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

Scott Lewton and special guest co host Richard Donaldson with you here on Supply Chain Now.

Welcome to today's live stream.

Hey Richard, how you doing today?

Scott, buddy, how you doing?

I'm excited to be here.

We are excited to have you.

It's been great to reconnect with you over the last couple months and it's great to have you here officially as my co host on the Buzz.

And we got a great episode teed up here today, don't we?

Absolutely.

It's gonna be a lot of fun.

Get into it and let's get it started.

That's right.

Almost coast to coast from, let's see, Florida through Georgia, all the way out there to Arizona is what makes up the panel.

Of course, we've got the smartest global audience in all of global Supply Chain.

Great to have you here today and where it's the Buzz Every Monday 12 in Eastern Time, we discuss a variety of news developments across global supply chain and business.

And Richard, we've got some really interesting stories to get into.

Let's see here.

A big deal has been made, a lot of good news there and shippers are saying hallelujah.

Hey, what were the key findings from the US Quadrennial supply chain review and moving production out of China.

Easier said than done for sure.

All that.

Plus at about 12:15pm Eastern Time, about 10 minutes from from now, we got a great guest joining us, David Hickok, founder and CEO at Filter by and Richard, David has got an incredible story, huh?

Well, and you go back to and you look at in his history here you got a Goldman Sachs kind of banking background that led into air filtration to create this billion dollar company which is just fascinating and all about 12 years ago too.

So can't wait to hear what he has to say and what inspired him.

And actually even the supply chain challenges that he faces today, it's going to be fascinating.

I'm with you.

So folks stay tuned.

Big show coming up here today on the Buzz.

Two things before we get going folks.

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

And secondly, if you Enjoy the show today.

We'd love for you to share it with a friend or.

Or your network.

They'll be glad you did.

Okay.

Couple folks, including a big thanks to Trisha and Amanda, behind the scenes, always making production happen.

Appreciate what y'all do.

Kasim is tuned in via LinkedIn.

Cassim, let us know where you are.

Tuned in from T Squared, who holds down the Fort Force on YouTube and hails from the great city of Baltimore, says, bring on the nourishment.

It's coming today.

T Squared, big show.

Great to have you here as always.

Greg Studer from Wisconsin.

Greg is back with us via LinkedIn.

Great to see you, Greg.

It's been too long, my friend.

Hope you've had a great start to the day.

Or the year, rather end the day.

Both end the week.

Before we get started, Richard, let's share a great resource, right?

Well, we might be partial, but we think it's a great resource.

And this is.

With that said, our almost weekly newsletter.

We got to bake in a little wiggle room there, Richard.

Wiggle room is important in global supply chain.

Am I.

Am I wrong?

Absolutely.

You got to have a little squeeze factor in there.

And almost.

I love that word.

When I saw it there, I'm like, almost weekly.

I've never heard that before.

And the marketing behind that is brilliant.

Well, we try.

We try hard, folks.

If you checked out this version, which dropped Saturday morning, I believe, and we're gonna drop the link to it right there in the comment.

You can check it out.

I love the quote we used at the top.

Get this.

Because no matter what we all face across global supply chain quote, trade will always prevail.

End quote.

Got that from a great technology leader from DP World podcast.

We're dropping here soon and we can all take heart in that, right?

Because since trade prevails, that helps us solve some of the most challenging old and new problems.

Am I right, Richard?

Well, and also you just start thinking about some of the things we're going to get into with the quadrennial review or some of the stuff, even the emerging space technology.

Trade is always what connects civilizations.

So if you start thinking about that in the context of what this quote has to say, we really are kind of ushering in not only our own global supply chain now that we're kind of unified across the world, but also now think space.

Now you start extending into that kind of realm.

And all of a sudden trade is going to be super important there as well, too.

Richard.

I love it.

We're gonna dive into a future space supply chain episode and have you the official pilot to join us and to guide us there.

But going back to with that said, so in this we shared news in this edition from CPG Executive surveys which show they won't be relying on price hikes for revenue growth in 2025 to supply chain burnout and workforce turnover.

Hey, it might be a bigger factor than you think.

2 hey, did you know data centers, which power in part the AI boom might be consuming up to 9% of US electricity by 2030.

That's just around the corner.

But all of that plus tons of resources, live shows and a lot more, including big growth and opportunities at Promat in March in Chicago.

That's where the image comes from the last Promat.

So folks, check out.

With that said, let us know what you think.

And Richard, I'm going to share your comments earlier about our marketing brilliance.

I'm going to share that with the outstanding seasoned pro team.

Yes, you've got to on that one, of course.

But also, you know, Doubleclick as well, you went over a bit of data center boom and all of a sudden with AMD and the chips and all that kind of manufacturing some really cool things, especially this year in particular, as we transition into 2025, I think that's going to be front and center all of that technology unification, digital twins thing, you know, that really becomes something that we need to talk about more and more.

That's right.

A lot of folks are struggling to find what that means at their organization, whether they're in a C suite or they're maybe on the the factory floor trying to deal with all the change, changing markets, changing strategies, changing disruptions and of course a lot more of the the same that's been around in terms of change and disruption for a long time.

So stay tuned folks, and check out.

With that said, oh, one more resource, folks.

If Manifest isn't on your radar yet, hopefully it is because they've been growing leaps and bounds.

Right?

Manifest 2025 is coming up February 10th through February 12th and we hope to see you there.

It's out in Vegas and I'm looking forward to hosting this incredible session.

Y'all might recognize some of the names here and we're dropping a link in case you're late to the party.

Right.

And I've been one.

I missed the last two.

But in case you're late to the party, we got a link right here.

We can learn all you want to know about Manifest 2025.

Have you been yet Richard, I have.

And I was there a couple years ago.

I saw that headline there.

