Episode Details

Connect with Jonathan:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanpporter/

Website: https://www.porterlogic.com/

Lisa Ryan: Hey, it's Lisa Ryan. Welcome to the Manufacturer's Network podcast. I'm excited to introduce our guest today, Jonathan Porter. Jonathan Porter, a renowned supply chain professional, is the founder and CEO of PorterLogic, the supply chain stack for ambitious brands. As a Georgia Tech alumnus, Jonathan's warehouse management and industrial engineering expertise allow him to help businesses navigate supply chain and inventory complexities and achieve their full potential. Jonathan, welcome to the show. 

Jonathan Porter: Thanks so much. I'm excited to be here. 

Lisa Ryan: Share a little about your background and what led you to do what you're doing with Porter Logic. 

Jonathan Porter: Sure. I started my career at Manhattan Associates, which is probably the top w m s provider in warehouse software. I spent five or six years implementing warehouse management systems, so I got immersed in detail with supply chain and warehousing. But I just found it fascinating. Honestly, warehouses are some of the coolest things.

So many processes must come together for that box you ordered online to show up at your door. And so many people need to understand how much goes into modern e-commerce. So yeah, I saw a lot of opportunities for efficiency improvements and ways to improve things.

I started the company coming up on about three years ago. But I came from a super entrepreneurial background and knew I would always do something. Of course, I had side businesses in high school and all that. But yeah, the timing was right, and the market opportunity was there, and we are excited to be doing what you're, what we're doing.

Lisa Ryan: It is fascinating. From a consumer standpoint, I drive by some of these huge Amazon warehouses in my area and wonder. How do they find the coffee I order can be there within a couple of hours if I order within the next 31 minutes? 

Jonathan Porter: Yeah. It sometimes floors me what folks like Amazon and others are doing. Yeah, you can order in the morning and get it delivered a couple of hours later, which we used to think two-day delivery was remarkable. But no, now they're, like I said, Amazon and others, but many people are pushing the bar even higher.

Lisa Ryan: It was interesting, too, of the subject, but I was in the car with an Uber driver the other day. And Amazon has an Uber-type app for their drivers for delivery. We are seeing so many changes that even a couple of years ago, we would've never in a million years thought about using people in their cars instead of our beautiful company trucks to deliver products and get them there that quickly.

Jonathan Porter: Yeah, no, it's fantastic to see, but simultaneously, it's incredible that the technology is powering much of this, right? You could only do this with a lot of the underlying technology that's powering somebody to log onto an app and receive a task to do a delivery. And it just routes them directly to where to pick it up and where to put it out.

And that all has to seamlessly integrate with the warehouse management system and your order management. And it's just this orchestration of a lot of data moving back and forth that then is powering this consumer experience that, most people I've just mentioned, like most people, don't realize what's going on.

You order something, you click to buy, and you're mad. Now if it shows up two days later, you expect one day. But yeah. And. The n