Bill Catania of OneRail talks about inventory, visibility & shrinkage; empowering customers by normalizing data; & optimizing customer experience.

[07.07] An overview of OneRail, what they do, and how they help their customers.

“Don’t ever think of us like a parcel shipping solution! What we’re doing is delivering in localized markets – think about turning a store into a warehouse, turning a warehouse into a localized delivery zone.”

[07.52] The latest at OneRail, and some of the big challenges they’re focusing on right now.

“These days, you can’t hear an earnings call from a retailer without hearing about product shrinkage – and about 65% of that is theft.”

[08.38] Why inventory, visibility, and shrinkage – particularly related to theft – is a growing concern for retailers.

“It was easy when it was single-channel commerce. But now there’s so many different channels, so many different shipping options – customers have demands they didn’t have before. When product starts to move more, there’s more risk.”

[10.03] The recent survey, conducted by OneRail, dives deeper into the problem of inventory and shrinkage.

“Customers are counting on that product being at the store. But if it goes missing 500 miles ago, and the retailer doesn’t know it, there’s a mismatch in supply and demand. A lot of money goes into demand planning, and all that work goes out the window when items go missing.”

[13.53] How OneRail utilized their findings to develop OmniPoint Inventory Visibility, a brand-new solution for their customers; and how it tackles inventory and shrinkage challenges.

“When you look at what it takes to be competitive in 2024, you have to be operating from data.”

[17.17] The ideal client for OneRail’s OmniPoint Inventory Visibility solution.

[1946] The challenges with data; the importance of empowering customers with the right data; and how OneRail is adding an extra layer that helps systems to connect and normalize data, helping retailers to make the right decisions.

“An organization could be working with 50 to 100 couriers – all sending data in different ways, some of them aren’t even sending data! – and we’re normalizing that data layer, so they can make sense of it and decision on it.”

[22.25] The opportunity to be found in achieving improved inventory visibility and optimizing customer experience.

“Optimization is taking data and making iterative business decisions to reduce cost and improve experience.”

[25.15] Why OneRail is moving up the order stream with delivery management solutions, and how they’re helping customers to improve order decisioning and fulfillment logic.

“It’s so much more than visibility – it’s the ability to actually change an outcome.”

[28.02] A big announcement, and the future for OneRail

Ann Marie Jonkman of Blue Yonder talks about using tech to solve labor challenges; empowering teams & organizations to fulfill potential; & future supply chains.

[07.42] An introduction to Blue Yonder, what they do, and how they help their customers.

“We’re your technology partner… if you want new innovation, advice on reducing your labor cost, reducing your tech stack debt… we have the chops and vision to execute with you.”

[09.19] The ideal client for Blue Yonder.

“Our clients are looking for innovation and differentiation; in this volatile market, they’re looking to reduce costs… and they’re looking for a partner.”

[13.02] The current landscape of supply chain, and the biggest challenges faced by Blue Yonder customers.

“2024 has been a slow recovery. When you look at transportation, post-pandemic, there was a lot of excess capacity… Now volume is down, we have a lot of healthy competition, and shippers were smart – they locked in rates… So people are looking to increase utilization with what they have. So labor and cost, as opposed to scale for growth, is driving most of the portfolio.”

[15.43] Blue Yonder’s transportation management solution, and how it’s helping customers to overcome challenges, as well as transform their transportation operations.

[22.10] The evolution of warehousing, and how Blue Yonder’s range of warehouse management and execution solutions are helping customers to keep up with rapid change, pivot, and set themselves up for the future.

“I’ve seen the most change in this space. We see heavy automation, automation cost investment - but we see the labor cost driving automation.”

[28.46] Blue Yonder’s Edge technology solutions, how they integrate into customer organizations, and the incredible results they can help customers to achieve.

“Robotics has been around for a while, but what we’ve seen in the last 2-3 years is an explosion.”

[34.42] How Blue Yonder helps customers with labor management, helping them to find the balance between people and technology, and achieve employee engagement as well as peak operational performance.

[40.25] A case study exploring how Blue Yonder provided solutions to allow a key client to better understand and utilize analytics, helping them to make operational changes and achieve a 25-30% reduction in labor cost, worth millions of dollars.

[43.50] Why Blue Yonder is committed to helping customers fulfill their potential, and the impact that empowering people and organizations is having on the industry.

“We want to be your technology partner, we don’t want to just sell you a product. We look at your utilization, and help you during implementation… we want you to be successful.”

[47.32] The supply chains of the future, and the Blue Yonder innovations that are helping to drive the industry forward.

“That’s the next vision – it’s not just the products and solutions, it’s connecting them. And it’s not just visibility – it’s decisioning, its orchestration, where we’re all working collaboratively.”

