Narrator [00:00:04]:

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

Scott W. Luton [00:00:32]:

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you may be. Scott Luton here with you on Supply Chain Now. Welcome to Today's show. We have an outstanding show here today, folks. We're diving into research based on the voices of hundreds of supply chain practitioners, supply chain leaders, and a whole bunch more. Now, we've got two business leaders whose organizations partnered on the 2024 Supply chain Trends and Attitudes Report. We're going to be diving into all the data, or at least a big chunk of the data here today to share with you key takeaways that we hope will inform, enlighten, and educate you on the global supply chain landscape, especially when it comes to critical factors shaping the current and the future of supply chain management. Beyond our live discussion here today, we're going to share with you how you can get your own copy of the research so you can make your own conclusions.

Scott W. Luton [00:01:23]:

And hopefully you let us know what your findings are. So stay tuned for a great show. We're going to welcome in Doctor Dinesh Davè, director and professor of supply chain management in the Walker College of Business at Appalachian State University, and Evan Junker, chief growth officer with SPARQ360. Hey, hey, doctor Davè, how you doing?

Dr. Dinesh Davè [00:01:47]:

I'm doing fantastic. How are you doing? And hope everyone doing well.

Scott W. Luton [00:01:51]:

Everybody's doing great. We've got a great conversation teed up. I hope Boone, North Carolina is pretty this time of year. And Evan, how you doing today?

Evan Junker [00:02:00]:

Doing good, Scott. How are you?

Scott W. Luton [00:02:02]:

Wonderful. Great to see you both. Now, I want to start, we got a lot to get into here today. Ton of key takeaways from you both. And we're going to offer up how folks can get the whole enchilada rather, after today's live session. But we've done our homework on you both. And I want to start with a fundamental question, folks. Here's some important advice.

Scott W. Luton [00:02:21]:

Do not mess with Doctor Davè because a couple years ago, he earned his black belt in taekwondo. Okay? So don't mess with him. But also, Doctor Davè, you just completed building a house in beautiful Wilmington, North Carolina. So I want to ask you here on the front end of those two big accomplishments, which one's tougher?

Dr. Dinesh Davè [00:02:40]:

I think getting taekwondo and accomplishment is black belt was really challenging because it requires dedication, hard work, perseverance but I'm glad that I got it few years ago, and I'm very delighted to have that.

Scott W. Luton [00:02:56]:

Hey, it was probably, I'm assuming, a little bit less expensive than building a new house. I don't know, it's close. But either way, congratulations on both. And we look forward to pictures of your next competition. Or of the house. All right, so, Evan, equally as intriguing, we got to know you a little better than the pre show. And we learned that you recently earned your paragliding license. And you were talking about how cool it is.

Scott W. Luton [00:03:22]:

I can just imagine it to paraglide over the alps. Tell us more, Evan.

Evan Junker [00:03:27]:

Yeah, well, I went full through. You know, I went hardcore into my midlife crisis a couple years ago, sold everything I owned, moved to Germany, got my mid career MBA, did all the things right. And then after I got my MBA, I got in the car and I drove to Austria. And the next day, I started learning how to paraglide. And yeah, I can't recommend enough. Just go up a couple kilometers, jump off a mountain and fly.

Scott W. Luton [00:03:52]:

Hey, I can't wait to see some of your video that you take. So, hey, come into a YouTube channel, perhaps near you. But regardless, Evan and Doctor Davè, welcome to you both. Appreciate you being here. Okay, so let's start with giving some folks some really valuable context. Right? We learned a little personal note about you, but now we'll learn a little more about you both and your organization. So, Doctor Davè, if you would tell us briefly about your background as well as the supply chain management BSBA program at Appalachian State University.

Dr. Dinesh Davè [00:04:20]:

I am director of the Supply Chain Management program and professor in the department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management in Walker College of Business in Appalachian State University, North Carolina. We have a very reputable supply chain management program we started a few years ago, about a decade ago, and we have close to 300 students who are pursuing major or minor in supply chain management. Is one of the true Bachelor of Science in Business Administration program in supply chain management. We have an outstanding supply chain club as well as very active advisory board who guide our program.

Scott W. Luton [00:05:08]:

Outstanding. And I'm sure you draw on your experience and your background and that. That, along with the rest of the staff and faculty, really has helped shape and grow and mold the growing supply chain program at App State, huh?

