Supply Chain Revolution

Dr. Garry Copper, neuroscientist turned sustainability technologist and circularity advocate had a pivotal moment - that our field is one-noted and we need to build a reuse bridge to capture value left in materials to transition to a sustainable world, a fly-wheel of wealth for communities who have been left out in the linear economy. Led by curiosity and studying how people remember and forget, h...

The wastes from plastics and electronics are putting increased pressure on the recycling industry and reverse supply chains. Despite massive initiatives by public and private organizations, recycling rates remain low and progress remains slow. Estimates suggest there are 400 million tons of plastic produced each year, which is projected to more than double by 2050. Around 40% of plastic packaging...

Experts predict that retail ecommerce sales will reach $4.13 trillion in 2020 and it is expected that mobile commerce will take a market share of e-commerce of 72.9% by 2021. As we enter the holiday season navigating COVID, retailers face unprecedented opportunities to reimagine brand experiences and bridge the storefront’s physical to digital continuum. While adapting an agile supply chain, incre...

Every tech company wants to tell you what their AI can do. Patterns help us make sense of the world and can help us overcome the impossible tasks we face each day in supply chain orchestration. From understanding gaps and influences, AI creates more intelligence in how to detect, understand, and pull parts of the patterns together that build an ecosystem. Through the lens of business transformatio...

The purpose of a supply chain is to move goods and services around the world to meet user demand. And over decades, we’ve built coupled-networks based on principles of regionalization or centralization of function, location, and cost efficiency. COVID is an example of the uncertainty supply chains face on a day-to-day basis derived from old-school thinking and design.  Imagine a world where supply...

Did you know that if you add up the cats and dogs in the United States, they’d represent the 5th largest population of protein consumption in the world? When it comes to pet supply chains and sustainability, there is typically 1 sector called "pet services and products”. This one sector, encompasses dozens of other industries that have many categories in human supply chains. For example, apparel,...

The tire industry consumes 70% of the natural rubber. Issues like deforestation, child rights, land grabbing are at the center of WHY we need a global movement for sustainable natural rubber. Joined with physicist turned green advocate Stefano Savi, this episode explores a new collaborative platform to help the Producers, Processors & Traders, Tire makers and other rubber makers/buyers, Car ma...

“The only way to end systemic inequality is to invest in minorities, the underrepresented, and women.” Access to education, healthcare, clean water, and economic development opportunities remain key priorities for many countries. Entire populations and children are being left behind and marginalized through climate change, disruptions, and globalization. Addressing generational poverty and transfo...

Why does Diversity and inclusion matter? What impact does the Black Lives Matter movement have on/in the workplace? How does one navigate discrimination and is there more awareness in corporate America around racism and breaking systemic barriers, including how to engage HBCUs and communities who have talent, but may lack access? How do we make diversity and inclusion REAL? Is it just lip service...

Let’s face it. Despite what many technologists think, most supply chains are not run on laptops. We know the promise that advanced supply chain technology holds…agility, velocity, scale, resilience, transparency, and better customer experience. Yet, when I talk to supply chain leaders, many have shiny object fatigue. Have we failed supply chain leaders and professionals by not adding tangible valu...

This is the second part of a 2-part lightning talk series. We hear so much about AI and the convergence of tech in digital transformation. But do we know where humans add the most value, particularly in digital supply chain? According to Forbes, 2/3 of a company’s competitive edge comes from its customer experience. Consumers who have an emotional connection with a brand have a 306% higher lifetim...

Supply chains power the world and companies realize planning and execution is a competitive weapon in the modern, digital economy. Advanced supply chain capabilities like agility, transparency, and visibility can support efficient, effective, and sustainable approaches that connect the digital landscape into business performance that is tangible and measurable. In Episode 33, Suuchi Ramesh joins t...

Two Queens talk tech! Episode 32 is PART 2 of a 2-part lightning talk series exploring Stephanie Benedetto’s journey from corporate attorney, to sustainability tech entrepreneur. She is the co-founder of the Queen of Raw solution: a B2B platform for businesses to recapture value from their wasted materials and touts an impressive list of recents awards including MIT Solve Global Challenge Winner,...

This is Part 1 of a 2 part lightning talk series. "Are you naked right now? You’re not…because you’re using fabric. It’s everywhere! It’s where it’s supposed to be, covering things like us, and where it’s not supposed to be.” This was the opening 10 seconds of Stephanie’s award-winning pitch to Ashton Kutcher, Sean “Diddy” Combs, & Gary Vaynerchuk in 60 seconds at the WeWork Creator Awards whe...

There is a misconception that sustainability and circular economy is philanthropy... that it's a project or an initiative. Circular thinking can be compared to Lean; it's a mindset, it's a space where you're able to connect a vision, a product to the individuals inside and outside your organization, across your supply chain. The truth is that there is a business case for change and the transition...

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. It is a bold vision referred to as the 2030 agenda and includes 17 interconnected goals, and 169 targets. The SDGs also position the roadmap...

Helen Keller said, "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” Building a better world is almost impossible without industry-wide collaboration, cooperation, and consensus. Circularity, like supply chain, is becoming more popular in business discussions. However, we are at an inflection point where there are no good choices in a bad system. It’s powerful because we inadvertently make...

We are facing unprecedented social, economic, and environmental crises. We've lost many lives to COVID and as unemployment reaches new highs, businesses and supply chains must navigate a new, never normal world. The business as usual operating model of globalization versus localized/shorter supply chains, lowest price versus value, opportunity versus obligation has created the status quo. Is incre...

As competition intensifies, the need for creative thinking increases. It is no longer enough to do the same thing better. It’s no longer enough to be efficient and solve problems. There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns. (Edward de Bono)  The concept of a circu...

Global carbon dioxide emissions have increased by nearly 50 per cent since 1990, and 2019 was the warmest year on record. Climate change touches everything we do and for the 1st time, the World Economic Forum has named climate change as a leading risk facing business and our survival. Episode 25 discusses the Green Revolution and all its glorious, wicked, complexities. Climate action requires rapi...

Imagine a world where city and suburban agriculture takes the form of backyard, roof-top and balcony gardening, community gardening in vacant lots and parks, roadside urban fringe agriculture and livestock grazing in open space. From bio-walls, to edible landscapes, and “gardens-as-a-service,” the transition to a circular economy and sustainable world includes leveraging Urban Agriculture and rege...

"If we are going to see real development in the world, then our best investment is women." (Desmond Tutu) The research is clear: when a women has the ability to take control of her destiny and make informed choices there are positive ripple effects on her family, her community and her country. Women drive 70-80% of all consumer purchases, so it also makes great business sense to build a solution t...

In Episode 19, we explore one of the most controversial materials in consumer packaged goods and first mile sustainability - palm oil. Palm oil is in over 50% of products on retail supermarket shelves (WWF). From Unilever, Kelloggs, PepsiCo, to other members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), Sustainability and traceability are hot topics and front of mind in many CPG Supply Chains....

In Episode 17, we explore many relevant and progressive topics in supply chain, manufacturing and building a world-class sustainability organization. Dr. Dirk Holbach, the CSCO and SVP of Henkel Home and Laundry Care, shares his PoV on navigating supply chain disruptions in dynamic, global markets using team diversity and a strategic force for resilience. We discuss the ever-changing requirements...

For the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, Episode 16 is all about digital waste! Digital waste has grown exponentially over the last decade as the storage of data, like e-mails, pictures, audio and video files have shifted to “the cloud". Guess what…the cloud is a physical place! Each day we generate more and more data and your digital footprint requires huge amounts of server space and energy. A par...