Better, Faster, Stronger

"The reason I'm in a supply chain is because I love creating things, and I love working with people. And those are the two things that I want to make a difference with...and I think if that's what you want to do, come on down. It doesn't matter who you are or what you are. Come on down." - Sandra MacQuillan

Good Sunday afternoon all and welcome to this edition (No. 33) of "With That Said" (WTS), a LinkedIn newsletter powered by your friends here at? Supply Chain Now . First up today, we want to honor the late, great Sandra MacQuillan, who we lost this past week. Sandra made an immense impact on so many people, organizations and the industry itself, building an extraordinary legacy that will undoubtedly shape us all for years to come. Please consider:

• Sandra MacQuillan's obituary via The Wall Street Journal here
• Scott Luton 's remarks from this past Friday here
• One of Sandra's appearances on SCN, which became a masterclass in supply chain leadership: here

On a much lighter note, we'd like to share a few nuggets from our BEHIND THE SCENES discussions with supply chain leaders from this week:

• One Chief Supply Chain Officer in the retail space spoke about the post-pandemic environment in global supply chain. In particular, they shared their concern when it comes to the lessening momentum to drive critical change, because of how some of the pressures on industry had lessened. We must continue to drive fundamental change forward as an industry & act on the painful lessons we all learned, they shared.
• In a separate conversation, Scott was speaking with a CSCO in the flooring industry, who is a regular listener to Supply Chain Now (having appeared in an early episode). As Scott and the CSCO were discussing various leadership metrics & comparing notes, this industry leader mentioned "Return on Energy", and spoke about how new initiatives & investments must also be evaluated on their return far beyond financial investment. What's the return on the overall elbow grease & diverted focus?
• And finally, we also caught up with a repeat guest that served in executive management for one of the largest freight carriers in the world. When talking growth & all the management focus that it took, the guest remarked: "Explosive growth, when ineffectively managed, can lead to explosive demise."

Finally today, let's share 6 tools for doing supply chain management better:

1. Released quarterly, the U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index is full of general business & economic insights, as well as analysis of the U.S. freight market. Check out the 1Q 2023 edition here, which was just released. You can also view our livestream discussion, where we dove into the most recent U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index here, including our 5 key takeaways. We featured Michelle Moore , Senior Vice President, Integrated Supply Chain at GAF.
2. Last week, we hosted an intriguing webinar (replay here) that was focused on Evenflo's supply chain transformation, as well as its partnership with Infor. Check out this white paper on "4 Ways to Counter Global Supply Chain Risk" from our friends at Infor.
3. Paul J. Noble , who is high up on the SCN Repeat Guest Leaderboard, joined us for a livestream a few weeks ago. The Verusen AI team is doing big work in a variety of areas for global organizations, especially when it comes to reducing MRO costs. Take a look at this white paper from Paul & the team focused on this huge opportunity. And join us for a live webinar this coming week: "How Collaboration, Tail Spend Management, and VMI Can Improve Up and Downstream Communications".
4. Are your supply chain planning folks - and their finance team counterparts, getting along like cats & dogs? Check out this resource from our friends at Wolters Kluwer : "5 Ways Finance-Forward Supply Chain Planning Improves Business Outcomes".
5. Heading to Gartner's Supply Chain Xpo this week? Check out these tips from one of our favs Koray K?se that will help you make the most of your visit. And while there, be sure to connect with Constantine Limberakis , who will be making a few guest host appearances with SCN this month.
6. Have you signed up yet to "Digital Business"? It is a weekly LinkedIn newsletter published by Kevin L. Jackson, CISSP?,CCSP? , host of our "Digital Transformers" series here at SCN. Check it out here.

Join?Scott Luton?& senior supply chain leaders from across the globe at?Supply Chain USA?in Chicago, May 17-18 2023, hosted by?Reuters Events: Supply Chain. Learn more here.

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