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

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

One conversation at a time.

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

Scott Lewton and Enrique Alvarez with you here on Supply Chain now.

Welcome to today's live stream.

Enrique, how you doing today, my friend?

I'm doing great.

Always a pleasure to co host with you.

It's great to be here.

I'm excited.

Starting a new week as well.

And we're ready.

We're ready.

We have a really good show.

We've got an outstanding show.

We got some big topics, folks today.

I promise not to belabor the heat anymore.

I've been told by numerous folks out there across the global supply chain now fam, that I've complained way too much about the heat.

I should be used to it by now.

So that's my commitment to y'.

All.

So, so.

But as Trisha says, happy buzz day to everybody.

Let us know where you're tuned in from.

And of course, we want to hear from you throughout the hour.

As Enrique mentioned, folks, it's the Buzz where every Monday at 12 noon Eastern time, we discuss a variety of news developments across global supply chains and across the global business world.

News that matters is what we like to call it.

And we've got a great show here today.

We're going to be diving into some of the recent trade deals or frameworks, critical observations on the global logistics market.

Hey, we're going to be sharing a few insights on the steel industry which has been in the news here lately.

We're going to offer up and discuss one stark assessment of what may lie ahead for the U.S. economy.

And we're going to be sharing a few innovative procurement approaches that leading companies are taking all of that and more.

And I get to do it with Mr. Good looking, the international man of mystery, Enrique Alvarez.

Enrique.

Should be a great episode of the Buzz, huh?

It definitely should be a good episode.

And we have a lot of things to talk about.

Good news, interesting news, and it's actually going to be definitely, definitely exciting time.

So, hey, if to your point, if Nadeem is here all the way from Saudi Arabia via LinkedIn, you know, it's going to be a great show.

Nadim, hope this finds you well, my friend.

And looking forward to your perspective.

And that really is a great segue because we got two friendly reminders for our supply chain now.

Global Fam out there, number one, just like Nadeem said.

Hey, 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 is important to us.

And.

And secondly, if you enjoy the show today, we'd love for you to share it with a friend, your network, your Aunt Edna up in Illinois.

No matter, they'll be better off that you did.

And you see this, Enrique, I've got my Sharpie ready to take 17 pages of notes from your expertise here today.

One more quick shout out.

Ed's tuned in from the United Kingdom via LinkedIn.

Great to see you, Ed.

What part of that country you tuned in from?

Okay, so Enrique, before we dive into the news, I've got a topic that is near and dear to your heart here because it's National Soccer Day here in the state.

So yesterday, Enrique, I was watching this incredible conclusion to the Euro 2025 women's tourney where England won in a shootout with Spain.

Man, it was exciting.

Amazing match and finish.

Congrats to both teams and congrats to England winning, I think for the second year in a row.

And then I realized on July 28, it's national soccer Day here in the States.

Maybe we should rename that to football like the rest of the world.

But I'll save that for another day.

So, Enrique, you are a massive football fan, big fan of the game.

What is one of your favorite all time football or soccer moments from your lifetime?

This is a fun warmup question I was telling you about.

Well, first and foremost, let me say that I had no idea today was National Soccer Day.

So congratulations to everyone out there that's playing soccer.

I'm from Mexico originally, and it's been amazing to kind of see the progress of the sport in this country.

So I'm very excited to be here in the US and being part of soccer, how it's been growing for years and years.

And I'm pretty sure it will continue to do that.

So one of my favorite, and I've been playing soccer my whole life, but one of my favorite memories actually is not that old.

It's more recent.

It's like the World cup final, last one with Messi finally winning the World Cup.

I mean, great player, great story and an amazing, amazing game.

So I think that that's kind of at least top 10 in my, in my book.

You know, I bet a lot of big fans of the wonderful sport of football or soccer out there.

I bet that's on their list too.

I heard a lot, a lot of talk about that tournament and I'm looking Forward to I think the US Is hosting what's the big tournament, is hosting regionals or wait, what?

No, the World Cup.

World Cup's coming to U S, Mexico and Canada, which is one of the biggest news in the history right now.

Wow.

Okay.

But no, it's, it's going to be exciting and yes, we'll talk a little bit more about soccer as well as how soccer is connected to supply chains around the world because a lot of teams are getting ready, a lot of stadiums are being built.

I was in Mexico last week and they're getting a couple subway stations ready to nice all the fans.

And so that could potentially be a good episode at some point because there's a lot of supply chain involved in making all this thing happen.

All the sports, the world and certainly when the biggest competitions being the World cup not being very transparent, folks, I'm still learning, I'm a rookie soccer or football fan.

I'm still learning all the different things big and small about the sport.

I want to piggyback on something you shared there, Enrique, and we'll definitely need to do an episode about that.

We've got one of our favorite friends, part of our SCN fam that used to lead logistics for an NFL team and we published in with that said a few months ago back when the big game was taking place at super bowl he shared some observations from his time leading logistics for an NFL team.

