Drowning in data is not always useful for organizations unless you know how to make sense of them for decision-making and understanding customers. When Microsoft went through a major transformation in their supply chain, they knew that analytics and data science would play a big role. Putting their data together allowed them to see a pattern, one that became even more relevant to predict trends and future behavior that ultimately helped them address their customers' needs in the right way. 

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Streamlining processes is crucial, especially for organizations with large-scale international supply chain operations. Take it from full-service logistics company CastleGate Forwarding with bases in Boston, Berlin, and Hong Kong. To successfully do that, they worked with the right partners with excellent tech capabilities and prioritized transparency and open communication.

We talked to Jack Echeverria, Senior Manager for Global Logistics at CastleGate Forwarding, about the role of tech and partnerships in managing a global supply chain operation.

How long does a relationship with an information/analytics firm lasts❓

For Paul Bingham, Director of Transportation Consulting for IHS Markit Now Part of S&P Global, it might depend on the kind of goals the client has. Some have definite goals that can be addressed depending on budget, level of effort, etc. while others remain as ongoing relationships where Paul and their team continue to work together to help improve their client's service or features.

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“Some of those changes can be matched up to a company's budget years, pretty readily. We can scale the level of effort and the type of work to match iteratively, really to match the appetite of a company and their management to do that so that they're not biting off more than they can chew in terms of how much they're trying to change their current supply chain profile and the current way that they serve their customers. And maybe align it over several years, even. If it's going to be a major effort, it may be one where you can lay that out with a strategic plan to say, "Okay, in year one, we're going to attempt to do this. And in year two, depending upon the results of that, we'll attempt to..." Additional increment in the sophistication and complexity and so forth.

And then really for some of the greatest relationships we have, it's an ongoing relationship where it really doesn't have an end to it, that we're providing information, we're getting feedback from our customers in terms of what's proved to be relevant for them, where they would like some enhancement, perhaps in terms of the level of information or the speed with which it's being updated, or perhaps sometimes adding to some of the metrics that are being provided in terms of additional information that can be found useful for those particular companies.”

How can you successfully implement a phased supplier management process?

For Nicole Engelman, Director of Planning and Logistics at ASML, the key is to always involve your supplier earlier in the process. This gives them the opportunity to be part of the solution early on, and not having to force fit something in the later stage of development.

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"If we involve the supplier earlier in the process, we prevent having to reengineer things that could have been ironed out with more frequent communication. This helps the manufacturer better and faster. While they're part of the design, we can start to release requirements that they can act on before the design is even finished." – Nicole Engelman, Director of Planning & Logistics at ASML

“We started in the world of digital transformation with EDI many years ago. We built an amazing platform that allows our customers to trade information, such as purchase orders and forecasts. We've advanced that by not only being able to take traditional EDI types of formats but all formats, whether it's Excel, CSV files. That allows us to automate our business processes.

Over the last few years, APIs have become one of the most important elements of the supply chain. It drives speed through our business, not only for Future but also for our customers. The API capability allows customers, whether they're large or small, in North America, Europe, or EMEA, to be able to have access to information. That information allows them to make quick business decisions.”

– Tom Galligani, Global Vice President of Supply Chain, Future Electronics

How can you be more agile in adapting to the changes in your industry?

For Craig Adderley, Former Global Transportation and Logistics leader at Air Liquide and now Distribution and Logistics Leader at Stryker Endoscopy, it’s important to have an integrated and robust ERP system that allows you to streamline information, remove small inefficiencies, and solve more important problems. Stryker did it in phases with strong emphasis on the value of value stream mapping and getting everyone onboard.

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"If you have a robust ERP system and you have everything documented, you have this value stream map where you know where you need to focus on relieving your bottlenecks because that's what's adding or is taking away the most value. You have more clarity, and you have more perspective. With more perspective comes more clarity. With clarity, it just becomes a better way of decision-making because you see the whole picture." - Craig Adderley, Distribution and Logistics Leader at Stryker Endoscopy

"We are very interested in how machines, without necessarily a lot of human intervention or minimal human intervention, can actually do this negotiation themselves to allocate who gets access to various spots within the center for loading and offloading.

In the maneuver, it is getting from the gate to that location safely and with respect to the limitations of any of the vehicles: their turning radius, their ability to back up and do particular kinds of maneuvers. It ensures that all of that happens efficiently and safely. That is our application that we're working on now.

It's this tight maneuver transaction, smart transaction between relatively autonomous trucks and other vehicles that ensures all the stuff gets moved as quickly as possible. It is subject to the urgency as dictated by the supply chain and by the ability of the individual entities that operate these machines to place a value on what it means to be first in line that day or to getting access to a specific loading or unloading zone."

- Dr. Karl Wunderlich, Director of Surface Transportation, Noblis

We all love data. We all love our technology. Sometimes, we have too much of it. The challenge is to figure out how to turn all the data into usable information.

The most recent and applicable example is our yard management project:

• Connect end-to-end, both from the manufacturing facilities and warehouse operations team for the empty trailers
• Create visibility to inbound raw materials 
• Looking for specific SKUs and line items that are coming in inbound

The goal is to manage the yards more efficiently.