Trade Secrets

AI has promised to transform nearly every industry, but it’s hit some obstacles along the way. Reports of canceled projects and costly implementations have some wondering whether AI’s promise lives up to its hype. In this episode, we’ll explore one area where AI implementation is accelerating: supply chain. We speak with Bob Ferrari, Managing Director, The Ferrari Consulting and Research Group, about how supply chains are using AI now and planning for the future. We’re also joined by Oliver Sawbridge, Senior Manager, Trade and Geopolitics at The Economist Group, who shares what over 800 supply chain leaders are saying about how AI is transforming their businesses. We’ll cover what makes AI in supply chain unique, how companies are investing, and what weak spots still linger. Guests: Bob Ferrari, Managing Director, The Ferrari Consulting and Research Group Oliver Sawbridge, Senior Manager, Trade and Geopolitics, The Economist Group Articles mentioned and additional resources: Supply chain’s big bet on AI for geopolitical resilience – Economist Impact, sponsored by Kinaxis Homepage - The Ferrari Consulting and Research Group Supply Chain Matters – The Ferrari Consulting and Research Group AI project failure rates are on the rise: report – CIO Dive IBM Report: 13% Of Organizations Reported Breaches Of AI Models Or Applications, 97% Of Which Reported Lacking Proper AI Access Controls – IBM Newsroom Woods Hole and Matson Test Out Real-Time Whale Detection System – The Maritime Executive Credits: Production by Josh Caldwell Additional support from Carlos Gama and Suhas Sreedhar. Kinaxis is a global leader in modern supply chain management. Our software is trusted by global brands in every industry to provide the agility and predictability needed to navigate today’s volatility and disruption. For more news and information, please visit kinaxis.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

In this episode, we embark on a detective story to uncover how rows and columns became the invisible backbone of commerce—and why that's both amazing and terrifying. We meet Natalia, a supply chain professional who shares a spreadsheet before-and-after story that’s a real glow-up. Then we meet Chris, a managing director at Accenture who's helped companies pivot from drowning in cells and formulas to making productivity gains as AI-powered innovators. As we journey from copy-paste disasters to AI-powered futures, we discover that while spreadsheets gave us the world as we know it, getting the world we want will require breaking up with static cells and evolving to intelligent systems. Guests: Chris McDivitt, Managing Director, Accenture Natalia Sawka, SAP S4 HANA Venture - Process Manager of Plan to Manufacture, Infineum Articles mentioned and additional resources: Making Autonomous Supply Chains Real - Accenture Spreadsheet errors can have disastrous consequences, yet we keep making the same mistakes – The Conversation Two-thirds of companies consider Excel a supply chain system – Supply Chain Dive Twelve dudes and a hype tunnel: Scenes from the ‘Super Bowl for Nerds’ – The New York Times Credits: Introductory sound clip from “Full Project in Excel | Excel Tutorials for Beginners” by Alex The Analyst is licensed under CC BY 3.0. Production by Josh Caldwell Additional support from Carlos Gama, Suhas Sreedhar, Stefanie Gordish Kinaxis is a global leader in modern supply chain management. Our software is trusted by global brands in every industry to provide the agility and predictability needed to navigate today’s volatility and disruption. For more news and information, please visit kinaxis.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

Every industry has its trade secrets, but the most fascinating secrets of all? Those lie in the hidden networks that power trade itself: supply chains. In this podcast, we will explore how these powerful, global systems reveal answers to today’s most pressing questions like, how does a trapped ship disrupt commerce? Or how much of our modern world runs on spreadsheets? Along the way, we will speak with everyone, from Fortune 500 executives to planners, to better understand how supply chains connect us all. Kinaxis is a global leader in modern supply chain management. Our software is trusted by global brands in every industry to provide the agility and predictability needed to navigate today’s volatility and disruption. For more news and information, please visit kinaxis.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

How do you operationalize sustainability in the semiconductor industry where rapid innovation and faster product life cycles add ever-changing complexities to the supply chain? For Michele Dumais, Manager within the Supply Chain Management practice at Deloitte Consulting, it’s all about driving data, collaboration, and ensuring supply chain practitioners are involved in strategic planning. Polly Mitchell-Guthrie, VP of Industry Outreach and Thought Leadership at Kinaxis, joins Michelle to discuss the challenges of improving sustainability within the semiconductor industry. They discuss practical strategies to incorporate sustainability into existing capabilities and processes, the evolving role of AI in harnessing data and how everyone from engineers to suppliers can make an earth-friendly impact. To hear more from Michelle and Polly about navigating sustainability challenges in the semiconductor industry, listen to our Big Ideas in Supply Chain Podcast. To learn more about the work Michelle is doing at Deloitte Consulting, you can follow her on LinkedIn.

