The Auto Supply Chain Champions Podcast is taking a short break this week. To listeners in the US, Jan and Tom Roberts wish you a Happy Labor Day.

The next episode releases on September 14, and it turns the microphone toward the people the industry keeps saying it needs: two supply chain students from Wayne State University who have already spent time inside the workplace. Jan and Tom wanted to know what these students expected when they walked in, whether the reality matched, and how they handled the data, leadership, and the culture they found on the job. Their answers give manufacturing leaders a rare, unfiltered look at how the next generation sees the organizations they are about to join.

This podcast is powered by QAD RedZone.

About Your Hosts

Jan Griffiths

Jan is the host and producer of the Auto Supply Chain Champions Podcast and The Automotive Leaders Podcast. A former automotive manufacturing and supply chain executive, Jan is recognized as a Champion for Culture Change in the automotive industry. She brings direct, grounded conversations to leaders navigating execution, disruption, and transformation across the global automotive ecosystem.

Tom Roberts (Co-host)

Tom is Co-host of the Auto Supply Chain Champions Podcast and Vice President of Strategic Industry Development at QAD. He works closely with automotive and industrial manufacturers to close the gap between insight and execution, helping leaders move from visibility to systems of action that drive real operational outcomes.

Follow the Auto Supply Chain Champions Podcast for real conversations with leaders who are making hard choices, focusing their bets, and leading with intent.

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[Transcript]

[00:00:30] Tom Roberts: Great to be here, Jan. What I see every day is simple: manufacturers don't have a data problem, they've got an execution problem. This show is about how artificial intelligence, systems of action, and empowered teams can help close that gap.

And we are taking a short break on the Auto Supply Chain Champions podcast, and we want to wish you in the US a very Happy Labor Day, and to let you know that our next episode is coming out on September the 14th, and we're very excited about it because it is the perspective of two students, supply chain students coming out of Wayne State University who have had experience in the workplace, and we wanted to know what did they expect?

Did the reality meet the expectations? What about the data? How did they feel about the data that they had to deal with? What about the leadership? What about the culture? We had so many questions, so stay tuned.

Next episode releases September the 14th.

We wanna hear from you, our listener. Tell us what are your challenges right now? What conversations do you want to hear across the airwaves on this podcast? Drop us a comment on our podcast website. The link is in the show notes.