Kerim Kfuri is the CEO of the Atlas Network and an expert in global supply chain management. From his roots in Baltimore to his work with Damon John's CEO Access Program, Kerim emphasizes the importance of education, tone at the top, and adaptability in leadership.
Kerim discusses the complexities of supply chains, their global interdependencies, and how they reflect broader leadership challenges. He underscores the critical role of clear communication and forward-thinking strategies in managing disruptions, such as those seen during the pandemic. His insights extend beyond logistics, touching on the human aspect of leadership, from empowering employees to fostering trust amidst rapid technological advancements like AI and automation.
This episode challenges leaders to embrace change, prioritize education, and adapt strategies to ensure sustained success in an ever-evolving business landscape.
Want to learn more about Kerim Kfuri's work? Check out his website at https://www.kerimkfuri.com.
Connect with Kerim Kfuri on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerimkfuri/.
Key Points with Time Stamps
- [00:00:51] Meet Kerim Kfuri: Overview of his role as CEO of the Atlas Network and his expertise in global supply chains.
- [00:05:32] Thought Leadership and Supply Chain Education: Collaboration with Damon John to advance public understanding of supply chain importance.
- [00:09:00] Humanizing Supply Chains: Kerim emphasizes the importance of treating employees and stakeholders with respect and foresight.
- [00:15:11] Embracing AI and Automation: Discussion on technology's role in boosting efficiency and fostering innovation.
- [00:27:25] Global Interdependencies and Tariffs: Challenges and opportunities in managing international trade relations.
- [00:30:27] Closing Thoughts: Kerim reflects on his mission to simplify and demystify supply chains for a global audience.
Transcript
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:30:16
Craig Andrews
I was in a coma for six weeks while the doctors told my wife I was going to die. When I woke up, she told me the most fantastic story. My team kept running the business without me. Freelancers reached out to my team and said, we will do whatever it takes. As long as Craig's in the hospital. I consider that the greatest accomplishment of my career.
00:00:30:18 - 00:00:51:08
Craig Andrews
My name is Craig Andrews and this is the Leaders and Legacies podcast where we talk to leaders creating an impact beyond themselves. At the end of today's interview, I'll tell you how you can be the next leader featured on the show.
00:00:51:08 - 00:00:54:07
Craig Andrews
Today I want to welcome Kerim Kfuri
00:00:54:07 - 00:01:16:12
Craig Andrews
He is a author. He wrote supply chain. UPS and downs. He's also a podcast host at the Supply and Demand show. Kerim is the president CEO of the Atlas Network, a global supply chain enterprise offering. Comprehend end to end services. And Kerim and I have been talking in the green room.
00:01:16:14 - 00:01:19:10
Craig Andrews
I find supply chains fascinating.
00:01:19:10 - 00:01:34:06
Craig Andrews
Some people may find them loathsome, but if you have a business, you have a supply chain of some sort or another. And Kerim is passionate about that. So listen in. I think we're gonna have some really cool discussion. Kerim, welcome.
00:01:34:07 - 00:01:36:14
Kerim Kfuri
Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. And,
00:01:36:14 - 00:01:41:02
Kerim Kfuri
you know, great show. And happy to be here with you. So let's let's get into it.
00:01:41:04 - 00:01:50:05
Craig Andrews
Well, one of the things that was really interesting was when we first connected, you said, yeah, you grew up in Baltimore, and you. But sometimes I just say Baltimore. You know, it's,
00:01:50:05 - 00:01:52:20
Craig Andrews
you know, one of,
00:01:52:20 - 00:02:01:12
Craig Andrews
I took my wife there once, and we went to Lexington Market. I don't know if I would go there today.
00:02:01:13 - 00:02:23:06
Craig Andrews
But, but yeah, we, we park in the parking lot as we're walking in. She starts. She's like, are you sure this is okay? It was it was the middle of the day. When that night. I wouldn't go there at night. Right, right. And I was like, oh, it's great. You're going to love it. And she starts, squeeze my hand tighter and tighter and I'm like, it's going to be fine.
00:02:23:06 - 00:02:39:04
Craig Andrews
We get in there and she's like, we'll have to go to the bathroom. So she goes to the ladies room. I decide I'm going to go to the men's room, and I go in there and I'm taking a leak. And out of the corner of my eye, I see guys counting money in the bathroom. And I thought, you know, today is one of those days I'm not going to wash my hands.
00:02:39:04 - 00:02:44:19
Craig Andrews
I'm just going to get my business done and go, rejoined wife. And we we had lunch there, of course.
00:02:45:00 - 00:02:53:20
Kerim Kfuri
Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, it's Baltimore is one of those beautiful old cities in America that has seen better days.
