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How Real Experience Changes Supply Chain Thinking · Speaking of Supply Chain

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Speaker 1: If you think about a hub inist spoke planning is
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Speaker 1: it's that central part of what supply chain does, and
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Speaker 1: it actually connects all the stakeholders in an organization, right
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Speaker 1: So it connects sales and finance to manufacturing. It connects
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Speaker 1: procurement to what our plan is to deliver. It connects
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Speaker 1: service and our customers into what we're choosing to bring
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Speaker 1: to market and how we're choosing to fulfill consumer demands.
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Speaker 2: Hello and welcome to Speaking of Supply Chain, where mebok
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Speaker 2: experts from around the world unpack the real stories, strategies,
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Speaker 2: insights and innovations shaping the future of supply chain. I'm
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Speaker 2: your host, Ellen Wood. Speaking of Supply Chain has always
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Speaker 2: been about real world insights, not theories, and as the
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Speaker 2: industry evolves, so should the voices we bring to the mic.
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Speaker 2: Today's episode is a little bit different. It's about where
0:54
Speaker 2: we've been and more importantly, where we're going to help
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Speaker 2: us take that next step. I'm excited to introduce someone,
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Speaker 2: and many of you may already know from the industry,
1:02
Speaker 2: Christine Barnhardt. Welcome Christine, Thanks el.
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Speaker 1: And I appreciate it. It's great to be here.
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Speaker 2: You are known in the industry as the supply chain whisperer.
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Speaker 2: But before we get into that, why don't you tell
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Speaker 2: our listeners a little bit about your journey and what
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Speaker 2: drew you to supply chain in the first place.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's pretty eclectic. There's like a joke within me
1:24
Speaker 1: Vach then where my boss Nick says I'm a unicorn.
1:29
Speaker 1: I'm like, eh, I think I'm more like the Swiss
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Speaker 1: Army Knife of supply chain. But really eclectic. Journey started
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Speaker 1: out in engineering. I'm an electrical engineer by education with
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Speaker 1: Warpool Corporation. So I spent twelve years with Whirlpool. Started
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Speaker 1: out in maintenance, maintenance engineering, process engineering, quality, and then
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Speaker 1: transitioned into product development and so was in a lot
1:55
Speaker 1: of operations around the world over the years. After you
2:00
Speaker 1: know that, Journey did a complete career shift into supply
2:06
Speaker 1: chain with a company called me Johnson Nutrition. You may
2:09
Speaker 1: have heard of Infamil, so they made Afemil. I was
2:13
Speaker 1: a six sigma black belt and they had a capacity problem,
2:17
Speaker 1: so they wanted to hire somebody with that background. And
2:21
Speaker 1: I really found when I joined the company, I really
2:24
Speaker 1: fell in love with these really complex problems and complex systems,
2:30
Speaker 1: and I think for me, it was bringing that engineering
2:35
Speaker 1: kind of mindset into the realm of supply chain. So
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Speaker 1: spent six years with me Johnson Nutrition, really loved it,
2:44
Speaker 1: did sourcing and planning and led global implementations, and had
2:50
Speaker 1: the opportunity to go to a company called Barry Plastics.
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Speaker 1: They're now a division of Amcore, but they were doing
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Speaker 1: a very large global transformation and that appealed to me.
3:02
Speaker 1: So I went to Bury and part of the Center
3:05
Speaker 1: of Excellence. And what I've since learned since I joined
3:08
Speaker 1: me BACH is I was a consultant and I didn't
3:11
Speaker 1: even know it, right, like a Shair of Excellence person
3:15
Speaker 1: is like an internal advisor, internal consultant. So got to
3:20
Speaker 1: lead planning and procurement transformation and after three years they
3:25
Speaker 1: were like full stop, We're done. You know, we need
3:29
Speaker 1: a break. But I had fallen in love with kind
3:32
Speaker 1: of that piece of change and being connected to the
3:36
Speaker 1: to the broader market and really you know, kind of
3:41
Speaker 1: looking at you know, what's the next thing, What's how
3:44
Speaker 1: do we make it better? Like this continuous improvement kind
3:47
Speaker 1: of mindset. So I did another pivot because why not
3:52
Speaker 1: at this point, and went to in for in supply chain.
3:56
Speaker 1: So it was a strategist for a product at in
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Speaker 1: four or which you know, most people, I think in
4:02
Speaker 1: the industry have heard of Infour, but they're the third
4:04
Speaker 1: largest enterprise planning software company on the planet. And I
4:11
Speaker 1: spent three years with them leading go to market and
4:16
Speaker 1: product strategy, and then shifted into a little bit different space,
4:21
Speaker 1: still in technology with a company called Nulogy and and
4:25
Speaker 1: really got embedded in the COPAC and UH contract manufacturing space,
4:31
Speaker 1: you know, so again like really kind of rounding out,
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Speaker 1: you know, my experience in terms of manufacturing and supply
4:41
Speaker 1: chain and operations and whatnot. So and then four months
4:45
Speaker 1: ago I took a risk and decided that I needed
4:52
Speaker 1: to do something a little bit different and UH was
4:55
Speaker 1: connected with the folks from Mebak and really you know,
5:00
Speaker 1: love the work that they were doing globally and kind
5:03
Speaker 1: of liked how things were structured. And it's a little
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Speaker 1: different from what I've experienced with kind of you know,
5:10
Speaker 1: the big consulting houses, and I love that were really
5:13
Speaker 1: focused in supply chain. It's a good fit for me.