Head over to Blue Yonder’s website now to find out more, and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with Blue Yonder and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and X (Twitter), or you can connect with Ann Marie on LinkedIn.

If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more amazing supply chain content, check out 377: How AI is Improving Supply Chain Sustainability, with Dyci Sfregola and Hope White or Nicole Glenn on the Power of Hope and Transforming the Logistics Industry.

[06.43] Introductions to today’s guests and what they do.

“I completely nerd out about supplier management and third-party risk!”

[09.02] From collection and validation to ongoing maintenance, the current processes and challenges of supplier management.

“You’d think it was simple… but, in reality, suppliers get asked by a lot of customers to provide data in any number of ways – portals, emails, forms – and if you’re a big supplier, it can be thousands of different ways that you’re transmitting that information, through lots of different people and functions.”

“Big organizations use supplier information differently – in sourcing, contracting, supply chain, finance – and all of a sudden there’s multiple versions of this supplier that exists.”

[15.26] A closer look at the DNA of a supplier profile, and the importance of having visibility over that data.

[19.47] Supplier validation – the challenges of payments and banking, and finding the balance between security and maintaining speed and efficiency during the validation process.

“Efficiency is coming, and AI will be a part of that, but it’s really difficult – getting valid information for a supplier is the biggest roadblock for the onboarding process.”

[22.59] How Matt works with his suppliers, and the processes that help him find that balance.

“We’ve watched this evolution. Originally we were really just focused on data – ‘How do I pay this company?’, and collected just enough for that. Now it’s much more than that. Now it’s ‘Are they compliant with regulations?’; ‘Do they have certain certification levels?’; ‘Are they in a particular region?’… It becomes much less about the accounts payable piece and much more about the supply chain piece.”

[27.14] A case study exploring how Relish and SAP helped a shared client to prevent a case of fraud, worth a huge $2.1 million, and what we can all learn.

[33.11] The risk inherent in supplier management, and how organizations should work to identify, assess and manage risk proactively.

“Most companies are doing the assessment of risk… but the challenge is that it’s very reactive… You know there’s a risk, but what do you do with it? So how can technology help you to become more predictive?”

[34.36] The role technology, specifically AI, plays in this space now – and its potential for the future.

“AI is here… but without the context to answer the question properly, you’re going to get bad steering. The next evolution is how to put context to that data.”

[39.36] The complexity of the current IT landscape; why we should all be looking to simplify; and how organizations can find the right solutions for their supplier management.

“We’re going to stop thinking about supplier management as a module, and we’re going to start thinking about it the same way we think about user group management that goes across everything… Suppliers are so core to everything in procurement that you’re going to see it more as a horizontal rather than a vertical.”

[44.46] All about solutions: what’s to come in episode 430, our upcoming collaboration with Relish.

Head over to Relish’s website now to find out more, and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with Relish and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn, YouTube and X (Twitter), or you can connect with Ryan or Matt on LinkedIn.

If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more from Relish, check out 408: Strategically Extend Your Enterprise Applications, with Relish.

Evin Sisemore talks about founding a business alongside her husband; navigating its acquisition; how sales have evolved; & supporting women in supply chain.

[07.47] Evin’s career journey, and how she found supply chain.

“I ended up taking a job and falling in love with it. We always joke, ‘Don’t ever burn any bridges in this industry’ because, once you’re in it, you’re hooked!”

[09.22] Why Evin decided to found her own business, Texas Motive Solutions, in 2018; and her advice for budding entrepreneurs.

“The reason we were so successful is because we had an amazing team. I would never go into anything without having the best people surrounding me.”

[12.52] Evin’s experience founding a business with her husband, and how they achieved a work/life balance whilst living and working so closely together.

“My husband is my biggest cheerleader, but he will also push me more than anyone else to be better.”

[16.29] How Evin navigated the acquisition of Texas Motive Solutions by Concentric; how the acquisition allowed her to continue to achieve high levels of customer experience whilst growing rapidly; and how she found her place in the new organization.

“It didn’t feel like I was selling our company. It was: we’re merging with these other people, and we’re going to have people that we can share best practices with. They have their strengths, we have ours – and we’re just bringing them all together and making it better for our customers.”

[19.41] Evin’s role as Regional Vice President, and why entrepreneurship means doing the dirty work.

[23.51] A closer look at the forklift power industry, and its increasing focus on sustainability issues.

[26.14] The changing face of sales, and how Evin adapted her strategies and techniques, especially as a woman in the industry.

“Sales used to be that you had to be at the golf course, or the bar. But, as a woman, I didn’t want to just go out to happy hours every night – we had to find a way to bring our customers value. We go in, find their problems, and find a way to prevent them.”

