Customer service levels: win, lose or draw? AI and no code: worth the hype? The future of labor: robots or people? Tune in to this week’s Supply Chain Buzz: TEKTOK edition to hear Scott, Greg and Karin tackle the tough tech questions emerging from the latest supply chain headlines. Get their expert takes on the acceleration of digital transformation, the role of automation, the impact of inflation, and more.

Intro/Outro (00:00:03):

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

Scott Luton (00:00:30):

Hey, Hey, good morning, Scott Luton, Greg White and Karin Bursa here with you on supply chain. Now. Welcome to today’s live stream, Greg, how we doing

Greg White (00:00:38):

Greg ahead to duke? That’s kind of double piece, right? Since there’s three of us, not two to start. So, uh, doing great hope everybody had a great weekend. Karin. . Welcome.

Karin Bursa (00:00:48):

<laugh>. Thank you, Greg. It’s good to be here, Scott. Thanks for having me. I don’t have a, a, a hand signal introduction, but I will say welcome to all the supply team movers and shakers. And it’s great to be with you and Scott here on the buzz

Scott Luton (00:01:01):

Today. So Karin, I’m gonna, I’m gonna, uh, uh, pass along one that you can just make all your own it’s from all the trucker community live long and prosper. Oh yeah. Hey man, I got that.

Karin Bursa (00:01:14):

I’m definitely, I’ve got the, the tricky in me from, uh, from childhood.

Greg White (00:01:18):

Yeah. Is it thumb out or,

Scott Luton (00:01:21):

You know, you called

Karin Bursa (00:01:21):

Me some doesn’t really matter. I don’t it’s it’s doesn’t

Greg White (00:01:24):

Okay.

Scott Luton (00:01:25):

And, and, and just right then with just the last 35 seconds, that’s the most we’ve ever spoken about star Trek in any one show in, in supply chain, our history. So we

Greg White (00:01:35):

You’re welcome supply chain practitioners,

Scott Luton (00:01:38):

And you know what, in some corner of our global audience, we’re letting some folks down that we don’t talk more about the supply chain and, and business part of star Trek. But Hey, I digress. You’re probably right. Yeah. Um, today, Greg and Karin is the TEKTOK edition of the supply chain buzz, where we share some leading stories across global business. Many of you will know TEKTOK, digital supply chain podcast, hosted by Karin Bursa, where she talks digital shop with all the movers and shakers across industry. Right. Karin

Karin Bursa (00:02:08):

That’s right. That’s right. It’s been a lot of fun. So thanks so much for the opportunity to contribute here on supply chain. Now

Scott Luton (00:02:14):

You bet we wouldn’t miss it. And you’re, uh, I think you’re approaching how roughly, how many episodes have we done already? TEKTOK.

Karin Bursa (00:02:21):

So we’ve got 42 published and then, uh, wow. Few more that are in the works.

Scott Luton (00:02:26):

Greg, how about that 42? That is, uh, you know, most podcasts don’t get past like 11 or 12 episodes, right? Yep.

Greg White (00:02:32):

I was gonna say that’s almost four times the average, right?

Karin Bursa (00:02:35):

Oh my goodness. I didn’t realize that.

Greg White (00:02:37):

Oh yeah. You’re an old pro now. I mean

Scott Luton (00:02:40):

Yeah’s right mover. It has gotten

Greg White (00:02:42):

Easier young pro

Karin Bursa (00:02:44):

You for switching the descriptive there, Graham. Yeah. Hey, the check is in the mail.

Scott Luton (00:02:49):

<laugh> it’s the TEKTOK, additional supply chain buzz, you know, so we’ve got some great, uh, story to talk about, but folks we want to hear from you, right? Give us your take on what we’re talking about. We’re gonna share as many comments as we can, uh, over the next hour. So buckle up to get ready. Cause we definitely wanna hear from you too. Now

Greg White (00:03:06):

Katherine calling it Trek talk. Did you notice that? No,

Scott Luton (00:03:08):

I <laugh>. Didn’t well, speaking of

Greg White (00:03:11):

Ever’s a Clippy one, I think, you know, I don’t know what you all think, but we’ve had some of our behind the scenes folk on the show before. Yes. I think Catherine would be a heck of a lot of fun to have on the show.

Scott Luton (00:03:22):

We should do that.

Karin Bursa (00:03:23):

Yeah. Look out Catherine. They’re coming for you.

Greg White (00:03:26):

Yeah. <laugh> man, once we’ve, once we’ve mentioned it to the audience, nobody escapes.

Scott Luton (00:03:31):

Well, speaking of, we’re gonna share a couple events here in just a minute, but let’s go ahead. And, and clay Phillips, the diesel is with us here today. Welcome all happy buzz day. Claire. Appreciate what you do. Uh, as Greg pointed out, big, big, thanks and hello to Amanda, Catherine, Chantel and more the whole production team that helps us make this happen. Uh, all the time. Uh, Josh goody is tuned in happy Monday. He says Karin and Greg from a sunny 72 degree Seattle with matching humidity.

Karin Bursa (00:04:00):

Nice.

Greg White (00:04:00):

Wow. Nice. I gotta tell you I’m envious. I don’t know about you all, but Josh, 72 sounds pretty tasty right now. Doesn’t

Scott Luton (00:04:07):

It? <laugh> Josh. We gotta have pictures. We gotta give us, uh, a great picture of where you are in Seattle and send that to us. We wanna share that on a future episode of the buzz. Uh, I mentioned Catherine, Catherine says happy, happy Monday, all Jonathan. Jonathan’s back with us, Jonathan. How doing all right. Uh, he hails from Louisiana. Good morning to you as well. Shelly Phillips is back in the house with us. Good morning from sunny, Colorado. She says we gotta get a picture of that too. Right. Karin and great. Yeah.

Greg White (00:04:36):

Right. Especially now, man. It’s I mean, if you’re up in the mountains, it’s beautiful up there and they’re already starting to look towards winter <laugh>

Scott Luton (00:04:44):

That is right.

Greg White (00:04:44):

The north rim of the grand canyon is closed. It’s really it’s already. Yeah. The, the threat of snow is already there. Huh? Very strange. You don’t think of it being that

Karin Bursa (00:04:56):

No summer is very short. The, when I lived in Denver, I learned that and that the weather can change very quickly. Okay. In Colorado you can go from, you know, nearly a hundred degrees to the very next day, snow or sleet. Okay. Um, so it’s pretty shocking.

Scott Luton (00:05:15):

All right. So GA’s been thrown down Shelly and Josh. Y’all gotta send some pictures. Uh, conchen tuned in from India via LinkedIn. Great to have you here today. Let, let me know if I didn’t get your first name. Right. We try to get everybody’s first names. Everybody’s name’s right. Uh, I can butcher ’em from time to time, but great to have you here. Uh, David Glover feels like fall here in Southern Minnesota. Happy Monday. Awe. All via LinkedIn. Great to have you here with this David. One of our faves we may

Greg White (00:05:43):

Have already missed the two weeks of summer in Minnesota.

Scott Luton (00:05:46):

<laugh> correct. Uh, one of our faves, uh, Karen and Greg Donna Croci is in the cheap seats via LinkedIn. Hello Scott, Greg, and Karen happy Monday. Great to see you Donna. And by the way, uh, she has surprise birthday party for her daughter, Allison, who co-host some of the shows here, Karen and Greg. Um, and how did

Karin Bursa (00:06:05):

It grow? I wanna know how it

Scott Luton (00:06:07):

Went. So I, I, I’ve only exchanged a couple emails, quick emails with Donna, but what Donna did is without telling Allison, she was able to bring in lots of her aunts and uncles and cousins and friends, and they all surprised her Friday night for her big birthday. So Donna, that is so awesome. Hope y’all had a great weekend. Muhammad.

