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Jeannie Carpenter is senior director, global logistics for Jabil. She leads Jabil’s Americas logistics and regional trade compliance team, which is responsible for carrier relationship management, service levels, and compliance. Carpenter is also responsible for logistics technology strategy, deployment, and global process ownership. Carpenter’s team optimizes logistics routes and analyzes market trends in pricing and capacity across all modes of transport. Carpenter joined Jabil in 2013 and held various roles in Jabil’s information technology organization, including leading projects in transformation and implementation of new technologies, before joining the supply chain team in her current role four years ago.
Prior to joining Jabil, Carpenter spent more than 10 years in the 3PL industry in operations, corporate training, and sales. She has a bachelor’s degree in business, with a focus in transportation and logistics, from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she minored in broadcasting and deejayed on a local radio station.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 00:00
Managing supply chains for sustainability. The effects of company culture on worker performance. And will nearshoring actually increase domestic manufacturing? Pull up a chair and join us as the editors of DC Velocity discuss these stories, as well as news and supply chain trends, on this week's Logistics Matters podcast.
Hi, I'm Dave Maloney. I'm the group editorial director at DC Velocity. Welcome.
Logistics Matters is sponsored by nVision Global. NVision Global is a leader in global freight management solutions and services, specializing in freight audit and payment, order management, supplier management, visibility, TMS, and freight-spend analytics. Why choose nVision Global over other providers? Their end-to-end solutions and services enable you to manage your entire global shipment processes within the confines of a single easy-to-use platform. Interested in saving 7 to 12% or more on your freight spend? Check out nVisionGlobal.com.
As usual, our DC Velocity senior editors Ben Ames and Victoria Kickham will be along to provide their insights into the top stories of this week. But to begin today: most supply chain managers aim to design their networks to be efficient at the lowest possible cost. But they also want to make good decisions that will help reduce their supply chain's impact on the environment. Those don't have to be mutually exclusive, as today's guest can explain. To find out more, here is Ben to introduce our guest.
Ben.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 01:40
Thank you, Dave, and your introduction is just right. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that some 90% of organizations' greenhouse gas emissions are generated by their supply chains, so this is a really important factor. In addition, you know, businesses in every sector are facing increased scrutiny about their sustainability initiatives, and there are also new sustainability reporting requirements that are on the horizon, approaching in 2024. So, a lot to think about here. Our guest today says that choosing an experienced supply chain partner to take actions and make significant progress toward achieving those goals can be an answer. Here to talk with us about that today is our guest, Jeannie Carpenter. She is the senior director of global logistics at Jabil. Welcome, Jeannie.
Jeannie Carpenter, Senior Director, Global Logistics, Jabil 02:34
Thanks, Ben. Happy to be here with you today.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 02:38
We've been talking before, and I know you say that forward-thinking companies around the globe are looking at new ways to get their products to consumers faster, while also reducing their carbon footprint. Can you share some best practices that you've seen?
Jeannie Carpenter, Senior Director, Global Logistics, Jabil 02:53
Yes,. So, you're right, many forward-thinking organizations are looking at those to achieve those lower carbon footprints in their supply chains. To get products into the consumers' hands faster, you know, all the tools and processes must be looked at holistically, and the integrations of those systems need to be seamless, mapped out, the processes followed by the resources, and those processes executed flawlessly. So, with that, you know, customers are also looking at packaging — or specifically, our customers — we provide our customers some logistics and packaging solution options to get their final, get their product into the final-mile packaging right off our manufacturing floor and into the carrier's partner networks. And then that solution is a huge reduction in CO2 emissions, because you might be completely skipping or removing several nodes of your network on that back half of the final-mile delivery, which has a large impact on the environment and the CO2 emissions. And then you also can see other organizations, it might not be fast, but they're very focused on reducing their carbon footprint. Specifically, you know, I order my holiday PJ's in August that are personalized, everybody has their name on them, but I know that they're not going to deliver until November timeframe, but that really allows the organization to meet the customer's demands and expectations while also focusing on their carbon footprint. They're able to create mass consolidations, cube out their trailers, reduce miles within their supply chain, so there's multiple different ways that organizations are looking at reducing their carbon footprint while meeting customer expectations and getting the delivery fast to the end consumer.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 04:58
Gotcha. That makes sense, and it can be a real challenge that a lot of organizations, though, because, you know, most companies are experts in their core business like, you know, making those, you know, holiday PJs, but a lot of them are employing outdated methods to make their logistics network work. Can you share some examples of how that can be mismatched?
