Art of Supply

"For men like Ford, Firestone, and Edison, whose success in the world had given them access to any thing they might want, these impressions [of the great Smoky Mountains] had a value beyond calculation." American Journey, p. 276  In 1918, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and naturalist John Burroughs took a long road trip in the eastern United States. They slept under the stars, cooked...

There is something troubling going on in the ESG movement. Recent news stories on ESG investing, the status of Chief Diversity Officers, and Pride month raise questions about the corporate commitment to such programs. While ESG is not a new idea - in fact, the corporate social responsibility programs that preceded it date back to the 1970s - there has always been a tension between what companies s...

China is one of the most important consumer, industrial, and raw materials markets in the world. They also happen to be a bad actor in terms of environmental practices and human rights. Companies looking to do business in China need to go in with their eyes wide open, prepared to handle a complicated set of decisions and PR maneuvers.  That is the backdrop for a very odd set of circumstances that...

Skills gaps are a huge and costly problem in the corporate world.  According to Talent Guard, skill gaps currently cost the U.S. economy around $13 billion per month, and Deloitte recently cited an estimated $2.5 trillion total cost over the next decade. Korn Ferry has projected that by 2030, more than 85 million jobs could go unfilled because there aren't enough skilled people to take them. Run t...

Mankind has been on an industrial evolutionary journey since 1760. Starting with the steam engine, we have progressed through hundreds of years of innovation, advancement, and reinvention.  Procurement has been there every step of the way, harnessing the power of new technologies and meeting an ever-growing list of challenges and requirements presented to us by company leadership and industry comp...

On June 23rd, news broke that the Wagner Group, a private militia operating on behalf of Russia in the war with Ukraine, was staging an armed rebellion against Russia. The world watched and held its breath as one bad guy squared off against another, until - it was over as soon as it started. It quickly became clear that what was unfolding before our eyes was a supplier relationship gone very, VERY...

We have seen many trends come and go over the last few years, and most of them stemmed from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Great Resignation, a surge in people voluntarily leaving their jobs starting in the fall of 2020, is likely to be one of the most impactful. Depending on the numbers you reference, the Great Resignation officially came to an end somewhere between December of 2022 and April of 2023...

Agility Robotics recently released the latest version of their humanoid warehouse robot: Digit.  Digit is 5 foot 9, weighs 141 lbs, and can carry up to 35 pounds. It can pick and pack orders, unload trucks, and unpack pallets of shipments. Warehouse labor availability is always a challenge, and it usually represents 65 - 70 percent of operating costs. Automation is the future of warehouse operatio...

Human rights concerns are at the top of the priority list for supply chain and procurement professionals. Among the most horrifying human rights abuses is child labor, sending children into dangerous settings to work. FDR signed the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938, restricting the conditions and hours children under the age of 16 can work, and making it illegal for anyone under 18 to work in haza...

In 2004, Dove revolutionized skincare marketing by launching their 'Real Beauty' Campaign. Celebrated for the decision to represent women of all shapes, sizes, ages, and skin tones in their ad campaigns, Dove was celebrated by marketing industry executives and embraced by consumers. They saw a 700 percent increase in sales in just six months. While the campaign continued, the celebration did not....

Many professionals are worried about the risk associated with advances in generative AI like ChatGPT. Predictions have been made about who and what will be rendered obsolete first, as though people living in 2023 are the first ever to face a challenge from new technology. This summer, the Tate Modern in London is running an exhibition called "Capturing the Moment: A Journey Through Painting and Ph...

In his book, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Scottish Enlightenment thinker Adam Smith described the 'invisible hand' at play in free market economics.  One of the keys to letting that invisible hand work efficiently is the concept of self-interested interdependence. Producers do what is best for themselves, consumers do what is best for themselves, and the economy...

Procurement is used to being under pressure to deliver savings, but is that pressure enough to make procurement break the law? That is exactly what happened at Kraft Heinz after their 2015 merger. The low-hanging fruit had all been picked, savings targets remained high, and all sense of oversight had fallen away in favor of a corporate culture that incentivized hitting targets no matter what the c...

