How Supply Chain Leaders Can Thrive Through Constant Disruption

Hey, Scott Luden with Supply Chain now. Welcome to our continuing coverage of Modex 2026 right here in Atlanta. And I tell you, this has been the center of the universe at least for a few days for all things global supply chain. And I've been talking with the movers and shakers, making it happen, driving innovation, driving change, transformation, changing the nature of work across industry. And I'm going to continue that here today. Meeting with my friend Gee Katon with Texas. Gee, how you doing, — Scott? How are you? — I'm wonderful. Now, you're on several top 10 lists. — Top 10 of what? I don't know. — Well, you know what? I'm about to share a couple. I did some homework beyond your supply chain prowess. Okay. I've got you top five of the best dressed in global supply chain. — Only top five. And where in the top five am I? — Uh number three at least this week. That changes from week to week. — Oh, who's one and two? — I'll disclose that later. And then you still rank number one on best hair in global supply chain. — I appreciate that. I appreciate it's a hard work to keep that number one status. — So, and you were about to share some secrets before we went on. Uh you know, hair care products, that kind of stuff. It's up to you if you want to share your secrets. You don't want to drop down on that list. — Well, you know, I want to elevate people, Scott. I don't want to see myself. I want to share my wealth. So, like what I tell my kid is you always, you know, always use conditioner. Yes. — I use Bumble and Bumble, which I will thank uh Amy for giving me the Bumble and Bumble. I think it's a fantastic brand. And if Bumble and Bumble is listening and they want to free send me some free samples, by all means, reach out. — Uh and then as the famous Sam Malone said, uh always tip the hair wash girl. Sam Malone of Cheers notoriety, right? — And there you go. Simple. — So, all right. So, bum bumble. We got to figure out what that is and uh I'll be circling back with you. Um All right. So, World Cup we discovered uh and you know, we've had a lot of conversations over the years. I just found out something new about you. I didn't know you were a big time soccer fan, football fan, whatever you want to call it. — Big time might be an understatement. Um Yeah. So, I'll I'll regail you with sort of my little story. So, — Okay. Please. a young little ghee back in 1982. For those of you who are soccer fans might know this year, 190 World Cup, Espa in Sevilla semi-finals versus France, my home country, my team, my love versus at the time West Germany. — 1-1 after regulation. Go in extra time. France goes up 3-1 through a goal by Marcus Treor and then Anir. — I'm a 10-year-old kid. I'm running around. So now you can figure out how old I am now, but I'm a 10-y old kid running around thinking we'd won. We're going to the finals. Now, West Germany comes back 3-2 3-3 goes the penalty kicks. Maxim Bosis misses. We're out. Germany goes West Germany goes through. [snorts] But that started my love for football for soccer and it's continued ever since. Uh and we could spend hours Yes. talking about this. I will one shameless plug for this guy. Like uh I've been on the BBC — because of my love of football, because of Michelle Platini, my favorite player. And uh years and years ago I was actually asked to be on the BBC and talk about Platini and Okay, — it was fantastic. So yes, on my CV I will say I was on the BBC because I was. — Okay, now the more you know. I had no idea. Gee, uh we're going to have a talk a lot more. Maybe we'll talk about the logistics of the World Cup. Absolutely. On our next conversation. — Uh but for now, — now that we've got hair products and the World Cup out of the way, — uh we are going to talk about supply chain. And I tell you, — um, I've really enjoyed our conversations over the years. Uh, always appreciate your fresh, uh, perspective you bring in the conversations, but I want to start with kind of setting the table a bit. You know, I've been putting my finger on the pulse with, I don't know, probably 20 folks, 25 folks this week, and starting usually with this current supply chain landscape. Now, look, I know sometimes I can come off maybe um, uh, what's the phrase? Uh, a little na I'll just say naive, right? Cuz I know — optimistic. That's right. I know what comes with the territory, right? We all know. But you still got to kind of lift the hood sometimes and kind of remind ourselves what exactly is going on in this highly disruptive landscape. So, you know, between geopolitical, regulatory, trade, I mean, you name it, — in all your conversations between customers and supply chain leaders out there you're rubbing elbows with, what do you find to be some common priorities for them to get through this year? — Yeah, you know, I think Scott, you're absolutely right. You and I have seen a lot of this uh through the years we've covered this industry. — I think what's interesting is that the level of disruption we're seeing today and it's less so the disruption, it's the uncertainty of the disruption — is really creating a massive ripple effect. And that ripple effect is companies in the supply chain holding cash back, — right? They're just not willing to invest and spend whether it's in new systems, hardware technology, a new warehouse, etc. Why?

