The Buzz Digital Transformers Edition: Featuring New Balance COO Dave Wheeler

I can't overemphasize the importance of clean data and accurate data, because we can do all kinds of work on AI and gen AI, but unless the data's right, we'll never get great answers and our businesses won't grow.

-Dave Wheeler

The Buzz is Supply Chain Now’s regular Monday livestream, held at 12 noon ET each week. This show focuses on some of the leading stories from global supply chain and global business, always with special guests – the most important of which is the live audience!

In this week’s Digital Transformers edition of The Buzz, hosts Scott Luton and Kevin L. Jackson were joined by Dave Wheeler, Chief Operating Officer at New Balance. The discussion focused on the importance of digital transformation in the supply chain industry. Wheeler emphasized the need for clean, accurate data to drive successful digital transformation. He also highlighted the importance of starting with business goals before implementing technology.

Listen in on the analysis of the top stories in supply chain, and also discussion on the role of generative AI in improving business processes and the importance of workforce in any type of transformation. Learn how New Balance is taking the company’s digital transformation to the next level, and more!

Featured Guests

Dave Wheeler, Chief Operating Officer at New Balance Athletics, began his tenure in 2017 adding to his 33 years of operations and engineering career. Since then, he’s enhanced his reputation as an action-oriented operations thought leader in sportswear’s fast-paced world. While his direct responsibilities include eleven interconnected functions from product development, global planning, sourcing, manufacturing, and logistics through to final delivery, he has a common thread of broader company ambitions including sustainable solutions for the global environment, deeper understanding of consumer insights, and fueling overall brand excitement. Connect with Dave on LinkedIn.

Episode Transcript

Intro/Outro (00:03):

Welcome to Supply Chain. Now the voice of global supply chain supply chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues, the challenges and opportunities. Stay tuned to hear from Those Making Global Business Happen right here on supply chain now.

Scott Luton (00:32):

Hey. Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you may be. Scott Luton and Kevin L. Jackson here with you on Supply Chain. Now welcome to today’s live stream, Kevin, how you doing today?

Kevin L. Jackson (00:43):

You know what, this is a great day actually, after yesterday, it was a gorgeous Mother’s Day here in the Washington DC area, and you know how when you live somewhere like DC, you always tour guide? Yes. Well, yesterday I took the opportunity to just enjoy the city with my wife and my daughter and my son-in-Law celebrating Mother’s Day. And it was fun just sitting back and being the tourist and then enjoying down by the White House in Lafayette Park. And so I’m still sort of rejuvenated today. It was very restful.

Scott Luton (01:21):

Love that and love you taking the time out, unplugging and doing those things. That’s the simple things is what makes this life worth living. And by the way, you mentioned Mother’s Day. Hey, very happy belated Mother’s Day to all of those mothers and wonderful, wonderful people out there that are nurturing all of us along in this journey. So hope y’all had a wonderful, wonderful weekend. But Kevin, moving right along. Today is all about the buzz, right where every Monday at 12 Eastern time, we discussed a variety of news and developments across global supply chain and business. And in particular, Kevin, you’re the star of the show. The second Tuesday of the month, it’s the digital Transformers edition of the Buzz where we tend to focus a lot more on technology. And folks, for the three of y’all out there that may not know, I’m always joined by the Rock and roll star, Kevin L. Jackson, host of our Digital Transformers series, which is available wherever you get your podcast from. And Kevin, we have got one other big guest here today as Dave Wheeler, the Chief operating officer at New Balance is going to be joining us talking digital transformation, supply chain innovation, and a whole bunch more. Kevin should be a great show, right?

Kevin L. Jackson (02:29):

Yeah, I really want to understand that new technology behind those new balance, right? I’m sure he is going to let loose of all the secrets.

Scott Luton (02:40):

That’s right. Stay tuned. But let’s make sure we’re keeping our nose clean with all the attorneys out there. We will not be releasing any secret sauce. No magic. I’m sorry Kevin, there are armies of attorneys out there. We want to keep it on the up and up. But folks, kidding aside, two quick things before we get going. First off, hey, give us your take in the comments, whether you’re tuned in via LinkedIn or YouTube x Facebook, Twitch to matter. Let us know what you think. And secondly, if you enjoy the show today, we’d love for you to share it with a friend and your network. They’ll be glad you did. Okay, so Kevin, we got a lot to get into before we welcome in, Dave, around 12:25 PM Eastern Time. Are you ready to go?

Kevin L. Jackson (03:21):

Yes, let’s go.

Scott Luton (03:23):

Alright, so let’s start with some resources. How’s that sound, Kevin? We love equipping people with resources here. First folks, we want you to check out the latest US Bank Freight Payment Index for first quarter 2024, released a few weeks ago. It offers up key insights across the domestic freight market. We’re going to drop a link to download it so you can spill coffee on it. Dog, gear it up, mark it up, Kevin, all that stuff, right?

Kevin L. Jackson (03:49):

Yes, absolutely. This gets used all the time. Now up to the minute information and data, we talk a lot about data and it’s getting even more important. So this is a real important resource for all of

Scott Luton (04:02):

Others. Well said Kevin. Well said. So y’all check it out. freight.us bank.com. We’re also dropping the link in the chat, so you’re one click away from accessing this quarterly resource. Secondly, folks, let’s see, this morning we dropped the latest. With that said, our almost weekly newsletter, Kevin, we bake in a little wiggle room there, Kevin, our almost weekly newsletter. Let’s see. We dove into some key takeaways from the Gartner Supply Chain Symposium. We’ve got some upcoming events that we included in with that said, and an opportunity for all of you out there to contribute to research being led by our friend Kathy Mara Roberson and the Reverse Logistics Association. Kevin, reverse Logistics never gets enough attention these days.

