Supply Chain Now

Supply Chain Now Radio, Episode 81

“Supply Chain Industry Trends & Resources”

Episode 81 features Nick Stylianou and Asif Naqvi from eft.

Nick Stylianou (Project Director) and Asif Naqvi (Head of Partnerships) work for eft (eyefortransport), a global leader in business intelligence and C-level networking for the transport, logistics and supply chain industry.

eft specializes in connecting senior industry executives with their industry peers, and with the crucial information they need to excel in their work. Follow eft on Twitter and learn more here: https://www.eft.com/

This episode was hosted by Scott Luton.

Upcoming Events & Resources Mentioned in this Episode

SCNR’s Scott Luton at Verusen event on “Digital Innovation & Intelligence”: click here

SCNR Tunes, Track 1, featuring Tommy Townsend & Will Haraway: click here

APICS Atlanta CSCP and CLTD Boot Camps at Georgia Tech: click here

Learn more about Supply Chain 101: https://youtu.be/Qc6U9WWUsYo

Check out SCNR on YouTube: click here

EFT 3PL & Supply Chain Summit: click here

Supply Chain Now Radio, Episode 80

“Digital Supply Chain, Dropshipment & Food Industry Transportation”

Live from Purchasing Power HQ – Learn more here: https://corp.purchasingpower.com/

Episode 80 features Timo Kirschner, Jim Becker, and Lance Roberts.

Timo Kirschner is Vice President, Supply Chain at Purchasing Power, LLC, an e-commerce voluntary benefit company offering the leading employee purchase program through the convenience of payroll deductions. In this position, Kirschner oversees all aspects of supply chain management, including vendor performance management as well as shipping and delivery operations in the multi-carrier structure.

Jim Becker is the CEO of Becker Logistics, LLC. Jim Becker entered the logistic world in 1991 and in 1997 from his kitchen table, Jim started what we fondly know today as Becker Logistics. He built the company on the founding core values of: Integrity, Quality, Innovation, Safety, Competitiveness, Openness, Respect, and Equal Work Life Balance.

Lance D. Roberts serves as Branch Manager at Becker Logistics – a third party logistics company based in Glendale Heights, IL. In this role, he oversees all aspects of the sales and operations for the Irving, Texas facility. At the age of 47, Roberts has been involved in every aspect of the industry. He has spent 31 of his 35 years of business experience in management and leadership positions.

This episode was hosted by Will Haraway and Scott Luton.

Upcoming Events & Resources Mentioned in this Episode

SCNR’s Scott Luton at Verusen event on “Digital Innovation & Intelligence”: click here

SCNR Tunes, Track 1, featuring Tommy Townsend & Will Haraway: click here

APICS Atlanta CSCP and CLTD Boot Camps at Georgia Tech: click here

Learn more about Supply Chain 101: https://youtu.be/Qc6U9WWUsYo

See SCNR’s latest webinar featuring an update on Drones & IoT technologies: https://youtu.be/K21zQICAnIg

Transparency 2019: https://www.freightwaves.com/transparency19

EFT 3PL & Supply Chain Summit: click here

Gartner Supply Chain Leadership Conference in Phoenix: https://www.gartner.com/en/conferences/na/supply-chain-us

Supply Chain Now Radio, Episode 79

“Blueprint 2019 – Session 4”

Hosted by Blue Ridge – Learn more here: https://blueridgeglobal.com/

Episode 79 of SCNR features Mike Shutt and Jim Byrnes.

Mike Shutt serves as Purchasing Manager with United Distributors, the largest beverage alcohol wholesaler in both Georgia and Alabama. With two members of the fourth generation of the Hertz family involved in leadership roles, United is one of the 2-3% of family businesses that are able to successfully transition beyond the third generation.

Through the ’80s and ’90s, United made a staggering 12 acquisitions throughout Georgia, providing broad statewide distribution coverage for its spirit and wine brands. United also broke into the domestic beer market by partnering with the Coors Brewing Company, Miller Brewing, and Heineken. In the mid-1980s, in order to encourage continuous growth and welcome new opportunities, United moved its headquarters to its current location in Smyrna, GA.

