What does it take to turn a nascent idea in an unfamiliar country into a global success? In this episode of On the Brink with Andi Simon, I had the pleasure of speaking with Hannah Kain, CEO and President of ALOM, a trailblazing supply chain company that began in 1997 and now operates across 20 global locations.
Hannah’s story is more than a business success—it’s a masterclass in innovation, agility, and values-driven leadership.
A Leap of Faith—a Vision and a Purpose
Born and raised in Denmark, Hannah enjoyed a thriving political and business career before she and her husband bought one-way tickets to the U.S. in 1990. What followed was a journey of reinvention and opportunity. By 1997, Hannah founded ALOM in the heart of Silicon Valley, identifying early on the opportunity to use technology to enhance supply chain operations—well before “supply chain” was a mainstream concept.
From the beginning, ALOM was built on innovation. When the company opened its doors, they launched with customer portals and real-time visibility—now standard, but then revolutionary. Their first revenue came from floppy disk duplication. When that technology faded, Hannah pivoted, embracing e-commerce and expanding into regulated industries, always asking: what’s next?
Mind Games for Modern CEOs
One of the most striking takeaways from our conversation is how Hannah rethinks her company—regularly. “Once a quarter,” she says, “I buy my own company.” She imagines herself as an outsider, assessing the business with fresh eyes. What would she keep? What needs to go? What opportunities are emerging? This “buy-your-own-business” mindset keeps her ahead of disruption.
This is a deeply anthropological approach—stepping outside your own story to see it anew. It’s also core to a Blue Ocean Strategy: shed the outdated, build the new, and serve unmet needs. (Read more about corporate anthropology and why this is so relevant here.)
Innovation, Values, and Culture are What Really Matter
While Hannah is passionate about technology and supply chain solutions, her foundation is rooted in values—innovation, collaboration, quality, and diversity. Culture, she believes, isn’t a side conversation—it’s a strategic priority.
And when values misalign, even a high performer may not be the right fit. Culture can make or break agility. “Personnel decisions are more strategic than we think,” Hannah observes, especially in fast-changing environments.
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The Future is Here—If You Can See It
We explored how Hannah navigates today’s volatile supply chain world: tariffs, technology, talent shortages, and trade wars. She shared how she mitigates risks—like storing lithium batteries in an award-winning facility designed specifically for safety—and how she balances immediate challenges with long-term strategic thinking.
Her approach? Plan for 95% and build agility for the remaining 5%. “If you don’t plan for 95%, you’ll be stuck firefighting 100%.”
Data, Intuition, and Ecosystems
Data is vital, Hannah says—but data alone is not enough. “It’s the rearview mirror. You need to look out the windshield.” What she’s really looking for is meaning—trends, risks, and opportunities derived from experience, context, and yes, intuition.
She credits much of her insight to exploring the entire ecosystem—talking to employees, clients, suppliers, and staying deeply embedded in industry networks. She also emphasized that leaders must separate the urgent from the important, and prioritize the tasks that drive long-term value.
What’s Next?
Hannah believes AI will be transformative in supply chain logistics—especially in image recognition, predictability, and precision. She’s skeptical of blockchain until there’s wide-scale collaboration, but excited by AI’s capacity to reduce risk and increase agility.
Her parting wisdom? Don’t get stuck managing risk so tightly that you miss opportunity. Reinvention is possible—and necessary. And it begins, quite literally, with a morning shower and one powerful question: “What’s the most important thing I can do for my ecosystem today?”
Where to learn more about Hannah Kain and the work she is doing:
Hannah’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/hannahkain
Website: alom.com (ALOM)
Email: hkain@alom.com
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From Observation to Innovation,
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Andi Simon 00:00:02 Welcome to On the Brink with Andy Simon. I’m Andy Simon, and as you know, my job is to help you get off the brink. And it’s always such a pleasure to help you see, feel, and think of new ways. As an anthropologist, I know that if you step out and look at things through a fresh lens, all of a sudden you see new things emerge that you hadn’t even anticipated. And when you do that, you begin to see how you can change to adapt to these very fast changing times. And while I enjoy the uncertainty, most people want some certainty. I have with me today a wonderful woman who you’re going to enjoy listening to. Hannah Kim is the CEO and president of Elam. She’s going to tell you what this supply chain company does. So, Hannah, thank you for joining me.
