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What You'll Learn:Why orchestration platforms are the future of 3PLs, and how they outperform legacy WMS systems.The real ROI of small automation solutions for 3PLs with low upfront costs.How to evaluate fulfillment tech and avoid costly pilot mistakes.What the Greenfield vs. Brownfield debate means for your automation strategy.Why incremental scaling is the best approach for implementing automation in 3PLs.How AI and robotics are transforming the supply chain and fulfillment operations.Key takeaways from Promat and other industry conferences on next-gen warehouse tech. Highlights: [00:00:00] – Introduction to the episode & guest introductions[00:06:13] – The evolution of decision-making with AI[00:10:30] – Why orchestration-first is replacing WMS in modern warehouses[00:13:52] – Evaluating fulfillment tech and avoiding common pitfalls[00:18:10] – The ROI of small-scale automation for 3PLs[00:30:00] – Greenfield vs. Brownfield for automation—where should you start?[00:34:32] – Closing thoughts on smart scaling and what's next for 3PLsQuotes: [00:06:39] “So I can spend 10%, 15% of my time compiling, and theoretically 80% of my time thinking. And that's going to be a game changer for us as an industry.” — Will O'Donnell[00:10:56] “The warehouse of the future is automation, robots, and an orchestrator. Not just a WMS.” — Erhan Musaoglu[00:19:18] “Innovation happens when you remove constraints. And a lot of constraints are self-imposed.” — Will O'Donnell[00:27:00] “Don't underestimate the simple solutions that are usually the best.” — Marv Cunningham About the Guests: Will O'Donnell — Global Head of Corporate Development at Prologis & Managing Partner of Prologis Ventures. Will leads investment into emerging supply chain tech with a macro lens on real estate and fulfillment convergence. https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-odonnell-553aa0a/Marv Cunningham — Global Head of Operations, Essentials at Prologis. Formerly of Amazon and GXO, Marv brings deep operational expertise and a track record of warehouse optimization at scale. https://www.linkedin.com/in/marvcunningham/Erhan Musaoglu — CEO of Logiwa. A serial WMS builder, Erhan now focuses on orchestration-first fulfillment software that integrates robotics, AI, and warehouse logic. https://www.linkedin.com/in/erhanmusaoglu/ Subscribe and Keep Learning!If you're a logistics leader looking to scale sustainably, don't miss out! Subscribe for more expert strategies on tackling modern supply chain challenges.Be sure to follow and tag the eCom Logistics Podcast on LinkedIn and YouTube
About two decades ago, I walked the same halls as my next guest, James Sidou, VP & General Counsel at Saddle Creek Logistics. See, Jim & I both attended Michigan State University College of Law. Go Green! In law school, it's about survival. The first year scares you to death, the second year works you to death, & the third year bores you to death. Or so I've heard.Fast forward to 2025 & I find myself next to Jim at the Motor Carrier Insurance Education Foundation (MCIEF) where we discussed some of the most challenging legal issues facing motor carriers & 3PLs to a packed house of insurance & compliance professionals. We became fast friends & I learned a ton from him.In today's conversation, we learn about Jim's journey as a criminal prosector to his time as private lawyer including representing municipalities in eminent domain litigation. Today he serves as General Counsel to one of the largest 3PLs & warehousing companies.This program is brought to you by DAT Freight & Analytics. Since 1978, DAT has helped truckers & brokers discover more available loads. Whether you're heading home or looking for your next adventure, DAT is building the most trusted marketplace in freight. New users of DAT can save 10% off for the first 12 months by following the link below. Built on the latest technology, DAT One gives you control over every aspect of moving freight, so that you can run your business with speed & efficiency.
Braden DiCristofano and Joe Lynch discuss RocketFuel: Fintech for fulfillment. Braden is the Co-founder and CEO of Launch Fulfillment and RocketFuel, two high-growth companies transforming the logistics and fintech landscapes. About Braden DiCristofano Braden DiCristofano is the Co-founder and CEO of Launch Fulfillment and RocketFuel, two high-growth companies transforming the logistics and fintech landscapes. Raised in Pleasant Grove, Utah, he served a two-year mission in Jacksonville, Florida, before attending Ensign College. Braden began his career in sales, gaining nine years of experience in sales and leadership—skills that laid the foundation for his entrepreneurial ventures. At Launch Fulfillment, he leads a tech-driven logistics company focused on premium, scalable fulfillment solutions for ecommerce brands. Through RocketFuel, he's addressing one of the industry's biggest challenges: cash flow. By integrating fintech with fulfillment operations, RocketFuel helps merchants unlock working capital and streamline growth. Braden's leadership is defined by strategic vision, operational rigor, and a relentless focus on solving real-world problems for modern ecommerce businesses. His mission is clear: build industry-defining platforms that power sustainable growth across the logistics and financial ecosystems. About Launch Fulfillment Launch Fulfillment Inc. operates as a premier third-party logistics (3PL) provider, offering comprehensive ecommerce fulfillment services that empower businesses to scale their operations without needing significant infrastructure investments. Recognized as the 10th fastest-growing logistics company on the 2024 Inc. 5000 list, its smart warehousing and 3PL fulfillment solutions enable same-day order processing, streamlined Amazon FBA prep services, and a robust global shipping network that virtually guarantees on-time delivery. The company takes a technology-driven approach, featuring real-time inventory tracking integrated with over 150 ecommerce platforms. Specialized offerings include subscription box fulfillment, custom kitting and assembly, and eco-friendly packaging solutions for D2C brands. By leveraging its cloud-based software and automated shipping rate optimization, clients can experience up to a 40% reduction in shipping costs while maintaining seamless omnichannel fulfillment capabilities for both B2B and retail distribution channels. Key performance indicators for Launch Fulfillment include a 99.998% accuracy rating and a 98.2% on-time delivery dispatch for B2C orders. It maintains fulfillment locations in Utah, Kentucky, and the U.K., and operates with 7-day-a-week fulfillment, reflecting its commitment to efficiency and client success. About RocketFuel Parcel Recharge RocketFuel Parcel Recharge helps 3PL providers and Fulfillment Centers address cash flow challenges by offering innovative solutions that ensure consistent revenue streams. Through automated parcel auditing, RocketFuel keeps 3PLs whole on the back end, identifying discrepancies and securing that money. This approach not only provides 3PLs with the cash flow and solutions needed for continued growth, but it also enhances the experience for the brands they serve. Key Takeaways: RocketFuel: Fintech for Fulfillment Braden DiCristofano and Joe Lynch discuss RocketFuel: Fintech for fulfillment. Braden is the Co-founder and CEO of Launch Fulfillment and RocketFuel, two high-growth companies transforming the logistics and fintech landscapes. Global Ecommerce Powerhouse: Launch Fulfillment provides end-to-end ecommerce fulfillment, from secure, climate-controlled warehouses to rapid worldwide shipping, driving your business forward. Streamlined Logistics, Effortless Growth: Launch Fulfillment's proven four-step process—from manufacturer receipt to advanced warehousing, seamless platform integration, and precise pick, pack, and ship—ensures products reach customers efficiently, every time. Scale Your Brand, Your Way: Launch Fulfillment offers flexible solutions, including Amazon FBA prep, intricate subscription box fulfillment, custom kitting, and eco-friendly packaging, all designed to grow with your brand. Strategic Locations, Unmatched Reach: With facilities in Utah, Kentucky, and the UK, Launch Fulfillment establishes a powerful global presence, providing strategic advantages and expansive reach for diverse ecommerce operations. The advantages of working with RocketFuel, the fintech solution for fulfillment companies: Optimizes 3PL Cash Flow: RocketFuel offers a modern solution for Third-Party Logistics (3PL) providers. Its "rechargeable" metering system enables customer prepayments, eliminating 3PL capital outlays and ensuring consistent cash flow. Automates Revenue Enhancement: The platform automates parcel auditing to recover lost revenue from adjustments and facilitates easy rate markups. This allows 3PLs to customize shipping rates and maximize profitability across all carriers. Seamless Integration and Analytics: RocketFuel integrates with over 40 WMS, OMS, and shipping systems, ensuring smooth operations. It also provides vital analytics for both 3PLs and their customers, aiding growth. Proven, Industry-Specific Solution: Developed from a 3PL's own experience, RocketFuel addresses common challenges like late payments. It has processed millions of shipments, significantly boosting cash flow for users, demonstrating its commitment to 3PL financial success. Learn More About RocketFuel: Fintech for Fulfillment Braden DiCristofano | Linkedin Launch Fulfillment | Linkedin Launch Fulfillment Launch Fulfillment | Who They Are RocketFuel Parcel Recharge | Linkedin RocketFuel Parcel Recharge The RocketFuel Story with Josh Beatty The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: Google, Apple, Castbox, Spotify, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Tunein, Podbean, Owltail, Libsyn, Overcast Check out The Logistics of Logistics on Youtube
Jake Hoffman and Joe Lynch discuss the container payment portal and the rise of AI in freight. Jake is the Chief Technology Officer of Gnosis Freight, a logistics tech company focused on the lifecycle of a shipping container as it moves around the world. About Jake Hoffman Jake Hoffman is the Chief Technology Officer of Gnosis Freight, a logistics tech company focused on the lifecycle of a shipping container as it moves around the world. He has led the engineering team since the company's inception in 2017, bringing a deep understanding of technology and trends in the industry to bear in driving the company's technical strategy. About Gnosis Freight Gnosis Freight is a leading provider of supply chain visibility and execution software, made available through its proprietary Container Lifecycle Management® (CLM) platform—the world's first supply chain platform focused on the full lifecycle of your shipping containers. Powered by the most complete, accurate, and low latency container tracking data available, the CLM platform provides logistics professionals with a smarter way to track and manage their containers, from booking until returned empty. Gnosis Freight's global footprint encompasses a diverse customer base, including top cargo owners (BCOs), ocean carriers, forwarders, truckers, 3PLs, technology providers, and other critical supply chain partners—all utilizing the CLM platform to achieve new levels of efficiency, cost savings, and collaboration within their supply chain. Key Takeaways: The Container Payment Portal and the Rise of AI in Freight Jake Hoffman and Joe Lynch discuss the container payment portal and the rise of AI in freight. Jake is the Chief Technology Officer of Gnosis Freight, a logistics tech company focused on the lifecycle of a shipping container as it moves around the world. Container Lifecycle Management® Platform: Gnosis Freight specializes in its proprietary Container Lifecycle Management® (CLM) Platform, which provides comprehensive visibility and execution software for the entire lifecycle of shipping containers, from booking until they are returned empty. Real-time Container Tracking and Data: The CLM platform is powered by highly accurate and low-latency container tracking data, enabling logistics professionals to efficiently monitor and manage their containers. This real-time data is crucial for optimizing container movements and reducing dwell times. Partnership with PayCargo for Hapag-Lloyd's Container Payment Portal (CPP): Gnosis Freight has integrated its CLM platform with PayCargo's payment network to power Hapag-Lloyd's new Container Payment Portal (CPP). This collaboration aims to streamline import demurrage payments and accelerate cargo movement for Hapag-Lloyd customers in the U.S. AI for Automated Compliance and Invoicing: While not explicitly stated as "AI," the CPP's ability to provide "Automated real-time OSRA-compliant invoice generation based on pickup date" strongly implies the use of intelligent automation or AI to process data, apply rules, and generate compliant invoices efficiently, reducing manual effort and errors. Streamlining Operations and Enhancing Efficiency: The CPP, a result of the Gnosis-PayCargo partnership, offers features like real-time container status updates, seamless electronic payments, and integrated dispute resolution tools. These functionalities are designed to enhance cargo movement efficiency, reduce container dwell times, and improve payment processes for all stakeholders. Addressing Regulatory Compliance: The Container Payment Portal directly addresses compliance with the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA) and the revised demurrage and detention rules from the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), simplifying complex regulatory requirements for Hapag-Lloyd customers. Digitalization and Innovation in Shipping: The integration of advanced payment processing with comprehensive container tracking through the CPP represents a significant step forward in the digitalization of the shipping industry, showcasing Gnosis Freight's commitment to delivering innovative logistics technology solutions. Learn More About The Container Payment Portal and the Rise of AI in Freight Jake Hoffman | Linkedin Gnosis Freight | Linkedin Gnosis Freight Container Lifecycle Management: Gnosis Freight Streamlines International Logistics with Jake Hoffman Big Changes at the Port with Lauren Beagen The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: Google, Apple, Castbox, Spotify, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Tunein, Podbean, Owltail, Libsyn, Overcast Check out The Logistics of Logistics on Youtube
Send me a messageWhat if the data you already have could unlock massive sustainability and profitability gains in your supply chain?In this episode of the Sustainable Supply Chain podcast, I'm joined by Danny He, CEO of Soapbox, who makes a compelling case that the real barrier to progress isn't a lack of technology, it's fragmented data and disconnected workflows.We unpack how most supply chains are still operating on siloed systems that don't communicate, forcing businesses to rely on outdated, manual processes that drive waste, overproduction, and cost. Danny shares why true end-to-end visibility requires more than dashboards or AI hype - it needs integrated, real-time data from every part of the ecosystem, including 3PLs and transport providers.We also explore how tackling overproduction, often 5-25% of inventory in many businesses, is one of the most overlooked sustainability opportunities. Less waste, lower emissions, and better cash flow. What's not to like?If you've ever struggled with aged stock, lack of inventory visibility, or systems that don't talk to each other, this episode is for you.We also touch on:✔ Why most companies are nowhere near “just-in-time” inventory, and how they could be✔ The real role of AI in supply chain (spoiler: it's not a magic wand)✔ How better data can reduce waste before products are even madeListen now and let me know, what's stopping your organisation from achieving true end-to-end supply chain visibility?#SupplyChain #Sustainability #DataDrivenSupplyChain #InventoryManagement #SupplyChainTechnology #AI #JustInTime #CircularEconomy #DigitalTransformation #EmissionsReduction #SupplyChainVisibilityElevate your brand with the ‘Sustainable Supply Chain' podcast, the voice of supply chain sustainability.Last year, this podcast's episodes were downloaded over 113,000 times by senior supply chain executives around the world.Become a sponsor. Lead the conversation.Contact me for sponsorship opportunities and turn downloads into dialogues.Act today. Influence the future.Support the showPodcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's generous supporters: Lorcan Sheehan Olivier Brusle Alicia Farag Kieran Ognev And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent episodes like this one.Podcast Sponsorship Opportunities:If you/your organisation is interested in sponsoring this podcast - I have several options available. Let's talk!FinallyIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - feel free to just send me a direct message on LinkedIn, or send me a text message using this link.If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover it. Thanks for listening.
