Narrator [00:00:04]:

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

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

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you may be. Scott Luton and Billy Ray Taylor here with you on Supply Chain Now. Today we got a great show teed up here today. We're talking about dodging pitfalls and optimizing performance, especially when it comes to the complexities of distribution center design and management and choosing the right consulting resources to help make it happen. Folks, we're going to dial it in on five critical strategies that will help you navigate the current and the current challenge and risk field environment. Also, you can better optimize your distribution center operations and performance. We're going to cover all this and much more as we bring in a couple of business leaders that are helping organizations take it to the next level. So stay tuned for a great show.

Scott W. Luton [00:01:21]:

Billy Ray, how you doing?

Billy Ray Taylor [00:01:22]:

We're doing great. I'm excited to be here. Great to see you. Football season started, so I'm pumped up.

Scott W. Luton [00:01:29]:

I am too. I am too, my friend. And of course, all of your decades of manufacturing experience and supply chain experience, we look forward to hearing your take on today's conversation. So folks, got a great show teed up. Right? So two quick reminders before we get started. First off, let us know what you think. And then secondly, if you enjoy today's show, and I hope you do, folks, we're going to inform, educate and have some fun here today. Hey, be sure to share it with a friend or your network because, Billy Ray, sharing is caring.

Scott W. Luton [00:01:58]:

Is that right?

Billy Ray Taylor [00:01:59]:

That's exactly right. Knowledge is the power, right. Once you share knowledge, share empathy, sharing is, it's the key.

Scott W. Luton [00:02:07]:

That's right. Well said. Well said. We got two great business leaders joining us here momentarily. I want to introduce them, starting with Landon Mumbower, manager of consulting with Bastian Solutions, and his colleague Johnathan McRary, also manager of consulting with our friends at Bastian Solutions. All right. Hey, Landon, how you doing?

Landon Mumbower [00:02:27]:

Doing great. How are you, Scott?

Scott W. Luton [00:02:29]:

Wonderful, wonderful. Great to see you. And Johnathan, how you doing, my friend?

Johnathan McRary [00:02:33]:

Hi, Scott. I'm great. Hope you are.

Scott W. Luton [00:02:36]:

We're doing wonderful. It's been quite a week. Billy Ray and Billy Ray, you may be having the best week ever, but I think it's been a great week for everybody. Very productive. We're overcoming some challenges out there and over the next hour, we're going to help folks unlock more supply chain challenges. Ain't that right, Billy Ray?

Billy Ray Taylor [00:02:53]:

Absolutely. Absolutely. The only constant in life is change. Right, Johnathan?

Scott W. Luton [00:02:57]:

That's the only thing we got.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:02:58]:

And so how do we overcome change is what we're going to really talk about today.

Scott W. Luton [00:03:02]:

That's right. That is right. So, Landon and Johnathan and Billy Ray, before we get to all of that, a lot of good stuff coming. Little fun warm up question here because as Billy Ray already called out, football weather is here. We're finally getting some cooler temps. Goodness. Cause it has been hot, hot, hot, at least in the Atlanta area. So you both often, all four of us are big football fans.

Scott W. Luton [00:03:23]:

In particular, Landon, Mississippi State Bulldogs is your team. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is your team. Johnathan, I want to ask you both, and you, too, Billy Ray, but starting with Landon, what's one of your favorite football memories of all of your fandom?

Landon Mumbower [00:03:39]:

Well, I. I'll be honest with you, this year, Mississippi State season is not looking that great. We're. We're off to a rough start, but. And I've had a history of that, but I tell you, some of the best environments have just been at the stadium with friends, family, tailgating, just enjoying the, the experience of being out there, the fall weather, the cool, crisp air, the, the good food. Really just spending time together out there at the, at the stadium together.

Scott W. Luton [00:04:04]:

Landon, I love. I love that picture you just painted because that's, that almost to a t. That's what I look forward to, because you don't always get all the wins you want. Sometimes you get more losses that you don't want, but the fellowship and the food and the environment is irreplaceable. So, Johnathan, that's gonna be a tough one to top. What's been one of your favorite memories?

Johnathan McRary [00:04:23]:

Well, it would be easy for me to have to, like, go all the way back to the national championship because we don't, like, get all that many of them. But. But really, I think back a few years ago, and I wasn't actually at the game for this one, but I was sitting in my living room, and Florida State was at Georgia Tech in Atlanta lining up the kick a game went in field goal. It was a tight game, and I looked at my kicks. I knew if we went to overtime, there was no way. And I said, well, tech can still win this game, but they have to block this kick and run it back. And everybody looks at me sideways. And then guess what? They blocked Cherry and ran it back.

Johnathan McRary [00:05:03]:

Sir, that's a pretty special moment.

Scott W. Luton [00:05:06]:

And that was against FSU. Is that. Is that right?

Johnathan McRary [00:05:08]:

Was against Florida State.

Scott W. Luton [00:05:09]:

Yeah, man. And that was back when FSU was winning every single division or a conference championship. They were dominant, and tech pulled all that. That big win. All right, Billy Ray, I know that we have a good time talking about football all the time here. I love your acronym, NFL. Not for long if the performance isn't there. But who's your.

Scott W. Luton [00:05:29]:

What's your. One of your favorite football memories?

Billy Ray Taylor [00:05:31]:

Actually favorite. I played in college and actually, and I'll tell everybody, I have fun with this. I would have played for the Dallas Cowboys, Scott. They just didn't want me. Okay. Very clear. But my thing is the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

Johnathan McRary [00:05:47]:

Right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:05:47]:

And that's what keeps it going motor. The thrill of victory when you win? When I would win. And just to watch the. The support, but then also the agony of defeat. That's where I grew.

