[00:00:00] Mike Griswold: I think what Amazon has done is taking, taking one of their core skills, which is looking at the network, married that with technology, and really continued.
[00:00:12] Mike Griswold: To focus on this idea of last mile delivery. they do a really good job of staying focused on the things that they're really good at, like logistics.
[00:00:23] Mike Griswold: this to me is a perfect example of working from the customer back.
[00:00:27] Mike Griswold:
[00:00:41] Scott W. Luton: Hey everybody, good morning and good afternoon. Good evening, wherever you may be. Scott Luden and always special guest, Mike Griswold here with you on Supply Chain now.
[00:00:50] Scott W. Luton: Welcome to today's show. Hey Mike. How you doing today,
[00:00:54] Mike Griswold: I'm doing well, Scott. It's hard to believe we're already first week in June, so, um, yeah. I don't know where it's gone, but it's it's gone by fast.
[00:01:03] Scott W. Luton: It sure has. It sure has. But I hear good things that, uh, the smart AI technologies out there are working hard to give us time back. We'll see how that plays out,
[00:01:15] Mike Griswold: Yes.
[00:01:15] Scott W. Luton: Uh, that'd be welcome, wouldn't It
[00:01:17] Mike Griswold: It would, I think there's always a, you know, we, we will wait and see kind of how all that plays out.
[00:01:24] Scott W. Luton: Always is, always is. Uh, but folks, today, all that aside, we continue one of our longest running and most popular series here, supply chain today and tomorrow with the one and only Mike Griswold. With Gartner, Mike of course, serves as Vice President Analyst with Gartner, and we've got a great show teed up here today, folks, we're gonna be checking in to see what a few members of the Gartner Supply chain top 25 have been up to.
[00:01:46] Scott W. Luton: In particular, we're gonna check in with all four of the masters from the 2024 list that we're talking. Amazon, apple, p and g, and Unilever. Now the new top 25 for 2025 is just around the corner. In fact, by the time this publishes. You might be able to check out.
[00:02:04] Scott W. Luton: the new, uh, list, which is chockfull of great examples, but stay tuned as we walk through an outstanding discussion with Mike Griswold.
[00:02:13] Scott W. Luton: alright. So Mike, before we get there. I don't have the fun warmup quiz today that we've had a lot of fun with in the last few months, but I've got a cool question for you, one that I bet you and I can both relate to. So on this date in 1977, the VHS format is introduced in North America at a trade show in Chicago.
[00:02:34] Scott W. Luton: I think that was CES, there in Chicago before it moved to Vegas. Now eventually. As we all know a lot of folks, a lot of folks know VHS would eventually win the heads up battle against the evil beta max for market domination. Thanks to this is what I didn't know, Mike, thanks to VHS's advantages like longer play time faster, rewinding back when you had to be kind and rewind, and the ability to fast forward.
[00:03:01] Scott W. Luton: Beta Max couldn't offer that from what I've, uh, looked at. So all of that, of course, would pave the way to the golden age of VHS rental stores, which are prevalent across the US at least in the eighties and into the early nineties. So, Mike, with that history lesson as a backdrop, what's one of your favorite video rental memories from way back in the day?
[00:03:23] Mike Griswold: Well, I think growing up in a small town, you know, we, we never had. Blockbuster or any of those types of places, it was as I'm sure many people experienced, right? It was tucked into your, favorite grocery store tucked into your favorite drug store. I think for me it was always, I.
[00:03:43] Mike Griswold: Fascinating. I think it was on Tuesdays, it still might be when the major releases would come out, whether it was a record or in this case the VHS tapes and the mad scramble and the lines that would ensue and the waiting list, almost like a library that would ensue because the video store had two copies of Raiders of the Lost Arc.
[00:04:06] Mike Griswold: Right. That was it May, maybe they had three. And, you know, you, you wanted to be there to be one of those two or three people, and at worst case, you wanted to get your name early on the waiting list. So this whole idea of, lack of supply, meeting this pent up demand for a physical product that,if I go in the way back machine, I, I think you, you agreed to a certain.