I want to make sure everyone saw that because it ties to everything we just talked about, which is the digital kind of forward, right?

True.

End to end visibility requires that digital twin.

You got technology underpinnings to that whole conversation.

And you can see this theme starting to kind of happen.

Even though we've been in it for so long, technology is still something that we need to talk a lot about.

And bringing that transparency into the supply chain is key to understanding it.

Excellent points, Richard.

And one of my favorite parts about that panel quickly is we've got supply chain leaders from United nations, we've got supply chain leaders from apparel companies and of course, supply chain leaders from innovative leaders at that, from technology firms.

So folks, whether you tune into my panel at Manifest or plenty of others, it's just important that you get out there.

And if you get out there, please find me.

I'd love to connect with you.

Okay, we got to hit this good news story really quick because we've got an outstanding guest joining us that we were teasing earlier.

Folks.

You don't want to miss our chat with David Hickok.

So, but you know me, Richard, I love, love, love good news.

I want to start with a lot of good news here today.

We've got a container load of relief to deliver here today that's reported by our friends at Supply Chain Dive.

A tentative agreement was reached last week on a new six year labor deal between the International Longshoremen's association, the ila, you know, we love our acronyms out here, and the United States Maritime alliance, the usmx.

Now that keeps a ton of east coast and Gulf coast ports running.

Instead of facing a potential costly strike that no one wanted, the deal comes about a week ahead of the Jan.

15 deadline, now still being ratified, folks, still being voted on.

So keep your fingers crossed.

But hey, they haven't released the full thing yet until all the members on both sides vote.

Now CNBC is reporting that a grand compromise was reached dealing with automation.

The agreement provides USMX with the ability to implement technology to drive port modernization.

Great.

We need it.

And the LA gets a guaranteed number of specific jobs that will be associated with new equipment and technologies being added to the port.

So it'll be really interesting to see how this plays out.

Now get this.

IL A President Harold Daggett was quoted as praising President Elect Trump's position as to helping to get the deal done.

In fact, Daggett called Trump's statement of support for the ILA as being a position, quote, heard around the world, end quote.

Interesting.

Now, Daggett and Trump, those are two characters.

I think they missed their tag team Global Championship Wrestling opportunity.

Two characters indeed.

Our friend John Gold, and let me get your take here, Richard, but our friend John Gold with the National Retail Federation says in part that the agreement will, quote, pave the way for much needed modernization efforts which are essential for future growth at these ports and overall resiliency of our nation's supply chain, end quote.

Now, Richard, we promised some good news.

I think this is really good news in my book.

Your thoughts here on this deal.

So I think it's really good news and all that, but it's also very instructive and thematic towards the transitions that we're going through and we just spoke about, which is the infusion of technology and the disruption it has on physical labor.

Right.

So in this particular case, and you highlighted all the key points here, Scott, the discussion is really about how to transition technology and automation, use it to the betterment, reducing costs, improving efficiency, increasing transparency into all aspects of the supply chain while still maintaining the integrity of jobs.

Right.

People still need to work.

So I think this is actually one to keep an eye on through not this year, but over the next couple of years, because it's going to be instructive to all industries and how to really kind of manifest this transition.

Right.

It really takes people first and says, okay, we're not fighting the future, but we're going to embrace it, but we're going to do it kind of pragmatically.

So it's not a shock to the system, as it were.

Right.

And I think that's something underneath the covers that the human side of this story that addresses this transition that we're all going through globally as we transition into more automation, including driverless cars.

Think about that.

Everything that we're talking about is about automation and kind of manifesting itself there.

So I think this is one to keep an eye on because it affects the whole world, affects the entire global supply chain.

And by the way, all these port people, they're future spaceport laborers, by the way.

I like it, Richard.

Exciting new horizons abound.

Now, folks, I want to mention again, the whole deal hasn't come out yet.

Once it is ratified, we'll be able to go through it with a fine tooth comb.

But I tend to agree with you, Richard.

And you know, I'm not don't want to sound Pollyannish, because labor dealers, you don't always get your cake and Eat it too.

But the point you mentioned I think is a really important one.

Now, how can we address what Greg points out, which a lot of folks, we all know, US Ports are certainly behind automation.

How can we address that effectively while protecting the human element.

Right.

And providing new opportunities?

And I think when we get digital transformation and advanced implementation of innovative and cutting edge technologies.

Right.

When we get that right, we open lots of windows and doors of opportunities for those humans that are willing to raise their hand and learn something new and lean into the change that it represents.

So we're just going to give you the final word and then we're going to introduce our outstanding guests here today.

Absolutely.

And so, I mean, just carrying that thought forward, we're in a very transition period for humanity, I would say, right.

I mean technology itself is infusing.

Again, just take a stop for a moment.

It's 2025.

We've only had the Internet for about 25 years.

Right.

And the impact that still has and continues to have and continue to have moving forward, this deal again is kind of illustrative of this whole kind of migratory path that we're on.

And also the rate of change that's happening too.

Right.

You know, look back hundreds and hundreds of years.

It's not like things have been displaced.

We've had industries change before.

We had the horse and buggy move to the car.

We've had, you know, telephones, phonographs.

So we've had disruption all but not at the pace that we have now.

And I think that's the big difference.

Now people have talked about that, but that's another theme.

It's the rate of change and the pace of change that we also have to become adapted to.

That's right.

I'm with you all the way.

That velocity, ever increasing velocity.

I almost feel it every day.

Excellent point.

Okay, well, let's lean into this next segment.

Richard, talk about prepared to change, outstanding entrepreneurial story, supply chain story and a lot more here today.

Let me introduce our guest demonstrates a real passion for American made manufacturing and the big topic talk about agents of change sustainability.

In 2012 he founded Filter Bio, a leading direct to consumer indoor air quality company.

