In this episode, I was joined by Justin Goldston who is a professor, speaker, Ph.D., and all-around supply chain expert. Justin currently teaches supply chain at Penn State University and Georgetown University. He has spoken at many conferences all around the world and was scheduled to speak at a conference in Vietnam just a few hours after we recorded this episode. We discuss the current education climate for the supply chain, his take on sustainability in the supply chain, and the future place of automation in the supply chain.

Key Takeaways

• As a professor, Justin is constantly trying to engage his students in different ways and has had to adapt to the pandemic style of teaching. He gives us some insight on how the pandemic has had an impact on education and how some professors are struggling to translate their education into a virtual environment. We discuss some of the unique ways that Justin tries to interest his students in the supply chain through experiential learning and exposing them to many different professionals in the industry. It is a positive note for the industry that he is finding student’s interest in the supply chain continues to increase.
• Justin often discusses sustainability in his presentations but not in the typical way that initially comes to mind. He goes in-depth into his thinking behind sustainability in the global supply chain and how it involves many facets of an organization. One interesting perspective is his views on diversity in organizations. He discusses how diversity and inclusion are often discussed but what is sometimes missed is the expansion of the talent pool throughout the globe and the great impact that can have on a company’s bottom line. This is a really interesting insight as it gives companies a better footprint in attracting talent and also understanding global markets to help introduce their products to them.
• One of the constant ongoing discussions in the supply chain is the future of jobs within an automated operation. Will there be dark warehouses or will it be collaborative? Justin gives us his take and also some great examples of when dark operations were attempted but had some struggles. I think we are both on the same page when it comes to the belief that automation will be a collaborative effort and the human element will always be needed at some level.

Listen to the episode below and let us know your take on sustainability in the supply chain in the comments.