Give Thanks & More

“If you stand in the meat section at the grocery store long enough, you start to get mad at turkeys. There’s turkey ham, turkey bologna, turkey pastrami. Someone needs to tell the turkey, ‘Man, just be yourself.'” --- comedian Mitch Hedberg, born in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1968; passed away at the young age of only 37 in 2005.

Good Saturday morning all and welcome to this edition, No. 104, of "With That Said" (WTS), an almost-weekly newsletter powered by your friends here at Supply Chain Now. For all of the members of our global SCN fam that will be celebrating Thanksgiving this coming week, we wish you safe travels, special time with your family & friends, and nothing but the best throughout the holiday season. We all have so much to be grateful for.

All of our viewers, readers & listeners out there around the world, you know by now that we are all about "Deeds. Not words." There are so many opportunities for the global supply chain industry to change the world for the better. We want to call your attention to one of those opportunities here today, as we are supporting our friends at Elevate Our Kids , as they further their mission to bridge the Digital Divide.

Elevate Our Kids is a non-profit organization that seeks to gather and distribute resources, computing devices, and learning tools to support the education of our children in under-resourced communities here in the United States. From their website: "According to Digital Bridge K-12, there are an estimated 10 Million students that lack Internet to remotely learn and access school resources to learn from home. Elevate Our Kids estimates we have roughly 15-25 million students who also lack proper devices (laptops, tablets, digital tools) because either their school or district lacks the quality or does not distribute or because the families lack the budget to purchase these educational tools."

The one & only Rob Tiffany?? put this on our SCN radar a few years ago. A few days ago he shared: "This mid-November, the IoT Coffee Talk crew kicks off our annual elevateourkids.org donation drive to support K-12 students in need, helping close the #digitaldivide to empower kids to keep learning regardless of their circumstances. We welcome your donations, and any amount will help us fund the purchase of laptops in underserved communities. Just $300 purchases a #laptop and #Internet access for remote learning. We have a goal to support those communities hit hard in the Carolinas where students lost everything including homes, schools, and infrastructure."

Would you join our efforts & make a donation? Learn more & donate here.

NEED YOUR INPUT: There's still time to share your insights for the State of Visibility 2025 report! Take this survey, sponsored by our friends at Tive Inc , to join the conversation on key trends, challenges, and technology innovations in today’s supply chains. Your expertise matters: https://bit.ly/3AXSd14

DO GOOD: A past SCN guest, Scott Dubin , shared news with us recently on the the launch of the Logistics Outsourcing Guidance website. As Scott says: "This guidance represents years of dedication and a personal journey to address a critical gap in the field of logistics outsourcing. While designed for the health sector and tailored to the unique challenges of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), its practical insights have applications across industries. Explore the website, share your thoughts, and join me in using this guidance to strengthen logistics systems and create lasting change." Learn more here: https://logisticsoutsourcing.health/

Now plug in to these resources & perspectives from across the SCN ecosystem:

--- No es lo mismo transportar productos a transportar mascotas. Escucha nuestro episodio de Supply Chain Now En Espa?ol con Jeannine Rivas founder de VIPets. Acompa?a a nuestra host Sofia Rivas Herrera y aprende sobre: La importancia de la planeación en la logística de mascotas; Casos de éxito de reubicación de mascotas; Consejos sobre cómo emprender. Link a episodio en Spotify.

--- Space for Humanity is revolutionizing access to space travel by launching the planet’s first sponsored citizen astronaut program, aiming to send 10,000 diverse individuals to space over the next decade. In this episode of Logistics With Purpose? , host Kristi Porter and Aisha Said , the director of Human Experience at Space for Humanity, delve into the transformative power of experiencing Earth from above and how it can inspire impactful change. Aisha shares her unique upbringing in Canada, her journey through education, and her passion for inclusivity in both teaching and space exploration. The conversation highlights the significance of the “overview effect,” where seeing our planet from space can shift perspectives and motivate individuals to tackle global challenges. Join us as we explore the intersection of space travel, community development, and the drive to make a positive difference in the world. Check out the episode & more here.

--- Earlier this week, Scott was sharing a neat interview with a CPG industry leader: "I enjoyed a recent Retail Brew interview where Herrish Patel , a senior leader with 联合利华 , discusses some of the growth opportunities the company has created in the CPG industry. Love this quote too: "You need to predict the future a lot faster than you've ever done." Some folks reading this will be like: predict the future?? I'm still trying to interpret the past! The Good News folks: small and medium businesses can leverage much of the same technologies that years ago, only global behemoths could afford. And the not-so-good news: we've got to embrace these new opportunities! The game is evolving rapidly and you can lose a lot of competitive ground by clinging to traditional ways of doing things. Looking at you, spreadsheets! ??" Read the rest of Scott's message here.

--- Our SCN team is proud to once again support the Africa Supply Chain Excellence Awards (ASCEA). The 2025 entries are officially open! The 2025 edition promises to be even bigger and better. So, if you’re ready to showcase your company’s excellence and gain recognition on the continent’s premier supply chain stage, now’s the time to enter. Visit www.ascea.co.za and submit your application. Let’s celebrate the innovators and leaders driving supply chain excellence across Africa.