5:16
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's I don't know when am I am
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Speaker 1: I Unicorn, am I Swiss Army Knife? I don't know,
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Speaker 1: both I mean that is a very unique journey.
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Speaker 2: You've worked across operations and technology and manufacturing and advising.
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Speaker 2: Does that shape the way that you look at supply
5:35
Speaker 2: chain challenges?
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Speaker 1: Oh? Absolutely, because you've.
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Speaker 2: Got all those all those facets and all of those viewpoints.
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Speaker 1: I have the scars ellen right when you when you've
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Speaker 1: worked through, you know, kind of multiple businesses, it changes
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Speaker 1: your perspective. So it's not just something you learned in
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Speaker 1: a textbook. It's not a theory, it's not even somebody
5:56
Speaker 1: else's framework. Like you, you have the wounds, and and
6:00
Speaker 1: you know you've you've tried things that didn't work, you've
6:03
Speaker 1: tried things that do work, you know. So I definitely
6:07
Speaker 1: think it shaped you. I think for me, it's part
6:10
Speaker 1: of why I think I'm pretty practical, very pragmatic, because
6:19
Speaker 1: you know, like I've worked with maintenance, and I've you know,
6:21
Speaker 1: you just you've worked at all levels of the company,
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Speaker 1: and and I think it's important to kind of get
6:28
Speaker 1: all of those voices together, especially when you're solving complex
6:32
Speaker 1: problems from a manufacturing or from a supply chain perspective.
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Speaker 2: All right, and so with all of that insight, with
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Speaker 2: all that perspective, you know, what kinds of challenges and
6:44
Speaker 2: conversations do you find yourself talking about with supply chain
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Speaker 2: leaders right now?
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I tend to talk a lot about planning.
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Speaker 1: I think planning is if you think about a hub
6:56
Speaker 1: and as spoke, planning is it's that central part of
7:00
Speaker 1: what supply chain does, and it actually connects all the
7:04
Speaker 1: stakeholders in an organization, right, So it connects sales and
7:09
Speaker 1: finance to manufacturing, It connects procurement to to what our
7:13
Speaker 1: plan is to deliver. It connects you know, service and
7:17
Speaker 1: our customers into what what we're choosing to bring to
7:21
Speaker 1: market and how we're choosing to fulfill consumer demand. So, uh,
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Speaker 1: for me, planning is a passion and and that is
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Speaker 1: kind of an area that that I'm really really focused
7:34
Speaker 1: right now is really helping, uh, the North American market
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Speaker 1: understand what Meebach does in the in the context of
7:43
Speaker 1: planning and how we're really helping shape people's journey to
7:50
Speaker 1: you know, a better planning outcome. So for me, that
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Speaker 1: that's kind of my personal passion, I guess and lucky
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Speaker 1: for me and aligned to where the company is headed
8:01
Speaker 1: as well.
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Speaker 2: It is very exciting to have you here. I have
8:04
Speaker 2: to say. So, one of your other roles is you
8:07
Speaker 2: lead the industry Engagement and Alliances for North America. So
8:10
Speaker 2: how does that fit in What does that look like
8:12
Speaker 2: day to day with your personal passion?
8:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I think what I've learned over the
8:18
Speaker 1: last decade or so is I'm a connector. And I
8:22
Speaker 1: didn't know that when I was younger, Right. I have
8:25
Speaker 1: always been kind of that person that was relationship oriented
8:31
Speaker 1: in every role that I've had, and it's part of
8:33
Speaker 1: what has made me successful both within a company and
8:38
Speaker 1: moving within an org. But you know, between companies and orgs,
8:41
Speaker 1: and I think for me, it's about figuring out, like
8:44
Speaker 1: how to connect people that maybe you wouldn't even think
8:48
Speaker 1: should be connected to have a conversation. And so for me,
8:53
Speaker 1: the industry engagement piece has kind of grown organically, right.
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Speaker 1: I connected myself to various you know, subject matter experts,
9:04
Speaker 1: thought leaders, influencers, industry organizations, and so over probably the
9:09
Speaker 1: last ten or fifteen years, as I've moved to different
9:12
Speaker 1: orgs and to different roles, I've just kind of taken
9:16
Speaker 1: those with me. And so when I came to Mibok,
9:18
Speaker 1: it made sense to really own that from the mebok
9:21
Speaker 1: perspective because I was already connected to supply chain leaders
9:25
Speaker 1: in action and association of supply chain management and whatnot.
