The Supply Chain Bunker

Join hosts Dave Evans, CEO of Fictiv, and journalist and writer, Philip Stoten in The Supply Chain Bunker this week as they discuss how additive manufacturing is enabling manufacturers to quickly step up to the plate and respond to what's needed during COVID-19.

There is no shortage of examples of additive manufacturing, or 3D Printing, helping in the fight against COVID-19. In this Bunker, we talked to executives from two of the companies on the vanguard of additive technology, Bryan Painter, Vice President & GM of the Americas Region at Markforged and Philip DeSimone, who is Chief Customer Officer at Carbon and was featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 List. Both Markforged and Carbon are doing their part to address the crisis and have quickly implemented responses to COVID-19.

Key takeaways:

• Use the right tool for the right job; that may be additive
• You can design in one location and print anywhere
• Price still drives decisions
• Materials and the ecosystem are key
• Be an additive MVP in your company; you could go from zero to hero as a result
• Rallying cry – go team additive; great work!!

Visit our blog to see the full notes from this episode and join our LinkedIn group to keep the conversation going.

See you next week, in the bunker!

Join hosts Dave Evans, CEO of Fictiv, and journalist and writer, Philip Stoten in The Supply Chain Bunker this week as they discuss challenges to our perception of globalization, government policies aimed at reducing dependency on China, and how this might impact manufacturing moving forward.

In this week’s Bunker, two expert guests from the CNC and Product Development and Prototyping world, Danny Yorke and Gregg Miner, to explore manufacturing in the U.S. and discuss what a shorter, more regionalized supply chain might look like. Danny is Manufacturing Manager of Yorke Precision, a business that he manages with his brother Brian, and Gregg describes himself as a Maker, Breaker and Innovator. He is an expert in Product Development, Prototyping and Manufacturing. It was a joy to explore the huge breadth and depth of manufacturing expertise available in the U.S. with two guests with so much experience and passion for manufacturing.

Key takeaways:

• Craftsmanship and manufacturing expertise are alive and well in the U.S.
• Total cost of ownership is more important than price; learn how to calculate it.
• US manufacturing makes sense and is competitive in numbers up to 100,000
• Manufacturing has really rallied during the COVID-19 crisis.
• Don’t try to build China in the U.S.; build something better and future-proof.
• Do more of what you’re great at.

Visit our blog to see the full notes from this episode and join our LinkedIn group to keep the conversation going.

See you next week, in the bunker!

Join hosts Dave Evans, CEO of Fictiv, and journalist and writer, Philip Stoten in The Supply Chain Bunker as they discuss partnerships between man and machine and what roles robotics and automation are playing during the current crisis.

This week we brought together two guests who have not just spent years in the manufacturing and supply chain industries, but who are regularly published as experts in their field. First up was Sarah Barnes-Humphrey, founder and host of podcast and blog “Let’s Talk Supply Chain” (LTSC). With 20 years in logistics and supply chain, Sarah is also the co-founder and CEO of Shipz Inc. Sarah was joined by Ron Keith, who has more than twenty years of operations and supply chain experience, and a reputation as an innovator, team builder, creative problem solver and strategic thinker who delivers straight talk and strong results.

Key takeaways:

• Disruption may be the enemy of lean manufacturing principles
• We’re replacing just-in-time with just in case
• People won’t pay more for “made outside of China”
• Digital transformation can drive efficiency
• Don’t depend on government initiatives; create your own plan B

Visit our blog to see the full notes from this episode and join our LinkedIn group to keep the conversation going.

See you next week, in the bunker!

Join hosts Dave Evans, CEO of Fictiv, and journalist and writer, Philip Stoten in The Supply Chain Bunker as they discuss partnerships between man and machine and what roles robotics and automation are playing during the current crisis.

This week our guest was Marco Micheletti, Fresh Consulting’s Director of Automation. Marco has more than twenty years managing engineering teams and driving automation, product development, supply chain and manufacturing for products including the Xbox 360, Nike+ SportWatch GPS, Nike+ Fuelband, Steam Controller, and Steam Valve Index VR Kit.