[00:04:32] Mike Griswold: Length of time, right. One day, two day, three day rentals maybe. So that at least on the waiting list you had a sense of, of kinda when you might be able to see Raiders of the lost arc, but it was the, the very manual nature, even just the product itself. Right. Having to hit the play button. You, you mentioned the rewinding, there was a cottage industry on just being able to go by rewinding devices.
[00:04:59] Mike Griswold: If you remember that at your own home, you know, because oftentimes you would, if I couldn't get Raiders of the lost Arc, I'd buy three, I'd rent three or four other movies. And then you wanted to, minimize the wear and tear on your VCR in terms of the rewinding. So you had this other little device that was relatively inexpensive, put it in, hit the button and it would rewind it for you.
[00:05:21] Mike Griswold: So yeah, the little things that pop up, around that were fascinating.
[00:05:26] Scott W. Luton: that is a wonderful walkthrough. A very palp, uh, very vivid, aspect of so many of our journeys, certainly mine. And, and look at this, Uh, this is what a Friday night might look like. You got some VHS tapes at some of the latest releases and always these big old remote controls.
[00:05:42] Scott W. Luton: nothing like the smaller controls we use with our, uh, streaming device. Oh, no. Big old thousands of buttons. Didn't know how to work. At least I didn't. And one more thing, Mike, late fees. I haven't done my research, but I can't only imagine. So folks, if you were, if this was before your time, so to speak, if you didn't get that.
[00:06:00] Scott W. Luton: Physical videotape back in time, they would charge you for every single day. Sometimes like six bucks a day whenever you got it back. And that was just, that was money on top of money. Mike, like you said, it was a whole cottage ended industry of, of revenue created around VHS tapes, huh?
[00:06:18] Mike Griswold: I can remember not so much the supermarkets, but when you had a blockbuster, they had that big, one-way door where you could drop off your, return, your movies after the store would closed. So you'd open it up, slide it in, close it, and, and I, I can remember peeking around like on my tippy toes.
[00:06:41] Mike Griswold: Looking in the window and seeing this monstrous pile, uh, that had overflown the little box they put overflowing with people who had returned their videos. 'cause you talk about late fees, you also talk, it was like a buck if you didn't rewind.
[00:06:58] Mike Griswold: people complain now about, which I think is a fair complaint about how much it costs now to check a, a suitcase, right?
[00:07:06] Mike Griswold: A buck to rewind. I mean, talk about easy money.
[00:07:09] Scott W. Luton: Seriously, they were gonna get you one way or another. Uh, but those are some great memories and uh, I'm gonna have to explore more. 'cause that market dominated for it seemed like about 15, 20 years. But, uh, anyway, uh, speaking of companies dominating, we've got a great show. TWP today, we're gonna be,
[00:07:26] Scott W. Luton: Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 comes out each year, June, the 2025 version's gonna be out, out in a few weeks. I've already seen the, the Reveal webinar I've signed up for. and each year, Mike, uh, beyond the top 25 of high performing supply chains. You've got companies called the Masters that have been performing at a high level from a supply chain perspective for years now, and they had actually, I think they created this separate category just for those companies.
[00:07:55] Scott W. Luton: But tell us more. When we talk about the masters, you know, the, the four companies we're talking about here today, what, what is that exactly?
[00:08:02] Mike Griswold: Yeah, so we have this. Separate but distinct category that we have as part of the top 25, as you alluded to Scott, called the Masters. So when we go through the evaluation, you know, the mix of, you know, quantitative and qualitative results, we assign every company that that gets into the pool.
[00:08:23] Mike Griswold: They, we create a composite score for them, and then we just take all the, all the companies, we rank them high to low based on their composite score. That's how we create the list. The masters were designed to be able to showcase companies that had long-term sustained excellence. So in order to be a master, you have to have a top five composite score, seven of the last 10 years.
[00:08:50] Mike Griswold: it's not where you ranked, it's, it's actually what is your composite score. So when we rank those companies in there by their composite score. if a master's company is, is in that, top five for seven of the last 10 years. Then they get a little check that says, yep, you can continue. But as we saw several years ago, unfortunately with McDonald's, that you can exit the Masters if your performance does not maintain that consistency and does not maintain that level of performance that keeps you with that high composite score.