Hannah Kain 00:00:50 Oh, it’s my pleasure. I just love to be here and speaking with you, Andrea. And also, I love the title of the show because I’ve been on the brink a couple of times, and so I know what that is about.
Andi Simon 00:01:04 And that feeling is one that doesn’t leave us, does it?
Hannah Kain 00:01:07 Yeah. It is.
Andi Simon 00:01:08 Let me tell the audience about who is Hannah, and then she will tell you her journey, because I think the story by itself is really worth listening to. her supply chain company she founded in 1997, alum operates out of 20 global locations to support its fortune 500 customers in the technology, automotive, life sciences and regulated industry. Hannah was born in Denmark, where, in addition to business and a political career, she taught at Copenhagen Business School. She holds three university degrees. She’s a board member of the National Association of Manufacturers, the W, E, B, C Pacific, the Women’s Business Enterprise Council Bank, which also serves as the forum first vice chair. And she is a board chair of How Women Lead for Silicon Valley. She’s a member of the Committee of 200 for Executive Women. She has received numerous industry and leadership awards, as I’m sure you can really imagine. And recently, Hannah was named an SDC to 2024 Supply Chain Pro to Know and a 2021 Wii USA top WB CEO.
Andi Simon 00:02:24 She is a really interesting story to share, both in how she got into the supply chain, where it’s going today, and how you, as a woman or a man should think about the changes that are happening, your own business model and what that’s going to mean for us for the near term. The future is already here. It’s just not widely distributed. So I’m not quite sure which one we’re going into today.
Hannah Kain 00:02:49 But there’s so much to discuss, right? So, you know, I remember starting, Ellen and everybody around me was talking about what a nice person like me was doing in an industry like that. And today, the supply chain professionals are the most I asked for in the room, because there’s so much happening in supply chain. It’s really an exciting area. So but why don’t we go back to the beginning? Because you mentioned I was born in Denmark and the and now people know where my funny accent comes from, I. So in 1990, my husband and I bought two one-way tickets to the US.
Hannah Kain 00:03:32 And that was really an opportunity calling for us. And so we were talking about standing on the brink. I had a nice career in Denmark, both a political and a business career. I was very well known and well established, but we decided we wanted to go where the opportunity was. So we took the jump and landed on the East Coast and in 94 we got to Silicon Valley. And that’s where I started seeing all this innovation going on around me. I got really pulled into the innovation and the thinking around how, how you maybe could use this technology in a different manner to help the physical supply chain. Now, bear in mind, at that point of time, nobody had thought about that, right. It was like, you know, that was not a thing. Supply chain was not a term anybody knew. And this thing about using technology to, to, to support a supply chain, that was just not something people did. Right. So I thought about that in 97 started and that was about innovation, right? It was about using technology in a different way.
Hannah Kain 00:04:46 And you know, we were a startup, right? You know, you know when you startup, you invent everything. So we invented everything. And one of the, one of the things we did. But the day we opened the door, we had customer portals with visibility. And today, I think you would say, yeah, of course, a supply chain company needs to have visibility and customer portals. But in 97, where the web was barely existed, that was a total innovation. And so innovation is part of our core values. Right. And, and I’m so glad we became very innovative because the first year we were in business, we got about 65% of our revenue from floppy disk duplication. Right. So floppy disks obviously no longer exist. So we innovated and did other activities and added other service offering. We became part of the e-commerce boom. We were probably one of the first e-commerce fulfillment companies in the world. we also then evolved into other markets and other strategies.
Hannah Kain 00:05:59 But, you know, so innovation is really key. And thinking about thinking differently about the company. So I have different tricks and I, I know you and I think alike with these types of things. I like to play mind games with myself with myself. So once a quarter I go in and I buy my own company and I go in and I go in and say, oh, if this was a company I just acquired, what would I do with it? What are the potentials? What are the things that no longer work? What are the things? So at least I, I, I try to do it once a quarter, but at least I do it several times a year. Going in and thinking deeply about what what’s the future of the industry and what’s the future of the company. So. So that’s kind of a, you know, the innovation journey. But we’ve got lots more to talk about I know.
