Handled It: The Supply Chain Podcast

Carolina Handling

The supply chain is more connected, automated, and data-driven than ever, yet most leaders still feel like they’re managing chaos instead of progress. Handled It: The Supply Chain Podcast confronts that complexity head-on. Hosted by Joe Perkins and Brent Hillabrand from Carolina Handling, each episode explores how top operations leaders build resilient systems that withstand labor shortages, rising costs, and constant change. If you lead operations, distribution, or warehouse teams, this show delivers the conversations, frameworks, and field-tested lessons you need.

  1. 9h ago

    Why Complexity Is Quietly Eating Your Margin

    Complexity doesn’t announce itself. It accumulates. One extra approval. One redundant system. One workaround that quietly becomes standard practice. Before long, the operation is slower, costlier, and more frustrating despite having more tools and processes than ever. In this POV episode of Handled It, Joe Perkins and Brent Hillabrand are joined by Ashley Watkins and Woody Paschal of Carolina Handling to unpack complexity as a hidden cost that rarely appears on a P&L but affects every line of it. Woody shares real-world examples from the field, including a segmented manufacturing operation where “pockets of simplicity” quietly added up to system-wide complexity, and a customer who saved more than $25,000 a year simply by adding a pickup to an already scheduled return trip. The group explores how complexity creeps in without anyone consciously choosing it, how a “process Frankenstein” is built one reasonable decision at a time, why 30% of warehouse labor is spent on non-value-adding work, and why the solution is almost always subtraction, not addition. In this episode, you will learn: Why complexity is something you accumulate, not choose, and why it rarely fixes itself How “pockets of simplicity” create system-wide complexity Why adding process is easy, but removing it is hard What 30% non-value-adding labor really costs Why subtraction beats addition in process improvement When technology simplifies operations and when it adds complexity How Carolina Handling uses data to reveal the real problem The most expensive thing in your operation is the one that never shows up in a budget line. Learn how to find it and take it back.

  2. Aug 6

    The One Thing You Underfund That Controls Your Uptime

    Maintenance isn't a line item to cut when the month gets tight. It's the strategy that quietly decides your uptime, your costs, and your culture. In this episode of Handled It, Joe Perkins and Brent Hillabrand are joined by David Horak and Lauren Murphy to unpack the reactive maintenance trap: why operational disasters rarely start with a catastrophic failure, but with one PM that got pushed, and then another. From PM compliance and telematics to total cost of ownership and the partnership model behind Carolina Handling's own 10,000-asset fleet, the group breaks down why the cheapest-looking maintenance decision this month is often the most expensive one next quarter. They get into the "stability vs. chaos" gap between a scheduled visit and an emergency call, how deferred maintenance erodes both the equipment and the people running it, and why a documented 3–5x ROI on preventive maintenance still loses, because the real barrier is cultural, not financial. In this episode, you will learn: Why reactive maintenance disasters start with one pushed PM How deferring maintenance "saves" money now and compounds into bigger spend later Why PM compliance is a leading indicator of operational health How telematics turns firefighting into fireproofing Why maintenance is a culture, retention, and safety issue, not just a mechanical one Why total cost of ownership, not purchase price, should be the first number on the table

  3. Jul 23

    The Lean Habit That Separates Good Floors From Great Ones

    The daily huddle and the visual management board are two of the most powerful, and most consistently wasted, tools on any operations floor. In this episode of Handle It, Joe Perkins, Brent Hillabrand, Ryan Tiller, and Ashley Watkins break down what separates a 10-minute meeting that transforms a shift from a mandatory gathering everyone dreads and nobody acts on. From the football scoreboard analogy to why a board loses all its power the moment the data is wrong, the group gets specific on what great actually looks like: short, consistent huddles, associate ownership that drives behavior instead of just tracking it, and the counterintuitive truth that finding more problems means the system is working. Run with discipline, a huddle and a whiteboard become the operating system your floor actually runs on. In this episode, you will learn: Why most shift meetings are expensive, habitual, and pointless What a great huddle looks like: standing, under 15 minutes, ownership assigned Why a board loses all its integrity the moment the data is wrong How to run a huddle when you walk into a five-alarm fire Why finding more problems means the system is working How to hand the board to associates so it drives behavior, not just tracking Why "problems are good" and what hiding them really signals

