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

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

Scott Lewton and special guest co host Christine Barnhart with you here on Supply Chain now.

Welcome to today's live stream.

Hey, Christine, how you doing?

I'm good, Scott.

How about you?

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

I tell you, it was great to see you in May in person down in Florida.

It's great to have you back here on the Buzz for the first time in a stretch.

You've been busy and I can't wait to dive into your perspective here today.

I love it.

I can't wait.

So you are ready to go?

As always, folks, you know, today's the Buzz where every Monday at 12 noon Eastern time, we discuss a wide variety of news and developments across not just global supply chain, but global business news that matters is what we like to call it.

We've got a terrific show today.

Terrific show.

Not only do we have Christine, but we've got the Rodney Dangerfield of global supply chain.

Alan Jacques is with us in the audience.

Al, looking forward to your perspective too.

But folks, we got a lot of topics.

We're going to take a closer look at some of the big reshoring headlines.

We're going to be discussing how manufacturers are having some AI breakthroughs.

Can't wait for Christine's take on all that.

Hey, it may run counter to what you've heard, but some companies are doubling down on their sustainability initiatives.

We're going to share a lot more there and we'll talk supply chain events, the good, the bad.

We'll keep it real with that.

All that and a whole bunch more.

Christine, again, great to have you here.

Should be a great addition of the Buzz, huh?

I love it.

Yes.

Thank you so much.

And hi, Alan.

It's so great to see you online.

He's a good friend.

Point.

He is good people and much taller than what you may think.

He's gotta be about 7 foot 6 if I'm not mistaken.

Christine.

I don't know if he's that tall, but he is tall.

Kidding aside, he's good people.

Hey, two things before we get going, folks.

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

Let us know what you think.

And hey, if you enjoy the show today, we'd love for you to share it with a friend, your network.

They'll be Glad you did.

All right, so before we get down to business, Christine, we got a couple of things I want to knock out.

I want to start with with that said, which is our almost weekly newsletter we dropped over the weekend.

Now in this edition we featured wonderful leadership perspective from one of our esteemed supply chain now co hosts, the one and only Marty Parker.

Now he dialed it in on the immense value of emotional intelligence, especially when it comes to real, tangible, meaningful leadership.

We also featured Christine, one of my other favorites, the uber talented Sophia Rivas Herrera, who joined us for a guest bl.

She spoke to five key questions when it comes to the logistics of world travel.

Now folks, you may recall that Sophia lead Sapachino in espanol and is just doing really big things and incredible work.

You can read all of this stuff that I mentioned.

Resources, upcoming events, you name it.

Look at that great picture of Marty with some 20, 25 graduates of the University of Georgia off to do big things in this world.

But Christine, did you get a chance?

I know you had a busy weekend, but you get a chance to check out what that said.

Yes, between pickleball and pickleball, I read the buzz and I will have to say I did really like Marty's article.

But actually what spoke to me, Scott, was your really heartfelt, you know, vulnerability and in talking about your experience and how you were a leader, not just a manager to somebody that was very personally impacted by the 911 tragedy.

And so I thought that that was just a really nice compliment.

I loved, loved, loved Sophia's article and by the way, it spoke to me because I'm a planner at heart.

And now I understand why with my family, my friends, I'm always the one that plans our trips because there definitely is that overlap.

And then I know you're going to talk about it later, but the piece on the panel that Corinne Bursa is doing the beginning of September was with a bunch of just amazing female leaders.

Corinne's a personal friend, advisor, mentor, and so I'm super excited.

She's pulled together some really great talent.

So it was remarkable.

In general, it was great.

Christine, I really appreciate that feedback and we have a lot in common.

I'm big fans of all those folks you mentioned and yes, we are going to talk about an incredible event on September 3rd you're not going to want to miss.

So stick around for that and you can find all of that.

It's Christine Barnhart endorsed.

With that said, check out two thumbs up.

Maybe check out Trisha dropping the link.

It's right There, you're one click away and we'd love for you to give us your feedback.

Speaking of people that we love, Mary Kate Love is here says it's going to be an awesome show.

Christine, I know Mary Kate has got to be your Chicago Christine Barnhart fan club president of that channel.

Know if that's true, But I do love Mary Kate and I'm a huge proponent of her and have known her for many years through, you know, I guess maybe all three pregnancies.

I'm not sure if she already had Mackie or not when I met her, but yeah, she's amazing.

She is.

I don't know how she does it with three boys.

Like, she is unflappable and brilliant.

So Mary Kate, great to have you here as well.

Allan61.

I could have sworn he's approaching 7.

Maybe I just had a drink or two that night.

Regardless, Ally, great.

Maybe you were sitting.

Maybe you were seated.

Matti from India, great to see you here.

Looking forward to your perspective as we work through some big stories.

So let's do this.

Resources, folks.

We like to provide resources.

And here's a little something we did last week.

Now we know that it's always conference season, right?

And I put together a little six minute video highlighting three supply chain conferences that you're going to at least want to be on your radar.

As Christine knows, we can conference ourselves to death.

There's something every day, at a minimum, every week.

And we got to be really judicious about where we spend our time and our, our resources and of course our organization's resources of that.

And Christine, when I say we gotta be judicious, I mean you gotta know what you're looking to accomplish and then use that as a means of figuring out what conference you want to attend.

Right, Agreed.

I mean, if you really wanted to, I guess you could almost be at a conference literally every week.

And, and I don't know about you, but I, I love conferences.

Don't get me wrong, I love connecting with people, but sometimes you actually have to get work done.

That's right.

That is so true.

But when you go to the conferences, folks, when you do your homework and do your due diligence and you, you know, make that investment of precious time and resources.

