Episode 3 - "From the Court to the Tarmac": Inside JBT AeroTech with Patrick McDowell

This episode of The GSE podcast is brought to you by Xcēd ground support equipment leasing your trusted partner for GSE solutions. We specialize in tailored operating leases for ground handlers and airlines, offering top-notch equipment and flexible terms to suit your needs. partner with industry leaders like JBT Aerotech. We're committed to bring you new equipment offerings and keep your operations running smoothly inefficient. Choose Xced for competitive rates and exceptional customer service. Visit exceed gsc.com today, and soar to new heights with exceed ground support equipment leasing. All right, welcome to the third episode of the GSE Podcast. I'm here at JBT headquarters in Orlando, Florida with Patrick McDowell. How's it going? Welcome. Welcome to the facility. Oh, thanks, man. Just got a little bit of a tour. We went and saw some electric push backs that you guys are working on. So I got to walk around the facility. See some of the new stuff. And yeah, having a great day so far. How are you doing? Doing well, doing well, enjoying the warm weather now? It's not raining. So that's a plus. Yeah, but I'm very accustomed to the often on weather, Memphis, Tennessee. So being down here where it's a little bit more consistent is nice, because it's been rather chilly up north. So you're moving to Orlando, Florida? If I'm correct, correct. I am in the process of getting a family of three down here. So we're just waiting for school year, get over with and then we'll be down in Florida full time to enjoy the summer. So what were you doing in Memphis, Tennessee? Oh, a lot. So I was born and raised in Memphis. Only time I've really left Memphis was to go to college, went to Mississippi State came back and spent seven or eight years working for a cargo airline with big purple tails out of Memphis, Tennessee. So that should be pretty obvious as to who that is. Yeah, but did a number of things there. Spent some time in sales, spent some time in sourcing GSC specifically, and then also did some strategic project management work there. But yeah, outside of that biggest hobby is basketball. So this is you are a tall guy. Yeah. And I'm the short one in my family. I'm about 6364. Okay, my dad is six, nine. So yeah, that's a great disparity in height. You know, even though I'm the child of a six, nine adult. I'm still six inches shorter than I'm still trying to get over the six nine. So did your dad play professional basketball? Yeah. Oh, yeah. So he played college ball at what was then Memphis State University. And then he played six years in the NBA, and then played three years in Europe. Came back to the states in 1990, which was when I was born. And unfortunately, he was working out with the Denver Nuggets at the time, and he had a heart valve collapse in the middle of a workout session in that high altitude. So he had a matumbo save him. No, not quite. But obviously, it was a very emergency situation. Oh my god. So that's what ended his career we had, he has a prosthetic heart about that. But yeah, after that, they came back to Memphis to my mom and I was about six months old then. And we've been in Memphis ever since. So this is the first big move for my family coming down here. And, you know, basically growing up, I grew up in a marketing household with a dad who did broadcasting TV and radio for the University of Memphis and for the Memphis Grizzlies. So being accustomed to the equipment surrounding us right now this is this is kind of normal for me in a way so man, that is a that is a good story. My dad was not that cool. I'm gonna be honest with you. Definitely not a broadcaster in in definitely not six nine. Yeah, so look, there's pros. I'm unhealthy. I'm unhealthy. Five, eight, so it's so you can't wear my size 15 shoe. That's what you're saying. Okay, no, I think I'd look like Ronald McDonald. I'm pretty sure so yeah, didn't explain it. Don't get me wrong. I mean, having a father who is a professional athlete comes with its, there's perks but there's also a lot of, you know, hey, everything's got to be on point. Yeah, everything's 150% at all times and got to be perfect. So you grew up in a certain way, but you know, obviously the still a great life as well. So did any of your siblings play college ball or my younger brother played college basketball, he played at the University of Memphis as well, so he was there during the Josh Pastner and Tubby W Smith. They so oh yeah, that'd be Smith. Yeah. Was the coach UK for a little bit? When we went I think we won a national title underneath him. Yeah, you did one. Yeah, we won one. And I was. Yeah, I was not there for that game. I was there when they were in the sweet 16. But I'm a UK basketball fan. Oh, yeah. Oh, we love Tubby Smith in our household. He's just, he was a he's just a great coach. But he was also a great, just great human. You know, he took he took care of his his players and, you know, tried to not just mold them into players, but also mold them into human beings that will help society and stuff. So