October 9, 2025 • 34 mins
In this special episode, regular co-host Tom Goldsby and Scott DeGroot, managing director of UT’s Global Supply Chain Institute, catch up with Mark Baxa, president and CEO of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, at the organization's EDGE 2025 Conference in Washington, DC.
Earlier in the week, Tom was recognized as a CSCMP Distinguished Fellow, while Scott and other UT supply chain management faculty participated in several sessions as expert panelists.
We'll be back for the launch of Season 4 of the podcast at the Fall 2025 Supply Chain Forum, Nov. 4–6, in Knoxville.
The episode was recorded live on October 5, 2025, during the CSCMP Edge Conference in Washington, DC.
Related links:
- Learn more about Mark Baxa
- Download our latest white papers from UT experts on returns management and reshoring manufacturing.
- Learn about UT’s new master’s degree in global supply chain management
- Register for the fall Supply Chain Forum, November 4–6, in Knoxville
- Become a Supply Chain Forum partner
- Subscribe to GSCI’s monthly newsletter
- Read the latest news and insights from GSCI
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Intro & Outro (00:00):
Welcome to the Tennessee on Supply Chain
Management Podcast.
Listen and as co-hosts TedStank and Tom Goldsby set sail
into the world of end-to-endsupply chain management, diving
deep into today's most relevantbusiness topics.
They'll share insights andpressing industry issues and
tackle the challenges keepingsupply chain professionals up at
night.
If you're enjoying the ride,download and subscribe to
(00:22):
Tennessee on Supply ChainManagement on your favorite
podcast platform now.
Tom Goldsby (00:28):
Hello and welcome to a special edition of the
Tennessee on Supply ChainManagement Podcast.
Professor Tom Goldsby coming toyou from National Harbor,
Maryland, uh just a shade southof D.C., the nation's capital.
We're here for the CSCMP EdgeConference.
I'm pleased to be joined by mygood friend and colleague, Mr.
(00:50):
Scott DeGroot.
Hello, Scott.
Tom, hello.
How are you?
Doing well.
We're just uh so thrilled to behere.
This is like the family reunionuh that we get together.
I was just sharing with somefriends earlier today.
This is my 31 consecutive Edgeconferences.
I haven't missed one since1995.
Scott DeGroot (01:08):
I was kidding you earlier, Tom, that you must
have started coming when youwere five years old.
No, it was three and a half.
That's three and a half.
That's an amazing record.
Tom Goldsby (01:16):
Well, Scott, we're we're thrilled to have you here.
The uh loyal listeners of thepodcast are probably wondering
where is Professor Ted Stank.
Unfortunately, Ted couldn'tjoin us here uh in the nation's
capital for the Edge Conference.
He's back in Tennessee tendingto a family matter.
So we're all thinking of you,Ted and family.
Uh but Ted, uh, we expect willbe back with us on the next
(01:36):
broadcast, and we'll tell youmore about what's in store.
But hey, here we are today.
I think it's the first Sundayin October, and we're at the
Edge conference, and people arewondering who's the guest.
Well, if you've read the promo,you you know who the guest is.
It's CEO and president of theCSCMP, Council of Supply Chain
Management Professionals, Mr.
Mark Baxa.
(01:57):
Hello, Mark.
Oh, it's great to be here.
Hello to both of you as well.
Thank you so much for being onthe podcast.
Mark's kind of busy.
Scott DeGroot (02:05):
Uh if those of you just forgot some of his
time.
It's amazing that you did.
Thank you for that.
Mark Baxa (02:10):
This is the place and moment I want to be present in.
So you guys don't have to worryabout that.
Tom Goldsby (02:15):
I'm here for you.
Well, we we very muchappreciate it.
We know our fans uh back onRocky Top, uh far and wide,
around the nation, around theworld, are really pleased.
And for those folks who haven'tbeen to a CSCMP conference, an
edge event here in the States orthose programs that are now
being offered around the world.
In Europe and other places.
(02:36):
Kind of helps set the scene forsomeone, Mark.
What could someone expect ifthey were to arrive to the
Gaylord Resort here in NationalHarbor?
What would they expect to seenext few days?
Mark Baxa (02:44):
Aaron Powell So this is probably the richest place in
all of supply chain where youcan be immersed into a
culmination of over 100 sessionsthat cover the full span of all
functions in supply chain, someof the supporting functions,
the legal aspects, HR as well,leadership, as well as a
combination of industrypractitioners coming together
(03:06):
with service providers, and Ihave to say it, since the
presence I'm in right now, Tom,is the academia, right?
Absolutely.
This is the largest culminationof academics and universities
coming together under theumbrella of CSCMP.
This is your home.
And I have to also say, too,that as a former board member,
(03:27):
Tom, thank you for your serviceto this organization.
Thank you.
But also recognition that youare now one of the distinguished
fellows.
Tom Goldsby (03:34):
Oh, thank you so much, Mark Everyone.
It's a thank you both.
I I uh I'll tell you what, Ihad an opportunity to accept
that distinction earlier today.
One of my dear friends,Professor Stan Griffiths, he was
a doctoral student at OhioState uh some 20 plus years ago,
and he's gone on to have agreat career at Michigan State.
And you know, just in hisopening remarks, as he was
(03:56):
inducting me into the fellows, Iwas getting choked up.
I this is an organization thatjust meant so much to me.
And it really is the familyreunion, is the way we think of
it.
And that's why I keep comingback.
I'm sure never to miss one ofthese.
Scott, you've been to a fairnumber of uh edge conferences as
well.
Scott DeGroot (04:12):
Yes, indeed.
I think a lot of thisorganization, and
congratulations to you, Mark,for carrying on the great
tradition.
Of course, uh, you may know Ispent a long time at Kimberly
Clark, and we were very activelyinvolved in CSCMP and really
not only for um networking, buteven more for the education of
our team and making sure peoplewere current and understood what
(04:34):
was going on around them.
So it's an amazing place to be.
And congratulations.
Mark Baxa (04:38):
Well, thank you and as a leader, as you are for what
you just said, I think that's avery important message for all
the people leaders listening tothis podcast, and that is
investing in your people reallymatters.
You know, I know thatbusinesses right now are under
extreme financial pressure, andcash preservation is a very high
priority, and cost centers fordeveloping people are often one
(04:59):
of the first things that getcut.
But when business gets better,you wonder why you don't have
the presence and capability inyour supply chain.
Well, you have to look atyourself in the mirror and think
about what happened, right?
So that's what CSCMP is herefor.
Just exactly what you said.
And there's so many differentways, cross-section of research,
education, collaboration withuh universities that bring great
(05:20):
content and great learningenvironments, both online and in
person.
So thank you for thosecomments.
Tom Goldsby (05:26):
Well, that's uh you just don't find it under one
roof like that.
But CSCMP is much more than aconference, and we'll talk about
the value that's generatedthrough the membership
throughout the year.
But it did occur to me that,you know, again, Scott, you're
you're a first-timer on thepodcast.
And while you you've been ourmanaging director for what,
(05:48):
since summer.
Scott DeGroot (05:49):
That's right.
Right.
Tom Goldsby (05:49):
That's right.
And but maybe not everyone backon Rocky Top and the Tennessee
and supply chain managementecosystem may be familiar.
But yeah, we let Scott retire,I joke, for about 12 hours uh
before we got our claws intohim.
He was a member of our advisoryboard that we, again, that
select group of senior leadersand in the supply chain space
(06:11):
that we hold so near and dear.
Again, fortunately, you were inthe Knoxville area.
Could you maybe describe thethe amoeba effects that that
overcame you?
Scott DeGroot (06:21):
For those who don't know, I have a 38-year
career working at Kimberly ClarkCorporation and Galawine and
amazing career.
And I felt very, you know, thatI had accomplished uh the
things that I want toaccomplish, and I had a great
team behind me, and it was time.
And my wife and I, we've livedall over the world.
She's kind of said, Yeah, let'skind of stay here, you know,
and settle in.
And it was the right decisionfor us.
(06:43):
And then um, the amoeba effectis the career development
mechanism at the University ofTennessee, which is hey, Ted and
Tom called up and said, Um,hey, you want to come and teach
a class?
Yeah, sure, I'll lecture atsome classes.
You want to teach this wholesection?
Sure.
And one thing leads to thenext, and and now I'm overseeing
all of that, plus the GlobalSupply Chain Institute, which is
uh, as you know, a greatorganization.
(07:04):
We have over um almost 80partner companies working with
us on research and recruitingand talent development.