This facility allowed United to continue its warehouse and delivery consolidation efforts across the state. The Smyrna location was also critical when United purchased the distribution rights for the Miller Brewing Company in Atlanta, which nearly doubled the size of its beer distribution business.

Today, United conducts its Georgia operations at this location, as well as at warehouse and delivery locations in Savannah and Albany. United has since expanded into Alabama where it operates as United-Johnson Brothers of Alabama. Connect with Mike Shutt on LinkedIn and learn more about United Distributors here: https://udiga.com/

Jim Byrnes is the CEO of Blue Ridge where he brings a proven track record in growing profitable application and consulting businesses. Prior to joining Blue Ridge, Jim served as CEO of M4 Global Solutions, consisting of three independent operating companies: Changepoint, Uniface. and Lochbridge.  Prior to M4, he spent more than 11 years at Infor, where he held multiple executive positions including SVP of Process Manufacturing and Wholesale Distribution and EVP of Global Consulting Services. He previously ran the US operations of Ability as President of the supply chain management solutions provider. Jim has also served the Chief Operations Officer of Impact Innovations Group, a consulting services company focused on delivery chain management. Connect with Jim Byrnes on LinkedIn and learn more about Blue Ridge here: https://blueridgeglobal.com/

Episode79 is hosted by Scott Luton.

Upcoming Events & Resources Mentioned in this Episode

Learn more about Blue Ridge’s work in the Wine & Spirits industry: click here

SCNR Tunes, Track 1, featuring Tommy Townsend & Will Haraway: click here

APICS Atlanta CSCP and CLTD Boot Camps at Georgia Tech: click here

Learn more about Supply Chain 101: https://youtu.be/Qc6U9WWUsYo

See SCNR’s latest webinar featuring an update on Drones & IoT technologies: https://youtu.be/K21zQICAnIg

Georgia Manufacturing Alliance: https://www.georgiamanufacturingalliance.com/

Blueprint 2019: https://blueridgeglobal.com/blueprint-2019/

AME Atlanta 2019 Lean Summit: https://www.ame.org/ame-atlanta-2019-lean-summit

Transparency 2019: https://www.freightwaves.com/transparency19

EFT 3PL & Supply Chain Summit: click here

Gartner Supply Chain Leadership Conference in Phoenix: https://www.gartner.com/en/conferences/na/supply-chain-us

Supply Chain Now Radio, Episode 78

“Blueprint 2019 – Session 3”

Hosted by Blue Ridge – Learn more here: https://blueridgeglobal.com/

Episode 78 of SCNR features Mike Wiegand and Michael Nau.

Mike Wiegand serves as Vice President of Purchasing at Highline Aftermarket, a manufacturer and distributor of automotive chemicals, lubricants, parts, tools & related accessories.

Mike is a 20+ year veteran of the automotive aftermarket industry and has a proven track record of strategic planning, inventory management, procurement and new business development.

Connect with Mike Wiegand on LinkedIn and learn more about Highline Aftermarket here: https://www.highlineaftermarket.com/

Michael Nau serves as Director of Supply Chain at City Furniture, one of the largest home furnishing and accent retailers in Florida.

The organization is incredibly green-focused: its delivery trucks run on compressed natural gas; it recycles millions of pounds of waste every year; and thanks to City Furniture’s responsible sourcing, it earned top scores from the Sustainable Furnishings Council in 2018.

A graduate of the University of Central Florida, Michael has been a part of the City Furniture team since 2013. Connect with Michael Nau on LinkedIn and learn more about City Furniture here: https://www.cityfurniture.com/

The host of Episode 78 is Scott Luton.

Upcoming Events & Resources Mentioned in this Episode

SCNR Tunes, Track 1, featuring Tommy Townsend & Will Haraway: click here

APICS Atlanta CSCP and CLTD Boot Camps at Georgia Tech: click here

Learn more about Supply Chain 101: https://youtu.be/Qc6U9WWUsYo

See SCNR’s latest webinar featuring an update on Drones & IoT technologies: https://youtu.be/K21zQICAnIg

Georgia Manufacturing Alliance: https://www.georgiamanufacturingalliance.com/

Blueprint 2019: https://blueridgeglobal.com/blueprint-2019/

AME Atlanta 2019 Lean Summit: https://www.ame.org/ame-atlanta-2019-lean-summit

Transparency 2019: https://www.freightwaves.com/transparency19

EFT 3PL & Supply Chain Summit: click here

Gartner Supply Chain Leadership Conference in Phoenix: https://www.gartner.com/en/conferences/na/supply-chain-us

Supply Chain Now Radio, Episode 77

“Blueprint 2019 – Session 2”

Hosted by Blue Ridge – Learn more here: https://blueridgeglobal.com/

Episode 77 of SCNR features Peter Lijewski, Cliff Isaacson, and Rod Daugherty.

