisions. Yeah.

Greg White (00:06:04):

It’s a, it’s a great opportunity to connect with folks. You know, Kevin who runs the joint and ARRA, who you’ve seen on our shows before they’re pros, they’re just, they’re just professionals and there’s so much you can learn from them that can improve your, your business. That’s right.

Scott Luton (00:06:21):

Absolutely. So check it out. Uh, again, we’ll be down there September 27th through 29th, the link to learn more is in the show notes. All right. So moving right along. If my mouse, my mouse battery is not going to die. We’ll see here. I might be leaning on the production team. Um, so webinar, uh, before we get to September, which is chock full events, you name it, uh, tons of learning opportunities, July 27th, we’ve got Kevin L. Jackson. I are hosting a webinar focused on digital transformation that accelerates and strengthens your supply chain. So join us there July 27th at 1:00 PM Eastern time. The link for that is also in the show notes. And, um, I think, I think my mouse has given up the ghost. Greg, we’ll see,

Greg White (00:07:07):

Well, I’m sitting here listening to LinkedIn alerts every time someone likes or comments on something. Well, I’m going to turn that off.

Scott Luton (00:07:18):

You were, you were dropping some great POV earlier today, which we’re gonna touch on here momentarily, so we may better. Yeah. All right. So that, so we just talked about what’s coming up in July, also August 18th. Uh, we’re going to be talking with the folks from Quip Quip, uh, and, uh, our friends from alloy. So we’re gonna be, uh, Greg and I are gonna be hosting a conversation with Emran Patel about really focused on what you can learn from a digital first DTC or direct to consumer brand. They’ve had quite an omni-channel revolution, I’d call it at Quip and you’re going to hear it firsthand here. And Greg, you know, Quip, uh, Amanda, who’s behind the scenes along with Jada and clay making the production happen, right. Uh, Amanda’s been a longtime big fan of, of how they do business over there.

Greg White (00:08:07):

Well, and Amanda has beautiful teeth. So I think that, I mean, that speaks a lot too, no seriously. I mean, not just the brand and not just what we can learn from a supply chain standpoint, but to the quality of this product. And to me, that is as much the power of direct to consumer as anything is, you know, I’ve worked for retailers, I’ve been the person who made the decision on whether a product hit the shelf or not. Now a company can build a good product. They can build a groundswell with influencers and social media and up, and, you know, growth hacking as, as people love to call it and they can create a place for them in themselves, in the marketplace that, um, you know, allows them to, I wouldn’t say bypass necessarily because Quip is also in major retailers now, but they didn’t start there.

Greg White (00:08:55):

Right. And it creates a tremendous amount of opportunity. And I think that opportunity and that dynamic is so valuable for established brands to learn as well as so many brands attempt to go direct and, or at least offer a direct alternative to going to the retailer. And as so many retailers are trying to go to e-commerce stumbling the number of retailers who hadn’t even really contemplated e-commerce until this COVID 19 seismic societal disruption, right? So I think there’s a lot that everyone in every phase of the supply chain can learn from this company sounds weird, right? To think of it, think of a company like this that is started so small and, and really started with one product can teach us so much, but it is, it’s a tremendous, having had some preliminary discussions with them. It’s a really tremendous story.

Scott Luton (00:09:50):

And join us August 18th at 12 noon to learn a lot more. You can register in the link via the comments here. Okay. I want to stop for just a second. And Greg, if you’ve got access to your mouse, I’m going to let you say hello to folks today. If that works, that’s going to give me a chance behind the green curtain to swap out some batteries.

Greg White (00:10:12):

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So you’re not supposed to tell people when I’m doing that

Scott Luton (00:10:15):

For you. We’re a transparent bunch around here.

Greg White (00:10:17):

You know what, Scott, I can’t do that because I’m not logged in on the account. That’s okay.

Scott Luton (00:10:24):

That’s okay. Let me see if we can, uh, first off, why don’t you, so, um, as I do this here for a second, great,

Greg White (00:10:31):

As we go through these, these hardware changes, right? I’m now on a totally different device for broadcasting, which one doesn’t have a mouse. It only has a touch pad, which I’m fixed and yeah, you guys get to see how the sausage is made today. And also I’m not, I’m not logged into the account that has that kind of control. Sorry. I think we’re good.

Scott Luton (00:10:55):

I just swapped it. I think we’re good. We’re back to normal. We swap, swap some things around and we’re back to operating

Greg White (00:11:02):

Full capacity with that said there’s nothing else. All I did was kill time.

Scott Luton (00:11:09):

That’s right. All right. So hello, Paul greetings from Sierra Leone, he says great to have you here. Uh, looking forward to your POV. We have Santos, uh, dialed in via LinkedIn from India. Hello? Santos, Raman deep greetings from Canada via LinkedIn. Great to have you here looking forward folks. I hope you brought your POV today because we’re going to be tackling some, some topics and some stories that we’re going to want to hear from you. Uh, Muhammad, once again, greetings, uh, let’s see. KSA. Uh, my acronyms are failing me right now, Greg.

Greg White (00:11:42):

Oh my gosh. What am I? So Muhammad, let us know what, um, I know it’s just, I’m on it. Well,

Scott Luton (00:11:54):

Great to have you regardless, Muhammad, via LinkedIn. Of course, Peter Boulay all night and all day is with us. Hey, Peter, hope this finds you well, looking forward to your event with us in a couple of weeks near five, couldn’t miss this rant. Well, Hey,

Greg White (00:12:09):

I think he also commented on it on LinkedIn, so

Scott Luton (00:12:15):

Right. Uh, Saudi Arabia KSS. We should’ve known that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed, my apologies there. Greetings and great to have you

Greg White (00:12:22):

Here. I had never honestly had never heard it called that before. I hadn’t thought about that.