00:02:53:20 - 00:03:00:06
Kerim Kfuri
You know, I love it with all my heart. I love to go down to downtown, see the beautiful architecture.
00:03:00:06 - 00:03:03:02
Kerim Kfuri
Really be able to enjoy the city itself.
00:03:03:02 - 00:03:07:06
Kerim Kfuri
Has a great history to it and so forth, but, you know, it's seen better days.
00:03:07:07 - 00:03:28:22
Kerim Kfuri
I mean, that's why they shot the show The Wire there, right? There's there's definitely problems. It's it's one of the highest levels of, I think HIV in the country still. And you know, there's there's real issues in that city. But you know I'm from Baltimore, I'm a marylander. I will always be that. Even though I live in New York and I work in the rest of the world, I'm still a kid from Baltimore, and I do love it.
00:03:28:22 - 00:03:29:13
Kerim Kfuri
So,
00:03:29:13 - 00:03:34:22
Kerim Kfuri
you know, I won't let anybody rag on my city, including myself.
00:03:35:00 - 00:03:37:04
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Well. Very cool.
00:03:37:04 - 00:03:42:20
Craig Andrews
So there's a lot that we're going to try to squeeze into this,
00:03:42:20 - 00:03:44:06
Craig Andrews
and,
00:03:44:06 - 00:03:51:11
Craig Andrews
but first, let's just kind of knock this out. You you said you're you're doing something with Damon John from Shark Tank.
00:03:51:13 - 00:03:52:23
Kerim Kfuri
Yeah. That's right. So,
00:03:52:23 - 00:03:59:18
Kerim Kfuri
basically, you know, Damon, John and I have been interacting with each other in the last couple of years in different ways.
00:03:59:18 - 00:04:10:07
Kerim Kfuri
You know, I do a lot with Alibaba. We're the first US based verified supplier of Alibaba. And so at several large scale conferences, he's been a keynote speaker. I've been a speaker and I've been there.
00:04:10:07 - 00:04:15:19
Kerim Kfuri
We've interacted in those places as well. One of my high school friends from Baltimore,
00:04:15:19 - 00:04:31:05
Kerim Kfuri
is the co-founder of Bombas Socks, which you may have seen. They're like very, very popular socks. And they were the most successful company in Shark Tank history. And Daymond John was involved in that, in that company. So we sort of were interacting and dancing around each other in one way or another.
00:04:31:05 - 00:04:55:05
Kerim Kfuri
And he's obviously a big entrepreneur and comes from Fubu and Manufac butchering space and all the deals that he does. It looks at on Shark Tank. And that's obviously in my wheelhouse with all the manufacturing, global sourcing that we do. We started talking and he said to me that he has created this program called the CEO Access Program, where essentially over a span of two years, he takes on a CEO and kind of like brings them to the light.
00:04:55:07 - 00:05:32:06
Kerim Kfuri
But it has to be something that benefits not just the CEO, but just society in general. And I had been working towards doing more and more thought leadership around supply chain management and why it's important and what it means. So we decided that this would be a good program to work together. And so we've really kick this off here at the end of 2024 and starting here in 2025 on a mission to really kind of tackle, educate and promote the ideas of supply chain education and management and leadership and why it's important, and bringing that to kind of consumers at large.
00:05:32:08 - 00:05:32:19
Kerim Kfuri
And,
00:05:32:19 - 00:05:40:03
Kerim Kfuri
using him and his resources and his platform. So you're going to be seeing us interacting and kind of in the same circles with each other a lot
00:05:40:03 - 00:05:43:12
Kerim Kfuri
for the next, for the next two years, which is, which is kind of exciting.
00:05:43:14 - 00:05:45:11
Craig Andrews
That's cool. Well, you know,
00:05:45:11 - 00:05:49:05
Craig Andrews
back when the, when the hurricanes wreaked,
00:05:49:05 - 00:05:52:00
Craig Andrews
you know, just wreaked havoc in North Carolina.
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Craig Andrews
My wife,
00:05:53:08 - 00:06:06:19
Craig Andrews
we hired toilet paper at Sam's Club. Boring detail, but she's like, they're out of toilet paper. Why do you think that is? And I said, I bet you the supply chain is messed up and right.
00:06:06:21 - 00:06:11:20
Craig Andrews
And she's like she didn't believe me. I was like well let me look it up. And sure enough I found out the
00:06:11:20 - 00:06:24:18
Craig Andrews
you know, the toilet paper was made in Augusta, Georgia and you know, and and Augusta got hit. Not as bad as North Carolina, but Augusta got hit. Right. And you think about the, the shipping routes.
