Welcome to supply chain now the number one voice of supply chain.

Join us as we share critical news, key insights and real supply chain leadership from across the globe.

One conversation at a time.

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening wherever you may be.

Scott Lewton and the one and only Korak Jose here with you on supply chain now.

Welcome to today's live stream.

Hey, Kara, how you doing?

Very well, sir.

Thank you for having me.

Today live from Monterrey, Mexico.

This time I love it, man.

You stay on the move and I can't wait to hear your latest key takeaways from the visit to the wonderful beautiful country of Mexico which is a rock and roll market.

But folks, today we got a great, great show teed up.

You know folks, it's the buzz where every Monday at 12 noon Eastern Time we discuss a variety of news and developments across global supply chain and business.

And we've got a great show teed up here today.

We're going to share a quick pulse check on aviation and farm equipment sectors.

We're going to be talking about the need to secure the supply raw materials.

So stay tuned as Karai gives an update there.

And in a special segment at about 12:15pm Eastern Time, we've got a terrific panel of supply chain pros joining us as we recognize three winners of a recent women in supply chain awards hosted by our friends over at Interos, AI and Korai.

We've got Jennifer Basagli, Jane Ganina and Madur Coker AKA MK joining us in just a few minutes.

Should be a great addition of the buzz here today, Korai, am I right?

Absolutely.

Especially having trailblazers today I think makes this show very special.

So I think a good bunch to talk shop and get to the truth and hopefully a couple insights that people can take away.

That's right, actionable insights because if they aren't actionable, are they really any good?

But hey, we've got an outstanding panel so you can bet on great actionable perspective and insights here today.

And hey, we got Kurakoze.

I think two weeks in a row we're breaking records here today.

So folks, two things before you get started.

We get started here today.

Number one, give us your take in the comments whether you're tuned in via LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, no matter.

Let us know what you think.

And if you enjoy the show today, hey, share it with your friend and your network.

They'll be glad you did.

Okay, Kara, we've got a lot of homework to do before we welcome in a terrific panel.

So I think there's three things I want to tackle.

Let's start with the first one.

Did you eat your Wheaties this morning, Kara?

Because you're gonna need it.

I only run on coffee, my friend.

Only coffee.

Okay.

Hey, really quick, what kind of coffee?

As dark and black as it gets, no sugar, no milk.

It just sold my eyes, man.

Yeah, you're robot.

All right.

Well, hey, up first, let's check out this latest edition of what that Said, which we published over the weekend.

And as always, and we're going to drop a link right there in the chat so y' all can check it out.

We share news from across industry as well as some of our live programming resources and a whole bunch more.

And Korai, a couple of quick nuggets from this edition here.

First, CNBC is reporting that Boeing's turnaround efforts are gathering some steam.

They're making a little progress, in fact, the production of the 737 Max jet, which has had all kinds of setbacks and issues.

Well, it's finally going, going to be ramping back up the production line this year due to safety and regulatory challenges and overcoming those hurdles.

In fact, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said last week, quote, I do think Boeing has turned the corner in quote, how about that?

On the not so good side though, the farm equipment manufacturing sector, the news isn't as good.

US Sales of farm tractors and combines.

Right.

The big machines that you see out in the fields across especially the Midwest, well, those sales continue to drop in April.

In fact, Cori, overall through the first four months of 2025, SAL belts are down over 13% compared to the same time period last year.

Correct.

Whether it's any of those nuggets or anything else you saw there.

And with that said, your thoughts?

So maybe start with Boeing.

It sounds like good news, but there is a bit of context, of course, because when the bar is set low, then you can jump over it rather easy.

And if you jump percentage wise a lot over a low bar, it sounds like you did really great.

But if you look and dissect that a little bit, you probably easily figure out that they had, of course, a force reduction.

They had the backlog anyways in the production.

They didn't have to really create new sales.

It's just about again supply chains driving your revenue.

After all, you can sell as much as you want.

If you can't manufacture it, the revenue stays at close to zero.

So the backlog is being worked out.

Now, of course, the CEO may celebrate that as his win, but quite honestly, it was a Manufacturing strategy that was, I would say, rather fragile.

And now they're made some tough decisions, workforce reductions.

They are working off, of course, some of those orders that they had and of course the oil price.

Right.

So the lower the oil price, the more people travel in that context, maybe.

And airlines have to think in advance and order those planes quite few years in advance.

And I think that's where things are coming now and turning the corner.

I would not say that as much as maybe CNBC celebrates that.

I would say they found their way again and they're going to be hopefully great again.

You know, we hear a lot recently, so maybe that's a bit my take on that.

I like that, Korai.

I like doing the alley oop, right.

I share a couple nuggets with a few numbers and I throw the ball up near the goal and you bring it home with a thunderous slam with the real story behind the numbers.

So, Korai, I love it.

Keep it real.

And I would just add, Kara, isn't it good though that Boeing is finally able?

I think there was, I can't, I don't have the figure right in front of me, but the FAA mandated they couldn't produce, I think it was 35 or maybe 38 jets per month.

And they're finally getting the green light to go above that mandate.

That's a little bit good news.

Would you agree, Karai?

I do agree because at the end of the day, this is a very concentrated market and if you pin down your side of manufacturing, then you leave a lot of vacuum for others to replace that.

So Boeing is a critical factor in the US Economy and in fact in the western economy.

And I would not like to see Boeing disappear, to be honest, in this context, or deal with busyness instead of business.

So the 737 distance jet is, I think, important, especially in the context of what we will talk later in critical minerals and which area is going to be really in focus for supply chain and where people have to meet also face to face and travel will be more intense than before.