Kevin L. Jackson (04:47):

Absolutely, it’s critical when you’re talking about the customers at the last end, that last mile and keeping them satisfied. I think reverse logistics has really picked up on its importance with respect to that customer experience aspect of just about every business

Scott Luton (05:05):

That is right. Well said, well said. All right, so folks check out with that said, our latest newsletter.

Kevin L. Jackson (05:11):

Hey, before you go, yeah, no, no, no. Before you go there, I just want to highlight to everyone, look at that jacket, man, I saw him looking so good on the video from Gardner. I said, wow. Oh gosh, Scott does have a jacket,

Scott Luton (05:31):

So, alright, thanks Kevin. Kevin’s always better dressed than I am. He’s pointing out that I actually have a dress jacket on. I’m sitting interviewing in this case. That’s Katie Fowler, a fellow founder entrepreneur who launched her firm Unchained Value and have a great conversation, one of many we had at Gartner. So y’all check it out. And yes, I’ll wear a jacket for most folks, especially my mom, Leah Luton, who is tuned via LinkedIn from Aiken, South Carolina. If she wanted me to wear a jacket, Kevin, I will throw on in a skinny minute, right?

Kevin L. Jackson (06:05):

Hey mom.

Scott Luton (06:07):

All right, one more thing, resources, folks. We’re here to deliver resources before we get into a couple stories and then before of course, we welcome in Dave Wheeler from New Balance here momentarily. Let’s share a great virtual event, our friends at Easy Post. This is coming up on May 15th at 12 noon Eastern time. It’s focused on unboxing sustainability strategies for a greener logistics future. Folks, you got to come join us for that. I’ve already had some outstanding conversations with some of the participants there, so y’all check it out. May 15th, 12 noon Eastern Time, we dropped the link to check out this free virtual event. And Kevin, if folks come join us, they better include packing their voice and their point of view. So bring your perspective to the event, Kevin, that’s really important to speak up and engage in these conversations that’s shaping our industry.

Kevin L. Jackson (06:57):

We talked a lot about the importance of communication and today we are communicating through so many different channels to people around the world and the meaning of collaboration is really the foundation of collaboration, is that communication. So please, and before we move on, I also want to sort of shout out to the live participants in today, not to short shift the on demand participants that will look at this, but it’s the live people that get it straight from the horse’s mouth. That’s

Scott Luton (07:30):

Right. Hey, just like Casey here, Casey’s watching from YouTube live so that I can be more interactive. Nothing more important they say in Web3 0.0 than community interaction from top to bottom. Well said, Casey. Looking forward to y’all’s take throughout our time together here today. Okay, so Kevin, we got to get to work. Yes, we got a lot to get into. I want to start with this, our first story here from our friends at CIO. Check this out and I don’t miss an opportunity to make a Star Trek reference. Okay. You’re

Kevin L. Jackson (07:59):

Space Gate.

Scott Luton (08:00):

I am admittedly. All right, so this comes from our friends at CIO where we’re talking about Industry 4.0, accelerating warp speed, and just what is Gen AI’s role there at the factory edge? So Kevin, tell us more if you would.

Kevin L. Jackson (08:16):

Going to warp speed in today’s world really is getting rid of your legacy silos and focusing and leveraging iot platforms to collect and consolidate operational data. So generative AI is really changing the game when it comes to the data. This with small language models that operate on iot devices. Everyone is hooed and odd about large language models, but it’s these small language models that are supporting those endpoint transactions that are really critical in supply chain. The other thing that this stuff does is it uses instrumentation diagrams and databases and schematics and photographs, computer vision in order to integrate the plant and processes across your operation. And it’s really another interesting aspect that people just shouldn’t forget. People are really the heart of any type of transformation. And that is really important when using artificial intelligence. Everyone wants to focus on the technological advancements, but a critical component of any advancement is the workforce.

(09:35):

And that workforce has to sort of be coddled and educated so that they can embrace change. And many people are afraid of AI and they’re afraid they’re going to lose their jobs, but really this is more likely to transform your job leaders in this warp speed transition really need to communicate so that everyone can understand the meaning of this change so that you can embrace the future together, both the management leaders and the workforce so that you leverage education and awareness so you can address all the needs of the employee. So manufacturers can really transform that apprehension that they may have into acceptance and the ability to leverage artificial intelligence, not just for operational efficiency, but as a catalyst for workforce empowerment.

Scott Luton (10:41):

Yes, man. All right. I love a lot of what you shared there. I got to go back, embrace the future together. I love that. I love that as you stated it, I love it even more in action, right? Because a ton of apprehension out there in all different parts of an organization, all levels. And one of our jobs as leaders is to acknowledge that and then work with our teams to navigate and alleviate that apprehension, even if it’s what we’re talking about here today is very complex, right? Digital transformation, very complex. These modern innovative technologies, gen AI or anything else, very complex, but we do it with our people, not to our people. And that helps address the apprehension. You really called out the human factor. We’ve talked a lot about that here, Kevin, over the years in particular, we had a great conversation with Jen McKean, which is a senior supply chain leader with Walmart, and they’ve got a mantra over there. Oh yeah, that mantra was human led technology powered. I think I’ve got that right, Kevin, does that sound familiar?