[00:09:27] Mike Griswold: So you know, some people think of it as kind of a lifetime achievement award. Some people have likened it too. You know, putting a jersey in the banner in your favorite sports arena, but that's not the case. Every year those companies get evaluated and you really only have three years where you can be, you know, kind of substandard compared to where you've been, to remain a master.
[00:09:53] Mike Griswold: So we think recognition of, of companies that. Have really been able to stand the test of time, continue to improve their supply chain in varying situations, you know, the pandemic things we're going through now, whatever. it is the best of the best
[00:10:11] Scott W. Luton: And to your point, you know, folks have a lot of different takes on top 25, but in my view, what's undeniable is. Are the insights of what these leading companies are doing, innovation wise, overcoming challenge wise, talent wise, leadership wise, and it's, it's chockfull of, of, in my view. things and ideas and practices that companies of any size can take and put in their own, our own organization.
[00:10:38] Scott W. Luton: So stay tuned for
[00:10:40] Scott W. Luton: the 2025 version, 'cause it's gonna be released right around the corner. Um, okay, so, Mike, today I kind of stole from the headlines a bit. Uh, you know, we're gonna walk through the, the four masters from 2024. We'll see what 2025 brings us, but we're gonna, uh, dial it in on Amazon, apple.
[00:10:57] Scott W. Luton: P and G and Unilever, and we're gonna start with our friends at the Big A at Amazon. So this is pretty impressive. Check this out. Amazon's making a major investment in its rural delivery infrastructure here in the us. So according to the company, it is investing a whopping $4 billion. That's right, b as in Bezos, to expand the rural delivery network across the country now as it seeks to speed up delivery to its customers across small towns everywhere and less densely populated.
[00:11:30] Scott W. Luton: Regions across the US the investment is expected to grow Amazon's network to over 200 delivery stations and. Create over a hundred thousand new jobs like that when complete Amazon says that its ability and infrastructure to reach small towns, say from Milton, Florida to uh, north Pole up in Alaska.
[00:11:53] Scott W. Luton: Well, that ability is gonna be tripled. So, Mike, your thoughts around this major investment in play that Amazon's doing here?
[00:12:01] Mike Griswold: a lot of people, I think, downplay some of the things Amazon does because of who Amazon is and the amount of money they have. Right? Investing 4 billion in just this, you know, is more than probably most organizations entire supply chain budget. Maybe the exception of someone like Walmart.
[00:12:21] Mike Griswold: But,You know, one of the topics we talk a lot about at Gartner is this idea of network design I think one of the many things Amazon does is they, they don't see network design as kind of a static exercise. They see it as a very fluid exercise, and I think technology has now allowed us to do that.
[00:12:41] Mike Griswold: AI certainly can play a role in this. I think organizations that. Are not looking at their network, you know, maybe not daily or weekly, but clearly at a much more regular frequency than maybe we have in the past are missing opportunities. I think what Amazon has done is taking, taking one of their core skills, which is looking at the network, married that with technology, and really continued.
[00:13:12] Mike Griswold: To focus on this idea of last mile delivery. And I think they're a great example of someone that while at times may, may succumb to the shiny object, phenomenon that everyone is exposed to, right. And succumbs to from time to time, they do a really good job of staying focused on the things that they're really good at, like logistics.
[00:13:37] Mike Griswold: And I think this idea of recognizing. The fact that we've got some underserved customers, right? This, this to me is a perfect example of working from the customer back. We've got these people, rural communities aren't getting the service that, that they probably, not probably, that they deserve when they buy our stuff.
[00:13:58] Mike Griswold: how do we help with that and how do we employ more people? Right? It's interesting because I think these are the types of jobs that are, are primarily gonna land. I think with, with the drivers, right? People driving those prime vans around, which for the most part, I think, Scott. We would say has not been part of some of the negative press that Amazon has gotten through some of their distribution center facilities.
[00:14:26] Mike Griswold: Right. Certainly they're gonna need some hubs. but I think they're gonna be much smaller scale, and I think the, these jobs are going to go, I think primarily to drivers, right. To get this stuff out. they're providing great opportunities for people jobs that are, I think, relatively.
[00:14:45] Mike Griswold: Satisfactory from a, an employee experience perspective. And they're really, I think, leaning into this idea of we've got underserved communities from the standpoint of getting our stuff when everyone else can get it. I think this is gonna work out really, really well for them.