So now I've gone back to him and said hey, training camps coming up.

We got preseason coming up.

Give us some logistics experiences and observations there.

So stay tuned.

Whether it's soccer or American football, we love exploring intersections, aware of how supply chain makes it all happen.

So let's do this.

Speaking of with that said Enrique, we had a great addition drop over the weekend.

Now in this edition we focus on a few things.

I'm going to cherry pick a couple one, hence the graphic you see there, the ongoing merger talks between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern which could create the first coast to coast railroad network run by a single operator in U.S. history.

We'll see the last time a similar deal like this took place.

It took two years to get a deal done and that's assuming it gets past regulators.

So we'll see.

Secondly, we talked about trade deals and trade drama.

So the White House announced a deal with Japan here recently in the last few days where Japan is agreeing to buy by a hundred Boeing planes amongst other parts of the deal and increase their spending with US defense companies by $3 billion.

I hope Boeing's ready, hope they're ready.

And as many of you may have seen over the weekend, in a story that keeps evolving here, the US and the European Union agreed to a deal framework which includes the EU agreeing to purchase $750 billion worth of energy, all sorts of different energy from the US and both deals largely include 15% tariffs on Japanese and European coming into the US beyond those stories, you got resources, live events, you name it.

This version was packed with good stuff.

So Enrique, you had some weekend homework.

Did you check out with that said and if so, what stood out to you?

I did.

And it's actually again, highly recommended for all our listeners out there.

It's a good, quick way of getting familiar with what's going on in the news.

And I think it's a good way of starting the week, if for nothing else, that you'll have bragging rights with your co workers and you'll be in the know when all those conversations start to happen.

So tariffs, I think that's one of the most important ones.

We've been keeping that story and that development very closely if you're a supply chain professional.

And it's interesting to me, Scott, that they're looking into another 90 day truce that's probably going to be officially renewed today between us and China.

I think that's going to be very important for our industry.

And the other thing that I actually think it's interesting from that same WTS newsletter or article is that Mexico and Canada are about 30 and 35% when the EU will be 15%.

So that's something that's never happened in the history of the US and for the first time, NAFTA is going to be a lot more expensive.

So people might actually be able to bring products from Europe more than our neighbors.

Interesting, interesting.

You know, I wish we had a whole hour to what you just shared there and we'll have to do that on a future show.

But folks, I'm going back to one of the first points Enrique made with.

In this environment we talk about all the time where velocity gets faster every day, whether it's trade, whether it's innovations, whether it's industry challenges, you name it, we got to stay in the know.

So if you don't get your news from here, that's okay, just get it from somewhere and a trusted news resource at that.

Okay, Enrique, appreciate that folks.

Check out.

With that said, as Enrique mentioned, doesn't take long.

I think it took like up at the top, it tells you the reading time.

I think it was like five minutes.

That's a piece of cake, folks.

And we got Trisha that dropped a link right there in the chat.

And Nadeem says that Saudi Arabia is hosting the FIFA World cup in 2034.

Love it.

We need to make a trip there, Enrique.

Absolutely.

And not to continue talking about soccer, but linking it to the weather, Scott, because I know you can't say anything about how hot it is, right?

I might say that next year during July it's going to be hot.

And I was in Mexico in Monterrey and it's even hotter than here in Atlanta.

So I was a little bit thankful that Atlanta is not as hot yet.

And two, I don't know how they're going to play those games.

But to Nadim's point, sure, Saudi Arabia will be pretty hot too.

Oh, no doubt, no doubt.

One quick point.

Since we're gonna on National Soccer Day, we might as well give soccer a little extra due.

Why not?

I love that the World cup is gonna be played across North America, as you're pointing out.

You know, and it's things like that.

Despite all the trade vitriolic and governments this, that and the other, we need events like that to hopefully pull the people of these wonderful countries together in all parts of the world.

And that's how a lot of times I'll view whether it's the Olympics, which I love, I'm big Olympics nerd.

I'll be a future World cup nerd.

But I don't know about you.

I'm looking at all sources I can to find common threads that allow us to get over disagreements and other friction that we find day to day.

Your quick thoughts here, Enrique?

No, absolutely.

And I think that if we don't need to look that hard, to be honest, I mean if we just were to look for a second or two, we'll realize that we have so much more in common, right, as human beings, regardless of where you're living, than what we have in differences.

So hopefully, yes, hopefully we can be a little bit more open to dialogue, straight, open, candid communication and then just trying to increase our trust levels in general because it's going to be needed for trade and it's going to be needed for supply chains to work without trust, it's going to be really, really hard to get us out of this mess that we're slowly kind of digging into.

Trust, common threads and beer.

Lots of beer.

All right, so folks, here's your daily dose of practical optimism on this Monday, July 28th.

Really quick.

LK is back with us.

Larry Klein down there in South Georgia where it is warm war Larry.

Hope this finds you well, my friend.