So it's amazing.
Tom Goldsby (07:11):
Okay, I mean, we are just so thrilled to have you
in that capacity.
And Ted and I, I think we werejust talking to a faculty
meeting uh a few days ago andsaying it's folks like Scott and
our staff that really set usapart from other programs in a
lot of ways.
So thank you, Scott, for beinga part of it.
But let's kind of get to maybea little bit of the news of the
day and then we'll come back toCSCMP and the organization.
(07:34):
We are within earshot ofCapitol Hill.
I think this is day five, sixof the government shutdown.
Yes.
And the question I I want toask, and I think I will.
Let's have some fun with it.
How long do you think thisthing's gonna go, this shutdown?
Scott DeGroot (07:51):
Well, I'll be the first one to jump out there and
mark and follow on, and that isum I don't know.
I think it's gonna be seven,ten days.
You know, I don't think uhwe're gonna come in Monday
morning.
I'll be happily surprised ifI'm wrong, but that it's all
gonna be resolved.
We were flying up here fromTennessee and our state
representative was on the flightwith us and interesting.
Coming up here to uh do somework.
I guess I'm breaking thedeadlock.
(08:14):
So I don't know.
I think it's gonna be um sevento ten days.
Tom Goldsby (08:18):
Now, if you'd said that he was on the flight back,
I think that would have beenindicative of being uh a little
north of the seven to ten daywindow that you're suggesting.
But the fact that he's headingback to DC is interesting.
Mark, what about yourself?
If you were forced to throw anumber or range out there,
what's your gut?
Mark Baxa (08:34):
Well, if I were hopeful, I would have hoped this
never would have happened.
Sure, sure.
Right.
See where we are and thepreponderance of conversation
that seems to be levied intothis through the media, you
know, with those that have themicrophone, it you would think
that this is just like going tobe impossible.
I'm counting on the members ofCongress, influence of the
president and others to get thisdone in short order because we
(08:57):
need our federal governmentoperational everywhere.
So I hope it's no more thanseven days.
I mean, it's just a hope.
You know, I don't have acrystal ball, but I've also seen
these things go on for anextended period of time, and we
have been surprised how longthis can really go.
What I would hope for is thatwe get beyond the core of the
politics of how can weoutposition each other and let's
(09:18):
do the right thing for theAmerican people and really for
the globe, because this federalgovernment is here to help
support a very fluid supplychain.
Many don't realize, and wedon't want to let this go very
long.
We need to get back to workhere.
Tom Goldsby (09:31):
I don't know if I heard a number, but you said you
hope no more than the sevendays.
To your point, these thingscome along from time to time.
I think the last governmentshutdown was in Trump 1.0,
December 22nd of 2018, carriedover for 35 days into 2019.
I'm certainly hoping we don'tset a record.
And I think we can allrecognize that uh people and
(09:51):
their supply chains would sufferimmensely if that were to be
the case.
So I suspect it'll probably runmaybe a 10 days or tad north of
that, but hopefully not muchmore than that.
Scott DeGroot (10:01):
We were chatting a little bit before this idea
that in the first day or two,you people don't really see
overtly sort of the impact.
And then people start worryingabout TSA lines and is a
national park open.
But over time, you were makinga point, Mark, about the fact
that the amount of volume thatmoves in and out of our border,
the mechanisms that keep allthis freight flowing, the
(10:24):
government plays an importantrole in that.
And over time, that's sand inthe grinding wheels can really
hurt our country.
So I I thought that was a greatpoint you made.
Mark Baxa (10:32):
Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Well, there's a tremendous
support system behind that.
The essential services areworking, as you mentioned, the
TSA, customs at the border,keeping things moving.
But behind that are a bunch ofthings that are occurring that
are transactional, that aresupported by a much deeper
bench.
And that work is stacking up.
And in some cases, those rolesalso support answers to the
(10:54):
port.
If a shipment gets stopped anda little bit of research needs
to be done on that, and thosepeople are not available as
import specialists to answer thefrontline officer's question
about this particular shipment,what happens?
You get parked.
So this is not a good day forus.
And Tom, I get your point.
You know, I I remember in thefirst administration, and and
(11:15):
let's face it, President Trumphas a very big voice and he has
a very big presence.
And there's a lot of leveragegoing on here as to like, okay,
let's slow this down a minute.
Let's get our voice in themedia for a while.
Right.
And that's the kind of politicsthat doesn't work for me.
Uh, that's the kind of thingthat I think is a bad
representation of what they havebeen brought to Congress to do,
and that is represent thepeople.
(11:36):
Yep, well said.
Tom Goldsby (11:38):
So something that I did pick up was uh we've been
attending the academic researchsymposium.
It's a day and a half event,got underway yesterday
afternoon.
It's wrapping up a right aboutnow.
And we're so fortunate to havenot only our friends from peer
institutions around the UnitedStates and North America, but
(12:00):
increasingly a global presence.
I was talking to some of ourfriends who were coming over
from Europe, and they indicated,yeah, they saw the Americans
coming in, and they quickly gotprocessed and on their way to
the conference.
And then I was hearing of twoand a half, three hour delays to
get through custom screening atDulles, whether it's passenger
(12:21):
transportation, freighttransportation, maybe we're
already seeing some signs of it.
But let me get to theinternational element of it.
You know, CSMP, you noted inyour opening remarks to the ARS
today, is a global organization.
Can you talk about some of thethings you're doing?
And I know that you all, I sayyou all, CSCMP has a new
certification, some new trainingand the SE Pro extension that
(12:45):
you might want to talk about.
We do, yeah.
Mark Baxa (12:47):
Thank you so much.
It's great.
Well, first, I have to say thatif I could repeat just for a
few seconds here what I sharedthis morning, and that is CSCMP
is comprised of membership fromacademia service providers,
those that provide the essentialservices to those that actually
build, ship, and move stuff,the practitioners.
And there's a lot of supportaround that.
There's consultants andeverybody else in between.
(13:08):
All of this makes up ourecosystem at CSCMP.
Even though that we have adomiciled presence in the United
States for 63 years, ever sinceDr.
Bauer Sachs and others cametogether, we are a global
organization.
We have roundtables around theworld, we have academics around
the world.
And the presence that we arereally trying to emphasize is we
(13:31):
may be domiciled U.S., buteverything matters globally.
The supply chain is global.
Our ecosystem inside of CSCMPmust mirror that.
And I am so thrilled to see somuch more engagement coming from
our members from around theworld, as opposed to making it
more U.S.
centric.
This was our hope.
This is what we wanted, right?
So we're seeing it.
(13:51):
It's great.
And people are really engaging.
The other thing I'll say isthat this is not about a
workforce that's paid for on thebacks of our members.
It's the opposite.
Over 700 people, volunteers,members of CSCMP, make up our
ecosystem and make it work,which is really cool.
Wow.
And I just can't imagine us notbeing in a place that we talked
(14:13):
about here, and that issupporting each other through
advancement of research andcontent and everything else that
we do.
So in light of what you justasked about our new SCPRO
offering, it is simply calledSCPRO Global.
And what's inside of there, andwill continue to be built, are
courses that help companies,academia, and any interested
(14:34):
parties grow their knowledge andthe ability to transact
internationally and not just inand out of the U.S.
I'm talking about globally,things around import and export,
INCO terms, which areessentially the language of
transportation insurance at riskaround the world.
Not a law, but a commonunderstanding, right?
And that's so vital.
(14:54):
And many, many other facets ofmanaging freight forwarders and
brokers.
This is language that's doneprincipally in English around
the world, but something that isvery, very key that CSCMP is
now advancing their presence in.
And the cool thing is we'reactually giving customs brokers
here in the U.S., and we'll dothings like this for others
(15:14):
around the world, continuingeducation credits for certain
courses that U.S.
Customs has endorsed as worthybecause they have to continue to
educate themselves.
And now they can do that righthere at CSCMP, which is cool.
So we're broadening not onlyour content, but we're inviting
more disciplines and supplychain to be a part of it.
And this content willcontinually be approved and
(15:38):
endorsed by CSCMP throughmembers of our certification and
education committee led by noneother than Chris Boone at
Mississippi State and others.
So we have academics involvedin saying this is worthy of the
good housekeeping seal of CSCMP.
It's accredited content byCSCMP, and I couldn't be more
excited about that.
Tom Goldsby (15:58):
That's fantastic.
And I was excited when I sawabout that.
And it to some extentreinforced what we're trying to
do at the University ofTennessee as well.