It's not because of the disruption. It's because of the uncertainty of it. And I think that's the reality. I think you know you and I have probably seen this a million times like supply chains by their very nature are used to disruption right whether it's a small disruption like which small in one level like a fire in a warehouse or a truck breaks down on the side of the road to massive disruptions right like tsunamis like global pandemics like wars — I think supply chain professionals are inherently prepared for disruption what they're not prepared for is the craziness of disruptions mostly man-made where, oh, we're having a tariff. No, we're not having a tariff. Oh, there's a war starting that no one saw coming. Right? These types of disruptions that are kind of coming out of nowhere, but are doing so almost on a weekly basis. That's what's really creating what I'm seeing today. And what the ripple effect is really just cash being put on the sideline. — Yep. — Frequency, you know, frequency. You know, you look at a lot of studies. Uh the big four had, you know, I think it was McKenzie came out looking back 100 years at disruptions and I can't remember the numbers exactly, but you know, back in the, you know, 50 years ago, it was once a month, right? — And now it's to your point, weekly, if not sometime a couple times a week. — Yeah. — Um and the other thing I'll call out that you mentioned a couple times is holding that cash back on the sidelines. You know, we've been for I was talking to someone here at Modex and I was telling them about this um really innovative startup company we've been working with for a couple years. Uh our friends at DOSS and DOSs just announced a month or two ago a $55 million I think series B fundraising round. I was sharing that story — and the guy who's been around active in investment cycles for decades looks at me and goes, "Man, getting that right now, they're doing something good. " Right? kind of to your point because folks are the uncertainty we're kind of parking things on the sidelines. — Um all right, I want to um talk about we're here at Modeex. — You know, if it's not the center of the global supply chain this week, it certainly is the center for automation and robotics in supply chain at least this week. Give me some of your observations in terms of how that whole space continues to evolve. — Yeah, absolutely. I think what's really fascinating, Scott, is I heard this number and I haven't validated. So, but you know what? you hear number once, you know, as a good marketer, I'm take it and run with it. — Uh there are over 130 robotics vendors here at Modeex in the center of the universe, Atlanta, Georgia right now. — That's impressive. And I mean, I talked to a bunch of students the other day about this and I sort of gave him a pop quiz like, you know, how many independent robotic OEMs are out there globally, — right? — And I did this the other day. I used our AI overlord to ask the question, you know, a few week a year ago it was about 600. Now it's like close to 800 independent robotic OEMs. — And you and I have both seen this, right? Are they all going to be around? No. There's going to be consolidation, merger, acquisitions, people out of business, etc. But what it tells me is that this space still remains very young, uh, very wild west. It also tells me that there's still a lot of there's no great solution for each use case, meaning there's room for growth in each use case of the warehouse, which I take as a very positive side, right? because I think as we continue to have more competition and more players trying to solve the same problem, it's going to create better solutions and at the end day for the warehouse professionals offer them really much more robust solutions that they can leverage. So for me, that's what I'm looking for, right? Is that we're still in the early days. Uh Rick Faul over at Locus says this, you know, we're still in the first inning — of this. I agree. I think we're maybe in the bottom half of the first inning, uh but we're still in the first inning, right? Um, and maybe there's two outs in the bottom of the first inning, what have you. But I think what we're seeing is that there is still tremendous opportunity out there because we have not come up yet with the best solution for whether it's picking, putaway, cycle counting, pointto-oint, crosscking, etc. So, that's the exciting part for me. It man, you need to do a Ric Flair woo because you're on fire. Uh, all right. I'm pulling something out. I like how you use the Wild West right now. I like the baseball analogy, too. But I'm going to put you on the spot. Yeah. — So, you think of Billy the Kid? Who's the Billy the Kid in the 800 robotics companies? Any names come to mind? — That's a good one. — You know, a little bit of Outlaw, Rebel, but he's rugged enough to, — you know, make things happen, good or bad. — I think it maybe Let's take it another way. Let's look at uh uh look at Tombstone, right? And look at who White Yeah. Who are the herbs and all that? The big player. I think you're looking at the Locustes, the auto stores, um, Okado at some level, uh, right sort of these I want to say tried and true because they're still pretty young themselves, but those are sort of the the gold standard bears, — right? — What you're seeing is you're seeing a lot of these smaller guys, right? And I think like robust AI, you're thinking of guys like uh Jacobe, right? We're thinking of guys at that level that are

