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

Scott Luton and the hall of famer, Jake Barr here with you on Supply Chain Now.

Welcome to today's live stream.

Hey, Jake, how you doing today?

I'm working on my tans, Scott.

Nothing could be better.

Now, what beach if you want to give us a general vicinity.

Where are you at?

7 beautiful miles of white pristine sand down here in Mexico.

Oh, outstanding.

I'm very jealous.

I'm green with envy, Jake.

But hey, even better than that.

Almost.

Not quite.

Well, hey, it's the Buzz today, folks, where every Monday, 12 noon Eastern time, we discuss a variety of news and developments across global supply chain and global business News that matters is what we like to call it.

And the Buzz, folks, is sponsored by our friends over at epg, a leading global provider of unified supply chain execution software.

EPG has over a thousand team members across 23 locations worldwide serving over 1600 customers.

Learn more about what EPG can do for your team at epg.

Com.

Okay, Jake, got a big show teed up here today.

We're going to be talking about a few supply chain trends that keep on your radar here in 2026.

Hey, the Supreme Court has a big decision on tariffs that may be released this week.

We'll talk about it.

Given the energy demand spike, we're also going to be discussing one big development in the new chapter of nuclear energy.

We're going to get a supply chain leadership pulse.

Check with the one and only Jake Barr.

All that and much, much more.

And in about 12 minutes or so, who's counting?

We're bringing in a special guest.

Tanzel Uden with manifest is with us here today.

You can enjoy his perspective.

I promise.

Time, event on board.

That's right, Jake.

And we may even squeeze a little bit of basketball, Jake.

You think we'll have time for that today?

Always.

All right, so folks, stay tuned for a big edition of the Buzz powered by epg right here today on Supply Chain Now.

Okay, so before we bring on Tanzel Jake here on the Buzz powered by epg.

I'm going to tackle three things on the front end and we're gonna start, Jake, with one of my favorite recent additions of.

With that said, and I love this quote here from indra, the former CEO of PepsiCo.

While supply chains represent the biggest cost to a company, they're also its biggest Opportunity.

I love that.

Well, folks, in this edition with that said, we let off with January being National Human Trafficking Prevention Month here in the US So stay tuned.

We'll talk more about that later.

In today's show.

We're we offered up a few news nuggets, Jake, including ups, continues to shake up its network, driven in part by its reduction of Amazon volume.

Big reduction.

Avery Dennison research shows that this isn't so good.

Global food waste is gonna reach $540 billion in 2026, Jake.

That's up 14 billion from last year.

And then one last thing before I get Jake's take on what that said, we featured our dear friends from the American Logistics Aid Network doing some big things.

They're tackling some big needs now, if you don't know.

The Allen team connects nonprofit organizations responding to disasters with the logistics, expertise and resources of the private sector.

We invite you to learn more about open cases and projects and you can see where your support is needed and do something about it.

In the most recent edition with that said, we included a couple specific needs that they had this week.

You'll also find them, with that said, upcoming programs, tools, resources, you name it.

So make sure you subscribe.

So, Jake, did you get a chance to dive into with that said this week?

Yep, I did.

And I've got some of my pithy takeaways as always.

Okay, I'm hanging on to my socks.

I'm ready to roll.

Well, I mean, if we're going to hit the human trafficking piece later, I'm compelled, Scott, because I work with a team that's Tim Cinsonake I want to give a shout out to and the TMS first folks down in Texas, they do in a remarkable event every year to raise funds for the victims of human trafficking.

You know, one thing is the ability to limit it and reduce it.

The important piece is to extract people that have been captured and really kidnapped into it, right?

That's right.

And then how to get them the support services they need to get and rebuild their lives.

When human trafficking first hit my radar a few years back, I was of the ilk like I think many are.

They don't know the size of the problem.

Even modern slavery and human trafficking, which are travesty of cousins, we're talking, it impacts millions and millions of people.

It's just incredible.

It's the most, it's the most mentally disturbing thing.

If you ever have the opportunity, I encourage you to get involved and to actually go to an event.

If you literally meet some of the survivors of it.

It will change your life.

It sure will.

And we're going to touch on more this more once Tanzel joins us here in a few minutes.

But folks, I'll put two things on your radar and you'll find these.

And with that said, tat, formerly Truckers Against Trafficking, They're a great nonprofit doing big things across the U.S. tatnonprofit.org is our URL and Hope for justice, doing big things globally in the fight against human trafficking and modern slavery.

So you'll find more.

And with that said, and we're going to touch on Human trafficking and National Human Trafficking Prevention Month momentarily.

Jake, really quick.

I want to share a couple links before I switch over and get a supply chain leadership pulse check from you.

I want to start with Tricia.

As always, she's making it easy sharing a few links.

Folks, you can click on the link right there and dive in yourself to the latest edition of.

With that said, she also shared the link.

To learn more about Allen, the American Logistics Aid Network, you can go to allenaid.org and again, you can find specific projects where they're looking for your help.

And with that said, and Rachel.

Hey, Scott, Jake and Trisha, Rachel listening in from Holland, Michigan.

Rachel, outstanding.

I wonder if it's as cold up there as it is here in Atlanta today.

And Alan Jacques, the Rodney Dangerfield of global supply chain.

Alan, as always, great to see you here today.

All right.

So, Jake, it's time for a patented supply chain leadership pulse check with the one and only Jake Barr, the Hall of Famer.

