[00:00:05] It’s time for Supply Chain Now Radio. Broadcasting live from Supply chain capital of the country. Atlanta, Georgia. Supply Chain Now Radio spotlights the best in all things supply chain the people. The technology’s the best practices and the critical issues of the day. And now here are your hosts.

[00:00:29] All right. Good afternoon. Welcome back to Supply Chain Now Radio Scott Luton here with you live. Welcome to the show. So we’re coming to you today as we wrap up our coverage of the AIAG SCAC Supply chain Quality Conference in North Charleston, South Carolina. This conference has been dedicated to the world of automotive. And we really enjoyed meeting and interviewing many of the leading industry thought leaders that have been participating. So we should say big thanks to our conference broadcast sponsor the Effective syndicate for making our coverage possible. In case you didn’t know, the EFFECTIVE SYNDICATE helps companies win by optimizing process and developing winning cultures. You can learn more at the effective syndicate dot com. Quick programming note like all of our series on Supply Chain Now Radio, you can find our replays on a variety of channels Apple podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, YouTube, wherever else you find your podcasts. As always, we’d love to have you subscribe so you don’t miss anything. So let’s welcome in my co-hosts here today. Greg White, one of our re-occurring co-hosts of Supply Chain Now Radio. Serial Supply chain. Tech entrepreneur and pseudo trusted, not highly trusted advisor.

[00:01:39] How you doing, Greg? Now I am doing great. Yeah, recurring. Yeah, it’s good.

[00:01:46] A lot of standard serial recurring standard serial entrepreneur, you know.

[00:01:52] Trusted advisor. A pseudo pseudo trust that you don’t trust me. But every so. Yeah.

[00:01:57] Kidding aside, we’ve enjoyed our time here. The last two. It’s been a great couple days. Yeah. Great interviews, passionate leaders, folks that are involved in different components of the Indian supply chain. And I really enjoyed doing this with you and with Beau Gruver, founder president of the Effective syndicate, co-host of our Poppier Leadership Matters series here in Supply Chain Now Radio. Beau, how you doing? I’m doing great. Thanks for having me again. Good morning. You bet. I really enjoyed this. I’m not sure this is probably number 15.

[00:02:25] We’ve done it through that two days. Good afternoon. Yeah. Why? Larry. Hello. Misted. No, that’s not what we’re looking. We’re looking because it’s lunchtime.

[00:02:36] Well, you know, we’ve got a great appetizer before we move into lunch. One great episode here. Coming up, let’s welcome our featured guest, Court Harvath Senior Director Corps. How you doing? I’m doing well. So court, you serve as senior director product development with Ryder System Inc. And you’re also one of the presenters here at this at this popular conference this week. I am. And we’re gonna dive in some of the things part you shared with the audience here and get your take on a couple other things throughout the session here. But for starters, before we kind of talk about some of your business and industry insights and what your organization does, let’s talk about you and your background and kind of your journey leading to your current role.

[00:03:20] Jr So I’ve been with with Ryder now for close to 15 years, 20 years overall in the industry, predominately all in automotive. The last two years and I’ll go into that in a minute was spent based Bazan when I was speaking about today, which was the digital transformation and digital technology, but ran again. It started as a cross-talk representative way back in the day, was going end with the plan to do spreadsheets and analytical work, and then quickly found out that the the dockworkers tended to take a lot of time off. So got my forklift license and then learn how to drive a forklift and very quickly in the process mart. But it was a great experience, gave me an opportunity to to see how they operate and process flows, et cetera, from there. And that was with a previous company, but jumped into Ryder in 2005 and jumped in network design. So at first experience of being what they call the Logistics engineer did not have a Logistics engineering better an engineering background per say. So the actual engineers were distraught by me calling myself a Logistics engineer, but forming network design modeling software, just making sure that we had good flow is 4 0 M’s transition into our operations, did some stint working with some financial applications and then had a really good opportunity to lead one of our largest OEM automotive customers for roughly three years. And that was kind of the biggest opportunity for me to to really run the gamut from and an supply chain. We had team members that were in site at specific locations. We had drivers that we were managing network and design engineers trying to save money. So.