[00:15:02] Scott W. Luton: a lot of. Golden, uh, nuggets and what you just shared there. And I would just add to one of the comments you made. the notion of customer experience, it's really been around informally for decades, right? In many ways. Some people argue supply chain, what delivered the customer experience.
[00:15:20] Scott W. Luton: However, the formal school of modern thought. there are companies that talk about it and then there's companies that live it. And I'll tell you, Amazon knows their customer backwards and forwards and are constantly looking for feedback that they don't just take and accumulate, they act on. And Mike, don't wanna pick on any other retailers, but I think a lot of other retailers that were competing with Amazon and its rise.
[00:15:44] Scott W. Luton: Perhaps took their customers for granted and they started, and then they started really investing to catch back up. And we've seen some, some, uh, of their competitors make big strides by doing what you said, start with the customer and go backward from there, you know? So, uh, Mike, your quick comment before I move on to, uh, apple.
[00:16:01] Mike Griswold: it's different, but it's similar to, if I, if we go back in the way back machine, even before the VHS discussion we just had to things like doctors making house calls, right? This is kind of the equivalent of Amazon now saying, Hey. You, you can't necessarily get to the hospital as quickly as you'd like.
[00:16:20] Mike Griswold: We're gonna bring some of that to you. And, you know, I think the fact that they're willing to invest in that, recognizing that probably initially there's going to be, you know, more cost than probably profit initially, but I think it ultimately is gonna pay dividends for them because now. You're gonna have, uh, scores of customers that maybe didn't purchase or didn't purchase as, as much or as frequently because it couldn't get to them in the timeframe that they wanted.
[00:16:53] Mike Griswold: So I think this is a, a huge move by them. And it will be interesting to your point, Scott, to see what other folks in that same predicament, right, customers that are difficult to get stuff to, what's their reaction to this going to be?
[00:17:09] Scott W. Luton: Well said. We're gonna see, I love studying
[00:17:12] Scott W. Luton: the whole retail supply chain game, retail game in general. Alright, so we're gonna move from Amazon to Apple. I. This is really not a new story, but we're gonna cover it regardless because it continues to evolve. So Apple has continued to shift production globally as reported by supply chain digital, and Apple is moving production from China to India and Vietnam.
[00:17:33] Scott W. Luton: That's not new, especially focused though on US bound products. That's not. That new. However, the efforts have really ramped up, uh, and especially for iPhone production. So these shifts that they've been, they're making, which I'm, I'm gonna give some numbers here in a second. They're reportedly not temporary, but rather holistic changes in overall strategy by Apple.
[00:17:55] Scott W. Luton: So get this company, CEO, Tim Cook said in a recent analyst call that Apple expects the majority of iPhone sold in the US in June, 2025. To have India as their company of origin. So they've kind of, uh, gotten past the tipping point perhaps. And for Vietnam, almost all iPad, Mac, apple Watch, and, AirPods is gonna have Vietnam as our company of origin, but. Apple does expect China to continue to be the country of origin for most product sales outside of the US according to Mr. Cook. In that call, Mike, uh, again, these shifts have been going on for quite some time. Uh, your thoughts here,
[00:18:36] Mike Griswold: Yeah, a a couple, when you sent over the, the notes for this, I, I looked at it and I said, you know what? I'm gonna avoid the T word at all possible, but, but we can't. there is an element of the tariffs behind this. Right? And, and you, you kicked it off very well, Scott, that this.
[00:18:52] Mike Griswold: You know, Tim Cook didn't wake up one morning like yesterday and say, we're gonna do all this stuff. These things have been in the works. I think some of the tariff discussions maybe have accelerated some of that, and it'll be interesting to see, uh, if there is an even further migration strategy. I. To really avoid all the tariffs and have some of this stuff made here.
[00:19:12] Mike Griswold: But that's probably a conversation for a different day. When I, when I read this story, it, it just brings me back to things that you and I have talked about numerous times with this, which is this whole idea of risk mitigation. We saw this happen, you know, I think for the first time people really. Taking a hard look at risk in general, how do we mitigate risk during COVID?