Dr. Dinesh Davè [00:05:22]:

Yes, absolutely. And we have placing our students, graduates in a very successful career and many of the alumni coming back and recruit our students.

Scott W. Luton [00:05:32]:

Outstanding, man. Hey, getting good jobs, one of the great outcomes right now. Evan, switching gears a bit, it's been a pleasure getting to know, you and Morgan and many other team members there at SPARQ360, if you would tell us what the team does.

Evan Junker [00:05:46]:

Well, you know, we've been called to get your hands dirty kind of consultants, and I think we take offense to that, not because of the get your hands dirty part, but because of the consultant part. You know, most people think of consultants as people that kind of tell you what to do, give you a report and shove you off on your way. And really, SPARQ360 is a company based out of former supply chain directors, account managers, procurement specialists, warehouse operators, logistics engineers, and sustainability specialists. They're practitioners more than consultants. And so we're a company that comes in and helps companies find the underlying challenges, develop a roadmap to success, and then help them implement it, whether it's supply chain challenge or sustainability challenge.

Scott W. Luton [00:06:31]:

Hey, I love that model. The implementation execution piece is so critical, as we all know, to getting outcomes. And a lot of what you just shared, there was a lot of what I took away from our episode that maybe Catherine and Amanda can drop in the comments from a few weeks back. So good stuff there and keep moving those mountains. And by the way, big thanks to Amanda and Katherine. Behind the scenes help make production happen, for sure. Okay, so now that we've really, in a nutshell, gotten to know a little bit better, Doctor Davè and Evan here today, we're going to dive into our main focus. I love data driven research, especially when it's the voice of supply chain practitioners and leaders that drive it.

Scott W. Luton [00:07:09]:

So you're going to really get a kick out of the 2024 supply chain trends and attitudes report that SPARQ360 and app state teamed up to deliver. Now, as I mentioned, the survey focused on supply chain management professionals and their perspective on a variety of topics to include technology, spending priorities, sustainability, progress, and my favorite topic, perhaps collaboration across the ecosystem. All that and a whole bunch more. So I want to start with some background and some more context. Evan, if you would, tell us the origin story of this report.

Evan Junker [00:07:42]:

Yeah, well, like I was saying, you know, we're not your typical consultants. So our guys are out there in the field supporting clients, and they kept coming back, giving us some insights as to what's going on, what new technologies people are looking at. We're always looking for new things that will help support our clients and operating more efficiently and meeting their sustainability obligations. And we kept getting this anecdotal stuff. At one point, we all sat down. We're like, there's got to be a way where we can actually systemically find out what supply chain managers are thinking. And there's some great reports out there already. Don't get me wrong.

Evan Junker [00:08:18]:

There's some really insightful things that state of logistics and state of sustainability and logistics, among many others that are put out every year, but none that really get to the heart of what our supply chain managers thinking both now and in three to five years. And so that's how it started. And after a couple of phone calls, we found a great partner in app state. And the rest is history.

Scott W. Luton [00:08:41]:

It is. And history y'all can check out living and breathing history. And I should add, and Evan, correct me if I'm wrong, almost 300 supply chain managers. We're talking about a nice, healthy, a really healthy truckload of inputs that drove these findings. Okay, now, the good stuff, all this is good stuff. But here we're getting to some of the findings, which I really enjoy. So I'm going to start with you, Doctor Davè, what are supply chain managers prioritizing when it comes to investments, especially in technologies, in the coming three to five years?

Dr. Dinesh Davè [00:09:13]:

Absolutely. Yes. We have received about 293 completed survey of the supply chain managers. And we looked at their internal consistency. So the data and the results are pretty accurate, and we can infer for the population very easily. So now, when we found some interesting issues, supply chain managers indicated that their company will be spending fairly significant amount of resources on supply chain visibility platform, followed by predictive analytics and demand planning and artificial intelligence. So that was pretty interesting that we found. They also indicated that companies will be spending moderately on renewal, energy, green technologies and robotics and automation.

Dr. Dinesh Davè [00:10:06]:

So these are very interesting issues.

Scott W. Luton [00:10:09]:

Agreed. Agreed. Evan, when you hear about what the data shows, where people are, organizations, supply chain teams are investing big dollars. Surprises, insights, reaction. What did you see there?

