¶ Logistics Industry Insights With Kristy Killingbeck
Welcome into another episode of Everything Is Logistics , a podcast for the thinkers . In Afraid . We Were Proudly presented by SPI Logistics and I am your host , Blythe Brumleve . We've got another amazing guest for you , live from Manifest the future of supply chain and logistics , Kristy Killingbeck .
She is the vice president of operations consumer packaged goods at Ryder supply chain solutions . Welcome in , Kristy . Thank you so much . Thank you so much for having me , and this is I don't want to put you on the spot , but this is your first podcast interview ever .
It is . It is my first . I've never done this before , so go easy on me , absolutely .
I want to . This is a safe space for all of us here , but that's why we don't go live , because you know I'll screw up and then I want to edit this later on . So that's exactly why I'm recording .
I appreciate it .
So tell us a little bit about yourself . How did you get involved with supply chain logistics ? It's always a fascinating story . I feel like people's back story .
You know , I feel like my story is the least fascinating because as I watch podcasts and talk to people about their careers in logistics , they started off in biochem or they fell into transportation and it was never , you know , their plan in life . My degree is actually in supply chain and logistics oh nice .
So I thought I wanted to be a lawyer and but decided that a poly side degree didn't give me a lot of flexibility . So I was going to go into business and when I got there I knew that I liked problem solving .
I knew I liked numbers , but I didn't want to be an accountant or a CPA , and so the college I went to had a big logistics program , and that was the beginning of the end for me . So I've always been in supply chain and logistics .
Oh wow , so you're one of the rare ones that got started and just knew . Did you know immediately , or ?
Yeah , absolutely . I love problem solving and because of that , you know , I really fell in love with logistics and the fact that every day is a new day , right , it's not that repetitive same thing day in and day out .
So once I got a taste of it , I just knew it was what I was destined for it's like we're all psychopaths that just love to solve problems .
Constantly working in logistics .
Yes , I question that often . Right , it would be a lot easier to be able to punch in someplace , punch out , but supply chain is a 24/ 7 type of a job and for some reason , I love it .
Well , I think it's more or less like solving the bigger problems that exist in the world . And how can you get a little bit better each day ? I mean , obviously , the progression of you know being able to mail something across the globe in a matter of days . Sometimes , you know , depending on how much you pay , you can get in a little as day .
So I imagine for you so you go to school , you get your degree , and then what happens after that ? Where do you end up ?
Well , so I was born and raised outside of Detroit .
So I know the hand thing .
So southeast Michigan , right . So born and raised . So as a good logistics graduate in southeast Michigan , I started off in the automotive industry .
So I started off working in component plants for one of the big three and I was working second shifts , seven days a week , 12 hours a day , managing a crew of four truck drivers oh wow , and that's really where I cut my teeth . So that was one heck of a learning experience .
It was a great , great experience , but I decided that's not what I wanted to do for my entire life . I didn't want to live in Detroit forever . So I packed up and moved to North Carolina , worked for a broker IMC , an immobil marketing company and worked there for a while . They moved me back to Detroit and then I finally found my way to Rider .
So you went from managing forklifts to managing trucks , and what are the big differences between managing a fleet of forklift drivers versus carriers ?
You know there's some similarities . You hear some crazy stories from both the four truck drivers and the drivers as well , right why the product or the truck did not get to point A to point B on time , and trying to cut through what's the reality versus what's the story .
So I did take a little bit from that and what I will say is working in the plant and automotive kind of thickens your skin , right .
So whether you're dealing in the plant or you're working with carriers , you can cut through BS , you can figure out how to work with people , you can figure out how to navigate personalities , and so it was something I was able to build upon .
Are there any similarities between the two groups ? Like I you know it did , I doubt there is . Maybe I don't know .
No , it's pretty different .
Yeah , so they're not worried about dwell time or detention time , things like that ? I don't think that that . As that question was coming out of my mouth , I was like yeah , that's a dumb one , all right , so what does your day-to-day look like at Rider ?