Of course, I'm the director ofthe uh MS program and global
supply chain.
And I like to equate that anyof our undergraduates with a
bachelor's degree in supplychain management should be able
to go out into any entry-levelposition and do very, very well,
(16:21):
we believe.
We prepare them for that.
However, I equate it a littlebit to like learning how to swim
in a lap pool.
You jump in, controlledenvironment, maybe you learn how
to do a flip turn, yeah, getmore proficient at your stroke.
But we in the global program,and it sounds like with the SC
Pro Global certification, we'retrying to prepare them for
(16:42):
swimming in the deep blue ocean,right?
Where the vagries of Incoterms,geopolitics, and these things
present themselves a little bitmore, right?
So kind of raising andexpanding the perspective, the
purview in which they need toexcel.
That's a really cool premise.
It sounds like a very freshproduct this week.
Release party right here atEdge this week.
(17:04):
Great, fantastic.
Well, you're working with ChrisBoone and a whole host of other
folks of pros.
And that's why I come to CSCMP,right?
It's not just to see myacademic colleagues, but it's to
immerse myself in industry.
And to the point you weremaking earlier, I don't know of
anywhere else where those twoworlds come together.
And you were encouraging usacademics, stick around for the
(17:26):
edge conference, the next threedays that we have in front of
us.
Right.
That's where I get inspired.
So tell us about what's instore for these next three days.
What are some of the big eventsthat we can expect to be a part
of?
Mark Baxa (17:37):
Well, you get to really enjoy our keynote lineup
that we have, and that makes upan important part of our
conference, which the generalsessions where we gather in
mass, right, to hear awards, butalso experiences of some really
great names.
You're gonna hear from JohnPhillips from PepsiCo, you're
gonna hear from some keynotesthat really touch on the human
element of leadership, you'regonna hear from Doug Cantriel
(17:59):
from Ford Motor Company, ahousehold name for so many.
And certainly recognizing in abrief moment, I'll talk about
Henry Ford as one of the initialinductees into the CSCMP supply
chain hall of fame.
We'll also have on our lastday, which is critically
important, we're gonna hear frompeople that are deeply
entrenched at the global andalso country level around
(18:22):
impacts from the geopoliticalclimate that we are currently
in.
What do you need to think aboutin terms of well, essentially
keeping your supply chainmoving, progressing, but also
your business because we aredefinitely in a a certainly
volatile time, uh mostly humanintroduced, as you know.
And on the backside of it, thesupply chains are in a position
(18:43):
for some surviving and otherslooking for opportunities to
continue to optimize.
So we're gonna hear from somegreat voices.
And then there's over 100individual sessions dealing with
the details of so many thingsacross planning, procurement,
sourcing, manufacturing,logistics and distribution, and
customer service.
And again, as I said earlier,there's gonna be some softer
pieces to this around talent andlegal and other things like
(19:06):
that.
So this is a culmination.
This is the place where youstop for a few days and get
energized, but also some realthought leadership
indoctrination.
And in the end, I wanteverybody to leave changed.
I want them to be almostunrecognizable when they're back
at their desks or working withpeople in their own companies.
That what happened to thisperson?
Wow, where'd they get all thisstuff?
(19:26):
Well, this is why we're here toeducate, build up, and develop
individuals so that they can inturn do more for the companies
they work for, right?
Scott DeGroot (19:35):
You know, while you were chatting, it struck me
so many places, and people aretalking about the technology,
machine learning, and artificialintelligence and the way that's
shaping the supply chain of thefuture.
But you touched on somethingthere, the power of
relationships and the need forbuilding these human
relationships with yoursuppliers and with your
customers and internal to yourorganization.
(19:56):
And I was looking at the agendathis weekend, excited about.
There's a lot of conversationabout the power of the human
relationship and the humanelement in this AI revolution.
Do you feel like that that'simportant?
Mark Baxa (20:08):
Oh, absolutely.
I mean, there are things that Ilook forward to seeing with the
technology at our feet and thefuture of it around artificial
intelligence and artificialintelligence or robotics and
computer systems and what it cando for us well beyond the pale
of large language models, whichare very, very impressive, by
the way.
And now we're going to seewhere we can take repetitive
(20:30):
tasks, operationalize them.
And you know, some of this hasbeen already there.
The automobile industry has hadrobotics on the assembly line
for many years already.
But now we're talking aboutcritical thinking and learning
and where this can take in ahuman and automation type of
interaction that's actuallythinking about how do we resolve
a broken part, how do we fixthis without having to dig
(20:52):
through manuals and those kindof things.
And automatically the answer isthere.
You ask, it's there, right?
So there's just so muchopportunity here.
And then taking supply chainswhere they use predictive
analytics atop of your coredata, creating a better demand
synopsis, or actually thinkingabout logistics modeling and the
solver model, that's gonna behistory here pretty soon.
Artificial intelligence isgonna do that for us, right?
(21:15):
You still need to teach it, bythe way.
Sorry.
We still need to understand howthese algorithms work.
We gotta know.
And that's the biggest thing, Ithink.
In your question, is theintersection of human talent and
knowledge, understanding thesolution?
Can it be implemented?
Is it legal?
Has it skipped something, someform of filter that it should
actually be running through?
And in the end, does it reallyadd the kind of value?
(21:37):
Can it actually be implemented?
Does it make sense?
Does it add liability?
Does it add risk?
Or does it take liability andrisk away?
All of these things are, youknow, cannot be done without the
human mind attached to it.
Are there jobs that are goingto disappear?
Yeah, there's been jobsdisappearing every day ever
since we've been born.
Are there new jobs that aregoing to be created?
Yes, there's new jobs createdevery day since we've been born.
(21:58):
And that's that continuation isgoing to go.
That's not where I think ourheads need to be.
It's like, how do we maximizethis opportunity?
And if there's retraining oradjustments, or in fact,
paradigm shifts that occur,let's do this.
Let's engage around it.
The one thing I do want tothrow out there is that our IT
specialists who are watching allthe digitization occur that we
(22:21):
have around us is that theyspend an incredible amount of
effort in preserving andprotecting the security of
what's on the road ahead, whatwe currently have and the
future.
There's a lot of bad actorsthat want what we have.
Right.
There's a lot of folks thatwant to create impedance to
this, right?
For whatever reason, it exists.
So that's the one thing I wouldlayer in is that these support
(22:43):
functions that watch thesedigital systems work because
we're going to be that much morereliant on them.
I mean, think about autonomousvehicles.
My wife sees the Waymo taxisand she's, I'm scared to get in
one of those things.
I'm saying I'm standing theregoing, let me get in one.
I don't see how this thingworks.
You know, so all of this, youcan't prevent it.
Let's optimize it.
Let's step in and let's go.
(23:05):
But I think the connection ofhumans into this is very
important.
And I'll say one last thing.
Blocking and tackling willalways exist.
If you don't know how logisticssystems work, if you don't know
how planning systems andprocesses should work, and I can
go on and on across thefunctions of supply chain, which
gets to the heart of whatyou're teaching in your
universities and what we're allactually promoting through our
(23:25):
online education and our liveeducation, then you're going to
lose.
You can't take the eye candy ofdigital technology and expect
it to solve for all yourproblems without the human
interaction in it.
And you're not going to knowhow to evaluate the solutions if
you don't understand how supplychains work, if you don't know
the function of each supplychain and your role in your
(23:49):
function.
So let's just put that outthere that the need for
understanding how supply chainswork and in-roll functions have
to play out no matter whattechnology does.
Scott DeGroot (23:59):
Very well said, Mark.
Everything that you say is notonly true, but supply chain
leadership who may not be quiteup to speed on all the
technology, they really need tohave that operational empathy
and that awareness that you needto get ahead of the curve.
Because if you don't, you'll beout of the game.
Mark Baxa (24:16):
Yeah, that's very true.
You got to support your people.
And not just in a traditionalsense of learning.
I, you know, going back to thisvery fast evolution of
technology in front of us, thereis an accountability factor in
this.
You may be an AI startup, youmay be a technology long-term
provider that's getting into AI,and you may be evolving.
So let's not find ourselves ina place where you're pitching
(24:38):
the tool without teaching theuser how to maximize
performance, reduce risk, right?
It's on your back right nowbecause nobody knows what this
is.
There is no, if you want toknow what's on the road ahead,
ask somebody on the way back.
We're not on our way back.
It's like kind of like COVID.
Who's on your way back fromthis?
We haven't seen this in 100years.
Who's over a hundred years oldin the supply chain?
(24:58):
Not very many.