In the 13 years since, the company has grown to over $200 million in annual revenue employing about a thousand talented folks from Alabama to Utah to Florida.

In fact, Filter Bob has served more than 7 million happy customers to date, including me.

So I want to welcome in David Hickok, founder and CEO of Filter.

By David, great to have you here.

I'm really blown away with your story.

We're going to get into it here in just a second, but I've got a little fun warm up question for David and Richard and all y'all out there as well.

Y'all know.

Love my fun warm up questions.

So did you know on this day, January 13th, back in 1968, Johnny Cash gave an iconic performance, as most folks know, at the Folsom State Prison in Folsom, California, which by the way is still open.

It's the second oldest prison in all of California behind San Quentin.

Anyway, some folks may not know that Cash had pinned that famous song Folsom Prison Blues about a decade prior to the prison concert.

So I'm gonna use that as a backdrop.

We love our music around here.

Music history.

So David, what has been a recent concert or entertainment experience or maybe travel even that was one of your favorites in recent months?

Well, I was going to tell you it was probably about a year ago or maybe just a little bit over a year ago.

I was visiting our facility in Ogden, Utah, which is just north of Salt Lake City.

And I was going to the hotel that evening and ran into Dave Chappelle, of all people.

And he was very nice to me and had a nice little conversation and asked why he was there.

And he was about to go on stage in like an hour.

And I googled it and looked it up and I was able to buy tickets.

Tickets.

I went and watched Dave Chappelle on a random Wednesday night in Salt Lake City after getting to meet him at the hotel restaurant.

So it was a really cool experience for me and was really great show.

So David, is he as approachable and friendly that he strikes me as when you meet him in person?

Oh, he was very open, very friendly, very kind.

And I mean, I just spoke to him for, you know, 30 seconds.

I didn't want to take his time.

But I'm a big fan of him and he was very nice to me and always remembering, oh man, he is so, so funny.

Hopefully he gets a recurring new show somewhere on Netflix, somewhere else.

And Rich, before I ask you yours, in the pre show we were talking because David's a big Auburn fan, has been for a long time, and I had run into Cam Newton who's doing some really cool things and as an entrepreneur in supply chain logistics.

And he is the same David as friendly and incredibly savvy.

And I love measuring that by the questions folks ask you.

And he was very naturally curious.

So we're gonna have to get Cam on a future buzz.

Dave, maybe we can leverage your Auburn network to do that.

But anyway, Dave Chappelle, Cam Newton.

Richard, question to you.

When it comes to concert experiences, travel, you name it, something recent that you love, what was yours, Richard?

I haven't been there yet, but I have to go.

Based on everyone's experience recently because it just started opening up is the Sphere in Las Vegas.

I've spoken to a few people that have attended a few shows there, and it has changed the way they think about a movie musical experience.

You know, it's no longer a concert.

They've really, you know, it's Vegas.

Right.

It's turned it into something else.

It's infused technology.

It's created things where, as you walk through the entire arena.

Right.

Is pumped in in a way that you hear it differently depending where you're standing.

I mean, it's.

It's an entirely immersive experience.

From everything I've heard.

And everyone who's gone and attended something there has said the same thing.

Different concerts, different styles, from EDM to Grateful Dead to whatever.

But the response was like, oh, my God, I didn't realize I could be in the midst of or like, swimming through music itself.

And that's what the Sphere brings in, that kind of experience.

So I have to try that.

What a picture you've painted there.

I'm gonna have to add that when I'm in Vegas for Manifest.

I'm gonna have to add that to my list of high priorities to check that out.

The Sphere there in Vegas.

And I love how you described it.

It sounds like a truly immersive 21st century experience.

Okay, so from music and audience experiences to a great entrepreneurial story here, David, it's so nice to meet you here today.

I've done a little bit of my homework about filter buying.

As I mentioned, I became a customer last year, and I wish I'd found y'all 10 years ago, probably, David.

But to level set right with our global audience here, tell us briefly about yourself as well as what Filter by does.

Yeah, so, you know, I'm from Talladega, Alabama, originally, which is a small town about two hours west of where you are in Atlanta.

I grew up with a family in the textile supply business and saw the textile industry largely get decimated in the 90s, and they kind of pivoted to the.

To the wood products industry.

But I wanted to have nothing to do with that and ultimately moved to New York City and worked for Goldman Sachs, where I was an options trader for about seven years.

And then my family was going through the Sale of the family business.

And my grandfather was at the end of his life and didn't want to see it sold.

And I ended up deciding to buy it, having no idea what I was getting myself into.

It was basically a dying industrial supply business calling on the wood products industry.

And I had to look around for a product that I could manufacture and sell direct to consumer because direct to consumer was such a big idea at the time and ultimately settled on pleated air filters because they're so bulky and expensive to ship.

So like, you know, putting them on a boat from China or something like that is not really feasible because they're so bulky relative to the product cost, cost.

And I figured that I could make a sustainable competitive advantage if I was able to manufacture competitively and ship direct to the end user.

Like one of the key things just at the end is that, you know, I often tell people we're really into logistics business, not the air filter business, because I'm taking a $2 product and selling it for on average about $12.

And unfortunately that's not just profit in between, it's actually in getting it to the customer.

So logistics is really the business that we're in.

David, I wish we had six hours with you because what you described there and how you transform the business into its modern day iteration, clearly it has been massively successful and the seven man customers are testimony to that.

Really quick, Rich, before I get you, respond, Tomcat's coming here.

Hey.

Dave Chappelle, he says, is telling the story of how he met the filter by Guy.

I love that in my dreams.

Yeah, yeah.

It's indicative of where the episode's going is when Dave Chappelle gets thrown in here.

Right?

That's right.

You know, so David, I gotta jump right in because I've got a little bit of air filtration in my background as well too, which is so random.