Yes, Karai, we're setting some records.

Okay.

You mentioned a great segue because we are talking about some great new research here.

In the second item before our panel joins us, there's some intriguing new research from our friends at Globsec Geotech center and it focuses, as Karai mentioned, on what Europe and North America must do to avoid a massive shortfall in critical raw materials in really just a few years.

I got a couple snippets there from the research we're dropping a link of how folks can access it.

But Korad, tell us some of your key takeaways here.

I think the one key takeaway is that we need to realize that we're beyond the point of no return.

That means that we have to figure out things for ourselves and not hope that everything is going to mend and then it is going to flourish again.

And rare earth minerals and critical minerals are never going to be weaponized.

In the context of geopolitics, that time is over.

What we also realize in that research is regardless of high efforts to be put into the supply chain, in many factors across the critical minerals, we will fall short on both sides of the Atlantic, which means in the US as well as in Europe.

In Europe we would look at a shortfall of critical minerals and materials of almost 80%.

And in the US if we put a lot of effort into motion right now, today, it will still be short 50% of the needs that would require, you know, the industry would require to stay competitive and actually grow.

So there are a couple converging factors that this report points out as policy recommendations is of course increase the production, which takes longer, but then also motivate companies to innovate further.

A very practical example is lying lithium ion batteries into sodium ion batteries change and that would really lift our dependency from lithium.

And the lithium triangle which covers 66 or 67% of the global supply chain, for instance.

The problem still remains however in key factors like rare earth minerals.

And when we think about rare earth minerals, the dominance of China, not just in mining, but literally the processing and refining is just Too Stark.

Around 70% globally.

If you combine both factors.

And what are those used for?

Again, I don't want to make this a lecture, but when you think about just top five rare minerals, then of course on the very top you have neodymium.

And what is neodymium?

It is a magnet that goes into very small application, is very powerful and can be magnetized very easily.

And in every high tech electronics environment you would need that dysprosium you would need when there is a high heat environment.

Lanthanum for instance is the catalytic converters, right?

So if you think about your car and the catalytic converters, that's lantanum actually making that work.

And last but not least for defense sector, since the geotech is the convergence of geopolitics, security and supply chains and technology.

That's where for instance the Patriot missiles system works with terbium in it in order to really target the incoming missiles, whatever it is at the end of day to destroy and without terbium it wouldn't work.

So they're really critical to many, many, many applications.

Last but not least, energy transformation and of course when we want to do renewables in this context.

So this is the report that was produced.

It's for every reader.

There's something, there's a one pager, there's an executive summary and there's the entire 70 pager.

So folks, it's free.

So go on Globsec and download it.

It's free for use and no paywall in between.

So I'm really happy to be part of that.

And we have General Allen soon on a webinar, don't we Scott?

So we will have him and talk about this as well.

Kara, looking forward to that session coming up in June.

But I tell you, publishing thought provoking research that hopefully is going to get the attention of not just supply chain leaders, but other business leaders and policy leaders that can help us take the steps we need to take.

So to your point, I got to go all the way back to the first part of your respons because if we do all the thing, I think if I got this right, even if we do all the things that experts are telling us we need to do, we still may have like a 50% shortfall in these critical raw materials that.

I got that right, Karai.

Is that what you said?

Yes, you got that right, exactly.

That's why innovation is so critical.

And anything but innovation focus will at the very near future become your impediment for success.

So if you're thinking about investing into technology or product redevelopments and you think about it too, it will hit you hard.

And all those things you mentioned touch everything.

And it's not just, you know, not having the products for consumers, it's infrastructure, it's national security.

I mean folks, you got to check out this research that Karad and the whole team did and let us know your take.

And we're dropping the link right there in the chat where I think Karad, they can get the one pager, they can get the shorter version or they can get the full blown 72 pager.

Is that right?

That's right.

All for free.

All for free, man.

It's service industry.

All right, so lastly folks, one other thing that we want y' all to check out.

And folks, stay tuned.

We got a great panel joining us in just a second for a great conversation.

But I want to invite y' all to check out some resources from our friends.

Lori Kevin.

And folks over at easypost now, have you heard of Forge yet?

Well, Forge is easypost's answer to businesses that need a flexible, scalable white label shipping solution that they can count on to delight their customers.

I like that phrase, Karai.

Now, Forge provides access to the most reliable end to end shipping APIs, code free sub account management and actionable insights.

Those good ones that we were talking about earlier where you can actually do stuff with all of that in one centralized platform.

We're gonna drop a link where you can learn a lot more about Forge here today.

You can check that out right there in the comments.

I love code Free.

I do too.

Karat.

I started in my college experiment in C and I learned quickly back in the stone age when I went to college that me and coding did not get along.

So I love this low code, no code, code free movement that we find ourselves in.

So more on that, folks.

But now as I've been talking about and promoting, we've got a wonderful panel of leaders joining us here today as they all recognized as the top winners in the first annual Women in Supply Chain Awards hosted by our friend, you've seen him here before, Patrick Van Hol pvh and all of our friends over at Interos AI so Korai.

I'm delighted all of y' all join me in welcoming Jennifer Basigli, Founder with Interros AI, Jane Ganina, Senior Director, Global Procurement and Supply Chain Management with Telesat Canada and Modor Coker, AKA mk, who serves as manager, Stores and Inventory Control with Porter Airlines.

Hey.

Hey, Jennifer.

How you doing?

I'm good, Scott.

How are you?

Wonderful.

Great to see you here today.

Jane, welcome, welcome.