Right.
So there were no teacherstoday.
The teachers are those that arecreating the technology.
That's their accountability.
So I'm asking for help.
You got to own education withthis as you develop.
Tom Goldsby (25:10):
Well, it sounds as though, Scott, we at the
University of Tennessee andacademics abound are going to
have some opportunity to bonusthe conversation.
But that said, I think we doneed to adapt and we need to
pivot.
And I think, you know, it'ssomething universities are
struggling with ourselves aboutwhat is the role of education
scholarship in the future.
(25:31):
There was some very provocativediscussion in the symposium
this morning about thepublishing game and how that
could that could change a lot inthe future and how our journals
are very challenged todetermine what's real and what's
not so real out there.
But I think we need to teachour students how to be
successful, navigate it,leverage the capabilities, but
also to do it in an ethicalfashion.
(25:52):
And so that's the game we play.
Well, hey, Mark, you you'vementioned some of the things
that we can expect here at Edge,and again, so excited about the
next three days ahead.
But also you mentioned SC Proand this extension into the
global domain.
What are some of the otherthings that CSCMP is up to?
It's not just the activity herein North America.
We love the European ResearchSymposium.
(26:13):
I can speak to that, the ERSthat I think is set for Madrid.
That's right.
So many of us were gathered inVerona.
They did a tremendous job lastyear bringing us together,
practitioners and academics, oneplace, one time, much like we
have here this week in D.C.
But what are some of the thingsthat we can look forward to,
the balance of this year intonext year?
Mark Baxa (26:33):
That's a great question.
And it's kind of like a hub andspoke concept.
So you got CSCMP's core in themiddle, the things we've always
stood for, the research that wedo, like the State of Logistics
Report and other reports likethat.
And then we springboard outfrom there and we do our white
papers and other micro things,and then we come into how do we
promulgate the learning anddevelopment content into
roundtables, and then you get tothe edge conference, and you
(26:55):
get, like you said, you get theEuropean conference.
But I'll speak about this froma standpoint of how we're
growing our base to educate.
This is key.
So where do people go?
The magic of asking a questionto any one of the chat programs
out there is pretty fascinating.
And I'm sure it's a strugglefor universities and schools and
those kind of things as well,is what's real, what's not,
(27:15):
right?
But beyond that, we are focusedon uh taking continuous
education and people developmentand supply chain to the next
level.
And what I mean by that isCSEMP offers the foundational
learning.
With Daniel Stanton'sleadership, we move our content
on LinkedIn learning, and that'sLinkedIn Learning Supply Chain
(27:37):
Foundations.
We've had over 85,000 coursestarts in the last 18 months.
27,000 exams, 24,000 havepassed, and about 10,000 of
those appear on LinkedIn.
People are really proud of it.
Then you go to SC ProFundamentals, which are eight
courses across the disciplinesof supply chain.
And this is after theygraduate.
This is from a four-year schoollike UTK.
(27:59):
This is like, what do you do tocontinue to sharpen your saw?
So you can go there, then yougo into SCPRO Fundamentals, and
we also have an assessment tool.
Now we have SC Pro Global, andwe're going to look for other
expansions.
We're going to be working withuniversity partnerships on
executive level education.
It's interesting.
Our mission is to connect,educate, and develop supply
(28:21):
chain professionals throughouttheir career.
And one of the areas we were alittle short on was the
executive level.
Now there are otherorganizations that support the
executives.
Very proud of them.
Participate in some of themmyself.
But we created the executiveinner circle, and that is
exclusively for the chiefs, theVPs or EVPs, and supply chain
are their functions.
And we yet we let a few serviceproviders in there as long as
(28:44):
they're willing to participatein the conversation.
We don't want them selling.
So we do two summits a year,plus the third one is actually
kind of our executive track hereat Edge, and those are all
live.
We've been to places like theMachine NASA facility where the
Saturn V was built and the spaceshuttles, and now Artemis.
So really cool, in-depthlearning experiential kind of
(29:05):
things.
We've been to your fellowuniversity of MIT.
You know, maybe one of thesedays we'll come to UTK.
So we take these executivesinto forums of extensive deep
thought conversation.
So we're going to expand that.
We love this, they love it.
It's an area of opportunity.
So it's not just about onlinelearning, but it's creating
ecosystems for unique parts ofthe supply chain and leadership
(29:27):
development.
So I'm really thrilled aboutthis.
The other thing I'll say isthat I want to challenge, and I
did this this morning, is we areopen access for publishing.
Now I know there's rules in theacademic world about if you're
going to put it into a journal,like Journal of Business
Logistics, you can't prepublish,right?
You got to wait.
And I respect that fully.
But in the world of academia,you write so much, you produce
(29:49):
so much that in just a littlebit of time, you can take the
theory and transpose it intohey, here's how you might want
to implement some of this stuff.
Here's how it might apply tothe business transactional side.
Whatever that might be, I wantto put it out there that our
academic world has an openlicense to publish and push
things to CSCMP at a high rateof speed.
(30:10):
If you've got something tohelp, help, let's do it.
Let's partner, let's do greatstuff.
And I want to see more of ouracademic community
participating.
And it's on the round tableboards backs to do this.
I want to say this, but all ofour live events in various
cities and countries around theworld, I want to see more
collaboration.
And it's coming.
(30:30):
You know, we're in Mexico,we've got Tech Monterey helping.
You know, we've done somethings together over the years,
you know, with Ted Stank andyourself and many others.
I mean, just there's just somany great things that are
happening.
I'm kind of getting excitedhere.
But I think the opportunity forCSCMP to continue to evolve in
this way by capitalizing on thebrain trust of our academic
community is tremendous.
And our practitioners have reallearning and to continue to
(30:51):
share that.
That's how we get bettertogether, and that's how we make
professionals really capable,is by really engaging and doing
things together like that.
So I hope more of that comesbecause we're excited to make
that happen.
Tom Goldsby (31:03):
That's excellent.
The focus on education, andit's a sincere focus.
You know, I'll have to admitI've been around some industry
events that claim to beeducational and they're anything
but rather promotional of a lotof things.
Uh, but uh the education focusthat then brings the academics
to the table.
And and you were very poignantthis morning and in speaking of
the beginnings of theorganization in the interview
(31:26):
that you conducted with DaleRogers, and we went back to Don
Bower Socks and Bud Low Land andsome of the greats in our field
who were right there at thetable.
So it only seems to proliferateand grow.
It's so exciting for me assomeone who's been here now for
30 years to see the youngerpeople coming into our field as
(31:46):
practitioners, yes, but also theacademic side of the house.
So we very much value that.
And we're gonna have someopportunity to be a part of the
show as well.
We've got a session here.
Scott, I think you're a part ofa session tomorrow with Dan
Palace on planning.
Scott DeGroot (31:58):
That's right.
We're gonna be talking aboutprocurement and the relationship
between planning andprocurement.
Yeah.
Uh yeah, that'll be tomorrowmorning.
Tom Goldsby (32:04):
We're also gonna be out there in the exhibition
space uh trying to round up somebusiness.
Scott DeGroot (32:09):
Yes, yes, yes, University of Tennessee and the
Global Supply Chain Instituteand great partnership with CSN.
Tom Goldsby (32:15):
It is, it's a longstanding, very important
partnership.
And hey, Mark, thank you somuch for being here on the
podcast today.
We're so thrilled to be here tohave some of your very precious
time on the scene.
And speaking about the scene,hey, Scott, as managing
director, maybe you can plugwhat is going to be the first
episode of season four at ourforum November four through six.
(32:40):
We're going to record uhanother live session, right?
Scott DeGroot (32:43):
Yeah.
Uh first of all, we'd loveeveryone, partners and um
students and faculty to come tothe FAW Forum in Knoxville
November 4th, 5th, and 6th.
And we're gonna have a formerretired rear admiral, Kevin
Sweeney, is gonna be with us.
We're looking forward to uhtalking with him, and he'll be
on the next podcast as we kickoff the brand new season.
(33:04):
Fantastic.
Tom Goldsby (33:05):
He'll be able to help us sort out the
geopolitics.
Hopefully, the government shutdown is way in our rear view
mirror by then.
But again, we're so lookingforward to hosting uh friends
and students, faculty, staff onRocky Top November 4, 5, 6.
And hey, thank you so much forjoining us on this special
edition of Tennessee on SupplyChain Management.
As always, we really appreciateit.
(33:26):
If you've got any comments,questions, please send them to
gsci at utk.edu.
And stay tuned.