In 1907, J.P. Morgan was called back from a trip to help stop a series of bank runs on Wall Street. After watching a string of insolvent banks fail, he decided that the Trust Company of America was worth saving. He said, "This is the place to stop the trouble, then." Over 100 years later, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon made a very similar decision about First Republic bank. He and treasury Secreta...

Cyber attacks have been on the rise since 2020, occurring with increasing frequency and having a more detrimental impact to the companies affected. Cyber risk regularly tops C-level risk rankings as a high priority and short term concern. Almost 20% of all data breaches are associated with third-parties in a company's supply chain. We can see how this plays out by looking at the case of Expeditors...

Bed Bath & Beyond was founded in New Jersey in 1971. Popular for its effective use of the 'superstore' concept, packed stores, and 20% off coupons, the chain quickly expanded, peaking in 2013 with a market value of $17 Billion.  Their end began in 2019, when activist investors pushed out much of the executive leadership team and brought in former Target Chief Merchandising Officer Mark Tritton. He...

The labor contract between UPS and the Teamsters union is the largest private collective bargaining agreement in North America - and it expires on July 31, 2023. It covers 70 percent of UPS employees: package car drivers, air drivers, feeder drivers, part-time loaders, unloaders, sorters, clerks and mechanics. The current contract was signed in 2018, and took effect even though 54 percent of the u...

In the 5th century BC, Socrates was teaching the Athenian people to think for themselves. He taught by asking questions: What is truth? How do you know? Is the truth good? Again - how do you know?   2,500 years later, we continue to struggle with big complex questions. Are we reducing costs if we have not eliminated human rights abuses in the supply chain? Is energy renewable if we are still relia...

On March 10th, there was a run on Silicon Valley Bank. Days of concerning news and regulatory filings from the bank caused depositors to panic and withdraw their cash.  The bank had already been sitting on a gap - a $17B variance between the paper value of their bonds and their market value. When $42 Billion was withdrawn in a very short period of time, it was a "death blow" as characterized by Hu...

In August of 2022, the relationship between FedEx Ground and their network of delivery contractors looked like it was about to implode. Led by major contractor and industry consultant Spencer Patton, thousands of contractors pushed back on the logistics giant - claiming that increasing costs were making it impossible for them to operate profitably. FedEx sued Route Consultant, Patton's consultancy...

On February 3rd 2023, a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. 38 cars derailed, 11 of which contained hazardous materials, and 5 of those contained vinyl chloride - a chemical used to make polyvinyl chloride. The community, including both animals and humans, have been suffering from the side effects of the chemical, as has the local environment. This devastating story has much t...

Nothing that is simple is real, and nothing that is real is simple.  Procurement and supply chain professionals excel at solving problems like supply uncertainty and cost mitigation against the backdrop of ESG initiatives, changing regulations, and high stakes geopolitics. There is never a dull moment, but would we want it any other way?  After a brief break between seasons, Dial P for Procurement...

We all have advice from a trusted source that we carry with us everywhere and always. For Dial P host Kelly Barner, much of that advice came from her dad. In this uniquely personal episode, which first aired on what would be Timothy J. McCarthy's 71st birthday, Kelly shares the best of his advice so that you can benefit from it too. • Embrace ownership in your life, whether that means learning to...

2022 was a wild year… The speed and complexity of the world seem to keep increasing. The news stories that made headlines this year seemed to defy prediction and logic… and yet, each month brought new and surprising events. As we get ready to boldly go forward into 2023, host Kelly Barner pauses and takes a look back at the major procurement and supply chain news stories that captured the world's...

The world is so complicated today… we could play the 'what if' game all day long. • What if the railroad workers push back? • What if retailers can't shed all that unwanted inventory? • What if Ukraine starts to lose ground? • What if China invades Taiwan? There's a 'what if' where we have evidence to consider: we can just look to Hong Kong. On July 1st, 1997, sovereignty over the city of Hong Kon...