  4. Jul 9

    Why Misleading Metrics Are Killing Your Operation

    Not all KPIs tell the truth. In this episode of Handled It, Joe Perkins, Brent Hillabrand, and Justin sit down with Adam Flood, Executive Director of Supply Chain at Wellstar Health, to break down the metrics that feel right but lead operations in the wrong direction. From cost-per-pick and fleet utilization to fill rates and incentive pay structures, this conversation exposes how chasing the wrong numbers creates misalignment, gaming, and downstream damage to the customers you're trying to serve. Adam brings real-world examples from healthcare supply chain — including how switching from pallets to carts saved frontline staff 90 minutes a day — and introduces the concept of the "feel rate": not just whether you filled the order, but whether the customer actually felt it. The group also digs into Goodhart's Law, leading vs. lagging indicators, how to build empowered teams that drive their own metrics, and why simplifying your dashboard may be the most powerful operational move you make. In this episode, you will learn: Why cost-per-pick, fill rate, and fleet utilization can mislead more than they reveal How lagging indicators create reactive, firefighting cultures What the "feel rate" is and why it matters more than fill rate How to stop putting ceilings on your team by over-prescribing KPIs Why Goodhart's Law says when a measure becomes a target, it stops being a good measure How to tailor dashboards for different levels of your organization Your best-looking metric may be your biggest blind spot. Learn how to shift from measuring what's easy to measuring what's true — so your operation performs where it actually counts.

  5. Jun 25

    Why Your Operation Is Failing Before You Know It

    Operational failures don't come out of nowhere. In this episode of Handled It, Joe Perkins and Brent Hillabrand sit down with Meredith Steinmeyer, Director of Fleet Services and Energy at Floor & Decor, to break down the three weak points quietly eroding performance in operations everywhere: handoffs, visibility gaps, and single points of failure. Meredith brings real-world perspective from scaling Floor & Decor from 149 to 270+ stores, managing over 3,000 material handling assets, and navigating everything from COVID disruptions to hydrogen infrastructure risks. This conversation challenges the common assumption that operational breakdowns are unpredictable. The signals are almost always there. The problem is that leaders aren't in the field, the silos are too high, and by the time leadership feels the pain, the customer already has. In this episode, you will learn: Why handoffs don't break operations immediately — they quietly erode performance until the customer feels it How visibility gaps shift operations from controlled to reactive What single points of failure look like in people, systems, and equipment Why you can't justify preventing downtime if you can't quantify it How Floor & Decor uses pink reach trucks, monthly strategy cadences, and cross-functional pilots to stay ahead of failure Your operation isn't broken — but it might be signaling. Learn how to build the visibility, accountability, and team connection that keeps failure from becoming a surprise.

  6. Jun 11

    Why Great Operators Don’t Always Make Great Leaders

    Servant leadership is not soft leadership. In this episode of Handle It, Joe Perkins and Brent Hillabrand sit down with Ryan Tiller and Will Jones, President/CEO of Thompson Children & Family Focus and author, to unpack what servant leadership actually looks like inside real operations, distribution teams, and frontline environments. This conversation challenges the common mistake of promoting great operators into leadership roles without giving them the tools, mindset, or development they need to succeed.  From the “flight attendant flying the jet” analogy to daily huddles, floor check-ins, turnover, trust, and the hidden cost of command-and-control leadership, this episode breaks down why leadership is the variable every operation feels but few actually measure. Joe, Brent, Ryan, and Will discuss how strong leaders build trust before tough conversations, stop rescuing people by doing their work for them, and create teams that perform because people feel supported, empowered, and held to a clear standard. In this episode, you will learn: Why great operators do not automatically make great leaders How servant leadership impacts trust, morale, retention, and performance Why leaders should stop doing the work for the people they lead How to build real check-ins during the first hour of a shift Why protecting the standard starts with catching people doing things right  Turning your best operator into an unsupported leader can be risky! Learn how to develop leadership that builds trust, improves performance, and helps teams handle pressure without falling into constant firefighting.