Scott Luton (00:12:28):

[inaudible] uh, buckle up. Get ready. I’ve enjoyed senior vacation picks across social media. Hey Mohib is with us, Greg.

Greg White (00:12:36):

Of course. Thank you. By the way, for joining us tuned in

Scott Luton (00:12:41):

Wichita, Kansas, the air capital of the country, Mervin Daniel, once again, Hey, Mervyn. Uh, talking about people that keep it real. We expect to hear from you here today. Hope this finds you well tuned in via LinkedIn. Um, is it Luray is my, my hunch is a T is silent. If I got it wrong, please let us know. So welcome. Happy start to the week. She says greetings from Venezuela. She’s tuned in via LinkedIn LTV, Tom Valentines, whether it’s Greg, you got a special message for Tom.

Greg White (00:13:08):

I do. Um, I’ve found your, I found a lake house for you, Tom. It’s not in your book.

Scott Luton (00:13:16):

Wait, w we do look forward to getting out, playing some golf with Tom really soon, Greg.

Greg White (00:13:21):

Yeah. Right. So is that the answer stop? Let’s just share everything with the community today. Is that your answer you’re in for that

Scott Luton (00:13:28):

Or that one tournament? Because we’ve got a little bit of work to do that day, but Tom’s got an inside track, uh, for highfalutin folks like Greg white.

Greg White (00:13:37):

And I think we’re, so one of these times we need to just replay Tom’s video.

Scott Luton (00:13:45):

We should bring that on. We sure will. Uh, Greg Gregory is back with us Gregory, I think from the cure, uh, Caribbean, if I’m not mistaken, he was with us last week. Great to have you here once again, he’s tuned in via LinkedIn. Uh, Kelvin, appreciate your feedback here. This is a great platform for all of us in this group, learning new things and also exchange with global supply chain team members. I’m with you. Excellent point, Kevin, appreciate that feedback and welcome to everybody, everybody. Um, okay, so let’s do this, Greg. Let’s dive into, uh, the first story here. Um, are you ready? You broke it up. Ready to go? Okay. Well it’s really the

Greg White (00:14:30):

Second you get one. Sorry on the second one. I’m sorry. I’ve got my monitor way over here. So I’m going to have to do that monitor thing.

Scott Luton (00:14:37):

The second, the second story is what we’re really looking forward to hearing your take on, but in the meantime, we’ve got this first story here. So last week the white house announced more moves against Chinese companies with regard to alleged of weaker civilians and other Muslim ethnic minorities. I say that right, Greg weaker.

Greg White (00:14:58):

Alright. Uh, the, by the

Scott Luton (00:14:59):

Administration, let me tackle a couple of, I’m gonna share a couple of hot points from the store, and then Greg, I’m gonna come to you and get your take here. The bot, the Biden administration added 14 China, Chinese companies to a trade blacklist. According to the us commerce department, the move was made due to these companies, alleged role in enabling quote Beijing’s campaign of repression, mass detention, and hot technology surveillance in quote against Muslim minorities in China, particularly in that, uh, John Jean province. I think I got that right too.

Greg White (00:15:35):

Sean close. Gosh, I got

Scott Luton (00:15:36):

The wrong emphasis on the wrong

Greg White (00:15:39):

Label. Any fast. Thank you. So

Scott Luton (00:15:43):

Shin Jong province, CBS news reports, and this was, this was a, this was, there was no alleged in this next comment, CBS news reports that the Chinese government has detained a million or more people in that province since 2017, the Trump and by the administrations have both used the word genocide for what the Weger population has been subjected to in China. Wow. Strong language there. So Greg, over to you, what was your, what’s your take on this move? Yeah.

Greg White (00:16:15):

Well, if anyone’s heard me talk about this in the past, um, my take is that this is genocide might be a kindness for these people because this is a continued methodology of repression and, and slavery though, the administration won’t say it, it is it isn’t in fact what it is. And, um, many, many companies with names that, you know, over 86 companies that are not Chinese companies contribute to this problem by using companies who use this labor in this xingjiang province, some of which, you know, the names of very, very well. And we’ve published a list that, that addresses that in the past. And you may have heard us report some months ago about the fact that the us government was going to assume that companies who operate in the Jinjiang province are conducting it via slavery, unless they could prove that they were not.

Greg White (00:17:13):

That means that these companies, these 14 companies that have been added to this list were unable to prove that they are not using slave labor, these weekers as slave labor to do their business. So to quote the great weight, Ricky, Bobby, if you keep doing business this way, then you so well, you know, I mean, this is ridiculous that there’s nothing of course that our government can do about it. It’s, um, it’s good to blacklists these companies. It’s good to notify companies. It would be better if these American companies who are otherwise so high and mighty on all of their other social issues would refuse to, to continue to do business with companies that are so clearly conducting business by using slave labor.

Scott Luton (00:18:05):

Um, regardless of your, of your take on, I love the growing spotlight. Um, that’s being put on the abuses of, of, of, um, certainly in China, uh, as it relates to human trafficking or slavery as, as Greg has alluded to because supply chain leaders have something to do about and a big responsibility to do something about it. So, um, interesting report come out at the CBS, uh, the white house, adding these 14 companies, uh, that will have a ripple effect for sure, but Greg, uh, we’ll be tracking his story, you know, continually, it, it, it, it’s one of the big stories of our arguably of our generation.