Andi Simon 00:06:54 Well I know. So I’m going to just emphasize that for the listener or the viewer, because I have some women who I’m mentoring and their companies aren’t doing so well.
Andi Simon 00:07:03 But I love this idea of stepping out. You know, as an anthropologist, you intuitively understand. You can’t see it from the inside. You have to step out and look at it as if you aren’t in it. And what would you keep? What would you shed? It’s a very blue ocean approach. What will I create and what will I? I simply do more of because it makes some sense. You have done that routinely, and could you share with us some of the highlights of what you found? Because I love to preach it, but I also have a hunch you saw some big things that no longer were useful, and some new things that were coming that would, ooh, can we capitalize on that? Can share a little bit?
Hannah Kain 00:07:43 Yeah. So one of the things I’ve kept and been really conscious about is all values, right. And so we are very value driven within company. Right. And that was part of my impetus for starting Ellen was it was you know, I really wanted to create a value driven company.
Hannah Kain 00:08:01 So innovation is one of the values. But quality and the entire excellence, which is personal excellence, it’s also excellence as a team collaboration. I think one of the strengths most women have is collaboration. And so I you know, I think collaboration is a big, big winner these days. Right. and so and then diversity respect that. You know, so those values I, I they are for that fundamental to where the business is. So sometimes you get people in who are not aligned with the values and you need to work to that. So that’s part of sometimes, you know, you go, well that person may be really competent, but they’re really destroying our values. And you need to wear to that. Another thought is, so that’s on a very technical side. So personnel decisions are more strategic than we think about in the moment. Right. And. Then, of course. it’s which direction should the company go? Where? The opportunities. Right. And that’s why we all need to recharge on and off and we set our brains and look at new opportunities.
Hannah Kain 00:09:21 So, you know, those type of things where I see an opportunity and I’m like, we should try to go for that. Can we investigate that? So one of the things we did last year, you know, I’ve always joked if I, you know, ten years back or something, if I give, if I could get a patent, it would be on really great battery technology. Right. And come to come to the batteries are like key things. Problem is Batteries can sell at night. Right? And so I understand batteries. You can get something called thermal runaway and they can ignite. And so storing them is not so easy. So I was like well nobody’s really doing that well. And we have some customers who have batteries and maybe we can generate the business around that. And out of those thoughts, we put together a Tiger team to investigate it. And we hired some really strong experts in that area. And we built a facility to store the batteries in a safe manner.
Hannah Kain 00:10:25 custom built for this purpose. And so it’s a state of the art, award winning facility. So those are some of the innovations coming out of that.
Andi Simon 00:10:35 But that is just wonderful on many scores because I’m an observation person, you saw something with an unmet need and no solution. And you could mourn the fact that there’s no solution or you can find a solution and create a whole new business opportunity. I had a battery design company as a client in 2007, and, and, and this was a big issue, both in terms of getting longer lasting ones, getting rechargeable ones, but storing them and batteries unhappy if they’re not in the right places and they’re essential. So this became really a whole opportunity for you to differentiate yourself from everybody else and offer something completely fantastic. if you’re thinking about that, that’s not the only I, I’m sure. but I also think that the state we’re in right now is ripe for reinvention. and I’m, I’m wondering if you’ve had a recent opportunity to step away and look at your business in the light of, you know, I think at the five TS, we have the tariff question, the tax question, the talent question, the technology question.
Andi Simon 00:11:44 Right. And the trademark, where are we going for trade and for you? I have a hunch those are all imploding at the same time.
Hannah Kain 00:11:52 Yeah. So the, you know, today, these days, it’s shifting by the hour, right? And so, so that different ways of dealing with that. But basically you need to first start understanding the ecosystem. And that’s been part of what I’ve been working at. Fortunately I’m very fortunate. I have a big network of and information system and people who keep me informed. Right. And so that’s why I’m so engaged in the community. I like to give back. But I also get from the community and part of getting from the communities, all the information flowing in at this point of time. And so, certainly I step back and I look at, so what’s going on? and I try to not be too involved in the, in each individual Drama situation. And I think that’s easy for people to be pulled into.