[28.31] Evin’s experience as a woman in the forklift power industry, and how she approaches equality in her own organization.

“There are definitely still challenges, but it’s changing – people are seeing value in great people, whether you’re male or female.”

[32.18] How Evin supports women in the industry and her advice for what we can all do to help move the needle.

[33.52] The biggest lessons Evin has learned over the course of her career so far.

[35.20] Evin’s love of sports!

[37.08] The future for Evin.

You can connect with Evin over on LinkedIn.

If you'd like to hear more stories from other incredible women in supply chain, check out 410: Women In Supply Chain™, Julie Tilenius or 380: Women In Supply Chain™, Christine Barnhart.

Dwayne Johnson talks about SCI; Section 321 & the rise of borderless e-commerce; & why a well-designed cross-border supply chain can be a competitive advantage.

[06.45] An introduction to SCI, what they do, and how they help their customers.

“Everybody is competing for customers, so it’s important to build a model where the shipping is sustainable, but so is the cost.”

[09.15] The ideal client for SCI.

[11.09] The changing face of the logistics industry, and why embracing that change is so important.

“We, as consumers, are driving the change. Who thought it would take a few days to get something from Asia? Supply chain is changing every day.”

[14.10] A closer look at the landscape of logistics, the key challenges and opportunities, and why consumer mindsets are shifting.

“Amazon has changed the way we, as consumers, think… but it’s starting to shift – and consumers are thinking ‘do I really need this straight away?’”

[18.25] The rise of borderless ecommerce, and how SCI is helping customers to embrace it.

“We started to understand trade agreements… then we went to our customers and had conversations... And the impact you can have by talking to a customer about being able to avoid something like duties – it’s tangible dollars.”

[21.12] The secret to SCI’s competitive advantage, and how they’re helping clients to create well-designed supply chains and unlock international markets.

[25.57] How SCI is helping customers with international expansion and localization.

[28.39] A case study showing how SCI helped a key customer to embrace borderless commerce with section 321 and put $ 6 million back on their bottom line.

“That money could open retail stores, add to marketing, and help you expand internationally. Handing people that much money is a big advantage.”

[31.54] The importance of partnerships when it comes to creating competitive advantage, and what it looks like to work with SCI.

[34.31] How organizations can get started with Section 321, and what they should be thinking about before they start.

[36.54] The future for the industry, and for SCI.

Head over to SCI’s website now to find out more. You can also connect with SCI and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram or Facebook, or you can connect with Dwayne on LinkedIn.

Neil Clover talks about bridging the digital divide; design thinking; the challenges of integrating new tech; & empowering workers by simplifying solutions.

[07.09] Neil’s journey through the world of tech; his reflections on what’s changed and what he’s learned; and why we all need to focus on the art of simplicity.

“There’s a lack of simplicity, a lack of elegance… and technology gives us the ability to overcomplicate things – on steroids!”

[13.05] Why supply chain is still about people, despite technological advancements; and Neil’s vision for integrating technology with human potential in supply chains.

“We have to think of technology as just another tool. When forklifts were introduced, they didn’t replace the people – they augmented the people… There are a lot of repetitive things that machines are built for, but people are the glue, the purpose. You can do a lot of things to a machine, but you can’t put passion into it.”

[15.35] The power of design thinking, and how it’s influencing SDI’s approach to implementing technology in supply chains.

“I’ve sat in so many corporate meetings with people saying ‘we’ve got the solution’ – but that isn’t the problem we’re trying to solve.”

[20.27] From competency to cost, the biggest challenges Neil sees when introducing new technologies, and the lessons he’s learned from them.

“Process before technology... the technology is not the answer.”

[23.18] Why workforce resistance to new technology is so common; the impact of change management; and how organizations should be thinking about balancing people and technological change.

[27.41] The importance of simplifying tech, and engaging workers by developing solutions that truly work for them.

“Give people what they need, and only what they need – and they’ll love you for it.”

[31.25] SDI's strategies for adapting technological tools to align with the expectations and needs of the emerging workforce, and the importance of bringing different generations of workers together.

[34.47] How organizations can use those strategies to create operational efficiency and cost savings and to achieve impactful quick wins at the same time as laying the groundwork for future success.

“If you can take the pressure down, learning increases. And stop with the all-in-one tools! Do those two things, and efficiency goes through the roof, because confidence goes through the roof.”

[38.49] How organizations can keep the human aspect front and center during the technological evolution of supply chain.

“Happy employees are naturally more productive.”

[41.50] How SDI plan to continue to help clients bridge the digital divide, simplify and leverage technology for frontline efficiency.