Jeannie Carpenter, Senior Director, Global Logistics, Jabil 05:21
Yeah, for sure. So, within the supply chain, you know, they're ever going to be changing. There's many different factors that are focused on, that are that are happening in there, and with that, the tools and the systems and the processes for reporting those CO2 emissions are widely used in the industry, and are very much adopted within the logistics space. But some of those outdated methods are really not focusing on the entire ecosystem and just focusing on the CO2-emissions tracking within a logistics function, as well as the logistics function within a specific organization. And to really move the needle, there must be collaboration and documentation across the entire supply chain, as well as the entire value chain, both internally and externally. There's got to be a deep partnership between all of those partners on what the sustainability strategy and goals are collectively, as well as the timing of which categories they're going to focus on in that partnership. And all of the partnerships within the value chain must work together to connect their sustainability experts and align on those sustainability goals, as well as aligning their supply chain and logisticians. As an example, traditionally, one of the main goals of the logistics function is to reduce freight costs, which includes fuel cost, but if the collective goal of the entire value chain is to reduce CO2 emissions by 10%, and you're aligned with your customers and suppliers, probably those fuel costs are gonna go up, because you're using green fuel. But as a collective value chain, you're achieving your sustainability goals by reducing your CO2 emission by green fuel options. So, the logistics organization can't be siloed in their methods and methodology. To manage their network, they've got to partner collectively with a greater value chain to achieve those goals.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 07:26
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. It really has to fit into the context there. Are there any sort of specific steps that you've seen companies make as they move toward changing their supply chain practices that we might be able to share with listeners, so they can imagine what those first steps might look like?
Jeannie Carpenter, Senior Director, Global Logistics, Jabil 07:45
Yeah, great question, and we do that all the time at Jabil, either in the design process, in the very beginning — maybe it's a net new product, and a net new company — and we do the strategy and innovation sessions with companies to narrow their focus on certain issues and problems within their supply chain. And obviously, the ultimate goal is to design and — or redesign, really — a supply chain that is resilient and can adapt to future changes and disruptions in the market. And if one of those findings in the innovation sessions, there's a lack of expertise and resources in implementing their procurement technology software, we have services that can help them achieve their implementation goals of that procurement technology. And with these particular — with this particular example, you know, implementing a new technology is a pretty large change in their supply chain practice, and we help organizations avoid certain mistakes in the setup of the system and provide them insights and methodology for adopting these new tools across their organization. So, through these innovation sessions, we're able to help companies look at how some of their problems and changes within a particular piece of their supply chain might have a greater impact on another part of the supply chain, either negatively or positively, through scenario planning and network optimization analysis.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 09:13
Makes a lot of sense. While we have you, a couple more questions here, while we have the time. We've been talking about a wide range of stuff here, but I'm wondering about the cost now. Are some of these changes expensive to make, and how do you figure out the return on investment in the whole process?
Jeannie Carpenter, Senior Director, Global Logistics, Jabil 09:31
Yeah, I mean, some are expensive and some aren't, right? It all depends on where the low-hanging fruit [is], but in that particular example of implementing a new technology, that's a pretty large and expensive investment for an organization. But it can be even more expensive if you don't have the right level of knowledge to implement the technology or you're spending more time in the long term with lack of adoption or failing in the design process. So, some of our recommendations that come out of the innovation strategies are fairly inexpensive, but that's if the upstream supply chain has been designed properly. We have return on investment calculators for our services to track them through the lifecycle of our project, and really, you can never start a project without, you know, providing those return on investments and the knowledge of when the return is going to happen and the realization of those cost savings, if there are some, to the C suite. So, it's very important to have those return-on-investment processes mapped out, and we provide those to our customers through the innovation sessions.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 10:39
Gotcha. Yeah, you always have to keep an eye on the ROI. And just to finish up here, looking ahead into the future a little bit, do you have ideas or conclusions from all your experience in this, which sustainable logistics strategies might have the biggest impact over the next few years?
Jeannie Carpenter, Senior Director, Global Logistics, Jabil 10:59
Yeah, you know, there's a great statistic from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation that says 80% of a product's environmental impact is determined in its design phase. So, I truly believe one of the biggest impacts over the next several years in the logistic strategies is getting those sustainability goals incorporated in the design phase and designing the product for the long-term sustainability. You know, another strategy that I believe is really focusing on the circular processes for dunnage and packaging. There's so much waste in this space, and having a strategy around the four R's, which are the reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover, will have a huge impact on sustainability and the organization. These these companies really need to focus and collaborate with packaging partners, as well as transportation partners, to reduce and achieve those four R's. There has to be a collaboration in the changes of those supply chains and that, really, that last R of the recover loops back into the consumer education and being able to educate the consumer on what their buying behaviors are and how they're changing the overall CO2 emission across the globe, and how small changes in those behaviors can make a huge impact on the overall supply chain.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 12:28
Really interesting. Thanks for sharing those, Jeannie. We appreciate your joining us on the podcast this week.
Jeannie Carpenter, Senior Director, Global Logistics, Jabil 12:34
Yes, enjoyed it. Thank you.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 12:37
Our guest this week on the podcast has been Jeannie Carpenter from Jabil. Back to you, Dave.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 12:43
Thank you, Jeannie and Ben. Now let's take a look at some of the other supply chain news from the week. Victoria, you wrote about some new research into how company culture affects employee performance. What does this research reveal?