But you know, as you came into this and clearly an options trader that goes into run a company, now you're running Filter Buy and now you're Fast forwarding to 2025.

How has your thoughts around supply chain changed and evolved to where you are now?

Right.

I mean, that's one of the things that I think is so interesting in this is you describe yourself so well.

You've become a supply chain expert, a logistics expert, and what's different about it now for you than when you first started because you now are in a supply chain expert.

Really quick, we're going to talk about along these lines, lessons learned from the pandemic.

In just a minute.

But David, to Richard's question, quick blurb there on how your mindset has shifted.

Yeah, well, we're going to talk about it, I guess.

But you know, Covid was the formative experience that forced me to really hone in and focus on supply chain and really make it more robust.

Prior to Covid, we only had one location that we manufactured and shipped everything from.

And that was not an ideal situation in that case.

And so you realize why, why redundancy and being geographically diversified is so important.

So that would be my short answer.

Excellent points there.

And you're foreshadowing probably for some of the conversation we're getting to in just a minute.

And Richard, I love that you call out these shifting mindsets.

I think in any part of global business, supply chain technology, maybe a little less than technology, I don't know.

But traditional, how we've always done it, mindsets, whether we're talking about the process or an approach we adapted last year or 20 years ago, the humans in us can cling to those mindsets.

And I think it's so important to kind of step outside of your mind from time to time, call time out and maybe reevaluate the assumptions, the old assumptions or the newer assumptions we've made.

Rich, respond to that really quick.

And then I'm gonna keep going with David.

Well, and again with David here.

And I just, I look at this background because he's, his family has got a history of an industry that was disrupted by these shifts, textiles.

And now he's kind of embracing that in air filters and then kind of reapplying that unconsciously again, some of these rules and adapting is the world and supply chain even shrinks and even becomes circular.

That's right.

And talk about things that come lots and lots, thankfully, a lot more circularity.

So let's do this.

I want to go down this path of lessons learned and I want to use the latest.

First ever.

Rather first ever.

Not the latest.

This is first ever.

Get this, the quadrennial supply chain review that Biden Harris administration just released.

It's the first ever, right?

And this is as reported by Supply Chain Digital.

And this is.

We're getting some lessons learned now.

Key findings from this review.

Stop me if you've heard any of this stuff recently or for years.

Number one, most US Goods industries face high exposure to structural supply chain risks.

Number two, about 38% of industries rely on single country source products.

Number three, more than 50% demonstrate minimal diversification for critical inputs.

And number four, almost 90% of industries are linked to medium high or high risk suppliers.

Now, as I mentioned a minute ago, I bet none of this is very surprising to many folks, especially our audience, the smartest audience in all the supply chain.

My key lesson learned here since the pandemic is perhaps we don't learn or remember very well.

But kidding aside, David, I'm going to get both you and Richard to chime in here.

But David, your key supply chain lessons learned since COVID Oh, you just really.

Touched on one, which is not being single source on any of your raw materials in our case, for instance.

Right.

We went into Covid and we were single source and a couple of critical raw material sources and we had to scramble and I spent most of my energy on, you know, expanding that.

And when the world goes upside down like that, it's ironically the time that people don't actually want to do business with you because they're already overloaded.

So figuring that out is extremely critical and, you know, certainly not a mistake that we would make.

Again, the second kind of key component, which I, I think is kind of important and maybe not obvious in that report, but you know, so much of our supply chain, not just us, I'm talking like in the United States ultimately is relying on single source, you know, inputs that realistically there is nobody in the United States that is actually manufacturing, or oftentimes not in any other country that is actually manufacturing.

And that's one of the biggest problems for being a pure U.S.

manufacturer because you're relying on those products that oftentimes there just is no source in the United States for that.

And I think that's a structural problem that we as a society are really going to have to focus on fixing.

Yeah, completely agree, David.

In fact, to that point, even the US Armed forces and its supply chain of ammunition and weapons and whatnot, we have our own supply chain issues, as we have uncovered painfully in the last year or two.

But Richard, respond if you would, to David's points or some of those key findings, unsurprising findings from the quadrennial supply chain review.

I think it's just extending what David's talking about too, which is we, we get fixated on single sourcing individual countries and kind of the raw materials.

But also within that quadrennial review, they start to emphasize, and we talk about a lot is technology.

Right.

So underneath the pitting of all this is a lot of the shortages like PPE equipment.

If we go back to that Covid lesson, wasn't that we didn't have it, is it that we just didn't know where it was, we didn't know who had accounting for it.

Right.

So I think again, there's a digital twinning through data center development, through the digitization of the supply chain that's going to lead to a lot more visibility that will alleviate a lot of the burdens of single sourcing.

Because right now we just don't know what we don't know.

Right.

There's a lot of raw materials that still exist out there that we just don't know where they are.

That's right.

Also, one kind of sidebar point for some of our audience that may be new to finding new suppliers.

That's easy to say.

It is very difficult to do, especially in certain sectors.

I spent some time in the metal stamping arena and I doubt they're listening, but Alan and Clay and Amanda or some of my colleagues back then, and big thanks to them, that helped us find some new suppliers to tackle some big time production issues.

It's very difficult, very difficult to do.

You can't just wave a magic wand and change the supplier to fix a pricing issue or delivery issue or what have you, especially as David and Richard both are talking about in some of these specialty sectors.

David, your last comment before I move on.

I want to switch in a second to the bike industry, but I'll give you a chance to kind of give your last comment on lessons learned, David.

David, for us, being geographically distributed was certainly important and just kind of looking at any points of failure or single points of failure, you know, whether that be in supply chain or in your logistics operation.

And you know, distributing that out as much as possible is really the key lesson that we learned.

Yeah, redundancy, it was needed years ago.

You mentioned the space program, Richard, on the front end before David joined us.

