Art of Supply Kelly Barner, Art of Procurement

According to reporting in the New York Times, about 20 million containers travel through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach California annually. Those containers are full of goods that need to travel to warehouses, stores, and consumer homes by truck and rail.
Unfortunately, a growing percentage of those goods never arrive, thanks to a sharp uptick in cargo theft. As Supply Chain Brain has reported, U.S. cargo thefts were up 9 percent year-over-year in 2023, with an additional increase at the end of the year.
The increase in rail cargo theft has significantly impacted Union Pacific and their customers, leaving literal debris fields around their tracks in the Los Angeles area.
In this week’s episode of Art of Supply, Kelly Barner covers the complexity and loss stemming from rampant rail container theft:
Why trains leaving Los Angeles and Long Beach are particular targets for theft How Union Pacific is (and is not) attempting to stem the losses Why divisions between public and private security are creating an opening that thieves are eager to exploit Links:
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Section 321 of the U.S. Tariff Act of 1930 contains a small provision known as ‘de minimis.’
From a Latin phrase meaning “the law does not concern itself with trifles,” this provision has become a major concern for retailers, shippers, and regulators. 
De minimis is supposed to simplify shipping so that packages under $800 can be sent to U.S. consumers from overseas without distracting U.S. Customs and Border Patrol from their core mission. With the rise in global ecommerce, however, this provision - or loophole - is proving to be far more than a trifle’s worth of trouble.
In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly Barner covers:
The history of the de minimis provision, including how it was intended to be used and how it is being used today Two foreign-based retailers that are pumping hundreds of millions of packages a year into the U.S. under the provision - and a third major U.S. retailer that looks poised to join them Ongoing efforts to stem the tide and increase oversight, including which organizations are advocating for de minimis reform and which are against making changes Links:
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“You can't just come with ideas. You’ve got to show that you're going to be on the journey with them.” - Adrian Ristow, Executive Director of Project Last Mile 
“Coca-Cola Project Last Mile is held within the practitioners of my craft to be the flagship model of what good looks like in terms of public-private partnerships.” - David Canarutto, Private Sector Relationship Manager at The Global Fund
For over a decade, one public-private partnership has worked to make lifesaving medicines available in the most remote parts of Africa. Known as Project Last Mile, this collaboration includes the efforts and resources of organizations like The Global Fund, USAID, and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
And it all started with a cold Coca-Cola.
In this episode of Art of Supply, Kelly Barner welcomes Adrian Ristow, Executive Director of Project Last Mile and Project Director for The Coca-Cola Company, and David Canarutto, Private Sector Relationship Manager at The Global Fund, to talk about what makes this partnership so successful.
In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Adrian and David talk about:
What set Project Last Mile up for sustained success, especially in the earliest phase of the effort The importance of flexibility, effective communications, and a healthy relationship with failure How the members of this partnership are standing on their past accomplishments to chase their common objectives into the future Links:
Adrian Ristow on LinkedIn David Canarutto on LinkedIn Coca-Cola’s Project Last Mile Coke's Supply Chain Is the Real Thing Kelly Barner on LinkedIn Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter  Art of Supply on AOP Subscribe to This Week in Procurement

About 15 years ago, someone noticed that while you could buy a cold Coca-Cola in the most remote corners of Africa, lifesaving medicines that require cold chain logistics were nowhere to be found.
A group approached the company and asked, will you teach us how you manage your supply chain in rural Africa so we can apply those learnings to healthcare? 
Coca-Cola not only said yes, they threw their full support behind the effort that would come to be known as Project Last Mile. The public-private partnership was so impressive and effective that it became the subject of episode 90. 
But that wasn’t to be the end of the story. Project Last Mile heard the episode and contacted Art of Supply and made their leadership team available for an interview.
Next week’s episode of Art of Supply will be Kelly Barner’s interview with Adrian Ristow, Executive Director of Project Last Mile and Project Director for The Coca-Cola Company, and David Canarutto, Private Sector Relationship Manager at The Global Fund, one of Project Last Mile’s most important partners.
This week, we revisit the original episode in appreciation of the effort that has been made to date, the remarkable benefits it has generated, and the power of Coca-Cola’s decision to say yes.
Links:
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Red Lobster, the largest seafood chain in the United States, declared bankruptcy on May 19, 2024. As of the filing, they had 551 locations operating in 44 states, but underperforming locations have already started to close. 
What brought about the bankruptcy of the restaurant chain that rapper Flavor Flav describes as “one of America's greatest dining dynasties”? It wasn’t all-you-can-eat shrimp, as some have suggested, but it may very well have been endless real estate costs.
In this week’s episode of Art of Supply, Kelly Barner walks a mile in Red Lobster’s shoes:
Tracing their rise as an innovative dining concept, the first restaurant to advertise on national television Evaluating the impact that a ‘sale leaseback’ of their real estate had on the chain’s long term profitability Questioning the rationale of being owned by their largest seafood supplier, and all of the complications that accompanied this circular relationship  Links:
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On May 25, the Federal Trade Commission announced their consent for the planned acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources by ExxonMobil. It was the largest shale oil and gas merger ever planned.
The consent may not have been a surprise, but one of the conditions was: that former Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield was prohibited from taking a planned seat on ExxonMobil’s board and accused of colluding with other industry players to increase consumer prices and maximize company profits.
Articles began to appear in the media that described the condition, which ExxonMobil did agree to, as “unprecedented,” “unusual,” and even “a smear campaign.”
Is Scott Sheffield a colluding villain or a scapegoat of big oil and the federal government? 
In this episode of Art of Supply, Kelly Barner brings together details about: 
The structure of the oil market, including U.S. producers as well as OPEC and OPEC+ The case against Scott Sheffield, as made by the FTC and media outlets that side with them The case made in his defense, some in his own words and some from industry onlookers and commentators as well as other media outlets Links:
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