[00:04:59] Had an opportunity to see the overall fiscal responsibility and the operations for that group prior to I actually just took on a new role. About a month ago. Granulation. Thank you very much. But before that, it’s all been related to digitalization of new products that Ryder is putting out on the market. So I was a product owner. So we’ve as we’ve been transitioning through a digital transformation. We established a an agile culture form, first ambushing new products that are coming out that are all gonna be customer facing. So a lot of what I discussed today related to the customer intimacy. Historically, a lot of supply chain companies are building efficient technology for themselves that are going to also potentially save money for the customer, but never really a customer facing solution. And when we went back and actually looked at what the digital transformation meant to us, we knew that we had to get the customer involved as opposed to assuming what they wanted. We had to figure out and actually go out and talk to them. So did a lot of discussions, a lot of travel and just understand what we’re doing, right. What we’re doing wrong is actually completely different offers on different scale for me, usually getting, you know, some tough love from the customers when you’re not performing up to the expectations. Now, I try to go out to other people’s customers on other aspects of our business and ask them what we were doing wrong so I can improve forum. So hopefully good to do that face to face conversation you got.

[00:06:25] Got it. Rely on email. Exactly.

[00:06:27] Love. It’s good to be heard. I mean, I think that’s probably why you got some love while you were here, for sure.

[00:06:32] Yeah. But the cool thing was is able to take that feedback and actually then build it into the product. So the whole intention was get that voice to the customer and then at the same time work with the developers to establish what was most important for the customers at the time. So did that for two years and that successfully launched at the end of last year. So we do have customers that are up and running and that is called Ryder share and it’s an excellent visibility and end solution. We’re calling it collaborative Logistics and we can talk about that maybe a little bit later on. But did that for, like I said, two years and it was just a great opportunity to to get into the I.T. world, but not necessarily get involved with development. I’m not an I.T. guy by trade by any means, but I have always had a pretty strong connection with being able to speak with customers and get the most out of them, which are important skill sets to have excellence day and age where change is just so rapid.

[00:07:22] All right. So let’s talk more. You’ve touched shoaling, shared some of the things. But for those for all three people that have not heard of Ryder, tell us about the organization.

[00:07:31] Absolutely. So Ryder is a Fortune 500 company. We deal in really three main areas. Our largest is Fleet Management services.

[00:07:38] So a lot of lease customers where they are leasing our equipment and we perform full maintenance for those assets, whether those tractors or trailers. That’s all the way across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. A big portion of that really is making sure that as we as we migrate from just simple maintenance and ensuring that we have proper uptime for all of our assets and equipment, but also trying to see if we can extend our services, begin to get maybe our drivers into those trucks. So we do a total cost of ownership to say, is it better to have your drivers in our operation versus our drivers? So that’s a big chunk of it. The other aspect to Supply chain solutions and that kind of runs the gamut of of Logistics design getting inside the four walls of a warehouse and actually managing those, whether there are warehouses or our customers warehouses where we have employees that are inside. And then the third piece is really the dedicated transportation where it is our drivers, our tractors, our trailers, and then we’re running the full service operation for them. So that’s predominately been, you know, the three main pillars that we’ve gone after forever. If Hamas by fire is bent, then the largest riders, one of the largest companies in the U.S. as it relates to leasing and running equipment for customers. So that alone, I think, has shaped the foundation for Ryder. And as we now progressing to the, you know, the 21st, 22nd century, we have to enhance all of that with the technology. And so that’s where, you know, as we continue to talk through this. That’s where we’re gonna be focusing a lot of our attention, knowing that we need to be able to get a good return on investment for our investors knew all three years.

[00:09:22] And in your new role that you’ve been in now for a month, what else would you add that where you spend your time?

[00:09:28] So because of the month the new allow travel, have customers all across the U.S., predominantly still all automotive. So a couple of large OEMs, it’s dedicated transportation.

[00:09:41] So for the first time actually leading a team that is asset management, drivers, operators, control towers that are making sure that we know exactly where our trucks are. Are they on time and in the automotive industry compared to retail, consumer packaged goods, you name it, it’s all just in time. I mean, it’s a. Media and there’s issues that there’s exceptions that need to take place, the customer needs to know about those immediately, so that didn’t change from my previous position to this new dedicated role is just in a different capacity because I would be the forefront for any issues that would come up. So it’s been a pretty cool experience to be I go out and meet some of the drivers, the operators, and understand a different set of KPI that are now being established for those customers as a result of that new piece of business that still get my feet wet drinking from a fire hose. I have at this point in time, but really enjoy it.

[00:10:31] So so you’re one of the presenters here. This week’s obviously that’s more the things that brought you here everyday to the Supply chain and Quality Conference. But what else? When you come out to these events, what do you look for? And then maybe as a as a that’s one one A, one B. What are some your key takeaways as you get back on the plane?

[00:10:49] Yeah. So unfortunately, I the Logistics of Logistics got me because I didn’t get a chance to come in until very late last night.