Johnathan McRary [00:05:57]:

That's right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:05:57]:

That's why I grew. So that's what my favorite moments, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

Scott W. Luton [00:06:03]:

And there's. There's business analogies galore and what you just shared there. And I would also just add before we get going in our conversation, is that the tough years. Right. I'll tell you, for a lot of folks, even as we're finding out right now here in October, 2024 has been an incredibly challenging year. But those tough years are going to make those outstanding years even better. Sports, business, personal life, you name it. So.

Scott W. Luton [00:06:26]:

But Billy Ray, Landon, and Johnathan, I appreciate y'all's memories, and I look forward to learning from all of y'all. So let's do this. We're going to jump right in. We got a lot to get to here today. I want to start by level sudden, a bit. Landon and Johnathan. So, Landon, start with you. Tell us briefly, if you would, about your background and what bastian solutions does.

Scott W. Luton [00:06:43]:

In a nutshell.

Landon Mumbower [00:06:44]:

Yeah, be glad to. Thanks. So I've been with Bastian Solutions about five years. Prior to that, I did about ten years in different manufacturing environments, a couple different companies. Bastian Solutions, we're a independent integrator, and so we work with clients to develop solutions that are going to make their operations more efficient. We really look to transform the future and enhance lives through automation by supplying them with innovative processes and innovative technologies and utilizing those to make them more efficient to enhance the experience with the customer.

Scott W. Luton [00:07:25]:

Love it. You know, I love your manufacturing experiences. My favorite sector. I've been fortunate to have spent some of my own time, my career in the manufacturing industry, but also to your last part of your response there, there's all sorts of technology and equipment and automation, but you got to have the know how to make it work for. For your company, right. And that's. That is, uh, critical to the whole equation here. Um, Johnathan, what would you add about your personal journey, your professional journey? What.

Scott W. Luton [00:07:53]:

What did you spend your career doing?

Johnathan McRary [00:07:54]:

We talked about techs. I received my bachelor's of industrial engineering degree in 1993 and, uh, went into manufacturing for a very short period of time. But then I joined Lowe's companies in 1995 in their logistics planning department and have spent the last 29 years in material handling automation. While I was there, I completed my MBA and paid that off by being recruited by a consulting firm. And so since that time, I've designed and implemented systems both as a consultant and as a client of a consultant. So, yeah, that's pretty good perspective from or multiple perspectives for these automation projects.

Scott W. Luton [00:08:39]:

Agreed. And both of you all, Landon and Johnathan, your background is going to be real valuable here. Billy Ray, first off, it's important to pay off those mbas, right? You got to pay off those student loans. All of us do. And then secondly, Billy Ray, if you think of their combined experience, Landon, a ton on the manufacturing side. Johnathan, a ton on the material handling and automation side, both out for companies. And now as a consultant, I think we've got a ton of expertise to pull from here today. Billy Ray, huh?

Johnathan McRary [00:09:09]:

Yeah.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:09:10]:

Not only just expertise, I went and looked at their background.

Scott W. Luton [00:09:14]:

Scott?

Billy Ray Taylor [00:09:14]:

Credibility. There's a lot of credibility, and that's the key, right. People trust what you do. And so not only just having that expertise, but how do you have credibility? Credibility is that is done, is given by what you prove you can do.

Scott W. Luton [00:09:30]:

That's right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:09:30]:

And so great credibility.

Scott W. Luton [00:09:32]:

That is right. Not what you say you can do, but what you do. What you do. Well, Billy Ray, Landon, and Johnathan, looking forward to getting to a conversation a little more. So let's start with this. This VUCA environment is one of my favorite acronyms. And how relevant has it been in recent years? Right. VUCA V U C A.

Scott W. Luton [00:09:50]:

Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. We've had that by the truckload, it seems like lately. So this Luca environment continues for global supply chain, including the distribution industry. So there's plenty of innovative success, but there's certainly no shortage of challenges. So I want to ask you both, starting with you, Johnathan, what are some of the challenges that you've been seeing distribution leaders faced with in recent months?

Johnathan McRary [00:10:15]:

Well, the most consistent theme I've seen, it really goes back four years now, is labor. Labor availability and consistency of the labor supply just continues to be a challenge for a lot of the leaders in the supply chain, but particularly at the distribution warehousing level and keeping those operations running on a consistent basis. And then I think another one, and I know we've been using the term for a long time, omnichannel. But I just continue to see our customers who have various channels within their networks that they're trying to collapse theirs and compress those into common facilities so that they can reduce the risk within their network.

Scott W. Luton [00:11:01]:

Those are two great ones. Workforce challenges for everybody, especially distribution, warehousing, fulfillment, and then the omnichannel, meeting the customer where they are, where they want to be, and with the right things. Put a real simple definition. Billy Ray, workforce, omnichannel. What else would you add to that before I get to Landon?

Billy Ray Taylor [00:11:23]:

That optimization of all of those, that's the key.

Scott W. Luton [00:11:27]:

Right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:11:27]:

And how do you optimize that? And because, you know, Johnathan, as you said, a lot of companies I work with right now, they don't have really a labor problem, they have a retention problem. Right. The people come in and they're hiring. Just as many people are walking out the door. So that funnel. So how do you optimize that labor? How do you. I'm gonna call it the McDonald's. Right? Okay.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:11:52]:

When you walk into McDonald's, if someone gets fired two days later, they can onboard somebody, and they can learn to do those tasks without disrupting not only the product. And so that optimization, in both Landon and Johnathan, I've seen you do very well that operations optimization, because change, again, like I said, it's the only constant in life you're going to have change. How do you optimize your operations?