What You'll Learn:Why legacy OMS architectures struggle in modern fulfillmentHow orchestration is different from integration—and why it mattersThe real reason Amazon can keep its delivery promisesWhy EDI still dominates $33T in global trade—and what to do about itWhat composability looks like in warehousing vs. commerceHow AI is shifting the scale-up model for logistics operationsThe strategic gap between system connectivity and execution logictech. Highlights:[00:03:48] – What's broken in traditional OMS architecture[00:06:10] – The orchestration gap and delivery promises[00:08:11] – Why logistics hasn't adopted composability[00:13:46] – $33T and the enduring power of EDI[00:20:34] – AI-native ops and the future of lean scale[00:23:30] – What Pippen reveals about agent-based orchestrationQuotes:[00:05:10]: “Legacy order management systems are applications sitting on top of a database… they demand to be the system of record.” – Kelly[00:06:57]: “The true game changer is when you combine with the iPaaS… I know what an order actually means. It's not just a translation. That changes so much of your business.” – Ninaad[00:09:52]: “The fundamental problem: consumers are buying on more and more channels.” – Mo[00:21:22]: “Building a $10 million ARR business with just a few people is now possible with AI.” – NinaadAbout the Guests: Mo Afshar is the Co-Founder and CEO of Pipe17, a logistics orchestration platform that helps brands and 3PLs connect and automate fulfillment workflows. LinkedIn Kelly Goetsch is the COO of Pipe17 and formerly Chief Strategy Officer at commercetools and Co-Founder of the MACH Alliance. LinkedInPipe 17 LinkedInThose interested in learning more about Pipe17 or seeing a demo can visit this link https://pipe17.com/book-a-demo/ Subscribe and Keep Learning!If you're a logistics leader looking to scale sustainably, don't miss out! Subscribe for more expert strategies on tackling modern supply chain challenges.Be sure to follow and tag the eCom Logistics Podcast on LinkedIn and YouTube
In this week's episode of the Industrial Real Estate podcast, supply chain veteran Les Brand joined me and co-host Matt Carroll to unpack what's really happening across global logistics. With over 50 years in the industry, Les shares front-line insights on tariffs, reshoring, nearshoring, and how geopolitical tensions are reshaping trade routes and warehousing strategies. The conversation explores how 3PLs are adapting, why companies are pausing shipments, and what industrial real estate professionals need to know to navigate uncertainty. If you're interested in global supply chains, trade dynamics, and how they impact warehouse demand, this is a must-watch.About Les: Leslie G. Brand III is the Chief Executive Officer of Supply Chain Solutions, Inc. (SCS), a global supply chain and transportation management solutions company headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He also serves on SCS's board of directors. Les is the President of the West Michigan Chapter of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) and is involved in various community and industry organizations including the Grand Rapids and Holland Chamber of Commerce. Supply Chain Solutions, Inc. has established a leadership position in the area of supply chain integration, collaboration and lean supply management. Both national and local business and trade publications including Inbound Logistics, Global Logistics, the Grand Rapids Press, Mi Biz, and Business Update and have featured articles sharing the innovative approach and client success that has been achieved in partnership with the Supply Chain Solutions team. Mr. Brand has been a keynote speaker at several industry conferences including the West Michigan Global Trade Center conference, the LogicTools Symposium and the Right Place Sunrise Series and has been a contributing presenter at a variety of seminars and business conferences during his career. Connect with Les:Supply Chain Solutions Website: https://scsolutionsinc.com/LinkedIn: / lgbrand About Matt:Driven leader with fifteen years of international business experience in Logistics and Supply Chain. I am multilingual, speak fluently in Spanish and German, while having an in-depth understanding of the complex dynamics of supply chain management, contract negotiations and thought leadership after spending more than a decade managing operations in China, Europe, Australia, Canada, and the USA. My understanding of global business environments, monetary impacts, and rules of engagement for real estate integration for successful business results, benefit the clients I work with. I am a graduate of Purdue University, where I played NCAA basketball. I was a 4-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, the recipient of the Distinguished Scholar-Athlete award for outstanding academic achievements, and the Ward Lambert academic award. My traits of working well with a team, focusing on a positive result, and coordinating critical processes to ensure success, are my calling card for new client opportunities and servicing of my extensive existing base of relationships.Connect with Matt: / matthewcarroll1 --
In this episode of the ThinkFreight podcast, Thomas Werdine sits down with Eric Williams, co-founder and CEO of Beagl, to explore his unique journey from financial markets to freight brokerage. They dive into the challenges faced by brokers versus shippers, the importance of understanding the shipper's perspective, and how to optimize freight operations. Eric shares valuable insights on the role of contracts and how to foster successful partnerships in logistics. They also discuss the importance of specificity in brokerage services and building strategic relationships between brokers and shippers. Then, Eric introduces Beagl, a cutting-edge tool that transforms the RFP process using data and automation. Plus, hear about feedback from early Beagl users and what the future of freight sales looks like as technology continues to evolve.—————————————————⚫️ Rose Rocket and TMS.ai are transforming the freight industry with seamless transportation management solutions. Improve your operations, streamline communication, and gain real-time visibility—all in one powerful platform. Try RoseRocket and TMS.ai today!⚫️ Salesdash CRM is built specifically for freight brokers & 3PLs. Organize your sales outreach, notes, follow-ups, and lane profiles for your shippers and carriers. All for an affordable price. Try Salesdash free for 14 days with no credit card required.⚫️ Vendorflow assists dispatch teams and drivers in overcoming typical communication challenges and enhances safety by reducing distractions, including preventing message delivery while drivers are in transit. Check out Vendorflow today!⚫️ Purple Squirrel is enriching careers in logistics. Representing freight agents, brokers, and forwarders, they secure multiple winning offers tailored for today's top freight talent. Check out Purple Squirrel now!
Danielle Spinelli and Joe Lynch discuss unpacking cargo theft: trends and solutions. Danielle serves as Account Executive at Descartes MyCarrierPortal, the leading solution for carrier identity, onboarding, and monitoring in transportation. About Danielle Spinelli Danielle Spinelli is an Account Executive at Descartes MyCarrierPortal. With a decade of experience in the logistics and transportation industry, Danielle brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in carrier sales and vetting. Having worked as a Carrier Sales Broker for 8 years, Danielle honed a deep understanding of the supply chain and transportation landscape, building strong relationships with carriers and specializing in vetting and compliance. For the past two year, Danielle has been a key member of the team at MyCarrierPortal, specializing in carrier vetting. In this role, Danielle focused on educating customers how to properly review carriers to ensure that every carrier meets compliance standards to prevent brokers/shippers from being a victim of fraud. About MyCarrierPortal Descartes MyCarrierPortal is the industry's most trusted platform for carrier onboarding, fraud prevention, and compliance. Built for freight brokers, 3PLs, and shippers, it streamlines carrier qualification, automates insurance monitoring, and reduces risk—enabling faster, more secure freight operations across the industry's largest active carrier network. Key Takeaways: Unpacking Cargo Theft: Trends and Solutions Join Danielle Spinelli, the CHP Cargo Theft Task Force, and TIA's Daniel Hoff for an exclusive webinar on the rise of organized freight crime. Learn about real-world investigations, emerging fraud trends, and how stronger laws—and your support—can help fight back. Register here. Hear directly from the California Highway Patrol's Cargo Theft Task Force as they expose how organized criminal networks operate—and the real-world investigative methods turning the tide. Register here. Discover how new legislation could help crack down on freight fraud, and learn practical steps you can take to protect your business, support law enforcement, and drive industry change. Register here. Streamlined Carrier Onboarding: Utilizes the proprietary Intellivite system to invite and onboard carriers swiftly, often completing the process in as little as 5 minutes. This efficiency reduces administrative burdens and accelerates operations. Advanced Fraud Prevention: Employs proactive tools to safeguard against identity fraud and double brokering, including real-time fraud alerting through AI-enabled location tracking, ensuring the authenticity of every carrier. Automated Insurance Monitoring: Maintains a comprehensive Certificate of Insurance (COI) warehouse, preloading COIs 95% of the time during onboarding, and continuously monitors insurance status to ensure carriers are properly insured. Custom Risk Assessments: Provides tailored risk evaluations to verify carrier reliability, integrating seamlessly into existing Transportation Management System (TMS) workflows for efficient decision-makin. Incident Reporting and Community Alerts: Features a community-driven incident reporting system that centralizes fraud alerts and streamlines carrier vetting, enhancing transparency and trust within the network. Seamless Integration with TMS Platforms: Integrates with various TMS platforms like Descartes MacroPoint and Aljex, allowing for automatic carrier registration and real-time compliance updates, thereby enhancing operational efficiency. Continuous Compliance Monitoring: Offers ongoing monitoring of carrier compliance, including daily checks of insurance and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) authority statuses, ensuring that all carriers meet required standards. Learn More About Unpacking Cargo Theft: Trends and Solutions Danielle Spinelli | Linkedin Descartes MyCarrierPortal | Linkedin Descartes MyCarrierPortal Webinar: Combating Strategic Cargo Theft – Stories from the California Highway Patrol The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: Google, Apple, Castbox, Spotify, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Tunein, Podbean, Owltail, Libsyn, Overcast Check out The Logistics of Logistics on Youtube
In this episode, I sit down with Andrey Yakimchuk, founder and CEO of Hawk Logistics. Andrey shares his inspiring journey from immigrant truck driver to building a successful trucking company. He discusses the early struggles of becoming an owner-operator, how he navigated challenges like high-interest loans and finding good drivers, and the evolution of Hawk Logistics as it grew into a fleet of 70 trucks.The conversation dives into Andrey's leadership philosophy, focusing on empowering people, building strong relationships, and fostering a positive company culture. As Hawk Logistics continues to grow, Andrey shares his vision for the future, including expanding into direct shipper relationships and setting ambitious goals for the coming years.
Today's episode focuses on implementing automation systems in your transportation business with Revenova's co-founder, Michael Horvath! Mike talks about the integration of AI in the industry and its practical applications, highlighting its potential to automate up to 95% of a broker's daily tasks, which allows professionals to prioritize relationship-building while competing effectively without extensive staffing, the importance of data security, the need for AI capabilities to be seamlessly-integrated within existing systems, and how AI can assist with tasks such as CRM updates and research, without replacing essential human interactions! About Michael Horvath Michael Horvath is the COO and co-founder of Revenova. The company provides CRM-powered transportation management solutions (TMS) for freight brokers, 3PLs, carriers, and shippers. Founded in 2014, Revenova customers include a wide range of midmarket and enterprise customers, including some of the largest 3PLs in North America. He is responsible for the company's overall go-to-market and product strategy. Prior to Revenova, Michael co-founded Forseva, a company that developed the first credit and collections management application suite native to the salesforce platform, and served as CMO and EVP until the company was acquired by Equifax in 2014. He built his path to entrepreneurship through successful tenures at several high-tech companies, including NCR, Quintus Corporation, AVAYA and Cortera. Michael is a graduate of Northern Illinois University.
In this episode, Jesse Taylor from Parade returns to the podcast to discuss the rapidly advancing role of AI in the freight brokerage industry. He introduces Parade's new AI-driven tool, Co-Driver, which automates carrier inquiries and enhances communication, helping brokers build stronger relationships with carriers while optimizing operations. The conversation also covers the importance of leveraging data intelligence to stay competitive, improve carrier recommendations, and measure AI's impact through key performance indicators. Finally, Jesse explores the potential future innovations that AI could bring to the logistics space, emphasizing how AI is poised to transform freight brokerage operations.
On Retention Chronicles this week, Mariah Parsons spoke with Jesse Kaufman, CEO of Shipping Tree (now Kase), a third-party logistics (3PL) company for ecommerce brands. Kaufman discussed his experience growing Shipping Tree from its founding to managing thousands of orders daily. He highlighted the importance of diversifying shipping carriers due to recent changes at USPS that impacted DHL eCom, and the effects of Section 321 rule changes on import duties. Kaufman also addressed the psychological challenges brands may face when transitioning to a 3PL provider, emphasizing the need for trust and proper onboarding.Episode Timestamps:5:25 Challenges and Evolution of Shipping TreeJesse discusses the growth of Shipping Tree, from a small operation to fulfilling thousands of orders daily.He highlights the challenges faced in the early days, such as managing inventory and fulfillment without dedicated technology.Jesse emphasizes the importance of having a technological bridge between merchants and 3PLs, which was lacking in the early days.He shares insights into the evolution of 3PLs and the varying quality of apps used by different 3PLs.6:04 Transitioning to a 3PL and Overcoming Psychological BarriersMariah and Jesse discuss the psychological challenges brands face when transitioning to a 3PL, such as trusting a third party with their inventory.Jesse explains how Shipping Tree helps brands overcome these challenges by providing peace of mind and ensuring proper QA processes.They discuss the importance of founders evaluating 3PLs based on their systems and the level of care they show for brands and products.Jesse mentions the role of references and third-party validation in helping founders make informed decisions about choosing a 3PL.6:19 Minimum Order Volumes and Finding the Right 3PLMariah and Jesse discuss the minimum order volumes required by Shipping Tree, typically starting at 2000 orders per month.Jesse advises founders to look for 3PLs that fit their needs, whether they are small, mom-and-pop operations or larger, more established 3PLs.He highlights the importance of finding a 3PL that can grow with the brand and provides the necessary support and technology.Jesse mentions resources like Twitter and Third Person, a company that helps match brands with 3PLs, to assist founders in finding the right partner.23:33 Carrier Diversification and USPS ChangesMariah and Jesse discuss the importance of carrier diversification in light of changes in the USPS's contract with DHL eCom.Jesse explains how the USPS is canceling contracts with aggregators like DHL, which will affect the cost and delivery of packages.He notes that while the impact on rates will not be significant, it is still important for brands to diversify their carriers.Jesse shares how Shipping Tree's rate shopping tools help merchants find the cheapest options for their desired day in transit.32:32 Impact of Section 321 ChangesMariah and Jesse discuss the impact of the upcoming changes to Section 321, a NAFTA law that allowed brands to import products duty-free from Mexico or Canada.Jesse explains how the Biden administration announced plans to close this loophole, which has led to a scramble among brands to find new solutions.He notes that the President of Mexico recently stepped in to accelerate the timeline for these changes, adding urgency to the situation.Jesse expresses his support for the changes, believing they will create more jobs in the US and benefit the country overall.
Grow Your Business With Organic Traffic - Start HereHe Couldn't Find a Good 3PL — So Billy Parker Became OneWhat do you do when every 3PL you work with is a nightmare? If you're Billy Parker, you take matters into your own hands.In this episode, Ryan talks to Billy about building an eCommerce brand selling hangover supplements to launching Parker Express, a 3PL born out of pure frustration. Billy shares the behind-the-scenes chaos of eComm operations, why most 3PLs fail DTC brands, and how building the right logistics partner changed everything.If you're an eComm founder who's tired of late deliveries, broken SLAs, or warehouses that just don't get your business, this one's for you.