Kevin L. Jackson (11:39):

Yes. Yes, absolutely. I loved it.

Scott Luton (11:42):

Yes. Even if you’re not a supply chain pro, and if you’ve observed what Walmart’s done over the last two or three years, it is amazing how they are transforming the customer experience, the supply chain, the supplier experience, you name it. So really, I love your emphasis on the human factor, but couple last comments, Kevin, I’ll get your take on it. That is not to discount the power of the technology, right?

Kevin L. Jackson (12:05):

Oh no,

Scott Luton (12:06):

We’re not doing that. We’re lifting up though the importance of the human factor. Here’s this. So Airbus is using gen ai, Kevin, they’re baking into its design processes to make better aircraft. And Kevin, you’re a former military aviator. Would you agree with me? It’s pretty hard to say the Airbus isn’t winning the global aviation game right now. Would you agree?

Kevin L. Jackson (12:28):

I hate to say it, but Boeing has been stumbling a little bit lately, right? That’s right. I mean, just recently the star liner got scrubbed over launch. Part of that, I think they’ve lost the importance of working with their entire workforce and not focusing on the bottom line. And yes, they need to sort of regain their game.

Scott Luton (12:55):

And you know what? With the stakes, as big as they are from passengers lives, obviously, but on the business side, the bottom line, they’ll get things turned around. It’s been fascinating to watch what Boeing has gone through in recent years. On a brighter note, Kevin, on a brighter note, Ford Motor Company leveraging gen AI to drive big quality gains, including being able to predict defects before they happen in newer vehicles and parts. That’s pretty cool. Now, one might say, if you think about what all Henry Ford would be thinking right now in terms of the possibilities of modern day technology, maybe just maybe he’d be willing to offer a few more vehicle color choices. Kevin, if you remember the old anecdote when something like this, Ford was asked, Hey, what color could model Ts come in? And he reportedly responded, Hey, customers can get their cars in any color they want as long as it’s black. So I’ll tell you, I think Henry Ford would have a incredible time with modern technology. Alright, so Kevin, when practical examples come to mind, especially when it comes to gen AI being deployed in industry, whether it’s manufacturing industry 4.0 or any other areas, the possibilities possibility’s already here. We’re not talking next generation stuff, we’re talking companies leveraging it for big gains today.

Kevin L. Jackson (14:09):

Yeah, it’s not a possibility, it’s a reality. I mean, you just look on your laptop and you have copilot sitting right there, and it’s reaching into large language models to help you find information, to write better, to communicate better. And really all of this technology is lifting society up. Don’t be afraid. I think it was an earlier show we were talking about, don’t be scared.

Scott Luton (14:40):

Now’s not the time for that.

Kevin L. Jackson (14:42):

No.

Scott Luton (14:43):

Be frank in the possibilities, be frank in apprehension, be frank and be very focused when it comes to what business problems we’re looking to solve with modern, innovative technology. That’s really, really important. Right?

Kevin L. Jackson (14:57):

Right. Target your business goals and apply this technology to advance the attainment of those business

Scott Luton (15:04):

Goals. That’s right. But folks, don’t take our word for it. Check out the link to the article we were just referencing from our friends at CIO. We’ve got that link in the comments and let us know what you think there. Okay, Kevin, we’ve got one more story we want to get into before Dave joins us here about 12:25 PM Eastern time. And we’re talking Metaverse again, this is from the team over at Connected World and we are touching on the rise of the industrial metaverse and manufacturing and greater supply chains on a show just a couple weeks ago. Kevin, your thoughts here?

Kevin L. Jackson (15:36):

So I mean the industrial metaverse actually started like bullet 10 years ago and we’ve been talking about how the internet of things and manufacturing will be changing the future, but we are now an in the future and artificial intelligence and the industrial metaverse have actually are delivering new possibilities on new opportunities. And deep learning is really sharpening our skills and reducing these mundane tasks and in return improving business processes. And we are now sort of reached the next stage of our transformation where we can improve profitability in the business while becoming more efficient, delivering more broader variety of products and services faster. And this is happening because of the help of technology. I’m an engineer, right? I’m a technology, I’m not a creative so to speak, but I could go online, put a few prompts and chat GPT and create works of art to represent what I’m trying to relay to my custom because this data that’s at your fingertips is really enabling these capabilities.

(17:00):

And on a previous stroke we talked about how data is the supply chain of artificial intelligence, and right now that data is accessible at a few T strokes so we can get overloaded. I find myself having too much data trying to sift through everything that’s incoming, understand and interpret what’s good and what’s bad. And this whole concept of fake news and fake data is real, but you have to be exposed to this information so that you can exercise those muscles of filtering the information so you can understand the patterns of light when it comes to data and apply them appropriately to the challenges in your business and also in your life. So you have to be intentional about the data that you collect, where you get it from and how you structure it. And speaking about supply chains, supply chain itself is constantly flexing not just the physical supply chain, but the data supply chain as well.