Greg White (00:06:25):

I hope Alison likes surprises. I’m thinking considering her role, maybe not so much,

Scott Luton (00:06:30):

Not so much. That’s right. Muhammad from Malaysia. It’s tune to via LinkedIn. Great to see you here today. Looking forward to your perspective.

Greg White (00:06:38):

Um, beautiful country. I love

Scott Luton (00:06:39):

Malaysia. Oh man, it’d be awesome to visit, uh, Pham, Perham, perche, uh, regardless. Hello. Welcome in via YouTube. That’s an easy channel to, to, to view each, uh, and every Monday at 12 noon. And uh, let’s see, we got some other foot Natalie’s back with us. Natalie says a cool climate sound nice. As I sit in Charlotte waiting for a trip to Charleston, South Carolina. How

Greg White (00:07:02):

About that, man? Uh, buckle your seatbelt, Natalie, because when you get to Charleston, you’re gonna learn what humidity is. That’s

Scott Luton (00:07:10):

Right. That is right. Uh, Sophia the rock and roll star is back with us, correct.

Greg White (00:07:15):

Whoa.

Scott Luton (00:07:16):

I would definitely loop her in. You see the movers and shakers. You’re already always talking about Sophia fits, fits right in there. Right.

Karin Bursa (00:07:24):

She certainly does. Sophia. It’s been a while. I’m so glad you’re with us today.

Greg White (00:07:28):

We are. Yeah. Let’s hear what she’s up to.

Scott Luton (00:07:29):

That’s right. Sophia

Greg White (00:07:30):

And where <laugh>

Karin Bursa (00:07:32):

And where yes.

Scott Luton (00:07:33):

Give us an update. Where

Karin Bursa (00:07:34):

Is she moving and shaking in the supply chain? <laugh> that’s

Greg White (00:07:37):

Right.

Scott Luton (00:07:38):

Uh, Sharon is tuned in from the United Kingdom, uh, sending a big hello, best weather today. Cool. Finally, Sharon, that,

Greg White (00:07:46):

Uh, oh, that is great news.

Scott Luton (00:07:48):

That is great news. So from our entire supply chain, now family wishing you and all of our, our friends in the UK, across the UK, um, much cooler weather. So that’s been a, a tough couple weeks to follow.

Greg White (00:07:59):

Have either of you been in England for a heat wave? Not

Karin Bursa (00:08:02):

I have. I have. And I, I, um, actually witnessed a supply chain disruption. All of the coffee shops of course had switched to ice coffee and Greg there was the shortage on ice. Wow.

Greg White (00:08:18):

And so of course, because there isn’t much use for ice in England, right? Well,

Karin Bursa (00:08:22):

This was in the summer. So it was, I can’t remember if it was the end of July or early August, but there were lines outside of most of the coffee, um, retailers that were, you know, kind of wrapped around the block and it was because their ice machines could not keep pace with people ordering iced coffee versus hot coffee.

Scott Luton (00:08:45):

Wow. Okay.

Greg White (00:08:47):

Well, I was in Maston, which is east of London, um, far east of London and had stayed in this, this one particular hotel seven or eight times didn’t realize it didn’t have air conditioning until it was 103 degrees. And, and then, uh, got there a day early to get prepared, spent the whole day up the hill at the Chi hundreds, uh, pub working, eating outstanding Thai food, by the way. And maybe having a beverage or two too many. Yes

Scott Luton (00:09:20):

<laugh> all right. So join us next week for Greg and CORs travel adventures. That’s right. Uh, on the travels

Greg White (00:09:27):

In the heat wave.

Scott Luton (00:09:28):

So

Greg White (00:09:28):

Thanks for joining us

Scott Luton (00:09:30):

Two, two more quick comments, and we’re gonna jump into our first story. So Natalie says Charleston’s a favorite spot. The humidity just means a different hairstyle. Think Monica, own friends. I love that Natalie. <laugh> true. And Sophia says still in guara, but I definitely need to go visit you all in Atlanta. Come on up. We’d love to have you come on.

Greg White (00:09:50):

Yeah. Wait till it cools down though.

Scott Luton (00:09:52):

Sophia. That is right. And Sophia’s got some, a tip here. My advice to survive a heat wave is actually drinking hot coffee. You rise your, you raise your body temperature and the external temperature will feel cooler. Hmm. How

Karin Bursa (00:10:05):

About that? Isn’t that interesting?

Scott Luton (00:10:07):

It is. All right. So, uh,

Karin Bursa (00:10:09):

Sophia, that sounds like a marketing opportunity.

Scott Luton (00:10:12):

<laugh> that’s wait. Welcome everybody. Welcome everybody. And, and Sharon is confirming what you shared Karin is correct. Ice also sold for three times its normal price in some places as you were sharing your, your experience Karin, thank you for that. Uh, Sharon and most importantly is so great to see the UK getting some relief here lately. Okay. Yeah. Uh, welcome everybody. Looking forward to hearing y’all’s taking what we’re talking about here today. Really quick. I’m gonna, we got three events we’re gonna share really quick here. The first one is, um, uh, we’re honored to be part of this veterans and logistics event hosted by Redwood logistics tomorrow. That is at 10 30 central time, 1130 Eastern time. Uh, it’s about a 90 minute webinar. You got a register, uh, we’ll drop Lincoln to comments, but if you’re a veteran or a military member or family member that is interested in the logistics space, um, in particular, join us for this event.

Scott Luton (00:11:06):

We’re gonna talk on, um, uh, Kathy is, uh, ma Robertson. What a great get is at she’s gonna offer logistics trends for the first 30 minutes, uh, Steve rose and a, uh, a Marine vet and a, a Navy vet are gonna join to share about their transition experiences, including some best practices. And then Dr. Rhonda, one of our favorites here is gonna talk about, you know, how can you, you know, balance that mental health and wellness angle. So join us, you gotta register, but join us. And you’ve got the links in the comments, uh, and then really quick webinar. Our next webinar is August 2nd, three ways to stay afloat through the supply chain crisis. A distributor story. Greg has talked about how that can be a really unique aspect of industry. Join us for that August 2nd special time at 1130 Eastern time. And then finally we got James Malley and the packer team, the heavy hit and packer team, Greg, back with us, uh, he’s bringing a little known supply chain, uh, mover and shaker stored. So they’re back with us, uh, August 10th at 12 noon talking about the ripple effect of shipping less air,

Greg White (00:12:11):

Funny how circular that is because that’s something that distributors always everyone always tries to do is ship less air. So

Scott Luton (00:12:19):

Yes, indeed.

Greg White (00:12:20):

Yep. Ship less

Scott Luton (00:12:21):

Air ship. <laugh> there’s a company named there. Um, alright. Uh, really quick, Eric, great to have you here from Ecuador, uh, looking forward to hearing, you know, in your take on what we’re talking about here today, uh, there’d be a LinkedIn. Josh is confirming the price hike device. That’s gonna be an early theme here, uh, that hefty price of he, uh, uh, globally, maybe especially in the UK. Um, alright, so let’s get down to business. So I wanna start cor and Greg we’ll pull up our first, uh, graphic here, cause I wanna start with a really interesting take on an article from supply chain dive that Greg, uh, Greg gave last week, he was talking about some of his perspective on this article that focused on how supply chain disruption has impacted consumer buying patterns. He shared some of his, and then he got a lot of responses from across the market F from folks sharing theirs. So Greg, tell us more and I think we’re gonna drop the link to it, uh, in the comments.