Greg White (00:18:40):

It is. I’m not, I mean, it’s not unique by the way, slavery is not unique to China. It’s just that so many American companies contribute to, right? That’s the travesty. We can’t do anything about the slavery problems in India, necessarily. We have done things about the slavery problems and, and conflict minerals in Africa, right. We just refuse the American companies just continue to refuse, and they’re not all American. Some are German, ADI, DAS, and others like that who continue to contribute to this problem that, um, and so that’s what needs to be highlighted as much as these companies that the government is black.

Scott Luton (00:19:26):

Hey, appreciate what co-write cozy has said here. Uh, he says, I love that you take on the most difficult issues and openly talk about the inter dependencies. Excellent point, appreciate that feedback.

Greg White (00:19:39):

That’s because nobody can fire me. I have nothing to lose and I never will. So,

Scott Luton (00:19:46):

Um, we’ll be tracking his story. Uh, I really appreciate, uh, CBS reporting very openly. And frankly, you know, uh, there’s a, as we both know, there’s a ton of Chinese ties to the entertainment industry or the media industry and the news industry and movie-making industry here in the U S so it’s, it’s good to, it’s good to see this type of reporting. Okay. So I’m going to tee up this next story, and then Greg, I’m going to, um, before you dive in, give me a minute, cause I gotta prep. Okay. So let’s tee up the second story here. So, uh, and other white house news, I mentioned this white house Monday here, uh, supply chain buzz, the bottom, administration’s making big waves as the president signed a wide ranging executive order with a whopping 72 initiatives involved, uh, including more than a dozen agencies. So we are still dissecting all the moving pieces here, but there’s a great article here in supply chain, uh, via Matt Leonard, which you can join.

Scott Luton (00:20:43):

I think we’ll drop that link in the comments. So we’re delighted, still dissecting it, but at a high level, Greg, the white house, his goal, it states is to increase competition, to bring down prices across global supply chain. Now, Greg, hang on a second. I need to, um, get ready here for your commentary. So I brought my handy-dandy goggles and, uh, let’s see here. I had to bring, I had to load up the truck and bring some fire extinguishers here, Greg, just in case a European V got kind of hot, but yeah. Tell us now tell us, uh, kidding aside. Let’s talk about your take because you put it out there on social media earlier today, you know, kind of went through it and, and, uh, told folks very transparently what you thought. What’s your take here on this executive order?

Greg White (00:21:30):

When has the government ever gotten involved in prices have gone down? That’s all. No, I’m kidding. Um, um, look, the solution to the problems that have been generated in many cases largely by the government is not for the government to get more and more involved, right. Um, and, and particularly to use impotent organizations like the federal maritime commission, who I’ve published many, many summaries on there in action or inability to produce action in regards to fairly simple things like the, uh, port congestion, right? And their mandates, if you want to call it that mandates without teeth, apparently that have been completely ignored by the carriers to this point. So what we have to understand is that even our government, the U S government has limited authority over, over companies that have no operations or have few operations, or at least have primary operations in outside of the United States.

Greg White (00:22:35):

So it’s difficult for them to do anything. And a lot of this is a lot of this problem is be gotten by the brother-in-law deals that the us government and all governments, frankly have done since the beginning of their existence. We wouldn’t have the kind of exclusivity in the railroads that the president talks about here, that he’s trying to get railroads to share their rails because in the states, the U S the sorry, the company owns the rails, not the country, and those, those agreements were made with the robber barons, the Carnegies and the Rockefellers, and the whomever’s way, the Flaglers, as you mentioned the other day, Scott, um, way back when, when cronyism and graft and, uh, outsized influence of these millionaires now would be literally trillionaires. And these days, um, when these millionaires holds, held so much sway over the government, that they basically got to do whatever they want.

Greg White (00:23:36):

And, and the government is, is complicit in, in other companies, essentially having the ability to do whatever they want, companies like Twitter and Google and apple and Amazon, and, and also complicit in enabling even greater control of those companies today. So I’m maybe more than a little bit dubious of the government’s ability to really do anything here. Now you have to juxtapose that also with the conflict, that inherent conflict of interest, where, and, and lack of knowledge that politicians have their conflict of interest being. They’re always trying to get reelected. So they’re going to do what’s expeditious. And this is a surface level, this particular executive order, much like the previous supply chain executive order, it’s effectively hand-waving, it doesn’t really do anything. It encourages. If you use, if you see the words, they’re very carefully chosen, it encourages, and it, and you know, they use other mitigating words that really, if you read between the lines mean that nothing will or can get done by the government. So that’s really concerning. And then, and then of course, you’ve got the juxtaposition of their lack of power, their lack of willpower and their lack of knowledge, which can only, only complicate things because they will do what’s expeditious as all governments do. And what is, you know, in what is, um, public, but they won’t do anything of any great depths, and that’s going to potentially create some much, much larger problems down the road.

Scott Luton (00:25:16):

Uh, and, and Sheldon, as, as an

Greg White (00:25:19):

Fire extinguisher, Sheldon,

Scott Luton (00:25:21):

Great to have you back, you were with us a few weeks back, great to have you back. And yes, Greg will always tell you exactly. And that’s important, right? That’s, that’s really important, big part of our transparency here. And, uh, I’ve benefit from, from that, uh, Frank feedback all the time. But I want to share some of the other comments here, Greg.