Yeah , absolutely so . Vice President of Ops . And so I am responsible for half of Rider's book of business and consumer package goods . So I have a warehouse portfolio of about 40 facilities , oh wow . And so I have about . You have about 40 facilities and about 50 million square feet of warehouses . So I have that and it is really in non-consumable .
So my customers are paper products , cleaning supplies , beauty care and then all of the beverage . So I like to say I've let it and unleaded . So all the beer-widen , spirits and then all the soft drinks , juices , all report up to me . And then I also have a team that manages all of the transportation management accounts that fall under CPG as well .
So my group manages about a million dollars a freight under management .
That's incredible . So 40 different locations all across the United States , north America . What does that sort of look like ? The United States Okay , it's really the United States . Are there any differences between facility to facility , like East Coast to West Coast ?
Yeah , you know there's a lot of similarities throughout CPG Companies , I'd say . Different geographies take on a different type of workforce flavor at times , but there really are more similarities than there are differences .
That's a geography , so how does that affect the workforce ?
It's really about labor availability , the type of labor , whether it is more metropolitan base , whether it's more rural . How are the employees getting to work ? Are they driving , Are they busing ? Is there mass transit ?
So a lot of that availability of work and the competition for that work as well , and so it's like you're managing the logistics of your people and then also the logistics of your clients as well . Oh , absolutely the .
HR strategy is really critical when we look at designing solutions for our customers .
Interesting . Okay , so now on from the shipper side of things , what does sort of their expectations look like nowadays ? I'm sure they've definitely evolved over the last few years , since COVID sort of rocked everyone . What ? How does that relationship evolved from the shipper to writer perspective ?
Oh , absolutely . I mean , during the COVID years it was how fast can they manufacture ? How quickly could we get it into our facility and out to the customer base ? Right Product was hand to mouth trying to fulfill orders , so it was get product out really almost at any cost . Right , making sure that you can . They could get those point of sales .
Now right , with the economic changes and really the stabilization , it's really more about how do we find more efficiencies , how do we control costs better .
So the conversations today are really dialing in on the KPIs , dialing in on our lean programs and really looking at more automation type solutions in order to drive out people costs and drive predictability and consistency within the operations .
Are some of those optimizations I imagined different from your consumer package goods and some of those CPG products , as I imagine it probably is ? As far as managing expectations on the shipper side , yeah , I mean definitely Right now it's .
We're seeing a lot of AGVs , so autonomous vehicles being deployed .
Oh , I thought you said ATVs and I was like wow , really .
No AGVs that are being deployed throughout our customers facilities . Oh , interesting . So it's really that automation of the pallet put away and the pallet pick to really allow employees to be more effective and efficient on the dock .
So a lot of the conversation is about how do we design autonomous based solutions and find that return on investment from those solutions .
Now for the majority of your facilities . Are they deploying autonomous technology themselves , or there's like moonwalkers that are here ? I feel like I've mentioned them a million times since I tried them out .
This morning .
These , like these shoes that you put on your feet , that help the warehouse workers . Are there any kind of automational tools like that that you're deploying inside these facilities to help out the warehouse worker ?
Yeah , I mean , there's a few that we're certainly looking at and I am . That's not my expertise in space but whether it be different voice pick and Google Glass type solutions . Really , what I am seeing more right is more about the flexibility of the autonomous forklifts , being able to again really have that consistency and the efficiency in the moves .
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What's the biggest change in forklift technology that you've seen since your early days versus today ? Is there anything happening there ?
It's really just . I mean , when I started the career there was no autonomous right , so really it's just the deployment of the AGVs and we're seeing the price point come down as well as a reduction in the return on investment . As labor prices have gone up , labor wages , people are much more apt and willing to look at different type solutions .