Looking forward to your take on some of the topics we talk about here today.

And we have got a logistics and supply chain Pro from India, 24 years of experience in all kinds of different areas.

How about that?

Speaking of tariffs, double segue, Enrique, this challenging trade and tariff environment we're in, we got a great resource folks you gotta check out.

Of course, tariffs are top of mind for everybody, but especially distributors and manufacturers across global supply chain.

They wreak havoc on pricing and margins and a lot more things.

Lots of companies I would argue are still in that wait and see mode.

Well, take that approach at your own peril.

Looking to get ahead of the chaos Enables new tariff Price planner lets you turn all of that uncertainty.

This tool gives you real time insights into how changing tariffs impact your costs and your prices.

And then better yet, it lets you adjust pricing instantly to protect those margins.

So important you can even simulate pricing strategies before making any moves.

Right?

Gives you an opportunity to look around corners and have a much more accurate crystal ball.

We're dropping a link to this great resource in the comments so you can learn more both about our friends at Enable and you can demo this incredible tool.

Okay, so where are we going next, Enrique?

I think we're going to be putting our finger on the pulse of global logistics.

So folks, Enrique here has earned many nicknames, including the international man of mystery because I've rarely seen any anyone travel the world for business like this guy does here now.

So Enrique, as you work with so many leading companies to make global logistics happen, what are a few observations that you can share with us, my friend?

I'll have to point out that all those nicknames were actually introduced by Mr. Scott, but I don't know if I could be considered the a man that travels a lot.

I know that a lot of you guys out there travel a lot and it's probably part of the deal.

If you're in supply chain, you're actually dealing with a lot of different countries, a lot of different regions, a lot of different cities, which makes it for one of the privileges of working in this industry as well as some of the challenges as well.

So Scott, what I've been seeing, and for everyone that's listening, it's two things.

One, the slowdown demand in the U.S. everyone's like keeping an eye on the inflation.

Everyone's still kind of talking, even though it's not super open or very straightforward about the potential recession.

Is a recession coming?

It's not coming.

So I think that the economic conversations around the USA is something that I see being talked about around the world.

No matter where you are, people always ask you about how is the US Doing?

Everyone seems to be, of course, worried about the situation we have here because it has very strong ramifications to the whole world.

And then of course, the other one is just how can we build this trust back?

How can we make strategic plans?

How can we use AI to kind of improve our supply chains and how can we make it more efficient as companies continue to adjust to what will probably be the new.

The new norm?

Yes, I love the both those topics.

And we're keeping eye on inflation, for sure, and its impact on consumer spending and how the consumers view all of us consumers, but how we all view the economy.

And the secondly, building back trust, protecting that trust, growing that trust.

That's the name of the game in supply chain and many other parts of life.

Those are two great observations there, Enrique, and we look forward to future updates from you.

Really quick.

Before we get into the steel industry, Nadeem says, hey, why two names, soccer and football?

What's the difference?

I think they're one the same, Nadine.

Good point.

And Ed says, I don't think there's any difference.

Soccer is American word for football, which.

And football is the usual name in Europe.

That's right, Ed and Nadim.

We got sports commentary taking place in the comments and let us know, folks, do you play football slash soccer?

And if so, what's your position?

What's your favorite team?

Help educate me on the world's top sport.

Any account.

Okay, so Enrique, I want to shift gears.

You ready?

Yep.

Go ahead.

I'm asking permission.

Today we're going to be talking about a rhetorical question.

I'm sorry, it was terrible.

Terrible.

Co GUEST the steel industry has been in the news a lot lately and not just because of tariff negotiations, of course, Nippon still, I never know how to say that.

I got to practice that.

Nippon still completed its acquisition of US Steel about a month ago, although it comes with some interesting golden shares that the US Government still holds.

And separately over in the UK where Ed is to keep it from closing, the United Kingdom government recently took control of the last plant in the country, in that country that makes virgin steel.

And that's in my view, a remarkable illustration of how the steel industry has evolved.

But here, Enrique, what I'm showing, the graphic on the screen here, interesting read from the New York Times that's really built around one central premise.

We're making way too much steel it states that according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, excess steel production is estimated to reach 721 million tons by 2027.

Goodness gracious.

Now, over the last 10 years or so, tons and tons of cheap steel has entered the global market from China, which has created quite a transformation and lots of new trends, opportunities and challenges.

Get this, China makes more steel and aluminum than the rest of the world combined.

But as that country's economy has ebbed and flowed and slowed down in some cases, China has dropped its steel prices.

And that creates quite a few challenges across the globe, especially as all countries and governments want to protect their access to this critical resource.

So it's good and bad as everything in life, good and bad, except if you win the lottery.

That's all good, I think.

But, Enrique, the steel industry.

The steel industry, there's a lot more.

Folks, you got to check out the article.

I really had to kind of recap at a very high level to check it out.

But Enrique, your thoughts?

Well, it's interesting, right, because definitely a good article to read.