He doesn't just have a great jump shot, but he also moves supply chain mountains like none other.

So, Jake, when you think of chief supply chain officers and what their priorities are here, as we're not Even in the third week of 2026, what comes.

To mind, they're all going absolutely bonkers at the moment because the level of instability has ratcheted up once again.

So it's the we love to call it, Scott, as you know, the new never normal.

Right.

And so what did we add just the last ten plus days?

Right.

Well, we added now additional shipping and constraints around Latin America, Right, for the movement of goods and freight and services and how you run your operations because of what's occurred not only in Venezuela, but what we also potentially have potentially unfolding in other geopolitical areas.

So unfortunately, and we have this pending, as I call it, decision on the existing tariffs that the Supreme Court could potentially rule on this week.

And I'm going to put Vegas money On the fact that they won't.

Right.

They don't want to touch it with a 20 foot pole.

Is that what you're suggesting, Jake?

If you go back and take a look at the Supreme Court rulings against sitting presidents in the first, you know, in the first year, first full year of the term, you see, they delay them like the plague in order to give some boundary width right.

To stabilizing new policies, et cetera, et cetera.

But this one unfortunately is having a knock on effect.

The longer we delay this, the more instability there is there.

And it's a punishing effect around how you're running business operations.

I can't tell you.

Literally, I talked to dozens of company executives a week who are all literally bleeding money at the moment because they're caught in a catch 22 of wait a minute, I can't carry this anymore, I can't eat it.

I have to recover it from a cost recovery standpoint and pricing.

And so we've got just a massive economic factors that are really swirling in the heads.

And then, you know, Scott, we've got to make simple decisions, which is, where am I going to make something, where am I going to source something, how am I going to put it together and how am I going to get it to market?

It's a dog's breakfast of issues right now for those that are running the C suites.

I feel like I have just traipsed through the minds of CSGOs everywhere.

But I've also learned a new phrase, a dog's breakfast.

That doesn't sound too tasty, Jake.

It isn't at the moment, that's for sure.

All right, folks, stick around.

We're going to dive in a little bit more into the what might be a pending Supreme Court decision, very consequential decision this coming Wednesday morning.

So stick around.

All right, so let's do one more thing, Jake, before we bring on our outstanding guests here today.

And this is very timely, folks.

We invite you to join us in Las Vegas for manifest 2026.

We had a great time last year.

In fact, Jake's going to be with us this year.

We're going to be panel discussions, networking, putting our finger on the pulse for market intel, interviewing folks from across the globe.

But folks, time is running out.

In less than a month, Manifest is going to bring 7,200 attendees, 400 plus speakers and 175 plus sessions to Las Vegas.

You can lock in your spot alongside industry leaders before prices increase.

Friday, January 23rd.

That's just around the corner.

Less than two weeks away.

And if you register before then, you're gonna save 700 bucks off the retail rate.

We're dropping a link right there because Tricia doesn't miss the beat ever.

Click that link and you can register easily and take advantage of the discount.

If you're really wanting to get insights and intel about what your peer group across verticals are doing in the area of physical distrib.

This is it.

This is it.

This is it.

I think that was a tour at some point, a musical tour at some point.

But nevertheless, folks, we'll see you in Vegas at Manifest.

Which brings me.

Jake brings both of us and all of our great SCM Global fan members out there to our guest segment here on the Buzz.

Speaking of Manifest, we're delighted to bring on a friend and special guest here on the Buzz.

Powered by EPG Tanzil Uden is Senior Vice President, Content and Partnership at Manifest.

Now in this role he spearheads content audience development for the event.

In particular, working with.

We were just talking with Jake about senior leaders.

Otanza works with CSCOs, COOs and CPOs and other supply chain leadership Personas that take the stage and attend with their teams.

And prior to the several plates he runs today at Manifest.

Prior to Joining manifest in 2021, Tanzil led programming and shipper related efforts for numerous events in the last mile, urban logistics and cold chain spaces, respectively.

So let's welcome in Tanzil Udden with Manifest.

Hey.

Hey Tanzel.

How you doing today?

Hello, Scott.

Hello, Jake.

I'm doing well.

I am so glad you could take a quick break.

Jake.

He's got a.

He's moving fast right now, right?

It's game time.

It's go time.

Oh, it's go time.

In fact, he's got a new baby.

I'm wanting to figure out whether he's actually going to strap the baby to his chest and be a first time participant at Manifest.

I'm with you.

Hey, I'll be taking snapshots at Tanza, so we shall see.

And kidding aside, happy birthday to Zayed.

Is that right, Ziad?

Yes.

Ziad turns one this week.

My apologies, Ziad.

One years old this week.

That's awesome.

Hey, really quick before we dive into the news and we're.

And folks, we had a lot of news coming at you today.

A lot of perspective today.

Start with a fun warmup question.

Tanzel and Jake.

So did you know on this day back, January 12th is today.

It's hard to believe we're already there.

Back in 1970 the original jumbo jet, the Boeing 747, made its maiden flight.

Now, in case you didn't know, the 747 was the first widebody airliner.

It was the first to use the twin aisle layout and it was also the first to use high bypass turbofan engines.

Now, the final Boeing 747 was delivered in 2023 and over 400 are still in service, with most of those of course, being freighters.

So, folks, we always try to equip you to win trivia contests all around the world.