Ryan Schreiber and Joe Lynch discuss I don't know who needs to hear this but... Ryan is the Chief Growth Officer at Metafora, the leading business consulting and software development firm that exclusively serves the Transportation, Logistics and Supply Chain space. About Ryan Schreiber Ryan Schreiber is the Chief Growth Officer at Metafora. Ryan was born and raised in Tampa, Florida. Ryan earned a degree in History from the University of South Florida and then a Law degree from Michigan State University. Prior to joining Metafora, Ryan worked at a variety of logistics companies and even started and exited a few tech-enabled freight brokerage start-ups. Ryan is a skilled technologist and strategist who has helped transform many leading transportation and logistics companies. In Ryan's experience, great technology is important, but finding and keeping the right people is the key to success in the 3PL business. About Metafora Metafora, previously “CarrierDirect”, is the leading business consulting and software development firm that exclusively serves the Transportation, Logistics and Supply Chain space. They partner with carriers, shippers, and freight tech vendors to help them optimize their business and build software to fuel their growth. Welcome to the new way forward. Welcome to Metafora. Key Takeaways: I Don't Know Who Needs To Hear This But... "I Don't Know Who Needs to Hear This But...": Straight Talk on Logistics: Joe and Ryan discuss critical logistics topics, mirroring Ryan's popular LinkedIn posts that begin with "I don't know who needs to hear this but..." The discussion covers crucial insights on freight pricing, the realities of the current market, and how external factors can impact sales, delivering essential advice to those navigating the industry's challenges. Metafora is a management consulting and custom software development firm specializing in the logistics and transportation industries. Metafora offers different services: Technology Consulting: Assisting clients in selecting, developing, and adopting technology solutions that align with their business objectives. Tech-enabled Services: Providing turnkey, enterprise-level delivery solutions to minimize costs and enhance performance. M&A Support: Evaluating potential acquisition targets and supporting their integration and growth. Business Consulting: Aligning business processes and technology with data-driven strategies to transform supply chains into strategic assets. Metafora primarily serves third-party logistics providers (3PLs), carriers, shippers, and freight tech companies, aiming to drive efficiency and profitability in transportation and logistics operations. The company has collaborated with industry leaders such as FedEx Freight, Mitsubishi Corporation, and J.B. Hunt, providing expertise in technology strategy and implementation. Metafora is committed to empowering organizations to make data-driven decisions, fostering collaboration and innovation among professionals in the transportation and logistics sectors. Learn More About I Don't Know Who Needs To Hear This But... Ryan Schreiber | Linkedin Metafora LinkedIn Metafora website Metafora Services The Metafora Story with Peter Rentschler The Competitive Advantage with David Bell and Peter Rentschler 3 Freight Trends to Watch with Ryan Schreiber Navigating the Roller Coaster Freight Market with Ryan Schreiber The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: Google, Apple, Castbox, Spotify, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Tunein, Podbean, Owltail, Libsyn, Overcast Check out The Logistics of Logistics on Youtube
Jon Doolen and Joe Lynch discuss contractor chaos: fixing the last mile's biggest headache. Jon is a Strategy Leader at Doolen Strategy Partners that specializes in providing leadership development programs, business advisory services, and public speaking engagements. About Jon Doolen Jon Doolen is a seasoned business coach with over two decades of expertise in retail logistics, particularly specializing in final mile delivery and third-party logistics for home furnishings and luxury products. Jon's background includes extensive work with major names in the industry, where he's earned a reputation for solving toxic work environments, setting strategic goals for career growth, and aligning personal aspirations with professional success. His approach blends leadership development with a deep commitment to continuous learning, emphasizing integrity and wholesome values in all aspects of business and life. Jon's motivational style and practical wisdom resonate through his coaching, training programs, and writing, encouraging others to embrace change, enhance team dynamics, and achieve sustainable business outcomes. He is also a dedicated advocate for military veterans transitioning to civilian careers, reflecting his broader commitment to supporting personal and professional growth across diverse sectors. About Doolen Strategy Partners Doolen Strategy Partners specializes in providing leadership development programs, business advisory services, and public speaking engagements. With a focus on operations management, particularly in final mile retail home delivery, warehousing, and distribution, the firm helps businesses optimize their processes, develop strong leadership teams, and drive continuous improvement. Through strategic guidance, Doolen Strategy Partners aims to elevate business performance and foster growth in a competitive market. Key Takeaways: Contractor Chaos: Fixing the Last Mile's Biggest Headache Jon Doolen and the GetDoolen Team help 3PLs and driver contractors navigate the following: Navigating the Contractor Conundrum: Uncover the critical gaps in business acumen, customer service, and regulatory compliance that often plague last-mile delivery contractors, and learn how these deficiencies can jeopardize your logistics operations. Mitigating Legal and Liability Risks: Explore the potential legal pitfalls and financial liabilities logistics companies face when partnering with under-prepared contractors, including the ever-present threat of misclassification and subsequent lawsuits. Safeguarding Your Customer Experience: Understand the direct correlation between contractor professionalism and customer satisfaction, and discover strategies to ensure consistent, high-quality delivery services that protect your brand reputation. Veteran Leadership: Jon Doolen, a U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps veteran, founded Doolen Strategy Partners, bringing military discipline and leadership principles to his business. Expert Leadership Development & Coaching: With over 30 years of experience, Jon offers comprehensive coaching services, including career, business, and specialized "Final Mile" coaching, focused on personal and professional growth. Personalized Mentoring & Brand Building: Doolen Strategy Partners provides tailored mentoring and strategies for personal brand development, resume enhancement, and interview preparation, empowering clients for career success. Thought Leadership & Engagement: Jon fosters leadership dialogue through roundtables, conversations, and motivational speaking, sharing his expertise and inspiring action across industries. Learn More About Contractor Chaos: Fixing the Last Mile's Biggest Headache Jon Doolen | Linkedin Doolen Strategy Partners | Linkedin Doolen Strategy Partners The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: Google, Apple, Castbox, Spotify, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Tunein, Podbean, Owltail, Libsyn, Overcast Check out The Logistics of Logistics on Youtube
Our guest on this week's episode is Rosemary Coates, executive director of the Reshoring Institute. We've seen a roller coaster week involving tariffs. First they are on, then exceptions, then some reprieve. It makes one dizzy. But one of the stated aims of the new administration for establishing all of these tariffs is to force more manufacturing to return to domestic shores. Is that a workable strategy? Our guest offers some insights into reshoring initiatives and what industries are best suited to returning their manufacturing to America.Adding to the theme of this week's episode, we look back at the tariff directives this week for international trade. What actually happened and how did the week end? We also discuss how this appears to be more of a negotiating strategy based on the president's past history of negotiating deals. Yet in the middle of all of it, how can supply chain managers properly plan and not add the costs often associated with uncertainty?Despite the chaos, supply chains seem to be holding their own, as reflected in the monthly numbers reported this week in the Logistics Managers' Index. Rising inventory levels boosted activity across the transportation and warehousing industries. This occurred because companies were replenishing inventory following the holiday peak season, but also because they were rushing to import products ahead of tariffs. We break down the numbers and what they may predict for future supply chain health.Supply Chain Xchange also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. A series of ten episodes is now available on the "State of Logistics." The episodes provide in-depth looks into the current states of key transportation modes, such as trucking, rail, air, and ocean. It also looks at inventory management, 3PLs and more. All ten episodes are available to stream now. Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes. The podcast is also available at www.thescxchange.com.Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:The Reshoring InstituteAs tariff policy sows uncertainty, supply chain professionals look for mitigation strategiesNavigating the tariff wave: 7 strategies for global supply chain optimizationLogistics activity expanded in FebruaryVisit Supply Chain XchangeListen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcastSend feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.comPodcast is sponsored by: Zebra Robotics AutomationOther linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITY
Nick Klingensmith, founder of Stride Motivation, has faced more adversity than most—four-time cancer survivor, type 1 diabetic, and a survivor of two rollover car accidents. But instead of letting life's challenges define him, he turned them into fuel.In this episode, Nick shares how he went from a high-stakes sales career in logistics to completing over 100 Spartan races, marathons, and endurance events—proving that the mind is the ultimate battleground. He dives into overcoming limiting beliefs, the power of controlled adversity, and why sales professionals need to embrace discomfort to succeed.Nick also unpacks the importance of networking in logistics, the mental endurance required for long-term success, and why patience and relentless action are key to crushing your goals. If you're in sales, logistics, or just need a push to break through your own barriers, this episode is a must-listen.=========================
In this special episode of The Good Food CFO podcast, we're sharing highlights from our live Q&A session with BABOYOT members. These quarterly events are an awesome opportunity to connect with Founders and answer their most pressing financial questions. Some of the topics we tackled: Food Service vs. Wholesale Pricing: Discover why conventional wisdom about which channel is most profitable doesn't always hold true. One founder shares how running her numbers completely changed her channel strategy. The COGS “Gray Area”: Is your kitchen rental really part of your Cost of Goods Sold? Sarah provides clarity on this common question and explains her COGS philosophy for better visibility into your true business health. Hidden Costs of Co-packers & 3PLs? The best partners will be upfront and clear about all of the costs of doing business. Sarah shares specific questions to ask potential partners to avoid surprise fees signing with co-packers and 3PLs. Whether you're just starting out or looking to optimize your existing food business, this episode offers real-world solutions from Sarah and the collective wisdom of our BABOYOT community. This episode is brought to you by Settle. Settle helps you make smarter decisions, and keep your business on track to grow sustainably. Head over to settle.com/goodfood to learn how brands like Carnivore Snax use Settle to manage their cash flow and growth. Join The Good Food CFO Community: Follow us on Instagram: @thegoodfoodcfo Connect on LinkedIn: @sarahdelevan Watch on YouTube: @thegoodfoodcfo Become a Member: BABOYOT
Join host Harshida as she dives into supply chain technology and logistics innovation with Jason Murray, Co-Founder and CEO of Shipium. With 19 years at Amazon, where he played a key role in building Amazon Prime and Subscribe & Save, Jason shares how data, automation, and a customer-first mindset transformed Amazon's supply chain—and how similar principles can help businesses of all sizes compete. Learn how logistics leaders can adopt an Amazonian approach to predictive analytics, operational efficiency, and scalable fulfillment solutions to stay ahead in today's fast-moving eCommerce landscape.What You'll LearnAmazon's Logistics Playbook – Lessons from Jason's time leading Amazon's fulfillment and supply chain optimization teams.Scaling with Data Science – Why predictive analytics and machine learning are game-changers for fulfillment efficiency.Automation vs. Human Expertise – Striking the right balance between AI-driven logistics and people-powered problem-solving.Product-Market Fit for Startups – Hard-earned lessons from building Shipium and helping 3PLs and brands compete.The Future of eCommerce Logistics – Trends shaping fulfillment, including B2B supply chains, on-demand logistics, and deep customer insights.Highlights[00:01:00] – Jason's 19-year Amazon journey: From fulfillment systems to leading Amazon Prime's logistics strategy.[00:03:30] – How Amazon's supply chain turned logistics into a competitive advantage with machine learning and predictive analytics.[00:07:45] – The challenge of bringing Amazon-level logistics to 3PLs, retailers, and brands—and why most are still “fighting with sticks and stones.”[00:12:30] – Finding product-market fit as a startup: Jason's lessons on iterating, adapting, and learning from customer feedback.[00:18:00] – The next frontier in supply chain tech: Using data to optimize fulfillment, increase speed, and reduce costs at scale.Quotes[00:03:00] "Amazon's tech divide was massive. The rest of the industry was competing with sticks and rocks, while Amazon had F-16s and drones." – Jason Murray[00:10:30] "It's not about making companies 'like Amazon'—it's about applying Amazon's approach: start with the customer, use data, and automate at scale." – Jason Murray[00:12:45] "Finding product-market fit is about brutal honesty. You have to ask: Why did we lose this deal? What's missing? No excuses." – Jason Murray[00:19:00] "The future of logistics is about turning everything into a math problem. Data will drive the next wave of supply chain innovation." – Jason MurrayAbout the GuestJason Murray is the Co-Founder & CEO of Shipium, a company revolutionizing supply chain technology for eCommerce and retail. Before launching Shipium, Jason spent 19 years at Amazon, where he helped build Amazon Prime, Subscribe & Save, and Amazon's predictive logistics systems. His expertise in data-driven decision-making, automation, and supply chain optimization is helping 3PLs and retailers compete at an enterprise level. Connect with Jason on LinkedInLearn more about Shipium Subscribe and Keep Learning!If you're a logistics leader looking to scale sustainably, don't miss out! Subscribe for more expert strategies on tackling modern supply chain challenges. Be sure to follow and tag the eCom Logistics Podcast on LinkedIn and YouTube
Our guest on this week's episode is Brian Lynch, EY Americas Transportation Sector Leader and an Executive Director in the Transaction Strategy and Execution practice at EY-Parthenon. With the ratification earlier this week of the new 6-year agreement between dock workers and ports on the East and Gulf Coasts, it seems like we will have some labor peace that will last a while. Our guest discusses what that bit of certainty means to both shippers and carriers. Mobile robots in the warehouse—such as autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), goods-to-person systems, and automated storage and retrieval systems—have now been accepted as mature technologies. Susan Lacefield, executive editor of Supply Chain Xchange, joins us to talk about the industry acceptance of these technologies and to preview the latest issue of SCX that focuses on robotics and automation.Supply chains are among those industries where workers face a higher level of risk of injury, according to new research released by manufacturer Kuru. The study analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to identify where supply chain jobs rank among jobs from other industries for the potential for on-the-job injuries.Supply Chain Xchange also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. A series of ten episodes is now available on the "State of Logistics." The episodes provide in-depth looks into the current states of key transportation modes, such as trucking, rail, air, and ocean. It also looks at inventory management, 3PLs and more. All ten episodes are available to stream now. Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes. The podcast is also available at www.thescxchange.com.Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:EY AmericasSupply Chain XchangeReport: Transportation and warehousing top list of most injury-prone industriesVisit Supply Chain XchangeListen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcastSend feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.comPodcast is sponsored by: Zebra Robotics AutomationOther linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITY
In this episode, Zach Meese, Business Development Manager at Airfreight Express Global, unpacks the dynamic world of air freight logistics—from life-or-death medical shipments to navigating complex international cargo moves.Zach dives into the flexibility of air freight, debunking myths that it's always cost-prohibitive and showing how businesses can use tailored solutions to avoid costly delays. He shares eye-opening stories, including organizing charter flights for organ transplants and leveraging strategic air routes to optimize global supply chains.He also explores the growing potential of air freight in emerging markets like Colombia and Africa, where infrastructure challenges make it a game-changer for transporting raw materials.=========================
In this episode, Evan Shelley, CEO of Truck Parking Club, discusses the platform's explosive growth—from just a few hundred locations to over 1,400 across the U.S.—and how it's helping tens of thousands of drivers find safe parking every day. Evan breaks down the challenges of a truck parking shortage, the heated debate around transitioning from free to paid parking, and how innovative tech solutions are streamlining the process. He also tackles the misinformation swirling on social media and shares his thoughts on how private sector solutions are shaping the future of truck parking in a rebounding industry. =================================
In this episode of the ThinkFreight Podcast, Alex Winston, founder of Reefer Van Network, goes all-in on revolutionizing refrigerated small truckload shipping. Once juggling Expedite All and Reefer Van Network, Alex explains what sparked his shift to focus solely on the reefer niche and how he's tackling the “unicorn” challenge of growing a network of refrigerated Sprinter vans.Alex details how his team is scaling capacity by buying and building state-of-the-art equipment for on-demand, temperature-controlled freight. He dives into the gaps in the reefer market, the unique hurdles of refrigerated logistics, and the role of technology—and even AI—in automating processes and optimizing efficiency.Tune in to discover how Reefer Van Network is transforming a niche market into a game-changing opportunity for shippers and carriers alike.=================================
In this episode of the Industrial Advisors Podcast, hosts Bill Condon and Matt McGregor discuss the concerning uptick in subleases within the Puget Sound market, rising from 800,000 to 4.6 million square feet in just over two years. The hosts examine how the influx of subleases, particularly those above 100,000 square feet, is problematic for market stability and rental rates. They note that this trend is exacerbated by the increased availability of high-quality sublease spaces and the role of 3PLs (third-party logistics providers) in the market. The episode concludes with a discussion on potential future market corrections and the importance of monitoring the subleasing landscape. 00:00 Introduction and Market Overview 00:52 Sublease Market Analysis 02:01 Impact of Subleases on the Market 02:59 Challenges and Opportunities 05:00 Future Outlook and Conclusion You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube, For more, visit industrialadvisors.com