00:06:24:20 - 00:06:37:17
Craig Andrews
And I don't think I have some awareness, but I don't think I fully understand how close to the edge we live to having the shelves just absolutely bare.
00:06:37:22 - 00:06:59:09
Kerim Kfuri
Absolutely, absolutely true. And the reality of it is, is when you talk about supply chain, the word chain is very important because just like the links of a chain, there are these different facets of the entire industry, whether it's the sourcing side and manufacturing side, the quality control side, the,
00:06:59:09 - 00:07:06:15
Kerim Kfuri
shipping and logistics side, the importation side, even the trucking and delivery, the warehousing, the fulfill ment.
00:07:06:15 - 00:07:30:11
Kerim Kfuri
I mean, all of these components, all string together to get those consumers, those end products in the time that they need it to be and at the cost that they need it to be, and with the availability that they need to have it to, to support the demand. And as you said, it's a roller coaster ride. Anything and everything can and does go wrong.
00:07:30:13 - 00:07:43:15
Kerim Kfuri
From again, things that may happen on the other side of the planet to, you know, just dock workers not being paid a fair wage and therefore not wanting to unload things off of ships, which is a domestic issue.
00:07:43:15 - 00:07:55:04
Kerim Kfuri
And then and then holding, you know, basically the country in many ways hostage on this. I mean, perfect example was recently Amazon was going through, you know, the second largest company in the United States,
00:07:55:04 - 00:07:58:09
Kerim Kfuri
behind Walmart, you know, 500 billion, I think it is a year.
00:07:58:11 - 00:08:16:11
Kerim Kfuri
And they were the workers at the warehouses were threatening to strike because they weren't having their needs met with regards to salaries and benefits and things of that nature. Well, all you have to do around the holiday time, or really any day of the week is pull up to a traffic light and look at how many Amazon delivery trucks there are around you.
00:08:16:17 - 00:08:21:16
Kerim Kfuri
And you understand the importance of making sure that the people are happy,
00:08:21:16 - 00:08:36:11
Kerim Kfuri
so that they're working to deliver these goods and, and so forth. And 70% of those products that are sold on Amazon come from China. That's another that's another conversation, part of the supply chain, not so much on the delivery and fulfillment side, but on the sourcing and production side.
00:08:36:11 - 00:08:40:15
Kerim Kfuri
So supply chain is is is this really interesting?
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Kerim Kfuri
Industry,
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Kerim Kfuri
that crosses continents and it's this sophisticated sort of dance or, or conducting of the orchestra that has to come together in a seamless way to really make it work. Otherwise we see major disruptions. And perfect example of that was pandemic,
00:08:58:19 - 00:09:02:23
Kerim Kfuri
where we really didn't have things that we needed, including,
00:09:02:23 - 00:09:03:10
Kerim Kfuri
you know,
00:09:03:10 - 00:09:12:05
Kerim Kfuri
first responders who didn't have PPE, didn't have things like masks and gloves and things that you just need to do in the middle of a, of a disaster.
00:09:12:07 - 00:09:19:23
Kerim Kfuri
And so you really understand in those times how important it is to deliver products that are needed, right?
00:09:20:01 - 00:09:27:12
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Well, and I think I personally broaden the term supply chain out a little bit broader. I mean, I, I'm a,
00:09:27:12 - 00:09:38:05
Craig Andrews
fractional CMO. I help people with their marketing. And so people would look at me and say, Craig, you don't have a supply chain. I'm like, I absolutely do. I have freelancers.
00:09:38:07 - 00:09:38:21
Kerim Kfuri
Absolutely.
00:09:39:03 - 00:09:46:05
Craig Andrews
I have freelancers that I depend on delivering things to me so I can meet my commitments to my clients.
00:09:46:08 - 00:09:47:11
Kerim Kfuri
Yes that's true.
00:09:47:13 - 00:10:09:07
Craig Andrews
And one of the things you tapped into was the importance of treating people correctly. And you know, coming out of the I started my business during the Great Recession and back in oh nine, and talent was abundant. You know, you could get anybody to do anything right. And I remembered at the time I was like, okay, this will change.
00:10:09:07 - 00:10:26:08
Craig Andrews
The day will come when talent won't be a bun abundant. How am I going to treat my freelancers today? So when they have so they take my call, they prioritize my work? Sure, sure. That's a supply chain in my mind as well.
00:10:26:10 - 00:10:29:00
Kerim Kfuri
Absolutely. It's that is that is basically,
00:10:29:00 - 00:10:54:12
Kerim Kfuri
labor. Right. And that's basically asset management, the assets being that talent. And it is it is absolutely critical component of the industry. So, I'll give you a perfect example. You know, prices increasing in let's say, China with regards to certain products are not always due to, let's say, material cost increases or different aspects of the industry that may be driving those costs up.
