Leading Forward by Looking Back: Insights for Automotive Supply Chain Leaders

[Transcript]

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[00:00:27] Jim Liegghio: I'm Jim Liegghio from AIAG.

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[00:00:36] Jan Griffiths: Hello and welcome to another of Auto Supply Chain Prophets podcast, where we're committed to shaping a better future for the automotive industry. What if the answers to today's supply chain chaos was actually sitting in your podcast feed? Could they be in our past episodes? Hmm.

Today's episode is a little different. There's no guest, just the three of us, taking a moment to reflect on key episodes from our archives so far this year, and the lessons we believe must be carried forward because we're all about preparing the automotive supply chain people for the future.

Why look back? Because the challenges we face today: uncertainty, volatility, the pressure to move faster, aren't going anywhere. In fact, they're just gonna intensify. But our past conversations are filled with insights, strategies, and real stories that can help supply chain leaders stay ahead.

But before we dive in, let's revisit who we are, our three hosts, and what drives us. For me, my focus is on leadership and culture. You can't stream a 4K video a '95 Windows Operating System now, can you? So what makes you think that we can transform this industry using the same culture and operating model that we've used for the past several decades? The answer is you can't. That's my mission— to transform this industry.

So, Terry, what about you? Who are you, and what drives you?

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[00:03:01] Jan Griffiths: And it shows, doesn't it, Jim? She's the queen of MMOG/LE— undisputed, unchallenged Queen of MMOG/LE, right, Jim?

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[00:03:22] Jan Griffiths: Yes.

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[00:03:24] Jan Griffiths: It does. It does. And we feel it in every podcast episode too. You light up. Jim, your turn. I know AIAG is all about uniting minds and elevating standards, but how does that show up in your work and what's your driving force?

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So, sometimes I have to go back and really reframe my mind and kind of pinch myself. I'm dealing with the crème de la crème here, right? The people that we deal with are fantastic. They're engaged, they're experienced, and that's how we're able to be so impactful in the industry: it's the wealth of experience and expertise that our volunteers drive through our project.

Again, sometimes it's kind of a fever dream. I just have to realize the level of expertise and experience that we're dealing with, and just the caliber of people. Because, face it, this is a technology business, this is a manufacturing business, but at the core of it, this is a people business.

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[00:04:33] Terry Onica: You know, I'd like to comment on that, 'cause being an AIAG volunteer over many years, it's that spirit of collaboration and the passion of the people that are there that really wanna drive best practice and then that gets delivered to the industry. It's just a great organization, and I know that what comes out of there helps people every day in automotive to be better.

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[00:05:15] Jan Griffiths: And what I love about all our backgrounds is that we've all been there, right? We've all been on the front lines in hardcore automotive roles. So we know the pain points, we've felt them. We've had to deal with them. But we still have this burning passion to make it better, and to make sure that the new people coming into this industry also have a passion for supply chain and all its related functions. And we wanna create a better world. We wanna create a better industry. So, the three of us, when we come together to talk to our guests, you can feel that passion coming through the mic.

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[00:06:15] James Liegghio: I echo that, Terry. I mean, if I think about the planning phase for our podcast, right? And the type of topics and the type of individuals we decide to interview on here, we do it very purposefully—let me say it that way. I think we try to make sure there's value for the audience, the listener. And make sure that the person we're interviewing has something to say and a message to pass on.

There's no surprise that at the end of every episode we say, "What's one piece of advice you can give our listeners?" Right? Because that's what we're here to do: promulgate the word of supply chain and some expertise out there.

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But you know, it engages people to get out and communicate and collaborate, and I love it. He was just so excited. He said, "Yeah, I started talking to her about it and I learned all kinds of various things about Catena-X." So, it's that kind of thing that really excites me that we're doing for people.

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And with that, let's get down to it, and let's talk about our episode so far this year. I wanna know what resonated with each one of us, why it matters, and what lesson can we take into the future. So, let's see, to start us off, Terry, what's the episode that really resonated with you so far this year?

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The other thing that he talked about is supplier scorecards, right? Every supplier hates those scorecards, but you know, he really drove the value of why scorecards are important. And he even gave an example of one of his suppliers. So, he said, "You know, scorecards should give you what you're at, so there are no surprises. You know exactly where you stand with your customer."

And then, in turn, as a supplier, he gave an example on the podcast that they learned that information and they were able to quickly like, "Oh, I didn't realize that was happening," and fixed it right away. And their sub-supplier was delighted with that.