And steel is considered now like an economic security asset for countries.

So everyone's trying to keep this steel production in house and they're trying to use steel production as a way to demonstrate how powerful a country is compared to others.

But this overcapacity is, of course, killing all the green initiatives, and it's going to be quite a dilemma.

And I would kind of make an analogy with the prisoner's dilemma.

Everyone around the world sees and understands that we're producing way too much steel than the one we need, yet no one wants to be the first one to stop.

Right.

Which again, right.

It's going back to what you were talking before, which is trust.

I mean, we got to at some point trust each other because we have.

And this is a silly example, somewhat silly, I guess, as of how not trusting each other can affect the world, can affect us, can affect our economies, because we don't need the steel.

So why do we keep producing it?

Interesting, interesting.

I think some would point to, you know, steel is one of those things that's critical for militaries, it's critical for construction.

It's critical to a lot of different elements of national security.

So it's like a.

In some cases, it's like a insurance policy.

Right.

And in fact, I think.

And folks, I'm not an economist, nor am I a national security expert, but I think all of us especially are putting our supply chain practitioner hats on.

We can connect the dots.

And I think my personal Take is when the government steps in to assume, I assume the operation is losing lots of money.

So when they step in and take control and ownership of a steel producing facility, even at a great loss, it is to protect that access and keep that within their control.

But it presents so many different challenges, so many different challenges.

So we're going to keep our finger on the pulse.

But we both thought this was a great read about a critical industry.

There's a lot more to it.

So y' all check out, I think.

Tricia.

Thank you, Tricia.

The link is right there in the chat.

So y' all give it a read and let us know.

Enrique, you want to add one more thing?

Huh?

The uk, for example, is nationalizing some of the plans.

And then of course, we talked about the tariffs.

It's worth pointing out that tariffs in the US for steel, regardless of the UK are still at 50%.

Right?

So everyone's being very protectionist.

And of course, it's important to also see that the more we produce, the prices are going to start going down.

And historically speaking, when steel prices and oil prices are the lowest is usually six to 12 months before the industrial slowdown.

So are we heading into an industrial slowdown?

Maybe.

We'll see.

We'll see.

And we're going to talk about that in just a second.

It's a great segue.

But first, let me just point out, folks, I don't know if y' all have ever been in a still foundry, which I think this image here comes from, but just look at that image.

See how heavy industrial.

I mean, we're talking about molten steel.

It's not for the faint of heart.

When r I've ventured up to.

This is years and years ago, I ventured up to, goodness gracious, the Rome, Georgia area, right?

And they had a really big foundry up there.

But Enrique, I tell you, after touring that massive plant and seeing cauldrons of molten still move everywhere, I had to get a beer and a marble red and smoke that thing after I left that facility.

It was amazing.

Folks, if you get a chance to tour a foundry, do it, do it, do it.

There's more to that story, but for the sake of time, I'm gonna move on.

Let's going back to trust, Enrique.

Ly says, fool me once, shame on me.

Fool me twice.

When it comes to trust, just because you're forgiven doesn't necessarily mean they're forgotten.

Got to keep it clean from the start.

Outstanding advice there.

LK and Abraham, peace be upon you.

And to you, Abraham.

He's Got a diploma and logistics support.

Looking for job opportunities or training.

Hey, we've all been there, Abraham.

And if we can help out, we will.

Folks, if y' all are in the know and can suggest something to Abraham, please share with him.

Okay, let's see here.

We are going to dial it in on one frank assessment of where the US economy may be going here.

Just like Enrique was asking that rhetorical question a minute ago.

Well, check this out.

We included this great read by Wolfgang Lamacher.

I hope I said his last name right.

And with that said, I thought it was intriguing.

In particular, I think Enrique agrees with me and I'm gonna do my best to summarize a few key points.

But we recommend as all with all this stuff that you read in full and we're gonna drop a link to here.

Wolfgang points to the big moves being made at UPS and at FedEx as important barometers in the overall US economic wins.

If you haven't heard, UPS cut 20,000 jobs and has closed 73 facilities this year.

On the other hand, FedEx has been on the hunt for big time cost savings since 2023 and they thus far Enrique it found over $4 billion in cost savings and they're on the prowl for another billion.

Goodness.

Wolfgang calls these moves quote alarm bells for the entire American economy, saying that the transportation and logistics sector is the economy's top forward looking indicator.

Now he points out that data based metric based indicators like the Cash Freight Index show declining monthly activity in five of the past nine months.

And where they think stand right now, they're considerably below year over year numbers as well as well below multi year peak numbers.

Wolfgang shares that past major economic downturns all started with freight indicators going negative.

And that tends to be the first domino.

But the root cause, decreasing demand due to a wide variety of factors, especially I would argue global business uncertainty.

Now what does it all add up to?

My crystal ball is pretty cloudy at the moment.

In fact the fog is so thick I need a Swiss army knife to cut through it.