00:10:54:15 - 00:11:05:23
Kerim Kfuri
Sometimes it can be with regards to labor, either labor shortages that make the labor that you need to secure more expensive, or just generally a rising cost in wages.
00:11:05:23 - 00:11:16:07
Kerim Kfuri
Perfect example of that would be India. You know, during during the early days, India was a place where there was a significant amount of tech parks that were developed and,
00:11:16:07 - 00:11:19:22
Kerim Kfuri
a lot of call centers and outsourcing were put to India.
00:11:20:01 - 00:11:23:04
Kerim Kfuri
But as they continue to build up and develop,
00:11:23:04 - 00:11:47:13
Kerim Kfuri
their, their wages raised to a point that India was not as strong of a call center option as other nations like the Philippines and so on and so forth. So that's a perfect example of how just, you know, talent and wages and costs can drive up and then make certain parts of the supply chain relevant or irrelevant, depending upon industries and needs.
00:11:47:15 - 00:12:04:06
Craig Andrews
So here's and here's an area of the supply chain that I have a bias on. But I know I don't have the full story. And it's longshoreman. You know, as you know we we averted a major strike. The longshoremen, for those that don't know, they're the ones that offload the,
00:12:04:06 - 00:12:04:12
Craig Andrews
the,
00:12:04:12 - 00:12:08:21
Craig Andrews
the containers off the ships. So you can get these things from China or wherever.
00:12:09:00 - 00:12:31:13
Craig Andrews
Right. And from what I've seen, it's a debate about do we want to advance our ports in terms of automation or do we want to preserve jobs? And I'll tell you what, my biases I don't know the story. I'm interested in your take on this. You're sure my bias is, hey, we should be as efficient as possible. So the human jobs that are there are very, very secure.
00:12:31:15 - 00:12:39:08
Craig Andrews
And I to me, that seems like automation is the right way to go. But what's your take? What do you know? I mean, this is your world.
00:12:39:10 - 00:12:49:03
Kerim Kfuri
Sure. So my take on this is. Is this is tone at the top and education. This is basically a scenario where those,
00:12:49:03 - 00:13:21:20
Kerim Kfuri
that are in charge of those longshoremen and port workers need to make the workers feel secure as to what the future looks like and how they're going to be a part of it, and reduce the levels of fear around the job security side of it, meaning that automation is not something we have to be scared of in the idea that it's going to replace humans, but rather that those humans are going to do more efficient tasks that are going to create additional efficiencies in the market that will allow us to grow
00:13:21:20 - 00:13:44:21
Kerim Kfuri
and thrive as a stronger economy. Because if it takes one human, let's say, you know, an hour to do a task and it takes it by being automated ten minutes, we we need to find out how that humans 50 minutes that are gained are going to be more efficiently placed, to still be able to benefit whatever they are working on or doing.
00:13:44:21 - 00:14:09:16
Kerim Kfuri
And again, that's where the strategy comes in, and that's where the tone at the top and the education comes in. The idea of technology, especially around AI and development, is not about the idea of AI being a crutch. It's about it being a tool for efficiency and creating more jobs that will come out of that. And again, this is where education needs to be put into place.
00:14:09:16 - 00:14:17:08
Kerim Kfuri
This is where the needs and the interests and the fears of those port workers that are so essential,
00:14:17:08 - 00:14:33:05
Kerim Kfuri
are are put in check to allow them to feel comfortable that they have a job today and they have a job in the future, and that the future may look like this, and this is how they are going to plug into that new future, because nothing's going to change progress.
00:14:33:09 - 00:14:37:22
Kerim Kfuri
That's the one thing. We can't not continue to progress because of fear.
00:14:37:22 - 00:14:51:15
Kerim Kfuri
Of of job security. We need to be able to progress and feel and have everybody feel excited about the future and want to have adoption of what that future may look like. That's the only way to really handle this.
00:14:51:17 - 00:15:11:14
Craig Andrews
Yeah, and I like the fact that you introduced AI into that because I think people are finally starting to wake up to the fact that AI isn't replacing us. It's it's enabling us. You know, there are some there's still things that humans can do. The AI is not figured out. And,
00:15:11:14 - 00:15:15:10
Craig Andrews
I use AI every day. Every day.
00:15:15:12 - 00:15:18:11
Craig Andrews
But I'll use it for,
00:15:18:11 - 00:15:23:14
Craig Andrews
brainstorming around writing. AI doesn't do my writing if I does. Your writing,
00:15:23:14 - 00:15:32:19
Craig Andrews
you're writing at a B-minus level, which, if you're happy with B-minus, God bless you. But if if if you get paid for your writing,
00:15:32:19 - 00:15:36:13
Craig Andrews
for your ability to write, AI isn't going to replace you, but it can help you.