Peter Lijewski serves as Vice President, Supply Chain with Breakthru Beverage Group. In this role, Lijewski drives Breakthru’s integrated supply chain management initiatives and works closely with the company’s commercial leadership in the markets while creating greater efficiency across the business.

Lijewski has nearly 20 years involved in the alcohol beverage industry.  He earned a BS in Industrial Engineering from Penn State University and an MBA from the Simon School at the University of Rochester. Connect with Peter Lijewski on LinkedIn and learn more about Breakthru Beverage Group here: https://www.breakthrubev.com/

Cliff Isaacson serves as Advisor at Prolific Virtue, an organization that is focused on guiding and serving small and medium sized retail, wholesale, and distribution companies in pricing analytics. The company achieves its mission by delivering flexible, affordable and customer-driven pricing tools through a subscription-based platform.

Cliff’s specialties include technology product management, applied pricing and inventory optimization, analysis and operations research, enterprise software marketing and sales, SaaS, customer integration and technology implementation. 

Cliff earned his BS Computer Science from Northwestern University and MS Industrial Administration from Carnegie Mellon University. Connect with Cliff Isaacson on LinkedIn and learn more about Prolific Virtue here: http://www.prolificvirtue.com/

Rod Daugherty is the Vice President of Product Strategy for Blue Ridge, where he oversees product direction.

For the last 21 years, Rod has been a consultant, designer and product executive for multiple supply chain software companies including E3, JDA, Evant and Manhattan Associates. Connect with Rod Daugherty on LinkedIn and learn more about Blue Ridge here: https://blueridgeglobal.com/

Episode 77 is hosted by Scott Luton.

Upcoming Events & Resources Mentioned in this Episode

SCNR Tunes, Track 1, featuring Tommy Townsend & Will Haraway: click here

APICS Atlanta CSCP and CLTD Boot Camps at Georgia Tech: click here

Learn more about Supply Chain 101: https://youtu.be/Qc6U9WWUsYo

See SCNR’s latest webinar featuring an update on Drones & IoT technologies: https://youtu.be/K21zQICAnIg

Georgia Manufacturing Alliance: https://www.georgiamanufacturingalliance.com/

Blueprint 2019: https://blueridgeglobal.com/blueprint-2019/

AME Atlanta 2019 Lean Summit: https://www.ame.org/ame-atlanta-2019-lean-summit

Transparency 2019: https://www.freightwaves.com/transparency19

EFT 3PL & Supply Chain Summit: click here

Gartner Supply Chain Leadership Conference in Phoenix: https://www.gartner.com/en/conferences/na/supply-chain-us

Supply Chain Now Radio, Episode 76

“Blueprint 2019 – Session 1”

Hosted by Blue Ridge – Learn more here: https://blueridgeglobal.com/

Episode 76 features the distinguished guests Gary Keimach and Haakon Ekrheim.

Gary Keimach serves as Senior Vice President Supply Chain & Pricing Strategy for Martignetti Companies. Martignetti Companies is the leading distributor of wines & spirits in New England and the seventh largest distributor in the United States.

Now in its third generation of ownership by the Martignetti family, the company is firmly committed to enhancing long-term partnerships with customers and suppliers by continuing to invest in personnel, skills and technologies ensuring the highest quality service and brand building capabilities.

In 2018, Keimach oversaw the implementation of Blue Ridge’s supply chain planning solution to align Martignetti’s wine and spirits inventory with anticipated demand from its customers. The solution quickly improved the company’s forecast accuracy, helping buyers make better decisions while also reducing daily average inventory.