Greg White (00:25:41):

I hope somebody disagrees with me and as much more faith in our government.

Scott Luton (00:25:45):

So, uh, Tom says, and going kind of going back to the first story he says in the apparel business, specifically licensing apparel, you’re required to go through an official audit of your manufacturing and your suppliers to ensure that child labor is not being engaged along the process to produce products. It is costly, mandatory, and issues, certifications. Okay.

Greg White (00:26:07):

Okay. That’s true. But this isn’t, the situation is not child labor. And there is no requirement as we know, because Nike is one of the biggest defenders and they’re one of the biggest licensed apparel providers in the planet. So, but I do like that, Tom, as an opening to maybe we just have the same requirement for licensing apparel, no slave labor, right before, however, we have to use mindset.

Scott Luton (00:26:36):

He says, uh, everything is getting cheaper and better, except two things, education and healthcare. What do those two things have in common, heavy government regulation? Interesting comment there, Jerry, thanks for being here via LinkedIn. Appreciate that POV. Peter says interesting commentary back on what Tom has shared on this topic. One can pass the audit and then replace or do what one wants, subsequently and roll the dice going forward. It’s like the supplier code of contact conduct’s that require suppliers to comply with the laws of their country. And that’s an excellent point, isn’t it? Right,

Greg White (00:27:12):

Right. Yeah. It is an excellent point because that’s, you know, it is, it is effectively lawless on this topic in, in China. I mean, this is a government sponsored. This is government sponsored slavery and oppression, right? So it is arguably legal in their contract

Scott Luton (00:27:32):

And shares a similar can be observed as what Tom’s talking about in the Palm oil industry with expensive sort of cations, which usually end up being order winners instead of being an order qualifier. Excellent point there Mervyn. Great to have you here today. Let’s see your bill. Hello bill. He says government regulations typically create more inefficiencies than the perceived problem being solved. You know, bill, that’s a good point. We were talking to infrastructure last week and, and look, I, my Greg and I made different a little bit here because I think when it comes to infrastructure, you know, uh, uh, invite government action. But as we agreed last week, it’s gotta be the right action, the right investment, uh, with transparency and spotlight so that these backroom deals and these, you know, backslapping deals, right? Redirection

Greg White (00:28:21):

Of funds, right?

Scott Luton (00:28:24):

Biggest frustrations are the fraud, waste and abuse, um, that, um, can go on, uh, throughout these massive pieces of infrastructure are of, of, of

Greg White (00:28:35):

If only the government would adhere to the requirements that it puts upon. Agreed,

Scott Luton (00:28:42):

I’m going to read the, this might still be co-write and Amanda and clay I’ll let me know. Uh, government has a place when there’s a crisis to overcome individual opportunities, opportunistic gains at the cost of the people. Not sure if rail capacity is a crisis situation like that, maybe this new executive order is the us version of the China belt and road initiative.

Greg White (00:29:07):

Well, so we have laws that address that, right? That address things called profiteering. And so there doesn’t, it doesn’t require an executive order if that’s what the government believes is that there is price. Gouging is what we call it in the states. If that exists, see, this is the difficulty, there is, there is a legal methodology for this, but that legal methodology doesn’t make any headlines, right? So we need to make headlines as if we’re attempting to do something in order to garner the favor of the American to get reelected. You can see where sir, I appreciate

Scott Luton (00:29:44):

Your take on this. Appreciate all the great comments for the sake of time. We’re going to move forward and tackle our next story. And this one, this one is a lot easier, maybe a lot easier. And it’s, uh, it’s, it’s good news here. Um, we’re talking about, uh, you know, we’re kind of doing an update to the story from, uh, a few weeks back, the U S MCA is tackling an early steep, uh, speed bump, right? Right. So as reported by industry week, the U S and Mexico governments last week announced they had resolved a labor complaint in a speedy fashion. For that matter. It was the first successful activity involving the us MCA is rapid response labor mechanism, which was one of the key upgrades over NAFTA. So Greg, in a nutshell, this involved the labor union voting complaint, uh, at a general motors plant, uh, plant in Mexico ballots were reportedly destroyed by one of the unions. If they didn’t like how the vote went and the U S asked Mexico to investigate. So good news here, it’s being remedied. A new votes can be taken in August with five times as many inspectors as reported here by industry week. So Greg, well,

Greg White (00:30:52):

I mean, I think U S MCA has such an incredible upgrade over NAFTA for those not in the states who don’t know it has greatly simplified and unified the north American nations, those Mexico, us and Canada, and, and enabled us to take this vast continent that we live on and, and enable business more effectively and, and enforce some fairness doctrines. And that’s really what this is about is, um, that ability to report and be supported by nations that are arguably even considering our previous discussion, arguably more legitimate and, um, and mature then Mexico for them to get that kind of assistance, I think is really, really powerful for that organization, because this is a simply the way that things are done in many cases in Mexico, but to be able to lean on their trading partners or even just to lean on the requirements of their trading partners in order to redo this injustice is it’s powerful stuff

Scott Luton (00:31:59):

I love. Um, when I see advancements like this and improvements over NAFTA, it just brings to my mind a lot of good news, which is we’ve got such a unique trading trade partner situation here in the Western hemisphere between Canada, the us and Mexico, if, and especially if we, if we very intentionally and successfully look for ways where it benefits all parties, you know, uh, so I look forward to more good news coming out of this, this U S MCA as it’s already been, uh, past enacted implemented. And, um, as, as Greg, you’re alluding to big improvement over NAFTA. So stay tuned. Hey, want to say hello to a few folks? Nick rumor is with us via YouTube. Hey, Nick, great to see you hope this finds well, love, love the content you throw out there on LinkedIn in particular, a very uplifting content. I like licks. Nick’s lik I like Nick’s leadership style. Dr. Rhonda is Zimmerman a speaking, a great content have enjoyed yours. Hey, you’re late to the party. That’s okay. We’ll have it on recording on demand.