00:15:36:16 - 00:15:39:08
Craig Andrews
It can be a tool. And,
00:15:39:08 - 00:15:52:06
Craig Andrews
and so and I think that's really key. So for the longshoreman, it's really about okay, like what do the machines do best and what do the people do best.
00:15:52:08 - 00:16:03:13
Kerim Kfuri
And finding their place in a new world or saying, you know, it's kind of like it's kind of like saying we are living in a time where we can drive,
00:16:03:13 - 00:16:20:08
Kerim Kfuri
horse and buggies or we can drive cars. Well, the people that are building horse and buggies, you know, are fearful that they're going to lose their jobs to, you know, the, you know, building the wagon wheels and making sure that the horses are taken care of and so on.
00:16:20:11 - 00:16:42:12
Kerim Kfuri
But that person could just as easily be able to produce, instead of one horse and buggy in a month or in a week or whatever, they can produce maybe four cars. That then allows people to then transport to their jobs more effectively and then generate more economy. And then if you see it's just about shifting of resource and it's shifting of resources towards more efficient,
00:16:42:12 - 00:16:48:17
Kerim Kfuri
productions that will have a larger scale impact, that will benefit society as a, as
00:16:48:17 - 00:16:49:19
Kerim Kfuri
in large.
00:16:49:21 - 00:17:16:01
Kerim Kfuri
But if the mentality is all I know is how to make these wagon wheels and I'll never know anything else. And nobody's educated me about anything else, then you're going to be fearful every day that you're going to lose your job. But if someone says, no, you're an expert in this, we're going to train you on how to do y, and we're going to support you until you get to the place that you are going to be able to facilitate Y more effectively, because it'll have a greater outcome for everybody.
00:17:16:03 - 00:17:28:00
Kerim Kfuri
That's where that tone at the top and that education and that training really helps people get excited about a new future and adoption of new ideas.
00:17:28:02 - 00:17:34:04
Craig Andrews
So let me go back to the whole, supply chain actually going all the way back to China. You mentioned we have Amazon.
00:17:34:06 - 00:17:34:15
Kerim Kfuri
Yes.
00:17:34:15 - 00:17:41:04
Craig Andrews
You know, I could order something. There are certain things I could order on Amazon today and they would be here this afternoon.
00:17:41:23 - 00:17:43:16
Craig Andrews
And it's probably made in China.
00:17:44:13 - 00:17:55:07
Craig Andrews
And the thing that just breaks my head is trying to figure out all the way back, because the number I've heard if you're ordering out of China it takes three months to get here.
00:17:55:09 - 00:18:00:23
Kerim Kfuri
So that is with regards to that is with regards to particular sea routes.
00:18:00:23 - 00:18:16:18
Kerim Kfuri
That is very slow boat. Most, most routes, I mean going into places like let's say Long Beach in California is about 20 days. So, you know, it could be as on on some of the express routes like Mattson or Eagle Express. It could even be as little as 15 days.
00:18:16:20 - 00:18:29:04
Kerim Kfuri
Coming into the East Coast, it's closer to 25 to 30 days in transit time. So the manufacturing cycle is what you really have to manage and look at where it's anywhere between, let's say, 30 days to, you know,
00:18:29:04 - 00:18:36:17
Kerim Kfuri
30 days to maybe 90 or 120 days to manufacture things. But the transit time is usually about a month, let's call it.
00:18:36:19 - 00:19:02:19
Kerim Kfuri
So yes, what's happening here is, is forecasting. You have businesses that are reselling on Amazon. They have warehouses that are, you know, either Amazon fulfillment warehouses or otherwise. They've planned in a previous quarter for what their future quarter sales may look like or what their future two quarters sales may look like. And they're sending these products in advance of the sales and market that they're anticipating.
00:19:02:21 - 00:19:28:12
Kerim Kfuri
And so it's at a domestic warehouse. It took three months to make, two months to make one month in transit. It's at the warehouse. And it's a matter of then, you know, overnight shipping and transit. And obviously a place like Amazon has warehouses all over the country. So they then pick and pack from the most effective, most efficient warehouses, whether it's West Coast to service the West Coast, East Coast to service the East Coast and so forth.
00:19:28:14 - 00:19:43:02
Craig Andrews
Well, and part of the reason that it hurts my head is, you know, I took a business class where we played a game. It was, you know, supply chain and, you know, it's kind of like playing monopoly where you get a turn and in each turn you would get,
00:19:43:02 - 00:19:45:08
Craig Andrews
you would be handed a forecast.
