Meet the key players behind this groundbreaking success: Donna Van Vlerah, senior vice president of the Support Division; Chris Jellison, vice president of Pharmacy; Jesse Stanton, vice president of Supply Chain; and Aaron Lane, director of Support Division Operations and Systems. Discover how Parkview’s commitment to transparency, data-driven decision-making and fostering a common language between the traditionally-siloed pharmacy and supply chain teams led to remarkable efficiency gains and growth.

In this episode, you will learn about real-world strategies and success stories that prioritize both cost containment and quality patient care. Find out how Parkview's collaborative approach, supported by technology and actionable data, has revolutionized healthcare supply chains, making them more efficient, cost-effective and patient-centric.

The discussion provides valuable insights into the role of data in shaping the future of supply chains. We examine practical steps for leveraging cloud technology to optimize decision-making, customer experiences and operational efficiency. With real-world examples from the automotive industry and visionary strategies for waste reduction, we explore how cloud technology is transforming supply chain processes globally. 

With an eye on continuous improvement, Dr. Govil outlines a comprehensive three-phase approach to unlocking the potential of cloud technology. From setting priorities to executing scalable transformations, listeners gain a clear roadmap for integrating cloud capabilities effectively.

With a focus on sterile processing, they discuss the importance of preference cards and how inaccuracies can lead to significant waste and potential risks to patient safety. Learn how this dynamic team employed Lean principles and data-driven strategies to streamline processes, reduce inventory and minimize labor hours, resulting in notable financial and clinical impacts.  

In this episode, you will discover the crucial role of engaging project champions and integrating technology to create a highly reliable system while keeping patient well-being at the forefront. You will gain valuable insights from Sanford’s journey while exploring process improvement initiatives that positively impact the healthcare landscape.

Healthcare supply chain leaders are increasingly considering specialized solutions for warehouse management, distribution management and demand planning to overcome cost and labor issues. By adopting best practices from industries like distribution and retail – such as zone picking and real-time inventory management to enhance warehouse efficiency – organizations are realizing improved cost management and, ultimately, better outcomes for patients.

This discussion underscores the significance of warehouse optimization in healthcare. Cory and Matt highlight the potential benefits of automation and technology solutions in improving productivity and reducing errors. By implementing specialized systems and adopting best practices, healthcare organizations can optimize their warehouses, overcome challenges and provide better patient care.

As supply chains navigate ever-changing industry disruptions, the quest for competitiveness and efficient warehouse management becomes increasingly critical. The game-changing potential of warehouse automation for distributors and 3PLs is maturing quickly. Nick explores the benefits it brings, the challenges faced during implementation, and how to calculate return on investment (ROI) post-automation.

In this episode, Maryah and Nick engage in an enlightening conversation about the intersection of warehouse automation and technology. They discuss the clear correlation between automation and warehouse optimization, the barriers organizations may encounter when adopting automation, and the significant benefits that can be achieved by leveraging this advanced technology.

Drugs continue to be a costly and complex asset to manage, representing significant operational and financial upside when done right. While some health systems are integrating supply chain principles and practices into their pharmacy operations, others are challenged by friction between supply chain and pharmacy. With a network of 10+ hospitals and integrated physician practices, Chris lends insight into how Parkview Health has evolved its pharmacy supply chain operation to meet modern demands. 

In this episode, Chris and Cory examine the clear intersection between pharmacy and supply chain, what an integrated approach to pharmacy inventory management looks like and what benefits can be achieved by taking control of the pharmacy supply chain. 

Analyst firm Gartner listed digital supply chain twinning as one of 2022’s supply chain technology themes and in today’s market, we are increasingly hearing of distributors and retailers utilizing this technology. In this conversation, Tecsys’ Maryah Merchant and her guests examine the concept of digital twinning (creating a virtual mirror of reality), how it works and the impact it has on the supply chain in distribution and retail. 

Our panelists discuss the impact of digital twinning across a range of industries, examine how to implement the technology and measure its effectiveness, as well as make process improvements by running digital simulations.  

With ‘resiliency’ earning top spot in the minds of most supply chain practitioners these days, we wanted to understand what resiliency looks like from an operations standpoint. Together with Guy Courtin, Joe unpacks a new ‘triple constraint’ in the relationship between supply, demand and volatility, while getting a glimpse into their ProMat 2023 on-floor seminar.   