Don't you dare stay in that hotel room.

You get out and connect with the Christine Barnharts of the world.

Okay, but anyway, and, and don't sit in like a session on your phone doing work and other things.

Like be present.

Like be present to get the material and then talk about it with the people that are around you.

Yeah, great tips.

So folks, along these lines, I put together a little six minute video.

You can check it out on YouTube.

I bet we'll drop the link here as well where I picked three events that we're invested in and supporting and participating in.

And you may, you may get a kick out of those.

So we'll check that out.

And by the way, Mary Kate, that is going back to the.

I'm tired over here.

Hey, same say I'll tell you.

And Rahul tuned in From India via LinkedIn.

Great to see you, Rahul.

Look forward to your perspective here as well.

Okay, one more thing we have got to hit before we get going and that is two fun warmup questions for one, Christine Barnard.

So folks, if you haven't caught Christine earlier on her own podcast or some of her appearances here, I want to make sure we level set a bit first.

What you got to know about Christine Barnhart other than her incredible supply chain leadership journey which we're going to get into in the second half here.

Massive, massive Cincinnati Bengals fan.

Maybe the biggest Bengals fan in North America.

Christine.

So what is your prediction?

One of them.

What is your prediction in Terms of the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals record this upcoming season?

I think they're going to be 12 and five.

Okay, 12 and five.

And unfortunately I think they're probably going to lose a couple games early.

That's just the way we roll.

It takes us a bit to kind of get things moving.

But Joe Burrow looks really, really good.

I think that, you know, if we can get the defense to like step up because we had one of the best offenses in the league last year.

Year.

Yes.

You know, so I don't need the defense to be like world caliber.

I just need them to be like adequate.

If you can score just one more point in the opposing team, that's how you win Super Bowls.

A lot of points last year, Scott.

Oh, I.

No kidding.

I was jealous.

I wish my Atlanta Falcons had just certain elements of your offense.

But look here, Trisha, also in our team, Houde is a fellow Bengals fan.

Trisha is also incredible.

Our master air traffic controller, amongst many, many other things.

The pride of Cincinnati.

Great to see.

Okay, so one, one more quick question, Christine.

You know I'm a big nerd for nicknames.

I'm that copier guy back during the SNL skit in the 80s or 90s or whatever that is.

So you gotta give me the origin story, the quick origin story of the.

Supply chain whisper yeah, I'm glad you caught that.

It's new.

So I was playing around with Chat GPT.

I'm a bit of an addict right now with ChatGPT, right?

And I was kind of tossing out ideas because I. I didn't wanna sound like every other supply chain strategist on the planet.

And, you know, it was like, pull together my consulting and advising and podcasting and my board work and mentorship.

How do I pull that all together and be memorable?

It had a lot of ideas, most of which I was like, eh.

But it threw out the Supply chain whisperer.

And I totally laughed.

And I was like, yeah, that kind of sounds like a horse trainer, not a supply chain leader.

But then it just kind of clicked like I asked it to, like, well, why are you saying this?

And it made a lot of sense because I listen, I connect dots, I get organizations kind of moving.

So why spend thousands of dollars to a consultant when I can leverage my ChatGPT subscription, you know?

So sometimes the things that make you laugh are the ones that click.

And so that's what I went with.

I mean, what do you think, Scott?

Do you like it?

I love it.

I love it.

I can see a trademark in your future, and I can see how your supply chain already filed.

Already filed.

There you go.

Already filed.

And more important, I can see how your supply chain whispering can help organizations find and unlock whole new levels of success.

So I look forward to keeping my finger on the pulse of what all the cool things you're doing.

And by the way, folks, check out Supply Chain Unfiltered.

Christine's been doing great work with our friend Sarah Barnes Humphrey.

So check that out where you get your podcasts.

Okay, Christine got to share a couple of quick comments, and we're getting into the news.

Hey, speaking of great nicknames, the John Wayne Global supply chain, Jake Barr is here.

Says Christine is dreaming as usual about that Bengals prediction.

Ed Allen says, hey, he's taking the over on 12 and 5.

How about that, Allen?

Good stuff.

Wish I was a smarter betting because.

He is a Titans fan and they're not going to be as good as the Bengals this year.

So it's.

It's all competitive.

Scott, we're going to see.

We're going to see.

It's coming.

NFL season will be here, like, in a couple of weeks.

It's hard to believe.

Okay, we got to get to work.

Speaking of what's coming, we got a bunch of headaches and a bunch of challenges and a bunch of innovations to walk through here today, but we're going to start with some big news, some interesting reshoring, big reshoring headlines going on.

So as reported here by the ap, one of the latest big announcements was that GE Appliances will be moving a lot of production to the US as it seeks to expand its operations in Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina.

Refrigerators, gas ranges, water heaters, all of those and a lot more.

GE Appliances looking to shift production mainly from China and Mexico and into the US as part of a $3 billion initiative.

Now, all of this shift to production will go into its current manufacturing plant footprint here in the US as the company has 11 manufacturing plants already in place.

One other note that we were talking about the pre show, Christine, that some may not know, which is kind of interesting.

GE Appliances is actually a subsidiary of China based Hair.

And I say that right higher.

I always get that wrong.

One more thing, by the way, we got to have Marcia Bray back on.

Marsha serves as VP of Logistics with GE Appliances.

She joined us a couple years ago.

Gotta get her back on.

But I'm thinking, Christine, Marsha is going to be very, very busy for the foreseeable future.

But back to the story, the GE Appliances story and reshoring in general.

Your thoughts?

Christine?

Yeah, I mean, this article speaks to me personally.

I started my career in appliances with Whirlpool, 90 miles west of GE.

