Episode 7 - Blockchain for Supply Chain

Blockchain is an emergent technology primed to create more transparent, sustainable, and cost-efficient business processes. This month, Penn State Supply Chain Podcast hosts welcome Henry Ines, CEO and co-founder of Chainparency, to discuss the trending topic of blockchains. Henry provides keen insights about the tenets and uses of blockchain, sharing, “With any blockchain, you’re really talking about security, the level of scalability, and the level of decentralization – these are three critical aspects of a blockchain technology.” Henry and our hosts discuss why blockchain is such an important emerging technology for supply chain, the decision points to consider when organizations are thinking about implementing blockchain services as a business solution, and the future of this novel technology.

Episode 6 - Supplier Diversity & Inclusion

This month we are joined by Natalie Jaworski, Vice President, Procurement Citizenship at Johnson & Johnson. Natalie shares about the ways Johnson & Johnson has successfully established and embedded global SD&I efforts into their organization’s procurement processes. These efforts are supported by Johnson & Johnson’s Procurement Citizenship team, led by Natalie. As a lesser known term, she defines as procurement citizenship as encompassing, “…global supplier diversity and inclusion, environmental sustainability, human rights in the supply base, and supplier risk.” Throughout the episode, hosts Steve Tracey and Irv Grossman and our guest discuss the future of SD&I, health for humanity, social justice, and next steps for furthering development and growth.

Episode 5 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

This month's guest, Rakhi Agarwal, Franchise Engagement Leader at Johnson and Johnson's Janssen Supply Chain, shares that, "The right pool of talent can only come if you build diversity into the fabric and DNA of the organization."  While most supply chain organization's recognize the value and importance of diversity among supply chain talent, how to build a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion can be less clear.  Rakhi shares advice for organizations who wish to start, build, and maintain a culture that leverages diversity.  She shares how we can all become agents of change and how our personal commitment to DEI can translate into change across the enterprise.  Rakhi also shares how diversity fosters change, growth and innovation and how these areas have a critical impact on the success of the enterprise. 
Rakhi also introduces DISCOVER, a cross-industry organization featuring a network of supply chain professionals dedicated to the shared aspiration of building bridges and breaking down barriers for people of color. 

Episode 4 - Closed Loop Supply Chains

In this week's episode, Steve Tracey welcomes Dan Guide,, Smeal Chaired Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management.  Dan shares on overview of closed loop supply chains, contrasting them with traditional forward supply chains and sharing exemplars of companies who have achieved both economic and environmental sustainability, some of whom pioneered techniques they've practiced for decades.  Dan and Steve discuss the three R's in the context of procurement and discuss how servicization, when integrated with a firm's business model, can drive both profits and environmental gains.  Our guest wraps up with some tips for how procurement professionals can integrate sustainability into their business processes.   

Episode 3 - COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution

With news of progress in the manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines, attention now focuses on last mile distribution to get shots in arms.  In the words of one of this month's guests, we're witness to the "largest new product launch in human history."  This launch challenges vaccine supply chains in unprecedented ways and has required supply chain leaders to forge new partnerships across public and private sectors to keep pace with demand.  In this week's episode, our hosts Steve Tracey and Irv Grossman and our guests discuss the monumental task of scaling the supply chain for mass vaccinations, break down some of the complexities around where we stand now, discuss lessons learned during the vaccine rollout thus far, and preview the road ahead.
In this episode, we welcome two expert guests from the MITRE Corporation:
Cynthia K. Hansen, PhD is a Senior Principal for Biosecurity and Equity in the Health Federally Funded Research & Development Center (FFRDC) operated by the MITRE Corporation. She leads efforts to accelerate COVID-19 response & recovery, strengthen global health security and expand relationships with agency missions aligned with the biosecurity and equity objectives of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Taylor Wilkerson is a Principal Health Systems Engineer in the Health System Engineering group at MITRE Corporation. Taylor has over 20 years of experience with public and private sector supply chain improvement and engineering. His experience includes strategy, process design, system architecture and requirements, risk management, sustainability, decision support, and innovation management. He has worked with several public sector clients including HHS, VA, DoD, CDC, DOS, USAID and USDA.

Episode 2 - Supply Chain Agility

In this month's episode, we're joined by Galen Smith, IBM's Supply Chain Ecosystem Leader.  Galen is an accelerator of transformation in IBM's AI-enabled supply chain utilizing design thinking, agile and cutting edge technology to generate change adoption.  Galen shares her insight on the application of design thinking to create a more agile supply chain.  Steve and Irv discuss supply chain agility and resilience, and we remember Dr. Joe Cavinato, our Penn State colleague and professor of business logistics.   

Episode 1 - Get to know the Center for Supply Chain Research

In our premiere episode, our hosts Steve Tracey and Irv Grossman introduce the Penn State Supply Chain and Information Systems Department and Center for Supply Chain Research.  We feature a discussion of the CSCR's four pillars -  research, knowledge, talent, and networking - and share some of the history of SC&IS and CSCR at Penn State.  Steve and Irv also share their views on what the media attention paid to Supply Chain throughout the COVID pandemic has meant for the discipline both now and in the future.