Robots have been in warehouses for years. But rigid setups, massive upfront costs, and zero flexibility have kept automation out of reach for most 3PLs.

General-purpose robotics changes that, and it's closer than most people think.

In this episode of Procurement Pulse, host Friddy Hoegener sits down with Joe Spisak, Founder & CEO of Fulfill.com, who built and sold his own 140,000 square foot fulfillment center before launching a platform that connects brands with 3PL partners across a network of 2,800+ providers.

They dig into why current robotics still falls short for mid-market 3PLs, what makes general-purpose different, and why the next five years could bring more disruption to warehousing than the last twenty combined. Joe also shares what he actually looks for when hiring entry-level supply chain talent and why your GPA is the last thing on his mind.

What We Discuss:

00:00 Three 3PLs in 18 months: the near-disaster that started it all

02:43 How the matchmaking model works and what 100+ data points actually flag

05:11 Using the free matchmaking process as a negotiating weapon with your current 3PL

07:45 How Fulfill.com expanded from matching brands to connecting 3PLs with tech partners

10:34 Why the biggest 3PLs push back and where the real opportunity sits

13:32 General-purpose robotics: why mid-market warehouses are closer to disruption than they think

17:42 What warehouse teams actually look like when robots start entering the floor

21:49 What Joe looks for in entry-level hires (and why your GPA is irrelevant)

Connect with us:

SCOPE Recruiting | https://www.scoperecruiting.com/

Connect with Friddy | https://www.linkedin.com/in/fhoegener/

Connect with Joe | https://www.linkedin.com/in/spisakjoe/

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.

Companies spend millions on procurement technology and walk away with almost nothing to show for it. Not because the tech failed, but because nobody planned for the hard part.

The hard part is the people.

In this episode of Procurement Pulse, host Friddy sits down with Amanda Prochaska, Founder and Chief Wonder Officer at Wonder Services, who left her dream job at MGM Resorts to fix one of procurement's most persistent problems: digital transformations that look great on paper and fall apart in practice.

Amanda makes a sharp case for why most failed implementations have nothing to do with the software, what agentic AI actually changes about adoption, and why the entry-level role decisions companies are making right now could quietly hollow out the next generation of procurement leadership.

What We Discuss:

00:00 Welcome to Procurement Pulse

00:48 From "who doesn't like buying things?" to procurement transformation

02:57 The digital implementation trap most CPOs don't see coming

05:23 What an SI told Amanda that changed everything

09:10 Why agentic AI might finally solve the adoption problem

11:07 The entry-level role question keeping Amanda up at night

13:27 Replace headcount or unlock capacity? The fork in the road ahead

18:10 Why vendor relationships matter more than category expertise now

24:51 The soft skills that will outlast every wave of automation

29:16 Full-time vs. contract talent: what's actually shifting in the market

32:34 Where to find Amanda and Wonder Services

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

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.

90% of Alibaba's revenue comes from supplier advertising fees. That means page one rankings are heavily influenced by who paid the most, not just who's best for your product.

Most procurement teams contact 3 to 5 suppliers before making a decision. Not because that's enough because contacting more is too time-consuming. But better pricing and better quality might be sitting with supplier #47.

Ricky Ho, Co-founder of SourceReady, explains how AI changes sourcing. His platform has indexed 1.4M suppliers using customs data from 80 countries, including factories with no website or online presence. Instead of manually messaging 5 suppliers, their AI contacts 50 or 100 simultaneously, collects responses, and ranks suppliers by match quality rather than ad spend.

What We Discuss:

00:00 Why Alibaba's page one is dominated by who paid most

01:59 How to find 1.4 million suppliers invisible on directories

03:55 The AI tool that contacts 100 suppliers automatically

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 Ricky | https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricky-ho-a25a05104/

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.