Our guest on this week's episode is Matt Wicks, senior director of robotics automation at Zebra Technologies. Robotics are rapidly gaining acceptance in distribution operations. They can work 24/7 with a high degree of uptime and accuracy. Our guest shares in which areas of warehouse operations robotics are proving to be the most useful, trends that are leading to their adoption, and what might be hindering robotic deployments in some cases.During this first month of the new administration in Washington, we have seen a shift away from support of electric vehicles, including electric trucks that serve our supply chain operations. As a result, California has responded with adjustments to its electric vehicle mandates. In this segment, we discuss other trends and hindrances towards electric vehicle adoption, as well as an innovative technology that is being piloted for long-haul trucks in Europe.Supply chains continue to deal with a growing volume of returns following holiday peak, and 2024 was no exception. Recent survey data from technology company Akeneo showed that 65% of shoppers made holiday returns this year, with most reporting that their online experience played a large role in their reason for doing so. We look at how the returns season went this year and what practices retailers can implement to decrease the number of product returns.Supply Chain Xchange also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. A series of ten episodes is now available on the "State of Logistics." The episodes provide in-depth looks into the current states of key transportation modes, such as trucking, rail, air, and ocean. It also looks at inventory management, 3PLs and more. All ten episodes are available to stream now. Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes. The podcast is also available at www.thescxchange.com.Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:Zebra TechnologiesDHL tests electric truck with on-board generatorJD Power says that EV growth will stagnate in 2025 due to federal policiesReport reveals that 65% of consumers made holiday returns this yearVisit Supply Chain XchangeListen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcastSend feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.comPodcast is sponsored by: Zebra Robotics AutomationOther linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITY
Send us a textOn this episode of The New Warehouse Podcast, Kevin sits down with Oda Bolden. Oda is the Director of Supply Chain Network, RSD(Radiology, Sterile, & Disposable) Manufacturing at Bayer Healthcare. With over 35 years at Bayer, Oda provides invaluable insights into supply chain management in the medical industry. From handling warehousing and distribution to tackling labor shortages and optimizing operational efficiency, this conversation dives into how Bayer keeps its supply chain running smoothly. Oda shares how his team navigates sterilization, third-party logistics (3PLs), and technology-driven process improvements.Learn more about Zebra Robotics here. Learn more about Nucor Warehouse Systems here. Follow us on LinkedIn and YouTube.Support the show
Our guest on this week's episode is John (Jay) Rogers, CEO and co-founder of Haddy. There has been a push in the past few years to do more manufacturing here at home. One of the key technologies that is enabling more domestic production is digital manufacturing. That's where Haddy comes in. Haddy is the world's first 3D printing furniture manufacturer powered by AI and advanced robotic technology. Jay Rogers talks with us about this unique approach to manufacturing. A new report from Colliers, the industrial real estate firm, reveals data on fourth quarter warehouse construction. The report shows that renters of warehouse space should begin to see some relief after the seriously steep rent hikes they're seen in recent years. The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) released its annual list of the nation's top truck bottlenecks. This is the group's 14th annual report on this issue. Its goal is not only to identify the top congested freight markets, but also to help local, state, and federal governments target funding to areas most in need of relief. The full report shares ways to reduce chokepoints, lower emissions, and drive economic growth. Supply Chain Xchange also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. A series of ten episodes is now available on the "State of Logistics." The episodes provide in-depth looks into the current states of key transportation modes, such as trucking, rail, air, and ocean. It also looks at inventory management, 3PLs and more. All ten episodes are available to stream now. Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes. The podcast is also available at www.thescxchange.com.Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:HaddyColliers reports that warehouse construction rates return to pre-pandemic levelsATRI releases the annual list of the nation's top truck bottlenecksVisit Supply Chain XchangeListen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcastSend feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.comPodcast is sponsored by: Zebra Robotics AutomationOther linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITYTop 10 Supply
Matt Harding and Joe Lynch discuss Greenscreens: benchmarking for shipper success. Matt is Chief Technology Officer at Greenscreens.ai, a freight-tech company on a mission to rock the freight world through accurate predictions, actionable insights and cutting-edge technology. Summary: Greenscreens: Benchmarking for Shipper Success Discover how technology is revolutionizing the shipping industry in this insightful podcast. Joe Lynch chats with Matt Harding, CTO of Greenscreens.ai, about harnessing the power of dynamic pricing, and data analytics to optimize shipping efficiency. Learn how seasoned shipping managers can leverage benchmark data to make informed decisions, while understanding the risks of underpaying for shipping. Delve into the future of logistics, where AI and accurate data are crucial for navigating market fluctuations. This episode explores the challenges and opportunities shaping the industry, offering valuable insights for anyone interested in the future of shipping. #Greenscreens.ai #DynamicPricingDisruption #LogisticsInnovation About Matt Harding With over 20 years in supply chain and transportation, Matthew has held key leadership roles across consulting, technology, data analytics, and third-party logistics (3PL). Before joining Greenscreens.ai, he was Senior Vice President of Data Science at Transplace/Uber Freight, overseeing data architecture, supply chain analytics, and logistics engineering. He has also developed trucking market intelligence consortiums and transportation products for shippers and 3PLs. Matthew holds a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering with Honors from Georgia Tech and a Master of Engineering in Logistics from MIT. About Greenscreens.ai Greenscreens.ai is transforming how the freight industry buys and sells freight through a collaborative and dynamic approach driven by clean data and innovative technology. Leveraging sophisticated machine learning algorithms, we provide market intelligence via an intuitive and integrated platform, empowering users to quickly adjust their freight strategies based on powerful real-time data insights. With two distinct products—one serving shippers and one serving brokers—customers buy and sell with confidence, unveil markets, and build resilience. Key Takeaways: Greenscreens: Benchmarking for Shipper Success Role of dynamic rate intelligence and machine learning in increasing broker productivity. How technology assists in decision-making and maintains efficiency amidst market changes. The impact of machine learning on shippers' pricing strategies and operational streamlining through APIs. Experienced shipping managers' faster reaction to benchmark data for carrier negotiations. The role of market intelligence tools in promoting transparency and preventing deceit in shipper-carrier relationships. Future trends in transportation highlighting the growing significance of analytics and intelligent data use. Shippers who use Greenscreens gain the following benefits: User-friendly Solutions: They prioritize intuitive tools that simplify complex logistics processes. Data-Driven Insights: Cutting-edge technology delivers accurate rate predictions and decision support for a competitive edge. Collaborative Partnerships: Greenscreens.ai values partnerships, sharing industry expertise to achieve mutual success with clients. Seamless Integrations: Their solutions integrate seamlessly with existing systems, minimizing disruption and streamlining operations. Customer-Centric Approach: They prioritize customer needs, offering an advisory approach with a focus on each company's specific goals. Timestamps (00:00:02) Benchmarking Shipper Success (00:00:18) Introducing Greenscreens CTO (00:01:28) Understanding Dynamic Pricing (00:06:43) Navigating Shippers' Market Challenges (00:13:19) Path to Freight Tech Leadership (00:16:17) Advancing Shippers with Greenscreens (00:22:53) Experience Shapes Logistic Decisions (00:23:56) Navigating Shipping Rates (00:32:20) Decoding Transport Cost Drivers (00:38:24) Risks in Underpaying for Freight (00:39:32) The Future of Transportation Tech (00:47:11) Benchmarking in Freight Brokerage (00:49:07) Innovating in Tough Tech Terrain (00:52:11) The Pitfalls of AI Data Input (00:54:33) Engaging Logistics Leaders Learn More About Greenscreens: Benchmarking for Shipper Success Matt Harding | Linkedin Greenscreens.ai | Linkedin Greenscreens.ai GS Trends Machine Learning for the Average Joe Using AI to Gain a Competitive Advantage | The Logistics of Logistics What is Dynamic Pricing with Dawn Salvucci Favier | The Logistics of Logistics The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: Google, Apple, Castbox, Spotify, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Tunein, Podbean, Owltail, Libsyn, Overcast Check out The Logistics of Logistics on Youtube
Our guest on this week's episode is Maggie Barnett, CEO of third party logistics company LVK. It has been a whirlwind week in Washington. First the administration announced shocking new tariffs. Then within hours those new tariffs for Canada and Mexico were called off and postponed for a month. New Chinese tariffs remain. With all of the back and forth and uncertainty, how are supply chains to plan for their future? Our guest offers some advice and also discusses the changing de minimis rules for importing small-value items that had formerly been exempt from tariffs.Economic activity in logistics expanded in January, growing at its fastest clip in more than two years; that's according to the latest Logistics Managers' Index (LMI) report, released this week. We look at the solid numbers and what they mean for the near-term future of supply chains.Artificial intelligence is one of the biggest buzzwords of the year, but a new study shows that although most supply chain organizations are testing it out, a lot of them are running into challenges. This news comes in a new survey from the analyst group Gartner that found that generative AI (GenAI) is being deployed by 72% of supply chain organizations, but most are experiencing just middling results for productivity and ROI. Supply Chain Xchange also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. A series of ten episodes is now available on the "State of Logistics." The episodes provide in-depth looks into the current states of key transportation modes, such as trucking, rail, air, and ocean. It also looks at inventory management, 3PLs and more. All ten episodes are available to stream now. Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes. The podcast is also available at www.thescxchange.com.Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:LVKLogistics Managers' IndexThe logistics economy picked up speed in JanuaryGartner says GenAI tools create anxiety among employeesVisit Supply Chain XchangeListen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcastSend feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.comPodcast is sponsored by: Zebra Robotics AutomationOther linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITYTop 10 Supply
Send us a textRevolutionizing 3PL Connections with Racklify featuring Bill, CMO of RacklifyIn this episode, we welcome Bill, the CMO of Racklify and COO of Shipmate Fulfillment, to discuss their innovative tech solution, Racklify. Bill provides an introduction to the platform, which launched publicly two weeks ago after a six-month beta phase. Racklify is the largest online database of 3PLs, helping merchants find the ideal 3PL providers based on extensive data. The service includes an RFP process and will expand to recruit transportation providers in the second quarter of 2025. The episode also touches on industry trends, challenges, and the competitive landscape. Additionally, Bill shares his prediction for the upcoming Super Bowl, humorously highlighting his enthusiasm as an Eagles fan.Reach out to Bill:https://racklify.combill@racklify.com570 516 7508Your Hosts:John FarquharNational Risk Services Specialist, Transportation, Gallager GGBhttps://www.ajg.com/ca/M: 437-341-0932John_Farquhar@ajg.comChris HarrisCEO, Safety Dawg Inc.905 973 7056Chris@SafetyDawg.comhttps://safetydawg.com/00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome00:43 What is Racklify?01:55 Racklify's Services and Public Launch03:05 Transportation Section and Future Plans05:57 Distribution Strategies and 3PL Collaboration07:23 Challenges and Evolution in Logistics20:07 Using Racklify: A Step-by-Step Guide22:36 Final Thoughts and Super Bowl Predictions26:47 Closing Remarks and Audience EngagementKeeping it Safety Dawg Simple!#trucksafety #truckinsurance #truckpodcastDo you need a "Truck Driver Safety Policy?" Get it today! https://safetydawg.com/policy
Our guest on this week's episode is Kathy Fulton, the executive director of the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). We have all seen the unprecedented damage caused by the wildfires near Los Angeles. It is at times like this that the supply chain industry can mobilize resources to make sure supplies get to those who need help. Kathy Fulton shares what the emergency needs are, what is being done, and what more can be done. She also gives her take on the role of FEMA in disaster response.We saw some encouraging signs this week of manufacturing projects here in the U.S. Of course, manufacturing brings the promise of new jobs, and also of material handling, warehousing, trucking, and all the logistics that's needed to make a factory work. We discuss two new projects - the construction of a $1.2 billion plant in Oklahoma for producing materials for batteries and GE Vernova plans to invest $600 million in its U.S. factories over the next two years to support its energy businesses. The National Motor Freight Traffic Association, or NMFTA, published proposed changes to its National Motor Freight Classification system this week. The NMFC is a freight classification tool that businesses throughout the less-than-truckload industry use to classify and establish prices for moving freight. When they take effect later this year, shippers may see changes in the LTL prices they pay to move freight.Supply Chain Xchange also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. A series of ten episodes is now available on the "State of Logistics." The episodes provide in-depth looks into the current states of key transportation modes, such as trucking, rail, air, and ocean. It also looks at inventory management, 3PLs and more. All ten episodes are available to stream now. Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes. The podcast is also available at www.thescxchange.com.Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) GE Vernova to invest $600 million in U.S. manufacturing sitesLithium Refinery to build $1.2 billion factory in Oklahoma NMFTA to release proposed freight classification changes this weekInformation on NMFC changes at NMFC websiteVisit Supply Chain XchangeListen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcastSend feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.comPodcast is sponsored by: CSCMP EDGE 2025Other linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITYTop 10 Supply
Kevin Hill and Joe Lynch disucss freight brokerage tech trends. Kevin is the Owner of Brush Pass Research, a sales and marketing research firm that helps companies sell to freight brokerages across North America. About Kevin Hill Kevin Hill is the Owner of Brush Pass Research, a sales and marketing research firm that helps companies sell to freight brokerages across North America. Kevin has more than 10 years of experience in the freight industry, both as a sales executive and a media producer; his mission is to help freight sales professionals grow their business and reach their goals. Previously, Kevin founded CarrierLists, a carrier sourcing platform that was acquired by Highway in 2022. About Brush Pass Research Prospecting is about getting in front of as many potential buyers as quickly as possible. Determining which 3PLs you should be contacting and which ones aren't worth your time is a difficult process though. That's where Brush Pass Research steps in to help you out with your prospecting game. Our company tech intel on the largest 1,000 freight brokerages along with contact details for the decision makers is designed specifically to light the fire powering your growth engine. Key Takeaways: Freight Brokerage Tech Trends Kevin Hill and Joe Lynch disucss freight brokerage tech trends. Kevin is the Owner of Brush Pass Research, a sales and marketing research firm that helps companies sell to freight brokerages across North America. Specialized in Market Research: Brush Pass Research provides in-depth market research and analysis for various sectors, helping clients make informed decisions in their business strategies. Government and Defense Focus: The company has significant expertise in conducting research for government and defense agencies, particularly in areas related to national security and defense technologies. Custom Research Solutions: Brush Pass offers tailored research services, creating custom methodologies to meet the specific needs of each client, whether in public policy, private sector, or governmental studies. Expert Analysts: The company employs a team of experienced analysts, many of whom have backgrounds in intelligence, military operations, and specialized fields of research. Innovative Data Collection: Brush Pass Research uses advanced techniques for data collection and analysis, ensuring high-quality, actionable insights across a variety of sectors. Consulting Services: In addition to research, the company offers consulting services to help organizations interpret data, integrate findings, and develop effective strategies based on research outcomes. Security-Focused: With a strong emphasis on confidentiality and security, Brush Pass Research is committed to maintaining privacy and safeguarding sensitive information, particularly in its work with government and defense entities. Learn More About Freight Brokerage Tech Trends Kevin Hill | Linkedin Brush Pass Research | Linkedin Brush Pass Research Brush Pass Research | Blog The Freight Brokerage Market with Kevin Hill | The Logistics of Logistics 4 Trends in Freight Brokerage with Kevin Hill | The Logistics of Logistics The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: Google, Apple, Castbox, Spotify, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Tunein, Podbean, Owltail, Libsyn, Overcast Check out The Logistics of Logistics on Youtube
Today, let's delve into Dr. James Kenny's extensive marketing, finance, and sales background within the transportation business! Jim focuses on establishing robust sales systems, keeping consistent and repeatable behaviors within the sales process, addressing business needs over personal rapport, the challenges of maintaining discipline in sales practices, and concentrating on output metrics! To register for the 2025 TIA Sales Success Summit, go to https://shorturl.at/ONQc4! About Dr. James Kenny Dr. Kenny taught and researched Strategic Marketing, Professional Selling, Sales Management, and Third-party Logistics. During his twenty-five years at Western Illinois University, he was nominated for Teacher of the Year fourteen times and won three times. He also received the Provost's Award for Teaching Excellence. Additionally, Dr. Kenny has won two Faculty Excellence awards. He has published and presented papers in strategic planning, transportation brokerage, sales management, and professional selling. He earned his Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University. He was a four time recipient of the McAlister Scottish Fellowship for doctoral students. He completed his academic career by winning the American Marketing Association Doctoral Consortium Fellowship at Harvard University. Professionally, Dr. Kenny has supplied consulting services to over 180 firms (Logistics, Private Equity, Software, Insurance, and Financial Services) and trade associations nationwide. A sample of his client list includes UPS Worldwide, FedEx, Trinity Logistics, Allen Lund Company, Landstar, TransCore DAT, Total Quality Logistics, McKinsey & Co., and AT Kearney. Dr. Kenny has served on the Board of Directors of the Warehouse Education Research Council (WERC). He won the 2001 President's Service Award from the Certified Professional Insurance Association (CPIA) for his Marketing Audit Program and the 1996 Outstanding Service Award from the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) for his Consultative Sales Program. Professor Kenny was presented with the 2010 Horizon Award for lifetime service to the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA). Connect with Dr. James LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-kenny-0a54558/ TIA Education: https://news.tianet.org/tiaire-courses/