we're big fans of Toby. Yeah, we have now we have Cal Perry, getting off subject who also came from Memphis who also came from Memphis, but does not shape his players for their future. So anyway, but back to back the ground support equipment. Yeah. What's that again? Yeah, right. Yeah, exactly. We got a little bit off topic. But I think that's, you know, it's part of the podcast, we get alerted about the people in the industry and their backgrounds. And it's, it's always fun to kind of hear stories about where people came from. Because one of the questions I always ask is like, how did you get involved in the industry? Obviously, you were working for a cargo airline, I imagine, you know, sourcing equipment. So that's kind of your background and made sense that JBT would want you here, you're already very familiar with the equipment, very familiar with the processes that go into purchasing the equipment and all those kinds of things. Yeah, there's just a small number of JBT equipment in Memphis. Yeah, I say that sarcastically Yeah. Probably full of it. Yeah. So that's, that's great. So that's how you got in the industry. So have you been to a ground support equipment trade show yet? So I did. But I was sitting on the other side of the table. I went there as a customer. So right when I was still working for the cargo airline, I went to Vegas, and was part of the trade show and walking around and talking to everybody. So now I'm on the opposite side. Right? So working for JBT. I'm just sitting I'm in one booth, right? Yeah, I have to walk a couple of miles every day to talk to all those people either. Talk to the customer got to talk to a lot of people. But point, you know, but still, it's a little different. Right? Yeah. So what year were you there? Probably. I'm trying to think 2000 Was this the 19? or No? No, it would have been like 1617 Maybe. Okay, something like that is when I was in Vegas. But that was my scenario. Was it the RE Yes, it was the Rio okay, it wasn't Rio. Yep. So that was my first like, real rain hotel, by the way. That was my first great experience with you know, Vegas trade show life. You know, I've been to Vegas before for trade shows, but much smaller. Yep. So to kind of see the GSC Expo that was that was kind of my eye opening moment, especially to see like everybody's equipment, right. So when you work within an airline, you know, you're only seeing what you're buying. Yeah. And you know, and most airlines just like anybody else, anybody else you're buying to what you need, and you're very specific needs. So you go to the expo and see everything that's out there was was very eye opening for me. Yeah, for sure. I agree. So what is so what is JBT working on right now? Oh, what is what it was jvt pushing. We're we're working on a little bit of everything right now. Okay. So the biggest thing that we've really grown accustomed to and you know, putting out the factory, like the back of our hand, like we have anything else is our loaders, electric loaders. So we're now doing an electric Rangers electric commander, 15 Selectric Commander 30s. So are all those out in the market right now market right now. So we've got a number of customers with different variations of all those types of loaders. I think the biggest one that is becoming more of a demand is the Ranger, the Ranger, especially for the ground handlers. And a lot of the leasing companies such as Exede, it's just a, it's a very durable, full suspension loader that can be driven from gate, the gate or ramp, the ramp, whatever, however you need it. But it's also a slightly lower cost point to so we're finding that to be more of a demand. And we can make it from a wide to a universal so we can get the main decks as well. But obviously, from any of the commanders as well, everything's flying off the shelves. You know, we have a very healthy backlog right now. So that's not stopping anybody from a standpoint of lead times from from ordering them, because they know that they're going to be reliable pieces of equipment, they're going to last three decades if you take care of them, right. So. So if a customer doesn't know what the difference between maybe they've always bought commanders Yeah, right. So what is the difference between a commander in a ranger like what would be what would be your selling point? You know, and the difference now I know, the commander is, I mean, it is the industry standard. I think we can say that. And so a lot of people have fleets full of Commander. So we're not saying that about the commander. But what I want to make sure is like that the customer understands what the difference is. Products are. So I'll start with a commander because that's probably the Most common one, well known one anyways, so commanders is built, just be at a gate and pull up to a plane, you know, 1015 yards and pull back and park again, it's supposed to be static, it's not really supposed to be driven across terminals or from, you know, gate to gate, the Ranger is built to be mobile, it's got suspension on all four corners of it. It's a smooth ride, it's been, it's