You cut inventory by 50% and achieve 99.8% on-time delivery. Impossible? One supply chain leader did exactly that, but not by implementing fancy software or hiring consultants.
The secret? Sitting on the factory floor with operators and asking one simple question: "How can we make your job easier?"
In this episode of Procurement Pulse, host and SCOPE Recruiting Co-Founder Friddy Hoegener and co-host Evan Cave sit down with Jared Paget, VP of Operations at ClearOne, who's driven operational excellence across multiple continents and industries.
They dig into why most companies fail at lean manufacturing (hint: it's not about the process), how to tell if a company is serious about change versus just checking boxes, and why the person doing the job eight hours a day knows more than any consultant ever will.
Jared also shares the counterintuitive truth about AI in supply chain - he's been using it for 20 years, just not the way most people think. And why those entry-level tactical jobs aren't disappearing as fast as everyone fears.
What We Discuss:
00:00 Welcome to Procurement Pulse
00:39 Why SNOP is the foundation of supply chain success
03:15 The Nuvea USA story: 99.8% delivery and 50% less inventory
07:22 Keeping inventory in its "most infant state"
10:45 The furniture manufacturing cautionary tale
14:30 How to get operator buy-in without mandates
19:12 "You're just doing this to make yourself look good" — handling resistance to change
23:47 The real KPIs that prove lean is working
28:33 How to tell if a candidate actually knows lean (or just has it on their resume)
32:18 What companies reveal when they can't answer "What's the 6-month roadmap?"
38:55 AI in supply chain: We've been doing this for 20 years
43:20 Will AI eliminate entry-level supply chain jobs?
47:02 The one skill that matters most in operations
Connect with us:
SCOPE Recruiting | https://www.scoperecruiting.com/
Connect with Friddy | https://www.linkedin.com/in/fhoegener/
Connect with Evan | https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-cave
Connect with Jared Paget | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredpaget
About Procurement Pulse: Real conversations with supply chain and procurement professionals who've been on both sides—building teams, solving problems, and staying ahead of what's coming next.
About SCOPE Recruiting: SCOPE Recruiting is a boutique supply chain recruiting firm where every recruiter is a former supply chain professional. Co-founders Friddy and Melissa, both ex-ABB global category managers, built the company after seeing how many “generalist” recruiters didn’t truly understand supply chain, procurement, or logistics roles.
By hiring professionals first and teaching them recruiting second, SCOPE delivers better matches, higher retention rates, and faster hiring results across manufacturing, procurement, logistics, and supply chain leadership.
If you're building a supply chain team and the usual recruiting approach isn't working, check out scoperecruiting.com.