An honor to co-host this episode of the Industrial Real Estate Podcast alongside Matt Carroll and the iconic supply chain thought leader, Dr. Jim Tompkins. This episode dives into key issues shaping global supply chains and industrial real estate, offering insights you won't want to miss: • Election Impact: How the current political landscape—and a potential new Trump era—could reshape global supply chains. • The Power of Optionality: Strategies for navigating uncertainty and staying agile in a fast-changing world. • Industrial Real Estate Trends: How shifts in trade, manufacturing, and policy are influencing warehouse locations. • 3PLs in the Spotlight: Why third-party logistics providers are uniquely positioned to thrive amid these changes. • Macroeconomic Implications: Broader trends affecting manufacturing, logistics, and industrial sectors. This was an insightful and dynamic conversation packed with valuable takeaways. Whether you're in supply chain, industrial real estate, or just trying to stay ahead of the curve, this episode will have something for you! Connect with Matt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewcarroll1/ Connect with Jim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimtompkins1/ About Jim: Dr. James A. Tompkins is an international authority on designing and implementing end-to-end supply chains. Jim is an entrepreneur who has started 15 businesses that have done over $2 billion in revenue, worldwide, during his 50-year career. Jim is known for his ability to make the complex, simple and turning chaos into order. His passion is to help people and help organizations achieve their goals. In April 2020, he founded Tompkins Ventures, a global hands-on solutions network that helps executive teams turn Entrepreneurship, Facilities, Leadership, Logistics, and Technology problems and opportunities into competitive advantage. He founded Tompkins Leadership in 2022, focusing on Leadership Development, Organizational Transformation, Strategy & Innovation. He previously built Tompkins International from a backyard startup into an international consulting and implementation firm. Jim also recently became Chairman of Task4Pros, a digital platform that connects warehouse service jobs with a base of registered professionals. About Matt: Driven leader with fifteen years of international business experience in Logistics and Supply Chain. I am multilingual, speak fluently in Spanish and German, while having an in-depth understanding of the complex dynamics of supply chain management, contract negotiations and thought leadership after spending more than a decade managing operations in China, Europe, Australia, Canada, and the USA. My understanding of global business environments, monetary impacts, and rules of engagement for real estate integration for successful business results, benefit the clients I work with. --
Our guest on this week's episode is Kristen Purvis, product manager at ePost Global. Retailers have just completed a very successful holiday shopping season. But now those same retailers are dealing with many unwanted gifts in the form of returns. Are there ways they can successfully managing them? Our guest has some insights into ways to cut costs, be more sustainable in reverse logistics operations, and incorporate artificial intelligence into returns processes.Technology is vital to any business operation, but a recent study shows that logistics leaders view it as fundamental to managing growth in an increasingly complex global trade environment. The study, which was released this week by logistics technology vendor Descartes Systems Group, found that 74% of supply chain and logistics leaders view technology as fundamental or highly important to their organization's growth strategy in the face of rising global trade challenges. It's been a busy week in Washington DC as the new administration has officially started the process of appointing directors to top posts, including those that oversee and regulate our supply chains. We talk about the new nomination for Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, as well as important appointments to head the Surface Transportation Board and the Federal Maritime Commission. Supply Chain Xchange also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. A series of ten episodes is now available on the "State of Logistics." The episodes provide in-depth looks into the current states of key transportation modes, such as trucking, rail, air, and ocean. It also looks at inventory management, 3PLs and more. All ten episodes are available to stream now. Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes. The podcast is also available at www.thescxchange.com.Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:ePost GlobalSupply chain leaders say technology is key to business growth as global trade complexities riseDuffy wins Senate committee approval as Transportation nomineeTrump names new heads of federal transportation panelsVisit Supply Chain XchangeListen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcastSend feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.comPodcast is sponsored by: CSCMP EDGE 2025Other linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITYTop 10 Supply
Today, Curtis Garrett speaks about the intricacies of LTL pricing and operations! Curtis shares his journey and current ventures in the freight industry, his goal in providing training, content, and live events to help others navigate the complexities of LTL logistics, industry challenges, and the value of specialized knowledge in the evolving LTL landscape. Tune in to acquire more from this conversation! About Curtis Garrett Curtis has spent his entire career growing up in LTL. From 2007 until 2011 - he worked in dock, P&D and linehaul operations at ODFL. Curtis also spent time in W&I and pricing/yield, with a 5 year tenure (2011-2016). From 2016 until early 2024, Curtis led LTL services at three different 3PL providers, specializing in pricing, building carrier relationships, and delivering elevated service at lower costs for shippers. In 2023, Curtis launched Understand LTL (ULTL), a first mover in building community within the industry via courses, content, live trainings and mastermind events where industry leaders and learners gather to teach, discuss, and network. ULTL has seen more than 120 LTL professionals attend live events in small, intimate groups which foster conversational sessions vs sitting in the crowd listening like at larger freight conferences. rateHero was born in 2024, with the goal of streamlining LTL by way of building better solutions aimed at the pricing interaction, bill of lading, invoice verification, and reporting set. rateHero also offers consultative services, helping shippers and 3PLs build out more efficient internal LTL "machines" to better serve their customers. Curtis also co-founded ShipTest, a first of it's kind LTL routing verification product which tells its users which LTL carriers are viable options for their shipments based on factors such as location, vendor preferred routing guidelines, holiday closure schedules, terminal closures due to weather, and carrier Do Not Service lists. Connect with Curtis Website: https://www.ratehero.io/ Understand LTL: https://www.ratehero.io/ultl
Our guest on this week's episode is Zac Rogers, associate professor of operations and supply chain management, Colorado State University. 2025 is just two weeks old and most of us have barely settled into the new year. Considering the unknown economic outlook, politics, possible tariffs, and ongoing turmoil around the world, it could be another interesting and a possibly volatile year for supply chains. Our guest shares his insights based data from on his role in helping to produce the monthly Logistics Managers' Index.We're in the middle of the transition season for a new administration in Washington DC. There are a lot of unknowns in this time of change, but one thing that's definitely happening is that business interests are busy lobbying politicians to protect their interests. And this week we saw some details that show what policies supply chain interest groups might want to happen in coming years. This was news from the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), which released an eight-point wish-list for its recommended policy agenda to support the nation's seaports.Manufacturing and logistics workers are raising a red flag over workplace quality issues according to industry research released this week. And it's all related to internal and external pressures that are causing workers to cut corners, risking both safety and compliance demands. Supply Chain Xchange also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. A series of ten episodes is now available on the "State of Logistics." The episodes provide in-depth looks into the current states of key transportation modes, such as trucking, rail, air, and ocean. It also looks at inventory management, 3PLs and more. All ten episodes are available to stream now. Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes. The podcast is also available at www.thescxchange.com.Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:Colorado State University Supply Chain Management ProgramAAPA lobbies incoming administration on seaport policiesStudy shows industrial workers bypass essential process amid mounting stressVisit Supply Chain XchangeListen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcastSend feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.comPodcast is sponsored by: CSCMP EDGE 2025Other linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITYTop 10 Supply
(0:00) Opening(3:19) Urban vs. Suburban and which will outperform(14:14) What hybrid work means now(16:58) Venture capital, hardware technology, life science, energy(43:40) Increased demand due to a tech recovery(45:05) An increase in loans and the default rate(46:27) Ecommerce, 3PLs, trading partners(55:53) Multistory warehouses(59:29) ClosingTo learn more about the podcast, please visit www.thecreinsider.com or email podcast@thecreinsider.com to get in touch with us directly.
Our guest on this week's episode is Ian Wilson, Senior Analyst with Intelligence Solutions at Everstream Analytics. At what seems like the 11th hour, dockworkers and ports on the East and Gulf Coasts agreed to a new contract. What will labor peace mean for shippers using those ports? Our guest has some insights. He also talks about whether there will be possible impacts for shippers on the West Coast due to the out-of-control wildfires raging around Los Angeles.In a report in the MIT Sloan Management Review, researchers Tom Davenport and Randy Bean wrote about five trends in AI and data science that all businesses should be paying attention to this year. AI has become a very hot topic in logistics circles in the past couple of years, so any research that sheds light on how this technology is affecting business and commerce is something we want to pay attention to. The five trends range from the promise of agentic AI to the struggle over which C-suite role should oversee data and AI responsibilities.We're in a part of the business cycle where it can be pretty difficult to find enough warehouse space to rent or lease, whether you're a manufacturer, retailer, or a 3PL. This information comes from a quarterly measurement from the commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. The report said the overall national industrial real estate vacancy rate edged higher in the fourth quarter. More vacancy means it's easier to find a place to rent—although vacancy still remains well below pre-pandemic levels. We discuss the report's outlook for available space in the new year. Supply Chain Xchange also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. A series of ten episodes is now available on the "State of Logistics." The episodes provide in-depth looks into the current states of key transportation modes, such as trucking, rail, air, and ocean. It also looks at inventory management, 3PLs and more. All ten episodes are available to stream now. Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes. The podcast is also available at www.thescxchange.com.Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:Everstream AnalyticsFive trends in AI and data science for 2025Demand for warehouse space cooled off slightly in fourth quarterVisit Supply Chain XchangeListen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcastSend feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.comPodcast is sponsored by: CSCMP EDGE 2025Other linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITYTop 10 Supply
Our guest on this week's episode is Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics. Schenker is one of the world's leading economists and he shares his insights into what happened in 2024 with the U.S. economy as well as predictions for 2025. Our discussion includes the economic outlook for supply chains and the material handling industry in particular, inflation, consumer prices, interest rates, employment, and looming tariffs One of the top themes we covered in the past year was the labor pool, and specifically how employers in the logistics sector have struggled to find either qualified employees for increasingly technical positions, or simple enough at all for even entry level positions for things like warehouse work and truck driving. This week a report was released that identified five workplace trends that are coming up in the new year, and methods for how employers can best adapt.With peak shipping season behind us, it's time to move on to peak returns season. We are now in the thick of it when it comes to reverse logistics, as retailers and e-commerce fulfillment companies deal with all those post-holiday gifts coming back. We preview a January story in DC Velocity that reveals that many retailers are rethinking their approaches when it comes to managing their returns processes. Supply Chain Xchange also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. A series of ten episodes is now available on the "State of Logistics." The episodes provide in-depth looks into the current states of key transportation modes, such as trucking, rail, air, and ocean. It also looks at inventory management, 3PLs and more. All ten episodes are available to stream now. Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes. The podcast is also available at www.thescxchange.com.Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:Prestige EconomicsWorkplace report finds 5 trends sweeping global labor poolVisit Supply Chain XchangeListen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcastSend feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.comPodcast is sponsored by: Werner Premium ServicesOther linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITYTop 10 Supply
Prepare your supply chain for peak season success with actionable insights from industry experts. In this classic episode, hosts Scott W. Luton and Kim Reuter are joined by special guests Wes Arentson and Tony Thrasher from SPS Commerce to discuss essential strategies for navigating the busiest time of the year. From making the right investments in Q4 preparation to the importance of post-mortem reviews in Q1, our experts share invaluable advice on optimizing your logistics and retail operations. Gain insights into building strong vendor relationships, embracing automation, and leveraging data analytics for demand forecasting. Whether you're a logistics professional or a retail supply chain enthusiast, this episode equips you with the knowledge to enhance efficiency, prevent disruptions, and, ultimately, delight your customers. Tune in for a comprehensive guide to mastering peak season logistics and making strategic decisions that drive success throughout the year.Additional Links & Resources:Learn more about SPS Commerce: https://www.spscommerce.com/ Accelerate time to revenue with SPS for 3PLs: https://bit.ly/4bAQqM4Learn more about Supply Chain Now: https://supplychainnow.comWatch and listen to more Supply Chain Now episodes here: https://supplychainnow.com/program/supply-chain-nowSubscribe to Supply Chain Now on your favorite platform: https://supplychainnow.com/joinWork with us! Download Supply Chain Now's NEW Media Kit: https://bit.ly/3XH6OVkWEBINAR- E2E Demand Planning – Tactics for Driving Value at Scale: https://bit.ly/4g5VdaDThis origianl episode is hosted by Scott Luton and Kim Reuter. For additional information, please visit our dedicated show page at: https://supplychainnow.com/sync-success-tips-tackle-peak-season-1288
Our guest on this week's episode is Lee Ambrose, vice president at Remote Security Solutions. We hear regularly about securing our supply chains from threats, such as products being stolen while they are in transit. But security is more than just theft - it is also securing and protecting facilities and the people who work in them. Our guest discusses the possible threats that face our supply chains and how to keep both workers and products safe from harm. California this week got federal approval to move ahead to the final stages of approval for its 2022 plan to gradually scale back the sale of gas-powered cars within the state. They needed federal approval to have a standard different from broader U.S. rules, and the EPA has now allowed what's called the Advanced Clean Cars II rule. This means that by 2035, all new cars sold in California will have to be zero-emissions models, which includes battery-electric, hydrogen fuel cell, and plug-in hybrid cars. Congestion on U.S. highways is costing the trucking industry big, according to research from the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), which was released this week. The group found that traffic congestion on U.S. roadways added $108.8 billion in costs to the trucking industry in 2022—the latest data available. This is a record high. We look at states with the highest amount of traffic congestion. Supply Chain Xchange also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. A series of ten episodes is now available on the "State of Logistics." The episodes provide in-depth looks into the current states of key transportation modes, such as trucking, rail, air, and ocean. It also looks at inventory management, 3PLs and more. All ten episodes are available to stream now. Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes. The podcast is also available at www.thescxchange.com.Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:Remote Security SolutionsCalifornia moves a step closer to requiring EV sales only by 2035Trucking industry experiences record high congestion costsVisit Supply Chain XchangeListen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcastSend feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.comPodcast is sponsored by: Werner Premium ServicesOther linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITYTop 10 Supply
Tom Burke of CargoWise Landside talks about how drayage rating & quoting best practices can improve supply chain management, visibility, & logistics execution. IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: [06.59] An introduction to Tom and his career journey, how he founded DrayMaster, and its current place in the extensive CargoWise Landise portfolio. “You could say that I've had my hand in every cookie jar when it comes to this industry, and I've gained valuable insights from each experience.” [09.49] Trend one: The importance of collaboration in supply chain management, the improving integration and interoperability between stakeholders, and how a shared access to pricing is helping to drive improvement. “A supply chain without collaboration would be fragmented, inefficient, and unable to meet the demands of modern commerce… It's the glue that holds the entire industry together.” [13.23] Trend two: What visibility and transparency mean to CargoWise Landside, the areas of supply chain where they're most impactful, and how they support drayage rating and quoting best practices. “Forwarders are working across multiple time zones, they need instant access to accurate rates… Waiting for hours or days just doesn't cut it any more. And for trucking companies, if you're not providing rates electronically, your likely missing out on opportunities to quote and move freight.” “Together, they're the foundation of today's drayage and quoting practices.” [18.05] Trend three: The role of automation in shipping logistics and supply chain management – how it's reducing manual effort, breaking down data siloes, and ensuring accuracy across data, from quote to invoice. “Ultimately, it's all about efficiency and transformation. Automation is changing the way businesses operate, enabling them to run leaner and more efficiently with the precision that's now needed.” [21.05] From rising customer expectations to issues with change management, the biggest challenges these three core trends present to drayage operators. [26.26] How drayage operators are managing through these trends and challenges, and why digitalization is no longer a nice-to-have. [28.47] ‘Good, better, best' – the three step approach to best practices, why best practices are needed across the industry, and how they pull together the key trends of collaboration, transparency, and automation. [32.52] How DrayMaster can help truckers to reduce quote turnaround times by up to a huge 95%. [34.59] A case study detailing how DrayMaster helped a 3PL to achieve 44% lower rates, resulting in annual savings of over $1.5 million, and drastically reducing invoice discrepancies by over 50% and counting. [39.30] How DrayMaster helps truckers and 3PLs to work together, deliver collaboration, visibility and data, and how drayage rating and quoting best practices can improve supply chain management and logistics execution. “When truckers and 3PLs work together seamlessly, the ripple effect benefits everybody involved.” RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED: Head over to CargoWise Landside's website now to find out more and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with CargoWise and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn, YouTube, X (Twitter) or Facebook, you can connect with Tom on LinkedIn. If you want to hear more from CargoWise, we have plenty more for you! Check out 412: Maximize Warehouse Efficiency and Profitability, with CargoWise, 406: Unlock the Opportunities of Cross-Border Ecommerce, with CargoWise, 346: Enable and Empower Your Supply Chain, with WiseTech, 367: Going Beyond Visibility – Unveiling The Invisible, 369: From Chaos To Clarity: Simplifying Global Customs Compliance, 371: Going Beyond Visibility – From Risk to Resilience: How Technology Is Transforming Global Supply chains, or 373: Going Beyond Visibility – Culture and Digitization.