(18:12):

The demand curve really is spike and it drops and it changes, and all of this unfortunately is out of our control. So if you take that data and you can interpret that data to create insight and drive intelligence about what’s happening in your environment, leveraging technologies like neural networks within artificial intelligence and machine learning, this gives you the opportunity to reduce downtime, eliminate bottlenecks in your business processes and do like you talked earlier about Henry Ford, this predictive maintenance just to name a few of the improvements that gen AI and this influx of data is really driving.

Scott Luton (19:02):

Yep. Couple comments Kevin, a minute ago when you were talking about fake data,

(19:07):

Folks, I know all of us probably remember the time, it was just last week, maybe everybody had their own spreadsheet and there’s always a couple people whose data was really off. So fake data is a threat that’s just evolving. It’s always been there, right? I think it’s a massive opportunity. I think secondly too, we were talking about that last show we did, we probably published that a week or so ago or a month or so ago. Amanda and Catherine, first off, thanks for what you do. Really appreciate all the things behind the scenes. If y’all could drop the link to this industrial Metaverse show that Kevin and I did. One of the things we talked about, Kevin, was the cool things that Caterpillar is doing. Now, most folks would know that Caterpillar is a Fortune 100 company, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of industrial equipment engines, turbines, and a whole bunch more stuff.

(19:48):

Caterpillar, Kevin, if you remember, they’re leveraging the industrial metaverse to power a virtual reality lab, which is helping take their product development approaches to an entirely new level. And then you touched on a couple of things more broadly beyond Caterpillar, but more broadly in the industry, remote equipment operation and maintenance. Think of some of the remote sites, whether you’re a mining operation, like some of where Caterpillar’s equipment is used and remote locations around the globe. Think of how challenging the operation and the maintenance can be at those sites. Well, industrial Metaverse is helping to make that easier, more effective, and I think you may have touched on it a second ago, training and simulations. Raise your hand if you’ve ever had really bad corporate training. I’m going to raise my hand really high. I know we’ve all had that. Well, that’s where the industrial Metaverse, I think can unlock all sorts of new ways to make training more effective rather than going through 300 pages of workbooks, something that’s real and much more practical and applicable to what’s being required on the job, so to speak. Kevin, your thoughts really quick before we move on.

Kevin L. Jackson (20:51):

The most important aspect of that training is the experiential training. When you’re using augmented reality and virtual reality, you can imprint knowledge into the brain, into the human, that’s fast, much easier, much more efficient, and it’s that experiential training that sticks with us and it allows us to integrate all of this data quicker and better.

Scott Luton (21:19):

That’s right, well said folks. We dropped the link to that last full show that Kevin and I did more focus on the industrial Metaverse powered by our friends at Microsoft. Y’all check that out. Okay, Kevin, I’m really excited about this next segment. We’ve got a great guest joining us here today. Are you ready for me to introduce our speaker? I’m

Kevin L. Jackson (21:36):

Ready to get some new balance.

Scott Luton (21:40):

Well, hey, who knows, but buckle up. We’ve got a great appearance here. So let me introduce our guest that’s joining us here momentarily. First off, he is certainly a digital transformer in all definitions of that phrase. In fact, folks, he brings more, we’re breaking our rules here, brings more than 30 years of operations and engineering success to the table. Since 2017, our guest has served in senior leadership roles at New Balance. As Kevin mentioned, one of the world’s leading sportswear brands. I’ve got a pair of five twenties on as we speak here today. In his free time, our guest gives forward by serving on the advisory boards of organizations such as Women in Supply Chain and zero 100. Please join me in welcoming Dave Wheeler, chief operating officer with New Balance. Dave doing.

Dave Wheeler (22:27):

Hi Scott. Hi Kevin. Thanks for having me.

Kevin L. Jackson (22:30):

Oh, absolutely.

Scott Luton (22:32):

I didn’t notice this in the green room earlier, pre-show Dave, but Kevin, I love that picture back there. Unleash. It’s like he’s unleashing the human factor there, Dave. I love it.

Dave Wheeler (22:42):

It’s a good message, that’s for sure. Yep. And we have the Warrior Hockey stick back there. That’s all part of the New Balance family.

Scott Luton (22:48):

Oh man. Okay. We’re going to have to talk a lot more hockey next time you join us. But before we dive into all things digital transformation and supply chain innovation, you grew up in the Boston area and after a career journey took you a number of different places. You’re back in Boston. I’ve visited there a couple of times, Kevin’s been there a thousand times. What’s one of your favorite things about living in Boston?

Dave Wheeler (23:09):

It’s hard to pick one, to be honest. I think maybe trailing off of Kevin’s earlier comments that gets about four Seasons. We have four real seat in Boston and I get excited when we get an nor’easter that’s 20, 25 inches of snow. I love it. Outside today it’s springtime and it’s about 65 degrees. Perfect. Summer gets up to a hundred and follows. Awesome as well. So four distinct seasons I think would be my top pick.

Scott Luton (23:38):

Yes, yes. You painted a pretty picture and Kevin, just like you were describing over the weekend, what DC was like. Sounds like they’ve got a beautiful day in today, huh?

Kevin L. Jackson (23:46):

Oh yeah, absolutely. But whenever I go to Boston, sorry, but why does food always come to the conversation? I love, I love New England Clam Charter. I’m always testing the different types and flavors and consistency. Some of them you can take your spoon and it’s stands up and others it’s different and it’s just so amazing how good I went to school in Rhode Island at the Navy War College in Newport and I would go up to Boston quite a bit, but it’s always about food, right? And clam base right there on a beach out there and oh shoot. I love it.