[00:10:56] So I didn’t get an opportunity to to participate yesterday. Today I was actually really interested in the conversation with with Mag. from Bosch because she was talking about Industry 4.0 and a lot of things that she touched on really resonated with where we’re heading as well. Little different as far as the industry you’re concerned. But she was talking about the digital transformation where they’re heading. And that was a kind of a big takeaway that I wanted to get out of it. And I did have quite a few conversations post my presentation just asking individuals where they think they were in that digital transformation era. Some are on the lower spectrum. Some of them have basically established the new products and feel as though they they understand their customers. But I think everybody’s kind of on this spectrum from haven’t really started yet, really need to get going vs. I think we really do have a good handle. But the Uber affects the Amazon effects. They’re hitting everybody regardless of industry and they’re definitely hitting us. Considering that the likes of Amazon right now is getting into commercial trucking and I think that scares a lot of large scale commercial trucking companies.

[00:12:00] Even in Ryder. Yeah. How would you like it or not? Exactly. Yeah. So right before your session this morning, do you have a chance to hear Bridget Matthiesen talk? I did not. Oh, boy. So we had her on the show yesterday. She was talking all about trade and she’s a trade policy SMB. And what you talk about a an exciting time and exciting is probably not the right word to use.

[00:12:24] I think she said, anxious to put it kindly. Yeah, I think this was passive active act a lot, lots of action taking place.

[00:12:33] But so digital supply chain digitization a lot. What insights you are sharing you in and what I liked about how they construct this conference. So you heard a little bit it’s own this on this show through all all the interviews and of course, the speaker lineup, you heard from a lot different aspects of the Indian supply chain. That was one of my key takeaways. I love when when conferences don’t stay to the cliché topics, but they’re talking the breath. And then that’s something I’ve really enjoyed and we’ll take back with us. Absolutely. So.

[00:13:08] Yeah, yeah. So as you’re looking at it and you guys have got your hands and you know, a whole lot of aspects of the supply chain and trucking. What are some of the trends that you’re watching or are aware of or maybe even worried about?

[00:13:22] I was a prior to this previous role. I mean, it was the the rapid advancement in technology. Silicon Valley’s taking over. They really are. And whether it’s autonomous vehicles, new technology, they can put into the supply chain, they’re instantly wanting to be bought out.

[00:13:39] So you have to find the right partners very quickly before potentially one of your competitors does raise a billion dollars for them. You can afford them. You got it. Yeah. But I mean, there’s some really cool technology, whether it’s sensor technology, understanding where a truck is on the road or any given point in time getting closer to, you know, stronger electrification for commercial trucks, which is huge considering the diesel prices go up, go down every day. So I know that our our exacts have consistently been looking at who are the, you know, the top Silicon Valley intelligence technology companies that are that are coming out to see if we can get an upper hand on on, I guess, the competitive edge overall. Yeah. From our perspective now and we’re still dealing with the driver shortage, a capacity constraint that we’re working through a lot of what we’re doing because we are such a large lease and rental management organization. We buy a lot of trucks on a consistent basis. So what we’re buying now is is more conducive to a stronger driver experience inside the cab. There are still drivers that enjoy the stick shift. But we are getting to a point, you know, to try to bring in more than just your standard. You know, it’s a cliche truck driver that comes out getting. Individuals that are coming right out of high school, getting women within in the trucks more often and by doing that. Actually changing the style of the cab to allow easier for them to actually get in the cab and to help support the cab itself to make it more conducive for a female.

[00:15:15] It’s a court. We’ve got to interject for a second, because this is national truck drivers appreciation. Wait. Absolutely. And I think and going back to a quick inventory of all the 2000 upsets we’ve had. But that’s one of the first times that folks have specifically and deliberately mentioned some of the things they’re doing to get women make it easier to get women into the truck driving.

[00:15:38] Well, it’s one of the first times we’ve heard anybody really talk about accommodating the driver. And it’s very scary and Rod. Exactly. That’s a really good point.