9:29
Speaker 1: And I had been leading analyst relations when I was
9:33
Speaker 1: at in for and at Nulogy. So again, you know,
9:35
Speaker 1: I understand the analyst community if connected to gartners supply
9:39
Speaker 1: chain insights, you know whatnot. So all of that made sense.
9:44
Speaker 1: And then I had been working a lot as I
9:47
Speaker 1: joined the technology side of supply chain with various supply
9:51
Speaker 1: chain partners and had had experienced growing joint offerings and
9:57
Speaker 1: partnerships and working with with with others. Because at the
10:01
Speaker 1: end of the day, my personal philosophy is that I
10:04
Speaker 1: think that there's enough issues out there in the world
10:09
Speaker 1: and in supply chain that there's room for all of us, right,
10:13
Speaker 1: Like I think supply chains in general are the mechanism
10:17
Speaker 1: where you actually can lift all boats. Right. I think
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Speaker 1: supply chains are what solved those complex problems in the world,
10:26
Speaker 1: and they lift groups of people out of poverty, and
10:29
Speaker 1: they you know, they make the world a better place
10:32
Speaker 1: and they make sure that we're not damaging our planet. Right,
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Speaker 1: So supply chains do all of that. I think supply
10:38
Speaker 1: chain providers technology providers, influencers, analysts, consultants. There's enough to
10:46
Speaker 1: do for us all to benefit. And I think how
10:49
Speaker 1: we help the industry and how we help our customers
10:53
Speaker 1: and clients is by working together in a really meaningful way.
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Speaker 1: So for me, partners partnerships, alliances, it just makes sense
11:02
Speaker 1: because I'm a connector and I want to hear what
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Speaker 1: other people are doing. I want to see how they're
11:09
Speaker 1: solving a problem, and then how can we leverage that
11:12
Speaker 1: to our benefit, to our customers benefit.
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Speaker 2: Absolutely, So does that give you any insight or visibility
11:20
Speaker 2: into what clients are struggling with before it becomes a
11:24
Speaker 2: popular problem that everyone knows about, before it becomes a trend.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I think before it hits the headlines,
11:31
Speaker 1: we see it, hear it, we're already trying to solve
11:35
Speaker 1: it before I ever, you know, really is going to
11:39
Speaker 1: come across your social feed or before you're going to
11:43
Speaker 1: see it in kind of a national publication. So I think,
11:47
Speaker 1: and we do that in multiple ways. One is just
11:50
Speaker 1: the conversations that we're happening, Like, you know, people coming
11:53
Speaker 1: to us saying, you know, I can't reduce my inventory
11:56
Speaker 1: or I have all this volatility and I'm not meeting
12:00
Speaker 1: my you know, customers requirements, right I'm out of stock,
12:04
Speaker 1: or I'm not on shelf, or it's taking way too
12:07
Speaker 1: long to get things through through my operations. So I mean,
12:10
Speaker 1: for us, I think the kinds of problems that people
12:15
Speaker 1: are servicing surfacing have they haven't changed that much, right,
12:19
Speaker 1: So supply chain still ultimately do the same things now
12:22
Speaker 1: that they did forty or fifty years ago. I think
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Speaker 1: the pace of change has really accelerated, right, So things
12:30
Speaker 1: are you know, it used to be kind of this
12:32
Speaker 1: slow kind of progression, and now everything is happening, you know,
12:37
Speaker 1: really really quickly. There's a lot of volatility. Obviously we
12:41
Speaker 1: have some global destabilization that you know, are making people
12:46
Speaker 1: rethink supply chains. Because look, I've been around long enough
12:48
Speaker 1: that I've seen this kind of come full circle. Right
12:50
Speaker 1: when I graduated from engineering school and ninety six ninety
12:58
Speaker 1: five and into manufacturing, we were de integrating, right, So
13:04
Speaker 1: it was like, this isn't a core competency. We're going
13:07
Speaker 1: to send this out to somebody else, right, And and
13:09
Speaker 1: so that was when we started to see a lot
13:11
Speaker 1: of specialization and and a lot of concentration in low
13:15
Speaker 1: cost regions and whatnot. And now here we are, you know, thirty,
13:21
Speaker 1: I'm doing it my years later, and we're how do
13:25
Speaker 1: we reshure how do we retrain us you know, employees
13:31
Speaker 1: to be manufacturing technology employees, right and or how do
13:36
Speaker 1: we you know, near shore friendshore? And so I think,
13:40
Speaker 1: you know, everything is in life is a cycle, and
13:44
Speaker 1: and so we're we're in an interesting spot. I think
13:48
Speaker 1: the other thing that I would say is people are
13:52
Speaker 1: finally starting to see that it's not actually like technology is.
13:58
Speaker 1: It's not a technology problem, and technology is probably not
14:01
Speaker 1: where you should start. Right. So we've been in these
14:04
Speaker 1: multiple hype cycles for the last twenty years where we
14:08
Speaker 1: have these really amazing tools, you know, new advanced planning
14:12
Speaker 1: tools and new you know, artificial intelligence, and now we
14:15
Speaker 1: have agentic AI and and honestly, it is a game changer.