Our guest on this week's episode is Dwight Klappich, research vice president and Gartner Fellow at consultancy Gartner, Inc. There is tremendous interest in the growth of robotics and drone applications now being deployed in distribution operations. Is the hype and attention they have received warranted? Klappich defines the "hype cycle" and how it can be a useful tool for determining when is the right time to adopt new automation technologies.A new report out this week reveals that global forklift sales are sputtering. Lift truck sales are even falling short of their initial forecasts for 2024, according to Interact Analysis, a British consulting firm. That group has now revised their forecast for global forklift sales growth for 2024 down to just 0.3%, which is basically flat. We explain why sales have not met expectations, which sectors are most affected, and prospects for the future.Many logistics and supply chain leaders are focused on reorganizing their supply chains these days—but as they do so, they should be careful to avoid common pitfalls that can derail their efforts. That's according to recent research from Gartner that identifies critical organizational design mistakes that will prevent supply chain leaders from delivering on business goals. The research revealed that the most successful projects radically redesign supply chain structure based on distinct organizational needs, while prioritizing balance, strength, and speed as key business objectives. Supply Chain Xchange also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. A series of ten episodes is now available on the "State of Logistics." The episodes provide in-depth looks into the current states of key transportation modes, such as trucking, rail, air, and ocean. It also looks at inventory management, 3PLs and more. All ten episodes are available to stream now. Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes. The podcast is also available at www.thescxchange.com.Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:GartnerGlobal forklift sales sputter as European economy strugglesReport: Supply chain redesigns should focus on balance, speed, and strengthVisit Supply Chain XchangeListen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcastSend feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.comPodcast is sponsored by: Werner Premium ServicesOther linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITYTop 10 Supply
In this episode of the ThinkFreight Podcast, I sit down with Jason Mansur, CEO of Yellow Diamond Logistics, to trace his journey through the logistics industry. Starting from his early days at FedEx and later at Logistics Planning Services (LPS), Jason shares how these foundational experiences shaped his leadership philosophy and strategic thinking. We discuss his move to Evans Transportation as President and COO, where he helped drive growth from $65M to $400M by introducing new service lines and expanding operations into multiple locations.Jason offers insights into his current roles on various boards, leveraging these experiences to guide his CEO decisions at Yellow Diamond Logistics. He also talks about launching Navix—a freight audit and invoicing automation tool—explaining how machine learning and AI help reduce errors, shorten DSO, and free teams to focus on growth.As the CEO of Yellow Diamond Logistics, Jason outlines his goals for scaling the company, improving operational consistency, and diversifying the customer base.=================================
In this episode of the ThinkFreight Podcast, I chat with Tristan Bordallo, founder of IAmFr8, about his journey from freight broker agent to trucking company founder. Tristan shares how he got started, why he ventured out on his own, and how investing in assets like trucks has shaped his business model. He emphasizes creating a positive, “go with the flow” culture and explains why he's chosen to build his company in public for greater transparency. We discuss the challenges he's faced, how he's tackled them, and his vision for IAmFr8 moving forward. =================================
Our guest on this week's episode is Paul Caron, a cyber Intelligence expert whose title is Head of Cyber Security, Americas at global intelligence and cybersecurity consultancy S-RM. Last week we learned of a major ransomware attack at Blue Yonder that put many supply chains in a somewhat perilous situation just as we went into Black Friday. So, how secure are our supply chains and should this latest attack be something of a wake-up call? Our guest offers some insights into such attacks and how supply chain companies can build security and resilience into their systems.Economic activity in the logistics industry expanded in November, continuing a steady growth pattern that began earlier this year and signaling a return to seasonality after several years of fluctuating conditions. That's according to the latest Logistics Managers' Index report (LMI), which was released this week. We look at the numbers behind the index and what they mean for the health of the logistics industry.We are smack in between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and knee-deep in the middle of the winter-peak shopping season. And that means we're also in the middle of the peak-shipping season, when e-commerce retailers are handling a huge surge of orders for holiday gifts. Most shoppers are demanding to receive their goods in two days or less. We share a report card on how they are doing at getting these shipments to their destinations on time. Supply Chain Xchange also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. A series of ten episodes is now available on the "State of Logistics." The episodes provide in-depth looks into the current states of key transportation modes, such as trucking, rail, air, and ocean. It also looks at inventory management, 3PLs and more. All ten episodes are available to stream now. Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes. The podcast is also available at www.thescxchange.com.Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:S-RMThe logistics economy continues on solid footingRetailers produce fastest delivery times since Covid-19Get episode transcriptsVisit Supply Chain XchangeListen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcastSend feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.comPodcast is sponsored by: Werner Premium ServicesOther linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITYTop 10 Supply
Jake Hoffman and Joe Lynch discuss the Gnosis Freight Container Lifecycle Management® Platform and how Gnosis streamlines international logistics. Jake is the Chief Technical Officer at Gnosis Freight, the freight-tech company that pioneered the world's first Container Lifecycle Management® Platform, which is a supply chain platform focused on the full lifecycle of shipping containers. Summary: Container Lifecycle Management: Gnosis Freight Streamlines International Logistics In this podcast, we explore the world of international shipping and how technology is transforming the industry. We begin by discussing Gnosis Freight, a company that has developed the first Container Lifecycle Management® Platform to simplify the complex process of international shipping. We then speak with Jake Hoffman, CTO of Gnosis Freight, a logistics tech company focused on the lifecycle of a shipping container as it moves around the world. Throughout the podcast, we delve into the challenges and opportunities in international logistics, the importance of accurate data in solving supply chain execution problems, and how companies like Gnosis Freight are leveraging AI, IoT, and other digital methodologies to provide end-to-end visibility and actionable insights for their customers. Gnosis Freight offers a software platform for managing container shipping. Their system tracks containers throughout their journey, pinpointing delays and fostering communication between shippers, carriers, and others involved. This real-time visibility and streamlined collaboration help reduce costs and improve efficiency in the supply chain. Join us as we explore the fascinating world of international logistics and how technology is shaping the future of global trade. #ContainerLifecycleManagement #LogisticsDataInsights #StreamliningInternationalShipping About Jake Hoffman Jake Hoffman is the Chief Technology Officer of Gnosis Freight, a logistics tech company focused on the lifecycle of a shipping container as it moves around the world. He has led the engineering team since the company's inception in 2017, bringing a deep understanding of technology and trends in the industry to bear in driving the company's technical strategy. About Gnosis Freight Gnosis Freight is a leading provider of supply chain visibility and execution software, made available through its proprietary Container Lifecycle Management® (CLM) platform—the world's first supply chain platform focused on the full lifecycle of your shipping containers. Powered by the most complete, accurate, and low latency container tracking data available, the CLM platform provides logistics professionals with a smarter way to track and manage their containers, from booking until returned empty. Gnosis Freight's global footprint encompasses a diverse customer base, including top cargo owners (BCOs), ocean carriers, forwarders, truckers, 3PLs, technology providers, and other critical supply chain partners—all utilizing the CLM platform to achieve new levels of efficiency, cost savings, and collaboration within their supply chain. Key Takeaways: Container Lifecycle Management: Gnosis Freight Streamlines International Logistics Learn about Gnosis Freight's Container Lifecycle Management® Platform and how it simplifies international shipping Discover how Gnosis Freight streamlines international shipping by providing real-time tracking, automating tasks, and offering customizable solutions for different supply chain stakeholders. This improves visibility, efficiency, and reduces costs. Understand the meaning behind the name “Gnosis” and the company is transforming international logistics Explore the challenges and opportunities in international logistics and how Gnosis Freight tackles these complex problems Gain insights into the importance of accurate data in solving supply chain execution problems and the challenges of data integration Learn how standardized data empowers businesses to identify and address logistics issues such as demurrage, detention, and delays Discover how Gnosis Freight leverages IoT, AI, ELD, and other data sources to provide end-to-end visibility and actionable insights for customers Timestamps (00:01:24) Gnosis Freight is Revolutionizing International Logistics (00:01:43) Gnosis Freight: Container Lifecycle Management Solutions (00:02:49) The Meaning and Origin of Gnosis (00:04:01) Solving the Complexities of International Logistics (00:07:11) From Chemical Engineering to Freight Technology (00:12:05) Container Lifecycle Management in Ocean Freight (00:12:49) The Complex Journey of Ocean Freight (00:18:26) Overcoming Supply Chain Visibility Challenges (00:19:52) Actionable Insights from Supply Chain Data (00:21:39) Normalizing Data for Container Tracking (00:28:33) Leveraging Standardized Data for Logistics Optimization (00:30:32) Demurrage, Detention, and OSRA 22 Explained (00:34:22) Streamlining Container Lifecycle Management with Technology (00:41:01) From Unstructured to Structured Data with AI (00:45:14) Leveraging Data for Container Lifecycle Optimization (00:52:45) Enhancing Visibility with ELD and IoT Data (00:55:14) Objective Data for Logistics Reporting (00:58:30) Improving Global Trade with Shipping Containers (00:59:22) Streamlining International Logistics with Data-Driven Solutions (01:02:39) Upcoming Freight Conferences with Gnosis Freight (01:03:36) Engaging with Logistics and Supply Chain Leaders Learn More About Container Lifecycle Management: Gnosis Freight Streamlines International Logistics Jake Hoffman | Linkedin Gnosis Freight | Linkedin Gnosis Freight Episode Sponsor: Revenova Contact Us | Revenova The CRM-Powered TMS with Michael Horvath | The Logistics of Logistics The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: Google, Apple, Castbox, Spotify, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Tunein, Podbean, Owltail, Libsyn, Overcast Check out The Logistics of Logistics on Youtube
Join us for an insightful journey with Joe Sanhanga, a remarkable e-commerce entrepreneur generating millions annually through unique and high-priced products. Listen in as Joe shares his inspiring story from his roots in Zimbabwe to his educational pursuits in the UK and the US, ultimately landing in Las Vegas. His journey began on platforms like Shopify and WordPress, selling distinctive items such as African-style swimsuits and nano tape toys, before discovering the immense potential of Amazon's FBA and FBM models. Through their conversation, Bradley and Joe emphasized the transformative power of networking at conferences like Amazon Accelerate. Explore the strategies behind Joe's successful transition to selling on Amazon, starting with assisting a soil business during the pandemic and leading to the creation of "Wonder Soil," a private-label product on Amazon. Joe's ventures into innovative products like tanning lamps, vitamin D lamps, and seasonal depression lamps highlight the importance of team collaboration and strategic Amazon sales optimization. With aspirations to surpass a $30 million run rate, Joe shares valuable insights into leveraging Amazon's platform to achieve extraordinary growth in niche markets. Discover the challenges and tactics involved in marketing high-priced products, like a $599 lamp, in a competitive landscape dominated by lower-cost alternatives. We discuss the advantages of having larger margins for experimenting with keywords and bidding strategies, alongside the creative approaches necessary to maintain product visibility amidst Amazon's policies. Joe also shares his experiences optimizing advertising strategies, managing warehouse transitions to Amazon's Warehousing and Distribution system, and utilizing tools like Helium 10's Adtomic to automate and enhance PPC strategies. This episode provides a comprehensive view of the perseverance and innovation required to thrive in e-commerce, offering inspiration and actionable advice for sellers at any level. In episode 604 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Bradley and Joe discuss: 00:28 - E-Commerce Strategies and Global Perspectives 04:54 - Amazon Product Sales Success Story 05:41 - Amazon Brand Growth During COVID 11:37 - Strategies for High Price Point Products 11:50 - Product Pricing and Brand Strategy 15:23 - Optimizing Keywords for Product Sales 18:21 - Amazon Advertising Strategy Discussion 19:14 - Managing $120,000 of Ad Spend With Adtomic 23:49 - Amazon PPC Management Strategies 27:52 - Optimizing Ad Placements to Lower ACoS 30:51 - Pricing Strategy Impact on Sales 32:45 - Warehouse Cost Savings and Amazon Advertising 34:28 - Inventory Management for Amazon Sellers 38:14 - Optimizing Amazon Listings for Conversion 41:17 - Online Presence and Networking ► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast ► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension ► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life) ► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft ► Watch The Podcasts On Youtube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos Transcript Bradley Sutton: Today we talked to a $30 million a year seller who is selling, and has sold, some of the most unique products I've ever heard of, including one at a $600 price point, when everybody else is priced at only 40 bucks. How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think. Bradley Sutton: Hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of the Serious Sellers Podcast by Helium 10. I'm your host, Bradley Sutton, and this is the show that's a completely BS-free, unscripted and unrehearsed, organic conversation about serious strategies for serious sellers of any level in the e-commerce world. In my travels recently, one of the things I like about going to conferences and it's what I always tell people about is that you know you can meet different people, network with people and find out about their story, and that's kind of like how I structure this whole podcast. But then I actually did that recently at Amazon Accelerate and I'm glad I did it, because I'm glad I did it. As I went to this one mixer that they organized and I was at first, I was like, oh man, I was so drained after that day and I'm like, oh man, it's gonna be a crowded place. I don't like to be in crowded places, but you know what? I'm going to hop on this little lime scooter from my hotel and go over to this restaurant where the event was and I was sitting down talking to some people at the table and then I met today's guest there, Joe. How's it going? Joe: I'm going good. Thanks for having me on. Bradley Sutton: Awesome, awesome. Now, you said you're in Vegas right now. Right? Joe: Yes, we're in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bradley Sutton: Now, that's not a typical Vegas accent you've got. So where were you born and raised? Joe: Yeah, so I was born in Zimbabwe, raised as well in Zimbabwe, then I moved out to England where I spent a lot of my time there doing some education and stuff and then I got tired of the cold being a Zimbabwean. Bradley Sutton: You went to the opposite, then if you went to Vegas, I cannot imagine a more opposite than cold place. Joe: Oh yeah, 100%. I just went on to Google and I was like okay, I want to go somewhere in America, but I need to find somewhere warm. And I think the first thing that came up on the search was Death Valley, but there was nothing over there. So the second thing was Phoenix and Las Vegas. So, I eventually found myself in Las Vegas just because of the ease of doing business. Ability to meet people here is really good. Bradley Sutton: And did you go to university uh over in UK or in the US? Joe: yes, I did university in the UK as well as in the US, so I got an accounting degree back in uh UK um and then in the US, I did a um was a business management degree with some entrepreneurship uh additional to that Bradley Sutton: was it like a unlv or? Joe: I know this was in um in Phoenix in ASU, yeah. Bradley Sutton: ASU, uh, Sun Devil right? Joe: yes, sir, okay, there, you see it. Bradley Sutton: I always test my I don't know. I'm not going to ask you any kind of mascot because from England I don't know anything about England schools, but I know most of the US schools have mascots here. Actually, I'm wearing a. We'll talk about this later. I'm wearing a mascot from a minor league baseball team is my hat. This is called from nearby to Arizona is Albuquerque Isotopes. But the reason I use this today was because this is very similar, this logo, to our Helium 10 Adtomic logo. I know you and I were talking about Adtomic, doesn't it look like the A from Adtomic yeah, Joe: it actually does. Now I see it when you mention it. Bradley Sutton: So that's why I wore this on purpose. There's a method to my madness, but anyways, before we get to Adtomic, talking about Adtomic, I just want to talk about your e-commerce journey. So when you graduated from, after you know, there at ASU, did you get into e-commerce at all, or at what kind of? Joe: So this was actually still back in England , around 2017 is when I kind of got first into my e-commerce kind of journey, which was on Shopify. Specifically, Shopify and WordPress was where I started out and I bought a random course of somebody online, learned all about basically advertising from like Facebook, from Instagram, from Google, sending it to this website and landing pages that we used to do. And then, within being in that realm, I started hearing this FBA term being thrown around. Bradley Sutton: What were you selling on Shopify in those days? Joe: Oh, so I remember we had to go at, we did these other swimsuits that we did African style print swimsuits, and then we also went on and started doing it was like these little tape toys, sort of like double-sided type tape. Yeah, exactly so we were doing those. It's called nano tape, um, so, yeah, that's basically how, how that started and then, Bradley Sutton: and then that's when you, when you kind of like, learned about the amazon, uh potential. Joe: So I heard, obviously, being in that space, I started hearing this word FBA being thrown around uh, the acronym, and you know. Then I went on Google, searched up, okay, what is FBA? And it's some sort of Amazon selling thing. Okay, and then there's FBM as well. So now I'm like, okay, there's these two terms, what is this all about? And that's basically when I started doing my research and I was like, okay, this Amazon thing seems to actually have some stuff to it. And at the time I think the platform is not the way. It's so different now, because sometimes I've got screenshots of my old dashboards and it just looks completely different. So, yeah, that's how I basically then started with Amazon. Bradley Sutton: Did you start selling like your own account, you know, on Amazon, start selling your own products, or did you just start working for other companies