So with all that as a backdrop, Tangel, I gotta ask you and Jake on your longer global flights, as you're out there shaking hands and collaborating with all the industry leaders to get there though, do you sleep?

Do you work, do you read, do you drink?

What's part of your routine there, Tansel?

Well, I love that question.

I am a sucker for routine.

Try to keep it as consistent as possible.

Yeah, I always need a few things.

One of those will be my over the head headphones.

I have a hard time sleeping in flights.

So before any long haul flights, I will download some of my favorite shows.

For now, that would be the Office, some episodes of the Office, some episodes, some episodes of Better Call Sal on Netflix.

And I would just watch them while on flight until I figure out how to fall asleep.

But that's my typical routine.

I need some shows that I can watch throughout the entirety of the flight.

So I will do the math of how many episodes will that amount to on any given show.

Tanzle, I love that.

And you know, we just, man, and I just finished watching finish watching Better Call Saul because we kind of jumped off too early when we were watching it live.

So Tanza will have to compare notes after the fact.

And of course, the Office.

Jake, rule number one of long flights, you must immediately upon entering that airplane put yourself in the time zone of where you're going.

So that automatically means if it's middle of the night, you sleep, you don't have any disturbances, you no food.

You've got to get your body acclimated for making it an easy jumpstart to the new arrival destination.

Okay, we are going to get into a series of news stories here today.

Tanzel and Jake, we're getting everyone to weigh in and then we're also going to dive more into what's to come at the Big Manifest 2026 in Vegas.

So folks, stay tuned but we're going to start with the news.

So our friends at supply chain Dot shared an interesting read recently.

I think it was last week focused on five supply chain management trends they recommend us keep front and center on the good old radar this year.

Now, the five they cite, and let me get both, you ought to weigh in.

Number one, fragmentation and diversification will be fueled by geopolitical risk, something Jake already touched on.

Number two, supply chains will be tested by many things, especially economic turbulence.

Number three, a top priority for many supply chain leaders, cost optimization.

Stop me if you heard that one before.

Number four, AI hype what's going to be facing a recalibration of sorts.

And number five, the supply chain workforce challenges are going to persist, folks.

We've got a great.

By the way, we've got a great manufacturing workforce edition of the Bridge coming up here next week.

We need to drop a link on that.

All right, so those five trends to keep front and center.

Tansel, your thoughts there?

Yeah, no, I think this just echoes what the two of you were talking about earlier.

These uncertainties are essentially the new norm for us in today's environment.

What used to be called black swan is now pretty much, it feels like it's a daily thing in the supply chain.

And I think I've talked about this before in previous conversations where decisions just feel extremely heavy right now in the supply chain.

What I get from this article in particular is that it's more so about strategic action that will outweigh reactions.

Can we actually anticipate inflection points and act quickly?

And I think that will help certain organizations outperform.

2026 is perhaps about turning some, some lessons from recent volatilities or ongoing volatilities into strategic resilience.

And it's not just about adopting new tools, but how do you pair them with smart cost management and workforce upscaling will be the key.

Tanzel, I like you're very poetic with that perspective.

And Johnny, on the spot.

Jake, what would you add when it comes to these trends or others?

Yeah, there's no question there.

There's really a big push on.

I'll call it not only the squeeze of more productivity out of the existing organization, but actually reskilling the talent that you have as part of your transformation efforts.

On top of that, folks are advancing their automation efforts.

And it's merely, I'll call it a layering effect of saying, hey, I've held off on potentially doing a piece of automation, et cetera, here or there, but I'm actually leaning into it now because it's helping with me provide a level of additional agility for how I'm able to deal with these routine, you know, unfortunately, they're not black swans anymore, as tans will know.

You've got ugly ducklings running, running around everywhere.

Yeah.

Oh, man, I'm sorry.

A dog's breakfast still comes back to my mind.

I'm a steal that one from you, Jake.

Ugly buck ducklings, dogs, breakfast, you name it.

It's gonna be a tough year.

But you know, as we were talking last week, I think we were prepping for an event.

We were comparing all the predictions that are out there, tans on Jake this time of year.

And one article played it really safe with its predictions, right?

And I made the comment, hey, but that's okay.

I'd love a vanilla boring 20, 26.

That'd be a wonderful thing.

But then it's not happening, Scott.

I realized that.

I realized that.

But let me finish.

Let me finish.

But my dear friend Mark, Mark Gillum, who joined us, he said if that's the case, though, no one has any excuses, right?

If they, if this, all this disruption is not taking place.

So we shall see.

We shall see.

Hey, let's do this.

Workforce was one of the big trends.

Tanzle and Jake both spoke to it.

It was one of the five in the article, folks.

Trisha and Amanda will drop a link in the chat, but on January 23rd, Allison Giddens, a manufacturing leader here in the Atlanta area, is joining me and and Daryl Edwards to dive into building the new manufacturing workforce.

You're not going to want to miss that.

12 noon on January 23rd.

Let's see.

We're going to move fast now.

We're going to get to everybody's favorite topic or maybe not so favorite topic.

Yeah, tariffs.

I can't wait till the day comes when I don't have to talk about tariffs every day.

A lot of folks are watching as we've mentioned the Supreme Court who may decide on the legality of the Trump administration tariffs.

On Wednesday, as reported here by cnbc, the high court pushed a potential tariff decision from Friday a lot of folks were watching last Friday to this Wednesday, January 14th.