Enrique, where are we going?

Your thoughts my friend?

Well, I feel like as the article described and this is very important to note, what we're seeing and reading from UPS and some other companies are not just efficiency programs.

So they're just not cutting the fat or reducing cost.

They're really just putting the emergency brake.

And that's not something I came up with.

That's I think a quote from the article and it has to do with, with trust and it has to do with the certainty of the tariffs that we're seeing and where everything's going to land.

So one thing that we all know as supply chain professionals is that we can see the economy a little bit clearer through the eyes of supply chain.

Right.

Parcel trucking data, all of those things move a lot quicker and faster before the consumers start to feel the hike in prices or the having less inventory in the shelves of stores and things like that.

It's a good indicator to keep track of and of course this can vary and then this can hopefully improve over the next last couple of months.

But as of now, all indicators point that we're still going to be in a little bit more trouble than what we already are in.

Yes, well said, very eloquent, very been there, done that, ish, even Ivy Leagueish.

Enrique, a nice little combination.

A perfect storm of perspective there from Enrique Alvarez.

I'm having a good English day, Scott.

What can I say?

I have some days are not as good so I have to take advantage of it.

You're ahead of me.

I need to have better Spanish days.

But folks, don't take our word for it and don't take necessarily Wolfgang's word for it, but this is great perspective that I think is thought provoking and so you'll enjoy it, I think as much as I will.

So check out the article.

Will drop that right there in the chat and let us know what you think.

Okay, let's see a couple quick comments here.

Andre says hey, it's great to see you, Enrique.

Greetings from Chicago.

You know Andres?

Yeah, I do actually from high school and so way, way back in Mexico and today's soccer day.

So Andres, a great soccer player.

I remember playing with him and his team in Mexico City.

So Andres, great to see you man.

Thanks for tuning in and thanks for sending that comment.

That's right.

Andres, let us know your thoughts.

Where the U.

S economy is headed.

What's your purview there in the beautiful awesome city of Chicago?

All right, so going back to steel for a second before we move forward, Larry Klein says, hey, more isn't always better.

That's right.

A simple universal truth there.

Now this LinkedIn user let me know who this is, Amanda and Tricia and I'm going to pop this back down.

It's a big comment.

Says the global steel surplus is driven by overproduction and weakening demand.

Including in the UK Major producers like China continue high output despite slowdowns in construction and industry.

Economic uncertainty, especially in China and the UK along with rising low cost exports was flooded global markets this imbalance is pushing prices down and straining the steel industry worldwide.

Santano, excellent comment.

And you know, really quick there, Enrique, not to go backwards too far, but you would think in a vacuum lower prices are great, lower input prices are great.

But the competition that it drives is really doing a lot of carnage as more and more steel producing countries are having to work harder to find buyers and they're not making nearly as much money.

So it'll be interesting to see where this evolution and this transformation goes next.

Japan, big steel producer.

I think he's one of those countries, Scott, that you were alluring to that is going to go and start to look for potential buyers and they're going to be very aggressive as well.

So we'll see, right?

We shall see.

You know, it's like the ripple effect.

Nothing stops with the first degree impact.

It's thousands and thousands of degrees, especially when you're talking about industry with global import as much as steel.

All right.

Hey, Will Quinn, the distribution guy.

Will, we enjoyed your appearance a few weeks ago and good morning to you from Naperville, Illinois.

Let us know your take on what we're working through here today.

Will.

All right, let's see here.

Well folks, going back to what's going on in the freight market.

I want make sure this is on Yalls radar.

We've got an outstanding event coming up including one that offers key data driven and market driven insights into where we are with the domestic freight market and where we're going.

Get this.

On August 6th, Grand Verse and I are hosting a discussion on the domestic freight market.

We're going to be featuring Bob Costello, chief economist and senior vice president of international trade and security policy for the American Trucking Association's.

Also back with us due to popular demand, Bobby Holland with US bank and we're going to be analyzing the US Bank Freight Payment Index for Q2 2025.

Hard to believe already there.

Now folks, if you've been a part of these discussions previously, you know they always offer up an interesting and actionable collection of data and market driven expertise and observations from economic cleanings to supply chain to consumer behaviors to geopolitical and a whole bunch more.

Come join us.

And we're dropping a link right there for the August 6th discussion.

Okay, Enrique, you hanging on?

You hanging on for dear life?

Yes, I am.

We're shifting again.

We're shifting again.

We're going over to the procurement industry.

Interesting read here.

I should say the procurement profession or the procurement function more so than industry maybe.

Anyway, interesting read here from our friends over at Harvard Business Review that touches on several companies that have been digitizing various aspects of their procurement processes.

So check this out.

I'm gonna pull out 2.

Enrique might pull out another one.

You never know what Enrique is going to pull out.

He's gonna might surprise you folks.

British Petroleum.

BP is ramping up its ability to explore innovative and emerging technologies from multiple startups simultaneously via what they call a procurement technology garage.