14:19
Speaker 1: Is I do work differently now? However, in the context
14:24
Speaker 1: of supply chain, if you haven't made those investments and
14:29
Speaker 1: by that I don't necessarily mean money, I mean time resources,
14:33
Speaker 1: right like, but if you haven't made investments to really
14:38
Speaker 1: build a good foundation, and that means you people understand
14:43
Speaker 1: why we do the things that we do, and they
14:45
Speaker 1: know enough to question the model and to ask is
14:49
Speaker 1: there a better way? But also do you have the data?
14:55
Speaker 1: And I think a lot of people are swimming in data,
14:58
Speaker 1: but they lack insight, they lack decisions support And by
15:03
Speaker 1: the way, the data that they're swimming in is dirty.
15:06
Speaker 1: It requires a lot of massaging. So I think, you know,
15:11
Speaker 1: I really have been preaching recently about guys, we gotta
15:14
Speaker 1: let's make sure that the fundamentals are good. We have
15:17
Speaker 1: good data. The data is moving through the ecosystem at
15:23
Speaker 1: the speed of business, right, So that means it can't
15:26
Speaker 1: be an Excel spreadsheet that I'm emailing from person to person.
15:29
Speaker 2: Right, so you know, like I mean, all the very least,
15:32
Speaker 2: it has to be centralized.
15:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, exactly. So you know, I think I think
15:39
Speaker 1: it's really about, you know, making sure that we're that
15:42
Speaker 1: we're really taking a step back, that we're looking end
15:45
Speaker 1: to end, we're not looking within our individual silos. I mean,
15:49
Speaker 1: all of that is really I think where the conversations
15:52
Speaker 1: are centered. For most, for most big supply chains these days.
15:57
Speaker 2: One of the things you do is you are working
15:59
Speaker 2: closely with our mebach teams globally, not just North America.
16:03
Speaker 2: Although we're so glad to have you. What stands out
16:06
Speaker 2: about some of the diversity of the expertise within me
16:10
Speaker 2: Boch that you've experienced so far.
16:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it really is amazing. When I think
16:15
Speaker 1: about the level of subject matter expertise within Meebach, certain
16:21
Speaker 1: regions are are really they kind of they have a
16:24
Speaker 1: really really deep subject matter expertise in maybe a given
16:28
Speaker 1: industry or you know, a given type of supply chain problem.
16:32
Speaker 1: And I think you know, like you probably see that
16:35
Speaker 1: in other consulting houses as well. What I haven't seen,
16:39
Speaker 1: and I think is really unique to me Bach is
16:42
Speaker 1: this sharing across practices, across subject matters, across geographies. Right,
16:50
Speaker 1: I'm working on a project and you know, I have
16:53
Speaker 1: a resource out of Canada, I have a resource out
16:57
Speaker 1: of Europe. I have two resources out of the US,
17:00
Speaker 1: because those are the best resources for this particular project
17:04
Speaker 1: given their experience and what we're trying to do. So
17:07
Speaker 1: you know, you don't have those arbitrary lines. I would
17:11
Speaker 1: say between the various business units, it's not competitive within
17:16
Speaker 1: the company, it's very collaborative and it's very nurturing. And
17:22
Speaker 1: you know, in particular, our expertise in network design and
17:27
Speaker 1: network optimization is just unparalleled based on what I've seen,
17:32
Speaker 1: you know, fifty some idears of experience. Miebach was was
17:35
Speaker 1: really a leader in that space. They've continued to develop
17:39
Speaker 1: in that space. Warehouse automation planning, so planning relatively new
17:46
Speaker 1: for North America, but a practice and and a level
17:49
Speaker 1: of expertise out of Europe that is that is very impressive.
17:54
Speaker 1: And then you know, I've joined now and I have
17:56
Speaker 1: a lot of planning experience. We have others. I think
17:59
Speaker 1: that's the other thing that has really been surprising is
18:03
Speaker 1: you meet people and you start to talk to them
18:06
Speaker 1: and you realize, well, their pedigree is as a practitioner, right,
18:12
Speaker 1: they're like me. Right, there's a lot of people that
18:14
Speaker 1: are like me within me back where they have twenty
18:18
Speaker 1: thirty years in the industry. They have the scars, they
18:22
Speaker 1: have the wounds. They've done it from a practical standpoint,
18:26
Speaker 1: and then now they're pivoted and they're sharing what they've
18:30
Speaker 1: learned and they're continuing. I think what sets consultants apart
18:36
Speaker 1: is they've liked to move fast and they don't like
18:39
Speaker 1: to stand still. Right, So they're like people that end
18:42
Speaker 1: up in consulting based on what i've seen. They're the
18:46
Speaker 1: ones that are They're pretty progressive. They were early adopters.
18:49
Speaker 1: They want to continue to move businesses forward, but doing
18:54
Speaker 1: that in a way that's not theoretical, it's not academic,
18:57
Speaker 1: because they've done the work. I think is is really
19:01
Speaker 1: something that's unique based on based on what I've seen.
