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Welcome to Creating Next, the groundbreaking podcast by TransImpact that delves into the dynamic realms of parcel spend management and supply chain planning. Join our hosts as they navigate the cutting edge of industry innovation, sharing insights and strategies from top experts. Subscribe now for an immersive journey into the strategies and technologies shaping the future of your business.
Jey - 00:00:00:
Welcome to the podcast, everybody. My name is Jey Yokeley. I'm the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing here at TransImpact, joined by my colleague.
Eric Litras, Director of Technology Sales for Avercast Solutions. So Eric, we're here today to talk about the data building blocks for business intelligence. And there's a lot that goes into that. So we're going to pack in a lot of knowledge in a short period of time.
Eric - 00:00:19:
100%.
Jey - 00:00:20:
Let's start with the current state of supply chain. All right. A lot of moving parts today. We all are well aware of what happened during the pandemic, but let's talk about some other disruptions that we've seen and how that's impacted the market today.
Eric - 00:00:32:
Yeah, 100%. I mean, COVID is really the big one, right? Everybody knows that when COVID hit, the supply chain was completely disrupted. But what people don't really think about it since 2011. There's been 28 global disruptions to the supply chain. You know, multiple events, the Suez Canal issues that were happening. I mean, just this past two weeks here in North Carolina, there was a hurricane that came. Hurricanes, events like that are ultimately going to affect the supply chain. And what it does is these global disruptions, they affect the market conditions. And we've seen, based on conversations with our clients, conversations with people in the market, that there's really four or five major disruptions that really take place when that happens. And number one is rising cost. The rising cost to really produce their goods and labor shortages. I mean, this is not just a supply chain problem, but labor shortages are affecting the entire world right now. And then the inability to find good trading partners, particularly since COVID hit, there was a lot of issues. A lot of organizations went out of business. So to find that true partner that can really help aid in the supply chain and the manufacturing of your goods. And then the growing complexity and risk. Skew proliferation right now is at an all time high that's really affecting companies. And at the end of the day, it's not about being able to really predict the events. It's how you are able to react to the events. And what we have found, particularly with our client base, is if you have a solid data platform, if you have a supply chain planning tool, you don't have to predict COVID. But when you can really make those adjustments and make data driven decisions to react to those events, those are the companies that are succeeding. We have a very large client who during COVID attributes avocats to their success and their growth through the COVID years. And it was because they had an advanced, robust supply chain planning tool and they were able to double down, take a look at their inventory levels and really see what they needed to do and play out with what if scenarios that ultimately propelled them to success. And unfortunately for their competitors really made them fail.
Jey - 00:02:55:
So a lot of issues, a lot of disruptions. We talk about predictive analytics a lot. We're getting into more prescriptive analytics, right? Being able to stay ahead of the curve and how do I put a solution in place? It sounds to me from what you're saying, everything starts with data. Data is a broad term. That can be an overwhelming term for a lot of companies, because most companies have a lot of very scattered data, if you will, from multiple sources. Where can we start, right? If you were to meet with a company today and talk about all these issues, how would you guide them of a starting point to start putting solutions in place to solve the things we're talking about here?
Eric - 00:03:33:
A hundred percent. And one of the things we do as an organization is you have to identify your data silos. Every company has a data silo. Typically, when you're looking at an organization, when you talk about data source systems, you talk about an ERP, maybe you talk about a CRM, WMS, TMS. Well, then you got to go departmental, right? You got to find out what each department is using and how they're using it. Because in 90% of the clients that we sign, Each department is running a different software or have different Excel spreadsheets that they are running their departments by. A quick example, global organization, 17 locations around the globe, 13 different ERP systems. They were having their entire global enterprise send in spreadsheets to a department of five or six people. On a Monday. They would then take four days to cut and paste and marry all that data for a board report that was on Friday. And by that time, that data is already static. You can't make any actionable decisions on those. So it's really identifying those data silos, identifying those data sources, and then having a trusted partner or a platform where you can pull all that data and information together to really start to make data-driven, actionable decisions.
Jey - 00:04:51:
So simply put, sounds like we need to first identify all the different sources that we. Can you get a little bit more granular as far as, once we've identified, we got 13 ERPs, that's massive. We're tying all of this data into one consolidated source of truth. Where does that implementation process begin? And talk about the scope of what that looks like for a company to go from 13 to get all of that going to one place.