Evan Junker [00:10:23]:

It affirms some of the things we've been hearing from the field. But I was surprised that every single technology, both in the supply chain side and the sustainability side, every technology we asked about, pretty much across the board, there was a higher should be than will be. Now, let me explain that. In the survey, we asked two questions. How much money do you think companies in your industry will be spending in the next three to five years? And then we asked them how much they thought they should be spending in the next three to five years. And pretty much across the board, the should be was higher than the will be's. Do you follow me there? So it showed this consistent upward pressure of people thinking they should be spending more than they actually plan on spending. And I think another piece was, when we look at the various technologies, first, the question I get every week on this AI.

Evan Junker [00:11:20]:

Everybody's talking about aih. The gap wasn't as significant there because people were already spending at the top levels for AI. They're planning on spending at the very high levels in AI for the next three to five years. So there's just not room for upward pressure. But all the others we saw fairly good upward pressure on. There's more on the sustainability technologies. And that's the thing that I think caught me a little bit off guard because we hear a lot about that stuff coming out. But you see more pressure on things like circular economy solutions, remote working and teleoperation and decarbonization.

Evan Junker [00:11:56]:

Theres a lower investment level relative to a much higher we should be spending on this. And that was something that I think was surprising from the surface.

Scott W. Luton [00:12:05]:

Im with you and were going to dive into that gap and maybe whats causing it, especially to your point, and this comes as no surprise to anyone, from shareholders to suppliers to customers to team members, investors, you name it. Every survey out there, they want more and more sustainability and more real tangible outcomes that they can see and be measured. You know, that's what's driving a lot of the brand dedication, for lack of a better phrase. So, you know, with those clearly larger gaps in sustainability investments compared to supply chain investments, Doctor Davè, what's helping to create a these gaps, you think?

Dr. Dinesh Davè [00:12:42]:

I believe that there are some financial benefits as well as the reputation of the organization branding issue. So these are the important issue. Plus the younger customers are demanding or asking for high level of sustainability and leadership in that area. So that shows very interesting to many organizations. And we see that the data suggested, like Evan said, decarbonization, renewable energy, green technology, circular economy solution and remote and work and as well as teleoperation that managers are recommending that we should be spending more.

Scott W. Luton [00:13:24]:

Yep. So Evan, a lot of what Doctor Davio is talking about there is what's driving these gaps in the surprising gap between sustainability investments and those spending and maybe across the board supply chain spending. What else did you find is driving this gap? That kind of surprised us here.

Evan Junker [00:13:41]:

We know a couple of things. We know from the survey that only about 40% or so, or 39.6% I think, of companies are measuring greenhouse gases and 50% aren't and also surprising, 10% aren't sure, they don't know if they are or nothing. And particularly in smaller companies, and I'm talking companies that are below 50 million in annual revenue, only 30%, even less are measuring. So we have this gap of people that aren't measuring. And so when you're talking about doing investments in the technology and you're not capturing some measurements to report on that, there's a question of familiarity, there's a question of benefit, there's a question of should we be doing this? Do we need to do this? There's a lot of questions on that piece. What I'm seeing, and I think we're hearing from our customers in particular, is that it's coming. And I know we were all waiting for a long time on the SEC regulations to come into play. And when they came out, a lot of people breathed the cyberleaf because scope three emissions weren't included, and then it went into litigation after that.

Evan Junker [00:14:50]:

But at the end of the day, we have a large market driven economy. And if you have global clients that have to report in Europe because of CSRD regulations, or China and Asia or in Australia, which now have regulations very much similar to the european regulations, theyre going to come to you because they have to report on their global supply chain emissions. They have to report on things. So were starting to see more pressure build up, but the gap is definitely there. And with only 40% measuring their emissions, you know, there's definitely going to be a closure at some point.

Scott W. Luton [00:15:26]:

Yes. Oh, man. That. Your last response should be its own episode in so many ways. And the study, the report dives into this familiarity across a variety of different technologies and the disconnects that can create. And also want to make one more comment before we move on is you're talking about basically, if we don't measure it, it's real difficult to manage it. And if we can't manage it, it's really difficult to build a business case of why we invest in the technology to address it. But I tend to agree with you.

Scott W. Luton [00:15:57]:

It is coming. I'm very optimistic, practically optimistic in that regard, especially as it relates to sustainability. Hey, before I move forward with some of the key drivers when it comes to sustainability in the US, Doctor David, we've covered a lot of ground since your last response. Any quick comment on what we were just talking about?