19:04
Speaker 2: You know what, I agree, but I also disagree to
19:07
Speaker 2: a point. I mean, we're a company of engineers, and
19:10
Speaker 2: engineers love solving problems, and these are just people who
19:13
Speaker 2: happen to have experienced these problems in real life, in
19:16
Speaker 2: real work situations, and they are just like taking it
19:19
Speaker 2: to the next step of yeah, I'm not going to
19:22
Speaker 2: just exist with this problem anymore. I'm going to fix it,
19:24
Speaker 2: and I'm going to fix it for everybody so that
19:26
Speaker 2: everybody has a chance to, as you said, level up
19:29
Speaker 2: and get to that next point.
19:31
Speaker 1: We have a weird mix of engineers, and you're right,
19:34
Speaker 1: there's a lot of engineers engineers on one side and
19:37
Speaker 1: then like like business masters, informatics data folks on the
19:42
Speaker 1: other side. So from my standpoint, I love it. I
19:46
Speaker 1: think it's great. I've been kind of complaining to the
19:49
Speaker 1: academic community for years that I really wanted supply chain
19:54
Speaker 1: engineering because you know, I love the business side and
19:58
Speaker 1: I love supply chain, and I think you need to
20:01
Speaker 1: be able to speak that language. But engineers understand complex
20:05
Speaker 1: ecosystems and really really complex, multi layered problems. So I
20:09
Speaker 1: really feel like you need both. So from my standpoint,
20:12
Speaker 1: Mibach is the best of both worlds so well.
20:16
Speaker 2: And that kind of leads us into this next area,
20:20
Speaker 2: which is the podcast itself and what our plan is
20:24
Speaker 2: for this year, what we're going to talk about, what
20:27
Speaker 2: we're going to be exploring with our you know, with
20:31
Speaker 2: our platform here, and so how do you see that
20:34
Speaker 2: aligning with all of these great things that you're saying
20:37
Speaker 2: about me Bach and I do agree, I love it.
20:39
Speaker 2: It's I've been here for ten years and I couldn't
20:43
Speaker 2: agree more. But you have a fresh set of eyes,
20:45
Speaker 2: a new perspective.
20:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think subject matter experts, a lot of them
20:51
Speaker 1: are not extroverted necessarily, right, So I'm an outlier. I'm
20:57
Speaker 1: I'm actually an ombivert. But we can get into that
21:00
Speaker 1: in a different episode. But like as an engineer, it's
21:04
Speaker 1: it's really unusual to have like to see engineers promoting themselves,
21:09
Speaker 1: you know, writing and publishing things in in you know,
21:13
Speaker 1: social media, and really you know, they have great knowledge
21:18
Speaker 1: and they'll share it one on one, but they never
21:20
Speaker 1: even it doesn't trigger their brain that they need to
21:24
Speaker 1: you know, advocate in a broader in a broader sense.
21:27
Speaker 1: So for me, part of the goal is really to
21:31
Speaker 1: make sure we're promoting the great experts that we have
21:36
Speaker 1: within me boch and within our partner ecosystem, right because
21:40
Speaker 1: we have access to some really brilliant minds and great
21:45
Speaker 1: companies doing wonderful work. So I think that's gonna be
21:48
Speaker 1: one of the big shifts that you're going to see,
21:50
Speaker 1: not even just in the podcast, but just in how
21:53
Speaker 1: Meeboch kind of talks to the market is we need
21:56
Speaker 1: to do a better job of being our consultants and
22:02
Speaker 1: our advisors a means to share what they know and
22:07
Speaker 1: what they've learned and what their best tips and tricks are, uh,
22:11
Speaker 1: in a way that that really moves the industry forward.
22:15
Speaker 2: So those are those are the conversations you want to
22:17
Speaker 2: have with with our internal SMEs and really you know,
22:21
Speaker 2: filling those gaps in those conversations that maybe they wouldn't
22:25
Speaker 2: have stood up for.
22:27
Speaker 1: Absolutely yes, yes, uh, And you know what. I think
22:31
Speaker 1: some of them will will probably find a few people
22:33
Speaker 1: that have a passion that they'll find their passion for
22:37
Speaker 1: for being a public advocate hopefully. Uh. But you know,
22:41
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, if you have knowledge
22:44
Speaker 1: and you don't have this ability to share it, then
22:46
Speaker 1: that's knowledge that kind of dies with you. And I
22:49
Speaker 1: think that that that's that's not where we want to be,
22:52
Speaker 1: right Like, we we really want to move the industry forward.
22:56
Speaker 1: We want to make it better, easier, faster, more profit football,
23:00
Speaker 1: right Like, that's that's what we're all kind of programmed for.
23:04
Speaker 1: And I think we do that by sharing freely of
23:09
Speaker 1: what we've what we've learned, and what we would not
23:12
Speaker 1: do again.