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 12:58
Yeah, Dave, that's right. So, it makes sense, I think, that a positive organizational culture in the workplace leads to stronger performance, but a recent survey put some numbers behind this idea. Management consulting firm Eagle Hill Consulting surveyed more than 1,300 U.S.-based employees about this over the summer, and they found that nearly three-quarters of them agree that there is a link between culture and performance in the workplace. Specifically, 73% said company culture affects their ability to do their best work, and 72% said that culture drives their productivity and efficiency. On top of all that, another 65% said culture affects their ability to best serve customers, and 64% said it drives their innovation and creativity.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 13:47
Victoria, did the survey specify the attributes found in a strong or positive workforce culture? So, in other words, what exactly do employees want?
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 13:56
Yeah, it did. When asked about the most important elements of the ideal organizational culture, workers listed five top attributes: respect, integrity, stability, ethical treatment, and employee well-being. Interestingly, the survey respondents also said that everyone in the office can have an impact on that culture, so it's not just about the boss or the corporate leadership. In order of importance, they listed their colleagues, then their boss, human resource leaders, and executive leadership. So, really, it's everybody who has an impact on this. And when it comes to fixing corporate culture, it's all about action. The survey asked what employers can do to create a healthy culture, and respondents said they should do a few things: invest in improving employee well-being, hold workers accountable for bad behavior, and provide leadership development opportunities. So, those were the top things they pointed to.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 14:53
Well, that makes a lot of sense that keeping workers happy will mean that they will care more about their work and perform their jobs. better, so it does make a lot of sense.
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 15:02
I think so, yeah, definitely.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 15:04
Thank you, Victoria.
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 15:06
You're welcome.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 15:07
And Ben, you've been doing some stories recently on nearshoring. While companies are moving their supply chains closer, will it actually increase the amount of manufacturing that we see here at home?
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 15:18
Great question, Dave. That's exactly right. You know, the arithmetic of this question has gotten more complicated in recent years as it's become more expensive to source and manufacture and to assemble goods overseas and then ship them around the world for sale in North America. So, increasingly, it makes business sense to make that stuff in the U.S., or at least closer to our neighborhood. We saw a recent report from the industrial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield that said all those points are true, but it still doesn't mean that the U.S. offers a good environment for a resurgence of manufacturing. For one thing, Cushman & Wakefield said that space is tight right now for renting a factory to do that manufacturing in, and new construction exists, but it's not keeping up with the demand that they're seeing. And that's not all. The report also said that manufacturing requires a lot of power, but many greenfield sites — those are, you know, whether you're building a new factory or building — they lack sufficient electrical power to host a manufacturing site. In a related point, they said that the American Society of Civil Engineers gave our nation's infrastructure a grade of C-minus on its 2021 report. Obviously, we've seen some improvement on that score from the White House's bipartisan infrastructure bill, but more is needed. And finally, Cushman & Wakefield said that labor is still tight in the U.S., with unemployment rates very low, so it makes it tough to staff those factories.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 16:50
Yeah, I could see that would be a problem, and those sound like real challenges, but as you said in the beginning, it does make some sense to move manufacturing closer to the U.S., right?
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 17:01
Well, yes, but — and the but comes from another recent study on this topic, this one was from the Boston Consulting Group — they reached similar conclusions, but they also found that other alternative nations might serve almost as well. So, it's kind of the same calculation. And indeed, they said that manufacturing is beginning to leave China, which for decades, of course, has been the global center for that, but a lot of it is moving instead to Mexico, to India, and to Southeast Asia, and it's actually those regions that are rapidly emerging as future export manufacturing powerhouses. And it's due to some of the same reasons: the deep labor pools, the growing scale, and their capabilities across diverse industries. So, we're witnessing a clash between different trends here. It's going to be interesting to see how it plays out.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 17:56
It certainly seems that way, and we'll have to see, as you said, how it plays out over the next few years. and we'll be here, of course, to report on it. Thank you, Ben.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 18:06
Glad to.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 18:07
We encourage listeners to go to DCVelocity.com for more on these and other supply chain stories, and also check out the podcast Notes section for some direct links on the topics that we discussed today.
We'd like to again thank Jeannie Carpenter of Jabil for being our guest. We welcome your comments on this topic and our other stories. You can email us at podcast@dvelocity.com.
We also encourage you to subscribe to Logistics Matters at your favorite podcast platform.
Speaking of subscribing, check out our sister podcast series Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It's coproduced by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals and Supply Chain Quarterly. Check out Supply Chain in the Fast Lane wherever you get your podcasts.
And a reminder that Logistics Matters is sponsored by nVision Global. NVision Global is a leader in global freight management solutions and services, specializing in freight audit and payment, order management, supplier management, visibility, TMS, and freight-spend analytics. Why choose nVision Global over other providers? Their end-to-end solutions and services enable you to manage your entire global shipment processes within the confines of a single easy-to-use platform. Interested in saving 7 to 12% or more on your freight spend? Check out nVisionGlobal.com.
We'll be back again next week with another edition of Logistics Matters. Be sure to join us. Until then, have a great week.
Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:
- U.S. manufacturing resurgence faces headwinds
- Visit Supply Chain Quarterly
- Listen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Quarterly's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcast
- Listen to Supply Chain Quarterly's Top 10 Supply Chain Threats podcast
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