¶ Women in Supply Chain
Now being here at Manifest , they have a really strong sort of warehouse robotics presence . It's really cool , for I come from the asset-based brokerage world and Manifest was the first place that I really saw the whole supply chain under one roof .
So I'm curious for you as somebody with your history when you walk out on an expo floor like this , what excites you , like , what gets your juices going , you know ?
it's really exciting to see everything in one place , right , because we've got different deployments throughout our network , but to be able to see everything in one place , seeing the actual robots right , I didn't see the moonwalkers , but you see the robots that are out there putting together and building right , so cool it is .
It's very exciting to see that we have different auto store type technologies and some of the non-CBG facilities that we have today , so it's just really exciting to see what that new technology is , and so when you , outside of coming to a conference like this , what does sort of your day to day , week to week look like ? Yeah , absolutely so .
With the customer base right , a lot of my time is spent working and attending QBRs tap to tap meetings , working with the team and developing , helping to develop different strategies for our customers .
I am involved in a lot of the sales pursuits as well , so it's interesting because I think once you rise up the ranks , the phone calls you get are usually when things went really well , right , when you win an award or when there are challenges and issues that get raised up , so I never know what every day is going to look like .
There's always a new challenge , a new question , whether it be contracting or other issues at the facilities , so it's a different day every day .
Which is why we all love this industry , love and hate at times . I will say Absolutely From my perspective , which I'm sure you share , that sentiment .
Now , obviously I'd be remiss not to sort of bring up the fact that we're both women in supply chain , both been working in the industry for quite a while , and so , when you come to events like this , what does it mean to you to sort of look around and see the growth of women within this industry ?
Yeah , it is extremely exciting . So when I started in automotive and I said that I was working in a plan in the facility , there were most days I was the only female in the building , and so it was definitely a different time , a different look .
Attending meetings usually I'd be the only female around the room , and so what I'll say is , over the last 20 years , even being at Ryder , the demographics has changed right .
There's much more diversity , not just with women , and so that is extremely exciting to me to see that at the higher levels and to see more college graduates come in , and so being at an event like this and seeing women represented from the shipper side , from the 3PL side , from the technology and automation side , it makes me really proud to be part of this
industry , because it has been an evolution over the last 20 plus years .
If you were to give advice to a woman that maybe is thinking about joining the supply chain industry , what piece of advice would you give them ?
First of all , do it . I think it is an extremely rewarding career . There are so many different things that you can go and navigate in different types of jobs that you can pursue . I mean my experience of my background is in play out manufacturing . I was an industrial engineer and then I moved to transportation and now I help run boxes right Warehousing .
So there's been a lot of growth , a lot of opportunity for me . And so do it right , try it . Find a mentor , I think is a big one . Have somebody you can talk to . It doesn't have to be another female , it can be a male , but just really find that coach , that mentor that can help you navigate organizations , somebody that you can run things off of .
And don't be afraid , right . My biggest advice for everybody is always raise your hand and say yes , right , don't be afraid to take on a new challenge . Don't be afraid to go outside of your comfort zone , because that's when you really excel .
You're dropping gems on the podcast for your first podcast interview ever Now from this show . So we started out as a marketing show and then shifted , got a little bit of popularity , was lucky enough , fortunate enough . So about a year ago we took the show independent . We were able to cover more of these wider range topics .
But I still like to go back a little bit to the marketing roots a little bit . So I'm curious . I have a few questions that I ask each guest that comes on the show , or try to ask each guest that comes on the
¶ Marketing Yourself & Logistics Insights
show . So , for you , how do you think about marketing when it comes to maybe you , your personal brand ? Are you out there trying to market yourself or are you kind of you know you like staying behind the scenes ?
That's a really timely , interesting question because it's something I need to do more of . I think that you know again , I've been in the industry for over 20 years that historically , especially in the operations rank , it wasn't something that we focused on right . The company worked on marketing the individual .
You just kind of kept your head down and did what you needed to do . You know , when you see the impact of LinkedIn and now podcasts , etc .