  7. May 28

    How to Create Stability Without Slowing Growth

    Stability without slowing growth is the tension every operations leader feels, and this episode shows you how to manage it without creating chaos. Stability without slowing growth does not mean moving slower, it means building calm, consistency, and trust that makes execution faster. Stability without slowing growth is the advantage you earn when your team stops mistaking busyness for progress and starts fixing the root causes that keep fires burning. In this episode of Handled It, hosts Joe Perkins (COO) and Brent Hillabrand (President and CEO) are joined by Lauren Murphy (VP of Human Relations) and David Horak (VP of Distribution) to unpack why “calm” can feel uncomfortable, how leaders accidentally create chaos, and what should never change even as the business scales. They break down the difference between urgency and chaos, why motion gets confused for momentum, and how stability creates the space for innovation, retention, and a faster, more focused operation. In this episode, you will learn: How to define stability in a way that supports growth, not stagnation The difference between urgency and chaos, and how leaders confuse the two Why “busy” becomes a badge of honor and how to reset expectations How stability builds trust, and how trust increases speed When stability becomes competitive advantage, and when it turns into resistance What breaks first when stability is ignored: trust, morale, retention, and standards The non negotiables that should never change: values, integrity, priorities, accountability How to spot “firefighting culture” and shift toward root cause problem solving Why consistency without stability is unsustainable, and how to build stable habits and rhythms A practical way to coach leaders who feel lost when nothing is “on fire” Don’t risk confusing chaos for progress and burning out your team while calling it growth. Learn how to create stability without slowing growth so your operation moves faster, retains great people, and scales with trust instead of turbulence.

  8. May 14

    Building a Culture That Sticks in an Evolving Industry

    Culture and leadership development are the core keywords in this episode, and this conversation shows you how to build a culture that sticks even when growth, pressure, and turnover hit at the same time. Culture and leadership development are not slogans or posters, they are the daily decisions leaders make when nobody is watching, and you will leave with a clearer way to protect standards without slowing the business. Culture and leadership development matter because the fastest way to lose great people is inconsistent leadership, unclear expectations, and values that change when results are on the line. In this episode, Joe Perkins (COO) and Brent Hillabrand (President and CEO) sit down with Lauren Murphy (VP of Human Relations) to unpack what actually holds a culture together, why strong cultures decay over time, and how leaders unintentionally reward the wrong behaviors. They talk through real examples from inside operations, the strain that growth puts on onboarding and leadership readiness, and why turnover cannot be solved by pay alone. If you lead teams in a fast moving environment, this episode will help you build trust, strengthen standards, and retain great people without defaulting to pizza parties or empty “words on the wall.” In this episode, you will learn: Why culture breaks down when results matter more than how you get them How “high performers” can quietly reset the standard in the wrong direction The difference between culture you design and culture that happens in “a thousand moments” How leadership inconsistency creates “the call after the call” and kills trust What stability looks like when your business is changing fast How growth strains onboarding, coaching time, and leadership readiness Why turnover is a leadership problem first, not a pay problem How to build trust through clear accountability and honest conversations What it means to “treat people great and pay fairly” without chasing the market every week Practical ways to make values real through celebration, not just correction Don’t risk building a culture that only works when things are easy. Learn how to strengthen culture and leadership development now so your standards hold, your people stay, and your growth does not break what made the business work in the first place.

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The supply chain is more connected, automated, and data-driven than ever, yet most leaders still feel like they’re managing chaos instead of progress. Handled It: The Supply Chain Podcast confronts that complexity head-on. Hosted by Joe Perkins and Brent Hillabrand from Carolina Handling, each episode explores how top operations leaders build resilient systems that withstand labor shortages, rising costs, and constant change. If you lead operations, distribution, or warehouse teams, this show delivers the conversations, frameworks, and field-tested lessons you need.

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