S3E9: Driving Change & Doing Good with Clayton Homes SVP Matt Stites

For the June 2025 episode, co-hosts Ted Stank and Tom Goldsby spoke with Matt Stites, president of Clayton Supply and SVP of supply chain for Clayton Home Building Group, about dealing with disruptions, addressing the national housing shortage, and building growth-minded teams that pursue excellence in operations and customer service. Stites, a member of the GSCI Advisory Board, leads the supply chain for the largest builder of manufactured and modular homes in North America. He is responsible for a 1,500-person team producing internally manufactured building products, leads a sourcing organization managing a multibillion-dollar spend, and guides a materials team serving 60 manufacturing facilities. Listen in for insights on integrating your supply chain organization, driving talent-rich teams to continue innovating, and the importance of resilience, agility, and plasticity during uncertain times. Plus, Ted and Tom dig into the latest news about tariffs and inflation, trade agreements between competing nations, and more. You don’t want to miss it! The episode was recorded virtually on June 12, 2025. Related links:  Inflation is holding steady as tariffs yet to hit fully Trump urges Fed to cut lending interest rates Analysts react to US-China trade agreement World Bank forecast underscores the cost of the US trade war Revenue from duties jumped to $22 billion in May UT SCM department head John Bell on securing critical minerals, like lithium, during a global trade war Ted Stank and Lance Saunders on mitigating uncertainties in CFO Brew Save the date for the fall Supply Chain Forum, November 4–6 in Knoxville Download the white paper “Future-Ready Procurement” or read our blog series  Join the Advanced Supply Chain Collaborative to explore advanced concepts in SCM with top industry experts and scholars Take one of our virtual SCM courses in Leadership (Aug. 18–Nov. 23), Finance (Sept. 15-Nov. 16), and Text the Tennessee on Supply Chain Management team!