Scott W. Luton [00:12:21]:

Billy Ray, you lost me. At McDonald's. All I can think about is Big Macs and those delicious McDonald's french fries. Landon and Johnathan. All right, so Johnathan chaired Landon, workforce and omnichannel, challenges. No shortage of those. What challenges are you seeing logistics leaders in particular being faced with here? Landon?

Landon Mumbower [00:12:39]:

Yeah, I think coupled with the omni channel that Johnathan mentioned, we're also seeing a lot of changes in profiles associated with these order types. That's going to change how the facility is going to need to operate or meet some of these delivery timeframes. A while back, I think it might have been dubbed the Amazon effect of I want everything tomorrow. And so everybody's trying to speed up the delivery of these goods, and it's changing order times, delivery times, different things like that. And so we're having to divert to these different operational techniques.

Scott W. Luton [00:13:11]:

Yeah, that's right. And Amazon effect, of course, most folks have heard that it's been around for quite some time, but now you're seeing it impact different things. You walk into a dentist office and you expect that to work like our e commerce operations. Right. In terms of levels of service and the timeliness of service and all that stuff. That's a great call out, Landon. No shortage of complexities there for businesses that want to capitalize on opportunity and Bill array. That's a big part of our conversation here today.

Scott W. Luton [00:13:38]:

We're about to get into five strategies, especially for distribution, logistics and blockchain leaders that are considering outside resources. Five critical strategies to help you make those decisions. But Billy Ray, anything else to add on what Landon shared about different order types, different customer expectations? It's all about, hey, what have you done for me lately, it seems, huh?

Johnathan McRary [00:14:03]:

Yes.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:14:03]:

What I really liked about what Lannister said, how do you manage that complexity? That's the key. Until you did an outstanding job breaking down just that picture of how you manage that complexity.

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

That's right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:14:14]:

So that was my key thing. Well, I'm excited to hear from them on the how to.

Scott W. Luton [00:14:20]:

Well, I'm glad because we got the next hour with Landon and Johnathan and the roadshow. We're going to dive right in. Hey, really quick. Now that we've gotten a good understanding of Landon and Johnathan's background and what they do, some of the key challenges out there that's faced out in industry and with some of their customers, we get squarely into our topic, from pitfalls to profit consulting insights to optimize your operations. Now our audience has a wonderful opportunity to learn from really Landon, Johnathan and Billy Ray's expertise and experience. And as Billy Ray said, what they've been doing, not just what they talk about. I love that. It's very important.

Scott W. Luton [00:14:56]:

In particular, we're going to be dialing in again on five critical strategies that can help logistics leaders overcome these challenges that we've talked about and plenty others, especially for those organizations that are looking to bring in consulting resources to help optimize distribution centers and networks performance. I want to get started here. The first one we're going to be talking about single point responsibility. Johnathan. Hey, tell us more.

Johnathan McRary [00:15:23]:

Yeah. So to frame this sort of in the proper context, here we are talking about choosing those outside resources. So when an organization, they got a logistics and distribution problem they need to solve and they don't have those in house resources to design and procure and implement a new solution, the best place for them to start is with the consulting. Go outside to get a consulting resource. So the advantage of single point responsibility within that consulting role, it really is brought to bear when a distribution integration consultant is employed, as opposed to say an OEM consultant or an independent supply chain consultant. And the advantages having the consultant, they dig deep into the client's data and the processes develop state of the art solutions. But then the real beauty is when they transition that into an actual project and an implementation, because in the context of a distribution integration consultant, they stay with that project and you de risk and you make the process more efficient. When you transition the design and solution into a real life system that's up and running and the transition from concept to steel, if you will, is much more efficient and seamless and you reduce the risk really of losing key details that gets lost in transition translation, as opposed to if you have one group create the solution and then hand it back to the customer, and then the customer goes and finds a provider, and then they hand that solution to the provider and try to describe that things can get lost, or you have the consultant then do that for you, then you're paying that consultant extra fees to do those translations for you.

Johnathan McRary [00:17:25]:

So it's more efficient, it can be faster, and like I said, a little less risky.

Scott W. Luton [00:17:32]:

Yes. And if you got folks kind of on your last part there about stuff getting lost, if you got customers start saying in a growing tidal wave of where's my stuff? You've got lots of risk, lots of problems. And that transition you're talking about has got to be seamless. It's a great call out, amongst other things, including finding the right implementation, help the execution, help a lot of organizations struggle with that. Billy Ray, lots of folks have the great ideas, the latest and greatest technologies, new processes, but the ability to find resources that could implement and help you execute to reach out of the possible, that's the billion dollar question, huh?

Billy Ray Taylor [00:18:10]:

It is, it is. It's that connected business model. Right? It's not just about the strategies. Who owns what in that strategy.

Scott W. Luton [00:18:17]:

That's right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:18:17]:

When you talk about in that type of alignment, therefore that's what makes it easy to execute. And you know, Scott, a lot of times I talked to companies and I say strategy plus execution equals results. And they said, so then why do so many companies fail? Companies are not really clear on who owns what in that strategy. And so if you have a right who owns what, you got that you can manage these. These changes in business. And so, Johnathan, you described that really well, right. How do you connect all these things so they're not competing or conflicting against each other?

Scott W. Luton [00:18:49]:

That's right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:18:50]:

They're complimenting.

Scott W. Luton [00:18:51]:

That's right. Single point of responsibility. Uh, Landon, what else would you add to this first one?