And if the court rules that the tariffs enacted last year are largely illegal, the markets will likely rejoice.

Right?

Many, a lot of us may have parties and rejoice, too, but there's quite a mess to clean up as tons and tons of tariff payments will then have to be refunded.

Right.

However, some legal analysts say that the White House may find a different path, alternative path to maintaining and enforcing the tariffs in place no matter what the high court decides.

So Tanzel I can't wait to get you to weigh in on this possibly very consequential week.

I'm going to be careful about this one.

I appreciated Jake just sharing his thoughts on, you know, where he put his Vegas money.

It just speaks to the amount of uncertainties that we are having to deal with in today's environment.

But what I learned and what I've heard from especially a lot of the leaders that are coming to our event next month, it seems as though the smartest supply chain leader, if you made they're not waiting, they're planning for both outcomes because like you said, there might be other alternatives that the administration can consider to keep these in effect.

So you control the controllables is what I like to say.

You plan for both outcomes wherever you can.

So that could mean you run dual cost scenarios or you strengthen contract visibility or you diversify your sourcing incrementally.

But those are the things that you can try to control and get ahead of it.

But I think what I've seen is the leaders are actually planning for both outcomes versus just waiting because you already have enough on your plate in terms of things that you cannot control.

Tanzo, well said.

And Jake, if you're leading your supply chains with spreadsheets, oh boy, you might be in trouble.

Your thoughts though, Jake?

It's fool's gold.

If you're expecting the ruling to come and reverse everything, it's going to be a mixed bag of some things will be reversed, some things won't.

There'll be layering on top of those that are reversed.

As Tanzel said, look, in today's age, you've actually got to be running literally 10, 12, 15 different scenarios, not only on sourcing, but also on distribution planning and network fulfillment modeling.

So you know, we got into the piece earlier, Scott, about, well, wait a minute, UPS's model is changing now because they lost part of the Amazon piece.

Guess what?

That is also new normal, right?

So the way you break and assemble networks, the way you break and assemble supply relationships is going to continue to be very, very dynamic.

Yep.

Well said, Jake and Tanza.

So we shall see.

We'll see.

Back to your earlier point, Jake.

We'll see if the Supreme Court even issues a decision on Wednesday.

But nevertheless.

All right, so let's move from Hang on a sec before we move a couple things here.

By the way, we're dropping the links these articles right here in the chat.

So folks, don't necessarily take our word for it and our take on it.

Go check it out.

Thank you, Tricia, it's dropped the one on the tariffs right there.

And Geno Pledger, the pride of North Alabama.

Hope you're doing well, Gino.

And a rock and roll drummer by the way, which I'm going to have to take in a concert at some point soon.

All right, so from Tariffs to Nuclear Power the New Age of Nuclear Power.

I love this.

This might be a brighter topic to talk about.

So we've spoken at length over the last year or so about the big time spikes in energy demands fueled in part by by data centers and AI innovation and usage and a whole bunch more.

One energy opportunity I'm a bit bullish about though.

A new chapter of nuclear energy as reported by our friends here at Reuters, the United Kingdom government has chosen a site in North Wales for its first Rolls Royce small modular reactors, aka SMRs, where they're planning three units for space up to eight and they're targeting first power in mid the mid-2030s.

That's less than 10 years away folks.

You're going to hear SMRS talked about a lot more small modular reactors.

Some folks have talked about how companies are looking at placing an SMR on site powering some of the data centers.

Right.

This project though here is part of the UK's strategy to boost nuclear capacity from about 6.5 gigawatts today to as much as 24 gigawatts by 2050 and to establish a fleet based SMR deployment model.

Officials and industry partners said the SMR program could kickstart a broader European nuclear supply chain with international collaboration on components and manufacturing across the EU and beyond.

But plenty of challenges remain, including securing of course regulatory approvals and scaling supply chains that can effectively support SMR infrastructure.

So Tanzil, I am really shooting above my pay grade talking about nuclear energy, but I do find it fascinating in terms of the role combined with green energy and many others, of how it can help us meet spiking energy demand.

Your thoughts?

Tanzel yeah, thanks Scott.

What I found interesting when I read this is that Europe and UK are treating SMRs as a supply chain strategy.

They are explicitly trying to standardize this.

While if I speak to the U.S. we have incredible innovation, but there's just more fragmentation which makes things certain, which makes certain things harder to scale sustainably.

So I think it would be a good use case to see how this continues to develop.

Like you said over the next year or so.

And on the side just other initial thoughts I have is just behind closed doors.

I wonder, I ask, you know, can this lower scope to emissions, for example, without increasing cost volatility, does it support 247 daily operations, whether it be at a factory level, DCs, the pharma cold chain, which are things we're really interested in at Manifest.

So that's going to be interesting again behind closed doors as you hear from different supply chain leaders.

Tanz, I'm with you.

It's a fascinating time.

Jake, what would you add?

We need all and more Scott.

There's not enough.

In fact, the SMR strategy I I'm with Tanzle as typical European is leading the way around how to think about the format in a more structured and quick scalable environment.

But unfortunately, when you look at when those are coming online, that's well past the timeline for even the current, I'll call it doomsday effect of what we have of the data centers that are already being constructed, the AI centers, et cetera.

We're outstripping the grids.

It doesn't matter which content you're talking about more than we're able to generate.

And so we need it.

We need all of it, right?

We need the entire recipe, the menu, walking into the restaurant.