00:19:45:08 - 00:19:49:10
Craig Andrews
You'd be I think you got like a sales report, you got a forecast.
00:19:49:12 - 00:19:50:10
Craig Andrews
And,
00:19:50:10 - 00:20:05:14
Craig Andrews
and you had to sit there and decide how much to put in the supply chain. And the one thing I learned from that game is I should never, ever, ever run a supply chain, you know, because I either had just piles and piles of inventory or massive shortages.
00:20:05:15 - 00:20:15:00
Kerim Kfuri
Right, right. And that's that's super important. I mean, you know, inventory can absolutely kill your business because you just have, you know, dead product that's sitting around,
00:20:15:00 - 00:20:25:17
Kerim Kfuri
and it's not being, you know, actively churned as far as in terms of sales or then how, how and when you need to reorder. So that's a, that's a very,
00:20:25:17 - 00:20:28:12
Kerim Kfuri
interesting and good game to play,
00:20:28:12 - 00:20:29:02
Kerim Kfuri
to determine.
00:20:29:02 - 00:20:32:00
Kerim Kfuri
But yes, it is this balancing act on,
00:20:32:00 - 00:20:44:06
Kerim Kfuri
time and goals and needs of customers to be able to give them the most effective outcomes. I mean, we have over 2000 suppliers in our network that we've built over the past two decades. We have,
00:20:44:06 - 00:20:52:15
Kerim Kfuri
hundreds and hundreds of clients producing millions of products every single day. And it's a it's a balancing act, as I as I just mentioned before.
00:20:52:15 - 00:21:13:09
Kerim Kfuri
But how we instruct any of our clients is look at when you think you need these products and what you need, not just today, but, you know, in the next quarter and a quarter beyond that, someone let's look at things in terms of like six month or even year long projections of what you're planning to do, and then we then work backwards.
00:21:13:14 - 00:21:31:10
Kerim Kfuri
It's always okay to just produce some products overseas and stagger shipments as well. You don't have to just produce a whole ton and just ship it all over here at one time as well. You can kind of stagger shipments with regards to buying and selling behaviors and, and do things so that people don't have excessive storage scenarios.
00:21:31:10 - 00:21:44:03
Kerim Kfuri
But it is absolutely a hands on type of inventory, sorry, sales management process that we have to work through with our clients to help them effectively manage their supply chains that we build and manage for them.
00:21:44:05 - 00:21:52:16
Craig Andrews
You know, now, earlier you mentioned Alibaba, and I would guess that most people have no idea who Alibaba is.
00:21:52:18 - 00:21:54:14
Kerim Kfuri
Really.
00:21:54:15 - 00:21:56:05
Craig Andrews
I mean, this is your world.
00:21:56:05 - 00:21:56:18
Craig Andrews
But it's.
00:21:56:18 - 00:22:21:19
Kerim Kfuri
A pretty big it's, it's become, I think, such a big name. But yeah, I guess you're right. Maybe there are some people that have no idea or even what it does. I would say more than anything else, they probably have heard the name, but what it does is it is a different thing. Yeah. I mean, Alibaba is the world's largest digital trading platform in existence, and they generate probably $150 billion a year in revenue.
00:22:21:21 - 00:22:27:12
Kerim Kfuri
They network about 500,000 to 1 million suppliers in the world.
00:22:27:12 - 00:22:50:15
Kerim Kfuri
And essentially it's a place where global commerce can, can be, can transact. You know, originally when they started, they they had problems because they had so many bad actors that would come onto that platform and they would represent themselves as a factory, and they'd show some beautiful pictures and people would send money blindly, and then things would go wrong and there would be no recourse.
00:22:50:15 - 00:22:56:20
Kerim Kfuri
And it was a whole challenge. But through time and through the years, they've built so many great transactional,
00:22:56:20 - 00:23:05:01
Kerim Kfuri
you know, protection devices such as verification programs around the actual suppliers that can actually be on their network,
00:23:05:01 - 00:23:19:03
Kerim Kfuri
trade assurance programs to ensure that when buyers are transacting using the Alibaba platform and with Alibaba verified suppliers, that they will have certain assurances around their production, whether it's quality or timeliness and so forth.
00:23:19:05 - 00:23:19:16
Kerim Kfuri
And,
00:23:19:16 - 00:23:21:10
Kerim Kfuri
in this way, it's been,
00:23:21:10 - 00:23:25:20
Kerim Kfuri
a really strong, you know, large scale global sourcing tool.