Key takeaways:

• Humans are awesome; it’s the role of robotics and automation to augment, not replace.
• It’s essential to consider TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).
• Supply chains are strategic resources.
• Always ask why before how.
• Use existing building blocks to shorten development cycles.
• Practice social distancing, but develop closer collaborations.

Visit our blog to see the full notes from this episode and join our LinkedIn group to keep the conversation going.

See you next week, in the bunker!

Join hosts Dave Evans, CEO of Fictiv, and journalist and writer, Philip Stoten in The Supply Chain Bunker as they discuss navigating healthcare and medical technology supply chains during the pandemic, as well as what role robotics is playing.

This week, our focus was healthcare supply chains, with two stellar expert guests. First up, sharing her insight into the latest legislative and administrative issues related to the healthcare supply chain, was Lorraine Marchand, life sciences consultant, speaker, writer, and professor. Lorraine was joined by Greg Schulte, Director of Engineering at Mindtribe (Part of Accenture Industry X.0), who shared his own recent experience in healthcare and particularly how it relates to robotics and R&D.

Key takeaways:

• Learn from the past; don’t repeat mistakes
• You can develop and build hardware remotely
• Connecting supply and demand is a major frustration that needs to be resolved
• Get creative, but don’t go rogue; we still need safe compliant product
• Leverage what you know and who you know (as always, ask for help and make friends)
• The spirit of innovation and camaraderie is tremendous; solutions must be systemized
  

Visit our blog to see the full notes from this episode and join our LinkedIn group to keep the conversation going.

See you next week, in the bunker!

Join hosts Dave Evans, CEO of Fictiv, and journalist and writer, Philip Stoten in The Supply Chain Bunker as they discuss the importance of supply chain resiliency and why adapting to disruption is crucial in meeting global health needs. 

In this week’s episode, we welcomed two vastly experienced supply chain experts. John Jacobson has held supply chain roles in enterprises and startups, including Cisco and Sonos. John, or JJ to his friends, was joined by Howell Wang connecting live from Shenzhen, China. Howell Wang is CEO of Insight Solutions and has decades of supply chain experience, including Foxconn on the supply side, Jabra on the OEM side, and most recently, more than nine years of consulting experience.

Key takeaways:

• Agility and a diverse manufacturing footprint are needed to deliver resilience and the ability to adapt to disruption.
• You need friends – boots on the ground and real expertise. If you don’t have it in-house, use what is already there.
• Build a regular open and honest dialogue and don’t be afraid to ask for help.
• Designing the right supply chain is huge; it’s not one-size-fits-all.
• Enterprises and startups are very different and need different supply chains.

Visit our blog to see the full notes from this episode and join our LinkedIn group to keep the conversation going.

See you next week, in the bunker!

Join hosts Dave Evans, CEO of Fictiv, and journalist and writer, Philip Stoten in The Supply Chain Bunker as they discuss supply chain disruptions, manufacturing leadership, and getting your war footing.

Our first guest was Scott Miller, CEO of Dragon Innovation, an Avnet Company that helps brands manage their manufacturing processes and supply chains from innovation to volume. Since the first news broke in China, Scott and his global team have been working around the clock to deal with supply chain changes. Scott shared his own experiences and insights and joined us in talking through the issues of the day, the disruptions seen, tactics for mitigation, and the future of manufacturing supply chains. 

Key takeaways:

• A small disruption can have a huge effect, you need every part to build a product.
• Supply chains can have too much reliance on “tent-pole” vendors or part, if they fall, everything falls.
• You need a plan B and a plan C, as we’re in very unpredictable times - create a “prevention, detection, response” plan for each part.
• Simplify, simplify, simplify – simpler supply chains have less to go wrong.
• Furthering of the digital transformation - software helps! Have data ready ahead of time, a crisis in not a time to learn, it’s a time to act.
• Sometime lean and ‘just-in-time’ are the enemy of a robust secure supply chain.
• Life after COVID-19, and our manufacturing supply chains, will not be the same.

Visit our blog to see the full notes from this episode and join our LinkedIn group to keep the conversation going.

See you next week, in the bunker!