Supply chain trends- What executive leaders expect in 2024
Summary
TLDR在这段对话中,来自不同领域的供应链专家讨论了2024年供应链管理的趋势和挑战。他们强调了可预测性、供应链的韧性、技术的重要性以及对可持续性的日益关注。讨论涵盖了从宏观经济挑战到地缘政治复杂性,再到气候变化对供应链的影响。专家们分享了他们对于如何利用人工智能和数字化转型来提高效率、降低成本和增强供应链透明度的见解。此外,他们还讨论了劳动力紧张、通货膨胀和成本上升等问题。最后,专家们为供应链管理者提供了建议,包括重视速度、灵活性、人才战略和跨部门合作,以应对未来一年的挑战。
Takeaways
- 📈 **供应链趋势**:2024年的供应链管理将面临多种趋势,包括宏观经济的疲软、持续的通货膨胀、债务成本上升、地缘政治环境的复杂化、去全球化、劳动力紧张、气候变化影响、对可持续性的重视以及技术复兴,特别是AI对数字化转型的影响。
- 🤝 **合作与信任**:建立和维护客户信任是供应链管理的关键,通过提高供应链的透明度和可预测性来实现。
- 💡 **技术与创新**:AI和数字化转型是供应链发展的重要驱动力,企业需要投资于这些技术以提高效率和响应市场变化。
- 🌐 **全球化与本地化**:企业正尝试将其供应链从中国等单一国家多元化,以减少风险并提高供应链的弹性。
- 📊 **数据与分析**:数据的积累和分析对于供应链管理至关重要,它帮助企业更好地预测需求、优化库存和改善运营效率。
- 🔄 **可持续性**:可持续发展成为消费者和企业越来越关注的焦点,供应链的可持续性目标需要与行业需求相匹配。
- 🚀 **敏捷性与速度**:在不断变化的市场环境中,敏捷性和速度是供应链管理的关键,企业需要快速适应市场变化并迅速做出决策。
- 📚 **人才与文化**:供应链管理的成功不仅取决于技术,还取决于人才和企业文化,需要有能力理解和应用先进技术的人才。
- 🔍 **预测与规划**:先进的预测技术和规划系统对于提高供应链的响应能力和减少库存积压至关重要。
- 🌱 **循环经济**:循环经济和产品的再利用是减少浪费和提高可持续性的重要途径。
- 🏆 **竞争优势**:那些能够有效利用AI和机器学习技术的公司将在竞争中获得优势,并实现更快的增长。
Q & A
2024年供应链管理的主要趋势是什么?
-2024年供应链管理的主要趋势包括对可预测性的需求增加、宏观经济增长的疲软、持续的通货膨胀、债务成本的上升、复杂化的地缘政治环境、去全球化趋势、劳动力紧张、气候变化的影响、对可持续性的持续关注以及AI和数字化转型对供应链的影响。
为什么供应链的可预测性在当前变得如此重要?
-可预测性之所以重要,是因为COVID-19疫情给供应链带来了不确定性,企业希望能够预测产品供应,以确保客户满意度和业务连续性。强大的供应链、更好的预测和建模技术以及技术的应用是实现可预测性的关键。
Peloton在2024年面临的主要供应链挑战是什么?
-Peloton面临的主要挑战包括更准确地预测需求、管理库存以及应对高利率环境下库存成本的增加。此外,还需要考虑将生产更近距离地转移到近岸地区以应对中国生产的问题。
Flex作为全球合同制造商,如何看待2024年的供应链趋势?
-Flex观察到一些大型行业的疲软,但同时也看到一些行业如医疗和汽车保持稳定。公司预计2024年将继续看到生产从中国转移到亚洲其他地区和北美的趋势。
在供应链管理中,AI和数字化转型如何提供竞争优势?
-AI和数字化转型可以通过提供更好的数据分析、预测和自动化流程来提高效率和响应速度。这些技术还可以帮助公司更好地理解和优化其供应链网络,从而在竞争激烈的市场中获得优势。
为什么人才和文化对于供应链的数字化转型至关重要?
-人才和文化对于数字化转型至关重要,因为技术解决方案需要有技能的人员来实施和管理。此外,一种开放和创新的企业文化可以鼓励员工接受新技术,并将其应用于解决实际业务问题。
供应链管理中,如何通过设计简化供应链并提高可持续性?
-通过设计简化供应链可以通过减少产品变种、使用更少的组件和简化组装过程来实现。这不仅可以降低库存管理的复杂性,还可以提高客户体验,并有助于提高产品的可持续性。
在供应链管理中,如何实现更好的库存管理?
-实现更好的库存管理需要结合先进的预测技术、与供应商和客户的紧密合作以及透明度和信息共享。此外,采用数字化工具和平台可以帮助实时监控库存水平,并快速响应市场变化。
为什么说供应链管理不再是传统的单一功能领域?
-供应链管理不再是传统的单一功能领域,因为它现在涉及到企业的各个方面,包括产品设计、营收规划、董事会决策等。供应链专业人员需要具备跨学科的知识和技能,以便在整个组织中进行有效的沟通和协作。
如何通过供应链管理应对不断变化的市场和客户需求?
-应对不断变化的市场和客户需求需要供应链管理具有高度的灵活性和敏捷性。这包括快速适应市场变化、利用数据分析来预测和塑造需求,以及与各方合作伙伴紧密合作以实现端到端的无缝连接。
在供应链管理中,如何实现更好的可持续性实践?