[00:19:36] Mike Griswold: And I think this is just a natural evolution of, of Apple's kinda risk mitigation playbook, which says, look, you know, for lots of different reasons, we need to diversify where we make stuff. And I think the, the tariff implications have maybe accelerated some of this have maybe. You know, brought this to the forefront for maybe not necessarily tariff related reasons, the message here for everyone is to, is to have a, a constant ongoing review of your risk, playbook, contingency planning, and those types of things.
[00:20:13] Mike Griswold: The other thing that I know we've talked about, Scott, in the past is. moving to these other countries, right? India, Vietnam, you know, Bangladesh, if you're an apparel, um, retailer, some of the Philippines, right? One of the first things you have to take into account is, is what's the existing infrastructure, right?
[00:20:34] Mike Griswold: Can, can you build a semiconductor plan in India with all the things that need to happen? Can you build that in Vietnam with all of the things that you need to run that? The least of which frankly is probably people, things like water, electricity, right? All those types of things that need to be a constant.
[00:20:53] Mike Griswold: Do you have access to that and, and can you maintain that? I think what Apple has done certainly has proved that that is scalable in those countries. I think what it's also done is potentially open the door for other. Companies doesn't have to be an electronics or high tech company, but for other companies to look at that and say, Hey has, has Apple started to build already some of that infrastructure that we can now take advantage of and or lessen our costs if we have to upgrade that infrastructure to take care of our capacity.
[00:21:27] Mike Griswold: So, it keeps coming back to this idea of evaluating risk building contingency plans. Thinking about areas that maybe had not been traditionally thought of as sources of manufacturing, like India as an example. Uh, but now they're becoming more of a, realistic solution to that. So to me, this really was a great example of a continuous risk management strategy and being able to continue to execute against that over time.
[00:22:02] Scott W. Luton: Yes, well said. my phone is just outta reach. I can't pull it up. But with a product that, in fact, this might be the first time my iPhone has been outta reach. I mean, that's just, it's, I've heard some folks say it's just an added appendage these days. I. Uh, to the human body.
[00:22:17] Scott W. Luton: So we'll see important, critical consequential supply chain, and we'll watch these trends as they continue to evolve. all right, this isn't gonna be the sexiest segue of all time.
[00:22:27] Scott W. Luton: Mike, but I do believe, uh, packaging is sexy. I wanna talk about packaging with you. So check this out. you know, I've been saying for years, packaging doesn't get the credit or the airtime that it deserves, especially given how much it influences.
[00:22:43] Scott W. Luton: Consumers every single day, especially in brick and mortar stores. Right. But don't tell that to the PAC Global Awards, which has been celebrating the packaging value chain ecosystem for 75 years. That's right. 75 years now. Recently p and g celebrated a couple of its brands that were recognized for packaging innovation and excellence. Laundry detergent, brand Tide, right? You see that on NASCARs everywhere. You're probably using your homes. Tide won awards for a product called Tide Evo. Now, this was new to me, this isn't the Tide pods that uh, y'all have seen out there. This is Tide Evo. It's almost like little tiles. Uh, the product comes in certified recyclable paper packaging, eliminating the need for plastic, which is a great thing that earned sustainability recognition from the PAC Global Awards.
[00:23:34] Scott W. Luton: And Todd Evo was designed for consumers from all walks of life, including get this individuals with disabilities. I love that. So the, the design process behind. Todd Evo earned a best in class for inclusive design, also, the p and g brand, Olay, uh, lotions and, and, uh, cosmetics and the like. Olay earned a best in class packaging award for inclusive design as well.
[00:23:59] Scott W. Luton: Olay produced. The first body wash to include a tactile symbol directly on the bottle, which helps those that are either blind or maybe have other visual challenges in identifying the product via touch. I think that's brilliant. Uh, Mike, your thoughts on this element and the power of packaging.
[00:24:19] Mike Griswold: this was a great story that you added here. We have a guy, uh, his name is John Blake. He's been with us for quite some time at, at Gartner. his primary coverage area is packaging and he, he is, getting busier and busier. talking to companies around things exactly like this, it, it's interesting what I, what I found fascinating about this particular story.
[00:24:42] Mike Griswold: Uh, not surprising though with, with the way p and g thinks about, in being inclusive and, and r and d was the kind of the disability. side of this in terms of making products more accessible for people with, with varying disabilities. The sustainability piece has been, going on for a while in terms of people talking about it, people trying to make packaging more sustainable.