In 2019, Food Logistics named Keimach to its 2019 list of Food Logistics Champions: Rock Stars of the Supply Chain. Recipients are profiled in the March 2019 issue of Food Logistics, as well as online at www.foodlogistics.com. Learn more about Martignetti Companies here: https://www.martignetti.com/

Haakon Ekrheim serves as CEO of K. Ekrheim, an Oslo-based, unique grocery wholesaler. The company offers a product range of approximately 23,000 items, which are offered for delivery with only one day’s notice. K. Ekrheim was founded in 1924 and is a 3rd generation, family-owned company.

Connect with Haakon on LinkedIn and learn more about K. Ekrheim here: http://www.ekrheim.no

Episode 76 is hosted by Scott Luton.

Upcoming Events & Resources Mentioned in this Episode

SCNR Tunes, Track 1, featuring Tommy Townsend & Will Haraway: click here

APICS Atlanta CSCP and CLTD Boot Camps at Georgia Tech: click here

Learn more about Supply Chain 101: https://youtu.be/Qc6U9WWUsYo

See SCNR’s latest webinar featuring an update on Drones & IoT technologies: https://youtu.be/K21zQICAnIg

Georgia Manufacturing Alliance: https://www.georgiamanufacturingalliance.com/

Blueprint 2019: https://blueridgeglobal.com/blueprint-2019/

AME Atlanta 2019 Lean Summit: https://www.ame.org/ame-atlanta-2019-lean-summit

Transparency 2019: https://www.freightwaves.com/transparency19

EFT 3PL & Supply Chain Summit: click here

Gartner Supply Chain Leadership Conference in Phoenix: https://www.gartner.com/en/conferences/na/supply-chain-us

Supply Chain Now Radio, Episode 75

“The E-Commerce Era & Supply Chain Operations”

Broadcast live from Blueprint 2019

Episode 75 of Supply Chain Now Radio featured the following guests:

Don Brett serves as Vice President of eCommerce for Kimball, a leading furniture company based in Jasper, IN. Previously, Don served as Global Vice President of eCommerce for Newell Brands, a leading CPG company with over $15B in annual sales.

A graduate of the Citadel, Don has graduated from the Executive Leadership programs at Harvard Business School and Northwestern University. Connect with Don Brett on LinkedIn and be sure to check out his rapidly growing YouTube channel, The E-Talk.

Beau Groover is Founder and President of The Effective Syndicate. He has been working with manufacturing and operations-focused organizations for over 20 years, primarily focused on developing bullet-proof processes and teams that are built to win.

Beau has helped organizations save millions of dollars while also improving those companies’ customer experiences and building high-performing teams that continue to drive the business forward.  He has developed his approach and strategy over years of working with some of the biggest companies in multiple levels within the organizations, including The Coca-Cola Company, Nordson Corporation, and Westrock (formerly RockTenn).

Just prior to launching The Effective Syndicate in 2015, Beau served as the Director of Lean Supply Chain at Serta Simmons Bedding, LLC. Beau also currently serves as an APICS Atlanta Executive Advisory Board member. Connect with Beau Groover on LinkedIn and learn more about The Effective Syndicate here: https://www.theeffectivesyndicate.com/

Upcoming Events & Resources Mentioned in this Episode

Check out The E-Talk on YouTube: click here

SCNR Tunes, Track 1, featuring Tommy Townsend & Will Haraway: click here

APICS Atlanta CSCP and CLTD Boot Camps at Georgia Tech: click here

Learn more about Supply Chain 101: https://youtu.be/Qc6U9WWUsYo

See SCNR’s latest webinar featuring an update on Drones & IoT technologies: https://youtu.be/K21zQICAnIg

Georgia Manufacturing Alliance: https://www.georgiamanufacturingalliance.com/

Blueprint 2019: https://blueridgeglobal.com/blueprint-2019/

AME Atlanta 2019 Lean Summit: https://www.ame.org/ame-atlanta-2019-lean-summit

Transparency 2019: https://www.freightwaves.com/transparency19

EFT 3PL & Supply Chain Summit: click here

Gartner Supply Chain Leadership Conference in Phoenix: https://www.gartner.com/en/conferences/na/supply-chain-us

This episode was hosted by Ben Harris and Scott Luton

Supply Chain Now Radio, Episode 74

“High Tech Disruption Comes to Junk Removal”

#TechConnect Series on SCNR

The following guests were featured on the 74th episode of Supply Chain Now Radio:

Greg Workmon is the Founder and CEO LoadUp, an innovative tech start-up that streamlined its supply chain to make the process of junk removal more convenient, affordable and transparent for consumers and e-commerce retailers. Prior to 2014, Greg was working inside sales at one of the nation’s largest waste management companies when he received countless calls from people who needed to dispose of their old mattresses.