And it's amazing how much redundancy the shuttle program, which I'm just a big old shuttle nerd, how much redundancy NASA baked into the space shuttle program, right.

Seven, eight layers deep, if not deeper because, you know, out in orbit you don't have a bunch of options.

Richard, Net redundancy really pays for itself when something goes wrong.

Your final thought, Richard So I think.

That'S also kind of keys right into the whole theme, right?

We're using technology, right.

To also, you know, get that visibility.

Right.

To alleviate, again, constraints in the system.

But as we start to look out into space, you're already seeing these discoveries, especially with the Hubble and everything else, the shuttles that are going out There, the trip to Mars.

There are resources that we have even tapped.

I just saw an article the other day talking about unlimited fresh water that was visible in some sort of, I don't know, cosmic whatever it was.

But the Hubble got a glimpse of it and it's like, oh my God, there's so much stuff that we haven't even tapped into.

So that's what I'm saying.

So like, all the resources are constrained currently based on lack of visibility into where they are even on planet Earth.

As we get out into space, we're going to have nearly unlimited resources that we have available to us that we can start tapping into.

And technology was key to that.

That's right.

Well, we're going to bring it back down from space, back down to celestial topics.

If I use that word right.

I don't know if I ever use the word celestial.

I want to call out Tom Katz.

Tom Katz says, hey, I'm impressed.

Filter by has a 16 by 25 by 2 MERV 13 filters in stock.

David, shout out to filter buys.

Inventory management, huh?

The beauty about being vertically integrated like us is we manufacture, you know, 100,000 units every single day.

And if we're running out of something, we'll turn around and manufacture it that day.

So we essentially never run out of stock.

Oh, man.

Okay, we're gonna have to.

Richard, write it down.

We're gonna have to venture out to one of the Filter by plants and meet some of the talented folks that make up the thousand person army strong.

I bet you love getting out in the plants.

David.

I want to shift gears.

I want to talk more about some of the sourcing shifts and priorities that we've seen in recent years.

And I'm going to pull up this graphic here, folks.

Y'all know I'm a big fan of the logistics report that the Wall Street Journal puts out, I think every morning, usually about 7:30 or so.

So when it hits my email inbox.

But as reported here by the Journal, it hasn't been nearly as easy making these shifts, these sourcing shifts.

Production shifts, as some would have thought.

Now this story focuses on the bicycle industry, specifically Guardian Bikes, which has been moving production from China to the US since 2022.

But the big problem they've run into, China still has a stranglehold and all the components they need to build and ship completed bikes.

That might surprise some of y'all.

A typical bike is made up of 30 to 40 parts.

It's not just a frame and two wheels and maybe some brakes for those of you that go too fast.

90% of Guardian's bike components were sourced from China.

But that is slowly and very deliberately changing.

Now, Guardian will begin making its own bike frames later this year, and it's looking at reshoring or even insourcing other components, such as wheel rims, grips and reflectors.

But shifts like these aren't for the faint of heart and they are costly.

Namely, labor and component costs have increased, as you might expect, but they've been offset in part by lower freight costs.

Now, other bike companies, such as Prevalo.

I think I said that right.

Prevalo and Giant Group have mitigated the US Tariff environment by shifting big segments of production to Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Brian Riley, founder and CEO of Guardian Bikes, says that his factory in Indiana and that evolving business model they've established shows that many industry analysts are wrong and that bicycle making can indeed come back to the U.S.

so, David, I'd love to gain your thoughts here, especially when it comes to building and optimizing supply chain resilience, whether it's through sourcing or other means.

Your thoughts here, David.

We're actually going through a very similar process, to be honest with you.

So we're in the process of rolling out some new product lines in the air purifier filter market, as well as the cabin air filter market for cars.

And getting some of the components, particularly the media that's manufactured in the US is not super easy.

And so we've been working with our suppliers for other types of media here in the US and working with them to help them to get geared up, to be able to serve what it is that we need.

And that's a process.

And in that process, sometimes you have to actually import it overseas because you just have no other choice because there literally is no US offering for that.

But I think it's something that, you know, with people like us, and it sounds like with Guardian Bike, you can actually change that with time.

Like there's no functional reason why this stuff couldn't happen in the U.S.

it's just we've lost that muscle and you have to rebuild that muscle investment cycle.

That takes time.

Great article, great description, David.

But one of the things here is we're talking about legacy manufacturing principles, right?

So I've got a manufacturing plant that builds these 30 parts, and that's not easy to replicate.

And one thing we've stopped talking a little bit about is 3D printing, right?

And where that changes the game a little bit because that's really a disruptor the manufacturing sector.

David, how does that affect you or how do you see that affecting even this type of conversation?

Right.

Because that to me feels like a game changer that we haven't fully realized yet.

I'm not an expert on 3D printing, unfortunately, so I don't have a great insight there.

I can tell you that one of the biggest problems in general is like moldings and the skills that it takes to do that is definitely one of the big limiting factors, especially like when you get into small stuff like microchips and stuff you read about it.

And I would imagine that 3D printing and that type of technology is something that's going to ultimately really be helpful in that.

So if I had to guess where you're going to see it, it's in those types of molding solutions, but it's not something that we necessarily are as focused on.

Yep, good question, Richard, and appreciate your comments.

Or David, if I want to go back to a couple things that you both have mentioned, starting with that building muscle comment that David mentioned.

Richard, you know, the chip making industry I think of that's where we're having to build new muscle after, you know, the years and years ago the US had I think up to depending on what analyst you look at or data you look at the 37 of global production of computer chips, of course that's dwindled way down and we're finding we're having to rebuild the talent and infrastructure to build that market share back up.

And then the other thing I want to call out, Richard, get your comments on earlier, David, you were talking about taking that this place to textile workforce.

Those talented, talented people that have been hurt by for decades, you know, the offshoring of that industry.

