Alexia McLaughlin talks about making an impact through innovation; her commitment to cultures of excellence; & her big achievement as an industry rising star.

[03.52] An introduction to Alexia and her role at Veho.

“If Uber and UPS had a baby, it would be Veho!”

[05.08] How Alexia began her career in sales, and her journey through roles at Oracle and Jebbit to her current position at Veho.

“I never thought I was going to be in sales! That used car salesman connotation springs to your mind… But, when I was coming out of college, a lot of mentors who’s careers I admired started in sales. So I thought: ‘OK, I’m going to give this a try! I don’t know if I’ll love it, but I’ll learn a lot.’”

[09.07] Alexia’s experience moving from a big, corporate environment to a smaller, start-up culture.

“When you’re working for a big company, there’s a lot of layers, it’s very bureaucratic, there’s a lot of structure and process. But I wanted ambiguity. Both of my roles after Oracle you were building as you were steering the ship… It was exciting, and every day was different.”

[11.08] Making impact through innovation, the importance of ‘selling in’ to internal stakeholders, and how Alexia successfully led a new business opportunity, navigating the complexity of managing risk, expectation, and leadership buy-in.

“When you’re on the front line selling, and then coming back to the business to help inform the products and the offerings that we build, that’s a role that drives impact – and that’s exactly what I wanted.”

[15.31] From working with mentors to backing your approach with data, Alexia’s advice for building career confidence.

[17.23] Alexia’s biggest career achievement, and why it’s vital for women to understand their impact and to share and celebrate their successes.

[20.54] The challenges Alexia has faced during her career, and the turbulent nature of sales.

“I’ve had so many times of doubt, thinking: ‘I’m done with sales!’… It’s an up and down rollercoaster… There have been a thousand little failures along the way.”

[22.06] How to foster a culture of excellence, and why that’s so important.

“You have to lead by example… With new hires there’s only so much you can do in the training and onboarding process. The rest has to come from them seeing excellence throughout the organization. If everyone is operating at a high bar, you start to learn from observing the actions that are celebrated, the calibre of the team – and if you hire great, hungry people that want to operate at that level, then there’s a nice healthy stimulating environment.”

[24.29] What Alexia’s Rising Star award at this year’s Women in Supply Chain Awards means to her, and her advice for young women looking to follow in her footsteps.

[26.02] The future for Alexia, and her ambition for Veho over the next five years.

You can connect with Alexia McLaughlin over on LinkedIn.

If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear from more inspirational women, check out 444: Women In Supply Chain, Gina Anderson, 429: Women In Supply Chain, Kameel Gaines or 410: Women In Supply Chain, Julie Tilenius.

Dexter Weber of TGW Logistics talks about the trends, challenges & opportunities in warehouse logistics; building strategic partnerships; and TGW's new brand.

[05.31] TGW’s 50+ year journey from small fitters shop in Austria to global manufacturing leader.

“Part of our journey was becoming a foundation-owned company... We reinvest our profits into our solutions and capabilities, and to charity. We’re not chasing goals and pleasing shareholders – we’re focused on that long-term vision.”

[09.07] Where TGW are now, their vision for the future, and a why they’re unveiling a new brand for a new era.

[12.21] The ideal client for TGW Logistics.

“What we’re really looking for is someone that wants to build a true partnership. We need to be an extension of their team and share a vision to really accomplish the goals they want to achieve. Being collaborative makes sure we’re both successful.”

“Building relationships and trust is the foundation of any good, solid business project.”

[15.03] The landscape of warehouse logistics and, from service level agreements and inventory to skill shortages and temperature control, the biggest challenges in the industry right now.

[19.56] From improving fulfilment speeds to facilitating more frequent small shipments from stores, the biggest opportunities in warehouse logistics and ecommerce, and why automation is increasingly important in helping organizations pursue those opportunities.

“Automation, at its core, is all about process improvement. The goal is to eliminate multiple non-value-add manual touches, boosting speeds… You can take manual efforts, that may take hours or days, to pick orders – and move it up to minutes.”

