Matium Monday Vol 9. - Aligning with Industry

Welcome Kent Boyd to the Matium Advisory Board

Kent Boyd serves as the President of Strategic Polymer Solutions LLC, a consulting firm dedicated to optimizing the total cost of ownership for polymer-based direct materials among its clientele. Previously, Kent served as Director of Materials at Pactiv.

With a combined experience of fifty years, Kent boasts expertise in operations leadership and procurement, where he has spearheaded innovative supply chain strategies recognized for their efficacy in the industry. His responsibilities encompassed overseeing the procurement of two billion pounds of resin and associated additives, managing inventories, optimizing order quantities and deliveries, and ensuring timely supplier payments, resulting in annual savings ranging from $60 million to $100 million. Kent possesses extensive knowledge of various polymers and additives, including sustainable alternatives, and excels in communication across operations, technical, engineering, sales, and leadership domains.

Kent's primary objectives revolve around driving value for clients' organizations, nurturing team dynamics, and enhancing shareholder value within his company.

An evolution, not a revolution

The supply chain is going through an evolution, not a revolution. The truth is, the next generation of labor isn't lining up to become plastics brokers/buyers. Active brokers/buyers have incredible knowledge about the industry and how it works due to their position in the markets and the spectrum of transactions they participate in. That knowledge is an irreplaceable foundation of our North American supply chain.

The problem we face is, the country and society demand more from the industry and we seemingly don't have much to give. Resin producers control market pricing and recyclers are left holding the bag. Consumers want waste to be solved and politicians are pushing EPR legislation which we are not ready for from a data and efficiency perspective. If our industry cannot improve our efficiency, we will fail the consumers of this country.

The folks who traded materials before me started on phonebooks. I learned on cold calls, google maps, and email. Then LinkedIn and WhatsApp became the place to offer materials. Marketplaces have attempted to optimize the industry, but have always failed to understand how it truly works. The industry is about relationships, but specifically trust. A transaction is only as strong as the person behind it.

The next generation of supply chain is a network which is fully controlled by the industry itself. Where the software provider takes no position on the network, and charges no mandatory transaction fees. Where the users have the ability to choose who sees their offers, which ones, and at which prices. A network which provides a platform to handle the entire business management for recyclers who cannot afford large ERP systems so that the little guys can also participate. A platform that takes care of the requirements from DC and state gov's and fits the reporting function into a button so that it doesn't burden the people's lives who already work harder than those in suits.

Matium is the material medium, an industrial internet moving and making materials efficiently so that the world can move faster forward to a sustainable future. Our team is dedicated to building this solution correctly, not quickly. The ecosystem is yours.Stay tuned for the MASSIVE release in early May at NPE: The Plastics Show