built for ground handlers, and it's built for certain operations, where you are, you gotta leave the gate, you gotta go somewhere else, or you gotta go to another terminal, and you're not going to beat the equipment to death and you're not going to damage it. By doing so what we found is that we had a lot of customers driving the commander fifteens Commander 30s, almost a mile across airports, to get to other operations, you know, to put it in use, and what that was doing to the commanders. And it was just kind of beating them up a little bit, because those are not meant to be driven like that. And everybody knows that. So we built the Ranger is a little bit lighter weight, it's got full suspension on it, and it does everything a commander 15 can do. So what we're finding is that it's really, we found this kind of flex area, this gray area in the loader line that it's really it's really been beneficial for a lot of people. And it was actually a really easy transition to make that electric as well, along with the commander's and yeah, it's been a great product for us, and we're continuing to increase capacity. Yeah, so for our ground handler, it's perfect, right? Oh, that's the dream going. They can just drive that from gate to gate and not have to buy maybe two or three commanders buy the one Ranger exactly and and still be able to get to their operation? All right, what about push backs? So I know that, obviously, you all have the the B Series push backs, right? You get the 1200? V 950? B? 650? B 350? B 250? Could you you know, you know, it. I know, what am I doing here? I know, I know, a little bit. I know a little bit. So are all of those. Also, they also all been converted to electric? Or is that in process? How's that? Look? Yeah, so we're in the process of transitioning majority of those to electric. So when COVID hit, we're basically focusing on the 250s, and the smaller tractors because of passenger business and whatnot. But when COVID hit, it changed everything. Passenger business dropped off significantly. But what skyrocketed was cargo, right. So we ended up changing our focus. And the first tractor we converted to electric was a B 650. And that was just because the cargo airlines were still operating at peak levels. We weren't having a whole lot of demand from the passenger side. So the you know, the delta is the United's the southwest of the world. And so we said, Okay, well, here's your opportunity, let's focus on six cities, we know that, you know, people will use it, and it'll get bought. So we started there, we had a couple of demos out there in the field, they worked great. And we started selling those first. And we were still making those, you just saw one on the line earlier as we were walking through the facility. And now we're focusing on the B 250. So we're now shifting back to the passenger side a little bit more. So that b 250, is going to be a great, great vehicle, you saw the first prototype sitting outside is about to be put through the test of, of ground handling, and then everything else and beat it up as much as we can. So we can work out the kinks out, right. So the 950 and the 1200 will probably come last mainly just because a pure scope of them. Obviously, those are very large tractors, and they require a whole lot of power. So it's not that it can't be done. We know it can be done it just gonna take time. And honestly, we haven't had a whole lot of demand for electric size tractors at that level for 950 and 1200. Everybody has been typically pretty, pretty pleased with keeping them diesel for the time being, but those will be transitioned to electric as soon as we're done in testing the 250s and putting those into production. Nice. Yeah. So I think when I think of JBT I think of cargo loaders. Yeah, I think of push backs. Right. So but you all are kind of entering a new market. From my understanding in you're going to offer some some bag tractors. Yeah. So let me make sure I say this right. So I don't get gripe that it is a cargo tractor with the capability of us obviously also being a baggage tractor. We have what's called a bat. Some of some of our customers currently have these in the field. It is a larger cargo tractor a little bit more heavy duty, a little bit more durable to take that beating that we all know that those tractors can go through out there on the ramp, and they're also full suspension so it's got a great ride to it. Right now we have gas units in the field. And we're gonna become we're converting that to electric right now. So we have a lot of folks waiting for that tractor specifically to hit the market with electric because we think as we all know is that's Probably the easiest way to start converting your fleets to electric is starting small. So we have a pretty, pretty nice line waiting for those electric Brady's to come in. And we're excited about it. So I think it's gonna be a great product for us. It's been in I think about the field for about two years now. And from a gas perspective, and yeah, once electrics up and running, it'll be a great show. So and we're gonna have the