And you know, one of the great stories that isn't talked about enough is when Kia, the automotive manufacturer came to Georgia, one of the first places they looked beyond military folks getting out of the military and retiring and separating from military for that technical talent.

But they looked at how they could take on all this textile talent, retrain them, upskill them and have them run a very profitable and successful automotive plant.

And that at its core is one of those shortlist items that's really proved very beneficial and has found lots of success in West Point, Georgia.

So Richard, get you to weigh in there before I pose my next question.

David, when you think of rebuilding muscle in different pockets of industry or you know, retraining the human element and helping them find new opportunities to deploy new.

Skills, I think it's the latter part that I'D pick up on, which is just an extension of everything we've been speaking about, which is the evolution of all things that we're seeing.

Meaning we have to start training our workforce to be adaptable.

Right.

I mean, the idea of 30 year jobs, for instance, are gone, right?

People are going to be changing jobs, industries are going to be changing.

I mean, what we see now the last 25 years and the amount of change that's happened Even the last 10 years, let's say even the last five years, now look forward 5, 10, 15 years, the amount of change that's coming is even more.

So I think there's something to be said about, I don't want to call it a new skill so much as really diving into the adaptability skill and allowing ourselves to be functionally very flexible as we move forward and being open to that versus getting very fixated and rigid.

I think that's going to be very difficult for us to stay flexible and adapt into the future.

Excellent point, David.

By the way, I love that element of Yalls story where, you know, you've recruited in the filter by, you know, thousand person strong workforce, you've recruited these talented folks that, you know, we're a bit of a victim of this in these market shifts and industry shifts.

And to Richard's point, folks, if we can be open minded when you do get displaced and you be willing to learn new things, man, you're going to have all sorts of opportunities in the months and years ahead.

Okay, so David, I'm going to shift gears and one of the last questions I want to share with you, I'm going to pick your entrepreneurial brain.

I mean, as Richard was saying earlier, it is amazing what y'all have accomplished in what, 13 years.

Goodness gracious.

I want to spike the football on this too.

Since 2012, the company has sold over a billion dollars of air filters and related products.

It sounds like new, innovative products and again employs a thousand people in towns across the country.

So for our current and potential founders out there listening or watching us, what one or two pieces of advice would you share?

David?

It all comes down to focus and patience.

You know, I'm a big believer that we consistently overestimate what we can achieve in a year and underestimate what we can do in a decade.

And I think that, you know, people want that instantaneous result or they want to go and start a business and six months from now just be, you know, super successful and on easy street.

And that's just not reality.

So if you're going to get into something, you really have to get into something that is consistent with who you want to be as a person long term, because you need to be thinking in that kind of decade long plus horizon.

You need to have the staying power to be able to do that.

And then you need to remain hyper focused on whatever that direction it is that you're moving towards.

Because if you're just moving from one place to another every six months, you're going to find you don't get anywhere.

So ultimately for me, it comes down to, you know, really being focused on one problem or one type of industry that you're going to attack and then having the patience and the staying power to see it through.

Focus and patience, Richard.

I can certainly see that in my own journey.

Your thoughts there, Richard?

Absolutely.

And I think there's also something inherent in there, David, which is there's a flip side to this question which you've touched on kind of the things that are key or elements to be successful as an entrepreneur.

But I almost kind of look at your history as being a somewhat accidental entrepreneur, even though wildly successful.

Right.

All the credit to you.

So I'm going to flip the question a little bit.

On the other side of it is what's the most surprising thing to you in this journey for the last 12 years?

Right.

What didn't you expect that all of a sudden now that you're on the other side of success, everyone's like, oh my God, what are the keys to it?

That's awesome.

But what was the most unexpected thing to you during the last 12 or 13 or 14 years?

You're not going to like my answer, but it's, it's a lot harder than I thought it would be.

You know, I mean, that's why I have to remember for that, you know, thinking long term, like even today, like we're out here doing big things, I mean, and I have big aspirations and I view it as just getting started.

I feel like I'm just getting started.

I still feel like we're a big startup and that's important to me.

I enjoy that.

But I have to remind myself to be patient because it's a lot harder, you know, to get to what I call escape velocity than I initially thought it would be.

So that's my answer.

Answer.

Great question, Richard.

And David, I'm glad you responded.

And I would just go back to patience on the two things you suggested because if it's hard for you, that of course founded the company, you remember all those tough lessons learned, the good ones and painful ones.

And you know, some folks on your team, on any organization's team that isn't the founder, they might not have had those same experiences, but they're trying to do as fast as the rest of the team and they can't draw on that same days and months and years of experience.

So I think that's where also whether you call it founder patients or executive patients, whatever, I think as humans we all need to embrace as much what I call PTK every day, patience, tolerance and kindness as we can.

And there's a reason that acronym starts with patience for sure.

Okay.

Richard.

David, outstanding.

One quick clarification.

David.

I know this, but I want to make sure it's true because Tom Katz asking if Filter by is strictly direct to consumer.

I think it is.

And of course that's how I get my products.

David is all that you all do at Filter by is all direct to consumer.

Not anymore.

That's how we started.

But we just launched in 550 Walmarts and we're really expanding our retail presence.

And we have about 26 outside salespeople that do B2B, which I still define as direct to consumer in that case, because we're selling to the end user.

But you have a big business to business offering.

Scott I'm going to jump in real quick here because I can't leave this one because I know we're going to shift here.

But David, quick question.

So in air filtration, right, you're in the consumer side of things because I touched something.

I'm glad you brought up the Walmart, but there's a lot of other byproducts products when you're filtering the air, I.

E.

Like humidification, water, I think, munters and things like that.

Right.

So in your exploration as you're advancing this and you're thinking into the next 10 years, you know, are there any kind of like tangentially related filtration things that are coming up to me?

I'm like, oh my God, what does he do?