23:15
Speaker 2: I know one thing that that people have asked me
23:18
Speaker 2: in the past, as as the host of speaking of
23:21
Speaker 2: supply chain is you know, how how can I talk
23:24
Speaker 2: about what we do without it sounding you know, very
23:27
Speaker 2: sales self aggrandizing? Yeah, sales e. How how do you
23:32
Speaker 2: how do you anticipate us doing that going forward without
23:36
Speaker 2: just making it all about us us US?
23:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I think it's about a I would say,
23:44
Speaker 1: you know, you don't have to work with me back,
23:45
Speaker 1: We're like, I mean we want you to and I
23:48
Speaker 1: think fabulous. But but at the end of the day,
23:51
Speaker 1: do I think that you need some outside support, advocacy, consulting.
23:56
Speaker 1: Should you be looking beyond your four walls? I would
23:59
Speaker 1: say should? And so I think it's kind of how
24:04
Speaker 1: you present it, right, Like, Look, I transitioned to you know,
24:09
Speaker 1: the dark side, the technology side in twenty eighteen. But
24:15
Speaker 1: my reputation is not that I'm selling selling selling, right.
24:19
Speaker 1: My reputation is that I'm I'm, you know, going to
24:23
Speaker 1: freely share what I've learned. I'm gonna tell you know
24:27
Speaker 1: where the skeletons are in the closet if I need to,
24:30
Speaker 1: you know. Like, so, I think it's really about being
24:33
Speaker 1: genuine and pragmatic, and it's not about like four syllable words, right, Like,
24:41
Speaker 1: it's not like marketing buzz or sales speech. It's really about, like,
24:46
Speaker 1: you know, how do we get our hands dirty? And
24:48
Speaker 1: you know, what have we learned? So I think as
24:50
Speaker 1: long as people are being you know, being themselves and
24:53
Speaker 1: being genuine like for me, you would never see me
24:57
Speaker 1: give somebody a scripted talk track and say, Okay, this
25:00
Speaker 1: is what I want you to say when you go right,
25:03
Speaker 1: like me, that then becomes a sales exercise and that
25:06
Speaker 1: is not what we.
25:07
Speaker 2: Want, all right. Well, and to your earlier point, you
25:10
Speaker 2: know that the market is huge. There's enough room for
25:13
Speaker 2: everybody in the sandbox to come play. There's enough need
25:16
Speaker 2: in the market for all of these different organizations, for
25:21
Speaker 2: all of these different consultancies, for all of these different
25:23
Speaker 2: integrators to you know, to have their spot and find
25:27
Speaker 2: their niche. And you know, with the the expertise that
25:31
Speaker 2: you mentioned across Mebak that you've already you know, come
25:34
Speaker 2: into contact with or or been able to experience through
25:37
Speaker 2: both project work and just meeting your colleagues. I think
25:40
Speaker 2: that you know, to your point, when we're highlighting those
25:44
Speaker 2: it doesn't have to be about keeping that or it
25:48
Speaker 2: shouldn't be about keeping that information hidden. We're trying to
25:51
Speaker 2: put it out there. We're trying to you know, solve
25:53
Speaker 2: these problems, crowdsource some of this information and put it
25:57
Speaker 2: out there.
25:58
Speaker 1: Yeah. No, you're spot on. And I think you know
26:00
Speaker 1: the flip side to that is because you know, you
26:02
Speaker 1: said I own partnerships alliances, right is Meebock has always
26:07
Speaker 1: prided itself on being agnostic. Right, We're going to advise
26:11
Speaker 1: a client or a customer based on what the best
26:13
Speaker 1: solution is for them. And so I've had several people
26:16
Speaker 1: ask me, well, how you own partnerships if you're agnostic,
26:19
Speaker 1: and I was like, I can be a partner with
26:21
Speaker 1: somebody because I want to better understand how their solution
26:26
Speaker 1: works or how they do business, and I want to influence,
26:30
Speaker 1: you know, maybe where they're making investments based on what
26:33
Speaker 1: I see. Right, But if there's not a financial incentive
26:37
Speaker 1: between us, I'm still like not stick right, And so
26:40
Speaker 1: you're going to see us make some some announcements on
26:43
Speaker 1: partnerships in the coming months which are super exciting, But
26:49
Speaker 1: we're still maintaining a neutrality. We're not working exclusively with
26:53
Speaker 1: any one partner where we're really you know, looking at
26:57
Speaker 1: the industry and saying, you know, where are our custom
27:00
Speaker 1: stomers leading us, who is making investments that we really
27:05
Speaker 1: want to understand better that we maybe we want to
27:08
Speaker 1: go to some classes or we want to you know,
27:10
Speaker 1: pick their brains, We want to talk to them. So
27:13
Speaker 1: I think for us, when we talk about partnership, it's
27:16
Speaker 1: much about like collaboration and sharing and it's not about
27:21
Speaker 1: like financial partnership. So I think that that is also
27:26
Speaker 1: clearly something that makes you know that that we're proud
27:29
Speaker 1: of and that we want to maintain even as we
27:32
Speaker 1: start to grow our ecosystem.