How about that?

It has led to tons of rapid small scale pilot efforts to help determine basically what I'll call the winners and losers, especially from a scalable return on investment perspective.

And Nicholas Wright, who is head of BP's garage, states a critical mindset that we've been hammering home I hope for years for many of y' all have too.

He says, quote, our ethos is problem first, solution search after, end quote love that is critical.

Now speaking of scaling new technology, Walmart has invested into a procurement Technology center of Excellence approach.

Now it started in 2018, so it's been at it for about seven years now.

And the Coe center of Excellence trains leaders, buyers, suppliers and others in the Walmart global ecosystem and supports them kind of on the ground, so to speak.

The company has baked a highly localized approach as it has identified the various differences amongst the wide array of global markets.

Well, all that presented a challenge.

How we do things in Atlanta, GA may need to be a lot different than how we do things in Mexico City or Moscow or wherever else across the world.

The aim seems to be to offer global best practices while encouraging and empowering local teams to kind of riff on the standard approach.

Walmart says they've specifically seen tons of success in dollars in savings and efficiencies by leveraging E auctions instead of in person negotiations with potential suppliers, vendors along with this COE approach.

So Enrique, there's a lot there, there's a lot more to the article, but your thoughts here on procurement, innovation and experimentation?

Well, it's very interesting, right?

And we've talked about this a lot and you have talked about this a lot at the Boss and other of your platforms.

Is changing supply chain really how technology is changing everything in this world.

But so the other company they talk about in the article, it's Auto Group and they're actually using smaller startup companies to come in into their company and help them with some of these technological challenges that they're having so they can test them in smaller scales, confirm their positive ROIs and then launch them and roll them out.

So I again I think this is more to the audience.

It's a great article and I would ask the audience, right, which one would be the approach for your company?

Is it the BP approach, like having this procurement tech garages and testing first problems, first ROI and then solutions?

Is it the Walmart kind of excellent center of excellence approach?

Or do you hire other smaller startup companies to come in and provide solutions that you may or may not end up rolling out?

But it really depends on what kind of company you're working with and what kind of problems you're facing.

But it seems very interesting as it's a new way to approach technological rollout in your, in your industries.

Yes, well said.

And you know, I would just add to that there's only one guarantee, only one unbreakable rule.

And that is what has gotten us here is not what's going to get us there.

And so I love these big behemoths that are looking at new ways of what I read in that article, finding success not only for their organization, their enterprise, but business and success for some current and new suppliers.

So pretty cool stuff.

By the way, if you love procurement, you need to make sure you check out the Art of Procurement by our friend Kelly Barner, who's doing some great work over there.

Aop, great in person events, great podcast content, you name it.

So check that out.

All right, so Enrique, Enrique, now look, the August 6th event is a big event.

In fact, I don't do little events.

We've got some of the best guests around the world in a variety of sectors and industries and that's why we're all here.

Right?

But this September 3rd event coming up, Enrique is going to be a very unique one.

You know, we're just talking a second ago about what global leaders are doing.

Right?

Well, September 3rd we got a world class event.

We're hosting an incredible trio of supply chain titans.

That's right, actually, four.

A trio is three.

Four is.

What's four, Enrique?

Quartet, maybe.

Quartets.

Yes.

I'm telling you, yes.

It's.

It's awesome.

English Day.

Better you than me.

A quartet of supply chain titans for a panel discussion on how they're successfully navigating navigating this never normal landscape.

Which is folks, here to stay, by the way.

Get this.

Stephanie Beal, chief supply chain officer with Hasbro.

Sylvia Wilkes, chief supply chain officer with Lamb Weston, the food behemoth.

And Whitney Schlesinger, Vice President, Global planning and logistics with what I think is the best spice and food company known to all of us.

McCormick.

Right?

We've all used a McCormick seasonings, had a great time with Whitney down at Gartner, folks.

Corinne Burst is hosting this Power Pack panel with Stephanie, Sylvia and Whitney and you can't miss it.

We're dropping a link to this live, live session.

Make sure you register and be ready.

Be on your game with your comments and questions because that panel can bring it like few can.

Enrique, when's the last time you saw a panel like that?

Let me just ask that to you.

I don't know what you're, how you're going to respond.

When's last time?

So the companies are incredible.

I think the conversation is going to be very, very interesting.

And then the people that are actually working for those companies are even more impressive than the companies themselves.

So no, I, I think that's going to be a very, very good panel and definitely recommend everyone to sign up.

Hurry up.

Don't wait till the last minute.

No, you got to get on your schedule or your agenda.

Especially if you're like me when the agenda kind of rules your day to day activities.

Just put it in there.

That's right.

A no truth have ever been spoken.

And Whitney, Ricky just shared there.

But good news is Tricia is dropping a link right there for that event and we welcome you to join us.

Let's see here.

I'm gonna go back a bit before we move forward.

I think this still might be Santa new.