I'm like, that's the engineer entrepreneur in me.

He may have to kill us if he answers this question.

David.

Right.

David, any sneak peek before we let you go?

I'm on a mission to build the world's leading indoor air quality company.

So we're moving from filters into indoor air quality.

So we have a service business that we're launching and stuff like installing UV lights in your H Vac system is one of the cheapest and easiest upgrades, I think, to really improve your air quality.

But I'm a believer that just as we're talking about microplastics now and people are being focused on that, that air quality and indoor air quality is kind of one of those next things.

And, you know, we want to be the leader in that space.

Outstanding.

David, great question.

We're going to have to have you back as you and the team continue to make progress in your mission.

Again, I love to connect the dots and especially be the founder, supply chain leaders of the companies and brands that we admire here.

So, David, I really appreciate you spending some time with us and answering some questions and shedding some light on your journey with our audience.

Final question for you, David.

How can folks connect with you or how can they learn more about filterbuy in case they want to be a fellow customer?

So I'm David Filterby everywhere.

I highly recommend checking out my YouTube channel.

That's where I'm actually publishing weekly content kind of behind the scenes of building the world's leading indoor air quality company.

So I'm going to do it publicly and every week you can see an episode there.

So I suggest checking it out is outstanding.

We're going to find that and we'll drop a link to that in the chat, make it really easy for folks.

Richard, after we say goodbye to David, I'm going to get one of your favorite takeaways from all that he shared with us here today.

But big thanks.

David Hickok, founder and CEO with Filter by.

Really appreciate you being here, David.

Thank you for having me.

Great conversation.

We'll see you soon, man.

I'll tell you what, and Tomcat is like a fourth panelist here, but I agree with.

That's part of the show, man.

I mean, just get him involved, right?

It is great guest.

I agree, Completely agree.

And Greg says, hey, you have to start a company that you have a passion for and a product that solves a problem that people want.

Excellent point there, Greg.

And, and you're finding those opportunities out in the market because passion's not good enough, Richard.

And I hate saying that.

I lead with my feelings.

They're on my sleeve.

And I have a profound appreciation for the passion that leaders of all kind have.

But, Richard, passion just isn't good enough.

No.

And I think, you know, that's inherent in this because the question's always the question.

Everyone always has some dash, right?

Like, oh my God, you're a successful processioner.

Jeff Bezos, you know, what makes a successful entrepreneur?

You know, Scott, what makes successful entrepreneur?

I mean, the keys are all kind of very similar.

So you see these.

These creative people.

They're passionate, they're energetic.

They believe in what they're doing.

They're authentic, which is a key other word, I think here.

People really resonate with authenticity, which all those things spoke in the show and the guests that we had.

And further, is that even what he did here?

And I said, the accidental kind of entrepreneur, he's also got a mind here where he's got that energy.

You can feel it.

I was like, oh, my God, air filtration is so cool.

And he makes it cool, and you can see that there's a coolness to it.

But I could probably take him as a leader and put him in most places, and he could probably do some really wonderful things.

And I think that's another thing to kind of tease out of this, right?

There's human elements, There's a characteristic.

There's something there's that.

I don't know.

Je.

Right.

That you find in these people.

Man, you just blew my ears.

Was that French or Latin?

Wait, no, no.

Oh, Richard.

All right, I'm gonna have to build up my multilingualism.

That's what Google translates for, Scott.

That's what we use the.

That's right.

I gotta embrace more technology.

We got the universal translator coming out, right?

Oh, I can't wait.

I can't wait.

It's made my life easier.

Great guest.

I mean, he really kind of, again, and I think there's key elements here that we talk about, but an entrepreneur can be thrown into all sorts as a multidisciplinary kind of leader.

Right.

That brings a lot of key elements to bear, but they're also good at building teams, and the patience and the execution, I think, is the other thing, right?

Those are key elements he talked about, no doubt.

And going back to one of his first parts of his responses, with basically the company that in its state date at the time that he assumed the leadership mantle.

Right?

And you've got to have to make those shifts and to change how that business had been run for, who knows, maybe decades, at least years, if not decades, and to take that massive risk that comes with no guarantee.

I mean, there's plenty of times where that fails.

So to find those cases like this one here, where all of that risk and taking that chance and reinventing the organization's been around for a long time, and it pays off by the truckload or by the fleet load, whatever, I think that can inspire us all.

So get your final.

Beyond what you shared, Richard.

Your final key takeaway One of your favorites from what David shared with here with us.

Probably the key thing that I like to point out here as well too, is just the very basic element of the business, air filtration.

Right.

A lot of times we overthink trying to be cutesy tootsie with kind of being an entrepreneur.

And we think technology because it's dominated for the last 25 years, but there's a lot of creative business problem solving and very what we would consider to be almost mundane.

And now, I'm not saying air filtration is mundane by any stretch.

It's key to life.

But something in air filtration, you normally wouldn't think like, oh, startup entrepreneur, but now you peel the covers back and find out in here in this sector, you know, some amazing brilliance is starting to happen.

And so I think there's a lot of key opportunities looking across the world over the next five to ten years where you could go into some industries that people haven't looked at, like long, short plumbing, electricity.

I mean, things that you take for granted.

We can bring a lot of creative entrepreneur skill sets to.

It doesn't have to be inventing the next new processor chip or something like that, or the next new TikTok or something like that.

It could be something like air filtration, something that's key to life.

Yeah, excellent point.

Lots of opportunities to go in and reinvent new ways of finding success in some traditional sectors of global business.

So good stuff there, Richard.

Great stuff with David, folks.

We're going to make it really easy.

Thank you, Tricia.

And again, Amanda, behind the scenes, they're dropping David's YouTube channel.

Check it out.

And I just realized something, Richard, before I hit the final story, we've got two Tomcats.