The waste management company wouldn’t touch them and the “big junk” franchises that would remove them, used convoluted sales tactics that were designed to overcharge people. In 2014, he started LoadUp as a way to offer the most honest, convenient, affordable junk-removal solution on the market. Today, LoadUp is the only junk removal company that offers guaranteed, upfront pricing and the only one that uses crowdsourcing to recruit independent, licensed & insured junk-hauling professionals. This leaner, and more efficient supply chain allows the company to charge an average of 20 – 30% less than competitors, with no compromise of quality or coverage.

In addition to removing the junk of more than 70,000 consumers, LoadUp partners with e-commerce mattress retailers, like Avocado and Bear Mattress, to give them a competitive edge by removing customers’ old mattresses at no cost to the customer. The company currently has 270+ driver teams in 170+ U.S. cities, and achieved nearly 3,000% growth in the last three years alone. LoadUp is a certified Great Place to Work®. Connect with Greg on LinkedIn and learn more about LoadUp at www.goloadup.com

Riaz Virani currently serves as the Chief Technology Officer at LoadUp, an innovative tech start-up that has streamlined the supply chain of junk removal to make the process of removing unneeded items more convenient, transparent and affordable for consumers and e-commerce retailers than ever before.

As LoadUp’s CTO, Riaz leads the company’s technological innovation program that aims to further improve customer experience and streamline the flow of unneeded items – from customer to Loader to disposal point – be it recycling center or dump. Over the last four years, Riaz and his wife have led one of the largest technical industry groups for web developers using web-application framework, Ruby on Rails, with 3,000 members in Atlanta alone. He’s also the co-organizer of the Atlanta React Meet-up, a group for developers that use React Native, a framework that makes websites, like Facebook and LoadUp, interactive in real time.

Prior to joining LoadUp, Riaz was a senior software engineer at web performance and monitoring company, Rigor, and worked as a consultant on Deloitte’s federal projects, that included Health and Human Services, U.S. Senate’s financial system in Washington D.C. You can connect with Riaz on LinkedIn and learn more about LoadUp at www.goloadup.com

Upcoming Events & Resources Mentioned in this Episode

SCNR Tunes, Track 1, featuring Tommy Townsend & Will Haraway: click here

APICS Atlanta CSCP and CLTD Boot Camps at Georgia Tech: click here

Veteran Scholarship Opportunity for SCM Certifications: click here

Upcoming VETLANTA events: click here

Georgia Manufacturing Alliance: https://www.georgiamanufacturingalliance.com/

Blueprint 2019: https://blueridgeglobal.com/blueprint-2019/

2019 Atlanta Supply Chain Awards: https://youtu.be/z8QCs8lgyMM?t=1

AME Atlanta 2019 Lean Summit: https://www.ame.org/ame-atlanta-2019-lean-summit

Transparency 2019: https://www.freightwaves.com/transparency19

EFT 3PL & Supply Chain Summit: click here

Gartner Supply Chain Leadership Conference in Phoenix: https://www.gartner.com/en/conferences/na/supply-chain-us

This episode was hosted by Scott Luton and Ashley Liebke

Supply Chain Now Radio, Episode 73

“Moonshine Supply Chain”

Broadcast live from Grandaddy Mimm’s Distillery in Blairsville, GA

Be sure to check out the post-podcast music: SCNR Tunes, Track 1

Episode 73 featured the following distinguished guests:

Tommy Townsend is a native of Blairsville, GA, located in the heart of the North Georgia mountains. He is a professional musician and owner of Grandaddy Mimm’s Moonshine Distillery. At about age 13, Tommy heard the Waylon Jennings album, “Ol’ Waylon”, and was hooked. He began his pursuit of his own music career after meeting Waylon a short time later. Waylon took a liking to the curly haired lad and included him later in some performances and studio work. The collaboration continued all the way up to Waylon’s death.