Hannah Kain 00:12:52 Oh my God, now this is happening. Right? And there’s a kind of the fear of missing out the FOMO and all those types of things. And, and so looking at that little bit bigger picture, I think is important. you probably heard a lot of companies ordered a lot in first quarter to get it in before the tariffs, etc. Right. And we haven’t heard the end of that story, because sometimes when you order so early on and you order a lot, then you get stuck with inventory you cannot use. You have to write it off the following years. you know, that’s no fun, right? so, or you sit on a bottle that’s just become obsolete or, like we are in the medical space, right? Where a product often expires. Right. and so, that’s also not good to have a lot of inventory and then you cannot sell it. So people overreact when they get too much into the that that instant thing. Oh it’s exciting right. And I think we are attracted to it because we have this adrenaline going and you know, and we feel we are doing things.
Hannah Kain 00:14:03 I like to step back a little bit. I, you know, I am a part of my morning routine is when I’m in the shower, I’m thinking about what’s the most important thing I can do for my company today. Right. But it’s, you know, a lot of people go, oh, I’ve got to do this, and I’ve got to do that right? And, you know, you’re on the. And I’m thinking, what’s the most important thing I can do? Right. And that’s not just my company, it’s my customers. It’s the entire ecosystem. So I’m very much an ecosystem person. I’m looking at the entire ecosystem, whether it’s suppliers or customers or employees or the communities we are in. And so I look at what’s the most important thing I can do today and, and, and how can I put that in front of my, in the front of my agenda. So instead of just starting the emails and, you know, going into the churn and the on the, on the hamster wheel, right.
Hannah Kain 00:15:02 You know, trying to do that. But then I also think a couple of things. When I, when, when, you know, I, I am a firm believer you are planning for 95% of everything at the remaining 5% you can deal with. Now, if you don’t plan for the 95% right, then all of a sudden, you’re dealing with 100% of trouble. And, and that becomes really stressful and especially in the environment we are in right now where tariffs can really sidetrack everybody. Right. And so one of the things we did as part of our planning, apart from visibility to where our suppliers and their suppliers are, Is to near source. So 80% of our suppliers are within 100 miles of one of our facilities. And when you own supply chain, each time there’s a border crossing there’s risk. So by having done that upfront we have some level of risk mitigation. It’s not that risk goes away. It never does. Right. But it becomes a little bit easier now we can deal with all the other issues right.
Hannah Kain 00:16:09 So we have planned ahead I’d say in this environment I thought I had covered 95%. Maybe I in this environment only have covered 60 or 70%, but it’s better to not have anything covered. Right? And then you have got really great people who can deal with those exceptions that you need to deal with. So that’s one way of, of, of mitigating the situation you’re in. And the other way of looking at this building in agility. How can you get earlier warning signals? How can you, be able to react really fast? Right. How can you have controls but not have so much bureaucracy that you cannot act fast, right. So those type of things be really prudent about to be very clear about what your process is for certain things. So this entire planning around being agile and being able to get information fast and react fast. Right. So those two things really are what, to a large extent has helped us and helped our customers navigate these waters. We’re still in there.
Hannah Kain 00:17:27 We’re still in choppy waters. But hey.
Andi Simon 00:17:29 but, you know, I have a hunch, that the waters have always been choppy. Sometimes they feel more, like a monsoon. But. But at the end of the day, business for all of us is never smooth, and I think that part of our success is being agile. Do you? I’m curious because I’ve been talking particularly to women leaders, some of whom are really. Fragile when it comes to the numbers. And my feeling is that the trends that you’re seeing. The leading indicators all come to you through the data. And I’d love you if you can talk about what do you see? How do you stay agile without the data? And in anthropology we talked a long, long, long time ago. Data out of context has no meaning. So the data by itself is neat, but without meaning has no value at all. And so as I’m coaching these people, I’m trying to help them understand that you got to start with the data.