As the world moves forward into 2024, it’s an opportune time for supply chain professionals to continue making even more positive marks on their organizations. A number of supply chain trends were discussed in this panel discussion featuring Mary Byrne, Vice President of Supply Chain at Cardinal Health, Liz Coddington, CFO of Peloton, Gus Shahin, CIO at Flex and Professor Morgan Swink from Texas Christian University cohosted by Kinaxis Board Member, Angel Mendez and Kinaxis Chief Strategy Officer Dr. Anne Robinson. For an in-depth discussion of these topics and several others, listen to our Big Ideas in Supply Chain podcast. To learn more about our guest panelists on this episode, follow them on LinkedIn: Mary Byrne Liz Coddington Gus Shahin Professor Morgan Swink

As supply chains continue to evolve in a post-pandemic landscape, many supply chain practitioners are wondering how to best stay on top of trends. In today's competitive environment, knowing how to deliver the right product the right way and being able to optimize data and analytics could make or break your organization. In this podcast, Mohan Sodhi, Professor of Operations & Supply Chain Management at the Bayes Business School at the City University of London, and Jayashankar Swaminathan, Professor of Operations at the University of North Carolina, join Angel Mendez, Board Member and Supply Chain Innovator, and Dr. Anne Robinson, Chief Strategy Officer at Kinaxis, to discuss how to bring innovation to the forefront of your organization so you can optimize supply chains for the future. To hear more from Mohan, Jay, Angel, and Anne about embracing innovation for a futuristic supply chain, watch our Big Ideas in Supply Chain podcast. To learn more about the work that Mohan is doing at the Bayes Business School at the City University of London, you can follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter. To learn more about the work Jay is doing at the University of North Carolina, you can follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Want to know what it takes to manage an integrated supply chain that delivers a continuous supply of life-saving medicine around the world? In this episode of Big Ideas in Supply Chain, Elisabeth Kaszas, VP of Global Supply Operations at Seagen, joins Allen Jacques, Industry Thought Leader at Kinaxis, to discuss the importance of demand planning processes and tackling rapid growth during product launches. Gain insights on Seagen's transformation journey and learn why seamless data exchanges within the biopharma industry can reduce lead times to improve patient access to innovative therapies. To hear more from Elisabeth and Allen about the vital role of advanced planning and the complexities of supply chain planning in biopharma, watch our latest Big Ideas in Supply Chain podcast. Learn more about Elisabeth Kaszas and the work she’s doing at Seagen by following her on LinkedIn.

It might be tempting to tackle everything all at once when you’re digitally transforming your supply chain, but our experts at Jamieson Wellness know otherwise from experience. In the latest Big Ideas in Supply Chain podcast, Andre Teixeira, VP of Global Supply Chain, Raymond Khan, Senior Director of Supply Chain Center of Excellence and Network Operations, and Steve Mailloux, Director, Supply Chain Planning, join Matt Spooner, Industry Thought Leader at Kinaxis, to discuss the importance of using a crawl, walk, run approach when transforming your supply chain. They discuss the tools, processes, and capabilities needed to become more agile and competitive while sharing their insights on how the role of planners will change. To hear more from Andre, Raymond, Steve, and Matt about transforming your supply chain with the crawl, walk, run method, watch our latest Big Ideas in Supply Chain podcast. Learn more about Jamieson Wellness and the work their experts are doing by following Andre on LinkedIn, Raymond on LinkedIn, and Steve on LinkedIn.

Operationalizing sustainability is critical as most carbon emissions in companies are found within the supply chain. As new pressures emerge to reduce environmental impacts, supply chain practitioners are eager to know how their organizations plan to address these issues. Deborah Dull, Vice President and Global Supply Chain Sustainability Leader at Genpact, and Josué Velázquez Martínez, Director, Sustainable Supply Chain & LIFT research Labs at MIT, join Polly Mitchell-Guthrie, VP of Industry Outreach and Thought Leadership at Kinaxis, to discuss how making sustainability operational provides critical data to inform business and supply chain decisions that fuel growth while making a positive impact on the planet. Explore more about the work Deborah is doing at Genpact by following her on LinkedIn. Discover more about Josué’s work at MIT by following him on LinkedIn and Twitter