Tommy then became the lead singer in Waylon’s band, Waymore’s Outlaws. The band still plays today with the original members. About three years ago, Tommy decided to revive his grandfather’s 85 year old moonshine recipe, and opened Grandaddy Mimm’s Moonshine Distillery. Since then the family owned and operated facility has been turning out the best handcrafted moonshine anywhere. Catch up with Tommy at TommyTownsendOnline.com and the moonshine at https://www.mimmsmoonshine.com/

Fred Midkiff is a native of southern Virginia and a 35-year veteran of John Deere. During that time, he held many different positions in sales, marketing, operations and finance. He favorite activities always revolved around helping John Deere dealers develop in all of those areas. He retired a few years ago as a Director of Strategic Dealers.

Fred began working with Tommy a year ago to assist with financial decisions, sales and marketing. Fred and Tommy can sometimes be found working on market research in back of the distillery. Follow Grandaddy Mimm’s on Facebook and if you want more information, connect with the team via email.

Episode 73 was hosted by Scott Luton and Will Haraway

Upcoming Events & Resources Mentioned in this Episode

SCNR Tunes, Track 1, featuring Tommy Townsend & Will Haraway: click here

APICS Atlanta CSCP and CLTD Boot Camps at Georgia Tech: click here

Veteran Scholarship Opportunity for SCM Certifications: click here

Upcoming VETLANTA events: click here

Georgia Manufacturing Alliance: https://www.georgiamanufacturingalliance.com/

Blueprint 2019: https://blueridgeglobal.com/blueprint-2019/

2019 Atlanta Supply Chain Awards: https://youtu.be/z8QCs8lgyMM?t=1

AME Atlanta 2019 Lean Summit: https://www.ame.org/ame-atlanta-2019-lean-summit

Transparency 2019: https://www.freightwaves.com/transparency19

EFT 3PL & Supply Chain Summit: click here

Gartner Supply Chain Leadership Conference in Phoenix: https://www.gartner.com/en/conferences/na/supply-chain-us

Supply Chain Now Radio, Episode 72

“Supply Chain Opportunities & Support for Veterans”

Broadcast live from Emory University

SCNR Episode 72 featured the following distinguished guests:

Chuck Kluball serves Manager: Specialty Selling Store Operations at The Home Depot. Chuck graduated from Valdosta State University in 2009 and commissioned through OCS as an Infantry Officer in the Army where he served for 7 years.

Ross Chesaniuk serves as Senior Project Manager at The Home Depot. Ross graduated from West Point with a degree in Systems & Industrial Engineering in 2011, commissioning as an Engineer Officer in the U.S. Army.

Lloyd Knight is a Senior Director of International Air Freight based at UPS Supply Chain Solutions corporate campus in Alpharetta, GA. Lloyd began his career with UPS in 2007 and in addition to his current assignment has served multiple capacities including Director of Global Freight Forwarding, Director of Global Government Operations and Government Operations Manager.

Tyler Freeman was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and joined the United States Marine Corps in 2008.  He was stationed in the Carolinas shortly thereafter with military occupations primarily involving helicopter squadrons as an Aviation Maintenance Supervisor and a CH-53E Helicopter Crew Member.

Episode 72 was hosted by Scott Luton.

Upcoming Events & Resources Mentioned in this Episode

APICS Atlanta CSCP and CLTD Boot Camps at Georgia Tech: click here

Veteran Scholarship Opportunity for SCM Certifications: click here

Upcoming VETLANTA events: click here

Georgia Manufacturing Alliance: https://www.georgiamanufacturingalliance.com/

Blueprint 2019: https://blueridgeglobal.com/blueprint-2019/

2019 Atlanta Supply Chain Awards: https://youtu.be/z8QCs8lgyMM?t=1

AME Atlanta 2019 Lean Summit: https://www.ame.org/ame-atlanta-2019-lean-summit

Transparency 2019: https://www.freightwaves.com/transparency19

EFT 3PL & Supply Chain Summit: click here

Gartner Supply Chain Leadership Conference in Phoenix: https://www.gartner.com/en/conferences/na/supply-chain-us