It's something that I need to focus on more and I guess would be advice for those coming up to make sure they start doing it earlier and often I think it helps tremendously for people to have a comfort level with you , to be able to reach out right , and you know , a big part of my job is not only current operations but to help grow the organization .
So I need to do more of marketing . It's one of my New Year's resolutions , right ? And so hopefully there'll be changes over my LinkedIn profile in the coming days . You know , as I continue to do that .
Heck yeah . I mean , you're already off to a pretty good start . So you're attending conferences and then you're on a podcast , so I mean that's a pretty good starting place . All right , I think I might know the answer to this one . I'm going to ask it anyways what's your favorite social media platform and why my favorite social ?
media platform and why Work related or just in general . In general , I think I'm old school still , so I travel a lot , so friends and family are still on Facebook and it's still the connection of what's going on , you know , whether it be at school , with family members , et cetera .
I mean , I'm on the road almost every week , so that keeps me grounded and involved in a way . So no , it's not the whether it's Graham or TikTok or anything like that , it's I'm the old school .
Facebook . Well , I thought for sure you were going to say LinkedIn , because that's the , you know , the consensus answer , I think , for a lot of folks out here . But one thing I just , you know , wanted to pull on for a minute . You're on the road every week .
I would say three out of four weeks . Yeah , holy crap .
Are you just visiting all ?
the facilities or , yeah , visiting facilities , operations , customers , right . When you have operations throughout the country , that face to face , right , that face to face interaction relationship means a lot , right , and through COVID it was really difficult .
So I think it's important to get out there to shake the hands of the people that come into work day in , day out , right . They don't have the option when you think about a warehouse , they don't have the option to work from home , right .
So really to go and to let them know that you know , we care , we appreciate the work that they're doing for us , for the customers . So it's not every week , right , but it's a significant amount of time .
Yeah , gosh Dang , that's a lot of traveling . What about conferences ? This is my first conference too .
I've always focused so much on the operations . Yeah , I know it's a year at first . I mean , my New Year's resolutions are to a night . You are knocking them out .
I think it's like February 4th and the 5th the time of recording this . So , yeah , you're kicking it off very effectively . So far , all right . Next question what's your favorite SaaS tool that you use every day ? That isn't your own . My favorite SaaS tool that I use every day ? That isn't my own , it's like Google . Somebody said Google Docs earlier .
I can't say Teams , I guess you can . Yeah , you're one of the rare ones . It does say Teams , though .
Yeah , I think that the Teams , the connections I'm all about the connections , relationships , being able to see people on video . We use the Teams groups a lot right , so there's a lot of connectivity , a lot of data mining for information , as well .
So yeah , I use Teams . How are you using it for data money Like AI co-pilot ?
Data mining is a little bit more of a maybe more just as data collection right . So a lot of the information that we use on a regular basis , we have stored in different Teams , different groups , and then communicate in that manner .
What kind of information are you looking for ? Customer-related information ? Oh , interesting , and I imagine with the plug-in to , obviously , chatgpt and that partnership with Microsoft and Teams , that makes pulling out any interesting data points that you pulled from SaaS Some of that early , I guess over the last year or so that everybody started adopting AI .
Are there any interesting things that you can share or things that nuggets of information that you've learned ?
Not from an AI perspective .
No , not from that perspective , but maybe from just a holistic approach to customer management , team management .
Yeah , I think from a customer management business and really from a BI and AI perspective , I think there's been a lot of investment at Rider from a technology perspective and just making sure that we've got the data centralized right .
We utilize Rider shares , our visibility platform , really a tool that we can access from anywhere in the country , right Looking at how the operations are performing whether I'm at home , whether I'm on the road and being able to pull that data , being able to understand how operations are running , how individuals are performing , has become a key part of the day-to-day .