How you doing?

Thank you.

I'm doing great.

Thanks for having me.

You bet.

And mk, thanks so much for carving some time out to join us here today.

Thanks, Scott.

Thank you for having me.

You bet.

Ko Ra, I'm really excited to have this trio of Dynamos to join us.

And Ko Ra, you know where I like to start, right?

Our fun warmup question.

Because folks, you gotta have a little fun in these challenging times, right?

So I bet all four of y' all didn't know this June 2nd is national leave work early day.

At least here in the US hopefully it's a global holiday.

So that begs a question.

And mk, I'm going start with you.

It begs a question, if you were to leave work early today, if, if you were, what's one thing you would do and fill in that newfound time?

Mk, I think I'll go for a walk by the water.

I do live by the water, but I've been really busy lately, so I haven't been able to get out much.

So I'll go for a walk, get myself a smoothie and just enjoy a beach.

Oh, I like it, man.

Rest of relaxation and you're eating healthy, man.

That's how to spend a Monday afternoon.

I love it.

All right, so Jennifer, same question.

If you were to leave work early today, what would you do?

Yeah, thanks for that, Scott.

I don't want to be boring, but I agree with mk.

I'd get outside.

It's going to be in the low 70s in D.C.

today, which we're hearing it's going to be another 100 degree summer.

So I would get outside and enjoy the weather.

I like it.

I like it.

It's cooler here in Atlanta.

In the metro Atlanta, it's been unseasonably cool.

I will take it.

All right, Jane, are you going to go with the crowd or are you going to do something different?

Where would you spend your time, Jane?

I'll definitely go with the crowd, but more importantly, I'll go with my dog.

So I have a mix of a border collie and a Australian shepherd who is double trouble.

And the more walks he takes, the better off we all are.

And I always can use some time outdoors, that's for sure.

Jane, I love that we're big dog people around here.

I think Ruby and Sunny around the corner listening somewhere here in our household.

But Jane, a great afternoon well spent.

Karai, let's see if you were to leave work early today in Mexico.

There in beautiful Mexico.

What are you gonna do?

It's too hot for golf already so you have to play very early.

But if I were to go out right now and it's probably socialized because at the end of the day we have been remote for so many years and we need to become more human again.

So I would love to see people face to face and debate, argue or just also even have fun, you know.

So that's, that's probably what I would do.

I love that.

Grab a cup of coffee.

That heavy caffeinated coffee you're talking about.

Get in that beverage or just be human again.

I think as you put it, I love that and I think this is Amanda.

Big thanks to man and Trisha behind the scenes helping to make production happen every single day.

Amanda, I'd go get a coffee and go shopping.

Oh boy.

Limited budgets this and see him.

Great to see you here today via LinkedIn.

Always appreciate your perspective.

Looking forward to your Comments here on today's outstanding discussion.

Okay, so happy national leave work early day wherever you are and really appreciate for all of our supply chain professionals out there, really appreciate what you do each and every day.

Okay, we got a lot of good news to get into here today.

Jennifer Jain, MK and Korai, this panel here.

Korai, as we were talking about earlier, was recognized via the first annual Women in Supply Chain Awards hosted by again our friends@interos AI.

So Jennifer, let's do this.

We can't get enough context.

We get enough context in today's fast moving world.

Share a little background on the awards program and the important why behind it.

Thanks for asking and truly thanks for having us and love seeing MK and Jane here.

The Women in Supply Chain Awards really came from something that we're seeing again and again, which is incredibly talented women doing amazing work and often under the radar.

So we really wanted to shine a spotlight on that.

And it's not just about the recognition of these incredibly powerful women, but it's about the visibility, the representation.

You know, if you can see it, you can be it.

And really building that community that has the opportunity to celebrate leadership, innovation and transformation in all forms.

And I think MK and Jane would agree.

The day we got all together it was just that everybody 3d everybody got more energized.

It was just good to be there.

And so we wanted to celebrate the people.

We wanted to celebrate the top topic supply chains are you were talking about it before we got on onto the show.

It's they're incredibly complex and global and high stakes and we need every single person from all walks of life to keep those things going.

And it's a especially important to NPR's AI in that I believe we have about 52% of our senior leaders deep above are all female and about 44 of our executive creative team.

So with this award we really wanted to get excited and change those contributions that these women are putting in place.

I love that Jennifer.

We need all walks of life and create opportunities for all, including opportunities for advancement which we're going to touch on in today's conversation.

But really quick, before I move over to Jane and MK and get their takes, I want to share a pretty cool image.

This is Times Square.

Look at Interro's AI celebrating Women's History Month and these awards right there in one of the most iconic parts of the the world, the urban world, which is really, really cool.

Karai, when you heard that why from Jennifer, your quick comments, I totally agree.

Because only if we do this Together in supply chain with all the different perspectives, I think we can be resilient first of all and innovative and competitive.

It is unfortunately a profession that in my opinion, and no offense, it's easy to get into because every other conversation I have is like I never planned to be in supply chain or procurement, but it's extremely hard to be successful because it's so rigid and it is, is so driven by expectations that just don't align with let's say you know, your family life for instance.

And that doesn't mean that the family life has to be prioritized by the women of this world, but also by the men.

So we can do our step up.

But if the work arrangements, for instance, don't allow a clear career path, don't allow a flexible work arrangement with an empathy level that does not correlate flexible work arrangement with a lower degree of resolve faults.

Because I truly believe that when you feel comfortable, you drive even more performance and when you feel hurt and you feel represented, you put the extra effort in just naturally.

And that psychological safety counts a lot now.