-实现更好的可持续性实践可以通过投资先进的规划系统、采用循环经济模式、减少废物产生、以及教育和培训员工关于可持续性的意识。此外,公司可以设定具体的可持续性目标,并将其整合到供应链的每个环节中。
Outlines
😀 供应链趋势与挑战讨论
Anne Robinson作为canais的首席战略官,与嘉宾们讨论了2024年供应链的趋势。讨论涉及了疫情后的影响、宏观经济、通货膨胀、债务成本、地缘政治、去全球化、劳动力紧张、气候变化、可持续性和AI技术的影响。Mary Burn强调了供应链可预测性的重要性,而Liz Cottington从CFO的角度讨论了Peloton的库存管理和需求预测的挑战。
📈 经济环境对供应链的影响
讨论了高利率环境下库存管理的重要性,以及近岸生产与成本之间的权衡。Gus Shaheen提到了市场疲软和客户需求的变化,而Morgan Swink从学术角度分析了全球供应链压力指数和通货膨胀对库存成本的影响。
🌱 可持续性与供应链的关系
讨论了可持续性在供应链管理中的重要性,以及消费者行为的变化。Mary Burn提到了医疗行业中重用和再处理的趋势,而Liz Cottington分享了Peloton如何通过销售翻新产品和二手硬件来推动可持续性。
🤝 供应链中的设计和合作
强调了设计对供应链的影响,以及跨部门合作的重要性。Liz Cottington讨论了Peloton如何通过简化产品线来提高供应链效率。Morgan Swink提到了设计背景对于供应链决策的重要性。
📊 数字化转型与人工智能的融合
讨论了AI和数字化转型如何成为供应链管理的关键。Gus Shaheen分享了Flex如何利用AI提高供应链效率,而Liz Cottington和Mary Burn讨论了AI在需求预测和流程改进中的潜力。
🚀 面对未来的供应链管理建议
各位嘉宾为供应链管理者提供了建议,强调了速度、敏捷性、人才战略和合作的重要性。Mary Burn鼓励将供应链视为一个整体,而不仅仅是一个功能部门。Liz Cottington强调了适应性和持续学习的重要性。
🎓 教育与供应链人才发展
Morgan Swink讨论了教育在培养供应链人才中的作用,以及如何通过强调可持续性来吸引学生。他还提到了企业在数字化转型中面临的人才和组织结构挑战。
📝 结语与对未来的展望
主持人Anne Robinson总结了讨论,并感谢所有嘉宾的参与。她强调了供应链管理在设计、收入规划、董事会和执行领导团队中的重要性,并鼓励供应链管理者学习如何协作和影响。
Mindmap
Keywords
💡供应链管理
💡可预测性
💡技术革新
💡人才和文化
💡地缘政治环境
💡通货膨胀
💡气候变化
💡可持续性和循环经济
💡数字化转型
💡库存管理
💡客户需求
Highlights
2024年供应链趋势的讨论,涉及多个行业专家的见解和预测
COVID-19对供应链影响的持续存在,如库存管理的挑战
宏观经济增长乏力,特别是在欧洲和美国部分地区
持续的通货膨胀和债务成本上升对企业的影响
地缘政治环境的复杂化,特别是自10月以来的变化
去全球化趋势,企业尝试将业务从中国等国家转移
劳动力紧张问题,特别是在汽车和运输物流行业
气候变化对供应链的影响,如巴拿马运河的情况
对可持续性和环境、社会与治理(ESG)的持续关注
技术复兴,特别是人工智能对数字化转型的影响
供应链中的可预测性和供应链韧性的重要性
先进的策略和技术集中,以提高供应链的可见性和预测能力
零售业对需求预测和库存管理的重视,特别是在高利率环境下
近岸化趋势,以及它对成本和供应链设计的影响
数字转型和人工智能在供应链管理中的应用和潜力
企业如何通过供应链实现其宏伟的可持续性目标
社会变革对供应链管理的影响,包括对可持续性的关注
为应对2024年的挑战,供应链管理者应采取的策略和建议
Transcripts
[Music]
good day and welcome to this edition of
big ideas and supply chain my name is
Anne Robinson and I'm the chief strategy
officer at canais I'm joined by my
colleague Angel Mendes cana's board
member supply chain transformation
leader uh to join me on this
conversation today with an esteemed
panel of guests today we're going to
tackle the 2024 Trends and supply chain
and joining us are Mary burn vice
president of supply chain with Cardinal
Health Liz cottington CFO of pelaton Gus
Shaheen CIO of flex and Professor Morgan
swing Supply Chain management professor
and executive director at the center for
supply chain Innovation at the Neely
School of Business at Texas Christian
University thank you everybody so much
for joining me today it's such an
interesting and critical time to be in
supply chain and I'm so grateful that
you've all joined us to talk about the
trends and what's happening in supply
chain but angel I'm going to turn it
over to you I know you were going to
help set the stage and let's get the
conversation going so over to you all
right thank you an and thanks everyone
for joining uh excited that you're all
here and looking forward to a great
conversation so as we talk about 24 and
what may affect the lives of companies
and supply chain officers and Coos and
CEOs in the coming year I think it's
important to maybe spend a second and
kind of review as we sit here almost to
the Christmas holiday and having just
passed through Black Friday and and
other big commercial events um to go
back into the year and say okay what
what happened during this year what were
people contending with and so I thought
end what I would do is I rifle through
my top 10 the top 10 things that that
people live with in 23 and then we'll
open it up and get your reaction to it
and see what you think about 24 so and
I'm going to do this very quickly so
number one uh still Co hangovers uh in
terms of the supply chain effects number
two uh a a lackluster macroeconomy in
terms of uh growth or La thereof uh
especially in parts of Europe and and in
the US uh persistent inflation we all
know what that looks like although
things might be temporary a bit uh
higher cost of debt with higher interest
rates uh the geopolitical environment
certainly got more complex especially
since October um de globalization
companies trying to move their footprint
away from China and away from Big Global
single country Supply uh labor tensions
we saw labor tensions in the automotive
sector and transportation Logistics and
other areas um climate effects we're
seeing places like the Panama Canal for
instance uh although there other climate
effects uh the emphasis continuing on
sustainability uh in ESG broadly which
implies a number of compliance concerns
but also a lot of investment um and La
last but not least the technology of
Renaissance resting on on AI and the
impact on AI or from AI on digital
transformation and opportunity for
supply chain so those are my top 10 uh
there might be ways of grouping them
differently I just do that to be
provocative uh so as we go into 23 and
I'm going to start with you Mary uh
looking through the through the lens of
your company uh a very large one with a
very wide portfolio um what do you
see yeah thanks Angel and and that's
such a great top 10 list because it
covers uh pretty pretty much everything
that we encounter I'll say really though
first and foremost what we're seeing and
what we're trying to bring and and
partner with our uh Channel partners and
our customers on is
predictability I think covid left all of
us with some Battle Scars speaking of
Battle Scars I'd be remiss if I didn't
just say congratulations on Army for
beating Navy this past weekend in the
big Army Navy
game but those uh and and hope I think
Navy is is you know nursing their battle
scars right now um as they should but as
we move forward though into this fiscal
year and into this new calendar year
bringing a better better rigor and an
increased visibility around
predictability everyone wants to know
that they will have predictable Supply
and to get predictable Supply we need
resilient Supply chains we need better
forecasting um and uh and modeling that
all really involves technology focus it
involves transformation but it involves
a conversation that previously we
weren't having so if you rewind the
clock to preo to even 10 years ago
supply chain conversations were really
around cost optimization and efficiency
there's a lot of backend work a lot of
backend processes and and reduction and
inventory and reduction in cost and now
that's that's still important it's still
critical to having flexibility of course
and responsiveness but first and
foremost customers want predictability
they want to know when I need that
product it's going to be there and so