Heck , yeah , that's great insight . All right , favorite freight business that isn't your own Favorite freight business More supply chain . I think they're all kind of the same Same terminology . So give me an example . So I tried out the Moonwalkers today and I can't stop talking about them , so I think that that's my favorite right now .
Folks say , because I'm going to give this , it's like the third time . I feel like I've said this yesterday , so apologies to the audience if they've heard it a bunch , but a typical warehouse worker and I'm sure maybe you know these stats walks 30,000 steps in one day and these Moonwalkers are like shoe attachments .
I think I saw people walking around with them .
Yes , okay , yes , it's okay .
Okay , and so they . You know it's about $1,300 , I think , for a pair of them . They started out on Kickstarter , but now they have all of these . You know convention centers and warehouses using them in order to but how am I getting my steps in , Right , true ? Well , I guess you're getting . You know you're getting half of that instead of the full thing .
So I think it could be . You know that aspect , instead of walking 15 miles a day in a warehouse , you're walking about 12 , or not 15 , but you know half of that . Can't do math . Right now we're in Vegas . It's been a long day , all right . So favorite freight business of your that's ? Can you think of any that maybe you've seen on the X-PoP floor ?
I think that might be my new favorite now . I'm gonna go check it out , yeah .
They can let you demo them too . Okay , that's where I'll be heading . All right , moonwalkers , it is All right . What is a book or podcast that has changed your perspective on something ?
Again , probably more old school right or an older one is would be atomic habits , right . I think really taking the slow and steady right , making small changes that roll into big changes in your life , really busy and so it's very easy to make excuses for not taking the bite at the apple and making those changes in your life .
So I think that was one that was really impactful .
Oh , love that Great answer and great book , by the way . All right , and last one , which favorite supply chain or logistics fact ?
So I don't know so much the supply chain fact but , as I'd indicated , I have a responsibility for Ryder , for all of your wide experience , right . So I think I'm the envy of a lot of my , my counterparts and I don't know so much of the fact as it is seeing in operation .
But tequila production coming out of Polisco and Guadalajara and seeing those , the amount of tequila that has moved northbound from that region through Mexico into the US and being a part of a lot of that transportation in Mexico , the cross-border , and then distribution within the US is something that's pretty exciting .
So we move that tequila for a lot of our customers and seeing the volume that is moving into the US , especially during COVID , was pretty fun .
That's a great one and I'm so glad you brought that up because it's I've covered the logistics of tequila before on the show and it's just such a fascinating process . I'm a big tequila fan . We are in Vegas so I've enjoyed a couple already . But yeah , that's a great one . So I appreciate you answering those questions for me .
One last thing Anything that you feel is important to mention that we haven't already talked about .
No , I just appreciate the opportunity for being my first . We'll see if there's any others after Heck , yeah , I can introduce you to the podcast community , that's for sure .
I really appreciate the time , absolutely . Now where can folks follow you ? Follow more of your work LinkedIn , maybe . Linkedin , absolutely All right , perfect . We will put a link in the show notes and then , if anybody obviously is listening that's interested in getting in touch with Rider and using some of the Rider services , 90-year-old company .
You guys cover a lot of ground . Reach out to you , reach out to Rider directly . How does that work ?
Yeah , no , you can absolutely reach out to me and I can help navigate . And then Ridercom website also has the intake to be able to identify what company we are , what kind of services that you're looking for , as you indicated , 90-year-old company , 91 years old this year and really have true port-to-door services .
So whatever it is you're looking for , whether it be warehouse , transportation , management , co-pack , co-manufacturing services , e-com , we can help serve all of that , Kristy thank you so much .
I'm glad I was your first , which is very appropriate to say when in the town of Simpsons . Thank you so much .
I hope you enjoyed this episode of Everything is Logistics , a podcast for the thinkers in freight , telling the stories behind how your favorite stuff and people get from point A to B . Subscribe to the show , sign up for our newsletter and follow our socials over at everythingislogisticscom .
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