We've got a great season fourin store for you.
Intro & Outro (33:38):
Thanks for tuning in to Tennessee on Supply Chain
Management.
If you enjoyed the episode,subscribe today on your favorite
listening platform to get allof our episodes as soon as they
drop.
And don't forget to take amoment to leave us a rating.
Have any questions, thoughts,or feedback?
We'd love to hear from ourlisteners.
Email us at gscii at utk.edu.
Join us next time as wecontinue pulling back the
(34:01):
curtain on the world of supplychain, educating and
entertaining you along the way.
Until then, listeners.
Welcome to the Tennessee on Supply Chain
Management Podcast.
Listen and as co-hosts TedStank and Tom Goldsby set sail
into the world of end-to-endsupply chain management, diving
deep into today's most relevantbusiness topics.
They'll share insights andpressing industry issues and
tackle the challenges keepingsupply chain professionals up at
night.
If you're enjoying the ride,download and subscribe to
(00:22):
Tennessee on Supply ChainManagement on your favorite
podcast platform now.
Tom Goldsby (00:28):
Hello and welcome to a special edition of the
Tennessee on Supply ChainManagement Podcast.
Professor Tom Goldsby coming toyou from National Harbor,
Maryland, uh just a shade southof D.C., the nation's capital.
We're here for the CSCMP EdgeConference.
I'm pleased to be joined by mygood friend and colleague, Mr.
(00:50):
Scott DeGroot.
Hello, Scott.
Tom, hello.
How are you?
Doing well.
We're just uh so thrilled to behere.
This is like the family reunionuh that we get together.
I was just sharing with somefriends earlier today.
This is my 31 consecutive Edgeconferences.
I haven't missed one since1995.
Scott DeGroot (01:08):
I was kidding you earlier, Tom, that you must
have started coming when youwere five years old.
No, it was three and a half.
That's three and a half.
That's an amazing record.
Tom Goldsby (01:16):
Well, Scott, we're we're thrilled to have you here.
The uh loyal listeners of thepodcast are probably wondering
where is Professor Ted Stank.
Unfortunately, Ted couldn'tjoin us here uh in the nation's
capital for the Edge Conference.
He's back in Tennessee tendingto a family matter.
So we're all thinking of you,Ted and family.
Uh but Ted, uh, we expect willbe back with us on the next
(01:36):
broadcast, and we'll tell youmore about what's in store.
But hey, here we are today.
I think it's the first Sundayin October, and we're at the
Edge conference, and people arewondering who's the guest.
Well, if you've read the promo,you you know who the guest is.
It's CEO and president of theCSCMP, Council of Supply Chain
Management Professionals, Mr.
Mark Baxa.
(01:57):
Hello, Mark.
Oh, it's great to be here.
Hello to both of you as well.
Thank you so much for being onthe podcast.
Mark's kind of busy.
Scott DeGroot (02:05):
Uh if those of you just forgot some of his
time.
It's amazing that you did.
Thank you for that.
Mark Baxa (02:10):
This is the place and moment I want to be present in.
So you guys don't have to worryabout that.
Tom Goldsby (02:15):
I'm here for you.
Well, we we very muchappreciate it.
We know our fans uh back onRocky Top, uh far and wide,
around the nation, around theworld, are really pleased.
And for those folks who haven'tbeen to a CSCMP conference, an
edge event here in the States orthose programs that are now
being offered around the world.
In Europe and other places.
(02:36):
Kind of helps set the scene forsomeone, Mark.
What could someone expect ifthey were to arrive to the
Gaylord Resort here in NationalHarbor?
What would they expect to seenext few days?
Mark Baxa (02:44):
Aaron Powell So this is probably the richest place in
all of supply chain where youcan be immersed into a
culmination of over 100 sessionsthat cover the full span of all
functions in supply chain, someof the supporting functions,
the legal aspects, HR as well,leadership, as well as a
combination of industrypractitioners coming together
(03:06):
with service providers, and Ihave to say it, since the
presence I'm in right now, Tom,is the academia, right?
Absolutely.
This is the largest culminationof academics and universities
coming together under theumbrella of CSCMP.
This is your home.
And I have to also say, too,that as a former board member,
(03:27):
Tom, thank you for your serviceto this organization.
Thank you.
But also recognition that youare now one of the distinguished
fellows.
Tom Goldsby (03:34):
Oh, thank you so much, Mark Everyone.
It's a thank you both.
I I uh I'll tell you what, Ihad an opportunity to accept
that distinction earlier today.
One of my dear friends,Professor Stan Griffiths, he was
a doctoral student at OhioState uh some 20 plus years ago,
and he's gone on to have agreat career at Michigan State.
And you know, just in hisopening remarks, as he was
(03:56):
inducting me into the fellows, Iwas getting choked up.
I this is an organization thatjust meant so much to me.
And it really is the familyreunion, is the way we think of
it.
And that's why I keep comingback.
I'm sure never to miss one ofthese.
Scott, you've been to a fairnumber of uh edge conferences as
well.
Scott DeGroot (04:12):
Yes, indeed.
I think a lot of thisorganization, and
congratulations to you, Mark,for carrying on the great
tradition.
Of course, uh, you may know Ispent a long time at Kimberly
Clark, and we were very activelyinvolved in CSCMP and really
not only for um networking, buteven more for the education of
our team and making sure peoplewere current and understood what
(04:34):
was going on around them.
So it's an amazing place to be.
And congratulations.
Mark Baxa (04:38):
Well, thank you and as a leader, as you are for what
you just said, I think that's avery important message for all
the people leaders listening tothis podcast, and that is
investing in your people reallymatters.
You know, I know thatbusinesses right now are under
extreme financial pressure, andcash preservation is a very high
priority, and cost centers fordeveloping people are often one
(04:59):
of the first things that getcut.
But when business gets better,you wonder why you don't have
the presence and capability inyour supply chain.
Well, you have to look atyourself in the mirror and think
about what happened, right?
So that's what CSCMP is herefor.
Just exactly what you said.
And there's so many differentways, cross-section of research,
education, collaboration withuh universities that bring great
(05:20):
content and great learningenvironments, both online and in
person.
So thank you for thosecomments.
Tom Goldsby (05:26):
Well, that's uh you just don't find it under one
roof like that.
But CSCMP is much more than aconference, and we'll talk about
the value that's generatedthrough the membership
throughout the year.
But it did occur to me that,you know, again, Scott, you're
you're a first-timer on thepodcast.
And while you you've been ourmanaging director for what,
(05:48):
since summer.
Scott DeGroot (05:49):
That's right.
Right.
Tom Goldsby (05:49):
That's right.
And but maybe not everyone backon Rocky Top and the Tennessee
and supply chain managementecosystem may be familiar.
But yeah, we let Scott retire,I joke, for about 12 hours uh
before we got our claws intohim.
He was a member of our advisoryboard that we, again, that
select group of senior leadersand in the supply chain space
(06:11):
that we hold so near and dear.
Again, fortunately, you were inthe Knoxville area.
Could you maybe describe thethe amoeba effects that that
overcame you?
Scott DeGroot (06:21):
For those who don't know, I have a 38-year
career working at Kimberly ClarkCorporation and Galawine and
amazing career.
And I felt very, you know, thatI had accomplished uh the
things that I want toaccomplish, and I had a great
team behind me, and it was time.
And my wife and I, we've livedall over the world.
She's kind of said, Yeah, let'skind of stay here, you know,
and settle in.
And it was the right decisionfor us.
(06:43):
And then um, the amoeba effectis the career development
mechanism at the University ofTennessee, which is hey, Ted and
Tom called up and said, Um,hey, you want to come and teach
a class?
Yeah, sure, I'll lecture atsome classes.
You want to teach this wholesection?
Sure.
And one thing leads to thenext, and and now I'm overseeing
all of that, plus the GlobalSupply Chain Institute, which is
uh, as you know, a greatorganization.
(07:04):
We have over um almost 80partner companies working with
us on research and recruitingand talent development.
So it's amazing.
Tom Goldsby (07:11):
Okay, I mean, we are just so thrilled to have you
in that capacity.
And Ted and I, I think we werejust talking to a faculty
meeting uh a few days ago andsaying it's folks like Scott and
our staff that really set usapart from other programs in a
lot of ways.
So thank you, Scott, for beinga part of it.
But let's kind of get to maybea little bit of the news of the
day and then we'll come back toCSCMP and the organization.
(07:34):
We are within earshot ofCapitol Hill.
I think this is day five, sixof the government shutdown.
Yes.