really creating Advanced strategies to
to really bring that predictability to
them into the market that that's our
Focus there's a lot more to that and uh
and I know we're going to get into some
other topics later but that's really
what we're seeing right now that's great
um Liz as I as I think of uh the CFO
perspective you've got a broad one from
your days at uh walmart.com and also
Amazon AWS and now pelaton um what's
your take on
24 yeah I think you know as we look into
24 well let me let me kind of give you
the Pelon perspective a little bit too
so for us at pelaton we for those who
know the story we experienced this huge
demand surge during covid and then sort
of a real kind of slowdown in demand
postco because we pulled forward a bunch
of customers who were interested in our
products and so we benefited the past 12
months from not having to be so great at
projecting demand because we had a lot
of inventory on hand that we needed to
sell through which you know okay that
was good but now we're in a position
where we have to be much much more much
better at it because we are in a
position where we've sort of right sized
our our inventory and now we have to run
the business effectively and efficiently
and um to the point that Mary was making
it's it's about having the right Supply
but from our perspectives as a retail as
someone who sells retail direct to the
consumer it's just as much about being
able to project the demand as well as
the supply because in an environment of
high interest rates that we're in now
you know it's much more expensive to
have a ton of inventory that you don't
need than it was a few years ago um in
order to manage cash and balance all of
that out and not have to carry a bunch
of you know additional debt or raise
equity in a market that's kind of not
really um super open for that right now
um you know you need to be able to
manage your inventory much better than
we have and that or had to I'm not
saying that we haven't managed it this
year as well as we could have but um but
we have to be much much better at it um
so that's really an area for us another
area Angel you brought it up is around
kind of the the um uh bringing things
more near shore so particularly concerns
around China we have a lot of our
production overseas in Asia and you know
it's it's it's hard because having
multiple sources of Supply you know is
expensive or it can be it can add a lot
more cost it makes it more difficult to
predict if you want to have the same
products produced with multiple vendors
you have to be able to balance that out
and make sure that you're balancing
commitments with capacity needs and all
of that um and then you know the more
that you want to bring Nearshore there's
tradeoffs and you know lower freight
costs but potenti potentially higher
production costs and so all of that for
me as a CFO is a big Balancing Act to
make sure that we're making the right
decisions for the business so those are
trends that I see particularly across
any business that has a retail consumer
vent to it as well as businesses that
are that are transacting with other
businesses um that are that are really
going to be important in 24 and quite
frankly they're always important right
absolutely um and and Gus as I think of
flex in your wide customer base and
possibly the most Global footprint of
certainly of any contract manufacturer
uh you're seeing every region every day
uh so all of these things uh and being a
supplier in the supply lines to most of
the large oems in almost all all
meaningful verticles um how do you
extrapolate all of what you see uh into
some thoughts for
24 yep yeah thanks angel I mean like you
said we we operate in six Industries
really they're all multi-billion dollar
Industries and you know we're we're
definitely seeing some softness in a
couple of the big ones and you know uh
there's no secret there we had our
earnings call seven weeks ago or so and
we announced we actually guided Revenue
a bit lower because we're seeing
softness in some of the bigger
Industries certainly consumer continues
to be soft driven by interest rates of
course industrial is also softening as
well uh for similar reasons so we're
seeing some softness but we're still
seeing a lot of reshoring that's been
happening for the last years you know
customers want an a a lowcost solution
outside of China but still in Asia and
they also want a low you know move over
here to North America for the End Market
here in the US so that's continuing to
happen we expect that to continue
throughout
24 uh and we're hoping you
know interest rates will start to ease
off maybe towards the end of next year
and things will slowly start coming back
in some of those bigger segments we do
have some other segments that are
holding up still you know areas like
medical and auto and stuff seem to be
holding up pretty well so it's kind of a
mixed bag for sure it is and it makes
things hard to hard to predict almost on
an everyday basis when you see multiple
pieces of news uh all affecting the
airwaves uh Morgan before I go back to
an Morgan uh your perspective from uh
number one you look at lots and lots of
companies uh analytically but number two
you've got a a great perch on Innovation
as well so I'm just super curious how
you see
it yeah thanks Angel and I I love your
list I was uh actually kind of glancing
at a presentation I did recently that
was macro Trends and it that tells very
nicely overlaps I think you covered just
about everything and maybe a little more
than I had had on my list so um I'll
just react to a couple of things I mean
most of what's already been said I agree
with completely the same kinds of things
I'm seeing with some of our business
partners uh and kind of at a more uh
30,000 foot level as far as the
disruption goes disruptiveness you know
hangover still from covid I hear that a
lot uh from different
partners uh in specific Industries if
you look at the macro data though it
actually says we're in great shape if
you look at things like the global
supply chain pressure index I don't know
if you guys follow that but we're
actually below uh kind of the median
disruption levels for the last 15 to 20
years
um uh so I mean that's that's a measure
of of volatility and different cost uh
indices for different you know
transportation and other kinds of things
so not sure that's reflective of
everybody's experience but seems to be a