Greg White (00:13:18):

Yeah, what’s really cool about this article is it was really a Roundup of other articles about how companies had changed their policies, their supply chain and, and procurement practices, if not policies, to adapt to shortages and outages and disruptions and all of these things. And what it made me think was all of that is ultimately impacted by the consumer and how the consumer makes their deci their decisions and their choices in these disruptive times. So what I wanted to do was kind of explore how people had changed their patterns of purchasing and, and how it had impacted them. I relayed a couple stories of my, of my own. Um, I I’ve experienced some quality issues that have forced me to make some other brand choices, availability issues, of course. Um, and honestly made one switch in terms of candy. That I’m really glad I went back to because I had forgotten how much I love the watch a Macall bar. I think we talked a little bit about this one day last week, right? Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:14:25):

Well, um,

Greg White (00:14:25):

Mostly the watchamacallit bar, that’s all we really talked about.

Scott Luton (00:14:29):

Right. Well, uh, folks, you gotta check it out, let us know what preferences, how you know supply chain is shaped yours. Karin, I’m coming to get your techniques, but it’s really interesting what Greg just painted, you know, consumers, you know, supply chains, react to what consumers want. And so then cons you know, supply chains do what they do and then what emerges warts and all mm-hmm <affirmative> makes consumers adjust their buying, buy buying patterns and behaviors and preferences again. So it’s a really interesting cycle, but Kain what did this make you think of your take, uh, have, have any of your preferences or patterns changed?

Karin Bursa (00:15:06):

Well, my personal preferences and patterns have changed a little bit. Um, you know, I I’ve actually seen service drop off in recent months where in the midst of the pandemic, it seemed like it was better. Um, so, you know, with home delivery and different things, so I’ve actually noticed that that delivery aspect being different or the eCommerce providers or retailers, um, not doing as well in notifying me as a consumer when things are gonna be late. Right. It’s one thing to expect the date that you, you know, got when you placed your order. Um, and if there’s a change, you know, I’m, I’m a big one for just let me know, there’s a change. Otherwise I’m, I’m looking for the delivery. So I, I have seen personally a couple of different, uh, retailers that are direct to consumer, uh, dropping the ball a little bit.

Greg White (00:16:00):

Right.

Scott Luton (00:16:01):

Mm. You, you know, um, that’s a great point. And I think one of the things, you know, Greg, I, I, I responded to you there in your, in your summary. Yeah. That when I think of like the, the items we purchased, at least I purchased the grocery store I’m real basic. Um, and so most of those preferences haven’t changed or, or habits or whatever, but as Karin points out, Karin, one of the things certainly over the last, um, you know, call it two years is I think our expectations in particular eating out and especially as we’re all kind of coming back and, and, you know, labor’s tough for everybody, you know, finding good people, you know, to, uh, uh, workers is tough for everybody. Mm-hmm, <affirmative>, I think our expectations of, um, you know, service time, wait time, you know, certainly we expect to pay more. I think that’s probably where I think subconsciously, um, uh, Greg maybe where some of our expectations have, have shifted at least in the Luton household. Uh, but Greg, I’ll give you the final word here on this first topic.

Greg White (00:17:01):

Yeah. I think, um, I, that is definitely true because inflation has impacted people’s decision making, right. Availability, Karin service level to your point and quality. I mean, look, I’m a, I guess, I think I’m basic. I was, I was interested by your, your comment there, because I guess I think I’m basic, right. I just like my rice checks <laugh>, but I don’t like my rice checks mixed with corn checks and it, and I think, I, I don’t know if I relayed this whole story, but, but several times I bought the brand of checks and I can tell they have not adequately cleared the line or cleaned the line. I don’t think dirty, but they’ve left enough residue from the prior run. Yep. That it tastes like rice and corn checks mix. And I hate that. Yep. So thankfully, whoever makes these things probably also general mills for, uh, Kroger, whatever is happening there, the quality is much, much better. Yep. And, and I’m also, and, and now think about this also. I mean, this is not, not, not, not, um, I’m not taking a shot at general mills. This is just a fact right now I’ve realized I can have as good or in at least in these, this moment. Yeah. Better quality for a third of the price.

Scott Luton (00:18:17):

Yeah.

Greg White (00:18:18):

Will I ever go back to checks? Yeah.

Karin Bursa (00:18:21):

Hmm. Yeah. So is

Scott Luton (00:18:22):

Don’t

Karin Bursa (00:18:23):

Know what’s the private label brand that, that we’re seeing better quality on, you know, that’s really interesting, Greg, cuz I think we’re gonna continue to see consumers trying some of the private label brands, whether it’s from availability, quality, price,

Greg White (00:18:39):

Pressure, price, most likely

Karin Bursa (00:18:41):

Price. Yeah. You know, but these are times, times like these, when we, as consumers do make switches and if we find comparable quality for a lower price, you may lose a customer.

Scott Luton (00:18:52):

That’s right. Well, you know what

Greg White (00:18:54):

I can tell you, there are a couple brands that have really stood out, um, intimates those chocolate covered donuts. Oh my gosh. <laugh>, I’m totally addicted to those things. And their quality has maintained and availability is maintained throughout and there are others of course, but, but it’s funny. It’s almost like it’s almost the exception that proves the rule that there are some companies who’ve maintained availability and quality and to some extent, price, think about Costco, their CEO, when asked if he would ever raise the price of their dollar 50 hot dog and soda. Um, combination said flatly. No, really?

Scott Luton (00:19:33):

How about that? Well, do

Karin Bursa (00:19:35):

You know? I wasn’t aware of that. Um, I know, um, I I’m aware now my college age son actually mentioned that to me, but it, it has been and will always be a buck 50. I’m like, oh, that’s crazy talk. So it’s interesting to hear you say the exact same thing. Yeah. Uh, cause that seems really inexpensive for, you know, for that combo.

Greg White (00:19:59):

Yeah. No doubt.

Scott Luton (00:20:01):

You know that and I can’t, it’s just outside of my reach here, Greg and Karin, my waist basket, cuz I was gonna ask you to wear the best place to put rice checks are. And I can’t quite use that prop cause he all belonged in the trash Greg. That is terrible cereal. Um, but I

Greg White (00:20:16):

Still, you don’t like it at

Scott Luton (00:20:17):

All. You could pick on general meals all you want. They got plant around the corner here in Covington, Georgia, but

Greg White (00:20:22):

Man, they’re coming to get you. They

Scott Luton (00:20:23):

Don’t <laugh> they don’t make fruit pebbles and that’s been for all time. My favorite cereal, you gotta eat it real quick cause they gets soggy. But so post makes fruity pebbles and yes, Sophia is sharing uh, uh, another observation that yes, Greg has a sweet tooth, maybe sweet teeth. Um,

Greg White (00:20:42):

I’m lucky to have teeth, honestly. That’s

Scott Luton (00:20:44):

Right. All right. Hey really quick. Some other great comments here. Uh, going back shipping air Jonathan says, I believe air is average around 4% of the total transportation spend. I love that. That

Greg White (00:20:54):

Is some expensive air about,

Scott Luton (00:20:58):

Um, let’s see here. Muhammad is talking about, uh, consumers getting, uh, being sensitive to the sustainability agenda. I either Paris agreement, 2050 special in climate change and the shortage of foods around the world. That’s certainly, I think a lot of folks are taking that into consideration when it comes to buying patterns. Uh, consumers are certainly much more informed as we all know. It’s a great point. Muhammad Peter, Peter Bole all night, all day where you been we’ve missed ya. He’s

Greg White (00:21:23):

Working for a living again. I don’t know. He cannot enjoy retirement. He’s he’s working.