Dr. Dinesh Davè [00:16:14]:

Absolutely. Something very interesting. When you talk about the familiarity, it is encouraging that about 46% of the supply chain managers responded. They are very familiar with the technology. So when we cluster the data using statistical methodology, we found that 46% to 54%, they are moderately familiar. But that one group, the 46%, is very, very familiar and we'll talk more about that. But this very encouraging. And hopefully when we have a younger workforce enter in the market, then they are more familiar with technology, and then we have more interesting data.

Scott W. Luton [00:16:52]:

Doctor Davè, I'm so glad you made that point. I am known, at least probably on my team, for naive optimism. And I love now that we can share and celebrate data driven optimism. I love that. Evan, sustainability. Let's talk about some of the key drivers when it comes to sustainability in the US. Your thoughts?

Evan Junker [00:17:12]:

Yeah, and this is one of the things that surprised me a little bit. There's basically six common drivers that we accept as the main drivers of sustainability. We have government regulation compliance. We have improved brand reputation, environmental action, improved financial evaluation, customer demand, and recruitment of talent. And those are generally accepted as the six core drivers. Now, when we were designing this study, we wanted to see, okay, which ones are more important than others? And fun backstory. I remember speaking with doctor Davè and his team and saying, we need to be able to let them rank each 10 to six because they need to be able to say that multiple ones are at a zero level. Surprisingly, I'm glad that we let them rank them independently because every single driver came out as either very important or extremely important as the number one and two response.

Evan Junker [00:18:10]:

And that surprised me. I didn't expect things like government regulation to be ranking one and two as the top one. But sure enough, 75% of respondents ranked government regulation compliance as either extremely or very important. And it's pretty much across the board that you had about two thirds. For the most part, I think environmental action was a little under two thirds, but everything else was over two thirds or around two thirds as extremely, very important. All six strikers, man.

Scott W. Luton [00:18:37]:

Okay, so, folks, let me. Let me recap that really quick. My font isn't as big as I want it to about if I miss something, Evan, please correct me. There's six key drivers, right, that Evan just walked us through. Government regulations, improved reputation or brand, environmental action, improved evaluation when it comes to financials, right. Customer demand and recruitment of talented. Those were the six. I got those right, Evan?

Evan Junker [00:19:04]:

That's it. Yep.

Scott W. Luton [00:19:05]:

So to all the folks out there that are watching us live, let us know what, out of those six, what do you find most intriguing? Which one of those do you find really surprising? Or which one of those do you find do you feel is most important to your culture or, you know, your buying habits or your supply chain experience? So, Doctor Davi, before we move on to collaboration, one of my favorite topics to talk about, any quick comment there on those key drivers when it comes to sustainability?

Dr. Dinesh Davè [00:19:34]:

Very interesting that when we cluster the data, one is very familiar in technology, which 46% of the respondents and 54 are moderately familiar and those who are very familiar, that group ranked very high on meeting with customer demand, and that's very important. One of the important drivers, followed by compliance with government regulation and improved brand reputation. So these are very interesting findings.

Evan Junker [00:20:08]:

There's one other piece that I think is playing out. We see, I think customer demand in the United States is the biggest driver by far. It's 81% as very or extremely important. But in the US, the SEC piece is in litigation. It doesn't have scope. Three attached. Right now we have, I think, New York, Illinois, California, have some regulations for companies, over a billion in revenue or thereabouts. But all in all, I think we can agree that the US is fairly unregulated in terms of ESG reporting requirements relative to the global state, right?

Scott W. Luton [00:20:44]:

That's right.

Evan Junker [00:20:46]:

But that customer demand piece is, I think, clearly showing up in the government regulation piece. And we get calls every week from somebody who's going to lose a major well known brand as a customer, because that well known brand is telling them, are you ecobotis certified? What's your sustainability program? Are you measuring greenhouse gases? And what's your plan by 2030? We're getting calls from people that are going to lose their biggest customer, which is usually a global customer, because those global customers have government regulations. Whether we have our own us based regulatory framework or not, it's clearly having an impact and we're starting to feel it.