27:34
Speaker 2: I agree. That's one of the things that I've I've
27:36
Speaker 2: loved about our our stance on partnerships over the years
27:40
Speaker 2: is that, yes, we do want to align and be
27:43
Speaker 2: engaged with those you know, those market leaders in their
27:47
Speaker 2: in their own right, and of course we want to
27:50
Speaker 2: use their products when it makes sense and have that
27:52
Speaker 2: ability to deliver that to our clients. But yeah, it's
27:57
Speaker 2: it's it's an interesting way to approach partnerships that I
28:01
Speaker 2: think is a little bit unique to me.
28:03
Speaker 1: Buck, I would agree I haven't seen it in other places.
28:07
Speaker 1: I mean, even when I've stood up partnerships in previous roles,
28:11
Speaker 1: the first question has always been, oh, well, you know,
28:13
Speaker 1: how do we incentivize you, how do we how do
28:15
Speaker 1: we do referrals? And and and I will say for me,
28:19
Speaker 1: it's a breath of fresh air that I don't have
28:20
Speaker 1: to worry about that.
28:24
Speaker 2: So, going forward with all of this new and exciting
28:27
Speaker 2: stuff this year, what do you hope listeners feel when
28:31
Speaker 2: they listen to an episode, when they when they get
28:34
Speaker 2: to the end, what what do you want that to
28:37
Speaker 2: provoke for them?
28:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean at the end of the day, if
28:41
Speaker 1: they are a little bit entertained, right, Like you don't
28:45
Speaker 1: want it to be dry and boring, and like hopefully
28:49
Speaker 1: there's at least one part that everybody chuckles and and
28:52
Speaker 1: it's like, yeah, I know what that's like, right, So
28:55
Speaker 1: I think you know, I think the other part would
28:58
Speaker 1: be if if generally speaking, people are like, yeah, that
29:01
Speaker 1: was no bs, right, Like that was that was just
29:04
Speaker 1: like having sitting down and having a cup of coffee
29:07
Speaker 1: or having a cocktail or like right, like with somebody
29:11
Speaker 1: that I genuinely want to spend time with and talk
29:14
Speaker 1: to because because it's an interesting conversation or I learned something,
29:20
Speaker 1: or I just felt like, oh gosh, I'm not crazy,
29:23
Speaker 1: right like oh other people are. Because I think so
29:27
Speaker 1: often we present the good, the glossy, the polished, right,
29:33
Speaker 1: and I want I want us to have conversations that
29:36
Speaker 1: are real and genuine and you know, that are not polished,
29:41
Speaker 1: and that at the end of the day you're like, yeah,
29:43
Speaker 1: I I feel that. Like I'm I'm tired, I'm grouchy,
29:49
Speaker 1: I'm so tired of listening to agentic AI and and like,
29:53
Speaker 1: just tell me how to make something happen, right, I
29:56
Speaker 1: don't care, you know, so, I cause I think a
29:58
Speaker 1: lot of people like, there's so any messages coming at
30:01
Speaker 1: us so quickly, and and a lot of you know,
30:06
Speaker 1: a lot of people are like, Oh, it's going to
30:08
Speaker 1: fix all the problems in the world. I don't believe
30:10
Speaker 1: that manufacturers move very slowly, supply chains move very slowly.
30:16
Speaker 1: Is our new technologies going to change the way people work?
30:21
Speaker 1: One hundred percent? They are right? But is it going
30:24
Speaker 1: to change overnight? No? And and does it mean that
30:29
Speaker 1: it's going to change for the worst? I don't think so, right, Like,
30:34
Speaker 1: I know, at the turn of the century, when we
30:36
Speaker 1: when we you know, industrialized manufacturing and we industrialized farming,
30:42
Speaker 1: there were people that lost their jobs, but new jobs
30:44
Speaker 1: were created. And so I think for me, it's it's
30:47
Speaker 1: really about being positive and you know, just real, Let's
30:52
Speaker 1: just be real, let's have real conversations.
30:55
Speaker 2: Absolutely, any topics you're especially excited or nervous about tackling.
31:00
Speaker 1: Nervous, I mean, I don't know. It's like I think
31:04
Speaker 1: there are things that if something doesn't make you a
31:06
Speaker 1: little bit uncomfortable, or if you're not a little bit
31:08
Speaker 1: uncomfortable in your day to day, then you probably need
31:11
Speaker 1: to push yourself a little more. But you know, so
31:15
Speaker 1: for me, it's not the topics. I don't think that
31:18
Speaker 1: make me uncomfortable. I mean, like you and I work
31:20
Speaker 1: together closely, I have a lot on my plate. I'm
31:23
Speaker 1: I'm a fairly ambitious individual. I don't like to sit still,
31:27
Speaker 1: so I'm committing to a lot and that makes me nervous.