Andi Simon 00:18:26 And end the day with the data. Because in there you’ll see you’ll see the story of what’s actually happening. I have a hunch you have a particular affection for those as opposed to, you know, if we ignore it. I don’t know if we can stay agile. What are your thoughts?
Hannah Kain 00:18:44 So I think a couple of things, I think. Data and being able to collect the data and focus on the right information. Right. So I mean there’s a lot of data out there. And so you need to figure out what is the right information. So you start really with the questions. What’s the questions you need to get answered. And what’s it what’s the most important questions. And so that’s another mind game I’m playing with all the time is okay what’s the information I really want. Right. And then it’s like how I get it. And I mean that’s getting easier and easier. I can go back to 1997 and say information was really hard. I mean, even a couple of years back, it was much, much harder than it is today.
Hannah Kain 00:19:32 Right. So, so, a lot I remember back when I had some information I really wanted. There was more future looking out in the future. And I said, this is what I dream about. And I had this employee who created a report for me, and we called it the Dream Report. And we still enjoyed that. So, so, so, you know, you need to dream about what is it you want to what’s the information you really want to get. And I also think that so it’s really important to get information correct information and the pertinent information and get it fast. Yes. Right. So those speed is really important. But what we all have got to remember with data is it’s a rearview mirror. Yes. Right. And where I think great leaders are great leaders because they look out of the windshield, they look out to the, to the. And I think that that you so you need the data. You need to understand what was going on, but to see where the puck is going and what.
Hannah Kain 00:20:43 That’s part of intuition. And I’m not, I’m never discounting intuition because intuition is something we all pay dearly for. I, you know, we have all the battle scars to show for where we got and we, we developed this intuition. Is this going to work? Is this not. And so I listen a lot to my intuition and the intuition of my staff. I you know that knowledge base, that feeling of is that going to fly or not. You know, is this a trustworthy partner? Is this, you know, all those times, I mean, you can you, you know, when you deal with people, you can have a checklist. You know what I mean? First. No. Right. You know, whatever. But then you have to gut feel something is wrong. Right. And, and we’ve got to listen to our gut feel and that’s why I think great leaders, great visionaries are different, right? Because they have that built in.
Andi Simon 00:21:43 But I think this is so interesting because I’ve done several podcasts recently and all of them with women, all of whom talked about their gut feel, their intuition. And I, I guess I really want to bring out a guy and say, now, does your intuition help you? Because I think that what you’re talking about is a, a sixth sense, a feel that is connected to the brain. But in fact, we decide with the heart and the gut how does it and comes from our experiences? and some work and some didn’t. And those taught us a whole lot about how to feel what’s coming. I’m wondering, do you get out into the field at all as an anthropologist? I often take my clients out to their clients and to the factories where their products are worked, because they can’t imagine what’s actually going on and the ideas they have come from in the office. They have no idea what’s really going on. Do you go exploring? Are you an exploratory?
Hannah Kain 00:22:37 Yeah, I definitely am an explorer.
Hannah Kain 00:22:40 And I like to explore the entire ecosystem. Right. You know, as I said, you know, from suppliers, customers, customers, customers, and employees. And yes, I get a lot of information from employees. Spend time talking with the employees walking around. Yesterday was a walk around. They spoke with a lot of employees understanding what they’re doing and what they’re seeing. Right. And so yeah, I definitely pulled that information in. But then I also look at the bigger ecosystem, the. And again, right now it’s a real interesting balance to keep yourself informed without being pulled into all the details and the stress of, of the instant changes and stuff like that. So I’m, I try to look for the trends. I like to like to look at what is most likely to happen. Right. And, and of course, I look at things that potentially could be catastrophic and how that would impact. But I look at the likelihood of things happening and, and where, where I think the big changes are.
Hannah Kain 00:23:56 And one thing, one thing. a friend of mine, we were talking about this entire risk management, which has become a really big discipline, and of course, especially in supply chain. And she said, well, maybe we are getting so focused on risk that we forget the opportunity. Right. And very wise.
Andi Simon 00:24:18 Human, very.