Scott W. Luton [00:21:27]:

Yes, too quick, no surprise observations. Number one, that regulations come into the US, it's just a matter of what it looks like and just to extent, and then it'll continue to evolve for sure. And then number two, when you're talking to, well, you know, any customer of any size, you know, you don't want to lose any customers. But clearly the customer demand is driving more and more real, tangible action and outcomes as it relates to sustainability. And I think that's good news. And I look forward to learning a lot more as this survey gets out across the global industry and we get more, more feedback. So, moving right along, I want to talk about what is almost inseparable from any supply chain organization, supply chain team, supply chain ecosystem, supply chain discussion. And that is collaboration.

Scott W. Luton [00:22:19]:

That's how global supply chains execute. So Doctor Davè, what level of collaboration, examples, you name it. Did you see here as it relates to what companies and supply chain managers are engaging in?

Dr. Dinesh Davè [00:22:31]:

Sure. Very interestingly, about 48% or half of the supply chain managers reported that their company often or always collaborate with suppliers on supply chain optimization initiative. And when we broke it down by size of the company, about 450 million to 650 million. They collaborate more often, followed by 250 million to 450 million. Organization and next one was largest company, which is 650 million. So that collaboration in terms of supply chain optimization, we found very interesting. When we look at the collaboration on supply chain Sustainability Initiative, we found out that about the same percentage, about half of the supply chain managers, or 47% of the managers reported that their company often or always collaborate with suppliers on supply chain sustainability initiatives. And when we saw that company, which are ranking high would be 250 million to 450 million, followed by a 450 million to $650 million company.

Dr. Dinesh Davè [00:23:54]:

So this is very interesting.

Scott W. Luton [00:23:56]:

Yeah, it is. And Evan, I'll get you a quick comment before I move forward. You know, I've worked when I was in industry, I'll call it especially working in the manufacturing industry. Most of the companies I worked for, two in particular, were family run, certainly in the smaller percentiles of what doctor Davè just kind of walked us through. And you know, obviously, as we all know, resources can be really constrained versus some of the big enterprises that have entire teams dedicated to finding efficiencies across the ecosystem. But just a quick tip for everybody, folks, it's really easy, even smaller teams, to create a lunch and learn event or a Zoom call where you bring in your suppliers on a regular basis and you have a conversation, you eliminate those blind spots and you can find opportunities and build relationships. And you know what, it sounds so obvious, but I've been there and done it and I tell you, you create those communication cadences coming which are really easier to do. You'd be surprised of what you can find that benefits the whole ecosystem in many ways.

Scott W. Luton [00:24:57]:

Evan, really quick, we were talking just a second ago with Doctor Davè on collaboration, company size, what we're seeing, what the research found. Your quick comment before I want to switch over to what surprised you both.

Evan Junker [00:25:10]:

I actually appreciated a lot of the always and often responses. I was surprised that those covered about half of the respondents. But it's something that I think we're starting to see more of and I'm interested in what future data we might have that shows where this trend is going. We are starting to see more of it, and particularly as we identify opportunities to integrate both sustainability and supply chain optimization, we're going to see more companies taking part in that. Let me give you an example. Scott.

Scott W. Luton [00:25:40]:

Sure.

Evan Junker [00:25:40]:

So one of the things that we do with a lot of our customers is engineering studies. Even small, mid sized three pls can take advantage of this I don't care how small. This is something that benefits everybody. If you can find a way that you can eliminate those empty miles coming back, those empty, backhaul miles, you're saving money and you're reducing your overall carbon footprint. It's not rocket science. It takes somebody having focused effort and a lot of time. That's why people bring us in is because we can help you work with your customers and line that up and get things on the right day. They need to be on to make sure that we're saving labor costs, saving truck miles, saving it all.

Evan Junker [00:26:20]:

But that's what it takes. It takes things like that. Just thinking a little bit outside the box and saying, hey, if we do this, we can save money and reduce our carbon footprint. And guess what? If we measure our greenhouse gas emissions, we can actually report on that. And all of a sudden, we have a sustainability program that we can then show our customers and then help us get more customers and keep the ones we have.

Scott W. Luton [00:26:45]:

Man, you paint almost as pretty of a picture as you flying above the alps there, Evan. I'll just add out there if you don't get help from Evan and spark three six to get help somewhere, because there's tremendous opportunities, no matter your company size. And I get the constraints and all the work that goes into, you know, getting product out the door every day. And some days are tougher than others to. To lead improving opportunities. But, gosh, find a way, and there's great partners, experts out there that can help you make it happen. So let's shift over. Evan kind of started the surprise conversation.