31:32
Speaker 1: But in terms of supply chain, I think I'm more
31:35
Speaker 1: optimistic about business and where things are headed than I
31:39
Speaker 1: am nervous. I think there's a lot of really hard
31:42
Speaker 1: work out there. But collectively, collaboratively, if we if we
31:49
Speaker 1: all are you know, in the right mindset, I think
31:51
Speaker 1: that you know, you can eat the entire elephant, one
31:54
Speaker 1: by it at a time. So we just have to like,
31:57
Speaker 1: you know, get on the path, stay on the path,
31:59
Speaker 1: you know, maintain our attitude and be willing to be
32:04
Speaker 1: curious and optimistic and you know, try things and have
32:11
Speaker 1: conversations and be vulnerable. I think that's the other thing, right,
32:14
Speaker 1: Like we have to be vulnerable, we have to have
32:16
Speaker 1: these conversations. We're not all making the right decisions all
32:21
Speaker 1: the time, right, Like, so, you know, are we comfortable
32:25
Speaker 1: with failure? And look, I don't like it, I hate it,
32:28
Speaker 1: but some of the best lessons that I've learned, I'm
32:31
Speaker 1: like I learned because I didn't do it right the
32:33
Speaker 1: first time, and and and it would be disingenuous of
32:37
Speaker 1: me not to share that. So my hope is that
32:40
Speaker 1: as people get comfortable with the podcast, and as we
32:45
Speaker 1: bring on subject matter experts, you know, like I said,
32:48
Speaker 1: within me Bach and within our ecosystem, that people feel
32:53
Speaker 1: comfortable sharing and being vulnerable and being you know, really
32:57
Speaker 1: transparent with the post.
33:00
Speaker 2: Listeners awesome, Well to our listeners, I do want to
33:04
Speaker 2: say I'm not leaving the podcast. I'm certainly not leaving
33:08
Speaker 2: me back. I'm going to be here. But you will
33:10
Speaker 2: see a lot more of Christine on these episodes going forward,
33:15
Speaker 2: especially this year, as she has all of this work
33:18
Speaker 2: that she has been doing, all of these hats that
33:20
Speaker 2: she's been wearing and pulling together episodes and topics to
33:25
Speaker 2: talk about, and she is clearly the best person to
33:29
Speaker 2: have some of these conversations. So I will still be here,
33:35
Speaker 2: I will still be stepping in from time to time,
33:37
Speaker 2: but you will be seeing a lot more of Christine,
33:40
Speaker 2: so thank you.
33:42
Speaker 1: It's going to be a team effort Allen, like we're
33:45
Speaker 1: you know, so definitely, Folks, you're going to get your
33:49
Speaker 1: your dose of Ellen. You'll probably get more meat than
33:51
Speaker 1: you want so and that's fine. You can say, hey,
33:55
Speaker 1: can we get Ellen.
33:56
Speaker 2: And absolutely, absolutely yes. So it's going to be a
34:00
Speaker 2: team effort because we have some ambitious goals for this
34:03
Speaker 2: year with our programming, with our business and I can't
34:08
Speaker 2: wait to take our listeners on this journey with us.
34:11
Speaker 1: Me too, Me too. Yeah, it's gonna be an It's
34:13
Speaker 1: already an exciting year. I mean, we just had the
34:17
Speaker 1: the articles that came out in Supply Chain Brain, the
34:20
Speaker 1: resource SID for twenty six what we had like three
34:25
Speaker 1: three items published for Mebak, which is super exciting. So yeah,
34:30
Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of ways for people to
34:32
Speaker 1: engage with us. The podcast is one, our social media
34:36
Speaker 1: is one, but hopefully they're seeing us in you know,
34:40
Speaker 1: the spaces where they get their supply chain information as well.
34:45
Speaker 2: Absolutely, and with those SMEs. I know we've got some
34:49
Speaker 2: awards that we'll be announcing later on this year. We've
34:52
Speaker 2: got some some movers and shakers that deserve their recognition,
34:56
Speaker 2: and additionally, you just getting all of these people the
35:00
Speaker 2: recognition that they deserve. So very excited, awesome, awesome, Thanks
35:06
Speaker 2: for tuning in to Speaking of Supply Chain. If this
35:08
Speaker 2: conversation sparked a new idea or touched on a challenge
35:11
Speaker 2: you're navigating, we'd love to hear from you. With that,
35:14
Speaker 2: I am excited to officially hand over the majority of
35:18
Speaker 2: hosting duties to Christine Barnhardt. Welcome to the next chapter
35:23
Speaker 2: of Speaking of Supply Chain.
35:25
Speaker 1: Thanks Ellen, appreciate it. Look forward to talking to everybody soon.
35:35
Speaker 3: You've been listening to Speaking of Supply Chain a meboch podcast.
35:39
Speaker 3: Keep connected with us by subscribing to the show in
35:41
Speaker 3: your favorite podcast player. If you like what you've heard,
35:44
Speaker 3: please rate the show that helps us to keep delivering
35:46
Speaker 3: the latest in supply chain information. Thanks for listening. Until
35:50
Speaker 3: next time.