And the question I I want toask, and I think I will.
Let's have some fun with it.
How long do you think thisthing's gonna go, this shutdown?
Scott DeGroot (07:51):
Well, I'll be the first one to jump out there and
mark and follow on, and that isum I don't know.
I think it's gonna be seven,ten days.
You know, I don't think uhwe're gonna come in Monday
morning.
I'll be happily surprised ifI'm wrong, but that it's all
gonna be resolved.
We were flying up here fromTennessee and our state
representative was on the flightwith us and interesting.
Coming up here to uh do somework.
I guess I'm breaking thedeadlock.
(08:14):
So I don't know.
I think it's gonna be um sevento ten days.
Tom Goldsby (08:18):
Now, if you'd said that he was on the flight back,
I think that would have beenindicative of being uh a little
north of the seven to ten daywindow that you're suggesting.
But the fact that he's headingback to DC is interesting.
Mark, what about yourself?
If you were forced to throw anumber or range out there,
what's your gut?
Mark Baxa (08:34):
Well, if I were hopeful, I would have hoped this
never would have happened.
Sure, sure.
Right.
See where we are and thepreponderance of conversation
that seems to be levied intothis through the media, you
know, with those that have themicrophone, it you would think
that this is just like going tobe impossible.
I'm counting on the members ofCongress, influence of the
president and others to get thisdone in short order because we
(08:57):
need our federal governmentoperational everywhere.
So I hope it's no more thanseven days.
I mean, it's just a hope.
You know, I don't have acrystal ball, but I've also seen
these things go on for anextended period of time, and we
have been surprised how longthis can really go.
What I would hope for is thatwe get beyond the core of the
politics of how can weoutposition each other and let's
(09:18):
do the right thing for theAmerican people and really for
the globe, because this federalgovernment is here to help
support a very fluid supplychain.
Many don't realize, and wedon't want to let this go very
long.
We need to get back to workhere.
Tom Goldsby (09:31):
I don't know if I heard a number, but you said you
hope no more than the sevendays.
To your point, these thingscome along from time to time.
I think the last governmentshutdown was in Trump 1.0,
December 22nd of 2018, carriedover for 35 days into 2019.
I'm certainly hoping we don'tset a record.
And I think we can allrecognize that uh people and
(09:51):
their supply chains would sufferimmensely if that were to be
the case.
So I suspect it'll probably runmaybe a 10 days or tad north of
that, but hopefully not muchmore than that.
Scott DeGroot (10:01):
We were chatting a little bit before this idea
that in the first day or two,you people don't really see
overtly sort of the impact.
And then people start worryingabout TSA lines and is a
national park open.
But over time, you were makinga point, Mark, about the fact
that the amount of volume thatmoves in and out of our border,
the mechanisms that keep allthis freight flowing, the
(10:24):
government plays an importantrole in that.
And over time, that's sand inthe grinding wheels can really
hurt our country.
So I I thought that was a greatpoint you made.
Mark Baxa (10:32):
Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Well, there's a tremendous
support system behind that.
The essential services areworking, as you mentioned, the
TSA, customs at the border,keeping things moving.
But behind that are a bunch ofthings that are occurring that
are transactional, that aresupported by a much deeper
bench.
And that work is stacking up.
And in some cases, those rolesalso support answers to the
(10:54):
port.
If a shipment gets stopped anda little bit of research needs
to be done on that, and thosepeople are not available as
import specialists to answer thefrontline officer's question
about this particular shipment,what happens?
You get parked.
So this is not a good day forus.
And Tom, I get your point.
You know, I I remember in thefirst administration, and and
(11:15):
let's face it, President Trumphas a very big voice and he has
a very big presence.
And there's a lot of leveragegoing on here as to like, okay,
let's slow this down a minute.
Let's get our voice in themedia for a while.
Right.
And that's the kind of politicsthat doesn't work for me.
Uh, that's the kind of thingthat I think is a bad
representation of what they havebeen brought to Congress to do,
and that is represent thepeople.
(11:36):
Yep, well said.
Tom Goldsby (11:38):
So something that I did pick up was uh we've been
attending the academic researchsymposium.
It's a day and a half event,got underway yesterday
afternoon.
It's wrapping up a right aboutnow.
And we're so fortunate to havenot only our friends from peer
institutions around the UnitedStates and North America, but
(12:00):
increasingly a global presence.
I was talking to some of ourfriends who were coming over
from Europe, and they indicated,yeah, they saw the Americans
coming in, and they quickly gotprocessed and on their way to
the conference.
And then I was hearing of twoand a half, three hour delays to
get through custom screening atDulles, whether it's passenger
(12:21):
transportation, freighttransportation, maybe we're
already seeing some signs of it.
But let me get to theinternational element of it.
You know, CSMP, you noted inyour opening remarks to the ARS
today, is a global organization.
Can you talk about some of thethings you're doing?
And I know that you all, I sayyou all, CSCMP has a new
certification, some new trainingand the SE Pro extension that
(12:45):
you might want to talk about.
We do, yeah.
Mark Baxa (12:47):
Thank you so much.
It's great.
Well, first, I have to say thatif I could repeat just for a
few seconds here what I sharedthis morning, and that is CSCMP
is comprised of membership fromacademia service providers,
those that provide the essentialservices to those that actually
build, ship, and move stuff,the practitioners.
And there's a lot of supportaround that.
There's consultants andeverybody else in between.
(13:08):
All of this makes up ourecosystem at CSCMP.
Even though that we have adomiciled presence in the United
States for 63 years, ever sinceDr.
Bauer Sachs and others cametogether, we are a global
organization.
We have roundtables around theworld, we have academics around
the world.
And the presence that we arereally trying to emphasize is we
(13:31):
may be domiciled U.S., buteverything matters globally.
The supply chain is global.
Our ecosystem inside of CSCMPmust mirror that.
And I am so thrilled to see somuch more engagement coming from
our members from around theworld, as opposed to making it
more U.S.
centric.
This was our hope.
This is what we wanted, right?
So we're seeing it.
(13:51):
It's great.
And people are really engaging.
The other thing I'll say isthat this is not about a
workforce that's paid for on thebacks of our members.
It's the opposite.
Over 700 people, volunteers,members of CSCMP, make up our
ecosystem and make it work,which is really cool.
Wow.
And I just can't imagine us notbeing in a place that we talked
(14:13):
about here, and that issupporting each other through
advancement of research andcontent and everything else that
we do.
So in light of what you justasked about our new SCPRO
offering, it is simply calledSCPRO Global.
And what's inside of there, andwill continue to be built, are
courses that help companies,academia, and any interested
(14:34):
parties grow their knowledge andthe ability to transact
internationally and not just inand out of the U.S.
I'm talking about globally,things around import and export,
INCO terms, which areessentially the language of
transportation insurance at riskaround the world.
Not a law, but a commonunderstanding, right?
And that's so vital.
(14:54):
And many, many other facets ofmanaging freight forwarders and
brokers.
This is language that's doneprincipally in English around
the world, but something that isvery, very key that CSCMP is
now advancing their presence in.
And the cool thing is we'reactually giving customs brokers
here in the U.S., and we'll dothings like this for others
(15:14):
around the world, continuingeducation credits for certain
courses that U.S.
Customs has endorsed as worthybecause they have to continue to
educate themselves.
And now they can do that righthere at CSCMP, which is cool.
So we're broadening not onlyour content, but we're inviting
more disciplines and supplychain to be a part of it.
And this content willcontinually be approved and
(15:38):
endorsed by CSCMP throughmembers of our certification and
education committee led by noneother than Chris Boone at
Mississippi State and others.
So we have academics involvedin saying this is worthy of the
good housekeeping seal of CSCMP.
It's accredited content byCSCMP, and I couldn't be more
excited about that.
Tom Goldsby (15:58):
That's fantastic.
And I was excited when I sawabout that.
And it to some extentreinforced what we're trying to
do at the University ofTennessee as well.
Of course, I'm the director ofthe uh MS program and global
supply chain.
And I like to equate that anyof our undergraduates with a
bachelor's degree in supplychain management should be able
to go out into any entry-levelposition and do very, very well,
(16:21):
we believe.
We prepare them for that.
However, I equate it a littlebit to like learning how to swim
in a lap pool.
You jump in, controlledenvironment, maybe you learn how
to do a flip turn, yeah, getmore proficient at your stroke.
But we in the global program,and it sounds like with the SC
Pro Global certification, we'retrying to prepare them for
(16:42):
swimming in the deep blue ocean,right?