Scott W. Luton [00:27:18]:

That's kind of one of my next questions for you both. So, Doctor Davè, as you survey all of this data, and I can't remember how many truckloads of data that these almost 300 supply chain leaders gave you. All tons. But what's one thing that surprised you?

Dr. Dinesh Davè [00:27:35]:

There are a few very interesting aspects which surprise me. One is those company who measure the greenhouse gas, 56% had very comprehensive supply chain management program. Okay, so that's very encouraging. About 30% respondents company had customer require a sustainability improvement as a part of their supply chain procurement. And also company who measure the greenhouse gas. More than half like 56% had customers sometimes require sustainability improvement as part of their supply chain procurement process. And that I found very interesting.

Scott W. Luton [00:28:20]:

Yeah, I agree. Customers certainly, and their demands or expectations are driving action and results. And we'll continue to see. That is my crystal ball prediction in the years ahead. All right, so, Evan, you're talking earlier on a couple elements that surprised you. I think one of the thing that we talked about pre show was the length of payback period. Right. And we don't want that to be 17 years.

Scott W. Luton [00:28:46]:

It needs to be a little shorter than that. Your thoughts?

Evan Junker [00:28:48]:

Yeah. And, you know, this is one of the things, because I thought people would see shorter payback periods. And clearly we have two pieces. We have, you know, your basic sustainability things and then you have a lot of capital expenditure things. Right. I'll admit, your payback period, if you're buying a fleet of electric trucks, is going to be a little different than some of the more efficient ones. So I understand that there can be long payback periods of. But I was surprised that only, I think less than 15% of people believed that they could achieve payback periods on sustainability initiatives in under a year.

Evan Junker [00:29:20]:

And I'm surprised because in general, most of the things that we're looking at when people call us, our first couple of things that we work with people on are things that have payback periods. In well under a year, we target 120 days, sometimes it's 180. There are usually sustainability improvements that you can do, that you can capture your payback and then everything patch that is gravy. Then you can reinvest and do some of your bigger pieces. And so that was one of the things that really surprised me is the length of payback. And then we had a certain percentage believed they would never recoup their costs. And I think some of this has to do, as Doctor Davè was saying earlier, some of this has to do with familiarity. Some of this has to do with some knowledge of some of these technologies and the efficiencies they have in terms of cost savings as well.

Evan Junker [00:30:04]:

So there's some room to grow there in terms of education and awareness and familiarity. And there's probably some overlooked opportunities that people can take advantage of.

Scott W. Luton [00:30:14]:

That was one of my favorite parts of the survey. And I'm going to take a third pass this afternoon and dive in deeper. But I loved the focus on familiarity because in general, supply chain and elsewhere, that lack of awareness can really create some problems and certainly some missed opportunities at a minimum. So I love how you all focused in on the data driven component of lack of familiarity across different parts of sustainability, supply chain, technology and more. Okay, folks, we've been promising that we are going to share with y'all how you can get your own copy of this survey. Evan, y'all, you and Doctor Davè and your respective organizations that have invested in this great research are making an available copy of the survey and its results. For the people out there, where can folks go to download their own copy of the 2024 Supply chain trends and attitudes report?

Evan Junker [00:31:06]:

Yeah. If you go to SPARQ360, and I'm going to be very clear here now, you have this graphic up and you'll notice Spark is spelled with a q, so you have to remember that. But if you go to SPARQ360 with a Q.com trends and attitudes, you can download a copy. And I think to the rest of the month we're going to leave a link on the homepage as well. But go to spark three, you can get the summary report now before Doctor Davè jumps in and kills me here. Yeah, this is a summary of the data. It's about 18 pages long. It has a summary of the data along with some implications of it.

Evan Junker [00:31:41]:

And we lead off right off the bat with six recommendations. Right. And then we kind of give you an analysis and treatment. Doctor Davè and his team are working on what I'm sure is a much more detailed, much more statistical analysis of it that will be hopefully ready soon before CSCMP edge, is that right?