Hannah Kain 00:24:18 Wise worth a risk to. Fine. But, you know, that’s a risk in itself is to, to not look at the opportunity. And so again, I, you know, I like to surround myself with, with people who can point things out that are okay. Hannah, you’re going down into the wet hole here. You need to look at things a little bit differently.
Andi Simon 00:24:42 You know, if you’re wearing a belt and suspenders, I can appreciate it. But at some point, you really need to think about how you built this from the beginning. Because as an entrepreneur, which is what you were, and even your battery story said, I could see opportunities through what I was seeing and feeling that allowed me to open up new ways of providing value innovatively.
Andi Simon 00:25:06 You were very much a blue ocean thinker. Can me if you can. 1 or 2 things that it’s safe to share that others should be thinking about when this is when you know when you wake up in the morning in your shower. Some of those urgent, important things is the technology the biggest opportunity coming as a blockchain? Is it I, I mean are there is that fourth industrial revolution Evolution going to be so revolutionary. Somebody said to me, for my grandson is interested in supply chain analytics, and he’s in college and he’s got a summer internship with a supply chain company. and I said, how interesting. Someone said, but they won’t need humans before you know it. I said, well, maybe, but I think you still.
Speaker 3 00:25:55 Yeah. Yeah. So. So.
Hannah Kain 00:25:58 Yeah. So, I mean, I think, technology is really, key to success and supply chain, right? and, and I hold out great hope. Hopes for artificial intelligence now. Going back to you mentioned blockchain and I famously said, four years ago that I thought that nobody needed to look at blockchain for at least another three years.
Hannah Kain 00:26:22 And I will take on to that because blockchain is really a collaborative tool, right. And when it comes to supply chain, nobody right now is collaborating. Everybody is sitting in their own silo, right? So, for instance, if the customs authorities were signing on to a blockchain solution and blockchain, you know, then everybody else could tie into that. And all of a sudden, we could, you know, eliminate a lot of paperwork. But, you know, having a million different blockchain solutions doesn’t do anything for anybody. So, so, so, you know, I’m putting blockchain aside for now. I want to see some real stuff before. Before I believe in that. So artificial intelligence is really important. And it’s one of the things I speak with my chief technology officer about at least once a week. Right. is how we leverage it. so we have, seen great strides in one big area, which is how, how I processes images. And you probably know that because if you have a phone where you store your images and you do a search on it, I mean, you can see, when you were with this person, you can search for that person or that location or whatever, and it will put up the right photos.
Hannah Kain 00:27:49 Right. And it’s the same in in supply chain. We have a lot of physical things going on. And so being able to see for instance, the, the forklift drivers have and the accident that they didn’t report. Right. or the, it was a quality error that the system is catching because it knows that something needs to happen. Right? You know, so those type of things just getting much, much better. So we are using artificial intelligence in those areas. then there’s what really gets my juices flowing. I mean, you press the button here. And that’s okay in the future. Looking at the future, getting predictability into the equation. Right. So one of the things that’s really hard in supply chain is you have systems that are very static, right. All the systems are based on that. You have one more picture. And that one picture is essentially the way the world looked 30 years ago. And then you’ve got the picture that’s happening now, which is part strikes and, you know, a Suez Canal and lots of weather issues and tariff fluctuations and overbooking of container ships and a lot of other things.
Hannah Kain 00:29:13 And what you really want to know, again, getting back to what’s the important question is when does my shipment arrive at my talk? Or when do I need to place the order for the shipment to arrive at my talk at a certain day? Certainty. And so artificial intelligence ought to be able to calculate that. Right. Because now it can predict what the weather is going to be and a lot of other things. And. And, and the route. And how busy is that route going to be. It should be able to. Come up and say you need to place that order on March 20th. but if you can do it ten days earlier, you can save 5%.
Andi Simon 00:29:53 Yes.
Hannah Kain 00:29:54 Right, right. That’s what we want. We want the future to come in and that is going to happen. do I want to put a stake in the ground? right. But I mean, that’s going to happen gradually over the next 5 to 10 years. we are already seeing a lot of people toying with things, but, you know, sort of the bigger thinking around those 5 to 10 years out.