good Trend I mean we're in in a good
direction uh Us in terms of that
Dimension um Echo you know all the
inflation inventory cost whip selling of
inventory uh you know resp responding to
covid and then over responding and then
correcting and then now moving forward
to the next year predictability I hear
that a lot too so some of those those
issues are are the same I guess the
other thing I would throw in that I
think is H potentially trending is uh is
social change some uh you know and I
don't mean necessarily politically but
sustainability you mentioned that I do
feel like there is we're kind of
reaching a a uh a critical point where
it's actually going to be a at least for
certain types of products in certain
industries consumers are really starting
to take that seriously as part of their
purchasing Behavior so I wouldn't expect
to see that factor you know more largely
uh into consumption uh as we go forward
to the next year or
two so it's really interesting to hear
all of you when all of your different
perspectives but one thread I'm hearing
throughout and I'm hoping you can either
help either validate or or or dismiss a
trend that came to my attention um with
these this state of interest rates the
cost of capital these the pressures
whether it's on a microcosm perspective
maybe if it's not translating at the
macro level but is this causing
pressures on cash flow and inventory
management that's focusing that shift
back towards sort of lean and mean just
in time type mentalities again are any
of you seeing that or experiencing that
either your or from your suppliers or
customers who are kind of expecting some
of those prepandemic type of supply
chain
performance maybe I'll take that one
first because I I'm expecting I will
have a a fairly different lens on this
from coming from Healthcare than maybe
some of our consumer products uh or or
other markets I'll tell you an it's
interesting you say that I think
internally we always want to drive for
Best in class efficiency and internally
yes we're always evaluating those
opportunities and looking for ways to
become more creative and more efficient
I will tell you though on the customer
and the consumer Behavior side we are
actually seeing quite the opposite where
there is a tendency to um continue
inventory holding or inventory
stockpiling as a security net for that
predictability there's a safety in
seeing my physical Goods nearby we're
seeing a trend in customers wanting a
collocated warehouse specifically
dedicated for them and so we're as we
embark on a predictability Journey
having transparency and visibility is
helping us overcome some of that fear
factor in maintaining inventory it's
like if I can walk outside my door and
see my warehouse and my inventory right
there I feel good I I know I will be
able to serve my patients tomorrow and
next week so what we've done to actually
complement um the visibility or the
predictability journey is transparency
um we're members of a healthcare
industry resiliency collaborative it's
cheered by Mayo Clinic um and we opened
up our data so we showed all of our um
supply chain data up to our tier 2
supplier and where in inventory is for
critical products any member of that
Community can see that data and have
access to it we're embarking on several
other visibility transparency type
initiatives to help customers see their
inventory even if they don't physically
see it right next door or or touch it
you know in that collocated warehouse um
and then also I'll say modeling
inventory and showing the volatility in
supply chain and right sizing so we do
have some segments of the supply chain
and product um value streams that are
still highly volatile and we do ramp up
and cover that vol ility with a higher
stocking level but having that
transparency to show down to that that
product detail level that's new that
that was not there preco no one was
interested in fact it was um I'll say
it's brought a lot of the behind the
scenes work to the front of the table it
is the conversation now where it was
mostly in the background before um but
I'll turn it back over to others I'm
sure that that could possibly be a very
unique what one question Mary though
before I pass it over to Gus do you feel
that that transparency that information
transparency is delivering trust to your
customers is that one of the biggest
factors it is it's certainly Something
That We're passionate about is
rebuilding trust where maybe it had been
lost through the pandemic and then
securing it where we still have it and
then continuing to grow it and introduce
it and and I think that that really is
at the heart of all of this um is is
building that trust maintaining trust
and showing that
um we're we're in this together we're
we're all when we experience a
disruption we've collaboratively created
all the scenarios all of the safety nets
and and the mechanisms to protect the
customer from that disruption and and we
partner with them in that conversation
so that we have and that that leads us
to a whole another topic which is
customer facing supply chain but I'll
I'll put a pin in that one for later uh
in the conversation also something I'm
very passionate about but I'll I'll save
that maybe for Angel when we get down
further on the list Gus what about from
your perspective I know yeah no for us I
mean you're absolutely right this is the
number one topic amongst the elt even
the board for us inventory and inventory
management is pretty much cash flow as
Angel knows our business pretty well uh
inventory's been on the rise for the
last three years and it's okay okay for
it to go up when you're growing 20 30%
but when growth slows down it becomes a
real big problem so uh you know having
scop meetings with our customers on a
regular basis is the number one priority
making sure we have the right data
available to show the customers when
they load us with demand uh is
absolutely key you know we've got all
the visibility in place we've had it for
a while uh you know it didn't really
help during CO as you all know because
customers kind of overreacted a little
bit and over ordered if you will and now
you know we're going through this tough
period renegotiating and trying to you
know flush out those inventories because
it's tying up cash flow so it's the
number one topic and we're doing a lot
to address it for
sure so we're we shifted to talk about
design essentially designed for supply