V.

Right.

And if you run by prejudice, the men can just go and do the work and travel whenever and then you know, the woman in the household would be like expected to just do deal with family and the job.

So I think in supply chain we have done a very bad, bad job in considering flexible work arrangements, expectations to career pathways to targeted recruitment, even when I want to have diversity.

And I look at those boards and CPOs, right.

And I'm extremely happy for instance that the CPO of ETIHAD was selected this year by world procurement leaders to be the CP of the near a year and not yet just another guy again.

And it should be merit driven of course, but there's no doubt that, that women can be extremely successful.

And Jennifer, who I know for years has been the trailblazer as a founder and actually she selected probably the worst industry to play this out because she played it in extra hard.

Right.

There's probably other areas like finance or so they have, you know, more educated environment to that and supply chain is about manufacturing steel, you know, products out the door and all of that.

So now I start start to rant.

But yeah, I truly believe in this and I'm very glad to see into Ross again Tray blazing this.

So kudos.

Jennifer.

Correct.

Love it.

Good stuff there man.

Jane, we're coming to you but I want to point out I think this is my friend Sylvia and her dog Luna.

So see we got, we got a bunch of dog Fans in the supply chain now, Global fam.

And Jane, congrats on being named Woman of the Year.

What an incredible accomplishment.

Could you briefly share for context a little about your role and Telesat Canada?

Absolutely.

So this is a very, very exciting time to be part of Telesat Canada.

So we are embarking on what we call Lightspeed Network, which is a chance to bring broadband service globally to remote communities everywhere.

And I joined Telesat to scale the demands of the supply chain to meet this initiative.

So I needed to build a brand new team.

I needed to put processes in place because the original, the standard way of doing business in telecom was geosatellites, which is one or two a year.

Now we're gonn shy of 200 satellites for our first phase of the Constellation.

It's been a big challenge and that's why it was so important that I was recognized by my peers, my colleagues, the industry as well.

And it was a pretty significant effort and a lot of work went into it.

Oh, I can only imagine.

And we're getting like the, not even the Reader's Digest version.

We're getting a sliver.

There's so much more to the story.

And as I was sharing pre show, I wish we had six hours to spend with our guests here.

But congrats again.

Great to have you here.

We're going to talk more about some of what you mentioned there in a second.

MK Your name, young leader in supply chain.

Congratulations.

We need leaders of all kind, all ages, all experience levels.

And you've been doing some big things there in aviation space for a year, I think seven years now.

If you would tell us briefly about your role and Porter Airlines.

Porter Airlines is a Canadian based airline and we operated with 29 Q400 aircrafts.

And now we're into accepting our Embraer E195s.

We ordered all of hundred and we're just over 40 into accepting deliveries at the moment.

So it's great times.

Right after Covid, we were extremely busy, you know, getting together to accept these aircraft.

The team grew as well for my role at Porter, so what I do is my team and I, we manage parts and logistics and inventory for aircraft maintenance.

So my role is supporting maintenance in terms of the parts they need.

The parts that come in, they need to go for repair, they need to go for repair.

We receive them, also manage landing gears and engines and things like that all across Porter's network.

So thank you for contributing to the global economy, getting all those new aircraft, probably creating jobs and promotions everywhere.

And secondly in I learned a pre show you are a graduate from Embry Riddle, one of the leading finest aviation schools in the world and I think you're still earning your MBA now.

Is that right?

That's right.

The best get better.

I love it.

Well, congrats again before I kind of close the loop with Jennifer Karai.

These industries are complex, they're difficult.

You're really solving the critical issues of our day.

Your quick comments on what we heard there from N.K.

and Jane.

I think you know the underlying factor in supply chain is also a very strong, strong STEM environment.

Right.

And those partnerships will underline the advancement quite significantly.

So those programs and MK is doing her MBA will just foster I think the role models that more and more women in this context will follow.

And I hope you know my little one will do that too.

I love it.

And you know, I think Jennifer said see it be it.

We need more leaders that can inspire and help folks connect the dots and know that they can do and I think we've got three outstanding role models here in Jennifer Jayne and mkc.

So thanks for what you are doing not just for in the current global supply chain but our future global supply chain.

So Jennifer, I think you were surprised by the voters and the judging panel with the lifetime achievement award.

So if you would, for a few folks out there that may not know your organization has been on the move.

I mentioned my friend Patrick Van Holt doing really cool things as part of the of the team there share what Enteros AI does totally surprise.

And for MK and Jane who were in the room, it was one of the rare moments that I actually didn't have words.

Thank goodness.

That only lasted for a few moments.

But since you asked, AI uses artificial intelligence to map and monitor global supply chains in real time, which is incredibly important in this day and age when we are so hyperconnected as a global economy.

Anything can happen by any company that has a ripple effect to you and your business.

And I think to Karai's point, supply chain has changed so much from when I I started and it was warehousing and trucks and I don't want to give you how many years ago that was, but now it's all about the analytics and it's all about the proactive and that's really what in Tero's AI is focused on.

So we're looking across financial risk, cyber risk, geopolitical issues, you name it.

And we want to make sure that if something's going to disrupt your supply chain that we catch it with you before it catches you off guard because no CEO wants to be surprised by their supply chain.

And a surprise or a didn't know is not a good reason anymore.

So KSI's real goal here is to help companies be more resilient and proactive and yes, even predictive.

And I think Karai, for your little ones, that's the exciting aspect of where supply chain is today.

Which is why the amazing leaders like MK and Jane that are part of it and being held up, it has advanced advance so much and we need really smart people, really big ideas to be part of that solution.