Hannah Kain 00:30:19 So I think that that’s really exciting.
Andi Simon 00:30:22 But, you know, you’re just, that’s a risk reduction Action and an opportunity enhancement story. You know, if I can put into my eye service the variables that matter and come back with some reduction of the risks and better clarity of what to do, then I’m not winging it. It’s not an old way of ready shooting. and but it also reduces across the whole ecosystem, the risks that everybody else has as well. The containers have a better idea. The manufacturers have a better idea. You can streamline processes that are cumbersome. And boy, can that reduce cost and waste and that, that, that, that whoever is developing that should be able to do it faster than 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 years? Because men I mean, I can think of what you could sell.
Hannah Kain 00:31:16 Well, the, the, the thing is that we have a lot of complexity built into the supply chain and, and, and what has actually happened over the last ten years is that the complexity has grown faster than the technology.
Hannah Kain 00:31:31 Yes. And so that’s why everybody in the supply chain is running around trying to fix things. You know, where we’re like, you know.
Andi Simon 00:31:40 The.
Hannah Kain 00:31:42 The pipe has a lot of goals and we’re trying to fix it. Right.
Andi Simon 00:31:45 But Band-Aid.
Hannah Kain 00:31:47 Yeah. Right. So if you look at all the legislative issues, all the stuff coming out in different locations, all the regulatory stuff, I mean, there’s just a lot of things coming in and our tolerance for, for certain things that should not be in the supply chain, such as child labor has gone down. Right. So how to make sure that the supplier gives the order to doesn’t use child labor. Well, that may not be so difficult. But then they use 20 different suppliers. And how about them. Yeah. So you know so you know we have decided that we want to do that. So there’s a lot of complexity built in and the technology is just not following along. So my hope is with AI we’ll get to that point and get this off.
Hannah Kain 00:32:39 But it’s not it’s not an easy, easy thing. So you know I know some of the big players.
Andi Simon 00:32:46 I can only imagine how you wake up in the morning and hop in the shower and think about how, what’s the one thing I got to focus on for the sake of my whole ecosystem? Because you’re not thinking about just your company knowing you. You’re thinking about the entire process from everybody across the whole spectrum. This is it’s been a really interesting conversation.
Hannah Kain 00:33:06 And it’s not it’s not just what’s urgent because I, I, I discern very much between what’s urgent and what’s important. Right. And if it’s urgent but not important, it’s not a task for me. Yes. Right. It’s a question whether we even want to address it. Right. And, and you know, too many people think that urgent and important are the same. They are not. They’re very different. Right? So for me, an important task, right? if a task is both urgent and important, you know, that’s fine.
Hannah Kain 00:33:37 It will make the list, right?
Andi Simon 00:33:39 So, you know. But if you don’t scrub it that way, everything becomes necessary at the moment, and nothing gets prioritized. And there are only so many hours in the day. One left to take a walk. Occasionally. Also, and I think this has been a fantastic conversation. I’m so thrilled to have met you and to have brought you on. I’m sitting here saying, we shall do this again in maybe six months to see what’s next as where? Because I think the catalytic moments are coming up faster and they are all important. Maybe, but there’s a lot of transfer, and people hate change. You know, the brain says, please stop. I don’t want to know this. You know, I just got to want to get my product here. and I don’t think it’s going to be quote unquote, easier if we bring manufacturing back to this country, because I don’t think it’s going to be the same kind of manufacturing necessarily, that’s going on wherever else things are being manufactured today, whether it’s Vietnam or wherever.
Andi Simon 00:34:37 It’s not simple, is it?
Hannah Kain 00:34:40 It’s not simple. But I do think that there are opportunities to bring some manufacturing back to the US. It’s a long-term strategy and we need to work on that. And I do believe that there’s a lot of advantages in doing that, both for the general population and from a security safety standpoint, etc. and, and of course, sustainability. Right. But so I think all of those factors play in and I think, it’s, it would be great to get more manufacturing back, but manufacturing doesn’t happen overnight. Right. So we’ve got to we’ve got to all of us understand the time frame it takes and stick with the long-term goal.
