Art of Supply Kelly Barner, Art of Procurement

“We know what matters to our employees, and we know what matters to our customers, and we know where the leadership view is. That alignment means that you make progress more easily because you’re focused on stuff that matters and that people care about.” - Gareth Hughes is the Business Services and ESG Director for Whistl
If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, as they say, what is the road to sustainability paved with? Put another way - if the road you are journeying down is lined with little more than good intentions, how can you be sure you’re traveling in the right direction?
This week’s episode of Art of Supply is the monthly interview, and it features a guest that both knows where he is headed and is armed with more than good intentions.
Gareth Hughes is the Business Services and ESG Director for Whistl, a UK based e-commerce and logistics business. They provide business mail services and eFulfillment services. His current responsibilities include procurement, property, facilities, fleet, and delivering ESG impact. 
In this conversation, Kelly Barner invites Gareth to speak candidly about how he has taken his passion for ESG and turned it into a successful and fully operational program:
Why pressure from customers to increase sustainability shouldn’t become passthrough pressure put on suppliers The need for all ESG-related projects to have an appropriate level of materiality How pushback can keep everyone on plan and even help companies outperform expectations
Links:
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Heavy-duty trucks include tractor-trailers, ambulances, garbage trucks, and school buses. All of these are now on an official timeline for reduced emissions, in alignment with a new Federal mandate. 
Manufacturers of heavy-duty vehicles must reduce their overall emissions by mandated percentages according to model year, starting with their 2028 models and extending through 2032.
When the rules were released on March 29th, we heard the usual responses from the usual cast of characters. Environmental advocacy groups love it, and trucking industry associations say it is ridiculous. But will it work?
In this week’s episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly Barner investigates the details of the new rules to better understand: 
The requirements, operational challenges, and worthy effort to reduce fleet emissions What manufacturers of heavy duty trucks are being asked to do by when Concerns beyond the usual noise that will have to be overcome before we can reduce the emissions output of the supply chain Links:
Kelly Barner on LinkedIn Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter  Art of Supply on AOP Subscribe to This Week in Procurement

80 percent of all ship-to-shore (S2S) cranes at ports in the United States - and 75 percent of all S2S cranes in the world - are made by just one company: ZPMC. 
Short for Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Company Limited, ZPMC is a Chinese state-owned manufacturing and engineering firm. It was founded in 1992 and quickly grew to become the largest S2S crane manufacturer in the world.
U.S.-China relations have been on shaky footing in recent times, making concerns about these cranes, and the critical role they play in major ports, a top priority in both the private and public sectors.
In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly Barner looks at the high stakes associated with port security and why cranes are at the center of everyone’s attention:
Why the Biden Administration is concerned by the risk posed by these cranes The data management and decision-making patterns that allowed ZPMC to assume a dominant position globally What may be next… in terms of security and also in terms of new sources of supply Links:
Kelly Barner on LinkedIn Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter  Art of Supply on AOP Subscribe to This Week in Procurement

On February 28, 2024, New York Attorney General Letitia James sued JBS, the largest meat company in the world, for civil fraud. James is accusing the company of ‘greenwashing’ or making statements to sound more environmentally friendly than they truly are. 
In 2021, JBS made a commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2040. James says this statement is “unsubstantiated” and “unachievable” without reducing production, and that their  marketing campaigns “in effect, provide environmentally conscious consumers with a ‘license’ to eat beef.”
What earned JBS the unwanted attention of the Attorney General’s office in New York? The company has plans to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange before the end of the year - and a vocal chorus has risen up to oppose the move.
In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly Barner looks at this case in the context of the overall corporate sustainability movement:
Reviewing the details of the complaint filed by Attorney General Letitia James Considering relevant legislation and rulings that she and her team will have to overcome And highlighting the impact that all of this may have on the push to get large companies to become more environmentally responsible  Links:
Kelly Barner on LinkedIn Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter  Art of Supply on AOP Subscribe to This Week in Procurement

“China’s supply chain has gone through significant, transformative changes in the last five years. For executives or engineers, designers or buyers, who have not been here since before COVID, they’re going to see a completely different China.” - Jeffrey Goldstein, Founder & President of Onward Global
It is impossible to discuss global supply chains without being hyper aware of the role of China. Whether it is their access to critical raw materials, specialization in certain production processes, or labor advantages, relocating supply chains to other parts of the world is harder than it sounds.
Even companies looking to embrace a China +1 strategy have found that few +1s are ready to come online as quickly as industries need.
Jeffrey Goldstein is the Founder & President of Onward Global. Based in Shanghai, he and his team serve as the ‘boots on the ground’ for companies around the world that are sourcing in China, helping them overcome cultural and strategic obstacles to value. 
In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly Barner welcomes Jeffrey to share his first hand perspective on doing business with Chinese suppliers today:
Where he has seen the most change in supply chains since COVID’s impact began to wind down Generational workforce trends that may be more global than they first appear  Why suppliers in China are so hard to replace - and why they may be even harder to compete with Realities that any company looking to move their sourcing out of China or diversify their sources should be aware of Links:
Jeffrey Goldstein on LinkedIn Kelly Barner on LinkedIn Boots on the Ground in Shanghai, China feat. Jeffrey Goldstein, President of ONWARD Global (Dial P for Procurement) Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter  Art of Suhttp://artofsupply.compply on AOP Subscribe to This Week in Procurement

In October of 2021, Hertz announced that they would purchase 100,000 Tesla Model 3’s for their rental fleet, followed by 175,000 from GM, and 65,000 from Polestar. The move was supposed to help them overcome shortages of conventional cars, lend the recently ex-bankrupt company a ‘cool factor,’ and lean on the sustainability trend to drive revenue.
Instead, it backfired. On April 1, 2024, Hertz will get their fifth CEO in four years. How could this strategy, one that seemed to be in alignment with corporate and consumer sentiment, go so wrong?
In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly Barner looks at the series of events that have made it hard for a series of CEOs to lead the company successfully:
The economic conditions that gave Hertz more trouble than competitors like Avis and Enterprise The choices they made in response to those conditions and how they may have tipped their hand Early signs that heavy investment in EVs may not have been the way out Hertz was looking for Links:
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