chain where we're bringing the product
organization and supply chain
organization closer together um I'm
going to shift to Morgan first and then
Liz I'll have you comment Morgan is that
a trend that you've seen kind of come up
in the academic
conversations yeah absolutely um if I
can I want to throw in one thing on
inventory real quick and then I'll come
back to that so I have talking to some
folks who are really uh I would say
Forward Thinking and there and they're
in terms of inventory yeah they're
trying to manage it closely but at the
same time they're recognizing that this
period of high interest rates and high
cost of capital is actually an
opportunity to justify investments in
inventory Inventory management systems
and processes because now you know the
savings are so much more uh you can you
can capitalize on that so uh it's an
opportunity that I think some people are
taking advantage of before interest
rates Dro down again and and nobody
cares about the cost of capital anymore
uh okay so design for supply chain um
yeah absolutely has been it's it's a
actually a pet peeve of of M interest of
mine I came out of a design background
as an engineer um Logistics designed for
Logistics designed for
sustainability uh sourcing decisions
more tightly integrated with design
decisions you know all of those aspects
I think are becoming much much more
important especially as we see global
networks changing so much supply chain
networks and the kinds of sourcing and
the logist
infrastructure that the shipping modes
everything's changing now so people are
the smart people are really trying to
include those anticipated changes into
future product design decisions so Liz
it sounds like this is something that
does happen at pelaton can you share a
little bit about that and kind of why
that works for you yes sure and I'm
happy happy to talk a little bit about
it so at pelaton you know our business
has kind of got two components one piece
is pretty supply chain heavy and then
one is much more of a service related
piece related to Fitness so we're going
to focus on the part which is really
selling and delivering the hardware to
people so that they can use our
connected Fitness devices to work out
but with that you know we have different
SKS we have bikes we have two variants
of a bike we now just reintroduced our
tread plus so we have two variants of a
treadmill um we've got a rower um and to
the extent that we're able to simplify
our supply chain for example we're
looking at ways that we can move to a
single bike frame instead of having two
different ones that simplifies our
supply chain a lot and helps us so if we
don't know quite how many bike pluses we
need relative to bikes we've we've now
made it a much easier decision around
how much inventory we need overall
rather than having to manage that and
then also Simplicity and design needing
potentially fewer components um and also
making it easier on the delivery front
to be able to self assemble instead of
having to have somebody come and deliver
your product to your door and set it up
for you you know gives us a lot more
flexibility all the way through our
supply chain so we're looking at ways
that we can do that to make it much
easier for um for us to manage our
inventory overall and then also improve
the customer experience by making it
simpler for them as well to get their
products and be able to use them so not
only are you sort of capitalizing on
some classic supply chain techniques of
throughput and pooling but it must also
have an impact from a sustainability
perspective which we know is also a huge
conversation right now yeah I I would
love to talk about that so that is an
area that was is is near and dear to my
heart and is really important at Paton
and also for our consumers who are
increasingly caring about you know
sustainability and um and you know
circularity is a big thing so for us we
actually now sell certified refurbished
products so that you can buy um used
pelaton hardware and that's great those
are products that have been returned to
us we're able to revamp them them and
sell them again at a lower price but
also in a in a sustainable way um and so
that's you know that's something that
that is really helping because it gives
these products a second life another
thing that we are seeing in the market
that we benefit from but isn't
necessarily us doing it ourselves is the
fact that our products are pretty
wellmade and so if somebody decides to
cancel their pelaton membership they
often can sell their Hardware to
somebody else who then starts to use it
and we can help augment that experience
for them with warranties and providing
maintenance programs and things so that
we can keep that Hardware going which is
really great from a sustainability
perspective that's that's great and I
know others of you are also heavily
involved in sustainability initiatives
through your supply chain I think one of
the big ahas that happened towards the
end of this year and going into to 2024
is that these lofty sustainability
objectives that were put out by many
companies um the the organizations are
now trying to figure out how are they
going to achieve those and recognizing
that the supply chain is really the
vehicle to make that happen I don't know
um Gus or Mary if you wanted to comment
on sort of sustainability from your
perspective we've published our goals uh
you know they're out there publicly
right we want to be you know about our
carbon footprint and we want to be
neutral and so on by 2030 I think it is
um we've we a lot of our customers are
demanding it we're work with a lot of
our suppliers as well we also have a
pretty big business in the value added
Services which focuses on the circular
economy it's like an $800 million
business that basically works on
refurbishment Recycle Recycling and
keeping basically all that out of the
landfills right so it's a it's a big
business for us and
uh yeah we've we're working on that
quite diligently with customers and
suppliers am Mar what about a cardinal
health I think what what we're seeing in
health care is and in each industry is
different sustainability goals and
objectives have to match the needs of
the industry that they're in and so in
healthcare right now what we're seeing
as a trend towards wanting to uh
reprocess and continue reusing many um
items that are used in a health care
setting are qualified validated and