Dr. Dinesh Davè [00:31:59]:

Oh, yes, we are. We'll be working. Doctor Jim Stader and Mister Doug Morelli and myself will be working on preparing the report because these two individuals, Doctor Stader and Mister Morelli, their expertise will help significantly. Absolutely brilliant people. So we'll be going deep dive into that. We have 110 pages long survey right now. That's data and everything. But I, we are going to compile and do lot more further statistical analysis and see how can we implement certain data.

Dr. Dinesh Davè [00:32:32]:

For example, very interestingly, when a company measure the greenhouse gas and they have 56% of them, respondents have comprehensive sustainability program. I mean, these are very fascinating studies so we can slice and dice the data and provide great information to our readers and to the industry.

Evan Junker [00:32:52]:

So for those of you that are on the academic side of things, hold your breath. It's coming for those of you that are practitioners in the field and you want the practical components that you can kind of lift out and you don't have that much time, you go to the SPARQ360 website, you can download the summary version now.

Scott W. Luton [00:33:09]:

Love it. And Doctor Davia, I'll have my standard deviation measurement tools ready to go to help you all. No, no, I'm just kidding. You don't want my help with the highfalutin world class statistical analysis. But I am looking forward to seeing the whole thing hit.

Evan Junker [00:33:24]:

But I will say, like anybody wants to talk about these things or have a conversation, some of it's in the summary, some of it will be in the further research that's being published by the app state team. We've been combing over this data for a couple months now and so I would welcome a longer conversation about any of those things.

Scott W. Luton [00:33:42]:

So Evan, one last wrap because you said we got the full version. The full version Doctor Davè and his esteemed team are working on. I think you mentioned it might be ready by the time CSCMP edge rolls around. That's wonderful. What else? What's next? Where do we go from. Where does this first year report I know I've enjoyed so much. Where do we go from here?

Evan Junker [00:34:03]:

Well, Doctor Davè and his team haven't blocked my phone calls or emails yet, so, you know, we might be able to carry this forward and see if we can, can carry it year to year or biannually or something of that nature. Whether we do this again in the US next or maybe we look at a european counterpart so we can measure geographic differences and time differences. We're still discussing what that might look like, but we're just enjoying having this first one in the door and the insights that it leads and we'll tackle that after we get the next version published.

Scott W. Luton [00:34:34]:

Well said. Look at me always asking, what have you done for us lately? And this is, this is lately, this is fresh. Now, kidding aside, well done, really. You know, again, we see all kinds of these types of research reports and initiatives and I really appreciate y'all's approach and the wealth of supply chain, you know, practitioner community that went into the outputs. That's an important distinction. Okay, one last question for you, Doctor Davè. We like to refer to the current sets of students going through programs across universities, especially in supply chain as the now generation because they're, they're already making an impact, I believe in industry. You know, these supply chain students matriculating through programs such as yours at App State, you got your finger on the pulse more than many of the folks out there.

Scott W. Luton [00:35:21]:

What should hiring managers know about these members of the now generation? Their expectations when it comes to a job?

Dr. Dinesh Davè [00:35:29]:

We have a Bachelor of science in supply chain management, BSBA undergrad degree program. We have a supply chain as one of the popular concentrations in MBA program as well as Master of Science in applied data analytics. So generally the students have some expectation. Of course the comparative compensation is given, but opportunity to advance and build their career in organization with hard work. That's what they are looking at, the long term possibility. They are also looking at work life balance and some flexibility in schedule. For example, hybrid, some combination of remote work as well as in person work, etcetera. Many of our students have shown the interest that they would like to have some opportunity in global area, like work with suppliers or the customers, etcetera.

Dr. Dinesh Davè [00:36:31]:

In other part of the world, almost all students are looking at some kind of mentoring opportunity that if they can get some mentorship from the senior level administrators in the organization, they can learn a lot. That's coming up pretty interestingly. So these are the traits that we think would be important.

Scott W. Luton [00:36:53]:

Love that doctor Davè and I especially love your first couple of responses when it comes to really fulfilling work. Right. And that work life balance. And I tell you, very powerful components of a culture that really can focus on hiring the best talent out there, and not just hiring them, but developing them in a. In a fulfilling way. And of course, retaining talent, which is a big part of the holistic cycle there. Okay. A lot of good stuff.

Scott W. Luton [00:37:21]:

And, folks, uh, let's make sure. Let's do this. We're approaching the home stretch. I want to make sure our, all of our audience members out there know how to connect with you both in your respective organizations. Uh, Evan. Evan Junker with SPARQ360, a group on the move. Appreciate what you've shared here today, and it's just the tip of the iceberg. How can folks connect with you, Evan?