[00:15:47] The experience does the stage of the game is it’s not just in cab any longer. And with the new the new tractors that we’re bringing in are just fantastic. I in refrigerators, air conditioner, especially for the sleeper cabs and whatnot. But Sherkin RV that holds a three foot trailer. Absolutely. There they are. But the safety aspect of them are huge as well. And some of the drivers, you know, they’re they’re taking a liking to it because it does help with their their safety awards. You know, we have truck drivers of the year million miles, you know, without any accidents, any collisions, any avoidable, et cetera. But the technology that we’re putting into those assets now is just extensive, where they can get real time sensing of whether or not they should be slowing down, they should be speeding up. But then the experience itself, there’s a lot of regulations that have changed for electronic logging that’s taking place. So how do you make that as easy as possible for them to track their hours of service, knowing that occasionally they’re gonna get pulled over for absolutely no reason? How do they make that as simple as possible for that process to take place so they can get back on the road? So we have digital technology now that’s in those cabs that are helping support that. That’s called Ryder Drive. And it gives them in turn by turn directions and given where some of the locations are. It gives them once they get to an actual destination, they can have notices. So this is a place that you pull into. It might be a little bit tight. So drivers can interact with each other on that. So it’s pretty cool stuff. Just something else that helps drive the overall experience. But the biggest thing for us is incorporating the network design piece and do we have to create driver friendly network? They love to get home as often as you acivil. And if and if they can’t do that on a consistent basis, drivers have a tendency to jump ship very quickly for and for more money. If they’re not going to be home, then I’m on my money.

[00:17:33] Yeah. Yeah. And you know, like all of us and this in this economy where we’re getting squeezed in so many different ways, you know, I think. But beyond car, beyond comfort and beyond advancement opportunities. It it’s tough to to maintain your workforce. And but I love to hear the amount of thought and planning and engineering you are putting into that, because that’s not something we’ve heard. We’ve heard a lot of different takes on the truck driver shortage and some of the different related issues. So that’s really cool to hear. All right. So we’re going to peak around the corner here on crack.

[00:18:12] I got to ask this. I have a feeling you’re going to have some insights. No pressure. OK. Here we go. It’s 6:00. So we’ve been. Yeah, we’ve been challenging. Very good. No, we’ve it challenging people all week to to, you know, give us some kind of crystal ball predictions.

[00:18:30] So if you look at 2020 or beyond, pick a pick a window. Tell us something bold you think is going to change or happen in our boy.

[00:18:41] You know, I thought about this question when you guys send it out there, meaning last couple of people what their thoughts were. And I don’t want to just jump back to the cliche of technology. I know that technology is going to move forward. But I think you’re going to get to a point where it is going to be 100 percent collaborative Logistics. There will be platforms that will be out there that almost everybody will have or ever you will expect to have. Then they can connect with all of their stakeholders across the board, whether it’s the steamship lines, whether it’s the ports, whether it’s the customs agents, you name it, they will all be in one system. It’s such a hodgepodge right now to get either material or the paperwork associated with that. Yeah. And A, to point B, that’s just starting right now. But we’re still struggling with getting stuff, you know, through the ports, over the borders. And I think that’s going to have a dramatic change. And I think that’s going to come a little bit from the efforts that are taking place in Silicon Valley. But I think that there’s going to be individuals that are going to be left behind in the process, whether that’s third party logistics providers, trucking companies that can adapt to that technology. There’s article said there’s a you know, because of the ELCA mandate itself, we’re starting to see smaller carriers started to move out because they just can’t afford the technology that is required to hit the.

[00:19:58] Hours of service, L.D. mandates. Now, you take that one step further and you jump in to some of the technology that would be involved for them to connect into the likes of a Volvo or a General Motors to make sure that we know exactly where you’re freights at in any given point in time. If they can’t provide that, they’re gonna be out of the network as well, which means this can constrain capacity even further. So I see more constraint taking place within the industry, which is, you know, good for organizations that are spending a lot of money to make that happen and stay ahead of it. But I think the the bolder prediction is I think the the Amazons and even the Uber France are going to continue with, let’s say, their prominence in assuming every single time they go into an industry, it seems like they kind of take it over. But I think there is and definitely some nerves that are involved with the Amazon getting significantly involved in commercial trucking and what they can do it out to really upset the Supply chain. So I’m not sure those are extremely bold. I’ll tell you right now that I’ll take it. The lions are not going to win the Super Bowl this year old.

[00:20:59] Bold prediction there, but that’s about it, sir. First week, isn’t it? Sorry, but you’re right.

[00:21:10] The constraints we’ve heard as well as women’s a couple of times now, Suzanne Dickerson with the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness has talked about how in the state of South Carolina alone, alone, by 2040, the need for Logistics and transportation to clean up 60 percent based on growth and in some of continued challenges you’ve spoken to already. Yeah, no wonder. While the industry is not being disrupted based on the challenge alone of the constraints and capacity and truck driving and really not just keeping truck drivers, but getting new folks into that pipeline. And and part of that challenge, as we all know, is correcting the perception around not just a truck driving profession, but also then in Supply chain profession. You know, there’s lots of opportunity. And this industry is, as we’ve heard about it, at event after event after event. This industry is competing for the top talent, unlike not taking anything away from folks who’ve come through Supply chain previous decades, but from the technology demand, from the critical thinking, analytics, data management, problem solving, you know, any role you’re in supply chain, whether you’re driving a truck or you’re managing NBC or you’re you’re running an up production line. The modern needs that places own a professional and practitioner are creating this this competition. We’re competing gets folks from financial services. We’re competing for folks against technology, you name it. But we’ve got to fix some of the bad perceptions out.