Landon Mumbower [00:18:56]:

Yeah, I don't know that I would so much add as maybe just kind of round out the discussion a little bit. There's probably about three things we could take, main takeaways, if you will. But there's. There's clear accountability when you've got that single point of responsibility. So you've got that. That clear, accountable person or team that you're working with on this project, problem, decision, whatever it is. Secondly, you get streamlined communication, right. You've got that same.

Landon Mumbower [00:19:22]:

That single point, that one place to go, that one hand to shake, and then finally, efficient decision making, right. So we can. We can work through that, uh, that single point to make those decisions more efficient, sometimes faster, which helps in the decision making process.

Scott W. Luton [00:19:36]:

Yep. Well said, landon. You put that politely. One hand to shake. Uh, all three of y'all may have heard, at least I've heard my journey, one neck to break, but I'll leave.

Johnathan McRary [00:19:48]:

These rather politically correct.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:19:50]:

My boss, you said, oh, one throw the choke, right?

Scott W. Luton [00:19:53]:

Yeah, very. That's what I was trying to hit. Billy Ray, you said it better. All right, good stuff. That's just the first one single point, responsibility. The second we're talking about in these five key strategies, analytics and conceptual design. Landon, tell us more.

Landon Mumbower [00:20:08]:

Yeah, really, with analytics and conceptual design, we want to take this problem or this issue or this area that we want to improve, and we want to build a solid foundation to start from. And we do this with analytics, it does us no good to walk around and guess at what may happen or what growth may look like or things like that. When we have the tools, as this integration consultant, to analyze data, analyze a lot of it, kind of like will was just talking about with AI and data lakes and things like that, there's a lot of tools at our disposal to give a real firm foundation for what we're designing to. What are the areas that we need to solve. We need to use data driven insights as opposed to guesses and assumptions. Those, at the end of the day, aren't going to give us a solid to really work from. Whereas if we take the time we analyze the data, we work through it. We have that firm foundation to drive those data driven insights.

Landon Mumbower [00:21:03]:

We can also identify key metrics for technology selection or for process performance indicators. There's KPI's key performance indicators. There's lots of things that we could dig out of this data to help us understand. What's our pick rate? What's our pack rate? What's our movement rate? Where are we inefficient? Where could we gain some more grounds, things like that? And then finally, it's user centric. Everybody's operation is different. It's unique to them. They're going to do something a little bit different than somebody else, even within the same industries. And so we have to take this data approach to try and formulate it to them to make sure that we're fixing their problem and not just a general problem.

Johnathan McRary [00:21:47]:

Oh, man. Landon, we could.

Scott W. Luton [00:21:49]:

We could spend 2 hours on just your response there, including how you're opening salvo, kind of, as Corinne Bursa likes to say here, let's focus on facts, not feelings.

Landon Mumbower [00:21:59]:

That's right.

Scott W. Luton [00:21:59]:

So important, Johnathan, what would you add when it comes to analytics and design?

Johnathan McRary [00:22:04]:

I like to use the word dispassionate. You know, when you have a data driven solution, you're not going with your gut, you're not going with experience. You're going what. What story is the current situation of your current customer? What story is that telling? And without any type of seat of your pants, you're developing those solid solutions that really address the issue as it's defined by the data and the analysis.

Scott W. Luton [00:22:32]:

Well said, Johnathan. No planning about a seat of your pants, as you put it, Johnathan. Like that old adage, Billy Raydeh, when it comes to facts, not feelings. Looking at the data, when it comes to eliminating, guessing and doing more calculated, educated bets that every business leader has got a place. What'd you hear there between Landon and Johnathan?

Billy Ray Taylor [00:22:54]:

Actually, I'm gonna go back to one of my mom's old mama's story. She says, you know, her son was. Boy, let me tell you something. You're shooting and then you're aiming, right?

Scott W. Luton [00:23:04]:

You're shooting and then you're aiming.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:23:06]:

Get the facts first. Get the facts will allow you to zero in on the target.

Scott W. Luton [00:23:12]:

That's right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:23:13]:

And so what you just broke down was, right? Taking those emotionals, those emotions out and getting the facts to help you get that source of truth, that source of really what we have to do. And Landon, I think you broke it down really precise on how do you get to those facts so you can make credible decisions.

Johnathan McRary [00:23:32]:

Yeah.

Scott W. Luton [00:23:33]:

Keep the mama stories coming, Billy Ray. My favorite parts of your repertoire. All right, let's go to number three, and that is process before automation. It kind of goes back to Billy Ray's point a minute ago. Landon, tell us more.

Johnathan McRary [00:23:48]:

Yeah.

Landon Mumbower [00:23:49]:

So coming out of data analysis, right, we want to make sure that we don't just create numbers for numbers sake, right? Having, having good numbers does absolutely nothing for us understanding the process and what we're going to be applying those values to. What do those values mean? Not just what is the value. That's really what we try to push as these integration consultants is we really work to work on understanding the current workflows, how they currently operate. And we can get that again from that data approach. What can we standardize? What can we shift? What's a better process here? And maybe that doesn't require automation or a capital expenditure. Maybe it's just the way we do something that can improve it. So it's not always about, let's buy the new shiny, cool robot that shows up on our door and looks amazing. Maybe we can just pick a different way, release orders a different way, use what we have already to make a better process.

Landon Mumbower [00:24:45]:

So let's, let's take the time, look at the process, see what we can improve, and then what's left over that we can't or we still need to get gains on? Maybe that's where we take the step on automation. But understanding those differences and being able to identify them is really key in beginning that journey after the data analytics.