So GE and GE Appliance park was like they were our nemesis for many years.

But you know, here's what I would say is I think there's a lot of hype and a lot of rhetoric.

I love that they're making this investment.

I will tell you, I have a lot of friends that are attached to ge.

What's been interesting is that Haier, they really allow GE within North America to kind of operate somewhat autonomously, which I love.

It allows them to really, I think, take advantage of things that benefit the U.S. and, you know, Canadian and Mexican markets.

But reshoring is not just about geopolitics.

It has to make sense financially.

Right.

And in this case, this reshoring has been happening for many years.

And there's a lot of factors I think that are involved.

Scott One is it's a lot more expensive to ship things than what it was 20 years ago.

Right.

And we learned during COVID that, you know, six to 12 weeks on the water does not work when consumer demand is kind of all over the place.

And so it makes sense to locate manufacturing closer to the consumer to have less inventory.

And as you know, like, if you're chasing the low cost region, you know, there's a lot of complexity there.

And you know, wages have increased in China, wages have increased in Mexico.

All of that makes it easier to justify relocating things in the US and then with tariffs on top of it, it's interesting to me because consumers have all always had the power to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. right?

It has always been about where you spend your dollars, always.

So people, for many years they chased whatever the lowest cost was.

Well now with tariffs, it's raised the cost of goods that are being imported arbitrarily.

And so, you know, now people are like, oh, I guess I'll buy the thing that's made in the US And I'm like, well, you always could have done that, you know, So I love it.

I think it's great.

I'm a huge Andy Beshears fan.

Okay.

He's a lot in Kentucky in particular.

And this was just, you know, one, I think, example.

I think this is a really interesting case.

I look forward to seeing it come to fruition.

A big investment that GE Appliances is making.

And one of the comments.

So this announcement that we're talking about, and folks, this comes to us from our friends at the Associated Press, is a little bit more unique than many of the other reshore news stories where a lot of them that have been announced are big investments in greenfield sites.

That's a big difference in what this is.

Right.

So I'll just point out we got to keep our eye on the ball.

Got to keep our eye on the ball because it's easy to get caught up in the dollars and all the jobs promised.

But seeing the investments really come into reality, it's a whole nother story.

It takes years for sites to be scoped out, selected, built out, and then get ready to turn on production.

Case in point, I'm still keeping my eye, Christine, on the Rivian plant that was announced several years ago.

Promised here.

Yeah, it's been delayed about three years or so and of course a lot has changed in that three year period.

Now they say construction is going to be restarting in a few months.

We shall see.

I'm not counting those chickens, as they say before they hatch.

Christine, your final word.

And this is good news.

I don't want to take anything away.

This is great news.

I think it's going to be some good business for thousands of GE Appliances workers.

It's going to be big wins for those states, including Kentucky that we mentioned.

Christine.

We got to celebrate good news when we get it right.

I could not agree with you more and you know, like I'm a whirlpool girl at heart, but begrudgingly, I have to say I think GE makes some really great appliances.

I've been to the Monogram facility in, in Louisville where they really showcase all their high end products.

They're absolutely beautiful.

My sister in law works for GE at a Louisville so I gotta give them props.

I think they are doing it the right way and I really want them to be successful.

I think it's good for the Midwest and for the communities in which they operate.

And I have a ton of friends that you know are at GEB today.

So.

Yeah, we'll get an update.

We'll get an update.

Hey, I'll give you the lowdown in the next couple of years as I keep an eye on my, my friends in Louisville.

Hey, when they let's see if GE appliances can not only invent outstanding washing machines, but I like washing machines to make the kids bring their dirty clothes into the machine and then fold it and then make the kids take it back to their rooms.

We'll see.

Good luck with that.

Yeah, good luck with that.

All right.

In my dreams.

Right?

As Jake was saying, Adrian is here with us and says Christine, great to see you on.

Well, great to have you here.

Love Adriana Yanez from ey.

She works in the PGY supply chain alliance area.

She's a good one.

Hey, I will take Christine's word for it.

I'll take that to the bank.

So Adriana, great to have you here.

Hey, my mom Leah Luton tuned in via Hot Aiken, S.C. great to see you mom.

Love you.

All right, let's see here.

Shelly's comment.

Hey, that's great to hear.

Talking about the GE appliances news.

She owns a few GE appliances and partners like Georgia aim.

I'm new to that one but I know Georgia Tech support the need for us manufacturers and their success.

Great comment there, Shelley and great to have you here on the buzz.

Okay, we gotta keep running.

The next article is going to be on Check out this lawnmower.

I think it's been through the ringer a little bit but let me, I'll get to the story.

So I want to talk about focus more on the manufacturing industry with this report.

Yours it is.

You know there's a story there.

It might see the light of day later but hey, with the treacherous trade landscape, manufacturers are turning to a variety resources to find some relief and respite from the storm.

And some are finding powerful Sherpas that guide their path forward.

Including supply chain whisperers.

And of course, they're leaning on artificial intelligence, right?

AI in all kinds of different ways.

With all the inventory roller coasters going on, it's up and it's down.

It's back up.

Nowhere back down, folks.

Y' all should go check out the inventory level data from the ISM Manufacturing Inventories Index.

It looks just like that roller coaster.

And some data is pointing more and more, Christine, to companies reverting to a just in time approach.

Hey, what's old is new again.

Now, it can be really risky to keep less inventory on hand, as we all know, it might pose order fulfillment challenges.

But as Reuters reports here, companies like US lawnmower manufacturer Toro.

I finally get to the connection of the image here.

It's leaning on AI to help them effectively interpret and act on what's taking place hour by hour.