--- Will you be at the Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit in Denver in December? Be sure to connect with the supply chain dynamo that is Karin Bursa , one our incredibly talented co-hosts here at SCN. Learn more about the event here. On a similar note, here's a recent episode of "The Buzz" where Karin & Scott learned key takeaways from the London version of the event from Madhav Durbha : check it out here via YouTube

--- LATEST SCN BLOG ARTICLE: Warehousing historically hasn’t been a particularly exciting topic. But times have changed. Thanks to technological innovations, warehouse automation has made the receiving, housing, and distributing of goods truly fascinating stuff.?At Supply Chain Now, we spotlight companies doing exciting things throughout the industry. In modern warehousing, the innovations garnering attention include systems integrations involving robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence (AI); the use of optical character recognition (OCR) technology in yard management; an “elegant” automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS); and a solution called Chuck.?Learn more about four businesses that are transforming modern warehousing: Bastian Solutions , EAIGLE , Exotec & 6 River Systems, Part of Ocado Group - read the full blog here.

--- SPECIAL FRIEND OF THE SHOW: The one & only Tom Valentine shared great perspective the other day, as he gleaned business lessons out of lots of time in the woods: "Growing up (especially the holiday season), I spent time hunting small game & deer with my uncles and cousins. Those early mornings in the woods taught me more than how to track a rabbit ?? or outsmart a deer. Was not till I was older that I realized they were life lessons in patience, observation, and strategy. Qualities that, surprisingly, directly translate to finding prospective customers in the business world..." Learn more from ol' TV here.

--- Want to learn more about Supply Chain Now programming? Check it out: https://linktr.ee/Supplychainnow

Given the complex nature of today’s supply chain, transportation planning is critical for effectively managing inbound and outbound logistics. From navigating smart shipping consolidation to deploying the best carrier solutions, the decision-making process requires plenty of planning, critical thinking and agility.

In a recent Supply Chain Now livestream, hosts Scott W. Luton and Jake Barr spoke with a couple of business leaders from Manhattan Associates about how to optimize inbound and outbound logistics and boost supply chain efficiency. This often means taking a holistic view of the entire supply chain operation and constantly challenging assumptions and past norms. “In logistics, your transportation plan is constantly changing to meet real time conditions,” said Barr. “You have to be able to anticipate and adjust quickly to different scenarios for inbound flow, capacity, carrier choices and many other factors.”

In some cases, those changes can turn into opportunities. “You have to leverage technology tools that can look at the ‘what if’ scenarios,” said Laura Beth Andres , Solutions Advisor with Manhattan Associates, a technology-driven supply chain solutions company based in Atlanta. “Are there changes to the ordering pattern for a group of vendors that will allow you to consolidate deliveries on a different day and reduce transportation costs?”

Among the challenges businesses face is the need to integrate planning for both inbound and outbound logistics while accounting for the complexities that separate each part of the transportation flow. “One of the major recurring issues is the risk that you’ll spend time and effort creating a plan that then is revised by someone else who has more or better information down the line,” said Kristin Kay , senior design lead with Manhattan. “This is sometimes a natural part of the process, but it can cause friction and lead to burnout, a big risk to factor into your planning.”

In an industry where change is a constant, often down to the hour and minute, the best defense is a good offense. Detailed and data-driven transportation planning can inform practitioners on overall supply chain performance as well as current challenges in the transportation market and how to optimize shipment consolidation and resource allocation, for example. It can also drive scenario modeling of potential outcomes that can help boost efficiency and mitigate risk.

Choosing the right technology is an important step in the transportation planning process, as it will support – or detract – from efforts to increase efficiency and deliver positive outcomes for the customer. “It’s important to find the right solution that will grow with you because what you need, what's gotten you to this point today, is not what's going to get you to the same point next year,” said Luton. “Selecting the right solution that can continually be optimized is critical.”

Check out the livestream replay on-demand here. And here's a great resource from our friends at Manhattan: When building a business case for the investment in a new TMS, it is important to provide information on the ROI. This whitepaper helps uncover the key areas that consistently deliver savings, value and continuous improvement in your supply chain and across your business to support your business case.

Join us for our upcoming LIVE programming on SCN in the coming weeks!

Come join us starting with "The Buzz" on Monday, where Scott & Kimberly Reuter will share news and analysis from across global business. We'll also welcome in special guests, Mike Landry (with ketteQ ) and Rick McDonald . Then, make plans to join us in December, starting with these 3 special webinar sessions featuring leaders from CXT Software, AstraZeneca, OMP, PAXAFE & more. Click on the images below for more information & registration links for each session.

Finally, via YouTube, check out a few of our favorite episodes from across the SCN ecosystem this year. What were some of yours?

#supplychain #supplychainmanagement #leadership #tech #manufacturing #logistics #freight #procurement #sourcing #sustainability #transportation #DoGood