GET READY!! In this episode Audrey Ross, Co-host on The Trade Squad is our GUEST HOST!
Our Resident Industry Expert, Graham Robins of BorderBuddy was happy to change things up a bit and have a conversation with Audrey full of fun, value and breaking through the noise.
In this episode you will hear about why its important to negotiate a raise and how Graham is working on instilling a culture where people feel comfortable asking for a raise so they feel valued and appreciated.
Then we also talk about how the best learnings come from other people’s mistakes, and why it’s how you handle the mistake, not the mistake itself that makes a difference. Most times, the customer just wants to be heard and recognized, and thats where we get in trouble by coming up with excuses that doesnt solve the problem.
We hear Graham’s take on crypto and Facebook’s new Libra coin, then he takes us on a journey around KPI's. After reading Bernie Smith’s book. he has come to realize that KPI's help people easily track their performance and link it to the overall company strategy.
Lastly, because Audrey is a shipper and Graham a customs broker we could not let this match up end without discussing the impending trade wars, and why at the end of the day it’s the customer that ends up paying for extra tariffs. Complicated Canadian regulations also means a lack of innovation and competition, however Audrey and Graham agree that this allows a certain trust in the government that other countries do not have.
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Find us at Let’s Talk Supply Chain
In this episode I talk to Michiel, the founder and CTO of Coco Pallet, a company that produces pallets from used coconuts in Asia and Latin America. Michiel came up with the concept when he realized there was a problem concerning the huge amount of waste of wood that goes into producing pallets. Coco Pallet's vision is to ship 400 million pallets per year, and their plan is to build 5 factories by 2022 to help with that goal.
Coco Pallet offers a lot of benefits to the different entities in the supply chain industry. The coconut pallets are single use and one way, and they follow compliance for export regulations. They are mostly used for dry products such as books. The coconuts are bought from farmiculture waste. Since the coconuts have no value for the farmers, the coconuts are extremely cheap to buy, which in turn makes coco pallets cheaper than the wooden alternative. Coco Pallet uses in house glue and their own tools to build the pallets, making them 100% biodegradable and therefore allowing farmers to use the pallets to improve soil quality.
Coco Pallet is part of a circular economy; they solve several problems at once and leave no waste. Farmers are provided with an extra income, importers get to lower their CO2 consumption and don’t have to pay extra fees for wood, and best of all, fewer trees are cut down. In fact, Michiel says that every factory they build saves 500,000 trees per year. Their success has led them to build a large factory in the Philippines and they will be opening 4 to 5 more factories in Asia in the next few years. Their ethical and profitable business model means there is a huge opportunity for impact investment.
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In this episode, I talk to Tom Williams, Group Vice President, Consumer Products at BNSF Railway and Dr. Noel Hacegaba, COO of the Port of Long Beach, both board members of the Intermodal Association of North America. They each have many years of experience working in the intermodal industry.
Both Tom and Noel agree that the major challenge of the supply chain industry is the increasing sophistication that comes with working with different industry partners and shipping lines. As disruption meets innovation, customer expectations are also changing, their demands shifting from brick and mortar to more demanding e-commerce. Customers expect supply chain companies to make delivery processes fast, reliable and safe, which means increasing the efficiency of all coordinated shipments. IANA helps find solutions by bringing together industry leaders and placing education initiatives for everyone working with these logistics.
This fall is the IANA Expo event, a must-attend event for anyone working in the supply chain industry. It’s the largest gathering of supply chain leaders and stakeholders, including attendees such as Bill Strauss, Jeff Heller and companies such as Armstrong & Associates and SeaIntelligence Consulting. This is a great networking opportunity with around 1,800 expected attendees, over 125 exhibitors and more than 8 hours of exhibit time. IANA Expo is especially valuable thanks to the education sessions included in the schedule. Discussions on the future of supply chain, finding streamlined solutions and answering the big questions will take place during those several days. For those interested in helping shape the industry they work for, IANA is an event you definitely need to mark on your calendar!
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In this episode we talk to Demo, a Supply Chain Business Strategist at Logistics Services Panama. Demo lives in Panama, a country that has been a logistics hub for over 500 years and is a ‘one size fits all’ solution for global supply chains.
Panama is a unique logistics hub because of its logistics assets. It has the Panama canal, allowing ships from all over the world to gain access. Panama also has a world class port system with 4 ports being developed, essentially supporting both the Pacific and Atlantic ocean. Panama has the biggest free trade zone in the southern hemisphere and charges no tax on export or on sale. This means huge savings in time and cost for businesses doing trade in that area. As Demo says, the logistics are much more efficient; what would take several weeks in Miami, takes 4 days in Panama.
Doing business in Panama has some great advantages, as the country serves up to 30 countries and manages complex markets consisting of over 600 million people. Although Demo works mostly with big companies, he explains that Panama also has opportunities for SMEs thanks to its free trade zone airport and higher flexibility. The Supply Chain Forum happening in August is an excellent place to meet people who have experience doing trade in Panama - from SMEs to large corporations, everyone is welcome!
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WISC Series Sponsored by HULFT
Welcome back Lets Talk listeners!
Providing Disaster Relief Assistance Through Logistics
In this episode we talk to Kathy, executive director of the American Logistics Aid Network, an organization that provides supply chain assistance to disaster relief organizations and other non-profits. Kathy has worked in the supply chain and IT industry for 20 years and joined ALAN in 2010 when she took an interest in supply chain and emergency management, and started working on efficient coordination of logistics activities during disasters.
The logistics industry is instrumental to disaster relief - over 60% of spending goes into logistics. Making sure people have shelter, food and water is much more complicated than it seems. Logistics experts can provide their expertise and knowledge in order to do good, and this in turn can save a huge amount of money; Kathy uses an example where an NGO saved over a quarter of a million dollars just from 15 hours of work from a logistics expert.
The most inspiring part of Kathy’s journey has been the opportunity to see the good that companies do during disaster. Disasters are happening all the time, and although this is painful to experience, peoples’ desire to do good and be a part of something positive stands out. Anyone who works in the supply chain and logistics industry has a huge opportunity to save lives and make an impact, just by offering expertise. Kathy hopes to keep serving ALAN and provide better tools for businesses and NGOs to collaborate during disasters.
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