first electric unit in Vegas for the show this year. So yeah, make sure to stop by the booth and come check it out. Yeah, what else is going to be? Speaking of which, what else is gonna be in Vegas? Yeah, you know, there will be a nice area. Yeah, there will be a nice new product in Vegas this year. And Matt, you are fortunately the first person to kind of have this publicized on your platform. So we're, as JBT have created something through some customer input and customer demands, and just innovation internally with what we call the amp a cart. And the amp cart is going to be a mobile GSC charging station. So you can Scott, it's gonna be on a dolly, you can pull it behind a cargo tractor, you can move it wherever you need to, it's going to have a diesel genset on it, you could have up to six chargers on it, each charger has two outputs. So that's up to 12 pieces of equipment, the standard spec will have four chargers, so that's obviously going to charge eight units, but you can you can get it up to 12 units. But we're really excited about it. Theoretically, you can charge a commander 15 And about four hours. And that's if the batteries are like 20%. So you're never gonna let let the batteries get to zero, right. So. So you're looking at roughly a four hour lead or charge time on that. But yeah, we're really looking forward to have it out in the market. You saw it here in the facility, we got the prototype, about 80% of the way through. And we've already pre sold units with a customer that we collaborated with for this. But we're really excited. You know, obviously we all know electrification for GSE is the biggest and the biggest concern and biggest need for everybody right now. And we're regardless of your ground handler, an airline or leasing company. That's where everything's going right. But we all know, the biggest pain point is having that the facility access to charge the actual equipment, it's, you know, anybody can buy the equipment. But do you have the infrastructure at the airport to actually get it in? We know there's a lot of pushback from airports right now to get charters installed. This gives you another option. Basically, if you're charging eight to 12 units on that, on the amp cart, and you're using a diesel genset, you're only using an eight or 12 of the diesel emissions that you had before. So that's a vast difference. No, it's not a zero, you know, you're not, you're not completely canceling all out. But you can, because the good thing about the handcart is is that, let's say you do have facility access to plug something in, you can plug in the amp card into the airport infrastructure. And then you have no diesel need. And you can still charge eight to 12 units off that amp cart. So so it's like a power surge. It is yeah, it's it's actually, you know, this is one of those things that you see kind of hit the market, you're like, wow, why didn't anybody else think of this? You know, it just makes so much sense, especially with where the market is these days? And what the obstacles are for everybody. Obviously, I think this is going to make a huge impact in the state of California. I think we all know that it could easily help out and a lot of places there for a lot of different people. But yes, we will have the amp cart prototype in Las Vegas at the show this year. So we are very excited to have that there. And to show off and show everybody and yeah, we're really looking forward to having that out the market and kind of showing it off because it's it's a pretty piece of equipment. It's not just you know, it's not just chargers in a diesel genset visually, please it is it is so it, it actually is aesthetically going to look good sitting out on the ramp, you know, with your, with your GSC charging to it. So yeah, it's an incredible product, I actually got to see is it the prototype, because that was the first unit that the RC unit as a first prototype, that's gonna go to get to see number one today, as we're touring the factory. So that was super exciting. And then, you know, when you talk to customers, when you talk to other manufacturers, we talked about electric, right? It's all about infrastructure, the infrastructure is not there, the infrastructure is not there. This is a great way to get that infrastructure up and going, you know, at a location that you really want to have electric equipment or you know, you know, the infrastructures coming, you want to go in and get that electric equipment in there. You can bring that amp cart and until they're ready to go, you can use that and then like you said, once that once that infrastructure is in place, you can still use it, just to make it so you have more chargers, you know, more capable so it's it's a it's a great solution. I mean super excited to you to see it in Las Vegas man. Yeah, it's gonna be, it's gonna be good. And, you know, I think the good thing about this, this particular and we're talking about the aesthetics of it, you know, we can put different paint colors, we can put a roof on it, but your logo on top of it that way, when people are looking down outside