We need wind, solar, you know, fossil fuel, nuclear.

We need it all.

That's right.

Well said.

And folks, you're going to be hearing a lot more about energy in the months ahead, if you haven't heard already.

In fact, one of my favorite going back to the prediction blogs and all that come out this time of year, one of my favorite ones mentioned that, hey, we can't take energy for granted when it comes to planning our network infrastructure and the like.

And I find that to be very astute.

Okay, Jake and Tanzel, next up, we're going to be talking a little bit more about Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

But before we do, I mentioned a great addition of the bridge coming up.

January 23rd, folks.

Tricia has dropped a link to that show right there in the comments.

That's the one that's going to be diving into the notion of building a better manufacturing workforce.

So come join us.

All right, so some folks are referring to January as National Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

Others are going to be talking about Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

I think in layman's terms it's no more and do more month when it comes to Human trafficking here in January.

And really year round.

And the year round part is important as referenced by this great article here.

But before we get to what Inland Kenworth is doing, let me share a couple of nuggets which you're going to find.

With that said our newsletter earlier.

So again, human trafficking is no small problem.

Tens of impacts, tens of millions of people worldwide.

An estimated 27.6 million people globally are victims of trafficking and forced labor.

That is remarkable.

Broader modern slavery estimates, including forced marriage, push that figure closer to 50 million people worldwide.

And sadly, roughly 25% of victims are children, underscoring the extreme vulnerability of miners.

But there is good news because you got great industry leaders such as this 76 year old truck dealership, Inland Kenworth.

My apologies.

As reported by Trucker News, they've got 43 locations in California and throughout the Southwest.

Great vehicle for helping to drive awareness, right?

Well, they have made human trafficking awareness a year round priority.

Since 2016, Inland Kenworth has invested in the fight against human trafficking a number of ways from wrapping their trucks like this one right here, including the trafficking hotline number folks to use if they see something, you know the old adage, you see something, you say something.

Well, there's a hotline, right?

They train their employees on how to spot human trafficking and better yet, what to do about it.

And they put their money where their mouth is.

They've raised more than $500,000 for the nonprofit TAT, formerly Truckers Against Trafficking.

That is what I like to call action based leadership.

Tansel.

Now I like to say we gotta know more about it and know that things exist before we can get to elimination and prevention.

But your thoughts?

Tansel?

Yeah, no, I really appreciate what Inland Kenworth is doing here.

And if I look at just our industry in particular, this also just shows that logistics isn't just about moving goods.

It is also a key channel.

Or it can be a key channel for safeguarding human rights and embedding some of these ethical vigilance and efforts into daily operations.

I also love that the supply chain professional is being mobilized here, especially those frontline workers like a driver into acting as defenders against human trafficking.

So I think that's very refreshing to see and witness.

Tanz.

That's a great call out because of the really supply chain professionals are in a very unique position to do something about human trafficking in so many different ways, especially our transportation professionals.

Jake, your thoughts on human trafficking prevention?

It all starts with awareness.

Our job is to make people aware that it exists and help them, educate them.

What are the signs they can look for.

You know, see something, say something is really vital.

But from a supply chain profession standpoint, at its very essence, we're at the core of this.

It's undeniable because look, we move everything around the world.

If this is going to exist, people are going to be moved.

So we're at the heart of it.

That's right, Jake.

So, folks, I invite you to check out, we need more inland Kenworths, I think in industry.

Love the commitment they're making and give it a read over at Truckers News.

And by the way, if you admire what they're doing, let them know, number one.

Number two, find a way that your own company can embrace the fight against human trafficking not just in January, but year round.

So, Jake and Tanzel.

Tanzel, we're about to take a deeper dive into all that you've got under the hood for manifest 2026.

But before we do that, Jake, you know we like sharing resources around here.

And you and I were part of a terrific event that we now are offering On Demand that we created in conjunction with our friends at epg, of course, who are powering the buzz all month long in January, folks, check this out.

Me and John Wayne, the global supply chain, that's Jake Barr.

Thoroughly enjoyed this very actionable case study on a webinar.

Just last month we dialed in on outdoor caps implementation of voice picking in their warehouse.

And it's changed the game for their operations and for their customers.

That's my favorite part.

I'm talking about an almost 60% improvement on overall quality, which was already high, and a 15% productivity jump, which was almost double what they were expecting.

Even better, it's going to help fuel more successful growth and expansion in the months ahead.

We invite you to check out the on demand recording and learn more about how EPG can impact your own supply chain organization.

Jake, quick question.

I loved you.

Came out with a nickname for our friend, Peel Chronister right there with Outdoor Cap.

Was it King of Hats, I think, Jake.

King of Hats.

I love that, folks.

But Scott, but you know, it's a, it ties directly to what we've been talking about today.

They are an example of, wait a minute.

I got all the chaos around me.

I'm not sitting and waiting for it to just drop on my head.

I'm actually going to lean into change and drive additional, you know, agility into what I can do in my lineup.

And it's giving them a business itch.

That's right.

It's so true.

And you know, it's going to, it's going to be the gift that keeps on giving.

Kind of like the agility of the month club from Christmas vacation, right?

It's going to give and give again, be a force multiplier so, folks, check out, don't take Jake's word for it or mine.

Trisha has dropped a link to that On Demand recording.

Check it out, Let us know what you think.

All right, Tanzel.

Man, I cannot wait till Vegas and Manifest in February.