Evan Junker [00:37:44]:

Well, I got two inboxes open pretty much all day, my outlook and my LinkedIn, so either one is fine by me. If you want to hit me up on email, it's Evan Junker, spelled J U n K E R. Evan dot Junker at spark three 60.com. Spark with a q. If you can remember that email address, you're doing good and can just search for Evan Junker on LinkedIn and you'll find me pretty easily there.

Scott W. Luton [00:38:10]:

Outstanding. It's just that easy, folks. And we're dropping at least Evans LinkedIn.

Evan Junker [00:38:16]:

And look at that. You don't even have to remember how to spell my name. You can just click the link. There you go. You guys think we try hard.

Scott W. Luton [00:38:23]:

That's right. All right, so, doctor Davè, really appreciate what you and your group, your staff, your faculty do not just engage these incredible, bright young minds that are. That are making impact already, but your work in pieces that really help the current practitionership or supply chain community out there. How can folks connect with you and your supply chain program in app state?

Dr. Dinesh Davè [00:38:47]:

Very, very simple. My last name, Dawe, spelled like d a v e. So dawe dsDavèds@appstate.edu. they can go on Appalachian State University, put my name or supply chain, then, uh, it will show up. Email is the easiest way to get in touch with me because I can check it many, many times, even if I am, uh, visiting other countries, etcetera. So that will be easy. Dweds.edu okay.

Scott W. Luton [00:39:19]:

What an outstanding conversation. Very efficient conversation. That was my impression of y'all both through the pre show discussion. I want to thank, uh, Doctor Davè, the black belt and taekwondo, the new homeowner in Wilmington, North Carolina. And I'll tell you, one heck of a supply chain guru. And I really appreciate your work here and elsewhere. Doctor Davè, director and professor of supply chain management in the Walker College of Business at Appalachian State University. Thank you, doctor Davè, for being here.

Dr. Dinesh Davè [00:39:49]:

Thank you. Thank you.

Scott W. Luton [00:39:51]:

And of course, it takes groups like SPARQ360 and Evan Junker, who serves as chief growth officer there, to invest in this is no small feat, right? This took it a big investment of time and resources. And I really appreciate what y'all do there, Evan, and out in industry, really enjoyed getting to know you and your organization better. Thanks for being here, Evan.

Evan Junker [00:40:11]:

Thanks, Scott. It's our pleasure, as always.

Scott W. Luton [00:40:13]:

And we're going to talk about those Atlanta Braves, our next conversation. Okay. It's going to be tough. Get us into playoffs. We'll see. Yeah. All right, folks, let's keep the dialogue going. Reach out to doctor Davè and Evan, get that cup of coffee session, you name it, a Zoom call or maybe in person at an upcoming conference like at CSC and P Edge where there's going to be a lot more about this study there.

Evan Junker [00:40:33]:

We will have people both from app State and from SPARQ360. We will all be at edge and we'll have the copies of the report available and we'd love to talk to you about it there if you're going to be at edge.

Scott W. Luton [00:40:45]:

Oh, I love it.

Dr. Dinesh Davè [00:40:46]:

Yes, absolutely. Mister Doug Morelli is going to be there attending the edge conferencing Council of Supply chain Management professionals, CSC MP in Nashville, Tennessee.

Scott W. Luton [00:40:56]:

Okay, man, you're on the move. I'm convinced.

Evan Junker [00:40:59]:

We're on tour.

Scott W. Luton [00:41:02]:

Hey, let's do it. I want to open for you. All right, I'll open for the Rolling Stones. But hey, folks, connect with them there at CSV edge. What a great conference. Check out the survey, let us know what your key findings are. Your perspective is connect with our panel. But whatever you do, Scott, on behalf of our entire team here at Supply Chain Now, Scott Luton challenging you do good, give forward, be the change that's needed and we'll see next time.

Scott W. Luton [00:41:27]:

Right back here at Supply Chain Now. Thanks, everybody.

Narrator [00:41:33]:

Thanks for being a part of our Supply Chain Now community. Check out all of our programming at SupplyChainNow.com and make sure you subscribe to supply Supply Chain Now anywhere you listen to podcasts and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. See you next time on Supply Chain Now.