designed to be reprocessed and reused a
certain number of times but the company
that are servicing that reprocessing and
reutilization are few and far between so
we at colel just doubled our
reprocessing um facility with a zero
waste to landfill model that's here in
the United States to support that need
and to facilitate that growth because
each hospital and healthc care system
does not have the free cash to implement
that reprocessing operation for
themselves due to all the reasons Morgan
just shared earlier on inflation and and
the squeezing and limited cash that uh
that each of these um hospitals have so
that's a really unique and and
interesting way that we're seeing it um
and then we're also driving I think with
u partnering with our um healthare
systems in demand forecasting if we can
get inventory to the right place the
first time we do not have to move it a
second or third time that inherently uh
reduces our trucks on the load and
lowers our misss and a a host of other
sustainability goals that we are
measuring and monitoring now with our
improved forecasting which is pretty
exciting to see as well well it's an
interesting moment because you we spoke
about trust earlier but this comment
around what Morgan said earlier around
social change is that so you have to
have trust but there's this social
change towards sustainability which
makes for a really interesting
circumstance for those of you in the the
life sciences and healthc Care field for
sure Morgan did you want to comment more
on the bigger social social change
Dimensions I know sustainability was one
of them but uh that you mentioned
previously yeah well I I'd love to just
mention how you know we at TCU are
taking advantage of that Trend and also
um how that's reflected in students uh
and and the demand for students or
demand for labor so we all know you know
labor is maybe getting a little bit
better but uh there's
still whatever story you a study you
look at there's five jobs there's 10
jobs there's 15 jobs for every
graduating supply chain major but we
still have a tough time getting enough
Majors it's not just us it's you know
all my colleagues I talked to at other
top supply chain schools have the same
thing and we're finding that this
sustainability Dimension is is a is a
great hook it's a great way to interest
students in the supply chain world and
in fact we're launching a certificate in
sustainable business our Center
sponsoring this just this next year and
and a big part of our motivation frankly
is just to get more students interested
in supply chain so when we start to talk
about inventory or scheduling or what
their eyes glows over but when you talk
about sustainability and changing
people's lives for the better wow now
you've got their interest they're really
interested so um I think you're going to
see a lot more of that kind of content
in Business Schools uh in the supply
chain space in particular for all those
reasons I think yeah no question that
continues into 24 uh and even though
um there is maybe less emphasis on quote
ESG by some relative to where we have
been uh for the consumer particularly
young consumer and for the employees
it's a it's a really big topic and and
and a such I think it'll continue next
year and we we couldn't um uh have a
trend conversation and and how we solve
all these tensions um without moving
into the topic of digital transformation
and AI at some point in this dialogue um
and so I'm curious how you all see
digital transformation into 24 it terms
of your own Investments your own
priorities but then more importantly
within that the Advent of AI and how
it's how it's evolving as quickly as as
it has and how it's permeating itself
throughout the supply chain opportunity
um so maybe Gus since you're the IT guy
in the room uh you can help us with
getting those started on that Dimension
yeah no for sure I mean
AI obviously has been a pretty hot topic
for years it
got quite a bit of a hype when the Gen
stuff came out as you know like more
than a year ago which is good actually
in many ways because you know now it's
being discussed at the board level at
the elt level and um so you know to do
real good AI at the end of the day you
have to have lots and lots of data I
think that's really the foundation for
it uh so what we've done here at Flex is
you know we've got some pretty large
data Lakes when it comes to supply chain
I mentioned the visibility piece that
we've had for years now which I think
you know ands aware of we call it Flex
pulse it's a platform we built years ago
for supply chain so that we can have
full complete visibility uh on managing
our material really at the end of the
day because we've got over 16,000 active
suppliers at any given time a thousand
customers factories in 30 countries
material coming in planning for all that
is really tough so we've had that
visibility and we've improved on it for
years and now that we've got all this
data we've been trying to apply all
kinds of traditional AI more recently
trying to play with some gen Ai and you
know there there's definitely something
there uh for sure uh it's you know it's
going to take a little bit of time to
figure out how to operationalize it if
you will um sometimes it's not that easy
to accept what you see there and the
results uh but yeah I think it's
definitely something that's going to be
there for a while and going to make a
lot of good changes I think from my
perspective Liz how do you read it yeah
I mean I think to me AI is a huge
opportunity across the business in
supply chain as well as in other areas
for us you know we I see an opportunity
to incorporate it into our demand
forecasting in a much more sophisticated
way than we do today as a consumer
business we have a lot of data
everything from the traffic data of
people coming to our website what
they're doing historically like kind of
how they use our products and how their
customer Journey evolves um so there's a
lot of opportunity for us to use that
both to forecast demand as well as to
also help us grow our demand and shape
our demand so that is one key area
another area that I see
that I I that I is a huge opportunity
for us but I think is an opportunity for
a lot of different companies is in a way
of improving processes and understanding
and identifying defects in processes
whether it's in the supply chain or
whether it's in more on the procurement
side or even on the financial side