the window, you know, at the gate by the border playing, they just take a giant customer logo on top of it. So as much as it is, you know, something operational, right. It's also a really good branding tool it because you can put a giant logo on top of it. And I know I'm talking to a marketing guy right now. Like all the all the ideas floating around or I'm sorry, did you say you want to exceed blue? Oh, yeah, right. Yeah, yeah, I definitely think it'd be a great product for exceed. I think I'll talk to some people about that. Well, that's awesome, man. Thanks for Thanks for telling me about it. You know, trying to get this out in the industry, this is going to be a great way to kind of this is a great way for the podcast to start out hearing about new innovative products that are coming out into the market. And it's great for for JBT because you all done something that the industry needs desperately. I think so. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And, you know, and obviously, we're, we've got other areas of the company as well, you know, one thing that he is you probably saw as well today was the the ice truck line, you know, the the ice, the ice or trucks are still I mean, just, they're just like the commander's, they're flying off the line, we can't make them quick enough, the backlog is still really healthy. And we're continuously trying to find ways to be innovative with de ICERs, and cut down on parts, and so forth. So our engineer, Matt montenero, has done a great job cutting out, you know, excessive parts usage, it's actually like the second lowest number of parts on any product we have not incredibly to afford the ICER. That's pretty amazing, right? So we know our the DI sign is doing great. One thing that we're going to be looking at in the future in terms of new products is potentially having a smaller version of our Tempus di, okay, especially for the airlines that you know, they're not operating triple sevens, and they're not operating the larger wide bodies. They're just focused on their the narrowbody aircrafts. Yeah, because we know the tempest that we have right now might be overkill for someone who's just operating seven, three sevens or smaller aircrafts like that. So that'll that'll be in the near near future. That's still on the drawing board. You know, we're kind of just looking at ideas and getting customer feedback on Hey, what's on your golden wish list for ya for a smaller di sir. Right. So that's one of the things we're looking at, but also just can't forget about the electro product. Oh, man. Yeah, yeah. No, I almost forgot. About like, and talking about electrical equipment. Yeah. Right. And that is, yeah. And you have it right in your shirt there too. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Speaking of shirts, you know, we forgot to discuss the rope back sponsor show. Yeah, no. Yeah. If you ever see a picture of me on LinkedIn, I'm probably wearing a robe back shirt. Yeah. Big very patriotic today. Sorry. That was a wormhole. That rabbit hole. No, yeah, you're fine. I usually wear this well. Yeah. When I got the American flag on here, too. I don't know if you noticed that. It's made in America patch. Like GBG. Exactly. There you go. Yes, I don't have you don't produce things outside. So we have a actually, we do. I can't make that joke now. Oh, yeah, no. So we are actually manufacturing a few things overseas, we actually have a facility in India now. We're going to be manufacturing bt 50s. Because the 250s, we can't make enough of Yeah, it doesn't matter where we make them that they sell. And we're selling them all over the world. So obviously, logistics coming out of Orlando going to AIPAC or Europe is not ideal. So we have a really, really good facility in India, they're gonna be making be 250 there, they're also gonna be making the electric be 250s There. And we'll have enough capacity there that if we need to flex up and send some to America, we can. So we're doing that we also have a facility in Mexico that does, you know, certain components for life here in Orlando, but also going back to electro electro unit is selling so fast right now that we have to increase capacity. So we're potentially looking at expanding manufacturing capabilities electro at either Mexico facility or somewhere else in the States, just because especially the larger models, the LED eights and led nines that can move those seven threes and seven fives. I mean, the larger airlines are grabbing them now. So how about traditionally when lecture was selling to, you know, the FBO of the world? We're now we're really dipping into the deltas and the Southwest and United's. And then of course, with those type of airlines come bigger wallets and more orders and the Warrington plant up in Oregon. They're doing a fantastic job. The problem is they don't get a break. Great. So capacity. Yeah. So, I mean, we have a healthy backlog there as well, just like we do in Orlando, but obviously from a new product development, we're working on getting those converted to PLC driven units so that you know, we can have i ops and