[00:25:09] Mike Griswold: I. Take plastic out, have less packaging altogether. a lot of our supply chain, top 25 companies who have the broader span of control, have things like new product design as part of the supply chain. ' cause if you think about it, how you design a product. Size, shape, weight has incredible impacts on multiple elements of the supply chain.
[00:25:33] Mike Griswold: How much space does it take in a truck? How heavy is it in a truck? How much space does it take up in a dc How many racks and slots do I need? Do I need different equipment to move it around? Because maybe I've made the packaging such that it may not be as sturdy when I move it around a warehouse and put it on a truck and get it to.
[00:25:50] Mike Griswold: A store or wherever the final destination might be. So there are huge supply chain ramifications to how we design products. I think the fact that PNG has, and again, as I said not surprisingly, has looked at this now even more broadly than just the sustainability side and taking this to me in a different direction, which is the people that do have, you know, different disadvantages, sight hearing, whatever it might be.
[00:26:19] Mike Griswold: How do we make things that are, accessible for them? one of my biggest frustrations now, partly because of my age and partly because of my eyesight, is when I go to a hotel and they have in the shower these three pump bottles with three different things, right?
[00:26:36] Mike Griswold: I need to go get my reading glasses to go into the shower to see what is what, and then I have to remember. It's shampoo, conditioner, body washer, body wash, shampoo, conditioner. I have to remember all that. so I can only imagine how hard it is for someone who maybe is visually challenged to go into a store and, and have to.
[00:26:56] Mike Griswold: You know, either get some assistance or try to figure out for themselves, you know, what product is what. So these types of designs in, in some ways, Scott, it comes back to our discussion with Amazon around starting with the customer and working backwards, right? Amazon started with. How do we get stuff to people?
[00:27:16] Mike Griswold: I think p and g is starting with how do people actually interact with our product, starting with the very first interaction, which is actually touching it. it was great to see p and g with that innovation, and I think p and g is always a little bit ahead of the curve.
[00:27:33] Mike Griswold: Relative to where to take something next, right? So packaging, sustainability, don't get me wrong, there's still lots of opportunities for lots of companies to do that, with this idea around people who have, who have certain disadvantages, I think is fantastic.
[00:27:49] Scott W. Luton: Mike. Well said, and I loved that hotel example that all of us out there can connect, can relate to. And just adding one more layer about packaging, you know, its impact, as you walk through the grocery store and you're comparing products or, or the packaging or the coloring or the sustainability or, or the communication on the package appeals to you and impacts your buying decision.
[00:28:13] Scott W. Luton: Right? All of us every day. Uh, and, and taking it back to the VHS. Memories we were sharing on the front end. Uh, I rented a bunch of video games from the Blockbusters of the world back in the eighties and early nineties, and I can't tell you how many times that the packaging got me. on the front of this video game, it would look like the coolest game with the best graphics.
[00:28:32] Scott W. Luton: You take it home, you put it in the NES, and it's an awful game. They got my money and I. I take it back on time at least. But, uh, hey, packaging is powerful folks, and, and, uh, Mike, we're gonna have to bring on your dedicated packaging,
[00:28:46] Scott W. Luton: pro. That'd be a great
[00:28:48] Mike Griswold: He would love to come on and chat. I mean, he, he is all about packaging.
[00:28:52] Scott W. Luton: We're gonna have to make that happen. Uh, fascinating stuff. Okay. Uh, so now, uh, as we're in kind of the home stretch here, we're gonna check in on the final masters category company, and that is Unilever, uh, who is supporting an outstanding initiative that successfully engages startups to help solve some of.
[00:29:13] Scott W. Luton: Global supply chain's greatest challenges, especially from a research and development standpoint. So it's called a hundred, a hundred plus Accelerator. Uh, is this initiative. It's an interesting program that was created by Han Anheuser-Busch InBev, and it's co-sponsored by four other fast moving consumer goods.
[00:29:32] Scott W. Luton: You may heard that acronym FMCG, fast Moving Consumer Goods Companies, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Colgate Palmolive, and Danon. Uh, the program focuses on successful matchmaking between tech startups on one hand, with companies looking to innovate new solutions on the other hand, especially those that address global issues across supply chains and r and d.