We've got Tomcat on Twitch, the Poet, supply chain poet, and then we have the Tomcat on YouTube minus Les the H.

We're gonna have to hire a private eye and determine the relationship between these two great audience members.

But I agree.

Tomcat from YouTube.

That was an awesome, awesome appearance by David and great story, Great story.

Okay, Richard, we're going to share something with folks that they may not know about you because it's something I've just learned and I've known you for quite some time, and that is that you are a professional, certified pilot.

So you fly airplanes.

And I tell you, I've been doing some YouTube watching of big plane stories, small plane stories, all points in between, and goodness gracious, all that you've got to keep in your brain actively.

Second by Second, second, because of the risks involved, it is mind blowing.

Anyway, we might have to dive into that on your next appearance, but I want to start on a related story and get this pilot and supply chain pro's take on this.

So Boeing, you know, goodness gracious, we have been tracking the Boeing story for quite some time, right?

And this iconic aircraft manufacturer has really been experiencing challenge after challenge, setback after setback.

Now, while the company hasn't released final 2024 numbers yet, some analysts say that Boeing deliveries dropped by almost 34% in 2024 from 2023.

In fact, some claim that last year Boeing had the lowest amount of final aircraft since the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.

If you remember then, Richard, which feels like 25 years ago, just a couple years ago, aircraft companies and automotive companies and others were trying to pay their suppliers early just to keep them in business.

Talk about some unique challenges there.

But none of this probably is going to surprise to me people because of course, as we've reported here and plenty of others, lots of quality, safety and reliability issues, what I'd call maybe leadership issues.

But they're turning the page in some cases.

To me, this has been a leadership issue at Boeing.

I think a lot of people have written about it because Airbus is not having the same issues.

And at the end of the day, we're talking about a fairly protected industry where between Airbus and Boeing, you're looking at about give or take on the year, 750 units per company kind of delivered, I think finished per year.

So it's not that big of a deal.

But these are 250, $300 million planes that they're delivering.

So I think there's a big overhaul in just the entire business practices and kind of the way it's managed at Boeing.

And this is a good start in that direction, but I think it runs a lot deeper than just supply chain.

I think there's just been a mismanagement of the company across the board.

I think most people are okay with that too.

And it's easy to get stuck.

And this is how I've been successful for the last 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 years.

Okay, great.

That was how it was 50 years ago.

It's not how it's going to be moving forward.

And I think that's where the people need to accept the fact that we got to get into this feeling of change and evolution that's got to become more the norm because there is this constant struggle between.

And we always get into this.

Right.

I want to change a company, but then I want the company to stay the same and be profitable.

So there's like, there's just a natural, almost like, you know, no way to kind of bridge that gap.

And so looking for companies that can do that, I.

E.

You go back to filter box.

Then what he's been able to do in a very traditional company, innovate, grow it, do something different, go to direct to consumer.

That's the type of adaptation we need to see when something like that needs to be applied to Boeing, in my opinion.

Yeah, excellent point, Richard.

And we're going to keep our finger on the pulse as we have been doing for years.

And you know, to Ms.

Ramos, hey, we wish you Godspeed and all the success in the world as you bring your supply chain prowess, improving on how business is done.

Boeing's gonna get it right now.

As Nadeem says, backbone of aviation sector is there.

And I think that's aircraft on ground acronym service.

It has be perfect.

And Nadeem, I'm not real familiar with the AOG service at Boeing, but more generally speaking, aviation, where you've got lives at risk, especially in your passenger service, airline service, where you've got hundreds of lives in a single flight, it does have to be perfect.

It does have to be perfect.

Perfect.

So good point there, Nadine.

And I've got one other question.

Tomcat wants to know what kind of license do you have, Richard?

Good question.

So I'm a certified flight instructor, so cfi, double I and mei.

So I've got everything short of ATP, which is the rating that you would think of when you think of the pilots in United and Delta.

So.

But I can teach everything underneath that.

Okay, man, we're gonna have to dive in deep in that and space supply chain and a whole bunch more next time you join us, Richard.

I got a feeling it's going to be soon.

All right, starting to wrap here, Richard.

Hey, we solved the problem.

We solved the mystery.

Tomcat says Tomcat on Twitch and YouTube.

We're one the same.

All right, good stuff.

Inquiring minds certainly wanted to know.

And Tomcat, again, four panelists here today.

Appreciate all of your perspective that supply chain poetry as we got right out of the gate.

Speaking of, Richard, really appreciate your perspective here today as well.

We got to meet and learn David's story better and we celebrated the big deal on the front end and of course talked about leaning into all the technology change and transformation and that ever increasing velocity, which are common threads and a lot of your responses.

But really appreciate you being here, Richard, how can folks connect with you?

Same thing on LinkedIn.

Richard Donaldson, you can find me there.

Happy to connect.

And you'll find me on the show as well, too.

Tagged all over the place.

Awesome, Richard.

Really appreciate that.

Thanks for being here.

Looking forward to your next appearance.

But folks, folks, as we wrap here, I want to thank our incredible guest, David Hickok and filter by.

Check that out.

We dropped links there to YouTube channel and others.

Big thanks to Richard Donaldson.

We've dropped a link right here to his LinkedIn.

You can learn a lot more and connect with Richard right there.

Of course, big thanks to Amanda and Trish and all the folks behind the scenes making production happen.

But most importantly, big thanks to our audience out there, the smartest audience in all of global Supply Chain.

Really appreciate all the perspectives that y'all shared here as we worked our way through this special episode of the Buzz.

We sure do appreciate all that y'all do out there.

So with all that said, on behalf of the entire team here at Supply Chain Now, Scott Luton, challenging you.

Hey, do good, give forward.

Be the change that's needed.

And we'll see you next time right back here at Supply Chain Now.

Thanks, everybody.

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