Where the vagries of Incoterms,geopolitics, and these things
present themselves a little bitmore, right?
So kind of raising andexpanding the perspective, the
purview in which they need toexcel.
That's a really cool premise.
It sounds like a very freshproduct this week.
Release party right here atEdge this week.
(17:04):
Great, fantastic.
Well, you're working with ChrisBoone and a whole host of other
folks of pros.
And that's why I come to CSCMP,right?
It's not just to see myacademic colleagues, but it's to
immerse myself in industry.
And to the point you weremaking earlier, I don't know of
anywhere else where those twoworlds come together.
And you were encouraging usacademics, stick around for the
(17:26):
edge conference, the next threedays that we have in front of
us.
Right.
That's where I get inspired.
So tell us about what's instore for these next three days.
What are some of the big eventsthat we can expect to be a part
of?
Mark Baxa (17:37):
Well, you get to really enjoy our keynote lineup
that we have, and that makes upan important part of our
conference, which the generalsessions where we gather in
mass, right, to hear awards, butalso experiences of some really
great names.
You're gonna hear from JohnPhillips from PepsiCo, you're
gonna hear from some keynotesthat really touch on the human
element of leadership, you'regonna hear from Doug Cantriel
(17:59):
from Ford Motor Company, ahousehold name for so many.
And certainly recognizing in abrief moment, I'll talk about
Henry Ford as one of the initialinductees into the CSCMP supply
chain hall of fame.
We'll also have on our lastday, which is critically
important, we're gonna hear frompeople that are deeply
entrenched at the global andalso country level around
(18:22):
impacts from the geopoliticalclimate that we are currently
in.
What do you need to think aboutin terms of well, essentially
keeping your supply chainmoving, progressing, but also
your business because we aredefinitely in a a certainly
volatile time, uh mostly humanintroduced, as you know.
And on the backside of it, thesupply chains are in a position
(18:43):
for some surviving and otherslooking for opportunities to
continue to optimize.
So we're gonna hear from somegreat voices.
And then there's over 100individual sessions dealing with
the details of so many thingsacross planning, procurement,
sourcing, manufacturing,logistics and distribution, and
customer service.
And again, as I said earlier,there's gonna be some softer
pieces to this around talent andlegal and other things like
(19:06):
that.
So this is a culmination.
This is the place where youstop for a few days and get
energized, but also some realthought leadership
indoctrination.
And in the end, I wanteverybody to leave changed.
I want them to be almostunrecognizable when they're back
at their desks or working withpeople in their own companies.
That what happened to thisperson?
Wow, where'd they get all thisstuff?
(19:26):
Well, this is why we're here toeducate, build up, and develop
individuals so that they can inturn do more for the companies
they work for, right?
Scott DeGroot (19:35):
You know, while you were chatting, it struck me
so many places, and people aretalking about the technology,
machine learning, and artificialintelligence and the way that's
shaping the supply chain of thefuture.
But you touched on somethingthere, the power of
relationships and the need forbuilding these human
relationships with yoursuppliers and with your
customers and internal to yourorganization.
(19:56):
And I was looking at the agendathis weekend, excited about.
There's a lot of conversationabout the power of the human
relationship and the humanelement in this AI revolution.
Do you feel like that that'simportant?
Mark Baxa (20:08):
Oh, absolutely.
I mean, there are things that Ilook forward to seeing with the
technology at our feet and thefuture of it around artificial
intelligence and artificialintelligence or robotics and
computer systems and what it cando for us well beyond the pale
of large language models, whichare very, very impressive, by
the way.
And now we're going to seewhere we can take repetitive
(20:30):
tasks, operationalize them.
And you know, some of this hasbeen already there.
The automobile industry has hadrobotics on the assembly line
for many years already.
But now we're talking aboutcritical thinking and learning
and where this can take in ahuman and automation type of
interaction that's actuallythinking about how do we resolve
a broken part, how do we fixthis without having to dig
(20:52):
through manuals and those kindof things.
And automatically the answer isthere.
You ask, it's there, right?
So there's just so muchopportunity here.
And then taking supply chainswhere they use predictive
analytics atop of your coredata, creating a better demand
synopsis, or actually thinkingabout logistics modeling and the
solver model, that's gonna behistory here pretty soon.
Artificial intelligence isgonna do that for us, right?
(21:15):
You still need to teach it, bythe way.
Sorry.
We still need to understand howthese algorithms work.
We gotta know.
And that's the biggest thing, Ithink.
In your question, is theintersection of human talent and
knowledge, understanding thesolution?
Can it be implemented?
Is it legal?
Has it skipped something, someform of filter that it should
actually be running through?
And in the end, does it reallyadd the kind of value?
(21:37):
Can it actually be implemented?
Does it make sense?
Does it add liability?
Does it add risk?
Or does it take liability andrisk away?
All of these things are, youknow, cannot be done without the
human mind attached to it.
Are there jobs that are goingto disappear?
Yeah, there's been jobsdisappearing every day ever
since we've been born.
Are there new jobs that aregoing to be created?
Yes, there's new jobs createdevery day since we've been born.
(21:58):
And that's that continuation isgoing to go.
That's not where I think ourheads need to be.
It's like, how do we maximizethis opportunity?
And if there's retraining oradjustments, or in fact,
paradigm shifts that occur,let's do this.
Let's engage around it.
The one thing I do want tothrow out there is that our IT
specialists who are watching allthe digitization occur that we
(22:21):
have around us is that theyspend an incredible amount of
effort in preserving andprotecting the security of
what's on the road ahead, whatwe currently have and the
future.
There's a lot of bad actorsthat want what we have.
Right.
There's a lot of folks thatwant to create impedance to
this, right?
For whatever reason, it exists.
So that's the one thing I wouldlayer in is that these support
(22:43):
functions that watch thesedigital systems work because
we're going to be that much morereliant on them.
I mean, think about autonomousvehicles.
My wife sees the Waymo taxisand she's, I'm scared to get in
one of those things.
I'm saying I'm standing theregoing, let me get in one.
I don't see how this thingworks.
You know, so all of this, youcan't prevent it.
Let's optimize it.
Let's step in and let's go.
(23:05):
But I think the connection ofhumans into this is very
important.
And I'll say one last thing.
Blocking and tackling willalways exist.
If you don't know how logisticssystems work, if you don't know
how planning systems andprocesses should work, and I can
go on and on across thefunctions of supply chain, which
gets to the heart of whatyou're teaching in your
universities and what we're allactually promoting through our
(23:25):
online education and our liveeducation, then you're going to
lose.
You can't take the eye candy ofdigital technology and expect
it to solve for all yourproblems without the human
interaction in it.
And you're not going to knowhow to evaluate the solutions if
you don't understand how supplychains work, if you don't know
the function of each supplychain and your role in your
(23:49):
function.
So let's just put that outthere that the need for
understanding how supply chainswork and in-roll functions have
to play out no matter whattechnology does.
Scott DeGroot (23:59):
Very well said, Mark.
Everything that you say is notonly true, but supply chain
leadership who may not be quiteup to speed on all the
technology, they really need tohave that operational empathy
and that awareness that you needto get ahead of the curve.
Because if you don't, you'll beout of the game.
Mark Baxa (24:16):
Yeah, that's very true.
You got to support your people.
And not just in a traditionalsense of learning.
I, you know, going back to thisvery fast evolution of
technology in front of us, thereis an accountability factor in
this.
You may be an AI startup, youmay be a technology long-term
provider that's getting into AI,and you may be evolving.
So let's not find ourselves ina place where you're pitching
(24:38):
the tool without teaching theuser how to maximize
performance, reduce risk, right?
It's on your back right nowbecause nobody knows what this
is.
There is no, if you want toknow what's on the road ahead,
ask somebody on the way back.
We're not on our way back.
It's like kind of like COVID.
Who's on your way back fromthis?
We haven't seen this in 100years.
Who's over a hundred years oldin the supply chain?
(24:58):
Not very many.
Right.
So there were no teacherstoday.
The teachers are those that arecreating the technology.
That's their accountability.
So I'm asking for help.
You got to own education withthis as you develop.
Tom Goldsby (25:10):
Well, it sounds as though, Scott, we at the
University of Tennessee andacademics abound are going to
have some opportunity to bonusthe conversation.
But that said, I think we doneed to adapt and we need to
pivot.
And I think, you know, it'ssomething universities are
struggling with ourselves aboutwhat is the role of education
scholarship in the future.