Scott Luton (24:33):

I’ll talk food with you any hour of the day. Kevin and Dave, one quick follow-up question for our promise we get into supply chain. Dave, for you clam chowder, is it white or red?

Dave Wheeler (24:44):

It’s got to be white from me.

Scott Luton (24:46):

Okay,

(24:48):

I’m with you. I’m with you. Alright. So Dave, most of our audience knows New Balance. As I mentioned, I’ve been a long time customer I think since I think I try to triangulate it think since about 1996. Great. So before we get into supply chain stuff, one of the cool things, I have done some homework around you and the New Balance team. Some of the cool things you’re doing is getting involved with the Paris Olympics and making sure all the Paris Olympics athletes are ready to compete. Touch on some of the cool things you’re doing there with those games are just around the corner.

Dave Wheeler (25:17):

Yeah, for sure. I think originally, I think you either called me an old man or a seasoned veteran. I’m not sure what I’ve been around for a little while.

(25:31):

Yeah, so the Olympics super exciting for us to get some of our athletes out there on the world stage. We have some pretty good brand ambassadors that have joined the New Balance family, Sidney McLaughlin, Coco Golf, and making sure that they’re outfitted in the best possible product is one of our goals. Obviously we always make sure that they show up in competition with a product that’s also available to the general public and the innovation that we baked into it we’re really proud of. And that’s for them to show up this summer, that innovation started two to three years ago actually in the Covid. So that brings up a lot of interesting memories of doing creative things like having samples sent into our mail room and having a set period of time where our developers could stop and get their samples in their cars to take back home with them to evaluate and give feedback and did a lot of creative things back in the covid days to get us to today. But yeah, making sure they have, whether that’s fresh foam fuel cell, making sure that their carbon fiber plates are perfect for them. We’ve just generated a lot of new innovative products for them to be great on the field or the pitch. And we also are super proud that we support seven other countries as not commissioned countries with their uniforms that they can perform in. And so that’s another good way for us to give back through the World Federation of Sporting Goods and the International Olympic Committee. So really proud of that.

Scott Luton (26:56):

Dave, I would be too, as remarkable, really, Kevin, to help seven countries and all of their athletes because as we know, everyone’s not on a level playing field, no pun intended. You got different folks with different access to resources. So I love to hear what New Balance is doing in investing in those seven countries that may not have the same access to what they need to compete on the highest level. Kevin, your thoughts?

Kevin L. Jackson (27:18):

So the thing that comes to me when someone may say, well, what does it matter what you wear when you’re doing athletic? It’s all about your body, the strength, the training. But remember when the shark skin swimming suits came in and I think they were actually banned because they were so good. So think about the importance of the shoes. I mean, you must are critical to these athletes and there’s so many rules and regulations you probably have to follow so that you don’t get banned in any future Olympics. It’s almost as bad as doping, right? You got to make sure your clothes aren’t illegal. I mean, at a COO of New Balance, I’m sure you’re in the thick of that.

Dave Wheeler (28:08):

Yeah, there’s a lot to navigate for sure. And we tend to be conservative here. We’re independently owned. We’ve been around since 1906, so we’ve seen a lot of change and we actually started out as a shoe insert company, not even a running shoe company.

Kevin L. Jackson (28:23):

Not even a whole shoe.

Dave Wheeler (28:24):

Not even a whole shoe, right? Yeah. The founder, the original innovator, William j Row, he looked out his back window, saw chicken standing on one foot and fashioned an insert after a chicken’s foot. And so his patient,

Kevin L. Jackson (28:39):

Amazing.

Dave Wheeler (28:40):

His clients at first were out of balance, put in the insert new balance, and so that’s where Wow, okay. Yeah, innovation forms in fashion, doesn’t it?

Scott Luton (28:53):

I love that. Dave. Hey, really quick before you share a little more context on the supply chain footprint there at New Balance, and I love, now that I know where the company name came from, I got to give a shout out. Dave creates your foundation much like you’re investing in athletes. This nonprofit that we’ve been supporting, Dave helps equip kids with the equipment and funds to pay all the organization fees that have gone up dramatically in the metro Atlanta area. So big shout out to the Dave Chee Foundation. Y’all check that out. But one other thing I want to level set with folks, and I stole this image, please don’t tell on me from the New Balance team. So this is the 9 93. Now, I wore the nine 90 threes and the nine nineties again since those mid nineties because I’m an old dude, Dave, as you were alluding to earlier, but I was a big fan of the nine nineties and 9 93 running, playing basketball. I’ve done everything, those shoes, and I think you are, if I heard you correctly, on the sixth version, sixth edition of the nine 90. Is that right Dave?

Dave Wheeler (29:49):

That’s correct. Yeah. We just came out with that last year, the sixth version of that. So it’s gone through a lot of iterations. We try to keep the heritage in mind, but inject some technology as we make kind of incremental changes.

Scott Luton (30:01):

Yeah, love

Dave Wheeler (30:02):

It. That’s what we call a dead shoot, which are not popular.

Kevin L. Jackson (30:05):

Dead shoot.