Well said.

Got to.

It's not even optional.

We got to.

Well said there, Jennifer.

Okay, we'll dive in a little bit more here with our panel.

And Korai, look forward to you getting your take on some of the cool things they've been up to.

And K, I want to circle back over to you.

You've been, as I mentioned, moving mountains in the aviation supply chain space for years now.

Could you share one innovative initiative that you've either led or been a part of here in recent months?

Yes, of course.

So at Porter, we use Cardec systems.

They're called vertical lift modules.

They're the VLM machines and they're huge vertical machines that store parts.

And for us, inventory accuracy is important.

Optimizing process is also extremely important.

So we found a way to work with Cardex to have those machines at our hangar.

So we currently have four of them and we're currently storing over 20,000 parts in those machines.

And previous years we were using those machines.

So you had to copy paste your part numbers and your batches and whatnot from our maintenance and inventory system over to the VLM desktop software.

And that's how the part would come down.

The initiative that I've been working on with my team in the last year is building an API, building middleware and working with IT team with the Swiss AS team to be able to connect these two systems so that your parts are one click away.

So you're not copy pasting.

There's no errors.

It's instead of it taking you five minutes to get a part, it will take you a minute and less.

So that's something that I've been working on with my team and we're in the testing phases right now.

So hopefully in the next month or so we'll be live.

Oh mk, I would love to do a whole series on that.

Imagine you got millions of parts, but it takes moving from five minutes to get a part to less than a minute at Scale, that's a major project.

And Karai, really quick, your quick comment on kind of bridging that gap between the supply chain practitioner and leadership know how and of course the technology folks that know how to make it all happen.

That's a critical gap.

We got a better bridge, huh?

I totally agree.

Because very often those two don't talk to each other and the solution is very often somewhere in between where the convergence happens.

And MK is saying we'll have a ripple effect on predictive replenishment.

Right.

Standardization of your inventory management to be way more efficient than just consolidating parts, for instance.

And one thing, fast issue resolution a minute in this cycle can mean, you know, a reduction of everything else.

Much more significant because scheduling is just building up on each other.

So sequential scheduling to be improved in the very beginning by something that sounds insignificant like okay, instead of five minutes, it's one minute could mean actually a day at the end where it means so I think those are amazing things and yeah, if we weren't have curious minds we wouldn't think about that.

So mk, I applaud you.

That is a very nice project there.

Awesome.

Incredible.

And I can't wait.

We're going to have to reconnect and get bottom line updates on the impact of what you and the team and doing there.

Mk, Jane, as I mentioned, any of our dear global fam that tunes in, they know I'm a big space nerd.

I love the Apollo program.

The space shuttle program really played a big part in my childhood and I'm thrilled to learn that Telesat Lightspeed happens to be the largest space program in Canada's history.

That is incredible, Jane.

So from a supply chain perspective, could you share a few details in the transformation there that you've been involved with?

Absolutely.

So as I mentioned before, the biggest challenge is is scaling up, right?

So you go from having one and twos of something to building for hundreds of satellites.

So that meant staffing up the team but also thinking of how do we become more efficient.

So looking at processes, looking at the tools that help us do our jobs.

One of those tools was actually the InterOSS AI software that helps us monitor the suppliers in terms of risk.

Lightspeed is an innovative project.

It's the next generation.

So we're looking at a lot of development technology and we're engaging with our supply base from the very, very early incep and they're actually not going to be delivering parts for a number of years.

So we need to ensure that the people we're partnering up with are solid enough and stay in business and we stay on top of those challenges and those risks and mitigate them.

So that's probably was the biggest focus of the last year and kind of to go along with the overall subject and topic of our discussion as well.

Mentoring young professionals and being able to get people involved early on in those processes was something that I'm very, very proud of and something that I think is very important in supply ch and for women in supply chain is, you know, as Jennifer put it, you see it, you can become it.

So it's great to be able to.

Spread the word and clearly you're very passionate about that and we're all grateful as an industry.

But I'll go back to the first part you shared there Jane and Karai what I love that one of the things she mentioned there is how her organization is investing in the supply base.

Right.

You know, ensuring the whole ecosystem can win that is so important.

I've been in automotive industry, not pickle any of anybody.

But it wasn't always like that back in the day, way back in the day.

But currently.

What'd you hear there from Jane?

Well, Telesat came onto my radar as an analyst during COVID when they had Thales as their main supplier and then were able to shift it to MDA rather quickly and rather predictably before things hit.

Because they are onto something that many just got to know maybe a year or two years ago when Elon Musk came out with Starlink.

Because at the end of the day that's what Telesat is going to do as well with a multi gigabit broadband globally especially important for underserved communication communities for instance.

So they're on to more than just in that context business.

But you know Jane, you probably too humble to talk about it in that context.

I may be too bold on that but in somewhere in the middle.

So Telesat has been always focused on resilience in that context and not only in the words but in the actions.

And having a company that its DNA is like that, of course they will imply AI to risk management and of course they will take those insights into action and it has one work brilliantly.

So again I think you're onto something Jane that will provide more competition in the satellite multi broadband Internet application.

So we're not just you know at the will of one company.

So we will have probably Canadian contender soon again.

So very good Karad.

I really appreciate that.

And that's, that's a whole bunch of good news.

And yeah I want to piggyback on Karaz comments here.

You know Jane, the digital divide that you and Karad both spoke to, we've got a lot of work to do there.

A lot of work to do.

And I appreciate what the Telesat organization is doing in that reg.

Okay, so Jennifer, I've got a slightly little different question for you.