now sort of swirling around looking at smaller use cases that are I think are going to be as disruptive as when we were doing each is picking. — So I think there's a couple out there. Um there's probably a dozen more that I just don't know of. I mean I'd like to think I know a lot but I really don't when it comes to some of this. There's so much out there to look at. — There's so much. I mean you think about just in the in global supply chain and that new cycle innovation cycle development cycle challenge and friction cycle and then you take just a subsection of that being this massive space that is tons of investment tons of innovation and growing from 600 800 to your point. So one final question before I move on to um getting some of your advice is you mentioned tombstone and you can't mention Tombstone without mentioning Doc Holiday, right? I'll be — the late Val, right? Late Val Kilmer, one of the best movie characters and portrayals in modern film. — Yeah. — So, who is you? And I love how you got the big players and then you got some upstarts. Who's a Doc Holliday? [sighs and gasps] — Everybody wants to be around them. — Everyone They're so cool. I mean, I thought it was me, but no. Um, — all right. You're the Doc Holiday. — I don't know if there is one. That's the problem. because it is still 800 vendors, — right? And I would argue too, Scott, like some of the — some of the integrators like Knap and those guys who are offering their own, they want to be the doc holiday. I think — I think they're not right. I think — maybe not yet. — Bottom of first inning. — Bottom first inning. And I would say a lot of them the problem with them is that they are still in a way stuck in maybe is the wrong term, but they're still too wed with the oldfashioned way of thinking of warehouse, which is let's put steel in the ground. — Let's put ribbons and ribbons of stuff that's metallic and not flexible into your warehouse. — There's still room for that, don't get me wrong, but I think as we move forward with the evolution of robotics, — it's a lot more about flexibility. scaling up, scaling down on a quick basis. It's less about steel on the ground and more about automation that is user worker friendly and warehouse friendly. — You know, uh I love that you use the word old-fashioned. Uh we got to uh if we can beat the tombstone in global supply chain, great. But we don't want to do it like 1994 when that movie came out, right? We need to do it like it's 20 like it's really 2046 maybe. — Yes. — So, we'll see who emerges as the infamous Doc Holiday. Uh I want to get some advice. You we talked earlier about just this modern age of constant disruption and of course uncertainty and a variety of layers. Some that we're creating regularly and some that you know is out of our control. A lot of it's Of course all the friction and the heartburn and pressure and challenges that throws at supply chain pros that are used to some degree large degree, — you know, managing all that stuff, but we're really we're feeding from the fire hose here lately. So what would be a couple pieces of advice to supply chain leaders trying to lead their teams their talented teams through this era? — I you know I think advice that I would give which again is nothing earthshattering but it's focus on what you can control. I know that sounds super cliched and kind of corny but it's really you know from our personal lives into our professional lives end of the day we can only control what we can control. the things that are outside of control like I get it you it keeps us up at night — but if you can't control it you know don't worry doesn't mean we don't plan for it right and I think that's part of what we're seeing in supply chain it's more of — can you control a war in Iran or the war in you no you can't but can you plan for what you can control that might be impacted by that yes right and I think one of the great examples I saw and this isn't a large scale not around the war but you know Proctor and Gamble does a really good job of this where they really map out their entire network supplier supplier supplier suppliers and they start looking at all of their nodes in their supply chain and start identifi identifying where are points of risk weakness etc and then start game planning well what happens if one of my suppliers is you know stuck because their supplies come out of the straight of Hormuz and once that stops they can't produce fertilizer what do I can I secondarily source something if I can't what does that do and sometimes there's nothing you can do but can you at least be aware of it and plan a contingency plan for your customers on what happens. I think that's what we need to do as supply chain professionals. It's hard, right? Because as our, you know, the nomenclature of supply chain, right, implies a linear chain, which we all know it's a messy bunch of spaghetti. — Um, so it's always hard to identify sometimes all those points, but I think it's a worthwhile exercise that we all have to do, — especially supply chain professionals, but recognize that you know what, you're not going to control everything. Yeah. — But the things you can control, what can you do? those that you can't control. How do you prepare for what might happen? And then prepare. And that also too, Scott, it goes across the board. It's not just your supply chain. It's also your marketing department, your