Scott W. Luton [00:25:03]:

Excellent point, Landon. And when you started, you're talking about all data for the sake of having data. It took me back to my calculus days. Oh, that was some tough days. I didn't know what numbers were coming at me, but they all beat me up. So we got to focus on the right data and what we're trying to do. Johnathan, what would you add to number three here?

Johnathan McRary [00:25:22]:

Yeah. So, well, in terms of calculus days, the problems with, there was more letters, right? Then there were numbers.

Scott W. Luton [00:25:28]:

Maybe that's why I did so poorly.

Johnathan McRary [00:25:31]:

Johnathan, again, it's just kind of echoing what Landon said. It's like you really got to understand the flow of, and always when we're talking about data earlier, but now you're talking about the operational data, the flow of the operational data and the flow of the personnel within the building. And how can we make sure that, you know, automation, we don't automate just for automation sake. The automation doesn't get in the way of the people because ultimately, at the end of the day, we still have to process those orders and there's going to be folks involved.

Scott W. Luton [00:26:02]:

Yeah, that's right. Billy Ray, we're halfway through this list. Well, 60% through the list. I'm showing you all my bad math skills. But what I like about this so far that Landon and Johnathan are sharing the other Ray, is it's kind of like two parallel streams here. We got one where we're offering insights on how to select and work with the right types of consultants for your operations. But then a lot of what they're sharing is applicable to leadership 101 in supply chain. Billy Ray, what'd you hear there at number three, which is process before automation?

Billy Ray Taylor [00:26:38]:

Well, process is critical.

Scott W. Luton [00:26:39]:

You're right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:26:40]:

It's proving the concept is proving the method. If you don't go into the process, you'll automate stupidity. You automate. So you have to get it right. And you do that getting it right consistently through the process and that's where your standards are developed. Then you move to automation. That's right. Because it's that mass, that process is a critical element of how you do.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:27:04]:

It's how we work so we can win. So. Right. I've been a part of that. So I'm speaking from experience. I've automated stupidity.

Scott W. Luton [00:27:13]:

I think we all, we all have. I bet. I know. I've done plenty of that. And, you know, kind of bringing it forward here to 2024. It's the golden age of artificial intelligence. I know we're talk, we're mostly talking about automation, maybe in a more tangible sense, but there's a lot of burnout being created and frustration being created because a lot of leaders are saying, oh, I've got to have AI, but we don't know exactly what we're trying to do with it. Not everybody has been lots and lots of wonderful use cases as it relates to AI and Genai.

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

But we got to know what we're doing and use the right tool, not just the hottest, most popular tool. Okay, so number four is we're moving next. And Johnathan, we're going to get you to tell us about objectivity in automation selection. Selection doesn't get enough attention, folks. Johnathan, tell us more.

Johnathan McRary [00:27:58]:

Yeah, so, and again, I'm going to focus a little bit on selection of your service provider. In this particular case, what are the advantages of having a good consultant that's more associated with an integrator? Because a good integrator, they've got relationships with all the best technology providers in the industry and they're able to draw from those relationships not only their own expertise within that consulting group, but also those relationships that they have with their suppliers. That they can go and dive deep and get the best analytics and planning of certain solutions for the complex problems. So the integration solutions, they really remain focused on what's best for the customer, not necessarily what's best for them to sell a particular product or leveraging limited knowledge of all of the different technologies that are out there, but really going deeper and having a deeper understanding of what all is available within the market.

Scott W. Luton [00:29:01]:

You know, as you're sharing that for some reason, supply chain fiduciary is the idea that came to my mind, something that's right for the customer, not so we can sell you something or say the biggest price tag or say the latest and greatest. What's the problem? What's going to delight the customer? And let's keep it right focused right there. Landon, you're nodding your head. What else would you like to add when it comes to objectivity, true objectivity, in automation selection.

Landon Mumbower [00:29:26]:

Yeah. I tell you, it's one of the favorite. One of my favorite parts of being an integration consultant is not only going to multiple different sites and opportunities and visiting these facilities and seeing how things operate. As an engineer, I think we all just love that. But really being able to remain vendor neutral and get to explore all the technologies, get to compare them, get to understand them, so that when it comes to application within a process or two specific data, I can apply that to your business and your operation specifically. While remaining vendor neutral. As integration consultants, we can work with the criteria based evaluation and not just what the hottest, shiniest, coolest, newest thing is, it's really finding that relationship and working together in a collaborative space and solving your problem, not just a problem.

Scott W. Luton [00:30:20]:

Yeah. And solving it with the customer in mind first, rather than the sale in mind first. Kind of. You put it a lot better than I did, but I wanted to kind of share what I heard.

Landon Mumbower [00:30:30]:

Working together.

Scott W. Luton [00:30:33]:

That's right.

Johnathan McRary [00:30:34]:

All right.

Scott W. Luton [00:30:34]:

We're allies here. Hey, Billy Ray, what you hear there, when it comes to that powerful objectivity.

Johnathan McRary [00:30:40]:

Yeah.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:30:41]:

When you obviously see it's partnerships, right. It's even, when you're not even consulting. Partnerships and a good partner is transparent.

Johnathan McRary [00:30:48]:

Right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:30:48]:

When you're talking objectivity, transparency is the key. And Scott, you know, I should say it with leaders, and I tell them all the time, and don't take this literally, but I tell people when I'm. When I'm partnering with a consultant, what you described to me was that transparency for objectivities, right? So I can tell you the truth, or you can treat me like you do the lady in the grocery store the baby carriage.

Scott W. Luton [00:31:10]:

Right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:31:10]:

You walk up and you lie, right. Just to get the business. Oh, the baby's so cute, so precious. But when you walk away, what do you think? Oh, dang, that's an ugly baby, right?