As a fellow founder and entrepreneur, what's one piece of advice that you'd offer to any entrepreneurs or female entrepreneurs or potential founders that may be watching or listening?

I love this question, Scott, and honestly it is simply that you cannot wait to have it perfectly figured out.

If you have an idea that solves a real problem, go for it.

Start messy.

Learn fast.

Don't be afraid to take up space.

There's a lot of fear from folks that they don't know how to do everything.

They don't have enough money.

Things will come to you.

But I honestly, I will tell you, I learned that in year three.

We just, the whole business is 20 years old.

We revamped and came out as Antero's AI in 2019.

We brought in external funds from wonderful investors.

But you really have to understand that starting a company, founding a company isn't about knowing everything, everything.

It's about being relentless and learning constantly and surrounding yourself with smart, honest people who challenge you.

And I would offer, you know what MK talked about and what Jane talked about, that wasn't a day one manifestation that took many years, potentially acquisitions.

But it all started with a really good idea and people that just only saw one way to go.

We're going to bust through brick walls to get there.

So never undersell your idea, never undersell.

Your yourself that has been there, done that, brilliant advice and I love just the one little snippet out of all the goodness there.

Start messy.

If we wait around for the perfect solution, we'll be waiting around till the cows come home and we're wasting one of the best, most valuable aspects of all of this.

And that's time, right?

That is time.

Karai, what'd you hear there from Jennifer?

I mean a born leader if you ask me.

Because again, she's not talking about all the things that she has done in those 20 years years, women impacting public policy you were part of, right Jennifer?

And when you think about everything else that you've been doing, including the World Economic Forum and giving supply chain a better voice in that context is something that has been I think a driving force that was very complementary to the success of inteross.

So I think forward looking you build companies not looking into the rear view mirror and being a me too product.

That's how you become successful.

Well said, Corian.

We're going to touch on one of the things you mentioned there because as an industry, we have to to grow our voices and we got to be able to tell our story better.

That's part of this equation.

That's what kind of where we're going next with this panel.

All right, so back to the voices.

There's a great article here I'm going to share here because I want to get all four of y' all to weigh in.

And this comes from our friends over at Supply Chain Digital who recently published a great read where they interviewed Lisa Backlin, group VP of Supply Chain at Parts Town Unlimited.

So folks, this is some of the things that she shared.

They were asking her how organizations can better attract and retain female talent in their supply chain team.

So here's a few things that Lisa said.

As an industry, we've got to be better storytellers in terms of sharing the career value proposition, which really many of y' all have touched on.

And where Karai was going with the stronger voice a minute ago or Jennifer was going with a stronger voice a second ago.

Lisa also pointed out the timeless challenge that many women face about being the only women, only woman in the room.

I hear that, you know, we have produced something over 1400 podcasts and many more webinars and live streams, and we hear that all the time.

That's a challenge that most of us can't relate to.

We got to lean into it and better understand it.

And Lisa said how we've got to stop expecting women to adapt to outdated norms and start building environments where they can lead with their full selves.

That's a great point.

A great point.

You know, we were talking earlier, Kara, mk, Jane, and Jennifer on a panel session about a month ago, and one of our guests was talking about how she felt the need to kind of twist into a pretzel.

And to use her words from 8 to 5, Kara, kind of to your point earlier, who can work like that?

But that's what she was having to do.

We got to do better.

We got to do better.

So here's where I want to get the panel's thoughts, all of yalls thought thoughts.

And we've been kind of speaking to this for the last hour.

But how can the global supply chain industry make more progress when it comes to not only bringing more women into the profession, but also creating more advancement opportunities all the way up into The C suite.

So mk, I want to start with you, your thoughts on how we can do those things.

What I think is like, as women, we tend to be hard on ourselves.

So I used to have a really bad habit which I've been pointed out now is if someone would ask me, what do you do for work?

I would say, I work at Porter.

I wouldn't necessarily explain what I do.

And I, and I still do it sometimes where I think the other person will not understand understand what I do because it's very unheard of that a female is in the role that I am.

And I stopped doing that because I find that when I do tell the story, people find it interesting, they want to learn more about it.

And the next person was looking for opportunities in that very particular area and had I not spoken about it, they would have never known.

So going from there, I volunteer for a foundation.

It's called Northern Lights Era Foundation.

And what we do is not for profit.

So we have an excellent mentorship program.

So part of the mentorship program, it's all free of cost.

You can sign up as a mentor or as a mentee.

So to this conversation, you can sign up as a mentee.

When you sign up as a mentee, we connect you with industry professionals so you can get advice on whatever career of your stage you're in, whether you're looking to get into aviation or whatever is that you're looking for or you're having a career.

So I think creating opportunities such as mentorship programs, scholarships, internships, the airline.

I work for Porter.

We also have an internal mentorship program to make sure that there's leaders to give you advice when you need it.

And also I think I'll go back to what Jennifer and Jane said.

I think that women need to see other women doing it and that is what's inspiring as well.

So I think that for us being out there talking about what we do, volunteering our time at events all across is something that would definitely make sure that we're headed the right way.

Mk, that's a lot of great advice there.

And Jane, I'll come to you next.

But again, better storytelling, right?

And a more accurate storytelling.

So where she started, of course, the value of mentorship.

And then one of the things she touched on in the end is embracing this role of hey, we're the role models whether you like it or not.

And we can have a, a negative impact or we can have a game changing impact.

And mk, I appreciate you being a wonderful ambassador for Global Supp supply chain Jane, going back to the questions on the table, how do we bring more women in and how do we create more advancement opportunities for them?