Greg White (00:33:00):

It’s tough, right? When you have sprung forward. So she’s three hours behind us, even though she’s in Arizona, she might as well be in California.

Scott Luton (00:33:11):

Uh, Ron is out there making it happen across industry. So I appreciate any time we get from you here, Rhonda, on our LinkedIn or on our supply chain butts. Okay. So Greg moving right along this next story is an interesting one.

Greg White (00:33:28):

It is really interesting. I’m glad I did this,

Scott Luton (00:33:31):

My friend, um, I think this, this might illustrate maybe some of the, your, your earlier, uh, your regular comments about how supply chain is reported. So, and for folks that are certainly in our community here and on this live stream, while this stuff are stuff you already know. Um, but I enjoy, um, a couple of these comments here. So as reported by Yahoo finance, this is a new report from SMP global research. And the headline is the headline reads there. It’s supposed to point to three major ways that supply chains are broken. However, Greg, I thought the headline was a little bit misleading, especially as you work down through the article, because I thought the story focused more on some of the, kind of the underlying trends that are deeply impacting global supply chain management today. So, but I should, I should to be fair.

Scott Luton (00:34:22):

This was the first of, I think three releases. So maybe that may, that might clarify that point there. So I picked up five trends from this article. First of course, one historic demand, Greg, we’ve all we’ve talked about that incessantly to falling inventories, right? Nothing new three, no one can find components. How many times we’ve talked about semiconductors in automotives as just an example, last week we talked about the patio patio furniture, right? Folks or folks are using catalogs to order patio furniture, um, for lockdowns impact on the workforce, especially manufacturing. You’ve talked a lot about that. We’re still seeing that to some degree in some of these global ports, um, and then five, this is one really right up your alley. Greg, the article talks about under investment in logistics. It points to the historic consumer demand being addressed with a quote, essentially fixed supply of logistics services during the first half of 2021 in quote, uh, on that last point, the article also points to a ton, tons and tons of new investment globally in a supply chain. So Greg, your thoughts here,

Greg White (00:35:36):

I’m not surprised, but again, what do I want to say triggered, let’s say triggered by the fact that they’re ignoring the biggest point, which is we have been paying people. And this goes back to this goes back to the contribution that the government made to the problems to begin with. We are paying people to stay at home, right? But us government is, is supplementing, supplementing unemployment benefits to the tune of 300 to $600 a week for people to stay at home, not search for work, right. They have none of those have none of those, those issues. Um, and you know, and basically when, when they’re plentiful jobs, now let’s also recognize that coming into this pandemic, the supply chain, uh, industry just in the U S had 2 million jobs that remained on unsealed. So there’s clearly a labor gap in this industry. Um, but that, that to me is a much bigger problem today than, than any of these things that have been, have been described here.

Greg White (00:36:45):

Right? The reason that, of course we had historic demand. I mean, I don’t even know if I would call it historic demand is more like in great excess to any historic demand and impossible to predict demand was because of the cessation of commerce that occurred over the course of just a few days, basically globally, but certainly here in the United States. Right? Um, as we said, early on in this with the toilet, great toilet paper shortage of 2020, we don’t have a supply problem. We have a demand problem. I have actually talked to people in recent weeks. I actually, when I was in Wichita who still have toilet paper from when they originally ordered toilet paper in March of 2020. So, uh, so I think this is a great example, Scott, to your point of somebody who knows nothing about supply chain reporting on supply chain from a macro level, without an understanding of the underlying or, or refusal to, to address the underlying reasons that they choose to avoid as evidenced by their hyperbolic. Um, and as you said, an accurate headline, right? So this is more about clicks than accurate information, this particular excellent point.

Scott Luton (00:38:04):

And it got mine, dad gum it, but I, I enjoy reading

Greg White (00:38:09):

Well, I think it’s good. I think it’s good to point this out because this is asking me and probably should be an irritant to people in, in the supply chain practice because the supply chains are decidedly not broken, right? It is government intervention. It is, it is government manipulation. It is basically a cold war, commerce, cold war between, uh, countries that has caused some of this cold.

Scott Luton (00:38:35):

Wow. A new Greg white isn’t there a lot of good stuff, a lot of good reading, uh, a lot of, um, different takes out there. Uh, we’ve been talking about here’s we wrap, uh, this article via Yahoo finance, but this is really it’s based on research, put out by the S and P global research. So you all check that out. Okay. So I want to share a couple of comments here, Greg, and then, uh, we’re going to keep driving here. So Stephanie is with us here today. Stephanie, welcome via LinkedIn. She says going through crisis mode with Malaysia shutdowns right now, Q3 is going to be the worst. Wow. As bad as bad news.