Essentially, they're predicting the future, from macroeconomic trends to weather and geopolitical challenges, from put price changes to sourcing shifts and practical advice of what to do there.

And of course, using AI and supply chain tech to predict consumer buying patterns.

If you can predict that successfully, you really can write a check.

All of these things and a whole bunch more go into a long, complex equation of how to manage your supply chain, especially inventory and the technology that allows for all this and more.

Well, as you might expect, it's a spending bonanza.

Christine Gartner projects supply chain software spending is going to be some 2.7 billion billion market right now by 20.

Did you see what the prediction is?

Yes, by 20, 29, $55 billion.

So, Christine, I would love to get your take on how manufacturers, Toro and many others are leaning on AI to help find a more successful current state.

I will tell you what I loved about this piece and Kevin Carpenter's vulnerability here.

Saying that he and his team were leveraging AI to build him.

Kind of like this daily podcast where they would ingest everything that's happening in the world and, you know, give him like a 30 minute snapshot.

I think it's super clever.

What a great way to, from a really practical, pragmatic standpoint, leverage AI to make yourself more informed.

And what I love about that is AI is not magic.

AI cannot solve every problem.

It's a decision accelerator.

But it's, it's only as good as the data that you feed it.

And I think a lot of people are like, that's finally starting to click that.

We've been generating mountains and mountains of data and we didn't really know what to do with it, and I think AI, it unlocks that puzzle, but I think it has to really be grounded in solving use cases and practicality and it has to be really pragmatic.

It's not a panacea, but I do think it's super, super helpful.

The other thing is that I liked is that, you know, they were kind of talking about one, one problem, right?

Inventory.

How do we solve for inventory?

And then how do we solve for, you know, predicting consumer demand?

I love to see their use case in how do we solve for lead time?

Because quite frankly, if it takes me less time to satisfy demand, then I need less inventory as well.

So I really love this as a, you know, a really practical example of how somebody's utilizing AI.

I'm with you.

And it's got to your point, it's got be practical, it's got to be targeted, and of course it's got to be producing the outcomes.

And by the way, you mentioned Kevin Carpenter.

I want to go back and get his title.

He's a chief supply chain.

It's got Chief Supply Chain Management article, but I'm sure that's a typo.

Chief Supply Chain Officer, I imagine with Toro.

He's based out of Minneapolis.

Good stuff there.

Love the article.

And speaking of kind of echoing your point, Christine, the John Wayne global supply chain Jake bar says AI is enabling us to do the correct scenario analysis with high speed data ingestion to support taking inventory down in real tangible ways.

And that's one of the key points there, Christine, that Jake and you are both making is we've got to do it quickly.

And that's one of the biggest advantages because the market changes so fast, Christine, if it takes three weeks, we might lose an opportunity.

Huh?

Well, not my.

You have lost opportunities, right?

I mean, it's interesting.

One of the things we saw during COVID is people that had the best data.

It was real time, it was clean, it was usable.

They were able to make decisions very, very quick.

They would cut days, weeks, hours out of that decision making process.

They fared better.

They're the ones, quite frankly now that are light years ahead in terms of leveraging AI because they already been intelligently utilizing data.

And so I think there's a lot of catch up that a lot of companies have to do.

And I have hope for them.

It's about finding the right partners to help you do that.

Find the people that are not trying to sell you everything but the kitchen sink that are, you know, like, let's get your data.

Let's make sure it's close to real time.

It's not just your data, your partner's data.

Right.

Let's get it all in a usable format and then we can start to leverage technology on top of that for decision support, for lights out decisioning.

That's where we want things to be in the future, right?

Love it.

I love the future you just painted, folks.

See the magic of the supply chain Whisperer makes, makes sharp perspective, very approachable.

A couple other quick comments here.

Nadeem's back with us from Saudi Arabia.

Nadeem, let us know your take on these stories.

Today.

Shelly is informing me.

Georgia AIM is the Georgia Artificial intelligence and manufacturing organization.

I love that.

We're going to check them out, Shelly.

We get them on the Future show.

And Catherine, who is with us, the deal maker.

Catherine loves your gnome back there.

It's peeking of your left shoulder, I think it is.

I love.

It's a Bengals gnome, of course.

Okay.

You know, hey, you know, and I want to call this out.

Forgot I had a visual for this because these are big numbers, folks.

These are big numbers.

Supply chain software spending projected to grow from 2.7 billion now to 55 billion.

And I actually think, Scott, the article said that's just for the generative AI.

Wow.

Part of supply chain.

Oh my gosh, crazy numbers.

We'll check it out, folks.

We drop a link to that article, give it a read, let us know what you think.

See, Scott says, hey, Scott Curtis, over the years, I think I've met one company that didn't think their data was a problem.

Spoiler, it was.

Scott, I love it, man.

I love it.

And he follows it up with, hey, there are great ways to start where you are now and not wait for data to be perfect.

That's right.

That's right.

You can go ahead, Christine, great point.

Point.

I was going to say if you wait for perfect, you'll be waiting forever.

So I don't ever advocate that we wait for perfection.

And by the way, if you do, if you run, you do data cleanse.

Yes.

And then you're going to start.

That's bogus.

Because until you actually are utilizing the data, you're never going to get really good data.

It just doesn't work.

It has.

It's got to be that kind of continuous loop.

Right.

And if you don't believe that, reach out to Christine or Scott or Jake because I bet they can share with you just how it can happen.

Happen.

Because what'd you say?

If you wait, it'll never be clean.

Right.

You have to use it in practice for the data to get better hygiene.

It's a different form of hygiene, Dead hygiene.

All right, this next story.

Now this is one of my I like all these stories we're walking through here today, but this might be my favorite one.

Well, hang on a sec, Kristen.

