Tennessee on Supply Chain Management

For the May 2025 episode, co-hosts Ted Stank and Tom Goldsby spoke with Stephanie Pierce, director of warehouse foods planning for PepsiCo, about wide range of relevant business topics, including the changing work modalities that have impacted talent retention and recruitment, leading hybrid teams, and adapting planning for shifting customer habits in snacking. 

Pierce, a 2011 alumna of UT’s supply chain management program, has spen...

For the April 2025 episode, co-hosts Ted Stank and Tom Goldsby were live at the Spring 2025 Supply Chain Forum with Colin Yankee chief supply chain officer for Tractor Supply Company, to discuss the supply chain strategies and operational efficiencies that help companies thrive in uncertain times. 

Their in-depth conversation explored Tractor Supply’s transportation and distribution center operations, how to leverage extensive store...

For the March 2025 episode, co-hosts Ted Stank and Tom Goldsby are joined by guest host Thomas Deakins, managing director of the Global Supply Chain Institute, and Jason Murray, CEO and co-founder at Shipium to explore how data-driven decision-making fuels modern supply chain success. 

Their in-depth conversation touches on the power of predictive technology and Agentic AI, the complexities of integrating products and software, and ...

For the February 2025 episode, host Ted Stank and guest host Josh King speak with Barbara Melvin, CEO and president of the South Carolina Ports about everything from U.S. trade and tariffs to the impact of labor and economic development on port operations. 

A member of the GSCI Advisory Board Melvin runs one of the fastest-growing ports in the country, and the fourth-busiest gateway on the East Coast in Charleston, South Carolina. P...

For the first episode of 2025, co-hosts Ted Stank and Tom Goldsby spoke with UT Knoxville experts Huseyn Abdulla and Seongkyoon Jeong about their research in the areas of returns management and supply chain cybersecurity. 

Assistant professors and esteemed scholars in their disciplines, Abdulla and Jeong’s insights are a deep dive into the challenges and innovations shaping supply chain management. Among other points, Abdulla explai...

For our December episode, co-hosts Ted Stank and Tom Goldsby spoke with Marianne Wanamaker, dean of UT's Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs and a professor of economics and public policy.  

Wanamaker, who served as the chief domestic economist for the White House Council of Economic Advisors during the first Trump administration, is a recurring guest on the podcast and at meetings of the GSCI Advisor...

For our November episode, co-hosts Ted Stank and Tom Goldsby were live at the Fall 2024 Supply Chain Forum, where they spoke with Robert Martichenko, board chair for TrailPath Workplace Solutions, and Sunland Logistics Solutions' CEO Arch Thomason and VP of Human Resources Diane Lowman.

With fundamental forces, from population demographics to shifting societal attitudes, shifting the nature of work and the relationshi...

For the first episode of our third season, co-hosts Ted Stank and Tom Goldsby speak with Haslam College of Business lecturer Paul Fortunato and partners from his Supply Chain Project Management (SCM 430) course at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. 

Fortunato, a former executive with Dow Chemical Company, invited Lori Maurer, director of the center for supply chain excellence, and Riley Clayton, logistics and supply chain manag...

In between Seasons 2 and 3, co-hosts Ted Stank and Tom Goldsby were at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Conference, where they caught up with Kate Vitasek, a GSCI Fellow and internationally renowned business leader, educator, and founder of Vested, a model for creating highly collaborative business relationships in which both parties are equally committed to each other’s success. 

Vitasek and her Vested m...

In the final episode of Season 2, co-hosts Ted Stank and Tom Goldsby speak with Elijah Ray, chief customer officer of Sunland Logistics Solutions about the evolution of third-party logistics, the importance of company culture, employee retention, and creating trust with clients. 

With nearly four decades of experience in logistics and supply chain management, Ray has contributed to a culture of continuous improvement and big-name br...

For our July episode, co-hosts Ted Stank and Tom Goldsby speak with Dave Clark, former CEO of worldwide consumer business for Amazon. 

In two decades at Amazon, Clark, a graduate of UT’s MBA program, helped build one of the most extensive supply chain operations in the world, with hundreds of fulfillment centers and transportation facilities, a fleet of several dozen dedicated aircraft, 100,000 delivery vans, and more than 1.5 milli...

For our June episode, co-hosts Ted Stank and Tom Goldsby speak with University of Tennessee colleagues Joe Buckley executive education director for supply chain management, and Dan Pellathy, assistant professor of practice for SCM.  

Buckley, who spent three decades in industry (including seven years as director of materials management and transportation for the Tennessee Valley Authority), is the mastermind behind UT’s highly accla...

For our May episode, co-hosts Ted Stank and Tom Goldsby speak with Martha Buffington, chief procurement officer for SC Johnson, about all aspects of effective business leadership. 

They touch on company culture in global organizations, advancing your career and finding success during times of transition, the importance of empowerment over delegation to drive team achievement, balancing double standards for female leaders, and more. 

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For our April episode, co-hosts Ted Stank and Tom Goldsby were live at the Spring 2024 Supply Chain Forum speaking with Peter Anderson, chief supply chain officer for WestRock, and Jeff DiLullo, chief region leader for Philips North America.

Both Anderson and DiLullo are senior industry leaders and members of the GSCI Advisory Board. Together with our hosts, they discuss all aspects of sustainability in the supply chain, i...

For our March episode, co-hosts Ted Stank and Tom Goldsby spoke with father-and-son supply chain researchers Dale Rogers and Zac Rogers, the proprietors of the Logistics Managers’ Index, about diversifying supply chains, global redesign, friendshoring, and much more. 

Dale is the ON Semiconductor Professor of Business at Arizona State University, where he directs the Frontier Economies Logistics Lab and the Internet Edge Supply Chai...

For our February episode, co-host Ted Stank was joined by guest host Lance Saunders, associate professor of supply chain management. They spoke with Jen Kelly, vice president of planning for North America at Schneider Electric, about shortening supply chains, nearshoring and supplier capacity challenges, adding visibility into planning, generative AI for forecasting, and standardizing practice across a global organization. 

Kelly wa...

In our January episode, Ted Stank and Tom Goldsby speak with maritime expert Don Maier about the state of international shipping, including shifts in trade lanes, the challenges of forecasting and capital planning, and the industry impact of issues from the Panama Canal to bubbling international conflicts.

Before joining UT’s faculty as an associate professor of practice, Maier served as dean for the Maine Maritime and Cal...