[00:29:56] Scott W. Luton: Now, the top matches rather earned to start up a hundred thousand dollars pilot project. That dog will hunt Mike. Now, Unilever reports that its most successful pilot that's come out of this Hunter plus accelerator program has helped one of its nutrition factories in Poland, reduce machine cleaning times by 20%. Cut utility use by 10% and it saved a hundred thousand euros a year. Mike, I tell you, I love to see new ways at companies of all sizes, but especially those in our global supply chain industry, that figure find new ways of leaning into the startup space to do big, big, innovative things. Your thoughts here?
[00:30:38] Mike Griswold: Yeah, I think this was another article that was, was fascinating on, on multiple levels. I mean, I think you've got, you've gotta recognize that for most organizations, the ability to create drive, foster innovation is there, but it's not. For most organizations, it's not their sole purpose for being around, right?
[00:31:06] Mike Griswold: Unilever's job Their mission statement is not around creating new tech and new ideas. It's around satisfying customers, right? So the fact that you've got companies that are solely in business to drive innovation, to come up with new ideas, to understand their viability and scalability, and finding a way to bring those two groups together.
[00:31:27] Mike Griswold: I think is is fascinating to to hear about I was reading through the article, this is I think to me, the poster child for a win-win scenario, right? You have an organization like Unilever has an opportunity to, to look at and trial different technologies. You've got young up and coming.
[00:31:50] Mike Griswold: Or, you know, early stage organizations with ideas that they wanna understand. is it a good idea, can it scale? And being able to, to pilot something, say at Unilever or Danone and some of those other companies that you mentioned, is, is not only a great way to see if you've got a good mouse trap, but can the mouse trap scale?
[00:32:10] Mike Griswold: And can, you monetize the mouse trap, which is probably at the end of the day. on the entrepreneur side, really what they're trying to understand. Right? So the other thing it does, if you think about, again, companies reasons for being the Unilever's, the Danone's are, are not to be tech startup companies, right?
[00:32:31] Mike Griswold: this brings incredible value to those types of CPG companies. Because you have folks that are in business to drive innovation and, and create new ideas, and that's their sole purpose for being. So we're talking about it today from an FMCG perspective, but I would encourage any industry that is not.
[00:32:57] Mike Griswold: Overflowing with it budget, IE retailers to start thinking about how can we find these partnerships? How can we find these types of, of brokers that are gonna put in front of us really, really smart people with some great ideas. How do we get involved in this to see if there's a way for us to start taking part in these?
[00:33:23] Mike Griswold: So, I tend to have some fun with my friends in retail, but retail's not the only industry that does, that's not flush with it cash. this is a way for any company in any industry that has. Let's say a limited budget for things other than running the business and keeping the lights on.
[00:33:43] Mike Griswold: This is a great way to start to play around in some new and emerging technology. A, to see if it works, see if it works for you as a company and an industry and, and get access to it early. So. j and j does something similar in terms of how they think about funding projects. Right? A very entrepreneurial type of approach.
[00:34:06] Mike Griswold: I think the other message, the last message I'll leave people with is you definitely need to be thinking differently about how you're gonna find and foster innovation. And this, this, to me, is a perfect way to do it.
[00:34:19] Scott W. Luton: Excellent commentary there. And I, and I almost wholeheartedly agree that everything you shared, we've got to find blessed are the matchmakers. Blessed, blessed are the bridge builders.
[00:34:29] Scott W. Luton: this creates value to your point, very holistically for all parties. Uh, so we'll see. I'll, I'll look forward to seeing what comes after the pilot projects like the one we, we, um, I mentioned some of those results.
[00:34:39] Scott W. Luton: But, uh, good stuff. Uh, so good on you, uh, Unilever. And it's, fellow sponsors that are engaging the startup space. okay. Coming down the home stretch. Uh, Mike, I wanna mention one of the things that's coming up next at Gardiner, and that's, that is these, these popular planning summits. This one here you've got, uh, London.
[00:35:01] Scott W. Luton: In November, 2025 and you got Denver and graphic, I'm sharing here, coming up in December 2nd and third, uh, right around the corner. It's gonna be here before you know it. Um, so tell us, Mike, we talk about these a lot. these have really grown in prominence amongst the rest of the, uh, Gardner stable programming.