00:23:25:20 - 00:23:29:00
Kerim Kfuri
For so many, Alibaba is also incorporating many AI,
00:23:29:00 - 00:23:41:03
Kerim Kfuri
components to them as well to help with the ideation phase and the prototyping side of it, even before production even takes place to an image match, where you can go on there and take a picture or something, and it scours the whole database.
00:23:41:03 - 00:23:51:05
Kerim Kfuri
It said, here's 30 suppliers that can make exactly what that picture is that you just showed, you know, so there's there's a lot of connectivity that's that's occurring in that way too.
00:23:51:05 - 00:23:55:20
Kerim Kfuri
But we are the first US based verified supplier of Alibaba, which is a very,
00:23:55:20 - 00:23:57:18
Kerim Kfuri
honorable title to have.
00:23:57:18 - 00:24:03:12
Kerim Kfuri
Alibaba has been working to build up networks that are not just in Asia.
00:24:03:14 - 00:24:19:04
Kerim Kfuri
And part of that is working to find great supply chain solutions companies or providers or manufacturers that are in other parts of the world in, in the United States and other places. And we are the first verified one of the United States.
00:24:19:04 - 00:24:26:18
Kerim Kfuri
So with that title, you know, I've been able to speak a lot about best practices and protocols and things that we do,
00:24:26:18 - 00:24:34:09
Kerim Kfuri
for the Alibaba community and ecosphere and customers, buyers and sellers who come through the platform and interact with us.
00:24:34:11 - 00:24:34:21
Kerim Kfuri
And,
00:24:34:21 - 00:24:36:06
Kerim Kfuri
I've been to their, their,
00:24:36:06 - 00:24:51:13
Kerim Kfuri
headquarters in China and Honjo many times and, and spent time with their leadership. And, you know, they, they're doing good things. They're doing good things over there these days and, and really working to kind of weed out the bad apples as much as they can to. There's always going to be bad actors.
00:24:51:13 - 00:24:54:01
Kerim Kfuri
They're going to try and come in to a platform like that and,
00:24:54:01 - 00:25:02:00
Kerim Kfuri
perpetrate fraud or try to, you know, create, mistrust. And they're working very diligently on those things to.
00:25:02:02 - 00:25:22:00
Craig Andrews
So, I mean, if I understand correctly, basically it's, it's almost like a, a platform where if I need something manufactured, it makes the connections and, and sorts that out. And I'll be honest with you, I don't think I fully understood it. I just thought it was kind of like the Amazon of China.
00:25:22:02 - 00:25:32:14
Kerim Kfuri
No. What they've done is, is they built a component to their business, which is like their AliExpress component to it, where basically they have certain,
00:25:32:14 - 00:25:47:16
Kerim Kfuri
manufacture laws or producers where you can buy like one unit of something, and then it ends up becoming like that. It ends up becoming sort of like an Amazon, but you're sourcing directly from a network of suppliers, primarily overseas, and it's going to take like a week or two to get to you.
00:25:47:16 - 00:25:52:12
Kerim Kfuri
It's not going to come in like a day the way it does. And Amazon having warehouses in fulfillment.
00:25:52:12 - 00:25:57:07
Kerim Kfuri
But their true business nature, the, the, the real,
00:25:57:07 - 00:25:58:01
Kerim Kfuri
the real,
00:25:58:01 - 00:26:09:06
Kerim Kfuri
fundamentals of what Alibaba is, is being a global trading platform is what it really is more than anything else. It has some of those commerce aspects to it, like I said, the AliExpress and so forth.
00:26:09:06 - 00:26:13:18
Kerim Kfuri
But that's not really their main focus of that platform.
00:26:13:20 - 00:26:16:16
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Wow. Well,
00:26:16:16 - 00:26:24:11
Craig Andrews
let's wrap up with this. We're running a little bit long, but I really wanted to talk about tariffs. Obviously there's a lot of talk about
00:26:24:11 - 00:26:28:20
Craig Andrews
using tariffs in different ways and what have you. And
00:26:28:20 - 00:26:35:14
Craig Andrews
what's, you know, what's your take on. Yeah. What's happening. So, you know, a little bit of context,
00:26:35:14 - 00:26:45:13
Craig Andrews
you know, President Trump is talking about using tariffs against, you know, Canada and Mexico basically to get them to do other things not related to trade.
00:26:45:15 - 00:26:48:15
Craig Andrews
But he's also talking about imposing tariffs on China.