[00:22:44] There are bad perceptions. And I think some of the laggard type execution. I mean, let’s face it, a lot of the technology we’re talking about has existed. It just is it just hasn’t permeated the physical transportation industry.

[00:22:58] Greg White I would ex-sen.. So AIG has been doing a fantastic job. And you’ve been on board been on the board for three years now, but they’ve they’ve connected with multiple colleges across the U.S. The one close to me is Wayne State University, where they’ve developed the future automotive experts. And the sole intention is to ensure that we’re getting some of the top talent to truly consider the automotive industry as a a strong industry and to be a part of because of where the technology is heading, because of the dynamic of how they’re producing vehicles now, they are getting into the digital world. So it’s not as much throwing out, you know, a thousand white cars all at the same time just for a fleet order for Hertz any longer brining. They are getting down directly to mass customization. You got it? Yeah, absolutely. So they need the type of talent that’s coming out of college to do that. So not only are they working directly with them, but then also changing the courses within college to help support that. Some colleges, like the University of Michigan are actually doing big data classes and you can actually get a major in big data now, which is greening and they’ve never had and back in the day. So I like that. And we’re trying to do the same thing. We’re trying to build from internally for a certain extent. But we have to make a decision on a certain point, whether we we had the ability internally to to build the talent that we have or just buy the right resources and prescriptive analytics descriptive. You get a good way from reporting. You need specific type of of talent that can understand it and be a true data scientist to be able to understand how you take some of this stuff to the next level.

[00:24:28] Yeah, no doubt. WELNA You see a lot of companies that have the kind of struggle with, as I call it, the tyranny of the or are we going to build it ourselves or are we going to buy something? Right. But there’s I mean, there are other alternatives, you see. And I think you all have some sort of a nurturing program where you can identify a company that has potential and invest or or give them business early on and help them shape that product. So we work with a group in. That’s based in Atlanta, but is Supply chain wide called Point A? And what that’s what they do, these big companies, they participate to take really difficult problems like you’re describing. Give them to early stage companies and let them solve the problem, because the truth is, you can’t disrupt your own industry. If you’re a leader in your industry, you cannot disrupt it. You will be the disrupted or you will facilitate the disruptor. But you’re too embedded at this level of performance to be able to take the risk to look at it from a naive perspective.

[00:25:28] A you’re at aresome fun. Just go. All right, guys, I want to hear some bold predictions for 2020 from both Bo Groover and from Greg White. So we’ve been asking all of our feature guests, but I’ve yet to turn the tables on. Why? Wanted to let him turn it on? OK.

[00:25:43] You can ask this gentleman. I got a question for you. I mean, what are you bold prediction sign for 2020 and beyond?

[00:25:50] I mean, I haven’t heard it from you guys yet. So I’m just wondering what your thoughts on that six.

[00:25:58] Good answer.

[00:26:01] Not so bold as think Clemson or Alabama will win the college national championship.

[00:26:08] Go, go in there.

[00:26:11] No, I think I don’t know if it’s 2020, but I think the the dynamic landscape, when you consider A.I., you consider the data, you consider the autonomous things that are happening in Google appear. I mean, scuse me, Amazon appears to be willing and more than capable to just go in any direction. And so, you know, there’s so many industries and consulting is certainly one of them. Right. They’ve got Supply chain continuous improvement experts, probably dozens, if not hundreds of them, if they just decide to do that. You know, so I think every industry right now is just kind of watching and saying, all right, how do I either partner up with them or create some kind of firewall to protect myself against that? And I just I don’t know. I think it doesn’t matter what industry you’re in. If they decide to come to figure out you wanna sleep with them or do you want to run away and move to another country. So it’s going to happen.

[00:27:08] Yeah. So before I give you my bold prediction, let me address that really quickly. So a couple of quick stories. I go around and do speeches at various things. I was at a HBC concert or concert concert APICS.

[00:27:20] Yeah. And I think there’s like a bunch of air. It was mostly mostly percussion people banging on air conditioner.

[00:27:28] That’s hard. Rod conference.