AI has been a hot topic for supply chain leaders thanks to emerging trends like ChatGPT. With new opportunities on the horizon, C-suite executives are questioning what happens next and how AI will impact the supply chain. Kevin O’Marah, Co-Founder and Chief Research Officer at Zero 100, and Pascal Van Hentenryck, Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Director of AI4OPT, join Angel Mendez, Board Member and Supply Chain Innovator, and Dr. Anne Robinson, Chief Strategy Officer at Kinaxis, to discuss groundbreaking AI methodologies and research tested insights in the latest Big Ideas in Supply Chain podcast. To hear more from Kevin, Pascal, Angel, and Anne about AI in supply chain, watch our latest Big Ideas in Supply Chain podcast. Explore more about the work Kevin is doing with Zero100 by following him on LinkedIn and Twitter. Learn more about Pascal’s work at Georgia Tech and AI4OPT by following him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Supply chain disruptions and shifts in ESG requirements have changed how companies are operating, making it more important than ever to use the right tools and processes to reach resilience, profit, and sustainability goals. Peter Bolstorff, Executive Vice President of Innovation and Business Intelligence at ASCM (Association for Supply Chain Management), joins Allen Jacques, Industry Thought Leader at Kinaxis, to talk about staying ahead in this changing landscape. As part of this discussion, they explore the revamped SCOR DS (Supply Chain Operations Deference Digital Standard), a digital, open-access model providing methodology, diagnostic and benchmarking tools so organizations can make rapid improvements in supply chain processes. Peter talks about changes adopted in SCOR DS to address today’s challenges, including the need for bi-directional, concurrent supply chain orchestration and new metrics that account for resilience, profit, and sustainability. [3:10] Peter discusses the idea of resilience, and how the supply chain can improve an organization’s ability to be resilient. He speaks about two dimensions to resilience: operational resilience (being faced with disruption and needing to respond immediately) and strategic resilience (processes that allow you to learn from this situation, add it to a playbook, and be more resilient and agile in future responses). He also talks about the importance of balancing both dimensions to operationalize resilience. [7:25] Peter touches on the trends that supply chain professionals should be focusing on. For the first time they’re seeing a substantial shift, with a dominant theme of using AI to be more sustainable. [16:31] Upcoming events: “Innovation Lab: Concurrent Planning with Kinaxis”ASCM Connect 2023: North AmericaASCM Supply Chain TourRegistrations are now open! Get your tickets today and use the promo code KINAXIS for $100 off for either event.

Sustainability is a topic at the forefront of every stakeholder, company, and consumer’s mind. As regulatory practices become stricter and companies strive to hit their ESG sustainability targets, driving supply chain innovation is now more important than ever. In the latest Big Ideas in Supply Chain podcast, Ann Tracy, Chief Sustainability Officer at Colgate-Palmolive, speaks with Dr. Anne Robinson, Chief Strategy Officer at Kinaxis, to discuss Colgate-Palmolive’s bold approach to reducing environmental impacts and improving social and climate justice. To learn more about the speakers and follow them, see below: Ann Tracy, Chief Sustainability Officer, Colgate-Palmolive Dr. Anne Robinson, Chief Strategy Officer, Kinaxis

S&OP is a crucial and essential process within the supply chain – but only if companies are willing to upgrade their existing capabilities so it can deliver on its promises. In our latest Big Ideas in Supply Chain video podcast, Bram Desmet, CEO of Solventure, and Matt Spooner, Industry Thought Leader at Kinaxis, discuss what organizations can do to improve their decision-making processes by using new technology, working collaboratively, and balancing service, cost, and cash. To learn more about the speakers and follow them, see below: Bram Desmet, CEO of Solventure Matt Spooner, Industry Thought Leader at Kinaxis

Impacted by constant supply chain disruption, one of the biggest challenges in the electronics industry is forecasting demand both upstream and downstream. Lynn Torrel, Chief Procurement and Supply Chain Officer at Flex, joins Angel Mendez, Board Member and Supply Chain Innovator, and Dr. Anne Robinson, Chief Strategy Officer at Kinaxis, to explore how to forecast demand more accurately by pairing contextualized data with external demand signals and applying a layer of analytics and AI to get actionable, real-world insights. Lynn talks about the balance of resiliency and cost in supply chain. She speaks to different customers needing different solutions and how Flex is ready to support those decisions through global scale and scope. [6:24] Lynn also discusses the disconnect between supply and demand in a post-COVID world. While customer expectations have begun to shift, many suppliers continue to operate as they did throughout the pandemic. Lynn states that the old ways of forecasting demand aren’t sufficient and that accurately and providing information to organizations about what constraints could happen in the future is a necessity. [15:12] Lynn talks about the True Demand Coalition, which is a new group of 25 member companies working together to share access to better data (global market impacts, macroeconomics and other information) with the goal of improving demand forecasting accuracy to mitigate future supply chain disruptions. [21:22] To learn more about the speakers and follow them, access their LinkedIn profiles here:

Eaton is a leader in power management technologies that solve complex electrical and industrial issues around the world. They’re also leaders in innovation when it comes to its supply chain. Rogerio Branco, Executive Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer at Eaton, joins Dr. Anne Robinson, Chief Strategy Officer at Kinaxis, to discuss Eaton’s commitment to innovation, diversity and inclusivity in the latest episode of our Big Ideas in Supply Chain podcast. The pandemic put a spotlight on certain supply chain realities that needed to change, and Eaton realized some of its traditional supply chain planning processes and tools were no longer efficient. To channel new ideas, the company turned to its global supply chain team of 4,000 associates and created an incubation lab with a physical location that’s also virtual. According to Rogerio, anyone in the company can bring ideas forward and if it meets their goals and criteria, those ideas will be validated and tested in real applications. [2:08] Eaton also strives to be a model of diversity and inclusivity as a company. Rogerio states it’s taken very seriously, noting that 60% of Eaton’s board and 35% of its global supply chain team is diverse. Additionally, they offer company-wide initiatives to bring in suppliers that are owned by women, minority groups, and LGBTQ+. Rogerio states that this dedication to diversity helps improve innovation within the company because everyone gets to have a voice to provide input in a safe space where they’re free to incubate new ideas without judgement. [9:33] You can learn more about supply chain innovation at Eaton by watching the full episode here: https://big-ideas-in-supply-chain.simplecast.com/episodes/supply-chain-innovation-at-eaton To learn more about the speakers and follow them, access their LinkedIn profiles here:

Generative AI applications such as ChatGPT are waking people up to the potential of AI, and some C-level executives are wondering how it could augment the way supply chain practitioners can solve complex issues requiring ideation and decision-making. Mike Watson, faculty member at Northwestern University and Polly Mitchell-Guthrie, VP, Industry Outreach & Thought Leadership at Kinaxis, speculate how ChatGPT could refine data, impact productivity, and empower practitioners to develop more efficient supply chains. Mike says the recent popularity of ChatGPT has piqued the interest of many C-level executives who are now starting to think seriously about AI and the value it can add in terms of increasing business and individual resource productivity. [5:12] While many people fear job loss when it comes to adopting AI, Mike feels optimistic that this new technology will assist rather than replace many roles in the industry. For example, a supply chain planner or data analyst might not be able to code, but with the help of Generative AI, they may be able to produce a code that can automate certain tasks. [10:32] Mike states there is a lot of potential for generative AI within the supply chain including tasks like automation and the possibility of creating a ChatGPT based application focused solely on supply chain solutions. However, Polly points out that AI lacks context, collaboration, and conscience, which all prevent it from making complex, informed decisions – which still require a human judgement. [17:21]

One of the biggest challenges of any Supply Chain Officer is convincing CEOs to invest in resilience. As supply chain practitioners face ongoing disruption while trying to solve for transformation and short-term financial benefits, it’s become clear that supply chains need to be more agile and responsive. In our latest video podcast, Mike Corbo, former Chief Supply Chain Officer at Colgate-Palmolive joins Angel Mendez, Board Member and Supply Chain Innovator, and Dr. Anne Robinson, Chief Strategy Officer at Kinaxis, to discuss lessons learned from leading during times of disruption, the value of investing in resilience, and how supply chain leaders can promote revenue growth. Mike saw a lot of changes during his 40 years at Colgate-Palmolive. One of his biggest challenges during his time as Chief Supply Chain Officer was the COVID-19 pandemic. Although COVID created drastic developments, Mike says the company survived this period of disruption thanks to the supply chain planning risk management playbook Colgate-Palmolive had developed a decade prior. Mike says the global supply chain organization had back-up supplies and multiple alternate suppliers they could pivot to while validating new sources in record time, to help them manage the immediate impacts of the pandemic. [8:27] To expedite planning processes during the pandemic, Colgate-Palmolive also made the choice to cut their hierarchy of decisions for efficiency, avoiding bottlenecks and reducing reaction time from 60-90 days to only 7-8 days. [10:00] During times of supply chain crisis, Angel says there are three key questions: what is the expected duration, how impactful is it, and how wide is it? Unfortunately, with COVID, these questions were unanswerable due to its global severity with no end date in sight. Because of this, approaching the boardroom about an investment in resilience raises the conversation to a very strategic level. Mike says the key is to balance cost efficiencies and resiliency, which can be done by building resilience into supply chain decisions. [16:14]