around like order to cash and whatnot
really lots of opportunities to use AI
to say oh this is where your process
broke this is this is where all these
errors are happening so that then you
can become much more efficient and and
and and fix those processes so that they
can be much more automated and effective
so I think there's there's huge
opportunities in that in fy2 24 and then
of course Beyond it and I really do
think even though you know it's not
necessarily
like critical at this moment in time the
companies that figure out how to
leverage both machine learning and AI
are going to be much more successful and
have a competitive advantage over those
that do
not no question and Mary you guys are
all over this I know that yeah I I
couldn't agree with you more Liz uh
competitive Advantage absolutely period
full stop there will be no question in
the next 5 to 10 years that companies
who have adopted this and successfully
implemented it will grow and accelerate
Leaps and Bounds Beyond those who don't
um but I'm just for the sake of um being
argumentative and we're recording on a
Monday so why not I'm going to throw a
little bit of a curveball out there
angel I'm going to propose that the the
a and digital transformation
conversation is actually a talent and
culture
conversation and the reason I say that
is that Solutions have been there
they've they have been there for several
years now and only recently have we seen
companies really accelerate their
adoption of
implementation as we love to say necess
or necessity is the mother of all
invention and so maybe some Force to
against their will you know u in a
postco environment but as we look at
adopting these Technologies and maturing
Beyond a legacy state it is all about
culture and people and who we have and
how they think and the ability to adopt
and operate in a high-tech environment
the ability to understand the value
capture of AI and of digital
transformation the ability to connect
the dots across multiple Towers in your
large organization and speak fluently to
the value you and what it means to your
customer and to your business outcomes
that's a talent and culture conversation
um the tools are there they've been
there for a while they're getting better
they've gotten much better in the last
five years they're continuing to evolve
and get better but I think quickly the
solutions that are available have
outpaced the trajectory of culture and
talent development as we look at those
going hand inand and being a strategic
differentiator in the next five to 10
years and it's changing the the
requirements as we the next job you post
in your organization is likely to have
uh elements of data science elements of
data capabilities for instance uh then
perhaps a few years back and we're
seeing that across research done to look
at the postings uh in the supply chain
space across many companies you see that
more and more not just in supply chain
as list points up but in a lot of other
areas but speaking of competitive
Advantage Morgan you've actually studied
this you you've actually been looking at
companies from a research perspective um
and comparing those that are more
advanced shall we say in certain
techniques digital Technologies and um
and what are your observations about
that that that sample of companies
you've been looking at relative to the
World At Large yeah thanks Angel um well
first I just want to I'd agree with
everything Mary said I thought she said
very very well but we've interviewed
dozens of companies over the last few
years about this you know digital
transformation what does it mean and
these are top Executives we're talking
to um and we ask them you know what are
the biggest barriers or challenges it's
always always Talent it's talent and
organization structure it's it's never
oh well the technolog is not there you
know it's a it's it's always having
finding the right people who can just as
Mary said you know not only understand
the science the data science or the
technology but the application the use
cases the business case and be able to
articulate that you know um that's the
that's the missing ingredient I think a
lot of companies are looking for and as
a result you're seeing a a bunch of
business analytics programs you know we
have one now we started one three years
ago and especially in Business Schools I
think they're trying to design these
programs to marry the data science part
of it with this domain knowledge
functional domain knowledge marketing
supply chain Finance whatever so
hopefully that's going to meet you know
some of the demand but it it's it's a
it's a bull whip effect it's a it's a
lag a lag there right so we're trying to
catch up the other uh big research
project that we've had a couple years
ago maybe angel you're referring to this
is we looked at companies that have
adopted uh leading planning
systems uh and had adopted them before
covid in particular we looked at
pre-adoption post-adoption performance
impacts we saw some significance there
but in particular those companies that
had invested in advanced planning
Technologies and the visibility systems
that go with them uh we saw huge impacts
uh or dramatic differences between those
companies and their peer companies who
had not made those investments in terms
of covid their ability to to kind of
buffer or absorb some of the shocks that
came with covid and then to respond uh
responding as fast as you know a quarter
or even two quarters uh faster than some
of their peer companies they were able
to return back to kind of pre-co
profitability and and operational
effectiv so it's a it's a real strong um
finding that suggests you know the
Investments are worth it
there yeah which which uh which kind of
brings together a whole bunch of this
conversation right the notion of
transparency predictability
productivity uh you have to have the
digital tools you have to have the
people that know how to identify them
know how to put them to use uh and and
and have them support all the various
strategies that drive resilience uh and
and trying to position Supply chains to
respond to an increasingly volatile uh
and more volatile world that cuz that
for me of all the trends that we were
talking about earlier there are some
that remain constant and and and and you
can wrap them all under the heading of
volatility whether that be geopolitical
whether it be economic uh or whatever