[00:27:30] I think it was Hardi H.A. RTI in Phoenix and a room. You know, it’s not nowlin like the room we’re in here. A fellow stood up in the back and said, I can’t conceive a world where Amazon could do what we do, where they could provide the warranty service that we do. And and I could not hold back. I said you’re a year from a 50 million dollar company. And the precise problem that we have today is that companies can’t conceive a world where Amazon could do what you do if they wanted to do what you do. Precisely. They would just buy you. You don’t think they have enough capital market change? And I think I think that companies that that was a year or so ago. But I think companies, they’ve come to recognize that that there are no boundaries for this company. Right. At the same time, I think when companies like Ryder, who people do fear as well in various ways. Right. And and Amazon, I think when companies like that decide to do something, they create an opportunity for a smaller company that they might work with. Right. They they do create openings because they have to go a direction in the marketplace that inevitably creates a niche that a small company can fill. So my bold prediction, right.

[00:28:50] This is my brilliant or maybe just standard segment, my regular recurring recurring segment, serial segment.

[00:29:01] My my bold prediction is that as companies, big companies start to dominate various aspects of business, that smaller companies will continue to slide in there. I’m a firm believer in small beats big. You start by solving the problem that Ryder has, by solving it for somebody who lives next door to you with two trucks. Right. And then that person tells another person and they’ve got six trucks. And you continue to evolve that product to a level of maturity where somebody with the sophistication of Ryder or Amazon looks at it and goes, could you do that for us? We know it’s going to take some extra work on that product, but could you evolve that product to do the work for us? I think we’re gonna see a lot more of that. A good precise example is what I’m calling Edge Logistics, where companies are are buying or leasing small fractions of warehouses in some cases, just a few shelves in warehouses. And they are they are providing space for for direct to consumer or retail or even brands direct to the consumer. From these small fractional spaces. So there’s a company, Atlantic called Stored Naturally, like every technology company, you have to spell your name wrong, S.T.A.R.

[00:30:18] D dot com and you have to take out a letter somewhere. Right. Because all of the spelled right words are taken. Are taken. Right. But there are companies like that I think. I can’t remember the name. It’s simple something, but there are lots of companies doing that thing. And I think there are those kind of niches created even when a dominant player comes into place. And one of the reasons that that niche is created is because people don’t want to do business with Amazon. They fear Amazon. Home Depot fears Amazon so much that they won’t do business with anyone who’s doing business with Amazon. So, I mean, Home Depot has a lot of them have a lot of sway. They’ve got some got some power. Right. Right. So I think there will always be openings for small companies. And that’s, you know, the they will evolve. They’ll move into a niche that is abandoned because big companies take a particular direction. And, you know, the world will shift. I’m glad we’re on camera because I’m using my hands. If you’re only listening to this on a podcast.

[00:31:25] I don’t know what to do with mine. There are some bold predictions.

[00:31:29] I just make one point on an Baze’s, though. As we were doing our research for digital transformation, one of the things we kept seeing on a consistent basis was he was almost the founder of the transition for for the digital landscape. But he was the one that made the connection between digital and customer centricity. So he wanted to obsess about the customer. Yeah. And the transition from books to where it is today was all about just his, you know, going out and talking to the customers and trying. Can you do more? Why not? Let’s go. Right. And now it’s all it is, is about the customer centricity.

[00:32:03] Yeah, well, voice of the customer sounds like a new concept to people, but people have have desired that for a long time. Somebody finally did it, finally listened and employed technology to do so at a rapid pace and with a tremendous amount of efficient. Right. And a trillion dollars later, still growing.

[00:32:21] Yes. Yes. Yeah. All right. So I’m going to I’m way in here as we wrap up and offer some of my bold predictions, some bold and not so B, Scott. Yeah. Do you have any bold predictions for 2020? I do, but I’m not giving you rationale behind any of these. So I’m just going to I a checklist here refuses to be held against the power of the microphone. So first off, there’s going to be continued pressure on pay rates. We’ve already seen a lot, you know, these distribution and fulfillment centers. That’s what drives me, the retail e-commerce era. And that we’ve we’ve seen certain components of the Indian supply chain, certain traditional sectors try to cling to 1992 or 1987 pay rates and we wonder why we struggle to attract talent. So there’s gonna be continued pressure on pay rates, paying folks more of a living wage. You know, we’ve seen we’ve had folks come on the survey are come on our webinars that have been doing studies all especially in our own distribution workforces for four years. And in recent years, they’ve had as many as 35000 data points to input from these workforces. And almost half of these very valuable members of the Supply chain community have worked two jobs at times the pay make make ends meet. And that’s best that that is. It’s a travesty that goes home, but it’s going to continue to be a lot of pressure on Owen, on keeping talent, especially talent that makes even with with all the automation is taking place. We’ve talked about some of the advantages of having humans solving problems and proactive and proactively managing other other aspects of supply chain manager.