Scott Luton (00:21:28):

He’s got too much to give Karin and great. That’s true. Uh, he says he’s been absent for a while. Learning a lot of new things with his new role, uh, with optimum strategies. So, uh, PB hope this finds you well. And I appreciate the update and let us know what you’re thinking on. What we’re talking about here today. Uh, he does say put, uh, Lene

Greg White (00:21:46):

Oval,

Scott Luton (00:21:47):

Teen will rice checks and it’s gonna taste a hundred percent better. How about that? Great. It’s

Greg White (00:21:50):

Like, that’s like a, I think that was like a healthy chocolate drink, right? Yeah. I’ve I’ve seen the commercials. Remember the code, tried it

Scott Luton (00:22:00):

From the Christmas story. Right? Oval team. The code. He was trying to crack the code. Remember that? I’m I’m pretty sure, sure. I was OV commercial, but Hey yeah. Um, I’d address, but all right. One final comment from Natalie and we’re gonna keep trucking. Natalie says quality of digital purchases have made me more aware of sellers and shippers. If I don’t recognize them, I’m not going to chance the purpose, uh, the purchase rather.

Greg White (00:22:22):

It’s great. Funny. She says that I made her what may have been a risky purchase yesterday and we’ll find out by Thursday. I’ll I’ll let you know when I find

Scott Luton (00:22:30):

Out. Well, Hey, really quick. Uh, Karin and Greg looking at the team chat, uh, kind of behind scenes, Amanda loves checks. Katherine loves rice checks. Um, so I might be outnumbered by far here, but uh, alright so Hey, if you do little fun question, you know, since we’re all talking cereal and we all probably have our own personal preferences, uh, drop your favorite cereal into the chat. Let’s see. Let’s see, who’s got, uh, where the common threads come from. Russ thorn, Karin, you know our friend, our dear friend, Russ thorn, AKA to

Greg White (00:23:03):

Russ.

Scott Luton (00:23:04):

Yes. Be sure to drink your oval teeth. He says straight from the commercial.

Greg White (00:23:09):

Yeah, clearly

Scott Luton (00:23:11):

<laugh>

Greg White (00:23:11):

Clearly a fan.

Scott Luton (00:23:12):

I didn’t know. Russ was a paid spokesman for oval team, Karin and green.

Greg White (00:23:16):

Why didn’t no oval team still existed? Does it

Scott Luton (00:23:19):

Okay.

Greg White (00:23:20):

Somebody look up and let us know. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:23:21):

Check that out. Hey, really quick front. We were talking about this supply chain, disruption change buying patterns in the first half of 2022 great article, uh, via supply chain dive. And we also linked to Greg’s, uh, supply chain summary, where we’d love to get your take, uh, that’s earlier in the comments, but moving right along, uh, Karin, uh, in our second article, we’re talking about, uh, research data, uh, that really explores 11 technologies that are truly shaping, transforming you name it global supply chain. So tell us more about this.

Karin Bursa (00:23:54):

Yeah, this was, um, this was some really good research done by, um, material handling and Deloitte and what I, what I took away from it is that we are moving from evolutions. Those small incremental changes to really revolution. And it is probably no surprise to our supply chain now audience. But, um, many of these changes that have happened as a result of the global pandemic are gonna stick. Yep. However, some of the adoption rates are not quite as high as anticipated. And so I do think that we need to take a good hard look at keeping that momentum going. So if we get investment in digital initiatives, it’s up to us as supply team leaders to make sure we get through that messy, middle and gaining traction on those improvement initiatives. Um, so just a little encouragement there, but the global pandemic. So 87% of the respondents here, you’ve got that chart here. 87% said that these changes are gonna be altered strategically permanently for their businesses. And, and, um, excuse me, did I say 70, 87%? And then 78% said that it actually accelerated their transformations as a result of the pandemic. However, Greg, did you see, as you went through some of that data, it shows we had high hopes and we’ve got lower adoption rates.

Greg White (00:25:32):

Yeah. It astounding, isn’t it?

Karin Bursa (00:25:35):

It is. It is. But when you look at their five year projection, so if you guys are, are watching, um, the video here, you’ll see that that’s stocked pretty high. And the five year adoption rates in all 11 areas are really, really aggressive. Um, but uh, some of the, some of the things that stood out to me is, uh, the areas of technology investments. So a few of these won’t be surprises to, uh, to our audience here. Um, but you’ll see things like cloud computing. And what surprised me is, um, security didn’t show up on that top 11 list. I don’t know if that’s getting rolled into leveraging cloud computing, right? Because that’s been a big motivator for companies to get better protection of their data, their plans, their collaboration with trading partners, um, lots of investment and sensors, automatic ID, internet of things. And I think that that is gonna continue.

Karin Bursa (00:26:40):

Mm. Um, so I’m excited to see that and to see the impact of process automation as well as robotic, um, automation. Uh, because I do think automation as a theme is gonna be really important. Um, because Greg, as you know, we’ve got a talent shortage mm-hmm <affirmative>, and, and there are two jobs for every skilled resource available. Mm. And, and I think that that is gonna continue well into 2030. So that’s good news for our team here, um, of supply chain movers and shakers around the globe, because that means you’re gonna have lots of opportunity to contribute in meaningful ways, but at the same time, it really pushes the envelope on needing some of that optimization and automation to be realized in your business. So don’t get stuck in the messy middle, continue to push through on the adoption of those tech trends and, um, and reap the rewards of that hard work in those investments.

Scott Luton (00:27:48):

Lot good stuff there, a lot of stuff to dive into. Yeah. We need a couple hours here, but Greg, your, your quick tech,

Greg White (00:27:53):

What to, to the point Karin, you made, there were a couple things that just astounded me in that is that even though we talk a lot about tech adoption in the last year, tech adoption went down in all 11 of those categories. And, um, and since 2016, all of the one, all of the top currently utilized categories, they’ve all gone down since, since 2016, which tells me that we’re behind the curve for a couple of reasons. One we’re always subject to budget. And that was mentioned several times by the, by the, um, surveyed survey participants, um, that they didn’t feel like they had enough budget on some of these products. The other thing that management leaders were, uh, concerned about was tip Karin’s point. They don’t feel like they have the people in Karin. Yep. If I had just a nickel for every time, I’ve heard that when, when attempting to get a company to implement technology, I don’t think our people can handle it. We don’t have enough people, whatever, um, that, you know, well, we’d all be billionaires. Um, <laugh>,

Scott Luton (00:29:04):

We’d all be buying Twitter.

Greg White (00:29:06):

Right. Or

Scott Luton (00:29:06):

So, or so

Greg White (00:29:07):

Else. Right. Or taking it private or something. Yeah. Um, but, but I, I, I think that, uh, as you, as you said, a lot of the newer technologies are finally starting to take hold and they’re starting to grow overall and have grown overall, uh, in, in the past six years, six years, since 2016, that’s the window that this analyzed, right. It

Karin Bursa (00:29:31):

Is seven. Yeah. And, and I think, you know, when, when you look at some of the motivators, it’s that they recognize they need new business models or new operating models. Right. Yeah. And we can’t exchange what we want in the long term, which are those new efficient models for what’s easy today. And that happens. Right. So it’s easier for me to just, you know, do it in the Excel spreadsheet that I’m doing it in today. Um, and that just delays that benefit. I mean, that, that just pushes that opportunity down the road. And when that happens, we’ve gotta go back and resell the initiative internally. Right. We’ve made an investment, um, and it just slows the adoption. And, and so I think you’ve gotta stay focused. You’ve gotta see those through, get out of that kind of mess, messy middle, and you’re gonna approach it as a learning opportunity. Um,

Greg White (00:30:25):

It’s easier to wall in mud is what you’re saying. Go

Karin Bursa (00:30:27):

In. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It’s running like running in quick stand, right?