that were selling on Amazon? Joe: Yeah, so to begin with I was working with this other lady. She basically had soil and the way we actually started working together was I created a website for her, put on Shopify, to sell the soil, and then she was bagging up the soil to try and get it to consumers, because her business was mainly sending thousand-pound totes to farmers. But she said, how can I get this you know three-pound bag to people that are at home and want to grow some plants and what actually it was? This was around 20. Bradley Sutton: Soil on Amazon, man, when you think you've heard it all. Joe: It's called Wonder Soil. It's actually one of the rivals to Miracle-Gro and we actually I actually raised it to get the Amazon choice badge. We were on Business Insider as one of the top growing brands on amazon too, um, but basically the cool thing about it was we've tried to find a way to get the soil to consumers and everything worked well, because this was during covid, so people were at home, people had nothing to do, and you know people are growing stuff at home, people. You know we're just trying to, yeah, so the product hit at the right time uh, what year is this 2020. Bradley Sutton: Okay. 2020 okay yeah. Oh yeah, I mean that was a good time. Yeah, during covid, people were always are really trying to make their own gardens and stuff like grow their own vegetables and stuff like that okay yeah this is a private label brand or you're reselling um others? Joe: oh, so we actually have manufacturers in China. Uh, that we get all that product for We've actually gotten rid of our warehouse Now. We've gone full into AWD, so we're getting. Bradley Sutton: Let's talk about that a little bit later in the show too. I haven't talked to many people who are doing that, so I'll be interested in that, ok. Joe: Yeah, so that's, that's what that one. And then there's another lamp company, which is pretty funny, is tanning lamps and vitamin D lamps, so we run through those on Amazon as well. Those are actually the only there's a lamp that can give you vitamin D. Bradley Sutton: It's the only lamp the same like the sun. Joe: Yes, you spend five minutes every other day in front of it and it'll give you. And there's studies on YouTube. People use this lamp, where this lady her name is Carnival Doctor on YouTube. She did a study with a lamp for six weeks and her levels went from 20 something to 40 something vitamin D. She feels healthier than ever and it's perfect. It stopped her from having to buy, you know, vitamin D pills and, of course, all those sorts of things. So, yeah, it's the only one, and you get tan at the same time. So now, that's the difference. So, there's two lamps One gives you vitamin D and one gives you a tan, because there are some people that don't want the tanning effect. So that's what it is. So, it's-. Bradley Sutton: Now what if you put this tanning lamp over your miracle magic soil? Are you going to create some like hybrid plant? Oh my, you sell the most interesting things. All right, there's a third account too, Joe: yeah, so it's basically the third account is also in lighting, but this one is seasonal depression lamps where basically you look at it so that one is its own brand. Bradley Sutton: Did you say depression? Yes, depression lamp Like as in I'm very depressed and I'm sad like that word depression. Joe: Yeah, depression, you're sad. What does that have to do with a lamp? So, you look at this lamp for 30 minutes and you become happy. I know it sounds stupid, but minutes and you become happy. I know it sounds stupid, but that one doesn't give you vitamin D. Bradley Sutton: That one doesn't give you vitamin D. Nor a tan. Yeah, you see. Hey, there's a product idea. You got to combine all three and then, oh my goodness, you'd have the most amazing. Joe: That would be powerful. We've had people that have requested you know, do you have one that does both, or this, this, this? But because of FDA regulations, we've had to separate a lot of the things. Bradley Sutton: Is these three separate companies or is it like the same group of people who's all owning all three of these? Joe: So two of the companies is one group of people and the other one is one person. Bradley Sutton: And then, what do you do in these? Joe: So I run just an Amazon account. So I run just an Amazon account. So running the ads, running the listing optimization, making sure the account is obviously hitting the sales numbers, everything that just literally goes through Amazon and inventory everything. Bradley Sutton: What's the overall projected sales for all three combined on Amazon? Joe: So for all three combined, we're looking at 28. We're on pace to do 28 million this year on all three. Bradley Sutton: Will that be your best, our biggest year yet. Joe: Yeah, this would be our biggest year yet. We've seen record numbers in previous months. In previous, like this past quarter, we'd had record sales as well. I know we had our biggest. We had, I think, our first. We had two days in September where we had 100K sales days, which was the first time we've done that. We also had our highest sales days in the past two years. Nine of those days in our top 10 sales were all in September. So we've had record sales. Especially Q3 was really, really amazing. I think we were up about 800K across the board in Q3 alone. So we're on pace to do a really good year and it sets us up for our plan is to do a 2.5 million month at least once this year in total and that will set us up for a run rate for next year. We want to push over to that 30 million stage. Bradley Sutton: If you're like me, maybe you were intimidated about learning how to do Amazon PPC, or maybe you think you just don't have the hours and hours that it takes to download and sort through all of those sponsored ads reports that Amazon produces for you. Adtomic for me allowed me to learn PPC for the first time, and now I'm managing over 150 PPC campaigns across all of my accounts in only two hours a week. Find out how Adtomic can help you level up your PPC game. Visit h10.me forward slash Adtomic for more information. That's h10.me forward slash A-D-T-O-M-I-C. I'm just curious, before we get into some more details about, like, your advertising because I know that's one of the things that is your specialty these lamps that you're doing like, were these kind of like inventions, or? Or there was an existing market of vitamin D lamps or an existing market of lamps that make you happy Like was that an existing keyword or is this something that you're you guys invented and kind of like created the demand for? Joe: So it's actually crazy. You say that is because the first vitamin d lamp started in 1924. It was a guy by Dr. Sperti is his name. He's the guy who made it. He invented it and he started selling it throughout the US. It was a company in Kentucky, um, but he was just selling it out of his own like little warehouse and then eventually he got old um and then sold off for business and then basically that's where we put it online, um to run it through Amazon, and we first were going like, for example, the vitamin D one it's the only lamp that's there. The only competition are these vitamin D pills that you'll see on Amazon. But our price point for the lamp is like 599. And we're competing against people that can buy a bottle for four bucks, five bucks on Amazon. So it's been a pretty interesting game competing against people that can buy, you know, a bottle for four bucks, five bucks on amazon. So it's been a pretty interesting game. But it moves. It moves um on amazon. What's the price of the product? Bradley Sutton: you said 599 599, 599, yeah, wow, uh, I want to. I'm trying to look at, look for it on amazon right now. What's the brand name called? Joe: SpertI s-p-e-r-t-i, and then you'll see vitamin d we got to show the audience this. Bradley Sutton: Okay, oh, my goodness gracious, here it is. Hold on, this is incredible. All right. Joe: That's it and it's right. That's the first one that's popped up against our competition. All those are competitors on the right. Bradley Sutton: So 500 and Sperti. So that was what the doctor's name was. Who? Joe: made this up. Bradley Sutton: Yeah, Dr. Sperti, that was his name yeah, there was a ready demand for this out there. Joe: Oh, huge, because, if you think about it, vitamin D pills are basically the same target market as us. Yeah, so this is just a non-invasive way that you buy and you keep this for a very, very long time. So that's that. So something interesting. As you go through this, this listing, you're not going to see the word vitamin d anywhere on the listing and you'll notice our carousel images, our images on there. we have our box images because amazon actually took us down because our lamp has the word vitamin d on it. Bradley Sutton: ah, yeah, yeah, I see it in the video there, so you don't have vitamin d anywhere in there, but you probably got indexed for the keyword by Amazon. Joe: Exactly so. That's why we use UVB, which is basically the term for vitamin D. So Amazon is not allowing us to use it, even though we're FDA approved and everything. Amazon is just not letting us go for that. Bradley Sutton: I see some of your main keywords. Yeah, vitamin D lamp. Joe: Oh yeah, we can use them in the back. Vitamin D light. Bradley Sutton: Vitamin D therapy lamp, vitamin D light therapy. Now, I'm just curious. I don't talk very often with people who have this high price point. What is different about having a product that's in the hundreds of dollars? Like, do you approach advertising differently, cause it's not like where I mean. You might now you know you, you might get a hundred clicks with no sale, but still you just get one, the 101st click. All of a sudden, that's $600 of revenue. So, so, like, how is it different, uh, with something like this, compared to your, your other products, which I'm assuming is like more you know, regular pricing 10, 20, 30 bucks. Joe: So the cool thing about it is that across all the catalog that I, that I that I run, I have products starting at like five bucks, all the way to this one that has $5.99. So the landscape with this one is totally different. Like you said, you can set up an ad, you'll get 50 clicks at $1.20 CPC and, based on our margins, we're still clean on a sale. If we get one sale, we profit. So the cool thing about it is you just have to be a bit more patient. However, because we have such kind of should I say a big space for those clicks, it allows us to test a lot of keywords in this space and we really kind of exhaust any keyword that's there without having to really be careful, unlike if I was selling a smaller, less priced product, I can't just throw in all the keywords and just you know it'll go crazy if it's like a $60 product. So with this, it gives me that comfortability to go out and bid higher and also it allows me to, like I said, like if you saw on that page where you searched, my competition were those pill bottles that are like five bucks, six bucks, seven bucks, so I can bid above all of those guys. So I ensure that every time you search the keyword I'm going to be first, because there's no way they're going to bid the same amount of dollars. I'm going to bid because their price points are different. However, they can take a loss on a sale because they have repeat products. So people finish that bottle, they come back and buy another With ours. That person buys a lamp and is done. So we obviously have to gauge it to a point whereby, okay, this is our ACOS target and at this A-cost target we're profitable. So that's now how more I manage that one. It's more ACOS targeting, but I'm basically trying to make sure I stand out for every single eyeball that's there because I have the room. Bradley Sutton: So this is interesting because, regardless of the price point, there are similar kind of scenarios where it would be like this they're probably actual keywords of how somebody who's searching for this exact thing is probably very limited Vitamin D lamp or lamp for tanning, you know for your other product, or it's not. Like oh there's you know 5,000 way, you know 5,000 ways that are going to come up in Cerebro to search for this one thing. You're like it's kind of like that way with coffin shelf. If you're looking exactly for a coffin shelf, that's pretty much it, that's it. Coffin shelf or shelf shaped like a coffin, like there's very limited number of words. The other keywords I get sales from is more like the, you know, gothic decor or spooky things. So how are you doing your keyword research? Like using Helium 10 or amazon, for you mentioned you do a lot of testing for targets. So like, where are you coming up with these keywords to test to see if any of them stick? Joe: So that's. It's more like said, I run Cerebro on a lot of those vitamin D bottle and pills and basically a lot of my. So, like I've said, I've exhausted the keyword vitamin D and the more you get long tail with this product, the less traffic you have. You know, for some of the products you can get long tail with a bunch of keywords and you still have traffic. Like, for example, if it's like a Ziploc bag, I can put Ziploc bag for Legos, Ziploc bag for sandwiches, Ziploc bag for this. You know the list is endless and you have traffic with this. Not many people even know this lamp exists. So what I've actually done is sometimes I go and target competitor company names and key names. So if it's like some company that sells a bottle of vitamin D lamps or vitamin D pills, I'll actually target their brand because when I look at their keyword, it's people that are repeat purchases, so it always has traffic. And but because I can bid high on their own company name, I'm going to show up first and I have the room with my price point to show up consistently and eventually, if you're somebody that is very hooked on buying these products, for vitamin D pills, you're going to see my product and think, okay, what is this? Because it's coming up. I've seen it so many times when I come and buy this product that when you read about our process, you then be like, okay, so this is something that actually can benefit me and can work as an alternative for ingested pills and all the other disadvantages that come with that. So that's basically how I find other keywords and start going for those. Bradley Sutton: You know, price game is something nobody ever wants to play, and you're not playing at all, you're doing the opposite. You know, like on some of these keywords I do see some like people ranking for, like vitamin D lamp, but they're, just like you know, $20 products and they're selling thousands of units. But then are you going after those people too, Like the people who are going after that or how? How, how do you still get sales when people can technically get something one 10th the price? People you just got to like, make sure that they know the value of what you, that yours is different. Joe: Yeah, so that's where we have to communicate that through the listing, and it's because a lot of those $20 lamps that you're seeing there, those are not actually vitamin D lamps, those are seasonal depression lamps. So if you're looking at, can you see that Alaska Northern Lights big box on the right where your mouse is? Yes, that's one of the lamps that I sell. That's for seasonal depression. Bradley Sutton: Okay, I was about to click on that, but no, I'm not going to click on the sponsored ad and charge you $3 right there. So good thing I didn't. Joe: But then if you look at to the left, you've got that product. That's 19 bucks. Those are actually seasonal depression lamps, so they don't give off vitamin D. So somebody would purchase that and then they'll realize that doesn't give you vitamin D. So they'll probably return it and then come back to ours. But if they're looking for seasonal depression those would be those ones. Bradley Sutton: This is just an interesting niche. This is kind of fascinating to me. So then, overall, almost $30 million. What are you spending per month? Or what are you paying Amazon for advertising per month? Joe: So monthly. Right now we're spending total across the board with about 120K a month on advertising budget. Bradley Sutton: Advertising. And then, what's your TACoS then? At kind of, is it different per account? Are you looking at your TACoS? Joe: yeah, so the lamp TACoS are, like, I think, close to two percent um, and then uh, because that ACoS is really low, um. However, with uh, with the one that's got the majority of the products, our tacos right now we are sitting at a 5.38. That's what we just closed out at, okay. Okay, our ACoS is at 15 point. I think it was 15.5 is what we ended on in September. We brought that down from a 20 ACoS down to a 15. Our goal was to bring it down to 10, but obviously we've done about 50% of that target. Now, which is hard, you know, if you're spending, you know, over a hundred K. To bring down a cost by 5% is really difficult. So that's, that's where we are. Bradley Sutton: Are you using Adtomic for all of this spend, all of this $120,000 spend? Joe: We've launched. So with Adtomic, we've put in some rules for some SKUs and we're watching that and I actually had a call with Travis, like I said before, to try and we've got different rules for different products and we're trying to see how we can build out those rules in Adtomic. Bradley Sutton: Like rules that you were just using manually, like downloading search term reports. What are some of the rules? Tell me how you run your PPC. Joe: So most of my rules would come into the shipping product, one where basically first rule is identifying the product, pricing. So if it's a bag so let's say Ziploc bag, right, we've got a Ziploc bag, a four by six size. We have different variations. So we have a hundred pack, five hundred pack, thousand pack. The hundred pack could cost maybe 19 bucks, five hundred pack 50 bucks, other one 99 bucks. So based on those, we make rules where if it's the $19 one, we want to start our bids at $0.40 or something like that. Somewhere it makes sense. But then if it's for the 1,000-pack one, we can start off our bidding at $2, $3. And that's because if somebody then buys it it's $99. So it's more of guiding based on that price threshold of the product and getting that rule in. And then, as we keep going, we want to make sure that if it's not getting any spend after two weeks it'll look back and add, you know, 10 cents to it if it's getting too many clicks. And if it gets like 10 clicks at that price, at that um, 44 cents, uh, whatever, 40 cents, um, and no sales, it'll dial it back by five cents or something like that, just to just to start, you know, bringing it back to see what we can get. So those are. Bradley Sutton: So then, instead of basing your rules in Adtomic, like, necessarily on ACoS, you're like doing it on the, the performance, like clicks and. Are you doing impressions at all, or just mainly clicks? Mainly clicks and then sales? What about your keyword harvesting? Did you set up any keyword harvesting rules on your auto or broad campaigns? Yes, and what's your thresholds there? Joe: So with there we do have our keyword harvesting set up and we usually just go in when it shows us. Then we'll add and accept whatever we want to Others we don't and we basically just throw them in. So we have one that right now has some rules and we've been working with the one that keeps the ACoS threshold in different margins. That's been looking good. So we've actually decided that when we've got launch ASINs because we're planning to launch another 42 products, I think it was soon is put those into the ACoS threshold, get those spending. Then, once we've gotten some traction with those, we start messing with the bids ourselves because we look at these in different silos as well in terms of market share. So if it's like tapes, we might not be the biggest player in tapes, so we can't really go out the income on the market. But if it's like Ziploc bags, Celo bags, we have tons of market share. Our brand is known. The moment you see our packaging on our default listings, you know it's us. So we bid higher on those ones to really just take up and kill anybody that's coming in. And we're happy to take up that high bid because people repeat purchase on those ones so we can lose money on the first sale because we can look at the lifetime value of those customers and it makes sense. Bradley Sutton: How many targeting type, different targeting types are you doing per product? You know for me, sometimes a lot of some. I'll have three main keyword ones, at least, obviously, to start, because then I'll cap it and start new ones, but I'll have an exact, you know, like, like atomic calls, a performance campaign. I'll have a broad campaign with broad targets. I'll have an auto, but then I'll also a lot of times have an ASIN targeting campaign, product targeting campaign. I'll also do a sponsor display campaign. I might do a video, two video campaigns, like a keyword video campaign, an ASIN video campaign and then maybe, if I have, you know, three products in a certain brand, I might have a sponsor brand that's feeding a few of those. Like, are you doing all of those or just you're just keeping it to the basic keyword targeting campaigns? What do you guys do