Drawing on Joe’s wealth of experience, this episode provides guidance for healthcare supply chain practitioners and other high cost of failure sectors in developing a strategy that assumes volatility, seeks balance and pursues continuous improvement. 

In 2022, a surge in interest in automation gave companies leeway to evaluate their opportunities and choose the right solutions for their needs. As we picked Ram and Eugene’s brains as practitioners and specialists, we looked into the state of the industry, investments and technologies, while getting a glimpse into their Promat 2023 on-floor seminar.  

Supply chain practitioners want to make well-informed decisions, but with ever-expanding options in the market, it’s noisy out there. This episode highlights the state of the industry and fills in some of the most common information gaps. 

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that supply chains are often too fragile and too reliant on ‘business as usual’; that investments need to be made for long-term success. Our conversation touches on the economic slowdown, the types of investments that can boost supply chain resiliency, and how to identify opportunities and risks in your current environment through a ‘supply chain audit’. 

With the help of guests Mark Bentler and Guy Courtin, we underline key strategies and supply chain software functionalities that will help supply chain operators make smarter decisions when things get bumpy.  

Over the last decade or so, digital and hybrid shopping have forced retailers to take a closer look at how well their supply chain and order management processes are suited to meet the demands of the modern-day consumer. This discussion touches on pressure points in the retail industry, the role of OMS solutions, and how to navigate the ups and downs when implementing this type of solution.  

Our guests, David Mascitto and Neeta Garg, present an integration framework to facilitate and expedite an OMS implementation. They delve into mounting consumer demands, the capacity for supply chain to meet those demands, and how B2C experts can prepare for a successful OMS project. 

There is a resurgence of the decades-old term ‘digital transformation’, and companies like A.M.G. Medical are leaning into that resurgence through investment into modern SaaS-based technology, allowing them to scale and adapt to business-critical complexity and financial reporting. Focused around A.M.G. Medical’s recent ERP investment, the discussion explores the challenges and opportunities involved by embarking on digital transformation and how an ERP keyed into the form and function of a distribution organization can help drive business objectives.  

Our guest, Janick Coulombe, shares her insights to shed light on A.M.G. Medical’s digital transformation journey thus far and offers perspective on how business leaders may embark on such journeys within their organizations. 

The healthcare supply chain is different from most other supply chains because of the unique challenges presented by clinical priorities and quality patient care. Regulatory requirements, supply volatility and intensifying complexity are driving healthcare supply chain leaders to shift from tactical excellence to strategic excellence. In this episode, we dive into inventory visibility and traceability, clinically integrated operations, cross-functional collaborations, data integrity and more. 

Our guests, Betty Jo Rocchio, Hays Waldrop, Dr. Randy Bradley and Carrie Gorman, offer insights into the foremost obstacles and achievements in the healthcare supply chain today. Join us as we revisit the perspectives and key takeaways from some of this industry’s most respected thought leaders.  

Warehouse automation is evolving at breakneck speeds, and it’s daunting to think about the kinds of robotics that are rolling into mainstream distribution environments. To unpack what is on the horizon in the warehouse robotics space, Todd shares his insights on the impact that automation is likely to have on the distribution and 3PL industries, and what to consider when looking at autonomous mobile platforms and technologies (AMR). Learn about warehouse design components to consider when looking at automation, the challenges and how to overcome them. 

Our guest, Todd Boone, identifies the opportunities ahead and the hurdles to anticipate in automating both greenfield and brownfield warehouses, providing practical advice for those designing a one to five year warehouse automation roadmap. 

Dr. Bradley has countless years of experience and a Ph.D. in Management of Information Technology (IT) and Innovation from Auburn University. Today, his research is showcased in more than 100 articles across the web. In this episode, we touched on parts of his research and unpacked the challenges that healthcare supply chain leaders have been (and will be) facing. He shares how data can be repurposed for more value and the kind of technology needed to move forward. 

Our guest, Dr. Bradley, does a fantastic job dissecting the opportunities and challenges in the healthcare supply chain and where we must refine our distribution strategies to meet rising expectations. 

Is the software you need to do your job enjoyable to use? Is your experience positive? With more and more digital natives in the competitive labor market, enterprise software UX in logistics is an increasingly important dimension of workforce attraction, satisfaction and retention, especially in the supply chain. That’s where Aveline comes in. At the intersection of persistent curiosity and data, Aveline describes how the ultimate in enterprise UX sophistication is intuitive, seemingly obvious design that delights the user. 