Greg White (00:30:31):

Yeah. Companies, companies truly do. They, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, not always the case. Right. It still could kill you, but it just kills you really slowly. Right. And I think, you know, one, there’s a couple things here. One is we need to confess that there are jobs that human beings will never ever take again. And, or they will take in very, very low measure and we just need to automate them. I think automation and autonomous is a huge part of the future of supply chain. Yep. And, and the other is that people, uh, technologists who are building technologies, these technologies that have take all this customization and all these hundreds of hours, thousands of hours to implement, they need to make technology more app like mm-hmm, <affirmative>, they need to make it more easily adoptable. So that people who are used to easily adoptable technology, which are gen Xers, gen wires, and gen Zers, that they can easily adopt technology. And the capability with data and the advancement of technology exists today to do that. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And when we come to those and, and capitalize on those two recognitions, things will change dramatically because there are ways to solve this problem, even if you don’t have, and especially if you don’t have faith in your people or enough people. And those are two of the biggest problems that I have seen in supply chain forever. So

Karin Bursa (00:31:59):

Well, and Scott, one quick thought, um, in doing that, you can’t keep doing a hundred percent of what your day job is if you’re involved or engaged in a transformation initiative. Right. And that’s where this burnout happens and we’re taking these valuable resources and we’re just overloading them and they wanna make the changes. They just don’t have the time in their calendar to do that and focus on what’s next and how do we help drive that transformation? So, um, I, I do think that that is something that’s not just, uh, happening today. It has happened Greg, as you’ve said for decades in the marketplace.

Scott Luton (00:32:40):

Yeah. Yeah. All right. So we’ve got lots of comments we’re gonna get to here in a second. I

Greg White (00:32:44):

Bet. But including about food, I bet

Scott Luton (00:32:46):

<laugh> how’d, you know, um, but, uh, two quick thoughts, uh, from, again, we’re talking about this, um, it was actually MHI data that supply chain dive reported on. I’ve got a couple quick graphics here I’ll share, but, uh, one point, one bit of a surprise, at least to me, when it came to the robotics automation section, according to participants, only 39% of them said that it has the potential to create a competitive advantage. I thought that was way too low. Um, and then secondly, I think something that we all expected to see that the research showed is that when it comes to blockchain, only 20% of respondents cited, a lack of understanding the technology, um, as a hindrance. And, and that was the highest figure in terms of that lack of understanding out of all 11 technologies and that, that parrots, at least for me, every single blockchain conversation, I think we’ve had on here and, and everywhere, uh, everywhere else.

Greg White (00:33:44):

Um, but your contention is you think lack of understanding is a much bigger percentage,

Scott Luton (00:33:48):

No. Uh, going back to on robotics or automation that only 39%. I think that, that surprised me, that I thought at that point would be much higher. It doesn’t mean that you can get to it today kind of to what both of you are speaking to earlier, but to ignore the impact it can have on an operation, on an organization on your competitive advantage, uh, for your people, you know, to make their jobs easier, um, uh, to serve your consumers, your customers better. You know, I think, I think that to see that that figure was only 39% was a big surprise for me.

Greg White (00:34:24):

You know what I think about that number what’s that I actually thought quite the opposite and that, but I realize your point is probably dead on, um, I thought of it as more people realizing that automation is now table stakes. It’s not an, it’s not a competitive advantage or differentiator you’re behind if you’re not automating. Mm. And I wonder if that’s not the perspective that they have. I think it’s far more likely what you said, Scott, um, that people don’t see it as an advantage and therefore aren’t engaging in it, but it’s

Scott Luton (00:34:56):

Already assume it’s not, you’re not an

Greg White (00:34:57):

Advantage. Yeah. But you, you are at a distinct disadvantage if you are not getting there. Agreed.

Scott Luton (00:35:03):

And, and to your point, it kind might be kinda like what cor said about cybersecurity. It’s already kind of assumed it’s in there. Yeah. Uh, so point, you know, I’m, I’m only, I’ve only reviewed the supply chain dive article that, that kind of covers the key takeaways. I might have to sign up and get and download the actual, um, data with all of their, um, I’m sure there’s, there’s probably a couple pages on the front end of, of clarifications and disclaimers and whatnot, but it is, it’s a fascinating piece of information and Karin. I appreciate you bringing it to us and giving it your take here on the TEKTOK version of the supply chain buzz, your final word Karin.

Karin Bursa (00:35:37):

So yeah, I, I agree. The report is actually really good. The research report, if, if, um, any of our listeners wanna download that I would encourage you to do so my last thought is Greg, I was where you are in the robotics adoption. I was thinking it was table stakes, but I like Scott’s perspective on it. I think you’re right. I think Scott is probably on point

Greg White (00:36:01):

That’s far more likely

Karin Bursa (00:36:03):

Blockchain is that we are not yet seeing the benefits of the commercial impact on blockchain, but it’s still lots of education. And I wanna encourage our listeners to, um, to listen to the TEKTOK episode that was done with the one and only Kevin L. Jackson. Yeah. On blockchain basics. Yeah. So that’s episode 7 39, um, it’s on the supply chain now website, or you can, um, link to it wherever you get your podcast. But Kevin does a really good job of taking us through to some of those basics so that you can be much more conversational inside your teams on where you might be able to adopt and leverage blockchain to make a competitive advantage.

Scott Luton (00:36:48):

That’s a great call out, uh, unless, uh, Amanda, Catherine, if we can, let’s drop the, the direct link to that episode, at least the episode page and the comments. Cause it’s, it’s a great educational piece to level set. Um, what what’s going on in the block with blockchain technology. Um, okay. We’ve got a lot to catch up on Greg and Karen. We’ve got one more, uh, story we’re gonna be reporting on, but let’s catch up on comments. Okay. So buckle up. Cause it’s gonna be a little bit here. Let’s start. Let’s go way back to the serial portion. Cuz I think everyone loves talking their favorite cereals and whatnot. Uh, let’s see. Natalie big fan of golden grams. I remember those Casey <laugh> those golden gram commercials in the eighties. Y’all remember that they were skateboard and playing basketball. It could have been or

Greg White (00:37:31):

Golden grams that old. I thought my kids introduced me to golden grams. Holy macro.

Scott Luton (00:37:36):

I don’t know.

Greg White (00:37:37):

Wow.

Scott Luton (00:37:38):

Guess Peter Bole. I love how he prefaces this at one time. Captain crunch. See, when I say fruity pebbles, it’s not at one time I can eat. You mean now, today is they’re so yeah, and I, I don’t eat them as much as I would like, but

Greg White (00:37:53):

I can feel my teeth rotting when I eat captain crunch, but I still love it. That

Karin Bursa (00:37:58):

Was my brother’s favorite growing

Scott Luton (00:38:00):

Up. Oh, really happen crunch.

Greg White (00:38:02):

Yes. Yeah, it is so delicious. It

Scott Luton (00:38:04):

Is. Jonathan says Reesey’s puffs. We have to check that out. Uh, Peter says Ovaltine is very alive and well in Canada’s still a thing. Uh, Grayson, Grayson. I don’t know how you Cheerios big fan of Cheerios. He says, I, I don’t get Cheerios. And, and, and I’m one of the few, because they’re very popular globally. There’s like 20 different brands. So clearly there’s a big demanding market, but, and Greg, I saw you kind of put your head in your hands. I guess you’re a Cheerios fan, like

Greg White (00:38:34):

Pricing. If I’m not eating, if I’m not eating a sweet cereal, it’s gonna be Cheerios though. I have to tell you that’s another cereal that I’ve stopped buying because I, I can taste the quality difference. I wonder if Grayson as a big fan has noticed any difference in flavor. So

Scott Luton (00:38:50):

Grayson tune in gr

Karin Bursa (00:38:52):

Greg, I’m gonna take you back to your article that you were talking about because one of the strategies for those shortages is reformulation

Greg White (00:39:00):

Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Yes, that’s right.