electro products like we do and with the JBD products and have the, you know, the elementary services and troubleshooting for maintenance if there's ever an issue, so, but also, you know, hey, we can stick any kind of battery in those things, you know, whether it's lithium or whatever you want, we can do it most of the time. So those folks up in Washington are doing great. It's want to make sure we get mobile love. Yeah, for sure. I'm glad you brought that up. There was something else I was going to ask you. But at the because I can't think of the next question. So it was never thought to try to move the electrode line to Orlando. No. That was one of the things a Orlando are here in Orlando. Our facility is set up to a tee for the loaders. And for the larger tractors and for the de ICERs. And for fabrication and everything else. We would definitely need additional space for that. Yeah, at the same time. Warrenton has this perfected pretty much. Why fix something that's not broken? So we're perfectly happy with everything being in Warrenton. I think we're just going to end up expanding those lines to elsewhere as well. We're still keeping everything there. But we'll obviously try to find some space and another facility that we can just up capacity for some of those models. So but now there's no plans to move anything out of Warrington. Yeah, it's a pretty drive from Portland. Why wouldn't you want to do it? Yeah, no, I've never been I need to go to that facility. And now I remember what I was going to ask you about with I ops? Yeah. So is that on every piece of equipment that leaves out? Or? Or is that? I guess? Is it an option? Or is it standard? So for any tractor above a B 350 sub e or 659 50 and 1200s? Standard? Okay, the ICERs standard loaders standard. So the only thing that doesn't have is a 250 and a 350. Okay, that's just because there's smaller tractors, less space put modems, but it's one of those things also, I Ops is catching on very quickly. Right now, we've already been as a sales team haven't been conversations with engineering, about just making that standard on a 250 and 350. Because if a customer like yourself, is going to have aI ops and telemetry services, looking at all your other JpT equipment, why are we leaving out to right now? Did we explain what I Ops is? No, we probably should go into depth I Ops is JB T's platform for elementary services. So essentially, we piggyback and partner with advies to use their modems on our equipment. So with a JB T equipment, you already get the advies modem unless it's a 250 or 350 right now. And then we basically piggyback off that. And we have our own additional platform called AI ops, I ops basically gives you a look into hundreds of data points, we capture everything with an AI ops, if you're maintenance driven, obviously, this is probably perfect for you. It will give you every fault code on that piece of equipment since it went into service. It will tell you how often it's driven, how often it's an idle, what's the gas consumption, what's the battery consumption, anything and everything. And because all of our equipments PLC driven, if there's any fault code, it's going to help you troubleshoot that remotely. So someone like Javier who's coming in Indianapolis for you all, if a piece of equipment goes down in California, he can log into AI ops see exactly what the fault code is, and give that technician on site, all the troubleshooting steps that he needs. So it just it's going to help a long way from managing fleets. Obviously, with having the ability to use the advies and the i ops together. It's a full, it's a full fleet management system. And it's something that we are continuously working to improve. We actually recently as of I think three or four months ago, we hired a product manager specifically for eye ops. Her name is Monique and she came from, I'll just say a cell, your cellular company doing similar work. And she's been awesome. I mean, she's taking it to another level. And we're working with customers right now again, and just gaining additional feedback, like what else can we make? What else can we put in this to help everybody so it's a great platform, I highly suggest that if you're listening to this and you haven't done your research into AI ops, please reach out to anybody you know, at JBT and we can get you in contact with the right people to get you a demo. get you set up and and that way you can manage your fleet better. Well easier. Do you know what year that started coming standard on your products? Oh, I thought that was a COVID baby, honestly. Yeah, I think that was a COVID product. I think it really went into effect. Don't Don't sharp messenger nuts. Okay, I could be totally wrong. I think it was somewhere in 18. If I had to guess 19 is when we like really first started introducing it, but from what it is now to what it is then is probably night and day. So I it's it to me, I've been part of some of the latest presentations with customers for I ops. And it's one of those things like, how could you not use this, especially if you're somebody within a