Our guest, Aveline Sodji, does a remarkable job of translating complex processes into intuitive workflows for all those involved. Join us as we indulge in the world of UX design in supply chain, and its role in countering some of the major challenges of modern supply chain operations.   

Most of us are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s been a long and dark one for many companies involved in logistics. We explore how interconnected our supply chains are and how our stewardship over them must be mindful of potential blind spots and bottlenecks. We then converse on how important it is that as things normalize, we must heed the lessons of these last few years and address root causes through transformation.  

Our guest, Matt Gunn, provides sensible insights into the state of logistics, the long-tail impact of COVID, and how supply chain organizations are well-advised to use the lessons of the pandemic to better futureproof their operations. 

 With over 40 years of experience in the supply chain technology sector, Jim is a wealth of information with a keen sense of how innovation will translate into pragmatic business value. As automation technologies cross over from early adopter to mainstream, we investigate emerging use cases, practical applications for robotics in the warehouse and beyond, and some of the unintended inefficiencies that automation and robotics introduced at customer sites in early implementations. 

The robotics industry is exceptionally noisy right now; but our guest, Jim Brownell, does a remarkable job of filtering out the noise and providing sound advice to paint a pragmatic picture of the automated warehouse sector to come. 

Hays is founder and president of The Institute of Healthcare Executives and Suppliers, The Council of Supply Chain Executives and The Council of Pharmacy Executives and Suppliers. His 25 years of experience and deep ties to healthcare executives provide him with shrewd insight into best practices and emerging trends, which he shares with Adam and his guest co-hosts, Cory Turner, CMRP and Bill Denbigh. Drawing from those executive focus group conversations, Hays delves into topics like labor shortages and wage flares, data standardization, automation, sustainable transformation and more. 

Our guest, Hays Waldrop, captures the national discourse around healthcare supply chain, and conveys the lessons learned, perspectives, strategies, and tactics of major IDN and regional hospital executives alike in this candid and thoughtful exchange. 

With many years of experience in the world of e-commerce, Nabil helps DHL meet next generation supply chain expectations through fast and sustainable solutions. Together with Guy Courtin, Bill Denbigh and Adam Polka, Nabil touches on the changing role of the warehouse, keeping pace with fulfillment expectations, robotics and their impact on contemporary labor challenges, and the role of the gig economy in modern fulfillment. 

Our guest, Nabil Moulali, shares his powerful insights on what adaptation looks like in today’s digital commerce ecosystem, and how companies of every size are poised to take advantage of that shifting landscape. 

As the world becomes increasingly digitally enabled, the traditional role of supply chain is transforming and having dramatic impact on the retail fulfillment ecosystem. Today, both brand owners and 3PLs share the weight of the consumer experience, from sourcing to fulfillment; this is amplified as expectations rise within a quickly evolving omnichannel economy. The way brands, retailers and their 3PL partners respond to these changes will determine the future of the relationship they have with their customers.

Our guest, Guy Courtin, discusses this evolving ecosystem, its significance in the world of retail and beyond, and how supply chain is a mechanism for better customer service. 

In a recent comment to FORTUNE, Peter Brereton, president and CEO at Tecsys, stated, "The fact that we've now got hundreds of trucks delivering individual packages to doorsteps all over the world is an environmental catastrophe." He went on to explain that the linear supply chains of yore were actually far more environmentally friendly than contemporary ones, and it’s time for a reckoning.

Our guests, Meredith Levknecht and Cory Turner, were both awarded the coveted Pros to Know Award for 2021 which honors outstanding executives whose accomplishments leverage supply chains for competitive advantage. Together, we look at the urgency to be more agile and the supply chain sustainability roadmap across both general industry and the healthcare field.

Our guest, Rick Watson, discusses some of the more perplexing retail collaborations that are taking shape, the evolving role of the store and last mile fulfillment and how sustainability is shifting from a marketing play to an operational and financial imperative.  

Emerging from the most tumultuous period in retail supply chain since the coining of the term ‘supply chain,’ the industry is undergoing a massive reckoning that calls on retailers to meet the exceedingly high demands of a modern consumer that drifts between online and offline commerce; they are being challenged to break down operational barriers and create seamless buying experiences while remaining socially conscientious and profitable. 

Most healthcare organizations are managing supplies using outdated information technology systems that cannot communicate with one another, and rely on manual keying across procurement, inventory, transcription, and replenishment systems. With RFID technology as an established best practice, there continues to be both a cost and a benefit; so what is the net impact of RFID technology-based solutions? 