Scott W. Luton [00:31:19]:

And some.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:31:20]:

You're not helping me because the baby's not ugly. I just didn't do the hair. I didn't do those things. That's objectivity. That's what I looked for. And when I looked at your history, that's what you're good at. You're actually good at having those partnerships, that level of transparency, and that's what moves you forward.

Scott W. Luton [00:31:38]:

So I was wondering where you were going when you added that disclaimer on the front end of don't do what I'm about to say. There's a great Seinfeld episode we've talked about all the time about the ugly baby episode on Seinfeld.

Johnathan McRary [00:31:50]:

But.

Scott W. Luton [00:31:51]:

But kidding aside, being frank, and sometimes being frank involves communicating a less than ideal message, but you got to deliver it, right? We got to be honest as we look for more and more business success. Apache and success. You name it. All right. That powerful objectivity. That was a good one. That was number four. So, number five, there's not a person alive today, personally, professionally, supply chain.

Scott W. Luton [00:32:15]:

Otherwise, that's not been fighting through change management. I'll tell you what, Johnathan. Tell us as it relates, though, to leveraging resources to drive distribution center performance. Your thoughts around change management there.

Johnathan McRary [00:32:28]:

Yeah. So I'd like to maybe start with an analogy so I can get into your data. We can figure out your problem. We can see where you want to go in the future, and then I can design you the greatest looking, fastest ferrari you've ever seen, and then I can sell you on that Ferrari, and you can buy it from me. But then I don't teach you how to drive a stick. And the Ferrari is not going to do you too much good. You can't drive the stick. That's right.

Johnathan McRary [00:33:00]:

Let's look at the Ferrari as if it's a great solution with a highly elevated warehouse. There's lots of things that need to take place. There's testing, there's training, particularly the training piece. Right? There's. There's the back end, the software side of it for the WMs. So the order management, all of those things. So what's really great about working with an integrator, where you got the consultants that started at the very beginning and know what that solution needs to look like, and then help shepherd that all the way through design engineering of the detailed controls, engineering, software engineering, all of those types of things. That consultant can remain the voice of the customer all the way through and then at the end help design the training and the implementation plan to make sure that when you turn that system on, it's going to perform.

Johnathan McRary [00:33:54]:

And not just the system perform, but the customer is going to perform the way they want to perform. It's just so important to be able to carry that initial design concept all the way through and make sure that you get what you got.

Scott W. Luton [00:34:09]:

So to start with, well said, Johnathan. And I love going back to the front end. Other than the Ferrari example, that's a good one. Testing, training, tech, interoperability, amongst the factors that we got to get right so we can delight the customer for sure. Landon, what would you add as it relates to change management?

Landon Mumbower [00:34:29]:

Yeah, the number one thing I would tack on with change management is just communicate, right? I think Billy Ray said it, said it earlier, change is inevitable and it's always happening. And so what can we do to help with that? Management of the change, and that's constantly communicate, whether it's what change is coming, what changes might come, what does it look like? I think transparency was mentioned earlier. There can also be communication within the different groups associated with a project. One of the cool things about integration consulting is that it's going to touch a large breadth of items, right? It's not just a piece of automation or a piece of hardware. It can be software installation, hardware engineering processes, new interfaces, things like that. And you'll have to work with all these people, all that change, if all of them are communicating well and it kind of flows back through the five things we talked about with single point responsibility and objectivity and things like that, it can then be communicated well from start to finish. And it's kept in that breadth and wrapped all together.

Scott W. Luton [00:35:34]:

Yeah, man. What's old is new again, and as relevant as ever, and that's communication. And I think, you know, it's interesting, Billy Ray, and I'm glad Landon really spiked the football on that, because in this day and age where we have got more ways to communicate than ever before, right? It's not just a phone anymore. It's not just a carrier pigeon or whatever those things were called. We got slack. Email, text, things I heard of, my kids are throwing messages at me. But still, we have a timeless challenge of communicating effectively, especially in this ever fast moving world where velocity is picking up by the hour. Billy Ray, change management.

Scott W. Luton [00:36:14]:

Johnathan and Landon both spoke to it.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:36:16]:

What'd you hear there actually, it's that little people process product, communicating on the how, the how we're going to do that. And then basically, as Johnathan talked about.

Johnathan McRary [00:36:31]:

Right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:36:32]:

Being very deliberate, right. You're actually coming in and saying, here are the things we need to do in reference to people process and product. And so when you talk in the end, that's what I hear. You were breaking those down in those conversations. And that's where change happens.

Scott W. Luton [00:36:50]:

Right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:36:51]:

I got a big lesson from my son, Scott. He told me, he said, Billy, you know biz dad, you know business, you know lean manufacturing. But you're trying to basically get me to understand it on a cassette tape or you're trying to get me to understand it on an eight track. You need to figure out how to stream it.

Scott W. Luton [00:37:07]:

That's right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:37:08]:

And then I'll buy into it. I'll get that. And great leaders that are talking about change.

Johnathan McRary [00:37:13]:

See, we want them.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:37:15]:

We want to teach the listener what we know or the learner what we know, instead of meeting the learner where they're at.

Johnathan McRary [00:37:20]:

Right.

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

That's right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:37:22]:

Who are you?

Scott W. Luton [00:37:22]:

Learner. It's a different twist on omnichannel, kind of. Billy, I love that. I don't know, I love that musical analogy. It works so well and kind of plays. Also, Scott shares here, so important to share the why and the how. Both of them, especially why folks want to know why we're doing what we're doing, right?

Johnathan McRary [00:37:40]:

That's.