Eric - 00:05:16:
Yeah, it's got to be a phased approach. Business intelligence is a journey. This is not something that you're going to do overnight. I often tell organizations, if you're just looking to replace a spreadsheet or two, you may not be ready for business intelligence or to take that next step from an analytics perspective. But if you are ready to really take hold of your data. You start small. You have a phased approach. Many of our organizations will start with their supply chain, but many organizations start with sales, right? Just having insight into your revenue and what's going on from a day-to-day operation perspective can be huge for organizations. And that all starts with the ERP. The ERP is wonderful at running the day-to-day operations of a business, but where it typically will fall short is in its reporting and its reporting capabilities. That's where a BI platform or being able to really pull in that data into certain solutions like supply chain planning or an analytics platform really will start to drive some of those insights. And then from there, you expand it. You don't swallow the elephant at once, right? You take small little bites to get you to success.
Jey - 00:06:30:
So, Eric, first off, very insightful sounds to me like the starting point for us here is let's figure out all the different sources of truth that we have within an organization from a data perspective. Once we identify whether it's 13 ERPs or whether it's two ERPs, whatever the case may be, we want to bring the bridge together and connect this data to get it into these reports that you're referring to. So now companies can take what is very clear and understandable and actually put it to action. How is that going to impact the company? Is that from a cost reduction standpoint? Is that an increased efficiency standpoint? Give me the components, if you will, of the building blocks from a business intelligence standpoint. Because I think in today's environment, business intelligence, AI, ML, these are buzzwords that we're starting to hear, but they're very broad scope. So let's get a little bit more detailed.
Eric - 00:07:20:
Yeah, 100%. And getting started is the hardest part. Business intelligence is not easy. If it was, everybody would have it, everybody would be doing it. But at very high level, when you talk about the components of business intelligence or a data analytics platform, everything starts with the data. You mentioned we got to identify where all those data sources are. From there, you need to roll it up into a data warehouse layer. This is where you got to start to put together that business level detail organization. This is where we're going to start to build the information. From there, it rolls up into analytical reporting. This is where companies would then start to get knowledge. This is where you can start to identify trends. You can start to slice and dice all that information from those different data sources. And then everything needs to start at your dashboard, your KPIs, your key performance indicators. And this is really where you drive action. Now, the way we do things as an organization at Avercast is really a top-down approach. So it would not be uncommon for me to sit with a CEO or a CFO and ask them, what are the first five things you need to know every morning to ensure that the pulse of your business is strong? Because until we know what the management is going to run the business by, you can't build those underlying reports that each division is going to operate to on a day in, day out, week in, week out basis, if that makes sense.
Jey - 00:08:46:
It makes total sense. Coming from a couple of sales guys, right? The first step in anything is we need to understand what the problem is. What's important to your business, because every business is different. We have to understand what are the core items that a company is focused on that's most impactful to them. And that's going to vary based on scope, which really impacts the implementation process, the scope of work that's being performed. But it sounds to me like everything starts with finding that source of truth and then putting the essential building blocks in place, which gives us the roadmap to then help guide clients on what they need to do moving forward from taking an action standpoint.
Eric - 00:09:23:
100%. And you have to establish that commonality of the reporting. You cannot have different divisions of an organization reporting on different numbers. So typically what we try to do is bring them all into one unified platform. And in essence, it does one of two things. It ensures that there's one version of the truth. And then it ensures that everybody's drinking from the same fountain. Because when you have a unified data platform and all of that data is coming from the same source, you can track back all those numbers to where those insights came from. So if there is discrepancy between a finance report and a sales report, having a unified business intelligence platform, you can drill into the details and find where those true numbers come from. And it's not from different departments scattered throughout the organization.
Jey - 00:10:10:
That makes sense. And we've talked about market conditions, disruption in the supply chain. Well, let's get down to the company level. What are some of the challenges that you see with companies that you've worked with or that you've seen throughout your career where you start to find maybe some internal hurdles that may be real hurdles, in fact, or may be fabricated that companies think are really hurdles, but they're not, because the process is not what they truly believe it to be until an expert can come in and really educate them on the process. So what are you really dealing with to help these companies internally?