I want to back up for a second.

I'm sorry, I got to do this.

I love sharing factoids and data points with our audience.

And before we get to that story on steel case, I just want to share this out there for whatever it's worth.

Folks.

We talked about input price changes a moment ago, Right.

It's one of the things that Toro and manufacturers are really trying to stay up on the know so they can be prepared.

Right.

Well, folks, let's talk about consumer price increases because those tariffs on steel and aluminum and copper tariffs.

Where's my notes?

Goodness gracious.

Copper, 50% tariff on wire, tube and sheet refined copper is exempt.

Wonderful.

I guess that's a win still in aluminum 50%.

All those Ford F150 trucks made of all that aluminum because aluminum keeps going up in terms of how much is being used in cars these days.

Oh my gosh, the tariffs.

Well, more and more, folks, in my maybe not so bold prediction, those tariffs, those input price charges that are going up and pass along to consumers.

And get this, according to the Hill, which reported over the weekend, I believe it was wholesale prices just in the United States surged almost 1% in July.

That's the biggest jump since June 2022.

So I would argue that pocketbook pains are coming.

Christine, would you agree or disagree?

I would totally agree with you.

I think that there's already pain out there and I think think some consumers are seeing it.

I think it's only going to get worse in the coming months.

Yeah, I agree with you and I always like to be practically optimistic.

But we got to keep it real, as Jake Barr loves to do.

We got to keep it real.

But we're going to keep our finger on the pulse, folks, and report back to you every day here at Supply Chain.

Now a couple of quick comments before we move on to another great story.

Nadeem says Saudi Arabia is pouring huge Investments estimated at $267 billion into transforming its logistics and supply chain infrastructure by 2030.

That is outstanding news, Nadine, a country.

I have not visited yet.

So I'm yeah, let's go do some supply chain work in Saudi Arabia.

Let's go do it now.

Great to see you as always.

He's launched a new supply chain initiative in Pakistan.

Tell us more about that.

Why it's great to see you.

And Nadeem says Tariff is acting like a sheriff.

Yes, a painful sheriff that likes to collect fees and dollars out of my wallet.

Maybe it's not Sheriff Annie Taylor.

I wish it was.

Was.

But now let's get to a great story there.

This comes to us from Time magazine.

I had not read a Time magazine in a long time.

This speaks to how some companies are not shying away from sustainability and climate change initiatives, but rather they're doubling down.

So get this office furniture manufacturer still case.

I think they've got a manufacturing facility in metro Atlanta, if I'm not mistaken.

Well, it says customers are keenly interested in the carbon footprint of their products.

In fact, company CEO Sarah Armbruster says that the interest, questions and expectations from their customers focused on their commitment to doing right by our planet, well, it's all grown dramatically in both quantity and sophistication.

And the answers that Steelcase provides, they have a major implication on customer purchasing decisions.

Thus, Steelcase has doubled the percentage of recycled content in its packaging since 2020.

It's installed solar panels to capture that green energy at its manufacturing plants.

And I like this third one even better.

Better, it's launched a program to help its suppliers out there across its ecosystem cut their own emissions.

Yeah, man.

Bottom line impact there.

So, Christine, my hunch is that there's a lot more still cases out there that maybe just don't make the headlines like they should, but they're making similar sustainability investments.

Your thoughts, Christine?

I agree.

So I want to one step back here.

One of the things I love about this is the CEO of Steelcase is a woman.

And I would not expected that.

You know, it's a legacy brand, just, you know, the type of product that they produced.

I was like, I love this.

I think this is great.

I think, Sarah, I think it's Armbruster is doing an incredible job.

But when you dig into this, right, like just like we talked about, you know, reshoring financially, it has to make sense, right?

So, yes, they're doubling down on their efforts.

And the reason they're doubling down on their efforts are because their customers are continuing to ask them, you know, what are you doing to reduce your carbon footprint?

What are you doing, you know, in terms of sustainability?

So it's not that they're just being altruistic, although maybe there is some of that there.

But I do think that at the end of the day, quite frankly, sustainability makes sense.

It makes sense because it means you're reducing your waste.

And a lot of, a lot of waste is the wrong part.

It's poor quality.

It's excess inventory that you then have to take discounts on.

So waste costs the company money.

And if I trim my waste, I actually make more money.

And so I think, I think it's great.

I believe that supply chain is the future.

We are the ones that are going to help make our planet still livable in a hundred years.

I just love that, that that time is kind of highlighting that in this article.

I'm with you, Christine.

And to your point, folks, I don't know how long we've been talking about this.

Christine.

For years.

That sustainability, you get your cake and eat it too.

Because not only are you doing the right thing that more and more folks want and are voting with their wallet, wanting to see.

Hence one of the main themes in the article.

But it makes money, it creates opportunities, it adds to the bottom line.

So check out this Time magazine on Steelcase.

And one of the things thing, I'm not sure.

Big thanks to Trisha and Amanda running production as always.

Always reliable and steady.

Steady, steady.

Spark360.

We had a great podcast a few months back and they really focused in on how making sustainability progress can drive top line and bottom line.

Amanda, if you can find that and drop that in the chat, I think folks would appreciate it.

All right, Christine, we got a lot more to get to.

And by the way, this steel case, this is, this comes from the Steel case site.

This picture.

I don't want these purple chairs and these purple footstools there.

That looks pretty comfortable, huh?

That's pretty comfortable.

I agree.

Damn.

Okay, so I got a quick blurb.

We mentioned this on the front end folks and you gotta join us.

We've got Taya Corrine and Jake Barr and others have put together this incredible panel that Corinne Bursa is leading.

Check this out.