Scott Luton (30:07):

I’m finally cool, Dave and Kevin. I’m finally cool. Okay. All right. Really quick before we get into some other cool things that y’all have been up to at New Balance, can you briefly, especially for context, shed some light on your role in the supply chain footprint organization at the company?

Dave Wheeler (30:21):

Sure thing. Yeah, so I think I view it as I have three major inputs. I kind of have marketing design and merchandising that are input into my organization. So that group really sets the stage, they create the conceptual briefs. I pick it up from there in development. So my job is to convert those concepts into an actual spec that can then be produced. That’s both apparel and footwear. And so we’re at about six and a half billion in revenue right now. There’s a lot going on as far as not only heritage carry over models, but a lot of new that’s happening. So they’re keeping us busy, which is a great thing. I have the umbrella of global planning, so that’s supply planning and demand planning, demand planning, meaning forecasting, that’s all fed into either contract sourcing or our own manufacturing. So we’re super proud to have five factories here in New England that make that 9 9 3 that you just showed there, plus a bunch of other models. And so we have both sourcing and manufacturing organizations within sourcing, as I mentioned, it’s contract sourcing as well as indirect spend, indirect procurement, that organization. And then that’s all shipped into our distribution network on a global scale that finally gets to our end consumer either wholesale into our retail stores or e-com. And then there’s some other functions like all of our construction loss prevention, few things like that that kind of fit for my umbrella. And then we have matrixed in hr, IT finance costing. Okay.

Scott Luton (31:52):

Alright. So Kevin, out of all of that, that’s on one of Dave’s three plates I’ll call it. What’s most intriguing to you, Kevin, in terms of what Dave leads?

Kevin L. Jackson (32:01):

Well, the thing about apparel is how culture affects what’s people. And when you’re operating a large multinational company like Rebalance, I wonder how as the chief operating officer do you take balance what people like what they need and the introduction of new technology into your model? There’s a lot like I guess a automobile manufacturer, right?

Scott Luton (32:29):

Steady stream of inputs is what I’m hearing you ask about Kevin, is that right, Dave? Yeah,

Dave Wheeler (32:34):

Yeah, for sure. And I would say we’re pretty good at that, but there’s a lot of room for growth and that’s where we’re headed actually with some digital transformation efforts. When you think about even on the footwear side of things, same for apparel. It’s really hard as COO to predict if Taylor Swift is going to walk out with a red and white pair of with and then our inventory is gone immediately from the swifties, that’s pretty hard to do. But there are other things that we can get better signals on. We do that, like I say, pretty well right now, but we have coming down the pike this year, a new ERP and supply chain planning suite that I’m super excited about that’ll give us the ability to take better inputs.

Kevin L. Jackson (33:19):

I’m thinking that the importance of data and the ability to translate that data into action that addresses the needs of your end customers, that’s a huge shot.

Dave Wheeler (33:31):

Absolutely.

Scott Luton (33:32):

So Dave, we’re going to keep going down that path of some of the cool new things y’all are doing from a supply chain and digital transformation standpoint. I want to bring this comment really quick. In T squared holds down fort for over on YouTube and he says the 5 74 will never die. I love that T squared, he’s a big fan as well. And then LK was, we asked him about some things. He’s using technology in his site there and he uses chat GPT when he gets stuck running that SaaS code. Don’t we all, Larry? Don’t we all? Alright, so you were just touched on date behind some outstanding years and all the success recently. New Balance is this supply chain transformation, agility, performance, and you were just talking about new ERP system that’s going to allow you to bring even more inputs and signals from the customer and the markets into the overall equation. And these new initiatives and new approaches to leveraging modern day technology has enabled some of the financial success right, of recent years, which of course impacts y’all’s ability to do what you were talking about a minute ago, which is create these very generous, give forward programs, whether you’re supporting the Olympics or many other things. So Dave, tell us a little more about this new ERP system and any other initiatives that y’all have been rolling out to enhance your transformation approach.

Dave Wheeler (34:43):

I would probably narrow it down to a couple of different areas. One would be as many companies have a lot of legacy systems that are tied together in various ways. They’ve been around for a long time and I see many of those don’t even know the internet exists right now. It’s a spaghetti map to be honest. And so we recognize that about five years ago as we headed off on this digital transformation that we’re not going to get an ERP in supply chain planning suite in one year. It takes a while. So we had to do something in the interim and we put in this middleware and created maybe two steps. First off, we had to get the data right, one version of the truth. So data quality, call it master data, there are a lot of different terms for it, but spread around the company, certainly on a global basis.

(35:31):

We had different versions of the truth. We went to one version so that we all trust it using that one version of the truth through this middleware, we use Snowflake, which then takes all this data and makes it accessible and then we can access it through programs like Spotfire reporting to give us a translation of data and into information that we can make good business decisions. So that was a big step for us to be able to say, especially through Covid and given the disruptions that took place around the world, we had to have good information on a real time basis. So that really made a big difference for us. So that really helped. I’ll pause there.

Kevin L. Jackson (36:14):

I may have missed what you said, but what I heard was a huge integrated cloud environment to support your operations. I picked up that cloud stuff quickly.

Scott Luton (36:25):

That’s right. Always

(36:28):

Really quick, Dave and Kevin, I’ll get you to comment on this too. There’s different versions of the truth that Dave just called out such a big barrier to, we hear a lot these days, whether you like the word orchestration or harmonization or synchronization, when you got different parts of any size company, I all have their own versions of the truth. It’s next to impossible to reach any of that stuff. And Dave, I love how that’s been one of your priority items to reach so you can create that real powerful operational leadership and even technology alignment that allows you to reach new heights when it comes to supply chain performance or the company performance for that matter. Kevin, does that make sense to you? I mean, we got to reach this single source of truth, right?