[00:35:20] Scott W. Luton: Why should folks check out the planning
[00:35:22] Mike Griswold: Scott, we've, we've talked about, you know, we, you just came back from our symposium series, right? And, and that's really targeted at c SEOs, chief Supply Chain Officers, their direct reports. And if you think about kind of the, the balance of content, it's really about 80, 75 to 80% really strategic thought provoking.
[00:35:45] Mike Griswold: 25, maybe 30% is, is kind of hands-on tactical stuff. And that's by design. It's by, you know, based on who do we think are is gonna be at the event. We think about our planning summits, it really is designed for people that, that do planning and people that run planning organizations. So you are gonna see more like a 50 50 split between that, kind of strategic.
[00:36:11] Mike Griswold: Thought leading stuff and actually hands-on type of activities for planners, right? Things like SNOP, demand and supply planning, all those types of things that are much more tactical. you and I joke about the symposium is the world's largest gathering of, of supply chain professionals.
[00:36:31] Mike Griswold: I don't know that I can say that yet about planning, right. But I can tell you. That in one spot or two spots, depending on London or Denver, you're gonna find one of the greatest concentrations of planning expertise that you could find in any one two day session. So highly encourage people with an interest in planning, doing, planning, running, planning, and owning the planning responsibility to at least give it a look.
[00:37:00] Mike Griswold: And see if there's things there that, um, that will pique your interest. the one shameless plug, I, I will add, uh, for this year's planning summit, we added a track specifically around talent and org, which my team is responsible for. if you've wondered. Right. How do we motivate planners or, or how do we think about structuring our planning organization?
[00:37:25] Mike Griswold: We've now got some very specific talent planning content that we'll be sharing in both venues. So I'm excited. Uh, I think this is gonna be, you know, two really, really good events for us.
[00:37:38] Scott W. Luton: Outstanding. So I gotta ask you, who has the rowdier happy hour? Is it the symposium crowd, or the planning crowd?
[00:37:46] Mike Griswold: my sense is it's the planning crowd because most of the bosses aren't around, right? You don't, you don't really wanna go crazy if your CSEO is like three tables over. So for the most part, I think what you'll find is, I, I would argue the planning side. If we ever though open up a logistics summit, then all bets are off.
[00:38:08] Mike Griswold: All bets are off. When it comes to logistics people
[00:38:11] Scott W. Luton: Love it. Uh, folks check out, uh, the planning summits, and along those lines, Mike, how can folks connect with you?
[00:38:19] Mike Griswold: Yeah. LinkedIn or just drop me an email. happy to hear, uh, what's on people's mind. If there's anything I can help with, any questions they might have, just reach out and I'm happy to connect.
[00:38:29] Scott W. Luton: Outstanding. And, and that email is.
[00:38:32] Mike Griswold: Uh, Mike Doc griswold@gartner.com.
[00:38:35] Scott W. Luton: Okay. It's just That easy?
[00:38:36] Scott W. Luton: folks. Just That easy?
[00:38:38] Scott W. Luton: Uh, Mike Griswold, vice President Analyst with Gartner, Mike, always a pleasure. Really enjoyed these conversations. You had me at the VHS way back machine, I think you called it. I was feeling every single memory you were sharing there, uh, but enjoyed your, uh, expertise and take as always, across these other stories.
[00:38:56] Scott W. Luton: Thanks for being here, Mike.
[00:38:56] Mike Griswold: Thanks for having me. Looking forward to next month.
[00:38:59] Scott W. Luton: You bet folks. Hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I have. Mike brings it each and every month, but you got homework as always. You know, we gotta, it's one thing to enjoy the conversations as much as I did, but you gotta take one thing I. From that Mike shared here today.
[00:39:14] Scott W. Luton: Share it with your team. Put it in action. Find a way to operationalize it, right? It's all about deeds, not words. That's how we transform, how global industry and global supply chain take place each and every day. So with all that said, Scott Luton here challenging you. Do good, give forward, be the change that's needed.
[00:39:30] Scott W. Luton: We'll see next time right back here on supply chain now. Thanks everybody.