so? Joe: So for every ASIN we basically have five different ads and it starts off with broad, which is obviously our broad keywords, and then we'll go to exact keywords where basically we don't start off by putting keywords in the exact. We let you know, get it from helium and atomic and then we put those in uh based on what it's telling us, and then we've got auto testing. So we uh, or it's called a auto cam, just normal campaign, which is obviously we let that run in the order category. Then ASIN testing, where basically we're running targeting that specific category of that product. And the cool thing about those ascent testing is it helps us identify new markets. So let's say we have a variation in poly and plastic packaging and let's say this product is sitting at number two. We might actually take that product. And then let's say we have other products that are like three, four, five, six in that category. We might take the number two product and move it to mailbags. It'll drop the BSR because of its historical performance and its ability to perform. We might actually start testing a different category just to gain more market share in a different category because we know we've kind of succeeded in that one. So that's more for ASIN testing. Then we have ASIN targeting, where we actually we use our Cerebro to get competitors, Black Box to get competitors Then we obviously target those competitors depending on how many reviews they have. So if it's somebody that's got anything less than four stars, what they're targeting you, because most of our products are sitting within the 4.5 to 4.89 range. So anybody below four stars we're targeting you, and then we also use what's it called. Then those are basically the five that we do per ASIN and then we also use what's it called. Then those are basically the five that we do per ASIN. And then we have started testing some display campaigns. We had VCPM running, which was a waste of money really. It was just the attribution was wrong. So what we're doing now is some display campaigns to actually do some retargeting and basically that's where we've got started going. We haven't done much sponsored brands. Things have just really been working in sponsored product for us. Bradley Sutton: Or the auto and maybe broad campaigns. Did you set any atomic rules as far as when to suggest a negative match or like a poor performing search term? Or how are you managing the spend on your auto campaigns? Because you know, sometimes if you just let Amazon do what they want, they'll just show you for all kinds of crazy stuff and they don't care about how much your spend is. So what are you doing to keep your auto campaigns under control? Joe: Yeah, so what we basically do, obviously we have the loose you select the loose substitute compliments and all that type of stuff. We have those like basic keyword rules that we set our bids at where, and we do that based on our pricing. So, depending on the product's price, we'll add in those rules and then basically when Adtomic starts showing whatever negative is in there, we'll go in and either accept the negative and or reject it. And I remember I don't know if it was Travis who told me we don't want to is it reject the negative or something, because it will completely kind of block it out forever or something like that In Adtomic. If you were to do that on a negative, I think it was if you fully approve a negative. So we kind of just watch it and see if it's really a negative and then we test it out. But that's how we kind of do it. So we haven't really put much rules on that side. It's more depending on the price of the product. Bradley Sutton: And then you said for like keyword harvesting, like if an auto finds something like is it just one for you? And then you, hey, I'll go ahead and move it to one of my manual campaigns. Or do you want to see like two or three orders of some new keyword before you put it to your exact campaigns, or what's your threshold there? Joe: Yeah, usually we try and get up to about five, five orders. Um, cause, that's that we've, we've, cause we've had keywords where you might get an order or two, and then it just starts burning money after that. So, yeah, um, we let whatever's winning win and then if something shows promise and you know it comes up with like five orders, uh, that'll be cool and then we'll add it back in. And the cool thing about it is, if it was obviously like the, the lamps, five orders is a bit too many for a keyword. But if it's the Ziploc bags, we know we can easily get those five orders and it justifies because you know that the, the traffic on those is way more than the people that are looking for the lamps. So it just depends on the product as well. Bradley Sutton: What is what brought you from, I forgot what you said like, from 20 to 15 a cost, like? What specific strategies you think? Like, was it something different? You were doing um, or, or you just change the rules, or what. What can you attribute that lowering of ACoS to? Joe: Okay. So basically, we started a KPI where we looked at the number of ACoS campaigns that are above 100% in our account, because I think we have about 4,000 something campaigns running. So basically, when we sorted that out, we would start off with, like, let's say, 40. Then of those 40, that's our priority for the month and basically, we'd look at what the ad type is. We'd look at what the ad type is, we'd look at where the you know impression share is going. Is it top of search, is it product key, is it product pages or is it in the categories? And then basically sometimes we would notice that, let's say, if it's product search for this specific ad, it's showing a way better ACoS but it's not getting as much spend and impressions as this one. But you know, the product page is just spending money. So what we'll do is we'll change the percentage on the impression share to show more on that specific placement that's actually performing the best. And what we realized is a lot of our ACoS started just, you know, dropping for those campaigns where we doubled down. Yes, it might not spend as much, you might not as much traffic, but if our ACoS drops, you know, by 50% on that campaign, that's a win. So that's what we're doing. And then sometimes it's actually where you're getting a bunch of sales at like 60, 70% ACoS from top of search, but this product page placement is at 20% ACoS but it's not getting as much spend. So now we'll move our spend and our impression share more on that product page and reduce the top of search. Even though it cancels out some sales, the profitability of investing in that product placement on the product pages makes more sense. So that's how we've been kind of juggling the placements and it's been helping really well to cut ACoS. Bradley Sutton: When you launch new products. What's your strategy? Is it strictly I mean, like do you have this big audience that you're able to promote to and then they send a lot of traffic that way, or is it 100% with PPC that you're launching products? What's your strategy? Like? Joe: So 100% of PPC. We have been talking about, you know, starting to get an email list together, but, as you know, with Amazon you don't get that information of your customers, so it's very difficult. If we had like a website, then maybe we could leverage that side of it. But, like I said, 100% of all sales is Amazon and unfortunately, we don't have the customer data. So what we usually do is set up our PPC. Sometimes, depending on the market or the product, what we'll use are the deals, if it's promotions, and sometimes we've actually, you know how you can now put price, the strikethrough pricing. So sometimes when we launch a new product, we launch about a few bucks higher than we're actually planning to sell, and that's because we just want to get the featured offer pricing going. And then, once the featured offer has registered onto Amazon, we'll set a strikethrough price at the intended selling price that we want to and then we'll pump up our PPC. Why? Because now our product is showing amongst everybody else to have this discount of like 20% or whatever it is, and that increases our conversion rate because obviously people are seeing this discount. And then sometimes you might actually get the badge that says lowest price in 30 days and on a new launch. That helps quite a lot and basically that's what we do. Then we start pumping PPC and then, once that ends, we actually noticed with another product where we were averaging about, I think it was 0.78 run rate so which is basically close to a sale a day on that product at 24 bucks. We raised the price to 28 bucks so that we could make a strike through at 24. And then at the end of the strike through because after 30 days when you set the strike through it stops the deal, we actually realized that our run rate went to 0.68 at 28 bucks. So we started noticing that the difference in sales were not actually bad from the price going back to four bucks. That's because we just had forgotten to change it back to that 24. So it actually helped us realize like wait, we were still selling at that 28 bucks, so now we just drop it back and when we drop it back to 24 with that strikethrough it just increases the sales and obviously the conversion rate and the ACoS, which allows us more dollars to spend on that product. Bradley Sutton: Before you switched to AWD, did you guys have your own warehouse? Did you have multiple 3PLs, One 3PL? What were you doing? Joe: So we had our own warehouse and basically obviously we're shipping it from China to our warehouse and then from our warehouse to Amazon, and then basically with AWD, and the fees just got out of hand. It kind of priced us out of obviously doing that route, which is why we went with AWD. And it's kind of been our first kind of-. Bradley Sutton: The new fees you're talking about, like the inbound inventory placement fees and things like that, Joe: all that type of stuff, yeah, it kind of really hit us hard. So we realized, and we priced everything up in Seoul, it's way more lucrative to go with AWD, and you have to have Bradley Sutton: Is that AGL too? Or just like? Are you actually having Amazon ship from China or you're shipping it into AWD? Joe: We're shipping it into AWD. Right now, we haven't fully gone into Amazon shipping it from China, but we're shipping it into AWD. And that's basically where we just noticed that economics-wise it just made way more sense to go with AWD. So we took that big step of obviously getting away with our warehouse and now just sending product into AWD. How big was your warehouse? It was pretty big. It was pretty big. I don't know how many square feet on the top of my head. Bradley Sutton: Do you know how much it costs per month? About? Joe: Yeah, it was close to about. I think it was like 25 grand. Bradley Sutton: Oh my goodness, yeah, so we're talking probably 20,000 square feet or above. They're in Vegas. Yeah, it was pretty big. And then how many full-time employees had to run it? Joe: So we had four people there Bradley Sutton: and then now you had to let them go after you close the warehouse. So then it's not just $25,000 a month, but then probably another $10,000 of salary you're saving. Joe: yeah, so there's a big saving, when you look at it, from everything. And we've kept one person I think it was that basically helps us with inventory forecasting and just helping manage kind of the inventory side of AWD. Because right now we've moved into AWD. But some issues we've had with AWD is when FBA goes out of stock there's like a two-week period we've seen that it takes for that transfer of inventory to go into FBA and that's because AWD hasn't learned our sell through rates yet. So right now, for example, Bradley Sutton: you can't control that at all. Like you can't just force AWD to say, hey, I know I'm going to sell more, send more to FBA. Like you have to wait for them to be able to see it. Joe: Yeah. So you can manually send more. But because we have a catalog of 900 products, it'll be very tenacious to look at FBA for all these products and then go to AWD and manually click one. So what we've done is we put the auto replenishment. But because Amazon hasn't learned our products yet, literally, we had a product that had a sell-through rate of I think it was it'll go through about 300, 400 products a month. We ran out of that product and AWD transferred 10 units to FBA and it took two weeks to get those 10 units and those sold out within a day. So it was just the worst and the worst. Bradley Sutton: I got to start you on Helium 10 inventory management, because helium 10 inventory management is created for people who have three PLs and then and then we tell you, all right, set up a new shipment. But theoretically somebody just asked me to say the other day we don't integrate yet with AWD. I know that's on the roadmap, but like a third-party warehouse, like you know how much inventory is there, so you put the number in and then you know what you know. Helium 10 knows what your inventory is in Amazon. And then so we would just tell you the same way hey, it's time to trigger, you know. So I know you said before like hey, yeah, you might not have time to, you know, be checking 800, but that's the whole point of inventory management where you just you know you better send, you know, 500 units in from your warehouse and so, yeah, we'll get you started on that. Joe: Yeah, that would be a lifesaver because this is how it's impacting my ads now. So you know back in the day, if you run out of stock on FBA, your listing is not showing anymore, your ads are not delivering. However, with AWD, if you've got stock, what it's done now is it changes our seller delivery date. So we realize that with this duct tape, Bradley Sutton: and you're conversion like tanks right, because it says like oh, delivery in three weeks or something crazy like that. Joe: So this duct tape product had delivery in two months. I'm not waiting two months to get duct tape. Bradley Sutton: So instead of the listing going dead, it still shows available, but then two months. Joe: So people are clicking on this sponsored ads and they're like, yeah, I'm not waiting two months to get a duct tape, I'm going to the alternative person which is their competitor. So, I'll add just hitting, hitting, hitting, hitting, no sales. And you're like what's going on? And then now when you look at it and it's fine detail, delivers in two months. You're like that's so. Now we've had to end the crazy thing about when you've got 4,000 ads, because you've got five ads SKUs, you can't go and manually turn all those off and then wait until it comes back in stock to turn it back on. So that's been a nightmare as well. Bradley Sutton: Now Interesting, okay. So yeah, it looks like AWD, like overall pretty decent. You save all those fees, probably thousands and thousands of dollars of fees. You're saving tens of thousands of dollars in warehouse, tens of thousands of dollars in warehouse. But on the flip side, you almost have to, you know if, if you're not using Helium 10, um for inventory management, you almost have to like hire another full-time employee just to manage that, depending on how many SKUs you have, or else, or else you're going to lose, you know too much money. It's not just the lost sales, what's advertising, like you said, very good, very good, uh, very good point. Um, if I were to ask you like, all right, hey, end of the day, not everybody can, can have a business that does 30 million a year. What set? What has set you guys, uh, apart? Obviously, you know you have some cool patent and some product. You know for one of them that that nobody else can get. That's been around since 1920, but it's anybody you know. I'm sure there's billions of or millions of businesses that were made a century ago, that that technically you could sell, but that doesn't mean you're going to be a 30 million dollar seller. So what sets you guys apart, would you say? Joe: I think it's that consistency and never give up mentality when you start off a product, because a lot of things that I've seen with other sellers is they're quick to write off a product because they're not profitable with it within the first kind of initial launch phase. And what I've noticed is we stick out with the product and our launches are in strategies here. So we start off with a launch. So, let's say, we're doing zip bags right and we have these zip bags. They're heavy duty, so it's four mil size. When we start off with a zip bag, we're happy to lose some money on that because we know it's repeat purchases. So we now have to calculate and understand okay, this is the frequency of those sales, this is what we expect to come in, what sizes are winning, and basically having the consistency to keep pushing, even though it might not be profitable to start. Eventually, when you start getting those repeat sales, you'll see the profitability come in and that's where those products, when they start winning. You do the exact same thing with new launches and it's, like I said, that consistency to keep doing that with new launches and new launches and new launches has been a game changer. And then also just not being afraid to test Amazon. So you know, like I said with our vitamin D one, we've thrown different keywords in there, we've thrown different words in there, even at times where you get delisted because Amazon said these things don't work or this is, you can't put that writing, so it's. It's helped us push our listing and appear in different places and we always do tracking to see if it's click-through rates, if it's the title. So, for example, some of our titles have our brand name, which is spot and industrial. That's a pretty long brand name and if you look at our uh, a product of ours on mobile devices, our brand name takes up should I? I say, 40% of the title. So a lot of our keywords and use cases don't actually show on mobile. So what we did test was removing the brand name and leading with the use cases and the product keywords and it started converting better because nobody cared what our brand name was. But if they're seeing that zip bag for Legos, for this, for this, and it's heavy duty and it's waterproof, that's what people want to see and it increased our click-through rates, which increased our conversions as well. So stuff like that and they're minute tests. But if you do that on a catalog and with products at a volume, it can be a massive scale. And when you realize that from a potential of okay, we have 800 ASINs, 50% of them increase in conversion rates by just 10, 20% I mean in click-through rates you're bringing in even way more traffic and if you hold your conversion rates, that increases your sales without having to do any change in bids and anything like that. So those key changes allow you to save your dollars but still gain on all that traffic. Bradley Sutton: Now, if I were to ask you your favorite Helium 10 tool, is it Cerebro, is it Adtomic? Is it Magnet? Chrome extension, what is it? Joe: I would say I love the Chrome extension because it helps me. If I go onto a competitor, straight away I see what they're lacking If they don't have 150 characters in their titles, if they don't have enough bullets, if they don't have, you know, enough bullets, if they don't have enough images. So the moment I see a competitor that doesn't check all the boxes that the Helium tool shows, I'm targeting them. Why? Because if you look at my products I have 10, you know most optimized on your thing. Then at the same time I look at keywords and it gives me a breakdown of how much revenue is in this keyword, how much revenue is in this industry. So before we go launch a specific product like we were launching an anti-slip tape because we want to add to our tape ranges so just looking at that, you'll look at that keyword anti-slip tape. It brings in 600 million a month from all these different competitors. Now I can run those competitors through Black Box and I love Black Box as well because it helps me really fine tune what I'm targeting and who I'm looking for. So, I can say they get X amount of revenue monthly with X amount of reviews. Like I said, if they have anything below four, Black Box shows me those people. Those are easy people I can add to my product targeting campaigns and I know, because our listings are optimized, we'll easily take some sales from those people. Campaigns and I know, because our listings are optimized, we'll easily take some sales from those people. So, I would say the listing Blackbox and also the Chrome extension will be my two favorite. Bradley Sutton: All right. If anybody wants to find you on the interwebs out there, like on LinkedIn or somewhere like you open to saying how they can find you guys out there. Joe: Oh yes, of course, on LinkedIn obviously it's just Joe Sanhanga, my name, and then on Instagram it's j.sanhanga, which is my last name, s-a-n-h-a-n-g-a, and that's mostly where I am on social media. But any questions or whatever I can on LinkedIn, you can just pop it in and I'll try and help where I can. Bradley Sutton: Awesome, awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming on the show and hope to see you at an upcoming event soon then.
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