sales, — right? — Your R& D, your HR. Why? Because does it impact people? Does it impact your marketing message? end customer? What are the plans you put in place to meet those? And I think that's only thing we can really do. It's not easy, but you got to do it. — Man, you're on fire. Darl, we need some speakers headed out because he is bringing it today as if it's like day one. All right, so two things from what you shared there. You called out PNG. Hey, there's a reason why PNG's got the brand and the reputation. Um, and they're such a training ground, a proving ground for leaders that go on to do other big things. Um, like the John Wayne Global Supply Chain, Jake Bar, right? Uh, and another thing you mentioned you and um you spoke about, but I kind of want to put a finer point on. I can't remember who first said it, right? But something like no crisis goes to waste. — Yes. — And you know, if there's one thing that's really uh it's been a good silver lining from the pandemic to geopolit uh the Russian invasion of Ukraine to the trade wars and everything we're sitting dealing with right now is to your point is training supply chain leaders. you know that they're sharp. Supply chain professionals are sharp. You might burn them once, but that second time they're going to be a bit more prepared and by the time the third time happens, they're going to have a plan. And it's really they've learned I think our industry has learned so much from all the friction and [snorts] worse over the last couple years and it's fueling innovation and we're seeing it. Your quick thoughts there. — Absolutely. I think you know necessity is the mother of invention. Is that the other cliche? Right. Um, and the quote about, you know, no uh no disruption goes unearned or whatever that I think that was Church Hill. — Um, you can always contribute quotes at Churchill uh — and make a lot of people mad. — people. Yeah. Uh, better than Stalin. But anyways, another story, another day. Um, I agree, Scott, because I think it's it's, you know, steel or sharpen steel, right? And — I think those supply chain professionals that find a way to get through some of these disruptions. Y — find a way not just to survive but sometimes to thrive. They're just going to take those experiences and grow from them, right? They're going to grow the callous that you need — to deal with this industry. This industry is tough, right? This industry will chew you up and spit you out. That's right. — I know people talk about finance and the legal industry. I think supply chain's right up there, right? It's not as sexier as oh, you know, you're driving the Maserati around because you may partner at some big law firm. Um but we you and I both know that the world does not function without supply chains. And we saw this at the pandemic, right? I think I've told the story before, but I'll repeat it. Uh it was the first time my mom called me and said, "I know what you do now. " — I've had a I've had 3,000 iterations of that story in the last four or five years, man. — Right. And and it was like finally my mom understand. But I think what we're seeing is that we have to constant and the challenge the hard part of supply chains is that it doesn't function on a quarterly basis. It's not like, hey, we're by the end of the quarter. Let's finish our sales, right? Let's take a breath. Let's relax for a couple weeks, go to club, and then we come back. No. Supply chains, they don't take time off in the summer. for holidays. — And I think for supply chain professionals to recognize that the lessons you're going through today, can you apply them tomorrow? Because guess what? This is one thing. — If someone tells me this again, I'm going to ring their neck. There's no new normal. — We got a whole series called Oh man, we're going have to rename it. Don't ring the neck. Don't ring. I'll blame it on Jake. — Yeah. But think about that. What is the new normal? Because if you go before the pandemic, right? — Let's look at retail. Well, before the pandemic, there was this company called Amazon that was disrupting retail. Before that, there was a company called Walmart were malls disrupting mom and pop stores. So, disruption in the retail side has just been constant. So, the new normal was, well, who else going to come disrupt my business? That's the new normal. But that's been normal since the days of Greek trades, right? Back in the,200 BC, right? So I don't believe this, oh the new normal because of the pandemic. Yeah, the pandemic was big. I get it. I don't want to dismiss it. — But in terms of supply chain professionals, we've been with disruption small to big forever. — That's right. All right. No more Greek history because I'm really weak in that subject. Okay. Is that a deal? Uh, all right. So let's talk about Texas. So we've re we've really painted quite a picture. We've set quite a table and I think we've kept it real and you and the Texas team are helping a lot of organizations address a lot of things we've mentioned. So for the three people out there that don't know what you and Texas do, tell us a bit. — Absolutely. So Texas, we are a supply chain execution vendor. Uh we are focused primarily right now in the healthcare space. That's where the most of our over half our revenue comes from. But we also work with distribution, you know, spare parts, cat dealerships, etc. Uh at the end of the day, Scott, we're a supply chain execution engine. WS point of use, you know, those types of solutions. And I think the exciting part for us is that we really see in the