Scott W. Luton [00:37:41]:

That's one of the ways that we can, we effectively answer that question. We can get more buy in momentum and move forward faster, more successfully. A lot of good stuff there. Landon, Johnathan. So, folks, we laid out the five key strategies there, right? Single point responsibility analytics and conceptual design process before automation, objectivity and automation, selection and change management. We saved the grand slam for last there, Johnathan and Landon, because change management, goodness gracious, it is everywhere. Hey, before we get to some resources and connecting you all with the audience and stuff, I'd like to ask each of you all, let's talk about outcomes and use cases. Because as we started, I think Billy Ray or Johnathan said it, maybe Landon.

Scott W. Luton [00:38:25]:

It's not about what we say we can do. It's not about those grand visions and plans. All those are helpful, but it's about what we're getting done. So I want to ask you each, starting with Johnathan, what's an example, one of your favorite recent projects that you've been a part of?

Johnathan McRary [00:38:42]:

Yeah, I really like to. One that we did a couple years ago. We had two customers really in the end, because our primary customer was a third party logistics provider, and ultimately their customer ended up being our customer through them as well. So we were able to serve, too. But the way that started out, Washington, the third party logistics provider was actually bidding for that business to start with. And they had an RFP, and they shared the RFP with us, and they said, we would like to partner with you to help us win this business. And so we looked at that and we did a fairly traditional design because it was an omnichannel. It was retail apparel that was not just retail, but also direct to consumer apparel, all coming to him, one inbound flow, multiple outbound flows.

Johnathan McRary [00:39:37]:

So we did something fairly traditional because we did know they were three pl, and we put a design, we had about seven days, by the way, to seven days. Just process, process, all that. Put a design in front of them that then they fit in a proposal of their own. Long story short, they won that business. And once they did and the dust settled and they took a deep breath and they kind of went away for a little while and they started thinking about, okay, how we're going to implement this. Well, they are a third party provider, and they were looking at this solution that we designed very specifically for the problem. And in their world, they have to think kind of long term. And they're like, we could lose this contract after five years.

Johnathan McRary [00:40:13]:

And I've got this piece of equipment now that's designed specifically for this customer. How do I take that and make that look a little different? So they had the business, they kind of changed the design. They went away and they actually talked to an OEM about how they felt like the best way to solve their problems. And it went with a particular type of technology within a building. So, you know, three pls, they tend to build the standard 35, 40 foot building. And those, so they were looking at, I'll just tell you, they were looking at a shuttle, like a mini load type or shuttle case shuttle type solution that they were going to try to flow through both retail distribution and on the direct to consumer distribution theory, and they were going to put that in a 35 foot building. They called us back as a, as a courtesy to us for us helping them win that business and said, hey, we're going to put these shuttles in. Do you want to try to bid on it? Remember, I was on the call with our primary salesperson with them, and I said, you're still building a 35 foot building? And they were like, yes.

Johnathan McRary [00:41:15]:

I said, okay. And they were like, oh, by the way, we're getting our final quote in from OEM provider next. Like next week. This was like the week of Christmas, and it was the first week of January, and it was like, do you want to. I said, well, when you get that number in first week of January and you don't feel comfortable with it, give us a call. And so in the first week of January, they called us back and we came up with a different solution for them and ended up creating. We won that business, and we created at what at the time was probably the highest throughput auto store on the planet, really. And so we were able to implement that with them, along with a lot of other equipment.

Johnathan McRary [00:41:57]:

But that was just one of those things where we provided a service, and then we kept our consultants available. We simulated that system for them before they went live on two different types of simulation. One was just their outbound from the auto store. The other was the entire, the entire building. And just from a consulting standpoint, we stayed engaged with our implementation team through that the whole time.

Scott W. Luton [00:42:22]:

Johnathan, I appreciate you sharing that one. Landon, coming to you next. But one of the themes I heard there in Johnathan's story, Billy Ray Landon and Johnathan, is what works today, your needs today, it's great meets the mark, delights the customer, delivers all sorts of results, but that's going to constantly change. And as I was checking out some use cases that y'all been a part of, that seemed to be a regular theme. You solve it today, but then the needs got to evolve and y'all stay engaged. Kind of what you were talking about, Johnathan, to rework the solution, to meet the growing needs of a business. Right. And helping that business scale effectively, operationally.

Scott W. Luton [00:43:03]:

You name it. So, Landon, that was a good one. What about you? What's one of your recent projects you've worked on that you've really enjoyed?

Landon Mumbower [00:43:10]:

Yeah. Yeah. Recently had the opportunity to work with a spare parts supplier, but worked with them in a national network. So we worked at a base facility that they had to begin with. And really the optimization play there was to reduce the amount of touches within the building itself. And so we worked through a couple of different pieces of automation, three or four different types that we were able to tie together. And through utilizing them in different processes and changing some of the ways that they do things today, we were able to reduce significant over 50% of the touches done within the facility. And then because of, you know, tacking onto what Johnathan said and staying with them and working through that future state, we've continued to work with them in other sites in their network to where now we're almost talking with them consistently over the course of multiple years, helping them improve as changes have come, as different site requirements have come across.

Landon Mumbower [00:44:07]:

What can we do to continually support and improve your operations, Landon?

Billy Ray Taylor [00:44:13]:

I love that one.

Scott W. Luton [00:44:13]:

And Billy Ray, I'm coming to you to get your thoughts here, but two quick things I love from Landon's example is, number one, with less touches, usually you can make some capacity increases and optimize there. And then secondly, most importantly perhaps, is we make our team members days easier. And that is the North Star in so many different ways where the employees can win and the business can win together. That's a great intersection. Billy Ray, what'd you hear there between those two? Examples of some of the work that Johnathan and Landon been a part of.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:44:46]:

And so solution based, right. It's not just theory Johnathan and Landon talked about is the solutions that drive that product flow and material handling really compacted in and that all that encompasses the change management. What I really like about what you talked about is the ownership. The ownership you have, when you talk about the single point of that contact, that type of, I always say the absence of ownership comes blame when I got a partner like you that owns it. You're not blaming me. You're helping me.