position where you're managing the entire fleet, you know, for a company across the country, it just, it makes your life so much easier, especially when you're getting one store, we know how it is you're going to get one story from boots on the ground. And then you can go in the eye ops and look back. No, it's you know, it's this fault code. We need to do this. So yeah, it's a great, great product. So what are what are currently times looking like on most of your products, like if you had to give like a generalization? Oh, man, I have one changes every day. Yeah, right. Yeah, that's in like about suddenly the lead times is has not stopped anybody from from ordering? Well, no, it's actually kind of wild. I mean, because I think it's, you know, I can't speak, you don't get in line, you'll never get me exactly. But for loaders, like Commander 30s. We're already looking at early 2024. Commander fifteens, we're getting towards the end of the 23. And the tractors are kind of right there with it late q3 early q4, 23. Like I said, that also changes every day. I mean, like, one day, it's, you know, September, and the next day is November, and it because solid an airline came in and kind of huge Bo, you know, it's just, I guess that's the nice thing about our equipment, it's, it's reliable to a point, you know, what you're gonna get, you're not going to have issues with it, if you do have an issue with it, we're going to handle that. We're going to make sure we have spare parts, we typically, you know, knock on wood don't have any critical shortages when it comes to spare parts. And Joe Davis, our service manager can get a technician there quickly. So we know the JBT name as a trustworthy, reliable name that equipments gonna last you at least three decades, if not more, and so people know that and so the lead times they're willing to wait for it. And obviously partnering with someone, like, exceed helps us, you know, give them a middle ground to hey, let's go talk to exceed we'll get you a lease unit in the meantime, while your stuff on order. And, you know, everybody wins. Right? So yeah, we're gonna close next. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, to cover it. Yeah, you know, you know, as well as I do some people like buying their equipment, some people like leasing their equipment, and having that flexibility with someone, like exceed, it's the best of both worlds. So, you know, someone comes in, they need equipment faster, they can put someone order, but they can also go, you know, hey, I need some help for six to nine months, you know, until we get something that but no, I mean, lead times that look, they're healthy and de ICERs are the same way. I think our lead times are out to like q3 early q4, if not 2024 already. And that's just the way the business right now. You know, everybody has their issues and obstacles with supply chain, we know supply chain is killing everybody. You know, it's just managing it as best as you can, you know, every every week, it's something different that you're having to address. So, okay, this supplier can't get this to us now. You know, it's unfortunate, but that's the that's the world we live in these days. And the GSC industry as well. I mean, manufacturing as a whole is living that life right now. So for sure, yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, luckily, we have a fantastic partnership with JBT. And we, we have a lot of your equipment. And and we have inventory. So you know, if people are running into those longer lead times, it's nice that they can call us and lease that piece of equipment. As I said, like as Gap coverage, or some people just like to lease they like to do you know, five to seven year leases. And we offer all those So, but yeah, we are. We're big fans of JV T and Verizon. We're here today and talking to you. And I really appreciate all the information. Is there. Is there anything else that we need to we need to let let everybody in the industry know? Oh, man, we highlight I don't think we did. I mean, we let them into our good bit here. Yeah, we really did. You know, like I said, we're really looking forward to Vegas this year, it's gonna be a really good showing for JBT. And on top of having the amp cart and the bat there, obviously with Lectro under the JBT umbrella, we're gonna have some electro products there as well and their sales team. So we're gonna have a big showing and our new marketing manager, Suzanne, who you've met as well as she's doing a fantastic job getting it put together. So we're excited. We're really excited. So do you go to Vegas a lot? Not me. I wouldn't say a lot. Okay, so what are you looking forward to like non work type of thing like what do you like a restaurant? Yeah, I'm trying to think of the name of it. Now. I'm gonna have to Google it. I can't think of the name off the top my head but there is a breakfast brunch spot at the Paris. Okay, that is fantastic. I had a buddy who was an assistant coach for you UNLV and last time I was in Vegas, I was there actually working the NBA Summer League. When I was doing stat I did Stach