Let's see here.

That's kind of big.

Let me, let me do it like this.

They say three leading companies have successfully digitized their procurement processes.

He was just talking about the article me and Enrique were covering.

Let's see here.

And he to summarize these transformations that those three companies have been leading in their procurement areas and elsewhere, highlight the shift toward faster data driven and more resilient supply chains.

Well said my friend.

Now Andrew says, hey, I'd love to join you one day to share my insights on supply chain.

By the way, Enrique is not only a brilliant professional but also a fantastic soccer player.

Is that right, Enrique?

I like to believe that's true.

But thank you Andres.

That's very kind of you.

Very kind.

Keep.

Hey Andres, what else do you know about Enrique?

Let's get some of the skeletons out of the closet, my friend.

Let's do it on different episodes.

Good stuff.

Got a great crowd here today.

Let's see here.

We are going to highlight in this last segment, Enrique, y' all came out with a great report that I think really illustrates in many ways what Vector is all about.

So.

And when I say Vector, Vector Global Logistics, which Enrique Helps to lead and co founded it.

So now, of course, we collaborate on a couple of really important initiatives.

One is logistics with purpose that you lead along with Christy and a shout out to Nuria and the whole gang to help make that happen.

And number two, supply chain now in Espanol.

So big shout out to Sophia and Andre are doing great work with that growing platform, but that's just part of the equation, not to minimize those things at all.

It's a really big equation.

When I talk about the equation, I'm talking about how Vector is making a big difference in this world in the good times and the bad times.

So y' all recently released this impact report for 2024.

And this is comprehensive, folks, as I like to say.

When I first met Enrique Alvarez, very first time at the Georgia Logistics Summit, I think it was ages ago.

It feels like 30 years ago now.

And I was getting to know him, I think the third bullet point out of his mouth was, I'm changing the world.

We're changing the world.

And I kind of snickered, but Enrique didn't.

And you could tell that's his mission every single day.

And better yet, he's not talking about it.

He's doing it as this impact report shares.

So, Enrique, I wish we could do it justice and go through page by page, but what's a couple of most important things about what y' all do for industry and for humanity that is really important to you?

Well, we're incredibly proud of that.

And I got to say, that's one of the most fun things that I have to work with the whole year, just putting this impact report out and just sharing with people that I like and know.

We send 13 containers to Ukraine.

We continue those conversations, we help Valencia.

But the two things God would be while doing all that, we first and foremost start connecting people together.

So we put the weekly calls that then become monthly calls and then become quarterly calls.

And we have done this for Valencia.

We've done this from Ukraine in 2024.

And just connecting amazing people out there.

I feel it's one of the most important things that we've done.

So taking everything out of it, just the connections that we have been able to foster are just really, really amazing.

And I cherish them a lot.

The other one that I'm particularly proud of in 2024 is that we became a B Corp certified and we also concluded our ISO certification.

So those two certifications, but the B Corp in particular, I'm incredibly proud of.

And one of the big milestones for 2024.

That's a tough credential to earn.

First off, folks, I want to make sure.

Check this out.

You know, this is a great opportunity whether you want to get to know Enrique and the team better as you look at different suppliers and partners.

If you want to benchmark, you know, with what your own company is doing out there, you want to look for ideas of how you can make a greater difference.

That to Enrique's point, not only will you delight customers and really everyone in your ecosystem when you're doing great things, far beyond the business side of things, so to speak, but I bet your team members, Enrique, I bet very active central part of your culture in terms of giving forward and making a difference.

I bet your colleagues talk about that and laugh about it and smile about it.

Really enjoy it, huh?

Absolutely.

And I think when people ask, well, what's the return on the investment?

Right?

Why are you a purpose driven organization?

It's very easy to quantify, right?

It's.

It's not because we want to feel better, which we do, and we're very proud of that, but it's really because if you are a purpose driven organization, it becomes a huge competitive advantage, right?

You can go out there and start working with companies that care about what you care and they see the value in that.

You can start recruiting people that want to work for a company that's actually, that means something more than just making money.

And I think those two things, and working with better suppliers, working with better people, that makes you stronger as a company.

So as a strategy, being purpose driven pays off.

And I would recommend that everyone actually tries it or at least looks into it because I think it makes a big difference and makes you be a much better player in this crazy industry of ours.

Yes, player, competitor, contributor.

Pushing all of global industry forward in different ways, which is important to do.

You know, Global supply chain is all about moving stuff and making stuff and returning stuff and all that stuff.

Of course, right?

But I'm of the firm belief that Global Supply Chain is in a very unique position to make the lives of folks around the world much better day by day.

And I appreciate what you are doing there, Enrique Alvarez.

Okay, so check that out, folks.

Tricia dropped the impact report link right there.

Lots of ideas you can benchmark.

I bet Enrique would invite.

I bet you'd love the talk shop about what's in that impact report, Enrique.

Is that right?

Absolutely.

Please feel free to reach out.