We're less than, what, four weeks away, me and Jake and the rest of our team.

Some members of our team will be back there in Vegas participating in panel discussions, leading a great one.

We've got this one coming up.

The marriage between supply chain and technology.

What's optimizing our decision making with our friends from Philips, Revolve and FabFitFun.

So come check that out.

We're doing some interviewing.

Tanza.

We had a lot of great interviews last week.

Really appreciate you, Courtney, Pam, and the whole team and how y' all facilitate those relationships.

But here's where I want to.

As we get ready to do all that and then some again, really excited about it.

I want to ask you, Tanzel, this might be asking, kind of like for your favorite kid, right?

It's tough because y' all got a bunch of new stuff for 2026, but what's a couple of updates for Manifest you're most excited about, Tanzel?

Yeah, absolutely.

Thank you, Scott.

I like to focus on a lot of the things that are new for this year's Manifest.

Very excited to just be less than four weeks.

Of course, we've added quite a few, a couple of new segments.

And this is just by demand, really.

Our community has asked for it.

One of them being there is an entire stage, for example, dedicated to procurement.

We've evolved over the years to become this show that encompasses really the full ecosystem across plan, source, make and deliver.

And reflecting our discussion today, procurement really is at top of mind for so many planning and procurement specifically.

And so we're excited to have a lot of your chief procurement officers, your supply chain leadership, your technology leaders, all sit at the table, figuratively at our event to discuss some of the key issues that hit at home for them, especially given all the stuff that is looming around the industry today.

That's one of them for sure.

Another area is Cold Chain.

There is an entire pavilion that is dedicated to this industry.

Looking at life sciences, looking at food and beverage, looking at perishables, what's happening especially as climate change, you know, change becomes so top of mind for us all.

We're excited to have an area that is dedicated to not just bringing the leaders that are, you know, operating this day to day, but also the technologies that you otherwise would not have Known existed until you came to an event like Manifest and experienced it yourself.

Tanzel Outstanding.

And I.

And you saw Jake.

Jake, I like you how you applauded Cold chain.

Cold Chain is fascinating.

I love that.

Focus your thoughts on what you hear there from Tanzel and what you're looking forward to at Manifest.

Jake.

Well, I'm especially thrilled by the Cold Chain piece.

I mean, Scott, we were talking a bit earlier about the food waste situation, right?

But look, I've had the opportunity to work, especially recently on projects.

Look, it's a convergence of how to use AI to not only do the old school call it temperature monitoring and track, but actually to do predictive and prescriptive actions back in the supply chain processes to actually prevent the spoilage, to arrange for replacements, to ensure customer and consumer satisfaction in terms of the movement of the goods or the materials.

I mean, I had a company that I literally worked with about two and a half months ago with one of these firms in question, where we were putting, from the time we put the ingredients together in the lab, it was a rare disease medication, to the time it needed to be in the arm in a clinic of a patient.

Right.

For their treatment.

Six days of shelf life, guys.

Six days, right?

So you can't, it's not your grandmother's supply chain.

You, you must have just incredible control.

Not only control, but then the added AI on top of it to be able to allow you to manage that flow and predict whether it's going to be good or not.

Wow.

Not a whole bunch of wiggle room.

Tanzel.

Love the emphasis.

I can't wait to sit in on some of those sessions and meet some of the leaders and the networking and sidebar conversations.

Before we dive a little deeper into your passion for creating compelling content, I want to call out one more time, folks.

You can register before January 23rd and still take advantage of some discounted rates.

And Trisha has dropped a link right there in the comments to do just that.

And Tanzel, folks can't delay.

They got to move, huh?

Nope.

Yes, they do.

Yes, indeed.

Less than four weeks, Runblock is selling out.

It's all exciting.

Outstanding.

That's at the Venetian, folks, in Vegas.

And as I heard someone, a really good person, telling me one time, when you do events at the Venetian, you know you have made it.

It's like you're Elvis when you're doing events at the Venetian.

All right, so Tanzel, love the, you know, core to any successful event, of course, beyond the people, but it's the content and the discussions and the topics and how folks can be informed and educated and entertained.

And you really, as, as I've been observing you lurking and sneaking and seeing what you've been up to, you're a maestro when it comes to creating content and panel discussions and the like.

Where does your passion for creating this stuff come from?

Tansel I love that question.

We I really love content that tells a story, just like Manifest tells the story about bringing innovation at the forefront, bringing an ecosystem together under one roof to just benchmark, bring peers together to rub shoulders, talk about what's happening.

Well, that's reflected on our panels as well.

Are we bringing an ecosystem perspective to every single discussion that is happening, whether it's plan or source or make or deliver and all of the branches that stem out of those key themes?

Are we accounting for the different perspectives that need to be at the table to really drive some of this forward?

And as a result, are there some takeaways that our attendees can go back to the office with immediate action in the next week or month, not just the next year or years.

And you kind of approach every session or conversation with that lens or from that lens.

Chances are it bodes well for the people that are in the room.

So yeah, I really love being able to tell a story.

You're covering every aspect of the journey and supply chain and you're ensuring that you're giving a chance to every perspective, whether it be that operator, that technology leader, even if they're seed early stage, we want to give them that voice.

And similarly for the investors that contribute to a lot of our discussions as well.

So you kind of hit it from operator, innovation and funding, all of the above when it comes to most of the discussions that are happening at the event.

Tangel.

Love it.