the Grizzlies. It's just as a kind of paid hobby side hustle part time gig. Yeah. And I was out there and he recommended this place to me and I'm gonna find it, or else it's gonna drive me. Absolutely. You know, my favorite spot while you're looking for that is tacos El Gordo. Oh, I've been to Taco have not no. Okay. Well, I don't know. You know, it's it's scary for me having to release this information on a podcast. potentially go viral? Yeah, you never know. And then the lines are going to be that much longer. But tacos El Gordo. And you can google it where there's a location and there is one fairly near, you know, the Las Vegas Convention Center. Yeah, at you know, 1130 to 1am. The line is out the door. It's where you know, after you've had a long night. Yeah, you go there and you get Tacos. Tacos are fantastic. And listen, they have these things called in, wait for it. Carne Asada fries. Oh, that are making me hungry. No, they're insane. So I would, I would, that's my spot that I look forward to going to every year when I'm out in Vegas. So alright, let's talk to people about the Paris here. XHE x x. It's on the street at the Paris you can't miss it. It is phenomenal. When I tell you like brunch menu items that are just kind of like kind of weird kind of, you know, eclectic or unique. They were just great. It was like one was a well, this isn't unique, but they're chicken and waffles. Phenomenal. Okay, but they had a and that's that's saying something. You coming from? invensis. Oh, yeah. I mean, that everything's fried in Memphis. The chicken now I'm actually wanting to go because I know it's gonna be good. Oh, yeah. Yeah, so they, they had a carrot cake. Pancake dish. Oh, wow. And like, it didn't like come with it came with like the icing. You would eat off a carrot cake. But it was like melted in like a syrup form. It was. I mean, I didn't want to see my sugar levels after that. And there's no telling when it was but it was amazing. Yeah, I haven't had a bad meal there. I've been there probably like four or five times, just over the course of going to Vegas for different reasons, but always good. All right, so last question, the most important question. If you're going to Memphis where are you eating barbecue. This is this is for the whole industry and they're gonna want to know age old debate. I know. Your personal favorite doesn't have to be the best or most. So there's two cat food. There's barbecue then there's like the fried chicken category. We're only going to barbecue barbecue. I wanna have to go central central barbecue. I mean, like, from an out of Towner perspective, it's going to have the probably the best of all categories of barbecue. Like, the ribs are good. The pulled pork is good. The briskets good. The smoked wings are phenomenal. Highly recommend those nachos are always solid. If you're ever Memphis like barbecue nachos is like a thing you need to do if you can't if you just not really ever had barbecue nachos. If I had to go to like a local joint, so like Central barbecue is kind of a Memphis chain of sorts now, but if you just want to talk about like a hole in a wall type place cozy corner barbecue is the power. That sounds good. Yeah, that's the place you want to go. Like, that's the you know, that's your booty you barman can tell it's you know, it's been there for a few generations is rough on the edges. But you walk in and you're like, Oh, this is going to be good. You just know it when you walk in the door. That it's going to be phenomenal. No, no. It's always phenomenal. Okay, yeah. So that's my barbecue recommendation. No, that's perfect. That's what we need. Yeah, this this is probably going to be the most popular episode just because I'm gonna I'm gonna we're gonna Yeah, NBA and food NBA food with the side of GSE. Yeah, exactly. So and I think outside of that, like, obviously, like the fried chicken like gustas fried chicken used to be just a Memphis thing. Now it's like in Dallas and Atlanta and Uncle Lou's fried chicken. All right, it's near the airport. So just be wary of what time of day you go there. Okay, I recommend a lunch. But by far the best fried chicken you'll have. And it's been they've been on diners, drive ins and dives like three times uncle Lou homestyles goes all these special events. We got very but not fried chicken. There's just phenomenal. So highly recommend it. All right. That is. Those are great recommendations. I really appreciate now. Now I'm just hungry. Yeah. And I think it's time for us to go to lunch. Anyway. So thank you so much for spending the time with me today. I really appreciate it. Yeah, man. So we will. We'll have to come back with another JBT episode. Yeah, we'll bring in we'll bring in some like some guests on the next one. Like we'll get we'll get Christian to do some some side side guest stuff. Well, yeah, I think there's there's a lot of interesting characters here. Hear that we can bring you believe you know, and so yeah, but no, I really do appreciate the time and this is been Matt and Patrick for the third ever episode of the GSC podcast. Thank you. Thank You