Karin Bursa (00:39:01):

And so I think that you are hitting on that without even recognizing it. But yeah, I, I think that we are seeing a lot of reform formulation in our, you know, packaged food goods yep. In the industry and it is changing taste or texture or selection as well.

Greg White (00:39:18):

Yeah. I you’re dead on. That’s a good, that’s a good call out for, they must not have done it on the Weam, Macall it? Or maybe they did. And it’s even better ingredients because it is so tasty better than I remember

Karin Bursa (00:39:30):

Of AALL it. So I’m gonna have to try

Scott Luton (00:39:32):

That, that definitely remember that. And, and they had some, some legendary commercials, uh, back in the day too. Um,

Greg White (00:39:38):

Go ahead. I’m an old school. Watchamacallit fan Scott. Yeah. I don’t know if you even remember this, you might have been a baby when this was ha watchamacallit didn’t used to have caramel in it. It used to just be chocolate over peanut butter covered rice crispies or whatever it is. Yeah. Um, and then they added caramel to it and I didn’t like it as much. Now I’ve learned to about that. Accept it,

Scott Luton (00:40:00):

Man. Okay. Well, by the way, Amanda says in the team chat, private team chat that quote, fruity pebbles or trash Scott in quote. So, uh, that’s funny. All right, so let’s get to the more serious, so, uh, Peter BOKS big fan of frosted flakes. Oh, that’s good. Um, hello, Ismail from Egypt, who’s working on his PhD. It’s wonderful. Great to have you here. Um, and then we get down to some more work related, uh, what we here for. Oh good. So Muhammad’s got a couple of great points here. Uh, first off he agrees with cor the most crucial to ensure the success and sustainability on digital. Uh, I can never say this word, digitalization transformation is about the actual return on investment from the technology adoption. Yeah, it is important as he says, to ensure the new technology and supply chain really meets the objectives.

Scott Luton (00:40:50):

That’s a great, great, uh, point very well said, uh, Mohamed. Um, and let’s see here, Natalie, going back to what you both were speaking to <laugh>, this is good about, uh, getting, you know, doing the work while you’re transforming the work. She says a friend described this path as the hell, hell hell, glory cycle. <laugh> very paints, quite a, quite a picture there, Natalie. Um, let’s see here, Peter’s weighing in kind of on Muhammad’s earlier comment about how he, um, you gotta, uh, clearly define your requirements prior to engaging in solution discussion. Very few of them, maybe very, uh, very few of them meet your basic needs and need alterations that will drive cost upwards. Well said, Peter, like a,

Greg White (00:41:35):

Can I amend that slightly please? Yeah. Cause I think this is what Peter’s saying also, and that is don’t define what the solution should do. Mm. Define the outcome that the solution should de should, uh, deliver because too many companies, when they implement a technology, they say, I want it to do X, Y, and Z. What they ought to say is I want the outcome to be X, our current outcome times two. Yep. And if they would do that, most technology and implementation companies can get them there where these technology implementations tend to derail is where companies say, this is how we want to do it. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:42:14):

All send so well said. Um, I wanna get, uh, Peter also mentions, he’s got a couple of things I’m gonna choose this one, a no code, a couple with artificial intelligence. Um, Karin, Greg, any, any thoughts, Sarah? Especially on the no code side?

Karin Bursa (00:42:29):

Well, so I mean, artificial intelligence is real and it’s coming and it’s getting wrapped into all of the leading solutions in different areas. Um, I, I think that, you know, having that delivered in a cloud gets you closer. Um, but even with no code with, with the ability to connect and build, if you will, your capabilities, um, you’ve got to be seeing that full process through, as Greg said, what that outcome is focused on, you know, that outcome and then figuring out how it starts to be delivered and how you leverage your available technology to do that. I love the, um, I love the story around no code. I’m just not seeing it running large complex applica, uh, large complex, um, businesses yet today.

Scott Luton (00:43:22):

Oh, Karen, I know you’re pulling a, an important pushing important button with Greg on your last comment there, Greg quick comment on no code

Greg White (00:43:30):

Yet two things, uh, AI, um, and no code have the high, uh, probability of being misapplied, right? AI for instance, you know, my beef with how we post cast instead of forecast these days, AI helps you do dumb things faster and no code allows people who want a, B and C instead of outcome X times two to, to make sure a B and C happen. And I think that’s a, the real risk is having completely unqualified people to define and scope, uh, a process toward an outcome. Yep. Giving them the ability to do that. Yeah. Now I think for visibility of data that is very highly customized to a particular role to Karin’s point something a little bit more contained. Um, I think we have to confess that not everybody and every company knows how to solve a problem effectively. That’s why there are people who do it for a, a profession and get paid hundreds and hundreds of dollars an hour. Yep. So, um, I, I think that that’s not to say that no code and AI are not applicable. Of course they are, but it’s like giving a four year old a nuclear weapon and asking them to save the earth <laugh> in some cases. Right.

Scott Luton (00:44:52):

All right. So along those lines, I wanna share this comment here from, uh, Jonathan, Greg is cracking me up while I’m forecasting. So Greg don’t be interfering with the good value driven work that Jonathan’s doing. Um, alright. Uh, Moham says blockchain is the future.

Greg White (00:45:08):

I’m sure. I’m sure if he’s forecasting right now, he knows exactly what I’m talking about. He knows he’s, he’s probably going, gosh, like I did many years ago. I never really thought about it this way. We are. <laugh>

Scott Luton (00:45:20):

Right. Um, Muhammad’s talking about blockchain is the future integrity of world. Uh, the world of business. That’s a great point there. Uh, certainly is one of the games,

Greg White (00:45:29):

Therefore in many cases, being, um, being, um, issued by many, many companies and, and people who don’t want the scrutiny, right. That, that block or the accountability that blockchain provides. Right. And that’s part of the problem with blockchain is it provides so much accountability and scrutiny in a process where there is unquestionably. And I know this from personal experience, a lot of bad actors doing a lot of bad things.

Scott Luton (00:45:57):

So why don’t we make the next practical use case of blockchain? Let’s apply it to Washington DC, right? Yeah. I mean, don’t, there’s sunshine a Jordan there,

Greg White (00:46:09):

You know, there is a Georgia tech professor trying to use blockchain to assure election integrity, for instance. Yes. And he is getting an incredible amount of pushback from the political parties because there is advantage to both political parties, right. To that lack of integrity.

Scott Luton (00:46:27):

Well, and, and for me, it’s, if I can continue my, my poor joke beyond elections, it’s the budgeting it’s lobbying. It’s it’s, it’s the whole, oh yeah. Mechanism. It’s the whole ecosystem. Let’s pour some sunshine into it all and watch different things scurry, but, and Greg, that is very apolitical to your point. It’s just, it’s the system. But putting that aside, um, I wanna share, so, um, share this quick comment here from Sophia, and then I’ve got, we got a sway to our third story, but Sophia says she’s with Peter here, she’s seen higher resistance to change when experiencing digital transformation led by an external partner. Yeah.

Greg White (00:47:04):

Um, that’s always gonna happen, right.

Scott Luton (00:47:06):

Uh, sometimes a lot of times that can be, you know, you’re doing it to the team rather than with the team when it’s led by that external partner. So Sophia great call out.