Eric - 00:10:41:
Yeah, a lot of times it's just asking questions. It's collaborating and finding out what their processes are today. Because I think I mentioned earlier, a lot of times, one of the biggest hurdles of an organization getting starting is they don't know what they don't know. A lot of times companies equate a business intelligence platform, a business intelligence solution, or a supply chain planning solution to rival that of an ERP implementation. I mean, as well as I do, an ERP implementation could be a couple million dollars. That's simply just not the case whenever you're talking about some of these other solutions. So it's really educating them on what could be and really painting a roadmap to the path that they need to take to get there. Again, it's not an overnight process. It's going to be a three, six, three, five, six, twelve, eighteen month journey that compiles upon itself once you start the process.
Jey - 00:11:44:
Let's pivot slightly and talk a little bit about AI and ML. Combed over that. It's a very popular or terminology, both of them now in today's marketplace. Some people are massive supporters of the adoption of AI. And machine learning. Some folks feel that it may be a threat to the employees they currently have on staff today. Can you clear up for us your take at least on how you believe AI and ML impacts the business intelligence market?
Eric - 00:12:17:
100%. It is the buzzword in the market right now. AI and machine learning is everywhere. And people are claiming that they're using AI and ML. And I think a lot of times they are in very small pockets. We as an organization, we have incorporated it into our solutions. But it's still in its infancy, I believe. I think some of your very, very large organizations, they are using it to its full capabilities. You see that on TV commercials during Monday Night Football. But at the end of the day, I actually like to quote an article I read from the Wall Street Journal. And it was basically a lead developer for a large business intelligence firm. And the theme of the message was to the development community, don't be afraid of AI and machine learning. And the reason why is because the only way that that is going to affect you is if the humans can tell you exactly what they want to have. So there's always going to be that pull, that give and take on what they truly need and what they truly want. So I think we're going to have a couple of years as AI and ML become more mature and how it actually integrates into our day-to-day and how we integrate it into some of the BI and data analytics solutions.
Jey - 00:13:46:
Where are you seeing AI and ML already being implemented into the supply chain market today? Any case studies or examples that you've seen firsthand?
Eric - 00:13:55:
Yeah, I think you're looking at weather patterns, weather predictability.
Jey - 00:14:00:
Which ties into the early disruptions that we were speaking to?
Eric - 00:14:03:
100%. One of the gentlemen on our staff told us a story just a couple weeks ago. That is was really an amazing stat that I've never really thought about during hurricane season Whenever a hurricane is is approaching the sale of pop tarts strawberry pop tarts Skyrocket really why would anybody think that? Well, if a hurricane is barreling down on you, you can stock up on Pop Tarts and you're going to be able to survive because they don't need to be cooked and they don't necessarily go bad. So that's the type of information that AI and ML is going to start to exposing to people things that you don't even think of. Now you're going to start putting some thought into because it's surfacing. That makes sense.
Jey - 00:14:53:
It makes total sense. What I'm gathering from this is that companies need to be receptive to change. I think it's very difficult for organizations to break old habits. Yeah. We adopt methods that we've utilized for years, sometimes decades. And it can be a mental challenge to get one to accept the fact that it's time to evolve and start to change the developments that we're using internally from a business intelligence standpoint, right? So let's talk about being a good partner. I think a lot of companies may look at business intelligence and say, wow, this is very sophisticated. We could certainly use the benefit of enhanced reporting and analytics. But what does the adoption process look like? How can, being a good partner alleviates some of those concerns for a client.
Eric - 00:15:40:
Yeah, being a good partner is all about allowing your client to leverage your expertise and in many cases your resources. If you look at Microsoft, for example, Microsoft has made the perfect model. I think 90 plus percent of all their revenue is driven through their partner channel. And basically what they've done is they've just taken everybody's expertise in their own little world and brought it into this robust ecosystem. Many small to medium sized businesses, they're afraid to bring somebody into the inside. They've always operated under their gut and an amazing stat, just 90% of the world's data. Has been produced in the last two, two and a half years. Wow. That is a staggering stat. So if you haven't made that decision to really become data-driven, you need to because the competition is. And finding that right partner that can help you leverage their expertise, leverage their resources, and really get you up and running on a data analytics platform or a supply chain planning platform in just a couple of weeks, could be a game changer for your organization. Many organizations may think that doing something like this may take them a year or two. If you go at it with a phased approach, you can be taking advantage of your data and your analytics in as early as two to three months.
Jey - 00:17:11:
Wow, really? Yes.