So, I think that's good. And then he also talked about how scorecards give everybody in the organization at Magna, one view of the supplier—one consolidated view. So everybody can see the same information at the same time. So I really enjoyed his episode a lot.

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[00:09:49] Terry Onica: And I love it because it's true, communication and collaboration, when everybody's doing it together — the customer and the supplier — you're all on the same page. You can deal with it, right? You can deal with anything and make life better. But having all that information is really important. And also, like I said, having the information on all your various suppliers as well.

But do you remember what he said, his one thing at the end was? Remember, he said, "SRM is no longer optional. You need to be doing it today." So I loved his one piece of advice too, 'cause I completely agree with it. You have to have the information at your fingertips today.

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[00:10:34] Terry Onica: Absolutely. I completely agree and it was great to hear Achim from Magna say that, 'Cause that's so important for everybody out there and that was his recommendation. And they're a pretty large supplier too.

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[00:11:00] Terry Onica: Exactly.

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[00:11:05] Terry Onica: Yes. And it's great to see the sub-supplier see that value in it, right? It helped them to solve something that could be costing them money or time or whatever. But they get that information, and now they can improve. And it wasn't like he said, you know, I don't think Magna was all over them, beating them up for that. But the supplier actually noticed it on their own and self-corrected before it got outta hand or caused them any kind of issue.

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[00:11:29] Jan Griffiths: Jim, what about what about you? What episode really stood out to you? I wanna know which part of that episode hit home with you and why it matters so much?

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Dave Andrea has done a fantastic job with the WRI program over the years. I just find it fascinating to see the trending, and to see how the actions that each of the OEMs impact that score year over year.

But this year in particular has been so disruptive and so uncertain. I was just kind of eagerly awaiting the result to see what happened this year with the relations, because — I think you said it yourself on the episode — old habits die hard, and when things get tough, people revert to old behaviors.

And I think with Angela's background and with her PHD in Anthropology, and her understanding of psychology and people and relationships. I was just really fascinated by the tale she wove about this year's WRI, and kind of the reasoning behind some of the scoring. So, kind of a twofold answer there.

Number one, I'm in intrigued by the WRI, year over year, to see what happens and to see how kind of geopolitical events shape things, and the economics of everything are influenced.

But really, Angela's unique take on behaviors, and seeing her present previously on relationships and psychology behind relationships and different cultures—I think all of that just really fascinated me with her. So I'd have to say that that's one of the episodes I really was intrigued by and really learned a lot from.

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I remember she said that—I thought of mine. And it's amazing, I found that fascinating too, and how she gave an example of GM. If you look back in years past, you know, you had Lopez, right? And then you started getting Steve Kiefer, and you started to see that change. And today, with Jeff Morrison, you see that continue. And you see how now GM's drawing back from a very positive type of a leadership than what they were in the past.

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Or conversely, if the leaders have a great relationship, and they're speaking the same language, but their working levels don't necessarily understand each other, then that can impact the whole thing.

So to me, just that psychology of understanding the buy, sell relationship, it's not transactional, right? It's a relationship thing. And so much in supply chain, in my career, and I'm sure in both of your careers has gone back to getting things done through people you know, and relationships you've built over time. And if you really need something in a pinch, somebody's gonna be there for you to kind of pull you out.

So, my background are primarily logistics and materials management, right? You get into a pinch and you gotta call a favor once in a while. So, I just so fascinating. Understanding Angela how she presented that data, and how that translates really at the macro level into how these relationships are perceived between suppliers and OEMs.

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[00:14:49] James Liegghio: For sure, yeah.

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[00:15:26] James Liegghio: For sure.

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[00:15:49] Jan Griffiths: Yep. Yep.

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[00:15:52] Jan Griffiths: One episode that sticks with me and why? Well, I have to tell you—and this will be no surprise to the two of you—but I loved going live at the AIAG Supply Chain conference.

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[00:16:07] Jan Griffiths: There's something magical about grabbing people, literally, and asking them a few questions, and putting people on the mic, because it's authentic, it's real, it's raw. You get the opportunity to really capture the vibe of the conference and send it out to hundreds of thousands of people. Because anybody who's listened to the podcast can get it. So if they missed out on the conference, they can get a feel for the conference. And I love the guest line up that we pulled at that event. I am always a huge fan of Fred Coe.

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[00:16:48] Jan Griffiths: Not only because of his popularity, his knowledge, and the way conducts himself. He's calm and he's collected and he's comfortable in his own skin. You know, he is an authentic leader and I love to see that. I love to see that come out on the mic with him.