healthc care space the need for what I would consider more of a supply chain platform, — right, — attitude or vision, — which I think we've been talking about this in supply chain now for decades, but I think the healthcare side is finally recognizing the importance of it. Y — uh and I think it's a it's fantastic opportunity for us to give them that solution. you know, I don't want to go too down too far down this path, but health care they I mean, of course, it's there's a lot of volume of need there now. demand now, but what's coming — I mean, I I'm really I'm taking heart at um from what I'm seeing personally and my experiences and what I'm reading about and how we're talking with healthcare leaders. I'm sure you can say the same. We're seeing innovation. We are — we're seeing innovation. It probably not to discount any other sector of global business but when it's truly you know life and death. Yeah. — And or you know something you know even just — wellness in general the stakes are extremely high and — and you know it's an industry that's been around for a long time. So driving change and transformation when those are the stakes it can be uniquely tricky but we're seeing good things. — Yeah. Good things. And I will say that the interesting part Scott about the healthcare industry as you said you know what is it the hypocratic oath right do no harm y — which is fant great like I want to continue that and in a way there's a challenge be between being a supply chain professional and the health care space why — because in supply chain we're trained for things like reducing inventory safety stock right being lean and mean six sigma just in time all those things that Toyota and others have done which work great — for the car industry, for retail and all this where you know what, if I'm Benon and I do coloring at the last second and I run out of t-shirts and Scott and G don't get their t-shirts, well, that stinks. We lose a customer or sale, right? — But you know what? We're not going to have a fever. medical complications, etc. Whereas in the healthcare space, — I can't afford a stockout, right? I can't afford not to have a drug um a piece of medical device equipment when I need it. Yes. And I think that we're starting to see sort of a convergence of that of well, how can we adapt some of supply chains best practices, — still maintain what we're doing in healthcare, but at least try to bring some of that in there. I don't believe we'll ever get to the point of Toyota where it's, you know, we're leaning out everything in six and that's good — at the end of the day. like, yeah, I want to be efficient, but I my job is to make sure my patients are in good health, right? — First and foremost, and if that means I have overrun on my supply chain, so be it. — We got to uh connect. We got to get Reene Valle here. You've got I don't know if you've met her yet. She uh we we're tickled to have her join u our esteemed co-hosting uh staff and she comes with a Hall of Fame career in healthcare. We got to get you all together. We'll make that happen. But in the meantime, it's so regime, your ears are burning, my friend. Um, you really said a lot of great things there. Um, and it deserves a fuller conversation, but I love your, you know, I caught one of those quotes. Can't afford a stockout in healthcare because that means a family or an individual. You know, it's a life-changing Yeah. — uh, event. Okay. — Uh, and I saw how you threw Benon in there. That's a French-based company, I believe. Right. — Italian. — It's Italian. — My whole life, I thought. Okay. Italian. All right. Gotcha. Um, let's see here. You told us about Texas. Let's talk about one new thing, initiative, development, innovation, some kind of good news. Yep. You know, I'm passionate about good news. — Good news. Good news is good. — That you're excited about that um is at play in the Texas ecosystem. — I think for me, Scott, the good news, back to what we just talked about is how are we employing or taking supply chain knowledge into the pharmacy space? Because I think at the end of the day, what's really interesting too, and as you mentioned, right, and I think you were touching upon this, at least I'm going to bring this out like you know what, we're all getting older. — We all need more medication. I did read something the other day, which is not a good thing, but it's reality. — More and more Americans, younger and younger, are getting lifetime diseases, right? Like diabetes or high blood pressure. What does that mean? That means that the pharmaceutical space is going to be called upon more and more to deliver in a way the miracle drugs that they have created, which is fantastic. But now I think is what's interesting is how do we bring a supply chain discipline to that because the end of the day you know when I'm selling medication drugs what have you supply chain issue right it's moving storing getting it to the end patient in a timely fashion — um and while there's a lot of excess in the pharmaceutical space I think there's a lot of opportunity and I think that's exciting for me a lot of things that we're working on uh in Texas is to address that y — um do I think we have a you know — my marketing hat says we got the greatest solution ever. But the reality is I think we've got a very good solution, but there's still a lot of work to be done. But I think the fact we're addressing it and we're tackling it, I think that's the most important part. — Well said. All right. Two thoughts based

