This week, I had the privilege to represent Blue Yonder at the North American Supply Chain Executive Summit (NASCES) 2024, a premier supply chain summit, set in the picturesque and historic Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix. The two days were filled with insightful anecdotes, stories and calls to action, as well as some candid sharing of lessons learned in the course of transforming the world’s supply chains. These were delivered by a range of supply chain management super-star executives from across manufacturing, distribution, and retail.
It was amazing to see several Blue Yonder customers among the delegates, speakers, and panelists. We had the honor of hosting a terrific evening of cocktails and dinner, filled with laughter and points of views that we will all take back and apply within our organizations. There were as many thought-provoking aspects as there were confirmations of risks and opportunities. The stakes are high for corporations planning and executing supply chain strategies – we’re impacting commerce, lives and indeed the planet.
That’s why I believe it’s all the more important that we learn from each other. Let’s run through the biggest lessons from NASCES 2024.
Be Courageous
Dave Clark, the former Worldwide CEO of Amazon, talked about his experience building one of the great new business models of the 21st century, simultaneously being witty, matter of fact and thought-provoking. He reminded us that the next 20 years of supply chain driven transformation will be “even nuttier” than the preceding two decades. To create the art of the possible, suspend disbelief, said Dave; exhorting the audience to be intentional, shift the distribution curve to the right to increase probability of success and be willing to stake it all by dropping your badge on the table. He reminded me of the Blue Yonder ethos, one element of which is to “Embrace Limitless Possibilities,” thinking beyond the needs of today.
Envision, Invest, and Build To Meet the Opportunity
Bish Sen, CSCO at Unilever, reminded us that volatility and uncertainty remain present and that we live on a planet under duress. Timely actions matter. As he spoke about extending connectivity across the ecosystem to see better, avoid or respond more effectively to surprises, I was reminded of Blue Yonder’s recent acquisition of One Network Enterprises, a business that drives the network effect into effective supply chain management.
He then spoke about extending collaboration up and down the value network, something Blue Yonder has unlocked with our platform. Bish went on to talk about the application of advanced techniques for data-driven decision cycles, shrinking the supply chain. Here too, Blue Yonder’s world-class predictive and generative AI solutions drive real results for the largest manufacturers and retailers in the world. Our innovative work in infusing sustainability KPIs into supply chain decisioning makes real impact to the planet. Bish also responded to a question about the continual upskilling of talent, infusion of new talent, and allowing humans to make decisions. Blue Yonder and our parent company Panasonic Connect are at the forefront of Gemba processes and decentralizing decisions.
Supply Chain Strategy Is an Enabler
John Mau, Director of Operations & Supply Chain Strategy at Ocean Spray, spoke to a packed room of executives. As he started to tell the story of the storied brand that Ocean Spray is, he paused and asked for a show of hands to see which businesses had a supply chain strategy function. Amazingly, in a room of 60, only eight hands went up. He went on to describe what to do when change is not happening fast enough inside the organization, giving a masterclass on going slow to go fast.
John explained that a supply chain management (SCM) strategy function helps to establish key priorities and initiatives, provide visibility to functional interdependencies, and connect corporate strategy to cross-functional strategy. Simply put, a proper supply chain strategy team increases the odds of success for a mission-critical transformation. Over the past three years, Blue Yonder has significantly invested in our Transformation Advisory Services. We are helping companies reimagine, reinvent and reorient SCM and operations, build Target Operating Models and create ROI-laden actions.
Towards One Supply Chain
Sidra Tufail from Philip Morris International gave a stirring presentation of the tremendous work that is a testament to creating sensory ecosystems where manufacturer, distributor and retailer are seamlessly connected and continuous data sharing allows for timely actions, not batch based predictions that occur once in a week but throughout the day. She also warned against going for “the whole enchilada” in one stroke. She made a call to action for bold technology partners to step up and participate meaningfully. She asked us to listen, understand, and co-create. As I reflected on her commentary, it was a moment of pride to see the number of retailers, convenience chains, consumer goods companies, co-manufacturers and suppliers that are connected by the Blue Yonder fabric. I could not take five steps at the conference without running into someone we serve.
Always-On Resilience
Monique Picou from Google spoke to a packed room about the responsibility that falls on hyper-scalers who are the custodians of data centers. Failure is not an option. The world’s commerce increasingly runs on data-driven decisions that rely on computing at scale, at the speed of the internet. She provided an authentic representation of how these companies are ever vigilant, ever ready, and proactively thwarting threats. The resiliency of supply chains is powered by these emerging technologies and energy-hungry micro-processors. Blue Yonder has invested in a world-class data platform with Snowflake and Microsoft Azure for hyper scaling. We are working with the finest minds in the industry to power secure, predictable, agile, and resilient supply chains.
Significance, Not Success
How will you measure your life? This was the question the late Clayton Christensen posed to his students at Harvard. In one of the most moving addresses I have heard, besides my mentor and industry titan Terry Turner, Daniel Myers (the emcee for the NASCES conference) opened his heart and his family to us all. His teenage granddaughter in tow, Dan challenged each delegate to think of significance, not success. The former is what you can do for others and the latter is inward focused. For those of us privileged to have a caring family, a considerate workplace, respecting customers, what will our legacy be? From then on, Dan went on to introduce his brother, the musician and a couple of fantastic musicians who lit up our evening.
Celebrate and Share Together
The Blue Yonder dinner, with customers who are friends, prospects we just met and colleagues we love was a terrific capstone to the day. With bread and beverage shared, relationships were formed and strengthened.
NASCES 2024 may have ended, but we have so much to follow up on. Our diaries are full of to-do’s: we have people to feed, medicines to make and move, mobility to enable, holiday wish lists to fulfill, etc. I cannot imagine a better place to work. Blue Yonder is my home, my colleagues, and my family. As I head to see another customer tomorrow, I have gratitude and optimism.