Well, I think we start by changing perceptions.

So I think when people hear supply chain, they envision, you know, issuing purchase orders, being very heavily data processing, logistics and those kind of things.

I strongly believe that supply chain is uniquely positioned within any organization to be kind of a quarterback that gets to see a little bit of everything and then gets to pull it all together.

So it's actually a very, very strategic role and we need to promote that and we need to showcase that you can put your spin on it and you can make it a little bit more about risk mitigation or a little bit more about efficiency or a little bit more about understanding what are the key drivers behind the supply chain requirements and the needs.

And once people understand that, everybody can sort of make it a little bit of their own, depending on what their strengths or weaknesses are.

And also as far as promoting things, that's by showing that value added within the organization itself.

I remember when I started my career, you had to go on roadshows to even tell people, why do we need supply chain?

Being in a highly technical organizations, I was told unless you're an engineer, you can't buy things that you need to buy.

But that's not true.

Because while engineers are important in terms of specking and understanding what you need to procure, you do need a supply chain professional to negotiate the best deal possible and to get it there at the right time in the right place.

And those are the key elements that I think we need to explain to younger generations, to women, in order to attract them to this position.

I like it there.

Jane, two quick thoughts.

First off, if I've got a supply chain project, Korai and Jennifer, I'm getting Jane and MK involved.

They're going to be the.

The SWAT team.

And then secondly, on a more serious note, it's not to your Jane's point.

It's not just about telling the story and being the role model out in the market, outside the four walls, so to speak, but within organizations, especially larger organizations, that's a really important story to tell too.

Well, so said Jane.

All right, Karan, look forward to your thoughts in just a second.

I want to complete the loop here though, and get Jennifer to weigh in on these two fundamental questions.

I think three things on this one, because it's an incredibly important question and it's again, it's not just getting females, but it's overall diversification of perspectives and One is just to do it.

This is not build huge programs.

I mean those are all supporting capabilities and we all need training and it all makes us better.

But you just have to start making these steps.

I think so much has changed, changed in supply chain to make it a profit center versus a cost center over the years.

That does make it more exciting to get different types of skill sets.

Which brings me to the second point, which is diversify the skill sets.

As I mentioned a minute ago and Jane just touched on it as well and it's part of why MK thinks it's difficult to explain.

What she does is that it used to be, you know, trucks and warehouses, like I said before, and now it's deep analytics and it's foreshadowing and it's projecting where the company's going.

That's a deep different thought process.

So really diversifying the skill set also makes it more attractive to bringing in different types of folks and hopefully younger folks that are learning some of these things coming right out of school, which is the last bullet number three, which is really starting to think differently.

When we look at folks tv.

If you're looking for the same thing that you looked for before in supply chain, you're going to constantly get that.

If we're really trying to bring in the brightest and the newest talent, we need to think about where companies need to go.

And I think MK's done a great job talking about Porter and Jane Telesat, where's the company going and how are they differentiating themselves?

And that's really the type of skill set we want to bring in to differentiate our company.

And if you get those three things going and really advocate, bring somebody in.

I mean, Corey mentioned I was a finance major coming out of school.

I was not a supply chain technician and somebody, my very first boss picked me up and put me in a job job.

And it wasn't mentorship, it was advocacy.

I'm just going to put you here and the rest is history.

Wow, what a serendipitous.

That's a word moment, Jennifer, as outstanding.

And what a great checklist of your suggestions there too.

Karai, you've had the benefit of kind of sitting back and hearing the advice and expertise from our entire panel in terms of how to create more opportunities for all as well as advancement opportunities.

What you hear there from our panel.

I love those comments because they're actionable and if you do them in a very targeted fashion, I think you can make an impact.

Because what I like to say, always stop fixing women, fix Your structures, right.

It's not about making women more capable in supply chain, is about fixing your supply chain strategy and making sure that you measure what matters.

And what matters changed so drastically in the last 10 years, actually in the last three years, that what you have as base talent pool right now may actually not deliver what the new key performance indicators of your success will be down the road.

So when I think about DEI dashboards and so on, they're all, okay, they're all.

But they're more or less, they're on symptoms that you try to fix.

So you need to go actually deeper into the DNA of your organization and make sure there's equity in performance systems that your targeted sponsorship just doesn't die off on a fancy paper that you publish once a year.

And you say, look at my stats, right?

It has to be reflective in the boardroom, it has to be represented in the boardroom and it has to go down from the boardroom actually to all other levels.

So there is not a, you know, alibi boardroom.

But the rest is still staying the same.

So I think that is where things come into play in the ecosystem.

And you know my take on echo chambers, right?

Your ecosystem should not live in an echo chamber.

And yes, yeah, that's probably good.

And into that before I go off.

Well, hey, I appreciate that we've had some great hot takes here, Kara, but that is a very nail on the head, important take that you just shared there because these echo chambers that have thrived and been a part of really any industry, but certainly supply chain for a long, long time, they don't do us too much good and they really, you know, Jennifer was suggesting we think differently and just to do it well, they really in many ways can prevent that from happening and really encourage thinking to stay the same same and do the same thing and stay in the ruts.

But anyway, let's see here.

One more thing I want to add what I heard especially from MK and Jane, Jennifer too, but purpose, purpose, purpose.

You know, you heard MK said in a pre show and during the show how much volunteering she does at volunteering with impact.

Right.

And you know, of course, Jane, we touched on the work they're doing in bridging the digital divide.

And so when we bake that kind of purpose in organizations or in our supply chain organizations, that helps attract, attract more talent across the board.