Kevin L. Jackson (37:11):

Yeah. Well clean data, you mentioned clean data earlier is an important aspect of that, the stepping stone to actually getting normalization or normalize data across your entire environment. So you have to clean your data, you have to normalize your data and then distribute the data and then you have to have systems that can actually interpret the data into insights that humans can use and leverage.

Scott Luton (37:40):

Well said Dave. Doesn’t Kevin just make it? Actually y’all both make it sound so easy. Dave, your comments there and any other initiative you want to kind of share with us as well?

Dave Wheeler (37:49):

Yeah, I can’t probably overemphasize the importance of clean data, accurate data because we can do all kinds of work on AI and gen AI and bring it all, but unless the data’s right, we’ll never get great answers and our businesses won’t grow. So yeah, I do think that is so foundational, which is why we tackled it first. So that was the first put in middleware to get us by in the meantime before we actually put in place a new ERP and supply chain planning suite. And so we’re right on the cusp of that. We’ve been at that for about four years now, a little over three years trying to make sure it’s right because there are so many stories out there of going live within the s not successful. You jump into it and you have a meltdown and customers are unsatisfied and we have so much momentum right now.

(38:38):

We certainly don’t want to kill that by giving an opportunity to a competitor to jump in our place. So we’re right there sometime this year, second half of this year we’ll go live and then we’ll start to spread that around the globe. So very excited. And that’ll take us to a new level that supply chain planning suite in particular has machine learning and AI embedded in it. We just have to turn it on and get that right data in. And that’s multifaceted from a feed perspective, that could be marketing campaigns, it could be responses on eComm. All that is helpful to really form that forecast to get us to become more responsive and get those signals sent into the factories to make the right product rather than just have inventory on the shelf.

Scott Luton (39:23):

Love it, Kevin.

Kevin L. Jackson (39:24):

Singing to the choir, right? Data is the supply chain for artificial intelligence and machine learning. So you are working from the foundation up and that’s the right way to build a mansion. So I appreciate and I applaud what you guys are doing over there.

Dave Wheeler (39:43):

It takes a lot of bit of patience,

Kevin L. Jackson (39:45):

A lot of patience,

Scott Luton (39:47):

Which is in historically always been in short supply across global supply chain as patients. Right. All right. Fascinating stuff. Dave, I know we only have a few minutes with you here, but I really appreciate you sharing some of the ways that you’re acknowledging ways of doing business better and doing business different and leaning into the path forward. And we were talking Kevin earlier about warp speed, right? Yeah. And it sounds like to me that if Dave Wheeler and the new balance supply chain organization, if they aren’t already at, I don’t know, warp speed 8.0, right? They may be at warp speed 12.0 sounds like in a few months from now we’ll see Kevin. Hey Dave, really quick. Are you a Star Trek fan or no?

Dave Wheeler (40:28):

I am aware of it. I’m not like a fanatic. All

Scott Luton (40:34):

Right, fair enough

Kevin L. Jackson (40:35):

Show.

Dave Wheeler (40:37):

I apologize.

Scott Luton (40:38):

I’m the only nerd here, I guess. And I say that with all the Do love out to our audience out there You’all, know my fondness of all things Star Trek. Alright, I’m going to pose this question to both of y’all. Dave, you’re leading an incredible digital transformation. I think a lot of our audience members can certainly relate to that as they lead and are going through their own digital transformations. For those supply chain leaders that are tuned in, whether the live show here or the podcast replay, what’s one piece of advice, Dave, that you would offer when it comes to driving real successful digital transformation?

Dave Wheeler (41:07):

It’s hard to have just one, but

Scott Luton (41:09):

I know if

Dave Wheeler (41:09):

I were to pick one, it would be start with the business goals. Don’t follow the shiny penny and implement technology first. That’s why

Scott Luton (41:20):

If you’re going to pick just one that in my view, Dave would be the one to pick. And Kevin, I’ll get your take here as well. I think all of us can probably relate to, not within our organizations maybe, but certainly out in the marketplace, leaders that want, they hear all the good things about a new technology, they go out and spend the money to procure it and they throw it over the fence and let the team figure out where to use it and what outcomes, what business objectives are we after? Kevin, what would be one of your pieces of advice when it comes to folks driving digital transformation?

Kevin L. Jackson (41:50):

You have your pencil

Dave Wheeler (41:51):

Ready.

Scott Luton (41:52):

I got it ready to go.

Kevin L. Jackson (41:55):

Attaining warp speed requires confident, patience,

Dave Wheeler (42:02):

Words of point.

Kevin L. Jackson (42:03):

Yeah, I think that’s what Dave is talking about right now. They knew where they wanted to go, they wanted to get there fast, but you have to start with that confident patience to understand your business goals and the reason behind the business goals and the patience to get the data right, integrate that data. That’s the only way that they can attain the warp speed, that digital transformation to deliver.

Scott Luton (42:29):

Yeah, good stuff there, Kevin. Well said, right? Dave, your thoughts there? You agree with that?