the next Crisis is that we haven't even
thought about that certainly didn't
start 23 expecting some of the things
that turned out to be true um and uh you
had some other questions to Our Guest
well I think we're we're just about at
time here but recognizing that you know
2024 looks to be very interesting year
for supply chain professionals and
knowing that all of you come from a vast
background in this space what is that
piece of advice you give to that supply
chain manager who's looking to tackle
the challenges of 2024 what's that one
piece of advice you're going to tell
them so that they can be successful
through the coming 12 months so Gus
maybe I'll start with you yep thank you
uh well for me I think I've told you
that before I think when I think about
supply chain and everything I'm seeing
here at flex and the things we're
working on speed is the main thing that
comes to mind it's like The Theory of
Everything For Us in supply chain it
improves Revenue customer at inventory
levels uh pretty much everything in
supply chain so uh you know I know uh
Mary mentioned visibility so but if you
have that visibility the goal has to be
speed right so if you're new to supply
chain and you focus on uh all these
different kois and kpis you're measuring
if you keep speed in mind I think you'll
be
successful thanks Gus U Mary what about
you um I'm gonna say Ann H this is not
your grandmother's supply chain anymore
this is the supply chain of the future
my entire Supply plan team is customer
facing they are in negotiations they are
collaborating with customers they
connect the dots across an endtoend
system they understand global trade they
understand manufacturing they understand
product life cycle management they
understand Market needs and
disruptions this is a new fun exciting
high growth space it is not for the
faint of heart and so I would come back
to Talent strategy um it's really a time
and a place for athletes uh corporate
athletes uh occupational athletes to
really Thrive so don't think of it as a
Silo it's not a function like it may
have been 10 20 years ago it truly is
end to endend and it is a really fun
exciting and and high growth space to
grow your career I also have an
engineering background like Morgan
mentioned he came from product
development side I was in product
development and Manufacturing first and
so again I just I share that personally
because it was part of my journey and
getting to a broader space and I think
that would be exactly what I would share
with h any Young Supply Chain
professionals
today thanks Mary uh Liz what about from
you yeah I you know I was trying to
think of a word to sum it up the way
that Gus was the word that came to mind
for me was agility um so speed along
with being having speed you need to be
flexible and agile and understand that
things are very Dynamic these days and
because market trends move fast and
customer needs evolve very quickly it's
important to be agile and to realize
that just because you were doing
something a certain way for a period of
time things change and you need to to be
able to change with it and that goes
back to Mary's comments Around Talent
strategy it's kind of a marathon it's
not a it's not a Sprint um we're
constantly evolving learning growing and
being you know bringing that analytical
mindset um is is critical and then I
also think it's really important to
understand that again as to Mary's point
of not being siloed it really is about
also understanding all the other places
that supply chain interacts with the
rest of the business and making sure
that you have partners that you
understand those intersections um so
that uh things can be seamless from end
to end which is which is kind of the
Nirvana that we're all trying to trying
to get
to um Morgan what about from your
perspective what is that one piece of
advice you would provide yeah well
you're asking Professor for one piece of
advice come
on if I had to sum it up I mean I think
I would say just try to avoid monolithic
thinking uh and by that I mean kind of a
one-sized fits-all thinking you know I
hear this conversation about lean versus
Justin Case and back and forth the
pendulum it's never been one or the
other it's always a combination of of of
buffering types of strategies and also
bridging types of strategies Mary and
others have mentioned visibility
connections collaboration it's got to be
a combination of those things right and
you've got to think strategically about
different regions of the world different
categories of product uh and use a
different mix of bridging and buffering
and also Advanced planning Investments
you know for those different areas to to
come up with the the optimal I think mix
of of uh resilience ways to create
resilience and flexibility and Agility
all those things we want oh Angel I'd be
remiss if I didn't ask you that same
question as well what is your piece of
advice for Next Generation supply chain
managers I would I would and Mary
touched on it um collaboration right
learn how to collaborate and influence U
everything we've talked about from the
trends to to to the various questions
about the future they're all Supply
chains always been about resing tensions
there's never just been a simple single
variable equation it's always
multivariable some of them comanding
each other
um in in the world we're living in now
supply chain is in the design
environment it's in the revenue planning
it's in the boardroom it's in the elt
room uh it's it's know side by side with
the CFO at levels never before seen and
and therefore if you're not incapable of
collaborating and influencing and
educating and also learning how the
parts of the business actually work uh
our our hypothetical supply chain
manager here is going to fail pretty
quickly so that would be my my
prescription well I want to thank all of
you for joining me today it really was a
fascinating conversation and I think
we've got our work cut out for us in the
coming in the coming years but it
certainly will be a fun one loved all
the different perspectives and really
appreciate all of you joining today so
thank you so
much thank you thanks everybody if you
want to learn more about the supply
chain trends that we spoke about today
please take a look at the podcast bio
and I hope you'll join us all next time
as we Explore More Big Ideas in supply
[Music]
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