Greg White (00:47:13):

Um, excellent point. You have to do that the right way. And as a wise friend of mine also said, yes, when this sort of change is occurring in your company, you need either need to change your people or change your people.

Scott Luton (00:47:26):

Hmm <laugh> I thought you were looking for a prop there, Greg. I’m like, okay, what is the,

Greg White (00:47:30):

Well, I’m what I’m looking for is a power cord. Cause I just realized that,

Scott Luton (00:47:33):

Oh, you’re about to, okay. We’re about to lose Greg, but cor um, one quick comment here. So I was talking to the team, uh, on slack, right. Do a lot of slack in here at supply chain now Karin and Greg. And, uh, I was talking about one process or one aspect of the business here that we’re really about to, um, to, um, transform. Right. And so, uh, I was, I was, uh, kinda, um, encouraging one of our team members to keep rolling because we’re about to put an Evan rude on the back of that boat. And the response was I had to look up what Evan rude was, but okay. Now I’m with you. <laugh> so, so I love you. I won’t name NAS, but uh, I love, uh, that response and, and I love the person behind it, so. Okay.

Greg White (00:48:17):

Well obviously we need to get more of our people to the lake Scott.

Karin Bursa (00:48:20):

I was gonna say, but didn’t grow up on the water.

Greg White (00:48:23):

Yeah. We need a team building exercise at the lake.

Scott Luton (00:48:26):

Uh that’s right. That’s right. By the way, Sophia says, Greg is a serial Soma, so <laugh> all right. So we gotta, okay. We got to, uh, hang on a sec. I’m gonna share one more catch up. There’s so many great comments. Um,

Karin Bursa (00:48:40):

But not together, Greg, right? Not, no, never.

Scott Luton (00:48:43):

We can’t get to all these great comments say, um, Gloria Mar says, put those requirements in writing, develop a great RFP, have others look at your process with a different mindset. So they can also suggest a solution. Glomar you’re talking our language really appreciate you sharing. Okay. We’ve got to get to our final story here today. We got 1248. We’re gonna be coming down the home stretch fast and furiously. Um, and we wanna talk about, uh, us bank’s freight payment index. Let me pull up my notes here. So, uh, to level set a little bit, uh, the most recent, this thing comes out quarterly, uh, and it’s focused on, you know, us bank handles billions of dollars of transactions, uh, which is 30,

Greg White (00:49:26):

37 billion, right?

Scott Luton (00:49:27):

Yes, sir. You, you, you, uh, took my data point right from me. Uh, Greg. Oh, sorry, Scott. I

Greg White (00:49:33):

Thought, you know, when we do this, usually I’m the one who says 37.

Scott Luton (00:49:37):

Yes, that’s right. Sorry. So, um, primarily that’s where that data’s come from. Cause as Greg points out 37 billion worth of freight related transactions at us bank handled just in 2021, right? So each quarter they release this freight payment index, which shows its findings from the accumulation of the data. And of course our team here pairs that data use a lead by Bobby Holland from us bank. And we, we bring a executive practitioner to the conversation to, you know, get them to share agreed and disagree with what they’re seen out in the market, right. From a practitioner standpoint. So a couple quick findings from the most recent one, again, this is focus, Karen and Greg on the domestic freight market coast to coast. Mm-hmm, you know, it’s not, um, a global, uh, freight, uh, report. So the second quarter report shipping volumes and second quarter were up over first quarter, 2022 nationally, but were a bit off from where they were in 2021.

Scott Luton (00:50:33):

On the other hand, as most folks might imagine spend was up, up, up and away up over first quarter, right? Second quarter, 2022 up over first quarter of the same year, end up dramatically, almost 20% from this point last year. Right. And we all have some, uh, some, um, bad actors that we’re all familiar with, right. Or, or, uh, common conditions that we all point to. But one quick data point, speaking of those diesel fuel, Greg and Karin mm-hmm <affirmative>, this has been, uh, problematic for quite some time. At least last week. It was, it was averaging five 50 a gallon nationally, which was up 68% from this same point in time, uh, in, from last year. So up almost 70% per gallon. So, um, Greg, one more call out before I’ll get your quick thoughts. We had a great discussion with, uh, our friend Donovan from the Clorox company, but to our listeners in case you don’t get this report already, it’s free to sign up. We’ve got link here. We’ll drop link into comments. But what I also like about it is it breaks things up. These aren’t the biggest graphics, but it breaks things up into five regions. So while a lot of it, you know, there’s two main themes it’s offering national observations and then it drills in offers these regional observations. But, uh, Greg enough of me talking about it, uh, your thoughts,

Greg White (00:51:57):

Opportunism. I feel like I’m in, I feel like I’m in, uh, raising Arizona on the one hand you got opportunism. And on the other hand, you got people taking advantage.

Scott Luton (00:52:09):

I’ve do the clay on, there’s been a murder, uh, that,

Greg White (00:52:13):

That is unquestionably what’s happening here. It is unquestionably what’s happening as inflation, generally peaks, as we can see, because it’s earning season for public companies, they are taking advantage of inflation in they’re boosting their gross margins. And, and likewise with fuel costs that’s been happening. Let me also point out that let, let’s not try to point the finger at diesel fuel prices because by the way, the diesel fuel surcharges, the fuel surcharges that were instituted between 2011 and 2014 still and always have existed ever since diesel fuel reached 4 44 60, right. In that timeframe. So companies have been getting paid for diesel fuel. They haven’t pay, been paying for right for N on a decade now. So it’s not diesel fuel Nyon. <laugh> now, um, sorry. Um, it, it’s not diesel fuel. That’s that’s causing this. It is unquestionably opportunism that is causing this. You can tell because the, the downturn in shipments and the incredible, unbelievable uplift, right. As you said in, in spend.

Scott Luton (00:53:26):

Okay. So Karen and your best Southern draw. Nah, I’m not kidding. I’m gonna make, make you do that. Like Craig, Greg, so eloquently laid out your thoughts though on, uh, for the freight markets, this report, you name it.

Karin Bursa (00:53:39):

Well, I was, I was, um, happy to see that the Midwest and Northeast have recovered, um, some of, you know, some of what they lost over Q1 and Q you know, Q2 over the last three quarters. Um, and I also, as

Greg White (00:53:54):

We’re building cars again, right?

Karin Bursa (00:53:55):

Yeah, yeah. Right. I also think we’re, we’re heading in, as we get further into Q3, we’re gonna be moving goods for holiday season. Um, so we’re gonna see increased demand, which is gonna put more pressure on pricing and availability as well. So we do need, even though diesel fuel is not the full picture, the full reason I think, uh, Greg obviously knows a lot about that. Um, it, it is a factor, uh, that is, is contributing to the shipper’s cost to move those goods to market. And we’re gonna see that combined with higher demand again. And, um, um, you know, it’s just another thing that has to be modeled in your supply chain solutions to help you make the best decision available,

Greg White (00:54:46):

More upward pressure. Yes.