We have Stephanie Beal, chief supply chain officer with Hasbro.

Whitney Schlesinger, who is a vice president, Gold planning logistics with McCormick, the best spice company in the world.

World.

Sylvia Wilkes, chief supply chain officer with Lamb Weston.

Eliza, I'm gonna get this right.

I'm gonna have to get her help though.

Maybe Seminova.

That's what I, that's okay.

I hope, I hope that's right.

Vice president global supply with Mars Pet Nutrition.

And Tamara Finski, chief supply chain officer with the well known brand Kimberly Clark, which makes, amongst other things, Kleenex.

Everything's a Kleenex, right?

What a great conversation.

Wednesday, September 3, 12 noon Eastern Time, led by Grin Bursa, who we all know and love.

And I tell you, Christine, you don't get a chance to have all in one session this degree of supply chain rockstar firepower in many events.

Your quick thought, Christine, I think you know a few of these folks, huh?

I do know a few of those women.

Incredible.

Like, that's just like that's an A panel.

Corinne always does an amazing job.

But to bring this group of females together for a leadership panel, I think is, is really something.

And I can, I can't personally wait to tune in.

I mean, it's the week of Labor Day, which I love because we'll be, you know, celebrating all things relative to labor.

And this really speaks to, I think, how far diversity and inclusion have come over the last, you know, 30, 40 years.

So I love it.

We gotta celebrate that.

And we got more heavy lifting to do for sure.

But hey, in the meantime, Tricia, Johnny on the spot has dropped an easy link one click away from joining that session on September 3rd.

I know.

I'll be grabbing a Diet Coke and popcorn.

Born to do just that.

I'll be grabbing a Diet Coke as well.

That's right.

We could share about some of those great outcomes you're driving there, too.

But anyway, okay, so let's do this.

I want to get more into your journey.

We got about 20 minutes left or so here on the Buzz for August 18, 2025.

I want to do this and everybody will tune out.

They'll be like, no, they can't.

This would be the best stuff, folks.

And we're going to keep it real.

So check this out.

I've been doing these supply chain pulse checks.

Supply chain pulse check.

And I've got one coming up with the one and only Christine Barnhart.

So here's a question I want, I want you to keep it real with us.

We spoke a lot earlier about what everybody's talking about and working through and struggling through this trade environment.

Right.

What are a couple of things that supply chain leaders in your, what you're seeing, they're really struggling with, Christine?

Yeah, I mean, I think two things really stand out to me.

First is this just unpredictable nature of tariffs and trade policy and weather patterns.

And, you know, it's really forcing, I think, leaders to make sourcing and pricing decisions with incomplete data.

And the ripple effect of that is the second point.

It means you can't just have a plan B.

You gotta have a plan C and a plan D. And you really have to be thinking, I think, more holistically you have to be making sure that you're connected better to your customers and your suppliers so that collaboratively you're really able to understand and shape what's happening in your ecosystem.

And I think the challenge is balancing the resilience that you need with being cost competitive without over engineering.

Right.

Like what you don't want is to get into this never ending, you know, I've gotta solve the perfect problem.

You have to really, I think, you know, kind of take the data and the information that you have and you have to make some decisions.

And they may not all be the right decisions, but I like rolling wave planning.

Right.

Where you're just continuously planning and you're assessing the environment and then you're looking at what's happening and you're planning again.

Yes.

I love your perspective.

Been there and done that perspective.

And I think one of the points you made is a really important one, folks.

If it is a.

What's a good analogy here?

It's a good analogy.

If it's a Honda Accord problem, you don't necessarily need or partly ever need a Ferrari solution.

Okay, true.

I don't know why I was trying to find a football analogy, but it didn't come to me crystal.

But it's so important.

Sometimes I think all of us get so wrapped up in diving deeper and deeper down the rabbit trail, diving into more and more data rather than kind of stopping at the practical conclusion of what solves the issue so we can move on to more important challenges.

Is that right, Christine?

No, you're 100% spot on.

Is you get kind of this, you know, similar to analysis paralysis, right at a program or a project level and you try to boil the ocean and you never make any progress.

And look, I'm all for giant leaps forward and transformation, but I think it's easier for people to eat the elephant one bite at a time.

That's right.

And diminishing returns applies to problem solving.

No offense to elephants.

That's right.

All right, so quick follow up to that because Christine, you, you've been leading and doing big things out in the global supply chain and you know, the change and challenge right now happens to be trade related.

If it wasn't trade, as Stephanie, my dear friend, reminded me, it'd be something else.

So when it comes to change management, because that's something I think from all the interviews we do and the work we do, that's one thing a lot of leaders are struggling with.

What's one of your go to's, Christine?

That's a Big part of your approach that really helps with change management.

Yeah.

So it's interesting.

We talk about change management a lot.

Change has always been what supply chain was about.

If everything was static, you would design your supply chain once, you would run it forever.

You would never need to make any adults adjustments.

Right.

So supply chain has always been about change.

Somewhere in the last 20 years we forgot that we have to manage change actively.

So I think for me, my advice to people now, my go to, if you will, is like this radical transparency paired with small early wins.

So I'm going to over communicate what we're doing.

I'm going to probably spend more time than you would think is necessary, soliciting input from stakeholders and collaborating with stakeholders and then I'm going to make sure that we do some small early wins generally.

And what's interesting, Scott, is it's not with the part of your business that needs the most help.

Right.

It's with the part of your business that is the most receptive of change because it's a small win, it's an early win.

And then you get those people to out act as your change agents and your champions and you can start to, you know, grow who those people are over time and it, you know, becomes kind of exponential growth.

So it's, it's that curve, right.

Really small in the beginning and then you can accelerate.