So I loved hearing that here today.

Okay.

Korai and Jennifer and Jane and mk, I wish we had again a lot more time here today, but I'm sure y' all got very busy Mondays before you step out here on leave work early day.

Let's do this.

Let's make sure everyone knows how to connect with our panel.

And Korai, I'm get your patented one key takeaway here in just a second.

But Manor Coker, let's make sure folks can connect with you and the Porter Airlines.

Yeah, for sure.

So you can reach out to me via LinkedIn.

It's Mahnoor Kocher and it's all airplanes.

You'll know it's me.

I love that.

I love that.

I got a lot of questions for you about all those aircraft that y' all are bringing in.

That is outstanding.

Great to have you here today.

Mk.

Jane Ganina with telesat.

How can folks connect with you and.

The team similar to MK, you can reach out to me on LinkedIn.

I am hiring by the way on my team.

So anybody in the supply chain industry who is listening, who wants to be part of of the great space initiatives in Canada, please reach out.

You would need to move to Ottawa though.

But other than that I'm you know, always open to expanding my network and hearing from people.

Outstanding.

Hey, if you want to work with or work for award winning leaders right here.

You heard that.

And folks, we're going to make it really easy.

We're dropping the link to MK on LinkedIn.

We're dropping a link to Jane on LinkedIn and my hunches, we're going to drop Jennifer's as well.

Jennifer, how can folks connect with you and the Anteros AI?

Organization.

Organization, same thing.

Just LinkedIn makes it easy, right Scott?

It does it.

I wish I thought of it years ago first, huh?

That's how it goes.

As promised.

Tricia and a man in the gang or Johnny on the spot.

You can check out and connect with Jennifer right there on LinkedIn.

All right, outstanding panel session.

Kurov, got two questions for you.

The patent key takeaway and let's make sure folks can connect with you and the always keep it real take on what's going on out in industry.

Karai, what was your key takeaway from this incredible panel here today?

I think for me and all the folks is supply chain is constantly moving and hopefully it's in our hands to move it into the right direction.

And celebrating important wins like the initiative that inteross put in deserves its space and has its reason.

So more of that please.

Personally, I learned the vertical lift module abbreviation vlm that is something extremely cool.

So I appreciate that too because when I teach supply chain to the MBAs, I usually stay away from those terms in logistics but I think I have to incorporate more of them.

So thank you for that as well.

So hey, we need a big old giant dictionary of acronyms that we use in this space.

I'm learning new ones all the time.

I can appreciate that.

Okay, and folks, Korara, really quick.

How can folks connect with you and the COZE advisory firm that you lead?

Yes, so you can reach out to me on LinkedIn but also the webpage you just posted.

I see.

Thank you.

There is a contact contact us and happy to respond and help where we can.

Outstanding folks.

Make sure you follow Kara for again his keep it real takes.

He publishes via blogs and LinkedIn and as such but great to have you.

What an outstanding panel here today.

Great discussion.

What a great way to start a week.

So big thanks to our wonderful trio of trailblazers.

Jennifer Bas founder with Interros AI.

Jennifer, thanks to you and the team for investing in in the women in supply chain initiative.

Thank you.

This was great and you can see exactly why you get it this awardees like MP and Jane.

It's been a pleasure.

Thank you.

I'm with you.

I completely agree with you.

It's great to meet you and great to have you here today.

Jane Ganina, Senior Director Global Procurement and Supply Chain Management with Telesat Canada.

Jane, I look forward to having you back and good luck finding the right talent to join your organization.

Thanks for having me and thanks to Enteros AI for the opportunity and I just look forward to be able to pay attention forward.

Well said.

You're doing it.

Deeds not words.

All all of y' all are role models for that and it's so refreshing.

And Manor Coker Manager Stores and Inventory control with Porter Airlines.

Thank you so much for being here.

MK thank you so much for having me.

And again Jennifer and the Intros team, thank you so much for this opportunity with you.

I wish man.

Look forward to reconnecting with all of y' all as well.

Always a pleasure.

Kurai Kozay with Kozay advisory.

Thanks for being here today today.

Look forward to reconnecting with you soon.

Absolutely.

Wherever I may be, I'll be always available for you.

So I appreciate that.

I'll take all the time you have.

But Kara, great to have you as always.

Safe travels around the globe and send some pictures of what the cool things going on in Mexico folks.

You can learn a whole bunch more.

Find and subscribe.

Check out the spotchen now community.

I got a great link, very practical link from the team right there.

But more importantly, much more importantly, a couple things.

Big thanks Amanda, Trisha, behind the scenes for making production happen.

Really appreciate what they do each and every day.

Big thanks to our global audience audience for being here.

I look forward to your thoughts after today's live show and what you heard and what the most important takeaways from this conversation are.

But here's the deal.

Kind of building on what all four of our guests here shared here today.

It's one thing to talk about.

It's a whole nother thing to do it, right?

As Jennifer said, just do it.

It's not just a sneaker ad phrase or whatever.

We got to take one thing that Jennifer or Jane or MK or Kara shared today.

We got to put it into practice, right?

That's how we're going to keep transforming into industry.

It's all about deeds, not words.

All that said, on behalf of the entire Supply Chain now team Scott Luden, challenging you.

Do good, get forward.

Be the change that's needed.

We'll see you next time right back here on Supply Chain Now.

Thanks everybody.

Join the Supply Chain now community.

For more supply chain perspectives, news and innovation, check out supply chain now.com subscribe to Supply Chain now on YouTube and follow and listen to Supply Chain Now.

Wherever you get your podcasts.