Dave Wheeler (42:35):

Well said. Yeah. Certainly reinforces and ties into my belief. It is hard to have patients think it does help us out a little bit that we’re independently owned, so we see the mid to long term and we can stick with it rather maybe shift a little bit there. I also think if I were to say one thing a little bit broader in a culture perspective, I know Kevin talked about people a lot. That’s number one for us. We can have long technology and process, but if we don’t have the right people and we’re built on integrity, teamwork and total customer satisfaction with those first two, integrity and teamwork, making that happen. I mean, you have to have those two or else all this that we just talked about isn’t going to happen successfully, right? So a lot of our culture,

Scott Luton (43:21):

Well said. Well said. Alright, so I’m going to be heading to Boston in the coming months. Dave, I know y’all have got five sites up there. I’m a big old nerd when it comes to plant tours. Oh, perfect. I’d love to step in there. We’ll have to see if we can’t make that happen. But in the meantime, to protect your time, Kevin, you and I are going to wrap in just a second. If folks want to connect with you, I know obviously you do a lot of keynote when you’re not driving transformation and incredible success and most importantly my favorite part here, how you bake that, give forward, significant, give forward into the business model. I think it’s inseparable. So really appreciate what y’all do at New Balance there. How can folks connect with you in New Balance team, Dave?

Dave Wheeler (43:59):

Yeah, first I’ll say we had an advertisement about five years ago that said Worn by Supermodels in Paris and by dads in Ohio. So you are right in that fashion category. Oh, love it. So people can certainly get ahold of me on LinkedIn. Feel free to email me as well. It’s just dave.Wheeler@newbalance.com and we are all about that philanthropy. We’ve given back about 140 million since we’ve started up our new

Kevin L. Jackson (44:27):

Balance. Balance. Wow, awesome.

Dave Wheeler (44:29):

Give back to the communities where we do business and where our consumers live. So it’s a real passion of ours for sure.

Scott Luton (44:36):

Well, I love not only the passion, but I love the real outcomes that you are making happen with your commitment to act on that passion and that aspect of your culture. So Kevin, one of my favorite things to do, and Dave’s got to go here in a second, is to get and meet the supply chain and the other leaders behind some of the brands that we know and love. And this, I’ll tell you, Dave, you have jumped, you have flipped over the high bar here today, so I really appreciate what y’all do. Dave Wheeler, chief Operating Officer with New Balance, big thanks for you joining us here today, and we’re looking to having you back soon.

Dave Wheeler (45:05):

Thanks for having me, guys. Appreciate

Kevin L. Jackson (45:07):

It. Thanks Dave. Take

Scott Luton (45:08):

Care. Okay, Kevin, your favorite thing that we heard from Dave Wheeler from New Balance here today?

Kevin L. Jackson (45:15):

Yes. The importance of patience and getting the data right at the beginning. Those are critical to any organization and the lay out foundations for digital transformation. And like I said before, that patient confidence will lead to attainment of that warp speed in business.

Scott Luton (45:36):

Yeah, well said Kevin. Great stuff from Dave Wheeler and I love the beat of Dead Horse. I love how they’re getting involved in the markets they serve and really giving forward to folks in need, whether it be the athletes from countries going to compete at the Olympics or other different ways. Kevin, before we wrap up here today, how can folks connect with all the cool things you’ve got going on? Of course, they can find digital transformers wherever they get their podcasts. How else can folks connect with you?

Kevin L. Jackson (46:02):

Oh yeah, always on LinkedIn, and I’m on the X as well, actually, I just finished covering the RSA convention out in San Francisco and coming up in a couple of weeks, the next digital Transformers edition, we’re going to talk about how digital assets are being used to save the coral in the Pacific with Alan C. He’s one of the most important voices on the ecological use of digital assets across the Pacific. He’s from Halal. Don’t miss it.

Scott Luton (46:39):

We can’t miss that. Mark marking my calendar as you speak, I’m going to do it right over here. Make sure I don’t miss that next edition of Digital Transformers. Kevin, always a pleasure to knock out the digital Transformers edition of the Buzz on the second Monday of each and every month. Thanks for being here, Kevin.

Kevin L. Jackson (46:59):

Oh no, this is a great show. That spectrum that they was talking about from runway models to dads in Ohio.

Scott Luton (47:10):

So true man. We wish you had about 60 more hours with Dave to jump into the digital transformation. They’re leading there across the business. But Kevin, great to have you here.

Kevin L. Jackson (47:19):

No, thank you.

Scott Luton (47:20):

Yeah, I know we couldn’t hit everybody’s comments here today, but really do appreciate the comments and questions. Thanks for being here. As always. Big thanks to and Amanda behind the scenes helping to make it happen each and every show. But folks, here’s the deal, right? Here’s the owners, here’s the challenge. You got to take something that Dave or Kevin shared here today or something in the comments and put it into action. Deeds, not words. That’s the name of the game. Your workforce is ready to change how business has done and drive new powerful outcomes so the owners is on you. So with all that said, on behalf of the entire team here at Supply Chain now, Scott Luton challenge. You do good, give forward, be the change, and we’ll see you next time. Right back here at Supply Chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (48:03):

Thanks for being a part of our supply chain now, community. Check out all of our programming@supplychainnow.com and make sure you subscribe to Supply Chain now, anywhere you listen to podcasts. And follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. See you next time on Supply Chain. Now.