[00:34:01] So increased pressure on pay rates. Number two, I think we’re gonna have a trade breakthrough as it relates to tariffs. We have a trade deal with China. There’s way too much money that and wait. The world will turn upside down for so many people. There’s too much pressure. We’re going have a trade deal. I don’t think U.S., the U.S., MCI thinks in a pass based on a lot of political forces, unless there’s a big upheaval, we’ll see what takes place in November not to get political. But, you know, if there is a huge transformation there, then then I think the USMC looks a lot more likely. But I don’t think it can pass as it stands today. Good news. So moving from that and really getting a trade deal would be good for everybody. Right. The Supply chain managed only one of our co-host that likes to talk about how when you hear certain politicians say the word supply chain management, you know that we’ve really hit mainstream, right? That’s cool to see. I mean, you know, supply chain manja programs are now.

[00:34:58] Over 500 campuses and schools throughout the country predict for 2020 US can continue to proliferate. The main demand is too great to deliberate execute on the global business environment that we are in. Number four, I don’t have six have five. OK. Korten Good. I don’t want to fall below the court standard. Daryl. Number five is Georgia is going to be named while south clowns maybe be top 10, maybe top five. Georgia is going to be named the number one state new business in for a record seven years in a row by site selection magazine that really set coming in November. They just were named number the number of state B business in four to six year in a row by the other big, big magazine, which I cannot remember. That name is Malcolm will help me out. We’ll ask Malcolm. Yeah. But site selection, they’ve been named six years running as normal state new business. And I will predict they’re going to hit number seven years in a row. Ric Flair territory. Come November.

[00:36:00] Q And then finally, the Braves.

[00:36:03] Ma My beloved Braves are going to win a World Series in 2020. I would love to say wow. I’d love to see that. I’d love to see that happen just in the next 40, 55 days. However, I think next year they’re going to have another offseason to bolster the team. They’ve got an incredible core nucleus and they’ve got and there’s a little bit of pressure from ownership to make a few more investment dollars because they’ve had a record revenue year at SunTrust Park. And we’re gonna see some acquisitions that that puts together the Breast Best Braves team we’ve seen in over a decade. So those are my bold and fearless predictions. Some may come to pass. Others may not. But that’s what we’re saying. No love for the Tigers. I know Detroit well. You know, the Troy has won a World Series since the Braves last won in 95. I want to say it. Don’t say Detroit that they win. They went. They lost. Well, yeah, a lot of joy out there, though. So I grew up in that. And Cecil Fielder days when he was hitting home runs on the top of Tiger Stadium. Right. And Jack. And no, that’s. I always mix the White Sox and the Tigers, but causing uniforms. But there were some incredible tight Detroit Tigers win seasons in the late 80s, early 90s. We’ll see. I think we did his course. Lawyers, folks of our Hall of Famers now. Whitaker when he plays second base. Whitaker, Lemon Rammell play and yes, short. Or third shortstop. Shortstop Trammell. Of course, Cecil Fielder, whose son now is hitting a bunch of homers. Sprints. Yeah. Prince Fielder. That’s right. Okay. Man, we’re having a guy toits session here, but now we’d love to see that the Tigers back in it. I hope they sweep the American League and just, you know, could be 20, 30 Rock.

[00:37:55] A bold prediction. That is the old way out there. Yeah. All right.

[00:38:00] So with that one, I’m caught. So how can folks. There’s some cool things that rodders up to these days. Yeah. How can folks learn more?

[00:38:09] Very easy on the Web site. It’s just Ryder dot com to our IBRD dot com. We’re also on social media across the board. So we have a link. Dan, I got to do is type in just Ryder System ink or Ryder integrator Logistics or just Ryder and you’ll find us there on LinkedIn. And then we have all of our social media. Any any driver appreciation, any of our awards that take place, anything that’s happening, new products, et cetera, is going to be on Facebook as well. And just simply type in Ryder systems and you can get it on Facebook. I can’t tell you whether we have a Twitter or not. I have my big Twitter guy myself. I don’t tweet, but fires those three. Those are the easiest ways to to get in contact with us.