on what you shared. Uh you were talking, yeah, that coming volume, we're all getting older. You got some big generations moving more and depending more and more. And to your point, we're getting diagnosed earlier, which is good, but bad at the same time. And then secondly, you mentioned all the pharmaceutical companies out there. Here's one challenge to all those. stop taking my songs and ruining them in stupid commercials. Can we all agree on that? — Listen, if between pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies, like I don't want to spend money. I hearken I'm going to be an old fddy W here. I hearken back to do days where we had sock puppet dogs, you know, for dog food companies. Like those were fun. — Yes. — I don't need to see more insurance commercials or farm school commercials. Like I'm with you, Scott. Like — ruining great songs. Uh, all right. So, crystal ball time, Ghee. And you know, Daryl knows it. Chris knows it. I've been asking everybody how their crystal ball, what's the health of their crystal ball? How's it been performing? — Mine's pretty dusty. — Well, you know what? I appreciate you keeping it real. We had one guest out there and Luke Dead and I didn't smile. My crystal ball is world class. I was like, man, let's go to Vegas. Uh so gee, tell me, give me one bold, fearless prediction for supply chain over the next year or two. — Bold prediction is uh get ready for more of a roller coaster. Uh I think, you know, I don't think it's a massive prediction in the sense that we're already seeing it. I look at we've got a couple of big events coming this year that I think create tremendous amount of disruption. Yeah. Midterm elections, right? Not to get into politics, but I think midterm elections always create, especially this time around, will create a lot of uncertainty and unknowns. I think the second one is geopolitical of course what's happening in the straight of horm moves in Iran like we don't no one knows what's going to happen but also I carry that out to the Middle East one of the things I was listening the other day which is something I wasn't aware of but the amount of raw material that comes out of the Middle East for fertilizer — and you know growing crops it's not like if I miss planting my seeds in the spring I could just turn around end of summer oh I'll plant them now we'll be fine no it's not like a factor right it's you are uh bespoken if you will to mother nature. So I think those are the disruptions I look for. Um but again I you know to summary Scott I think we should be prepared for this stuff. Like we as supply chain professionals again we — small shout out we don't get enough credit for our ability to deal with disruption — right — sort of go back to the pandemic. When I look back on it the fact that we kept society running it was tough. It wasn't easy. I remember having to walk down only one way down the aisle in the grocery store. But you know what? I still fed my family. I still was able to function. Um, and that was why because of supply chain professionals, right? Supply chains found a way to power through and to solve the problem. So I think for me, my prediction is more disruption, more uncertainty that's going to happen because of these big political, macroeconomic, geopolitical issues. Y — but the positive side, supply chain professionals will figure it out. — We won't get the credit for it. Nope. — But we'll figure it out. — Good stuff. Yeah, I love it. Uh, so Six Flags era continues in global supply chain, right? Great American scream machine. Yep. — Oh man. — Yeah. We're like throwing the upside down the loop, — right? The mind bender. Uh, okay. Then uh, have you ever heard of Paul Harvey's Thank a Farmer? Have you seen this? — I have heard this. — I got to Man, it is powerful. We all do across the world need to thank a farmer. The fertilizer thing is no joke. I've seen Wall Street Journal report that American farmers are choosing to plant soybeans. Yes. Because it requires less fertilizer — than corn. Yep. — That's a big deal. And they're stuck with that. To your point, you don't change next week. Oh, I'm going to do this. And then, of course, I'm tracking helium, too. Yep. — Coming uh having challenges with helium supply. It touches a lot more than the balloons you get local Kroger. Right. Uh all right. — Oh, I don't know if we can talk then. I'm a dedicated Kroger guy. You know, fun little note. At my local Kroger in 37 times a week, way too much, but it's real close. — Yeah. — And like I mentioned, it's my social activity. That's how old I am. — They put in poker machines at my local Kroger. — Yeah. There's eight poker machines and they got walls around it so folks have privacy so no one can see me wasting my paycheck each week. But no kidding. — When a man comes in, she's like, "What? Why is he doing what you doing? — Can you They're experimenting with new markets. Hey, you know what? Vice sells. — Vice does sell. It's right there by the pharmacy. — Is it right by the crowbar? — You get a drink and then you might as Vegas. — That's next. Little Walton County. Uh, all right. So, Modex has been I think a great Modex this week. We're great to be back for We missed the last one. Great to be back this week. We've had best conversations. I haven't been able to get out and see the programming, but I've heard a lot about it. I haven't spent as much time as I'd like on a trade show for, but I've heard