00:26:48:17 - 00:27:25:03
Kerim Kfuri
Right? So I mean, you know, my take on it is, you know, it's not the first time in history that, you know, economic sanctions are being put in place to to curb the behavior of nations. And, that's what's being done with Canada and Mexico and even in China, to a degree. But the reality of it is, is that it's a very insular thought, very insular thought, and we operate in a global economy, and we are so interdependent and reliant upon other nations that we have to be very careful to tread lightly in this way, because when we look at it, much of the world needs we need much more of the world than sometimes
00:27:25:03 - 00:27:42:03
Kerim Kfuri
the world may need us, and we may not want to admit that. But the perfect example is at Amazon example, where 70% of the products that are sold on Amazon come from China. You know? And we have to recognize that and understand that we have a significant amount of agriculture that comes from Mexico. We have,
00:27:42:03 - 00:27:46:03
Kerim Kfuri
building materials and lumber and things of that nature that come from places like Canada.
00:27:46:05 - 00:27:57:22
Kerim Kfuri
So when you start kind of closing off these important routes, it's going to impact things like the housing market. It's going to impact the cost of food. Maybe Thanksgiving will be, you know, to 25% higher next year.
00:27:57:22 - 00:28:08:23
Kerim Kfuri
Or maybe your products will go, you know, through the roof. Next year, Santa Claus is going to have to, you know, it's going to cost more for Santa to show up because goods cost more because of these additional tariffs.
00:28:09:01 - 00:28:31:13
Kerim Kfuri
So how it works, as far as we understand it, is, is that businesses will have to make a concerted effort to understand if they can share some of these tariffs with their suppliers so that it doesn't have to pass on to customers. If it's luxury goods, can they just tack on an extra 1 or $2 and no one will know the difference because you're buying a $150 XYZ products.
00:28:31:13 - 00:28:51:11
Kerim Kfuri
So $151 product will make that big of a difference because it's a luxury industry. Will people or businesses have to reclassified goods as they come through the ports under different tariff codes to try to change the the amount that it was being charged? And finally, you know, will they have to consider building a new supply chain entirely in a new nation.
00:28:51:11 - 00:29:09:05
Kerim Kfuri
But that's complex and takes time. It takes could take years. And so in that way, you know, do you lose out on sales cycles or do you just reduce your profitability for a period of time? So there's a lot of aspects to this depending upon who you are, the consumer businesses,
00:29:09:05 - 00:29:13:21
Kerim Kfuri
the government and we have to look at the balancing act on all these things.
00:29:13:21 - 00:29:16:14
Kerim Kfuri
Today the PPI report came out,
00:29:16:14 - 00:29:41:05
Kerim Kfuri
which is the producer price index. And then next will come out the CPI report, the consumer price index. And these are the markers of inflation, because if we go too far with the economic sanctions will trend towards inflation and then potentially recession. So we have to pay very close attention to these, these markers and indicators as these policies are enacted, to see if we're really doing what's in the benefit of this nation and consumers.
00:29:41:07 - 00:29:45:12
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Well, Kerim, this has just been absolutely fascinating.
00:29:45:12 - 00:29:47:07
Craig Andrews
How can people reach you?
00:29:47:08 - 00:29:48:07
Kerim Kfuri
Sure. So,
00:29:48:07 - 00:29:51:15
Kerim Kfuri
for my business, which is the Atlas network, it is,
00:29:51:15 - 00:29:54:12
Kerim Kfuri
simply at Atlas network.com,
00:29:54:12 - 00:30:02:02
Kerim Kfuri
for anything having to do with my thought leadership or my book or speaking or just consulting and the things that I do individually.
00:30:02:02 - 00:30:18:16
Kerim Kfuri
It's just my first and last name. So Kerim, before.com and all of the other social media platforms, I do a lot on YouTube and Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, a lot of very short, informative 30 to 60 second like videos every day about different topics in the supply chain.
00:30:18:16 - 00:30:27:09
Kerim Kfuri
My goal is to be a relatable voice in this complicated space. So those are all the ways that people can get Ahold of me and the things I'm doing well.
00:30:27:09 - 00:30:29:15
Craig Andrews
Excellent. Well, thanks for coming on, Leaders and Legacies.
00:30:29:19 - 00:30:32:17
Kerim Kfuri
Thank you so much for having me. It was a real honor and a pleasure to,
00:30:32:17 - 00:30:35:14
Kerim Kfuri
to speak with you.
00:30:35:14 - 00:31:02:09
Craig Andrews
This is Craig Andrews. I want to thank you for listening to the Leaders and Legacies podcast. We're looking for leaders to share how they're making the impact beyond themselves. If that's you, please go to Alize for me.com/guest and sign up there. If you got something out of this interview, we would love you to share this
00:31:02:09 - 00:31:04:04
Craig Andrews
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Craig Andrews
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00:31:27:16 - 00:31:35:20
Craig Andrews
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00:31:35:20 - 00:33:37:21
Craig Andrews
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