I think that's when big changes are the most successful and when they yield the best results.

Yes, great.

Been there, done that.

Million dollar advice there.

Christian, you have some great change agents on this call.

Jake Barr Allen, you know Mary Kate when she was at Georgia Pacific, like I would love for the audience to weigh in on that question.

Change management folks, what's your tip?

I would just add pick up on your communication element of your response there.

I saw recent research earlier today from my friend Lloyd Knight, who just got back from a terrific veteran leadership program and one of the pieces of research he brought back.

We talk about storytelling a lot.

That and I sure am glad we do because in that piece of research, if you're able to communicate in a storytelling format, your message may be up to 22 times more effective to who you're trying to reach.

22x folks.

Talk about the power of storytelling.

That is crazy.

I love that.

Christine, as you know, there's a whole bunch more.

That's just one little research and data nugget.

There's a whole bunch more.

It talks about the value, the quantified value of storytelling and that can certainly help help my one nugget.

There would be.

When teams see results that they contributed to, momentum builds and resistance turns into ownership.

And that's really what you want.

If you're forcing people to change, it's generally doesn't stick very well.

So true.

You know my pup, Don Luton, my granddad told me one time he he was a maintenance professional and gosh, he could do anything with his hands.

He told me one time, Scott, never force anything.

Cause if you're forcing it, you're probably doing it wrong.

And I think.

Exactly.

Some element of that, not in every situation.

Right.

But some element of that I think also applies to your point, Christine, when it comes to change for sure.

All right, two quick comments here and we got two big topics to wrap up with Christine.

Let's start with Tomcat.

Tomcat is a William Shakespeare of supply chain.

Tomcat says the best changes come from the warehouse floor and the drivers.

Man, I'm with you going to the Gemba.

They're the true experts on how things get done.

That's a great comment, Erica.

I'm going to read this here.

This is a good comment.

Erica says change doesn't fail because of strategy, it fails because of people.

Research shows that roughly 70% of change initiatives fall short, not due to poor planning, but because leaders underestimate the human side of change.

If people don't feel informed, included and supported, resistance builds.

Agreed.

The most effective change leaders balance process and performance with empathy and trust, helping people see not just what is changing, but why it matters to them.

Christine, Erica and Tomcat both, both are bringing the heat today, huh?

Ching.

They nailed it, man.

They nailed it.

Both of them.

Agreed.

I could not agree more.

I'm get a meme of that Christy.

I like that Bazinga moment.

Okay, I want to do this on the front end.

We talked a little bit about events and this event change, especially in North America version of this was one of the three that I hit in that six minute video that I think we're going to be dropping here in a second.

So you've served on the board.

I think you're approaching your three year anniversary for being on the board with ascm.

And folks, that's the association for Supply Chain management.

Check out ASCN.org, but they have been reinventing their big annual event and that's where change was born.

So Christine, what can you share with us in terms of what prompted this reinvention and what are you looking forward to the most in September at Change?

Yes.

So ascm, previously Apex.

So those of you that are maybe Gen X or Boomer.

You would know the organization as Apex.

They rebranded a few years ago as the association of Supply Chain Management.

It's really who supported me when I moved from engineering into supply chain.

Supply chain.

Because I didn't know in 2008 when I went to meet Johnson that operations was even a part of supply chain.

Right.

Yeah.

So it's an organization that I've invested a lot of time in and I've been fortunate that I'm just finishing my third year on the board of directors.

But you know, the industry's changing and education is shifting and professional development is shifting and you know, ASCM we've really seen that in order to be relevant and to continue to, to support both individuals and the businesses that they work for that the organization needed to shift and that the annual conference needed to shift as well.

And so what I'm excited about is I think you're going to see much more, I would say cultivated sessions this year from very, you know, high level, enigmatic leaders and companies that are really driving change and willing to, to share what they're doing.

A session in particular that's near and dear to my heart is the one with DHL and Nulogy really talking about their partnership and how they're changing the way companies are utilizing contract packagers and contract manufacturers.

That's just one.

There's some really great panels as well and some great speakers.

Bart Dimonk, who I know that you're familiar with, with, he needs a name like the Supply Chain Whisperer so that we can like code him as something.

Right.

But a great supply chain expert and evangelist.

He has really spearheaded helping to drive the content and much of the planning.

And I, I think it's just going to be a wonderful event.

It's in Columbus, Ohio, which, you know, Columbus is kind of.

People don't know this, but it's like the hidden center of supply chain in North America.

Okay.

A lot of really big companies headquartered there.

DHL North America is headquartered in Columbus.

You have a to of fashion brands that are there that people are familiar with.

So I think it's going to be a great event.

I'm super excited.

I hope that a lot of people will be joining.

I'll tell you what I know since I have not been to the ASCM annual event in quite some time or change like none of us have just yet.

I guess the European version was in June, I think Christine, earlier this year.

But I tell you what I can say is I love the reinvention.

I Love the positioning.

I love the opening and making sure everyone knows that they're invited.

That's how global supply chain should be.

And by extension, that's how events should be.

One little caveat is they're adding a whole track just for supply chain, like executives, chief supply chain officers, and which I think is really great to kind of give them the ability to talk to each other.

Right.

And to share with each other.

I think that that's going to be phenomenal.

Outstanding.

So, folks, the 9th and 10th of September in Columbus, Ohio.

If you're in Columbus looking for great food, I believe city barbecue is still around.

It was outstanding back last time I was in Columbus.

So check that out.

And if you want to learn more about the event, Trisha, as always, right there for you.

She dropped the link.

Check that out.

Okay.

You could come in early and go with Ty and I to the Ohio State game.

Let's do it.

My plane is already running late, so I won't be able to make the bucket.

