Procurement Pulse

Robots have been in warehouses for years. But rigid setups, massive upfront costs, and zero flexibility have kept automation out of reach for most 3PLs. General-purpose robotics changes that, and it's closer than most people think. In this episode of Procurement Pulse, host Friddy Hoegener sits down with Joe Spisak, Founder & CEO of Fulfill.com, who built and sold his own 140,000 square fo...

Companies spend millions on procurement technology and walk away with almost nothing to show for it. Not because the tech failed, but because nobody planned for the hard part. The hard part is the people. In this episode of Procurement Pulse, host Friddy sits down with Amanda Prochaska, Founder and Chief Wonder Officer at Wonder Services, who left her dream job at MGM Resorts to fix one of procure...

90% of Alibaba's revenue comes from supplier advertising fees. That means page one rankings are heavily influenced by who paid the most, not just who's best for your product. Most procurement teams contact 3 to 5 suppliers before making a decision. Not because that's enough because contacting more is too time-consuming. But better pricing and better quality might be sitting with suppli...

Hundreds of applications. Zero callbacks. That's the reality for a lot of senior professionals right now. And it's not because they're underqualified. The job market has quietly shifted. More competition, more AI-generated resumes flooding the same roles, and a hiring system that was built to process candidates, not advocate for them. Something had to give. So what does it look like when the entir...

You contact 5 suppliers. Maybe 10. You pick one. Done. But what if the best supplier for your product was never even on your list? That's not bad luck. That's how the old system was designed. Gatekeepers with "books of vendors" who steered you toward whoever paid them the highest commission, not who was best for you. In this clip from Procurement Pulse, Ricky Ho, Co-founder, SourceReady, explains...

Are you hiring for today or for 24 months from now? In this episode, Darryl Fitzpatrick, CRO of Intellek, challenges the "plug-and-play" hiring mindset that's dominating procurement and supply chain recruiting right now. His point: Everyone's chasing unicorns - ready-made experts who can hit the ground running on day one. But what happens when you hire someone without a developme...

You search for a supplier, contact the top five, pick one, and move on. But what if the absolute best manufacturer for your product never showed up on page one—and never will? Most buyers rely on popular directories like Alibaba, assuming the top search results represent the highest quality.  In reality, visibility on many major sourcing platforms is heavily driven by advertising revenue, meaning...

When your team asks for development tools and you say "we're not ready,” what are you really saying no to? In this episode, Darryl Fitzpatrick, CRO of Intellek, calls out the uncomfortable truth: "We're not ready for learning technology" actually means "We're not ready to invest in our people." His take? Companies that said they weren't ready for AI 3 years...

Supply chain isn't just about moving boxes. It’s about the human experience. For too long, our industry has been viewed as a back-office utility. A cost center that simply "makes things happen." But as Patrick Van Hull, Supply Chain Storyteller & Strategist, explains in this week’s episode, the leaders who win in 2026 aren't just the ones with the best data. They are the ones who can tell the...

You hire great people. But three months in, they're struggling. Not because they lack talent because nobody showed them how to succeed in your specific environment. 1,800 learning management systems exist in the market. Most companies either don't have one, use an outdated "Stone Age" system, or have a platform that nobody touches after onboarding. But here's what changed: AI emerged in 18 months...

"Will AI take my job?" Every supply chain professional is asking this question. But you're asking the wrong thing. The real question isn't whether AI will replace you, but it's whether you'll learn to use it before someone else does. AI isn't coming for entry-level jobs first. It's transforming how businesses build systems, make decisions, and compete. And the companies still clinging to SAP imple...

Most companies fail at Lean because the people designing the process aren’t the ones living it every day. Jared Paget, VP of Operations at ClearOne, explains how giving a voice to the people closest to the work leads to better decisions, smarter production, and a stronger culture. What We Discuss: 00:00 Why you can't just build products and hope someone buys them — the S&OP foundation 01:3...

You cut inventory by 50% and achieve 99.8% on-time delivery. Impossible? One supply chain leader did exactly that, but not by implementing fancy software or hiring consultants. The secret? Sitting on the factory floor with operators and asking one simple question: "How can we make your job easier?" In this episode of Procurement Pulse, host and SCOPE Recruiting Co-Founder Friddy Hoegener and co-ho...

Will AI replace your job, or make you irreplaceable? Host Friddy Hoegener, Co-Founder and Head of Recruiting at SCOPE Recruiting breaks down what supply chain professionals need to do now to stay relevant as AI reshapes the industry. The conversation reveals why learning to prompt AI is becoming as critical as knowing Excel, and why professionals spending 80% of their time on manual tasks need to...

Most supply chain teams obsess over vendor onboarding - vetting suppliers, negotiating contracts, setting up systems. But there's a critical blind spot costing companies millions: what happens after you stop working with a vendor? SCOPE Recruiting Co-Founder Friddy Hoegener and co-host Evan Cave discuss the often-overlooked vendor offboarding process with Tiffany Bray, Independent Consultant a...

What happens when you force top talent to choose between their dream job and relocating to a specific city? You lose them to your competitors. In this episode of The Procurement Pulse, host Friddy Hoegener, Co-Founder and Head of Recruiting at SCOPE Recruiting, sits down with David Heacock, Founder and CEO of Filterbuy, who learned this lesson the hard way when his attempt to centralize remote wor...

Is AI coming for your supply chain job? And which skills will make you irreplaceable when automation takes over tactical work? In this segment from Procurement Pulse, host Friddy Hoegener, Co-Founder and Head of Recruiting at SCOPE Recruiting, breaks down the brutal reality of AI's impact on supply chain careers over the next five years. Friddy explores why tactical procurement tasks like issuing...

A vendor you stopped working with years ago still has your customer data. They get hacked. Suddenly, your company is in the headlines. Or your only aluminum can supplier goes on strike — and your product can’t reach customers. These aren’t “what if” scenarios. They’ve happened to global brands, and they show how risk management is about more than compliance checklists or IT security. It’s about pr...

What does it take to walk away from Wall Street and build a $280 million manufacturing company in rural Alabama? And how do you scale culture across 1,000+ employees when half your corporate team works remotely? In this episode of the Procurement Pulse, host Friddy Hoegener, Co-Founder and Head of Recruiting at SCOPE Recruiting, sits down with David Heacock, Founder and CEO of Filterbuy, who left...

Why do so many supply chain hires flame out in their first year? And why does finding good talent feel impossible right now? In this first episode of the Procurement Pulse, we break down what's actually broken in supply chain recruiting, and what companies that consistently hire great people are doing differently. Host Friddy Hoegener, Co-Founder and Head of Recruiting at SCOPE Recruiting, along w...