[23.44] Robotics, conveyor, automatic storage and retrieval systems – the different types of automation TGW uses within their solutions.

[25.19] How TGW work with customers to understand their challenges and develop customized solutions, using their warehouse automation technologies, to help customers achieve smarter, more efficient intralogistics.

“We have experts in different areas, so we can understand the industries a lot better: what do their typical supply chain setups look like? What are some common challenges?… Then we look at each process in the warehouse, from receiving to outbound.”

[29.24] The warehouse management software that sits behind TGW’s products, and how that tech pulls everything together.

“The WMS is the backbone of your warehouse operations.

[31.18] How TGW support both equipment and software with their range of lifetime services, and how they build strategic bonds with customers to empower them to meet their short-term goals as well as plan and prepare for long-term success.

[35.28] A case study showing how TGW helped a key client tackle big issues to create a network of 650,000 storage locations, managing 125,000 SKUs, with the ability to handle more than 300,000 order lines per day during peak season, ultimately helping them to achieve the best cost per unit in their entire network.

[40.09] From mobile and palletizing robotics to robotic picking, the trends and technologies shaping the future of the warehouse logistics sector.

Head over to TGW Logistics’ website now to find out more and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with TGW and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube, or you can connect with Dexter on LinkedIn.

If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more about warehousing, listen to 412: Maximize Warehouse Efficiency and Profitability, with CargoWise or read The Warehouse of the Future.

Beverly Steele talks about her journey, making a big change mid-career; what it means to be a workforce innovator; and her take on work-life balance.

[04.29] An introduction to Beverly and her role at Inmar.

[05.11] Beverly’s career journey, and her decades of varied experience.

“I’ve been in reverse logistics well over 20 years. I actually stopped saying how long because I realized I’d been in it longer than some of my colleagues have been alive!”

[07.15] Beverly’s 20-year tenure at CORT, and an overview of the roles she took on as she climbed the ranks.

[08.07] Inmar’s joint venture with Blue Yonder to create a returns drop network that reduces costs for brands and makes life easy for consumers.

[09.46] Why Beverly made a big change mid-career, what she was looking for in her next step, and her advice for other mid-career professionals considering making a change.

“I’d moved up in the ranks and there weren’t many places for me to go to make the money I wanted to make and have the challenges that I wanted… It was scary, but sometimes I think: why didn’t I leave sooner?!’”

[12.33] From sales to reverse logistics technology – why Beverly transitioned to a different space in the industry, and the benefits of pivoting.

[14.41] Beverly’s Woman in Supply Chain Forum award, what being a ‘workforce innovator’ means to her, and the importance of increasing support and success for work from home teams.

“I’ve always had a passion for women in supply chain, and giving them the tools and opportunities to move into leadership.”

[15.46] As a part of multiple organizations and a champion for women, the big issue Beverly hears women in the workplace raise, time and again.

“Women don’t want to complain, it’s hard to find a voice without being looked at as angry or difficult.”

[17.49] What her ‘workforce innovator’ award means to Beverly, and why forums and awards for women are so important.

[20.05] Beverly’s experience of being a working Mom, the bias and discrimination still in play, and what needs to change to improve workplaces and cultures for working mothers.

“I spent most of my life hiding the fact that I was a Mom at work, I never wanted to talk about my kids in case people thought I was less dedicated. Then I dropped my kids off at school and, to my Mom friends who didn’t work, I was hiding the fact that I was a working Mom because they would say: ‘oh she’s leaving her kids.’ It was lonely.”

[23.03] Beverly’s take on work-life balance, and why it’s crucial to build a lifestyle that works for you.

“You need to be really clear on what’s important to you. And if you’re in a work environment where you’re not able to live the life you want, maybe it’s time for a change. Because not every company is going to have a culture that you’ll thrive in.”

[26.05] The future for Beverly.

You can connect with Beverly Steele over on LinkedIn.

If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more from Inmar, check out 372: Women in Supply Chain, T.J. Kragenbrink or SEA 2, EP 87 – Are you getting the most out of your returns?