All right, let's see here.

Allan also shares how they've already totally revamped the score model.

That's an excellent call out as well.

Well, Alan, Tomcat says in Columbus, bright supply chains weave through the night.

Leaders share their light.

See, I'm telling you.

William Shakespeare right there.

Tomcat, great to see you.

Nadim says.

Scott, you're right.

Never force anything once meant to grow will take root on its own.

Well said, Nadine.

And one more thing away.

It says due to the recent tariff policy from the U.S. there's a huge competition being witnessed in terms of low prices and best delivery time.

The world is heading towards a tariff war one step ahead of the economic war.

I hope you're wrong, but my crystal ball tends to agree with you.

Okay, really quick, Christine, two last quick questions.

You know, talk big events and there's very few bigger than Gartner symposium.

This is me and you at the last symposium.

I love that jacket of yours, by the way.

I have to have it tailored.

I've lost too much weight to wear it.

Christine, I am impressed and want to dive into that.

But folks, you'll have to get her tips on healthier living.

We all need tips there, Christine.

We always get a chance to laugh and do a quick hug and interview and get some of your perspective at the Gartner events.

And there's been all sorts of things said about Gartner symposium since May.

I want to get above the fray a little bit.

I've always found it to be a really constructive and productive event.

Your thoughts, Christine?

Yeah, I mean, I think for me, it's the people side of the Gartner event that is the most productive.

And look, some of the people that I just relish and always look forward to, they're on this call today, right?

Adriana and Jake and Alan and.

And just this whole bevy of people.

So for me, it's the one on one conversations.

It's the candid, the unfiltered exchanges about, you know, what's working and what's not.

I love some of the case studies that come forward that Gartner, you know, curates and being able to listen to these, you know, big companies talk about what they're doing and where they're making investments.

But for me, it's the debate dates in the lobby bar.

And I always just feel so uplifted when I'm there and energized and engaged.

I'm with you.

That's probably the best supply chain happy hour around, and I hope to be part of it next year.

It is after.

After a full day of interviewing, I might have not followed my advice and might have gotten back to the hotel room early.

But next year, I promise Jake and Corinne, the whole gang, I'm gonna be there to think of things.

So we'll get to book your room early.

Make sure you're on site at the Dolphin or the Swan.

That's right.

That way you can take a little respite and get off your feet and freshen up and then be energized and come down and you're ready to roll.

I mean, it is super entertaining and I just absolutely love it.

And I always get to have, like, cocktails or dinner with Jake because he holds court.

Yes.

The John Wayne of supply chain holds court in the lobby during Gartner.

And it's amazing to see who filters through there.

It's so true.

And folks, just to connect the dots, if you're watching today's live stream, this is Jake Bar.

So find him on LinkedIn, connect with him, follow him, and if you go to Gartner, make sure you connect.

Maybe Alan, maybe Alan says, I think I may have seen Christine at the bar.

There's.

There's a, there's a story there we'll have to get to next time.

But anyway, Christine, good stuff.

I really enjoyed I knew the hour.

Goodbye.

Fast.

I love your perspective.

Been there, done that.

Perspective on what we're seeing out in industry, what leaders are fighting through and leading through and their team.

Teams.

Let's do this.

How can folks connect with the supply chain whisperer, Christine Barnard, the easiest is LinkedIn.

I'm on LinkedIn, you know, pretty much every day.

I've taken a bit of a hiatus this summer in terms of posting to have some me time.

But LinkedIn, you can also get to me through the supply chain.

Whisperer.com okay.

Don't expect a lot from the website right now.

I literally stood it up quickly just in the last week.

But, you know, keep an eye on it.

There'll be more to come in the future.

Okay, man.

Outstanding.

Outstanding.

Christine Barnhart.

Make sure you connect with her.

Follow her on LinkedIn.

Check out that site.

And also, folks, you'll find incredible leaders like Christine and Jake and Alan and many others.

You can find Supply Chain now wherever you get your podcast, you can Find us on YouTube.

Christine.

I spend more time on YouTube than probably any other streaming medium.

I'm fascinated with the niche topics and stuff on YouTube.

But folks, find us.

Hope you enjoy today's edition of the Buzz.

Big thanks to Christine Barnhart, the supply chain Whisperers.

Christine, look forward to connecting over our next meal.

I love it and thank you so much, Scott.

I have always appreciated your supply chain evangelism, your advocacy.

You just do a great job and I love that you always include me in things.

And yes, thank you.

I give you a ton of props.

That makes my day.

And my mom was here, I think, to hear that.

So see Mom, Mom, I'm working hard.

No, Christine, he's a good one.

Mom.

He's a good one.

Kidding aside, I really appreciate it.

I really appreciate your perspective in all of our public and our private conversations.

Because you know, those conversations, those words are what help us all to do the deeds.

Deeds, not words.

And drive action.

That's how we're going to change this incredible industry that we call global supply chain and leave no one behind.

So big thanks, Christine Bar Barnhart.

Big thanks, Amanda, Trisha, behind the scenes.

Big thanks everybody showed up, man.

Our audience was on fire today.

I know we could hit, couldn't hit everybody's comment and question, but y' all come back and join us again.

Most importantly, big thanks to our global audience out there for being here with us, whether you watched it or listened to it or if you're listening to the replay that we try to knock out at just before 12 midnight Eastern Time on Mondays.

Thanks for being here, but you got homework.

Take one thing.

Christine dropped a truckload, a container load of actionable advice here.

Take one, one thing, put it into practice.

Share it with your team.

Do something with it deeds, not words.

And with that said, on behalf of the entire team here at Scott Luton, 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.

Join the Supply Chain now community.

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