Scott Luton (00:54:48):

Right. And consumers will be picking up a lot more of the cost far beyond diesel fuel. I mean, going back to all kind kinds of raw goods, and there are increase in pricing and increase in activity which occur you’re pointing to, you know, Greg, a couple of the things we, we spoke to last week on the live stream, as we released, you know, the data and, and had the chat with Don and Bobby, you know, port LA and long beach, both set records for the busiest month of July and their history. Mm-hmm, <affirmative> speaking of activity. Also, speaking of activity, you look at a variety of third party, uh, data points, uh, manufacturing activity expanded here in the country coast to coast in all three months of the second quarter. So activities up folks are getting ready, uh, for the peak peak peak peak. Okay, Greg, and by the way, folks, again, y’all can download this for free, um, it’s, it’s, uh, well written, uh, report, lots of good data. Um, it’s, it’s, um, you know, freight.us bank.com and you can check us out as we, uh, the, usually the day, or maybe the day after it’s released, we have Bobby on from Bobby Holland on from us bank and then a senior practitioner to speak to what they’re seeing. And sometimes Greg, that doesn’t, uh, you know, the data and what the operations are seeing that doesn’t line up a lot of

Greg White (00:56:07):

Times. Right? Yeah. But I gotta tell you this latest episode with Donovan, he really went deep on how they use it at Clorox. And I think it’s worth seeing that particular episode, not only because of the shocking nature of, of, because remember the last time we saw the, um, the freight index, we were speculating on a freight recession recession. Yep. And instead, precisely the opposite happened in um, an incredible measure. So I think that’s worth seeing, but also how Donovan talks about how his company uses the freight index will give companies an idea as to how to use it. Yep. Right?

Scott Luton (00:56:44):

Well said, y’all check that out. And, uh, we’ll have the replay of our live stream available very soon. Speaking of great content, helpful content that will put you in a better position and to make better decisions and grow and lead better. Uh let’s <laugh> Greg, let’s talk about Karin. What’s been going on at the award-winning, uh, globally recognized tech talk, digital supply chain podcast. I’ve got the graphic from the most recent episode where, you know, Greg and Karin, uh, you know, if there’s a already a best of show, you know, you, you you’ve been around for quite some time. So Karin, tell us about the most recent episode and what’s coming next.

Karin Bursa (00:57:26):

Yeah, this was a lot of fun. It’s just been such a busy spring that we felt like we needed to pull out kind of a best of best cuz people have been, um, super busy and lots of great insights. So I would encourage if you’re new to tech talk start here and that might direct you to a couple of other episodes that you’re interested in. And Scott, I would be remiss if I didn’t invite our listeners to subscribe to TEKTOK that’s TEKTOK digital supply chain. And you can find us with supply chain now. Um, so lots of good things on the horizon as well in new episodes coming up with intelligence supply chain, the rebirth of Greg, are you ready for this? <laugh> oh, R so

Greg White (00:58:11):

Are you

Karin Bursa (00:58:12):

Serious collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment. I am seeing a reemergence of collaboration, so multier enterprise collaboration. So man, it’s some interesting insights that’ll be coming through in that episode.

Greg White (00:58:26):

That’s fantastic. At least we’re not reinventing the wheel cor right. I mean, we have a great, great framework in CPFR to build on from that vertical integration between companies. That’s fantastic.

Scott Luton (00:58:36):

So stay tuned that next episode will drop. Uh, when does that drop this week or next week? Karin?

Karin Bursa (00:58:42):

Uh, we’ve got a next episode dropping this week. Um, and then, uh, on Wednesdays,

Scott Luton (00:58:48):

Wednesdays, Wednesdays, Wednesdays, Wednesdays. So y’all check it out. You can get TEKTOK T E K T O K uh, digital supply chain podcast, wherever you get your, uh, podcast from and subscribe. So you don’t miss an episode. Uh, Peter Bole. It was great to have you here today. Uh, I appreciate your feedback here. He says, miss y’all really needed to hear your voices and wisdom that comes with it. Peter, you know, I’m one of those speaking here, right, man. He’s lumping me into the wisdom CA uh, uh, bucket. I love that.

Greg White (00:59:17):

I think, I think you had probably the best observation in regards.

Scott Luton (00:59:22):

I’m all

Greg White (00:59:22):

That today.

Scott Luton (00:59:23):

Yeah. Uh, well this is a fun episode. Yeah. I shared with the world, my love of fruit pebble. So post yeah. Uh, alright, so

Karin Bursa (00:59:31):

I was thinking robotics, but

Greg White (00:59:32):

Of course, yeah. That’s what I was thinking too. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:59:35):

Uh, Greg and Karin, a ton of, uh, lots of good fun here today. The TEKTOK version of the supply chain buzz, but Greg, before we, we wrap up and Sophia, Hey, thanks for this comment. We’ve missed both of you’all and everyone’s busy and it’s, and, and everyone, there’s so many different, uh, streams, podcast, webinars, virtual events, and person events, you know, all demanding of our time and attention, but, uh, Sophia and Peter, uh, really great to have both of y’all and everyone else in the comments, Muhammad and, and, uh, Jonathan and many others that were made great points, Russ. Great to see you here today, but Sophia says Peter belay times two. I love that. Um, alright, so, Greg, uh, one of the stories we’ve talked about today was, was driven by one of your supply chain summaries that you publish every Monday, Wednesday, Friday in the mornings on LinkedIn. Is that right?

Greg White (01:00:28):

That is correct. And guess what I learned from a friend of mine on LinkedIn, what’s that, uh, I, you can now enable an alert bell on your, on your, uh, profile, which I will do shortly, but in the meantime, feel free to follow me on LinkedIn. You’ll be alerted whenever I, um, whenever I post these commentaries, I try to pick an article, um, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and give you some sort of commentary on it to maybe give you a different perspective. Maybe even sometimes it is deeply, uh, tied to what the article is about. Sometimes it’s just what it made me think about. Like Karen, the take on the 11 technologies made me think about what, where we ought to be focusing our, our attention in the marketplace, right. And supply chain arena on technology. And

Scott Luton (01:01:17):

We’ll be looking for our Greg white content bell. So, so we’re holding you to that, Greg.

Greg White (01:01:22):

Yeah. I’m gonna figure out how to do that. I gotta, I gotta call my buddy

Scott Luton (01:01:26):

<laugh> Hey, what’s important here. And, and not just with Greg’s summaries, not just with Karins, um, TEKTOK episodes is the voice of the listener, right? Folks, just like y’all did over the last hour. You, you brought it, whether it’s on the fun side of serial or, or like some of y’all were dropping, uh, what leaders should be thinking about when it comes to digital transformation and change. That is why we’re all here. So we want to hear from you more. We try to share that as much as we can. In fact, uh, Greg and Karin, more and more, our team has been picking up the t-shirt isms that our listeners drop on these episodes and we share those out across social. So, uh, we want to hear from you and we wanna, we wanna uplift y’all’s, uh, perspective, but, uh, you can connect with Greg white on LinkedIn. You can connect with Karin Bursa on LinkedIn, make sure you tune in to, uh, their content, their episodes, and more. Um, Karin, always a pleasure. Thanks for joining us here today.

Karin Bursa (01:02:19):

Thank you. It’s great to be with you guys. Thank you, everyone who joined us, it was a lot of fun.

Scott Luton (01:02:24):

Absolutely. And they one, uh, quick comment here before we sign off Glomar uh, says she doesn’t get to listen to us often, but love the topics that she’s interested in getting more information on the veteran’s career fair. Glomar check out veteran voices, which is our podcast led by, uh, Mary Kay saliva focused on veterans transitions, uh, topics, challenges, journeys, you name it and reach out to our team at Amanda at supply chain now. And we’ll make sure you get the link for the event tomorrow. Appreciate you being here with us today. Okay. Karin, on behalf of Karin, on behalf of Greg, Amanda, Catherine, Chantel clay, the whole gang here, uh, thanks for joining us first off. Very important. Thanks for bringing your, your voice. Uh, Greg and Karin, always a pleasure to do this, but whatever folks take away from these conversations, Greg and Karin, we gotta challenge em. Hey, take action. Deed’s not words do good give forward and be the change that needed. And we’ll see you next time. Right back here on supply chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (01:03:24):

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.