[00:38:47] Cool. Fantastic. And Malcolm says you do have a Twitter at Ryder. Ah, why TR System Inc. Is your Twitter profile. Thanks for that. Tom, when this timely factoid. Malcolm. Yeah. Okay. And he’d just shot us not to. Area Development is the magazine that just named Georgia. There you go. The number one state do business in here just recently. So you got every development. And then you got site selection, which will announce in a couple months here. Man, he’s on it. Okay. Thanks again. Court Harvath Senior Director, Product Development, Ryder System Inc. Really enjoyed our wrap up conversation. Our cleanup hitter you hit.

[00:39:28] We had a couple out of the park at their job. I appreciate it.

[00:39:30] Yeah, safe travels back. Thank you very much. All right. So stick around just for a second here as we wrap up on some of the upcoming events we’ve got on our calendar. Bo, we’ve talked about this event in about a week extensively. We’re looking forward to our executive roundtable session next Friday in Atlanta. Tell us about it.

[00:39:47] Absolutely. So myself and an Emory professor named Robert CCA’s engine are going to co keynote a conversation by invitation only. But if you’re interested. Please reach out. We’re going to be talking about strategy and execution. And if you’ve got the elements of both of those, you’re probably going to have a bright future. Mm hmm. Completely great.

[00:40:06] Can I get an invitation to your standard invite? Wherever I am. Greg, you’re invited to be there as the standard. Right. To see. What happens when you when you lead a podcast is your co-host. Make fun of all the slips you’ve had over the last excellent thirty seven days on daily basis. Oh, my God. Where you just do it on the air. I just thank your lucky stars. You’re not on. It’s documented for posterity. That’s right. All right.

[00:40:33] All right. So if you’re interested, learn more about that event in a week. We’re looking forward to that. You can shoot us a note to connect at Supply Chain Now Radio dot com and we’ll make sure you get more information. And then October 9th. Greg, what is going on in Atlanta?

[00:40:45] Yes, the Georgia Manufacturing Summit brought to you by our friend Jason Moss and his brother, Pete Froome, the Georgia manufacturing alliance.

[00:40:56] So one thousand attendees. Are we up to a thousand yet? Alex I. 1000 attendees representing 10000 Georgia manufacturers sharing ideas at the Cobb Galleria. Keynotes from Kisha keynotes from PMG. We got two panels going. Fantastic panel. More than two 4 8 guys are only counted here to go over to the count. Yeah, that’s right. Who you’re going to throwing down the gauntlet on everyone. So you’re gonna be able, Greg, to talk about these these bold predictions we made. You’re gonna be interviewing a couple of foreign trade MEPs to foreign trade ministers. I predict that based on my behavior, I will be escorted out by their respective secret services. Yes, I will be conducting interviews. Yeah. We’ll be live.

[00:41:40] That’s right. October 29th. And one of the last note about that, we talk about this a lot. You know, so Jason Morse, the CEO of the Georgia manufacturing alliance, has freed up 50 seats free for veterans. No strings attached. And we’ve talked about on this show very passion about certain veteran community. We’ve talked about the challenges that veterans have had and certainly coming out of the service combat active duty and and connecting and building a network in the private sector or in their first role in the private sector. You know, building that network that they can they can generate deals from and and gain market intel from what have you. So this events like we’re at today and events like this not on October night are great opportunities to make that happen. So if you’re a veteran listening to this podcast, you can go to Georgia manufacturing alliance dot com. You can use the promo code USA vet and you get a free seat as long as they last. Now, I don’t know, they might already be gone. He eat. This is an offer he kicked off late last week. We need to get him to update us. Yeah, we do. Let’s call him later. What a great, great gesture. Credos, Jason and Jimmy for making that happen. And then a couple of upcoming events, of course, you can find on the events tab at Supply Chain Now Radio dot com. We’re gonna be in Austin, Texas at the lead just 7 0 0 0 forum hosted by our friends at EAFE. We’re gonna be at the reverse Logistics SCAC in February 2020 in Vegas and then I bet will see and other folks rorter and no-tax any twinning in my gonnabe Dan Solla.

[00:43:10] I don’t know if I love me.

[00:43:10] I know that right be absolutely Rod will be looking forward to rubbing elbows with some of your colleagues early. motets also is hosting our 2020 Atlanta Supply chain Awards. You can learn more and register for that show for free at Modoc X show dot com. Okay. Finally, be sure to our listeners. Check out other upcoming events, replays of our interviews, other resources at Supply Chain Now Radio dot com. You can find us again on Apple podcast, soundcloud. All the leading sites or podcast can be found. Be sure to subscribe to no missing thing on behalf of the entire Supply Chain Now Radio team. Scott Luton here wishing you a wonderful weekend ahead and we will see you next time on Supply Chain Now Radio. Thanks, everybody.