Greg White (00:39:17):

Wow. Melissa really kind of dodged the bullet early on and, and they opened, um, really relatively early and they have been doing great

Scott Luton (00:39:29):

Log system. Uh, Rhonda says, I can’t believe they’re still dishing out all that money. So many opportunities, uh, across the world. I apologize your comments about, uh, I appreciate probably your comments about this issue. I bet she’s, she’s probably working out

Greg White (00:39:45):

If she also wants to apologize for my comments, I would also

Scott Luton (00:39:51):

Continue to say it fears, creating unhealthy unhelpful behavioral choices, huh? Uh, neuro FOD says forest pine cones do wonders way better than that. Hoarded two ply three plus stuff available. Oh goodness gracious. A Mohib says commerce called where this, this term should be in a textbook. Hey, how about that? Um,

Greg White (00:40:17):

It could already be in the text as you know, I’ve never read one.

Scott Luton (00:40:21):

W I’ll tell you we are moving right along. I thought we would be at, uh, at the top of the hour by now, but this is good. I want to carve some time out. We’ve heard a lot across social media about the passing of really a legendary figure in global business. And I would just want to share a couple of things here, Greg. So Rodney Martin passed away last week. Uh, leaders from across industry around the world have been mourning. We’ve seen it. You probably have seen it as well across LinkedIn, other social, uh, Kerryn bursa, I think had had the opportunity. One of our hosts here, host tech talk, had the opportunity to rub elbows with Roddy. So, uh, Mr. Martin was well-known for his expertise, especially in digital transformation, change management, change management, and many other areas. Um, Jake bar, if you remember him, Greg, he joined us for a live stream a month or two back on tech talk here, it’s blockchain now.

Scott Luton (00:41:15):

So he reached out via LinkedIn and share this commentary. I’m about to quote from, uh, this was composed by Kevin O’Mara from Amazon. And I’m going to quote from this tip to tail end. It’s not gonna do it justice. This is to be published. Uh, so look for this in some upcoming trade publications, but, uh, he says, quote, I was traveling once with Rodney in his native South Africa when he introduced me to the concept of [inaudible]. I think I said that, right. It is a Zulu term for humanity, which he translated to me as roughly a am because we all are. He invoked the idea in response to my musings about how supply chain can save the world to him. Ma my audacious premise was perfectly reasonable because he could already see the connections between each and all of us in quote, again, that’s by Kevin, O’Mara from Amazon focused on his experiences, some of his journey with Mr. Rodney Martin. So all the best to Mr. Martins, family, friends, and colleagues, he passed away in July 9th last week. Um, and we, you know, we all do certainly share responsibility, Greg, to build on his legacy and service, especially history of service to global business, improving industry for all, uh, the kind of borrow from that quote there, your thoughts.

Greg White (00:42:39):

So I’ve never met Roddy before, but I’m keenly aware of his 80 slide presentations that go into excruciating detail on the dynamics and interrelationships of supply chain, essentially the underpinnings of AMR research who Laura [inaudible] and my Brisbois who are often on this show, um, you know, they, they come from and continues to underpin some aspect of the, of the perception and, and, uh, approach to supply chain excellence at, at Gardner. So, uh, far reaching impact, very, um, cerebral individual, I mean, you know, kind of the Dolly long of supply chain, if you will, he thought about the world, he thought about supply chain in know at a much more theorial level than a mathematical or an operational level. And I think that is to his credit, frankly, he freed the minds of many of us to be able to think about things as they should be rather than just as they are. Right. He, he is sort of the catalyst of my feeling that best practice, right. Is, is often just an excuse for that. So the way we’ve always done it and just think about things as they should be rather than the way that they are and the way that they’ve always been. So, um, yeah, unbelievable. So, and, and incredibly knowledgeable and visionary person weird to say visionary and supply chain, um, at least up until now, but certainly he, he was visionary well

Scott Luton (00:44:21):

Best wishes to the Martin family, uh, and, and the huge network of folks that, that collaborated with him and love reading and will continue be reading about the legacy he leaves behind. So, um, now you mentioned Larysa Siri and of course I’d be remiss if we did not talk about an upcoming opportunity to, uh, really connect with her and the whole team and, and even better folks, rock and roll leaders from across global supply chain that much like Rodney Martin, uh, because, uh, as you mentioned, pointed out, Laura was at AMR. If I’m not mistaken, uh, they had collaborated a good bit. So anyway, learn more about, uh, the upcoming supply chain global supply chain insights global summit is coming up in September. We’ve got a link for that in the show notes. And Greg and I look forward to, along with the rest of our many of our hosts hosting the virtual feed of that exclusively here at supply chain now. So you can learn more at supply chain insights, global summit.com. Okay. So Greg, uh, I’m going to pose this question to you here, and I think this comes from Kauai and he says, Greg, what’s next up trade wars, third wave COVID recession, any positive news on a Monday. That’s one of our favorite questions, Greg, what’s your answer?

Greg White (00:45:42):

Yeah. Um, well, I got to tell you, I don’t think necessarily that the government getting doing hand-waving with this executive order and some of these other things is necessarily bad news. I just don’t expect much from it. And frankly, expect more, um, particularly around the Weger issue. I mean, you know, the president, he campaigned on that issue and has done largely nothing, nothing more than the previous administration had. So at least we are maintaining a relatively hard line, so don’t get me wrong. It’s, uh, it’s, it’s not a negative outlook on the world. It’s just a negative outlook on our government’s abilities, our respective government’s ability to make the world a better place. They will not do that. They have not done that to date. So, but yeah. Um, gosh, what, what, what is coming? Uh, you know, I call myself a free agent futurist mostly because nobody like IBM or SAP will pay me to be a futurist and pimp their programs as a futurist.