So Jake, I knew we were going to have a lot in common with Tanzel here, even though he's a Heat fan, which we can deal with the Miami Heat later.

But you know, two of his big points he shared there, amongst other things I can definitely relate to because we try to bake it into the content we produce here.

One thing he mentioned is how content drives action, right?

Solutions, outcomes.

And number two, he mentioned diversity.

And you look at all the data driven studies out there, how the power of diversity can impact top lines, bottom lines and all points in between.

What'd you hear there, Jake, that really resonates with you?

Well, I mean, Tanzel and his team do a great job of bringing together diverse group of stories because honestly, if you're a supply chain leader, the best Thing you can do is look outside your four walls for ideas.

It isn't that you don't have ideas in your four walls, but in many times, if that's the only place you're looking, what you miss is context of what might be a bigger opportunity.

So when you get the opportunity to go through and listen from these other individuals outside your vertical, outside your experience, it just rewires your brain to think differently about pursuit against a problem.

We all need to rewire our brains from time to time, sometimes day to day is what I've found.

Tanzo, I want to again pull up the panel I'm a part of.

Thanks to you and your great work because I love this theme.

I love the participants.

I've really enjoyed this cause we've had this far with them.

But the theme, Jake, the marriage between supply chain and technology.

What's optimizing our decision making?

There's some marriages out there to continue this analogy that aren't as long standing and productive and fruitful.

And there's others because leaders really invest in this marriage and invest in their team's abilities to make faster, better, more confident decisions.

And they're going to be celebrating 100 year anniversaries.

Maybe Jake, your quick comment on maybe this theme and then Tanzan will circle back around to maybe the origin story really quick in a nutshell of where this came from.

Jake, your thoughts on the theme?

Yeah.

The reality, Scott, is this is a piece that you could talk about every week, every month, every year for the next ten plus years moving forward.

Because we are in deep in the age of using AI for the first legs of being able to solve problems.

And the reality is in a new period of never normal, our problems are constantly changing.

The constraints around them, the issues, the evaluations that we need to do.

So even using AI, it is going to be this sweet marriage of people and technology to actually drive us forward because the models can only learn what we help teach them to learn.

You have to provide that human element to make it deliver for you.

Oh yeah, absolutely.

This is just one of those discussions, right that we were talking about earlier and I shared it just decisions feel really heavy today and in today's supply chain and to Jake's point that there is a, you know, a new norm of, of, of uncertainty that we're experiencing.

So that that marriage is key of, of tools and talent which Jake already covered.

It's, it's.

And also just getting into the minds of some of these operators that are on stage with you, Scott, of this is what we're doing across our organization, our talent, and this is how we're leveraging AI, how we're feeding data into it to ensure it's long term, stable success.

And we're definitely excited to hear some of the outcomes or takeaways from a conversation like this one.

Me too, Tanz.

I get a certification, maybe even a two year degree out of each of these sessions that I participate in.

So really appreciate the opportunity and how you.

I'm still.

What you and Jake both talked about this theme.

You've already given me a few notes.

But folks, be a part of this panel at Manifest.

Come join us.

Julie and Heather and Burger, I'll tell you, they're going to bring it.

You're going to only find this at manifest 2026.

And the time to register is now.

It's February 9th through the 11th.

Gosh, it's less than a month away.

And if you Register before the 23rd Again, you'll have some discounted registration fees.

By the way, Tanzel, what's the easiest place?

I know Tricia is dropping a link right here.

It's really easy.

You're one click away, folks.

But is there anything else that you would suggest in terms of registering or engaging with the Manifest ecosystem?

Yeah, this is the critical time for us.

The.

The app will also go live this week, so emails will start going out to all of those that are registered to set up their profiles and start networking.

So for those that are not registered, we definitely urge you to do so so that you can get in early start networking.

This is when people start coordinating all of their meetings really ahead of the start date of February 9th.

So we're really excited about that.

Check out the website.

Plan ahead.

I mentioned registering in the app, but you can also browse the full agenda, which is already live session times, including this one, Scott, that you're leading, you can just kind of map out your agenda within an agenda, if you may really develop your entire experience ahead of time and then also leave some room for just serendipitous engagement while you were there.

So you want to get in early, get into that app and start networking now.

There are lots of pro tips there.

Lots of pro tips.

All right.

And folks, you get to meet Jake Barr, the Hall of Famer, in person.

Jake, you're gonna.

Are you.

So there's usually there's two parties here and Tanzil, I'm gonna say this very diplomatically because a lot of times event apps are kind of like black licorice or they're like The Dallas Cowboys folks love them or they hate them is what I have found.

So, Jake, if folks want to come out and meet the John Wynn global supply chain at Manifest, what would be your suggestion to them, Jake?

Just drop me a Note in the LinkedIn.

That's the easiest way.

I would have said my phone, but my phone was always blowing up.

So that's a bad thing.

And we're going to make sure folks know how to connect with Tanzil as well in just a minute.

All right, so again folks, Tricia's dropping the links there.

Tanzil, before we leave, the topic of manifest 2026.

By the way, when are you getting.

If you can tell me, when are you arriving in Vegas?

What few days before I assume my.

Some members of the team are there.

A few days before I get in.

Early Sunday the 8th.

Okay, and if folks want to get together with you to talk supply chain or to talk and debate the Miami Heat and their performance this year, they may be Atlanta Hawks fans like myself.

There are none.