a lot about it. What's the coolest thing you've heard or seen in Modex? — I'm gonna turn this around and tell you what the thing I haven't seen or heard of at Modex as much as I feared I would have. The two are — humanoid robots. I feel like, and I've been on a little mini rant this year about humanoid robots, — right? Seen some of that. — Yeah. Uh and AI. Surprisingly, I feel like AI has been shoved down our throat as much as I thought it would be. And I think that's a positive thing because I think more and more of us are realizing or accepting that AI — here to stay. Totally agree. It's a very powerful tool. — It's also been around since 1956. So it's not brand new, but it is a tool and it's a great tool to put in your toolkit, but it is only a tool. And then there are other tools in that toolkit to solve your problem. The same thing with humanoid robots, right? Humanoids are interesting. They're more of a science experiment to me. So I think what I've been it's been refreshing for me here at Modeex is not to get both those topics rammed down my throat right — and really to sort of continue to look at all right what are the true use cases for helping warehouse to do its job which is what to get product to the end consumer whether it's in retail pharmaceuticals oil and gas automotive whatever industry that may be that's the job of the warehouse and it's been refreshing to see that we're focusing on that not focusing on this you know magic beans of humanoids and AI. — Well said. I agree. Now, those humanoid robots, I've threatened all three of my kids if they don't do their chores this week. I'm bringing one of these things from this floor home with me and I put that p that humanoid in charge of all disciplinary actions. Uh we'll see what happens. Uh — well, I will say this guy, like just a fair war, like if when the humanoids do take over, please don't listen to the podcast and come back come find me and kill me. Like I just want to put that out there, too. — Gee, I have a robot for you. — I heard what you said on Scott's podcast. I listen to every podcast at one time every day. I feel sorry for those humanoids. All right. So, uh, Gee, I love your perspective. I love your fresh take. I love your keep it real element that you always bring to the table. You're very, uh, you're an ambassador of global supply chain. You're very, uh, in the know. How can folks uh two parts here. How can folks connect with you if they want to bring you in for a keynote or if they want to pick your brain more um uh you know study anything you shared here today. And how can folks reach out and connect with Texas in case they want to bring the team in? — Yeah. So uh Texas is pretty easy. Go to our website. Uh it's not the state of Texas. It is Texas Tecs. We're Montreal based supply chain company. — Very different than the state of Texas. I will tell you I will talk to people. I'm from Texas. Well, I'm from Missouri. No, I mean the company Texas, but anyways, uh so yeah, please do reach out, go to the website. A lot of great material on there, of course. I know that's a very uh 20th early late 20th century technology, which now today's kids are like, "What are you talking about? " Right? — Um but then for me to reach out, you know, find me on LinkedIn. I'm always on LinkedIn. Uh love speaking with people. People are looking for speakers or just to chat, uh by all means, or if you think humanoids are the greatest thing since sliced bread, feel free to engage with me. I'm happy to have that debate. I'm going to duke it out with you, G. I don't know if that's how humanoids are ever going to that that's old school. That's like the uh the bot that brought — uh the uh remember Rocky 4. — But but that bot was on wheels. So, was it truly a humanoid or was it taking part of the humanoid features? — That's a good question. — And then optimizing its motion? — I don't know. Well, you know, I'm going have to go back and rewatch it for the 57th time to find out. — Uh but regardless, uh Gee Couton, so nice to connect with you. I really enjoyed the last 30 minutes — as always. — Uh folks, follow connect uh with Gee, bring him into your event. He's a great speaker as if you can't tell here. And of course, Texas is on the move. So if you're uh challenged and struggling with anything he mentioned here today, be a great point of contact. And uh it's like calling in the A team, right? Getting a little 80s reference there. I love it when a plan comes together. Ghee, — you light a cigar and then — Yes. On to the next challenge. — On the next challenge, — folks, stick around as we continue our coverage here at Modex 2026 right here in Atlanta where we meet more geese of the world. And you can find all of our interviews at supplychainow. com and over on our YouTube channel. Stay tuned. We got a lot more coming. Heat.