Greg White (00:46:46):

So, um, I’m not sure if I’m a good futurist, but, um, I think we can expect, uh, continued easy money, which will continue to expand economies and it will probably continue to impact inflation. But I think also, and this, this to me is good news and I, I probably haven’t expressed that here, but I think that some of the things that we’re seeing in terms of price escalations are highly temporary. That includes shipping. That includes lumber, which by the way, has already come down substantially from its, its peaks. Um, you know, it includes some of the things that we’re starting to see, but as my mother brilliantly said the other day, there’s lots of hidden inflation. And I think we may have talked about this on a show I have in this in the United States that a half gallon of ice cream is no longer a half gallon of ice cream.

Greg White (00:47:39):

You don’t pay, you don’t pay the same, you pay the same amount, but now it’s one and a half courts instead of two courts. Right? And, um, so we have to be on the lookout for that. And I think it behooves consumers to become very aware of that and to, in again, in the states to start to check ourselves, uh, in terms of buying luxuries, for instance, beach houses, any vacation home is virtually impossible to buy in the states because they are literally going off the market fast, as fast as, as, um, primary residences, RV sales are the greatest. And I think the history of, of RVs motorcycles, um, boats, like I said, vacation homes, all of Peloton, all of these arguably, uh, luxury things are because the government is paying people to, to stay home or at least not forcing them to look for work that will change probably by September.

Greg White (00:48:49):

And then we’ll start to see probably a slight dip in the markets, a slight dip in the economy, but then it will come back. As people start earning the money that the government has been handing them to them until that time. So, uh, and everyone will have, um, everyone will have their revenge travel. Another, another fascinating term, revenge travel is people who are traveling now because they haven’t been able to travel for many, many months. I don’t know if any of you did what some people did, which is bank plane tickets during COVID at the low, low prices that they are, and then travel, you know, take advantage of the ability to move those tickets to any time and travel then, but now plane tickets are very difficult, very expensive, I should say. And also a seat on plane is becoming difficult to come by.

Greg White (00:49:42):

We flew recently and the plane was not, not full on a couple of flights, but overfull on other flights. Now they’ve also prepared back flights, but they’re going to expand that back again. So, um, I don’t think there’s a coming crash, but again, let me qualify that as I often do not an economist. In fact, I didn’t even get good grades and economics, but I understand the basics of, of free markets and of supply and demand and equilibrium in the marketplace. And I feel like in so many areas, Scott, we’re reaching equilibrium. In fact, I think we talked about this a few weeks ago. I don’t eat chicken wings right now because they’re too expensive. Right? I eat, what do they call them? Boneless wings, which is chicken nuggets. Well, at least they’re at least it’s breast meat. So it’s good meat. It’s not like the whipped chicken fat you get at McDonald’s, but it’s not as good as wings. I’m all about the wings, right? So when, when we get an indication, we’ll call this, we should call this the wing index. We’ll get an indication that that inflation is coming back. When you and I can afford chicken wings,

Scott Luton (00:51:01):

Were we supposed to stop eating chicken wings? Amanda, did you get that memo?

Greg White (00:51:07):

Well, maybe you found something that I have, um, really expensive. Here’s

Scott Luton (00:51:11):

Some other good news. Uh, so Nick shares, uh, 2 million job openings in supply chain in the U S alone. That’s great news. Uh, I would add to that list and, you know, we celebrate good news every Friday for intentionally. It’s just good to call Tom out and find good news that folks are involved with across the markets at Greg bird and especially blue Jay activity in our backyard is immense right now. I’m not sure what’s going on in that, that aspect of nature, but it is. It’s awesome to see we’ve got, uh,

Greg White (00:51:43):

Blue jeans tend to kind of come through here. Seasonally brown Thrashers are two rival gangs,

Scott Luton (00:51:50):

And then they’re going around and around at our feeders. Um, yeah, putting aside, um, you know, I think I was really thinking about this over the weekend. Uh, I think one of the really big pieces of good news is, is the information and perspective exchange and, and, and, um, how much easier that is getting, I mean, this live stream, I think is a great example, right? Um, we’re not relegated as it wasn’t too long ago, Greg, to have to be in person at events at this dinner meeting here in this dinner, lunch meeting here and plant tour here. I mean, that’s a wonderful thing and it’s good for industry. It’s good for leadership. It’s good for driving change, especially the meaningful change that, um, we’ve kind of talked through it throughout some of these news stories here today that some folks are talking about in the comments. That’s a great thing as a great thing. Uh, more and more awareness, um, is, is great news here, uh, as

Greg White (00:52:43):

Well. That’s the inverse of so many of these stories, as I said, right? We are more aware of what’s going on in gen John province than we’ve ever been. And you know, we as consumers. Yeah. The good news is we have the power to stop that we can stop buying the brands that we know are contributing to this. And I think that’s, you know, that sort of thing is good news. You know, the, as you said, the transparency of supply chain is going to improve performance. Absolutely. Right. And we got what we wanted. We’ve talked about this a lot and we got what we wanted. We want a supply chain to have a seat at the table. And, uh, now it’s our time to shine.

Scott Luton (00:53:27):

Agreed. Well, I’ll share a couple more comments here. So Andy, great to have you back via LinkedIn. He says [inaudible] is supposed to be a Linux flavor. Did I hear the word right? If I said it, chances are you may not have heard it, right?