And of course, you know, were also trialing some video technology now, so we'll be using video a lot more. So it gave us an opportunity to play with that. So for me, it was more about the power of the podcasting at live events, that's what really with resonated with me. And the fact that we got people from OEMs, we got Tier Ones, and we got Tier Twos.

We got Jennifer from Royal Technologies, talking about, "Hey, don't forget the Tier Twos." And she's exactly right. We've got to have more focus on the Tier Twos, this isn't a supply chain that stops at the end of a Tier One.

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[00:18:00] Terry Onica: You know what I liked about that episode? You're gonna find this interesting—the episode Art. You know why? Because you look at that episode art, and we had multi ages, multi-ethnicities, multi-genders, and I thought—I looked at that episode and that's the first thing I noticed. It's like, "Isn't that cool?"

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[00:18:22] Terry Onica: Yes.

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[00:18:27] Terry Onica: And it was great. We got all those perspectives from all different diverse backgrounds.

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[00:18:33] Terry Onica: It was awesome.

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I thought the multi-generational thing combined with the energy of an event to Jan's point of trying to bring that energy of an event out to an audience. It's hard to explain an AIAG event's energy to somebody. I know I work here, so I'm a little bit biased, but until you've gone to an AIAG event and experienced it firsthand, it's really kind of hard to explain it.

But Jan, to your point, capturing it in the moment with live podcasting, that was super cool. That was just a very fun experience, and just really fun to kind of bring that to the masses, if you will.

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[00:19:26] Jan Griffiths: Yes.

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[00:19:48] James Liegghio: And it ties back to what Angela Johnson was saying with the WRI. Suppliers that understand and have an empathy for their OEM customer, and can understand the rationale behind a schedule change or an engineering change, will give a whole lot more leeway to that change—to that exception, right? And it's very much in line with what Jenny said at the conference. It's exactly the same thing: The relationship matters.

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[00:20:21] Jan Griffiths: And what was our famous quote about communication? "The problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place."

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[00:20:30] Jan Griffiths: And I love that quote because you have to think about it for a second and you go, "Oh, wait a minute." 'Cause we all say, "Well, I told them. I said this. I explained this." And what you communicate in your mind, I'm sure is brilliant, but what other people receive, they don't usually receive the entire message. So, you can never, ever, over communicate. So, yes, communication is strong. Yes, it's about the data, but it's about much more than the data. I absolutely love that. I think we brought out three good episodes that have resonated with the three of us for very different reasons.

But now, we really need to hear from our audience, and we want to hear from you. And we wanna know, what's the most impactful episode you've listened to, and why did it matter to you? Please make sure that you email us directly. We really wanna hear about that.

And then, talking about live events, we got several key events coming up in the second half of the year. We'll put links in the show notes. We've got the QAD Champions of Manufacturing in Europe in October, and the Champions of Manufacturing in US in Dallas in November, the AIAG Quality Summit on October 1st and 2nd, and the North American Customs and Trade Hall coming up. So we got lots of great events coming up, but we cannot end this episode without talking about Guillermo from Magna. Now, can we, Terry?

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[00:21:57] Jan Griffiths: Yeah. Yeah.

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And I look at it because we're a firefighting industry. We go through a lot of stress. If the part doesn't get there on time, and we have to really think about the people, right? Mental health is so important. So I just love that. What did you all think? Well, how did that hit you in the episode?

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So, but it's very important, I think, to take care of yourself. Some of us, it's taken us 20 plus years in the career to really prioritize mental health and physical health and things like that. And I think the three of us can agree it's very important, and we certainly take measures to manage our own mental and physical health.

But it's important for the audience to hear that. I think sometimes people get caught up in the day to day and they need to hear that message from a leader. I agree with you, Terry. Guillermo's sharing of that was stellar. Perfect.

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I just recently interviewed Jay Butler from Seraph and the topic was the weight of leadership—how leadership is so much more than the numbers and performance. There is a tremendous responsibility that leaders have that we impact people's lives, and we need to understand that that treat it the right way. And so, Guillermo was right in that space. So yes, it was a great episode, and a lot of positive response we had on that episode on social media.

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And I thought that was an excellent piece of advice. Just like we're talking about today, it all boils down to communication. How we work, how we collaborate, how we get things done. So I liked that as well too.

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We love to hear from our listeners. Reach out to any one of us—our contact information is in the show notes. And if you want to dive deeper into our content, check out our website at autosupplychainprophets.com.