Our guest, Ron McIntyre, examines the role of technology as an uncurrent for success, both today and into the future; we also discuss the importance of putting people first in the pursuit of supply chain excellence, and how this mindset carries both organizational and customer experience benefits. Ron McIntyre is the vice president of Technology & Innovation at Fuel Transport, a transportation logistics company that provides creative solutions for a wide variety of industries across North America.

With organizations facing more supply chain complexity than any time in history, 3PLs are well-positioned to provide turnkey supply chain elasticity capable of scaling up, down and sideways to respond rapidly to changes in demand. 

Today, there are some hospitals where doctors are being asked to standardize; clinicians are engaged in inventory workflow design; purchasing is involved in data-driven and strategic decisions. CFOs are taking notice. But not all healthcare supply chains are working this way. 

Our guest, Carrie Gorman, joins us on this episode of The Great Supply Chain Podcast to discuss how a health system’s supply chain should not only work operationally, but is keyed into factors like data, finance, outcomes and continuum of care.  

As a healthcare account executive at Tecsys, Carrie focuses on how to wrestle with a healthy blend of legacy and modern systems, and how to eke out true inventory visibility.   

The clinically integrated supply chain is a complex collaboration between clinicians, logisticians and leadership that focuses on quality of care, reduction of waste and product availability. By engaging stakeholders across a health system, supply chain leadership is better positioned to address challenges in inventory visibility, supply usage and documentation and workflow inefficiencies. 

Our guest, Betty Jo Rocchio, discusses how Mercy employed a holistic strategy to improve productivity and simplify system efficiency, and the central role that supply chain optimization played in that journey. 

Betty Jo Rocchio is the senior vice president and system chief nursing officer at Mercy in St. Louis. 

 The logistics industry is faced with extraordinary internal challenges from labor shortages and churn, to intensifying SLAs and technology adoption. At the intersection of all these challenges are the actual people who do the groundwork. The inherent generational divides, language barriers and vibrant diversity within these teams can be bridged by the ‘lingua franca’ of warehousing.  

Our guest, Thom Campbell, discusses how to use technology to strengthen culture, the value of an engaged team and the importance of rolling up your sleeves.  

Thom Campbell is the chief strategy officer of Capacity LLC, a 3PL leader in order fulfillment, e-commerce and electronic data interchange (EDI). 

Retail supply chain convergence will have a profound impact on logistics operations both up and down the supply chain. As retailers become brands (think Costco's Kirkland brand accounting for 30% of annual revenues, or Amazon's nearly 130 private labels) and brands become retailers (think Nike bypassing traditional retail channels and expanding its DTC business), supply chain organizations are being forced into new paradigms that are built on customer expectations and brand value. So what does this mean for our supply chains?

Guy Courtin joins us for a discussion around the blurring of the lines between retail and DTC brands, the challenges facing supply chain as we move towards further product personalization, and the stitching together of physical and digital worlds. 

Our guest, Guy Courtin, is a speaker, a writer, an analyst, he is a veteran retail supply chain expert with decades of experience in the technology and supply chain space. Currently serving as vice president and industry principal for Retail at Tecsys, he has held leadership roles at 6 River Systems (a Shopify company), Infor Retail and i2 Technologies (now Blue Yonder). He has also served as industry analyst at Constellation Research, SCM World (Now Gartner) and Forrester Research. 

And if you’re anything like us, you are bombarded by articles and advertisements about AI... but it leaves actual supply chain folks asking what’s real, what’s noise, what do we need to be planning for? 

Our guest, Vasco Kollokian, has spent the last decade or so working in enterprise software product management. He is responsible for building and executing Artificial Intelligence and Data Science solution strategies, and spends his days setting AI product vision and direction to solve real-world SCM business problems. In this episode, we explore some of those business problems and how AI can be applied today to tackle them. 

The world of supply chain is anything but boring. Tecsys’ Adam Polka and Bill Denbigh shine a light on logistics by putting a spotlight on the remarkable people who drive it. With over three decades in the supply chain industry, Tecsys is considered a visionary in the industry. 

The Great Supply Chain Podcast features discussions with supply chain leaders to understand what makes them tick, how they’re pushing the boundaries of the industry, challenging business norms, and reimaging the supply chain to equip their organizations for greatness