Greg White (00:53:41):

No, no. It is a flavor of Lennox, but it’s original. Yeah. Uh,

Scott Luton (00:53:49):

Jerry is so glad to see this China slave labor issue being discussed. Um, and let’s see here. Uh, Nick says he is still not traveling. We here in the UK are not allowed in just yet. Uh, Rhonda says I’m an optimistic realist most of the time, but aware of our sometimes unhelpful choices from time to time, we all need to do our part to help with the growth and recovery process. Excellent point.

Greg White (00:54:18):

So just to be clear on this point, I’m an incredible optimist, but I refuse to ignore the negatives that impact that optimism. What I, what I really, really fear is blind or uninformed optimism. Right? There’s every reason to believe optimist. Look, I studied the Soviet union when I was, when I was in college, right. Because I was going to be diploma. And, um, there were millionaires and billionaires in, in the Soviet union, a communist society. Right. You can overcome anything that, that your government or your condition can, can do to, for, or against you. So I want everybody to understand that these are just things that, uh, I look out for that helped me maintain the optimism and hope of, you know, of greater things. But I w I won’t rely on government and I don’t, I won’t, uh, delude myself into believing that it is not corrupt in, in doing so. Right. Because those are the people that get caught. I wasn’t sure

Scott Luton (00:55:27):

If you’re going full, full, full torch.

Greg White (00:55:31):

I’m not, I’m not preaching. I’m just telling everybody, I just want everybody to understand that I think world is right, right place. You know, my beliefs that there is abundance in the universe, right? This is not a zero sum game.

Scott Luton (00:55:44):

Also a serious responsibility for leaders to, to tackle the, the, uh, the change has got to be tackled, uh, and, and not turn that blind on, not turn that, that blonde optimistic, uh, you know, uh, because it there’s so much good news out there. It’s easy to focus on that, but there’s a lot more, a lot more heavy lifting has gotta be done to address some of these situations. And, uh, these injustices that, um, that we’re talking about here today and on plenty of other shows. So I appreciate, yeah, well, Greg, I appreciate you jumping on and, and, and, you know, telling it straight. I think, I think it needs to be a lot more of that as well, uh, across, uh, the content creation channels. Okay.

Greg White (00:56:27):

You’re in the right place.

Scott Luton (00:56:29):

That’s right. So, Peter talking about travel, as we wrap here, July 14th, he says, is my free to travel date. We’ll have past the 14 days since the second shot, but traveling even double vacs requires too many hoops to be jumped through. Uh, and let’s see. And yes, two COVID tests, one prior and one post travel. So he’s going to be rediscovering some of the Canadian provinces I’m with you there. Uh, Peter. Okay. So, uh, great. We’ve covered a lot of, a lot of ground here today. I want to wrap, I want to kind of book in this, uh, love what our friends over Omnia partners doing. Folks, be sure to check out connections. 2021 is in-person in September in Miami, Florida, what a beautiful city we’re looking forward to being there in person broadcasting lab first day at knocking out some interviews, uh, in subsequent day. So I’ll check that out September 27th through the 29th, 2021 Gregory,

Greg White (00:57:26):

And imagine too, I mean, lower is Laura’s thing in Nashville. Look, I think we’ve shared that that costs money. Is it $1,400 a seats? Well, worth it, maybe not within your personal range, but, um, look, I think you’ve, you’ve all experienced for free. What you can learn from, from Laura. Imagine if your colleagues or your leadership team could engage with her and the quality leaders in a safe space, no vendor space in a safe space for three days, that will be tremendously valuable. That is the kind of commitment that a supply chain professional can really gain from in tenfold to the cost easily tenfold, excellent point. And here’s a little, I mean, if you can’t make 15 grand off of, uh, off of that, uh, the knowledge that you gain, I would be stunned. I would say it’d probably be closer to 1.5 million. You could learn enough from this thing to make it worthwhile.

Scott Luton (00:58:32):

Um, and, and little, little extra incentive for folks that sign up for the virtual, uh, uh, participation of that event in September. Uh, the supply chain global insights summit, uh, you get to join a private networking session with Larissa, Sarah. And I won’t be one-on-one to be, to be very transparent, but if you haven’t met her yet, you hadn’t had a chance to pose some questions to her and getting her take and just connect with her. Um, what do you rate, um, add in for folks sign up for the virtual version and that

Greg White (00:59:03):

Conference one, when she does her mind into that session, she’ll be able to distill down some of what you hear into what, how, how to process it and read, right. Obviously use it going forward. Yep.

Scott Luton (00:59:17):

All right, folks, that is going to be the wrap for the supply chain for one July 12th, 2021. Really appreciate the wealth of comments. Uh, the clarification’s your takes, uh, your questions, even for some of the stores we tackled here today. Greg big, thanks, uh, for, uh, always fun to do this with you. Big, thanks. So Greg to the folks behind the scenes, Amanda and Jayda and clay, and I think Allie even is with us really appreciate what all y’all do. And, um, hope everyone has a wonderful week. But if you heard here, one thing here today from today’s live stream here, this, we got challenged you to do good. Give forward, be the change that’s needed, Greg didn’t count. Uh, and, and on that note,

Greg White (01:00:03):

Oh my God, I’m sorry. I’m just also reading Sheldon, talking about Lambos and Porsche’s on the streets in Jamaica, in the streets in Jamaica. That’s a very dangerous prospect. You could lose a Lambo.

Scott Luton (01:00:15):

Wait, we’ll see. Uh, we’ll see you back here, Sheldon. Hopefully soon y’all have a wonderful week and we’ll see you back right here on supply chain now real soon. Thanks for your body

Intro/Outro (01:00:24):

Here. 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.