Scott W. Luton [00:45:19]:

That's right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:45:19]:

And so that's that point. That was my key takeaway and just really succinct. It's that solution based product flow and material handling. And by doing that, that's what makes the job easier for the others.

Johnathan McRary [00:45:32]:

Yep.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:45:32]:

And a healthy and simple.

Johnathan McRary [00:45:34]:

And simple.

Scott W. Luton [00:45:35]:

And hey, simplicity cannot be overvalued in, in this day and age. We're all living in here. Good stuff. Landon, Johnathan and Billy Ray. All right, let's make sure folks know how to connect with you all that we're going to have a resource to share and then we're going to get one of Billy Ray Taylor's at the key takeaways from today's conversation. We're going to have a rapid finish here today. Landon, how can folks connect with you in the Bastian Solutions team?

Landon Mumbower [00:46:02]:

Yeah, I think LinkedIn is pretty easy. You're all here. You can probably find me real easy through these links, also through the Bastian Solutions website as well. Another easy way to find us.

Scott W. Luton [00:46:13]:

It is just that easy and simple. And Johnathan McRary, how about you? How can folks track you down?

Johnathan McRary [00:46:18]:

Uh, Tim? Yeah, LinkedIn is probably the best way. And then, like Landon said, bastiansolutions.com is at the front door.

Scott W. Luton [00:46:27]:

That's the place to be. It's where the cool kids are, uh, checking out. Um. All right, so, Billy Ray, we've covered a lot of ground, right? We started with wealth football, but we also started with some of the challenges we're seeing out there, some of them that just aren't getting away or they're getting worse in some cases. Then we went through the five critical strategies, including what touched on consulting best practices. Right. But also I would call it some supply chain leadership best practices, kind of parallel paths. And then we've kind of talked about some examples that Johnathan Landon.

Scott W. Luton [00:47:00]:

Johnathan Landon and the bastian solutions team been part of. Billy Ray, if you had to call out one of your key takeaways, the patented key takeaways, what would that be?

Billy Ray Taylor [00:47:10]:

Well, it's simple. Both. Let me thank you both, Johnathan and Landon, here's what you did to me when I was taking my notes and Scott and I go back and forth. It's how to win. And what you did is you actually broke that down. And after the how to work, how to win and where the focus.

Johnathan McRary [00:47:29]:

Right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:47:30]:

And that's a key element, how to work.

Johnathan McRary [00:47:34]:

Right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:47:34]:

So where to focus, those are two big things.

Scott W. Luton [00:47:37]:

Right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:47:37]:

The plan. Plan. Do check that, but more. So let me start. What you did is how to win.

Scott W. Luton [00:47:43]:

That's right.

Johnathan McRary [00:47:43]:

Right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:47:44]:

And so that's what you broke down. And your examples were, you point out in our word of focus, when you go inside organizations, you're transparently clear on what you need to be focusing on.

Johnathan McRary [00:47:57]:

Right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:47:57]:

And then that from the customer's voice too, it's. And so. Right. You're being transparent around what the customer thinks.

Johnathan McRary [00:48:05]:

Right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:48:05]:

It's like me. Right. I can't ask my dad how to treat a woman. I gotta ask my mom.

Johnathan McRary [00:48:11]:

Right.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:48:12]:

But she doesn't know anything.

Scott W. Luton [00:48:14]:

Right. That's the questioner.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:48:16]:

That's all I'm saying.

Scott W. Luton [00:48:18]:

All right, fair enough. Hey, those are great, great questions, great topics. And we covered a lot of that here today. And I like how you kind of packs it up, you know, how to work, how to win, how to scale, how to grow, how to create an environment where your team members can find more success easily, how we talked a lot about how to delight the customers. Of course, this is what they do is so customer facing that we've got to have a smarter approach at finding efficiencies and finding operational gains and continuous improvement gains. So I appreciate the work you all do here and looking forward to having you all back soon. I want to thank Landon Mumbauer, manager of consulting with Bastian Solutions. Landon, really appreciate you being here, Scott, thank you.

Landon Mumbower [00:49:00]:

Billy Ray, it's been a pleasure.

Billy Ray Taylor [00:49:02]:

My pleasure.

Scott W. Luton [00:49:03]:

Johnathan McRary, also manager of consulting with Bastian Solutions. Johnathan, great to see you.

Johnathan McRary [00:49:09]:

Thank you, gentlemen. It's been a pleasure.

Scott W. Luton [00:49:11]:

I really appreciate you being here. Folks, again, connect with Landon and Johnathan and Billy Ray for that matter. Also, don't forget about this resource. If anything they touched on here today is speaking to your organization, speaking to your needs, speaking to what you're looking for. Check out that link and then have a conversation with Landon and Johnathan. I've had several of them, and I know that you will enjoy those conversations as much as I have. But whatever you do, right, you got to take one thing, just one thing that Landon or Johnathan or Billy Ray touched on here today and put it in the action. It's about deeds of, not words.

Scott W. Luton [00:49:45]:

And on behalf of our entire team here at Supply Chain Now, Scott Luton, challenging you - do good, give forward, be the change that's needed. We'll see you next time. Right back here at Supply Chain Now. Thanks for buying.

Narrator [00:49:57]:

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