We love off the comments.

We love to hang out with people that are smart and driven.

Like, I know people are in this industry.

So reach out to us if you have any comments, feedback or suggestions.

We'll be more than happy to talk about that.

For sure.

We sure will.

We sure will, folks.

Do it.

Bring your questions, the easy ones and the hard ones.

Enrique can handle them all.

All right, Enrique.

Man, do we have to really stop here?

Are you good for another hour?

I'm done.

Yes, sure.

Let's do it.

It.

I'm good, Scott.

Yes, you are.

Folks, we had too much fun today on the buzz.

Really enjoy learning from and leading with Enrique Alvarez.

And you will too.

Let's make sure we give folks the opportunity, Enrique, to connect with you.

The talk shop, to collaborate on initiative, to move stuff and then some.

How can folks track you down?

Enrique?

The best way to contact me is probably other LinkedIn under Enrique Alvarez.

You can go to our website vector gl.com and you can look for my email there.

It's enrique.alvarezector gl.com Send me an email or send me a brief text on LinkedIn and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

And we've got the Vector site.

You can spectrugl.com you can find the podcast Logistics with Purpose, the outstanding work in a really unique vein.

They feature a lot of missions and nonprofits.

Enrique, speaking of, y' all had an episode last year, I want to say.

Hard to believe it's been that long, but there's a soccer tournament that benefits.

Yep, the Homeless World Cup.

Homeless World cup.

And it's coming up, by the way, Oslo is hosting it this summer.

I think it's going to be in August 20th.

I'll have to get back to you on the exact dates, but it's coming up.

You can Google the Homeless World cup and it's a really interesting tournament.

I'm glad you reminded me of that because it's National Soccer Day also.

And to kind of close the circle, I think someone one of our listeners asked about soccer and the word soccer in football.

I I quickly chatgpt it.

And the word soccer comes from England.

It officially was duped the association football in the 19th century in England.

And Oxford students clipped association to the slang soccer to distinguish it from rugby football.

And then of course, the nickname soccer just tacked along for many, many years after that.

So I have criticized soccer and I have actually pegged it to the US but now I am corrected.

The name actually comes from England.

So thank you to all those English Oxford students that came up with the term soccer that now we don't like.

Enrique, you got to choke the right neck, as they like to say.

Yes, I've been barking to the wrong tree.

Yeah, there you go.

Another great idiom.

Also, as he was sharing his Google.

I'm gonna share my Google, folks, if you're interested in the Oslo 2025 Homeless World cup up, not only can you go back and listen to the logistics with purpose episode where I think y' all interviewed the founder, as I recall in rename.

Yes, very interesting episode.

Yep, yep.

You can check that out or you can go to homelessworldcup.org and those dates for this year's event is the 23rd through the 30th of August.

So y' all check that out.

Okay, Enrique.

And when we say the news that matters, we try to deliver on that.

And we also try to, you know, if we were going to be here all day for all the news that matters, it'd be like a what, a 27 hour live stream and it would bore the world to death.

So we try to take some of the most relevant and critical news stories and developments and share it with you, but we're always welcome to your feedback.

Enrique Alvarez with logistics with purpose with Vector, Global Logistics with AKA the international man of mystery.

Enrique, great to have you here.

Really have enjoyed your perspective as always and your mission and your commitment to giving forward, my friend and I enjoyed all your perspective on what'd you call it, a good English day.

Good English day.

Good English day.

I'm gonna go out there today and just keep talking to people.

Okay?

Please do.

Now's the time.

And Ed says, hey, it looks like I was wrong.

Thanks for the clarification, Enrique.

Ed, that's why we're here, my friend.

And great to have you here on the bus.

Great to have everybody.

Ed and Santano and Will and Larry and Trisha and Amanda and many others.

No, couldn't hit everybody's comment, but hey, folks, hope you enjoyed today's show.

Big thanks Enrique Alvarez.

Big thanks everybody that showed up.

Big thanks to Amanda and Trisha behind the scenes to help make it happen.

Most importantly, big thanks to our global audience for being here with us through the best part of this entire journey.

But you got homework, folks.

You got homework.

Number one, be sure to find, as Tricia says, find, subscribe, supply chain out wherever you get your podcast.

We got an easy, convenient link right there.

You're one click away.

And secondly, oh, this three pronged homework.

And Amanda, if you could grab that link that Enrique just dropped behind the scenes, I think that goes to the homeless World cup episode that we want to make it really easy for folks so we can drop that link in the chat.

We'll knock that out.

And thirdly, take one thing, folks, just one thing, at least two if you really ate your Wheaties and you're taking your vitamins.

But just take one thing you heard here from Enrique today.

Share it with your team.

Put it into practice, deeds, not words.

That's how we're going to continue transforming global supply chain, global business and leave no one behind.

And with that said, on behalf of the entire Supply Chain now team 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.

Thanks everybody.

Join the Supply Chain now community.

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