As the world continues to face challenges from pandemic-related disruptions to potential global recessions, it is now more important than ever to equip supply chain planners with the tools and knowledge they need to respond to crisis. Blaine Fitzgerald, Chief Financial Officer at Kinaxis, and Jim Bralsford, Sr. Director of Industry and Solutions Marketing at Kinaxis, discuss the benefits of long-term planning, diversifying costs and minimizing financial impact to business while preparing for the future. Blaine states that while some geographies such as US, Japan and parts of Europe have gone in and out of recession, there are other financial indicators such as the inverted yield curve that could imply that the recession isn’t over yet. This means organizations still need to take proactive measures to reduce the impact of recession and inflationary pressures on supply chains. To help companies accelerate out of a slow-growth period, Blaine recommends thinking of the supply chain as a strategy center and not just as a cost center; investing in digitalized planning solutions; engaging in short-term vs long-term supply chain planning and diversification of cost. [5:53] Blaine also talks about the independent academic research that analyzed the financial performance of about 700 companies (including Kinaxis customers) across different industries over the last 3 years. The results showed that financial metrics improved in companies that used a digital supply chain planning solution, with average growth revenue of 3.62%, vs peers that didn’t use a supply chain planning solution, where growth shrunk by 5.77% on revenue. The results of this study have solidified and elevated the rank of supply chains as a strategic function with direct impact on financial success, in the eyes of boards and executives. This pivotal shift is a key learning from the pandemic and recession that CFOs and CEOs cannot overlook going into future business planning. [10:37] To learn more about Blaine Fitzgerald, Chief Financial Officer, Kinaxis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blaine-fitzgerald-71a07972, Twitter: @Blaine_Fitz To learn more about Jim Bralsford, Sr. Director, Industry and Solutions Marketing, Kinaxis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimbralsford/

Join Tariq Farooq, former SVP Global Supply Chain at Sanofi, as he speaks with Matt Spooner, Industry Thought Leader at Kinaxis, about how the COVID pandemic and subsequent shortages have caused boards and executives to re-evaluate the importance of the supply chain. They discuss why the supply chain has risen to the top of the corporate agenda, and why it is now essential not just to think about tradeoffs in terms of cost, cash and service, but also to include resilience and environmental impact in the equation. Summary points: Recent supply chain disruptions that have stemmed from the pandemic have changed the way that boards and executive teams look at and consider the supply chain. According to Tariq, many consumer-packaged goods (CPG) companies, as well as high-tech companies are beginning to recognize the important role that the supply chain plays. As a result, C-suite executives are bringing more supply chain topics to the table. (2:00) The perception of the importance of the supply chain hasn’t grown just among C-suites, but also among the average person as consumers aren’t seeing what they want on shelves. Supply chain disruption has become a challenge across many industries. Some supply chain leaders insist that resilience is important – but that it must also be cost neutral. Tariq states that, while cost is important at any time, there has never been a higher need for resilience than now. While many organizations were previously cutting down on costs by doing things like mono-sourcing, in an age of disruption, many companies, especially large-scale ones, are forced to multi-source to maintain efficiency. Tariq states, “The challenge really becomes how do you shift from where you have been, where cost efficiency might have been the primary objective to being in a situation which is more balanced as we move ahead. […] I think increasingly what they'll be doing is leveraging some of the efficiencies that come because of digitalization, because of automation, because of all the great talent that's been developed across supply chains and the supply chain networks that they establish to offset some of those incremental risks.” (8:00) In the past, supply chain professionals were focused on trying to balance the triangle of service, cost and cash. Tariq states that as we move forward, this triangle will look more like a pentagon where you’re trying to balance service, cost, cash, environmental impact and resilience. (8:50) Click here to follow or know more about the speakers:

In this series debut, Anne and Angel share their thoughts about the supply chain renaissance and pandemic disruptions. Specifically, the lessons that we can learn from living through such a disruptive period and what supply chain practitioners can do to prepare for a tumultuous future. Join them for a discussion about the importance of organizing lessons learnt from the supply chain triage, emphasizing innovation and delivering results. Intro to guest Summary points Speaker Bios https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-robinson-449225https://www.linkedin.com/in/angel-l-mendez-98288/