But that's okay.

I agree.

Oh, man.

Hey, don't sleep on the newly rebuilt Hawks.

We, we.

Hey, we hate to see Trey Young go.

But folks, get ready.

It's new era driven by a new general manager.

We'll see.

But Tanz, I'm gonna go ahead before we.

Since we're talking about it.

How can folks connect with you, Tanza?

What's the easiest way?

I'd say LinkedIn as well.

Drop me a note on LinkedIn and we can definitely find each other on site if you're planning to be there at Vegas.

Okay, outstanding.

Well, thank you, Tricia.

Dropping all you have to look for.

You'll find Tanzel on the floor with a baby strapped to the front.

He's going to be easy to pick out.

Hey, I'm looking for you.

Tanza.

I'm looking for you.

But hey, the event is even bigger than it was last year.

So it's going to be tougher and tougher.

We're going to have to be more deliberate about finding people this year.

All right, so before we wrap here, the.

What is this?

The second edition of the Buzz for 2026, powered by our friends at EPG.

Jake, we are still celebrating the new website.

There's still a relatively new website@supplychainnow.com and folks, it was purpose built to make it more convenient and impactful for you.

Right?

We just talked about a minute ago our Manifest programming.

Well, folks, using our website, you're going to be able to go find.

I think we did 13 interviews at Manifest last year.

And you can use our website to go find that or you can go to our YouTube channel.

We've got a sub channel dedicated to Manifest 2025.

We'll have the same thing dedicated for this year.

And who knows, I might sit down with both Tanzel and Jake.

Man, my week will be even better.

But Jake, we also have an upcoming live programming tab.

Jake, you've mentioned the new Never Normal series, of course, the Bridge, our live streams and webinar.

I think we did almost 200 live streams and webinars last year.

That's crazy.

But you're gonna.

Folks can find that right here.

Jake, it can't be much more convenient than that.

Huh?

It can't be.

It's a click away.

A click away, a click away.

Only wish resolving tariffs were a click away.

But we'll save that till next week.

And then also folks, you're going to find the Resource Hub.

So this is a written summary of our friend Sean Elliott, Tools Group CEO, which we sat down at Gartner Supply Chain Summit just last month where you're going to find these types of interviews and summaries at the Resource Hub again at the new supply chain now.com drop new.

It's a new site supply chain now dot com.

I don't want to confuse anybody out there.

Okay, so Scott, before you wrap us, okay, we took a detour past this giant food waste problem that we've got going on around not only the US but the world, right?

And you know me to be a problem solver, right?

So I'm going to plug.

If you think you can't do anything in your local community that actually makes a significant difference in keeping food out of dumps and helping your local neighbors, look up a firm called Last Milefood.org.

in my opinion it is the gold plated standard for how local individuals put together and use both people.

And like Tanzel and I have been talking technology to prevent food from going to waste and to actually feed your neighbors.

Big, big problem.

Lastmilefood.org lastmilefood.org I got that right Jake?

That's right.

Outstanding, Outstanding.

Big problem.

We gotta do, we gotta do, we gotta do.

Much better, Much better.

And I'd also.

Tanzan, Jake is a great.

I guess we're not a startup anymore, but Goodr G O O D R is an Atlanta based organization doing great work in not just solving the food waste issue but also nourishing those families in need.

And hey look there we got, we got the link right here last milefood.org so folks, check it out.

Tanzel Ouden, I'll tell you, I really appreciate your perspective here.

I love what you and the team are doing at Manifest providing this opportunity and we need it.

In all the divisiveness and the disruption and the complexity and headaches, we need outstanding in person opportunities not just for content and for thought leadership and for problem solving, but to reconnect on a human basis with our friends and suppliers and customers and collaborators out across industry.

And Tanzo, I'll tell you, you and the Manifest team have gotten it, really.

You've cracked the code.

So I really appreciate what you do, my friend.

Likewise, Scott.

Thank you so much for having me.

Pleasure talking to both you and Jake.

Looking forward to continuing it next month.

Undoubtedly.

On that note, Jake, thank you for joining the buzz once again.

Of course.

Tanzle hit it out of the park, didn't he Jake, huh?

He did.

I think he's looking for the side Heat jersey is what he's won.

Yes sir, we shall see.

Hey, I hope that Atlanta can assemble one of those super teams like y' all had down in Miami a few years back.

But regardless folks, you can find connect with Tanzel and Jake and myself at Manifest in February.

We also dropped the links if you want to connect in between now and also check out the nonprofits we list as well.

Big opportunities to take action.

So as we wrap here today, want to thank my dear friend.

I think we're second cousins now.

Tanza Uden, Senior Vice President, Content and Partnership at Manifest.

Want to thank my esteemed hall of fame co host Jake Barr and our friends at EPG who are powering the buzz all month long in January and fueling many global supply chains electric performance in 2026 and beyond.

Of course, big thanks to Amanda and Tricia behind the scenes.

And most importantly, big thanks to our global audience, our SCN global fam for joining us.

But you got homework folks.

Tanzan, Jake brought it.

Take one thing they shared here today.

Put it into practice.

Share it with your team.

Do something with it.

Deeds, not words.

And with all that said, on behalf of the entire supply chain now team Scott Luden Challenge you do good.

Give forward.

Be the change that's needed.

We'll see you next time right back here on Supply Chain Now.

Thanks.

Bye.

Join the Supply Chain now community.

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