(25:31):
There was some very provocativediscussion in the symposium
this morning about thepublishing game and how that
could that could change a lot inthe future and how our journals
are very challenged todetermine what's real and what's
not so real out there.
But I think we need to teachour students how to be
successful, navigate it,leverage the capabilities, but
also to do it in an ethicalfashion.
(25:52):
And so that's the game we play.
Well, hey, Mark, you you'vementioned some of the things
that we can expect here at Edge,and again, so excited about the
next three days ahead.
But also you mentioned SC Proand this extension into the
global domain.
What are some of the otherthings that CSCMP is up to?
It's not just the activity herein North America.
We love the European ResearchSymposium.
(26:13):
I can speak to that, the ERSthat I think is set for Madrid.
That's right.
So many of us were gathered inVerona.
They did a tremendous job lastyear bringing us together,
practitioners and academics, oneplace, one time, much like we
have here this week in D.C.
But what are some of the thingsthat we can look forward to,
the balance of this year intonext year?
Mark Baxa (26:33):
That's a great question.
And it's kind of like a hub andspoke concept.
So you got CSCMP's core in themiddle, the things we've always
stood for, the research that wedo, like the State of Logistics
Report and other reports likethat.
And then we springboard outfrom there and we do our white
papers and other micro things,and then we come into how do we
promulgate the learning anddevelopment content into
roundtables, and then you get tothe edge conference, and you
(26:55):
get, like you said, you get theEuropean conference.
But I'll speak about this froma standpoint of how we're
growing our base to educate.
This is key.
So where do people go?
The magic of asking a questionto any one of the chat programs
out there is pretty fascinating.
And I'm sure it's a strugglefor universities and schools and
those kind of things as well,is what's real, what's not,
(27:15):
right?
But beyond that, we are focusedon uh taking continuous
education and people developmentand supply chain to the next
level.
And what I mean by that isCSEMP offers the foundational
learning.
With Daniel Stanton'sleadership, we move our content
on LinkedIn learning, and that'sLinkedIn Learning Supply Chain
(27:37):
Foundations.
We've had over 85,000 coursestarts in the last 18 months.
27,000 exams, 24,000 havepassed, and about 10,000 of
those appear on LinkedIn.
People are really proud of it.
Then you go to SC ProFundamentals, which are eight
courses across the disciplinesof supply chain.
And this is after theygraduate.
This is from a four-year schoollike UTK.
(27:59):
This is like, what do you do tocontinue to sharpen your saw?
So you can go there, then yougo into SCPRO Fundamentals, and
we also have an assessment tool.
Now we have SC Pro Global, andwe're going to look for other
expansions.
We're going to be working withuniversity partnerships on
executive level education.
It's interesting.
Our mission is to connect,educate, and develop supply
(28:21):
chain professionals throughouttheir career.
And one of the areas we were alittle short on was the
executive level.
Now there are otherorganizations that support the
executives.
Very proud of them.
Participate in some of themmyself.
But we created the executiveinner circle, and that is
exclusively for the chiefs, theVPs or EVPs, and supply chain
are their functions.
And we yet we let a few serviceproviders in there as long as
(28:44):
they're willing to participatein the conversation.
We don't want them selling.
So we do two summits a year,plus the third one is actually
kind of our executive track hereat Edge, and those are all
live.
We've been to places like theMachine NASA facility where the
Saturn V was built and the spaceshuttles, and now Artemis.
So really cool, in-depthlearning experiential kind of
(29:05):
things.
We've been to your fellowuniversity of MIT.
You know, maybe one of thesedays we'll come to UTK.
So we take these executivesinto forums of extensive deep
thought conversation.
So we're going to expand that.
We love this, they love it.
It's an area of opportunity.
So it's not just about onlinelearning, but it's creating
ecosystems for unique parts ofthe supply chain and leadership
(29:27):
development.
So I'm really thrilled aboutthis.
The other thing I'll say isthat I want to challenge, and I
did this this morning, is we areopen access for publishing.
Now I know there's rules in theacademic world about if you're
going to put it into a journal,like Journal of Business
Logistics, you can't prepublish,right?
You got to wait.
And I respect that fully.
But in the world of academia,you write so much, you produce
(29:49):
so much that in just a littlebit of time, you can take the
theory and transpose it intohey, here's how you might want
to implement some of this stuff.
Here's how it might apply tothe business transactional side.
Whatever that might be, I wantto put it out there that our
academic world has an openlicense to publish and push
things to CSCMP at a high rateof speed.
(30:10):
If you've got something tohelp, help, let's do it.
Let's partner, let's do greatstuff.
And I want to see more of ouracademic community
participating.
And it's on the round tableboards backs to do this.
I want to say this, but all ofour live events in various
cities and countries around theworld, I want to see more
collaboration.
And it's coming.
(30:30):
You know, we're in Mexico,we've got Tech Monterey helping.
You know, we've done somethings together over the years,
you know, with Ted Stank andyourself and many others.
I mean, just there's just somany great things that are
happening.
I'm kind of getting excitedhere.
But I think the opportunity forCSCMP to continue to evolve in
this way by capitalizing on thebrain trust of our academic
community is tremendous.
And our practitioners have reallearning and to continue to
(30:51):
share that.
That's how we get bettertogether, and that's how we make
professionals really capable,is by really engaging and doing
things together like that.
So I hope more of that comesbecause we're excited to make
that happen.
Tom Goldsby (31:03):
That's excellent.
The focus on education, andit's a sincere focus.
You know, I'll have to admitI've been around some industry
events that claim to beeducational and they're anything
but rather promotional of a lotof things.
Uh, but uh the education focusthat then brings the academics
to the table.
And and you were very poignantthis morning and in speaking of
the beginnings of theorganization in the interview
(31:26):
that you conducted with DaleRogers, and we went back to Don
Bower Socks and Bud Low Land andsome of the greats in our field
who were right there at thetable.
So it only seems to proliferateand grow.
It's so exciting for me assomeone who's been here now for
30 years to see the youngerpeople coming into our field as
(31:46):
practitioners, yes, but also theacademic side of the house.
So we very much value that.
And we're gonna have someopportunity to be a part of the
show as well.
We've got a session here.
Scott, I think you're a part ofa session tomorrow with Dan
Palace on planning.
Scott DeGroot (31:58):
That's right.
We're gonna be talking aboutprocurement and the relationship
between planning andprocurement.
Yeah.
Uh yeah, that'll be tomorrowmorning.
Tom Goldsby (32:04):
We're also gonna be out there in the exhibition
space uh trying to round up somebusiness.
Scott DeGroot (32:09):
Yes, yes, yes, University of Tennessee and the
Global Supply Chain Instituteand great partnership with CSN.
Tom Goldsby (32:15):
It is, it's a longstanding, very important
partnership.
And hey, Mark, thank you somuch for being here on the
podcast today.
We're so thrilled to be here tohave some of your very precious
time on the scene.
And speaking about the scene,hey, Scott, as managing
director, maybe you can plugwhat is going to be the first
episode of season four at ourforum November four through six.
(32:40):
We're going to record uhanother live session, right?
Scott DeGroot (32:43):
Yeah.
Uh first of all, we'd loveeveryone, partners and um
students and faculty to come tothe FAW Forum in Knoxville
November 4th, 5th, and 6th.
And we're gonna have a formerretired rear admiral, Kevin
Sweeney, is gonna be with us.
We're looking forward to uhtalking with him, and he'll be
on the next podcast as we kickoff the brand new season.
(33:04):
Fantastic.
Tom Goldsby (33:05):
He'll be able to help us sort out the
geopolitics.
Hopefully, the government shutdown is way in our rear view
mirror by then.
But again, we're so lookingforward to hosting uh friends
and students, faculty, staff onRocky Top November 4, 5, 6.
And hey, thank you so much forjoining us on this special
edition of Tennessee on SupplyChain Management.
As always, we really appreciateit.
(33:26):
If you've got any comments,questions, please send them to
gsci at utk.edu.
And stay tuned.
We've got a great season fourin store for you.
Intro & Outro (33:38):
Thanks for tuning in to Tennessee on Supply Chain
Management.
If you enjoyed the episode,subscribe today on your favorite
listening platform to get allof our episodes as soon as they
drop.
And don't forget to take amoment to leave us a rating.
Have any questions, thoughts,or feedback?
We'd love to hear from ourlisteners.
Email us at gscii at utk.edu.
Join us next time as wecontinue pulling back the
(34:01):
curtain on the world of supplychain, educating and
entertaining you along the way.
Until then, listeners.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com