Andi Simon 00:35:26 Yes. Well and that’s true. I mentioned to you I had a client in the who manufactured chain in China, and the cost of transporting it was so extensive. And, and then you had an empty boat, you know, you can only put so much into it.
Andi Simon 00:35:40 He ended up putting a lot of pillows in. So he built a plant in Mississippi, and this is many years ago, and it turned into a very successful made in America plant for chain of all kinds. And we work with them on how to expand beyond simply the made in America standard chain into lots of complexity. and he discovered that there was real advantage to being able to be agile here and, and to reduce the time frames from idea to deliverable. And there were lots of and it wasn’t that hard to achieve that. He brought all the equipment over and just reopened a plant here. So it can be done and we can do it well.
Hannah Kain 00:36:18 And hopefully at some point of time we can deliver the equipment too, right?
Speaker 4 00:36:23 That’s true.
Hannah Kain 00:36:25 I think. Also, many companies, underestimate how much effort goes into managing overseas suppliers. Right. And, and so, you know, at the time, the effort, flying back and forth, the mistakes, and then, of course, the lead time where things sit on a boat and get obsolete in the meantime.
Hannah Kain 00:36:49 So, again, depending on what people are producing, it’s worth thinking about reshoring. So, so reshoring, meaning locating manufacturing plants and distribution facilities close to the market. And, and so that could be in the US, or it could be wherever the market is.
Andi Simon 00:37:09 Well, it’s an interesting time to be in the world that we’re in. I was going to say in the business you’re in, but I do think it’s the world that we’re in is going through some real Thinking, and I’m sort of excited to see where we go with it. I could be unhappy, but I’m really not that kind of person. I see opportunities. Are there risks? Absolutely. Are there risks before? Absolutely. So let’s enjoy a very journey that that’s no destination and lots of opportunities. Right.
Hannah Kain 00:37:38 I predict that this year was going to be the toughest year yet for supply chain professionals. And on my on my friends went Hannah. Have you forgotten about Covid and all the problems? And I know I did not.
Hannah Kain 00:37:53 I remember very well, but, you know, I think, the, the disruptions we are seeing right now are really challenging for supply chain professionals playing a game. You don’t know the rules. And so that’s a big challenge. But it’s time that that challenge is also opportunities. Right. So that’s the flip side of it.
Andi Simon 00:38:19 Well, and I’ll wake up in the morning and remember to go to my shower and think about the most important things to think about, I think. And if they’d like to reach you, is there a good way to get Ahold of you? Because I think our listeners might want to, I don’t know, find out more about what you do and how you do it.
Hannah Kain 00:38:35 Well, I am on LinkedIn, so I’m really, really easy to find. Okay. one word. So, after your LinkedIn, and, and of course we have a website. Ellen. Com and, I can be reached via that.
Andi Simon 00:38:51 And we will have all of that up on our blog.
Andi Simon 00:38:53 This has been such fun. I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed this. Thank you for joining me today.
Hannah Kain 00:38:58 Oh, it was my pleasure. Thanks for a fun discussion.
Andi Simon 00:39:02 For all of you who come. Thank you for coming. You have lifted us into the top 5% of global podcasts and I can’t thank you enough. It’s almost you know; I have my two podcasts ago are from New Zealand and one was from Paris. And the world is quite interesting in terms of everyone coming to want to share their stories. My books are all available at Amazon and you can find them at Andy Simon. Com and my website, Simon Associates dot net tells you more about what we do and how we do it. And I must say, these are fast changing times. When I launched my business 23 years ago, my PR firm said, you’re a corporate anthropologist that helps companies change. And I went, yep. And then he said, and nobody wants you. And I said, I know that everything stays the same, but nothing does.
Andi Simon 00:39:47 So I’m here to help. And it would be a pleasure to help you. And Hannah has been with us today talking about some really interesting times. We shall return. Give us six months or so, and then we’ll see whether this was the year where supply chain professionals were really, opportunistic. it turned, I don’t know, all kinds of challenges into wonderful new stuff. And I do think that the technology is going to help. Goodbye, my friend. Thank you again. Bye.