Eric - 00:17:13:
So being able to change the way you do visits, provide that visibility to that type of reporting and those insights from the data can be a game changer at any time for any organization.
Jey - 00:17:28:
Let's talk Avercast specifically. All right, everything you said to this point makes total sense. But when we're looking at the current supply chain market and we're looking at how can we improve our internal processes from inventory optimization, demand and supply planning, sales and operations, I think a sticking point that exists in the market today, oftentimes from a business intelligence and a software standpoint, may be cost. The cost of implementation, the cost of a annual recurring subscription or a monthly recurring subscription. ROI is king. Everybody wants to be able to quantify the ROI, which sometimes is very measurable depending on the product or service and sometimes not so clear cut. When a company is identifying potential partners such as Avercast or others in different fields. What is the best tip you can give to a company to focus their attention on the return on that investment, not just the cost of getting that investment started?
Eric - 00:18:26:
Yeah. No, and that's always one of the biggest hurdles in sales is to get somebody to see over those initial costs. And we simply talk about the four pillars of what a software solution like Avercast can provide. And number one is boosting revenue. Across the years, our clients have expected a 5% boost in revenue through the implementation of Avercast. Reduction of costs. Being able to accurately predict or have insight into right products, right place at the right time in many cases can allow a customer or a client to reduce their inventory by up to 20%. So when you're talking about small to medium and even large organizations, 20%, that's a lot of money.
Jey - 00:19:21:
Well, you think about you take 20% off the shelves, what that opens up from a capital investment standpoint to reallocate that into different areas of the business for growth. So that's a great point.
Eric - 00:19:32:
100%. And now what you've done by being able to manipulate or know where all of that inventory should be, what does that lead to? Happy customers. Because now you have customers that are placing orders that you can fulfill on time. So you're helping them. So all the while you're creating client success and raving fans as you and I say oftentimes with your entire client base. So the orders keep coming in. Now you're raising inventory levels not because you're purchasing or mismanaging your supply chain. You're increasing your inventory levels because you actually have more sales and revenue that are coming in the door.
Jey - 00:20:07:
Which is the cyclical nature we're trying to create for these companies. I think when you boil it down at the end of the day, the most important component of any business is profitability, but profitability is a broad scope that really ties into ultimately customer satisfaction. Because the only way you're going to be profitable is to have a high client retention and repeatable business and getting more growth out there in the market. So it sounds to me like what you're saying here is based on having tools such as Avercast to help with that inventory, that demand and supply planning, now we can reduce cost, 20%, you said, from an inventory standpoint, reallocate these financial means into other areas of the business, which then in return is going to increase a better customer satisfaction rate and drive further revenue, which is going to ultimately allow them to continue to operate at a high level.
Eric - 00:20:57:
100%, 100%. And the last thing I would mention to that is really the hidden ROI. The ROI that the companies don't normally think of. In an organization that may be trying to do supply chain planning or demand planning or forecasting without a solution, they're typically doing it on spreadsheets. And typically to really forecast out or predict some of demand, some of our clients that we've signed on, it would take them weeks, sometimes months, to create a model within an Excel spreadsheet and really get insight into that forecast or an accurate demand plan. We've eliminated that. We can do that in seconds. Our Avercast solution has over 280 algorithms that is going through and making sure that we have the right statistical solution that is going to accurately predict that forecast or give them a spot on demand. Think of the time that that saves your purchasing department. Or your operations team. Now, instead of spending a week manipulating spreadsheets. They have that, Monday morning when they walk in their door. They use a control tower, so to speak, where they use the analytics to see what's going on from a trending perspective. They have alerts so they know exactly where they need to go look in the organization. Then they can go to the software. They can manipulate the forecast and demand. They can automatically have purchase orders created. They can feed directly into the ERP. And that's on Monday. They have the rest of their week to be doing other things that is going to affect the business, as opposed to manipulating spreadsheets and trying to figure out what they need to do. We automate that process for them.
Jey - 00:22:49:
I think that ties in really well to the point we were previously discussing around that. Hard to measure ROI. Time is money. When you start to alleviate the time that your employees are spending on mundane tasks that can be significantly accelerated through business intelligence, now we're starting to save the company money indirectly through freeing up those employees' time to then increase those efficiencies in the other areas that we're talking about. You're accomplishing more in a shorter timeframe because you have the data to do so.
Eric - 00:23:17:
100%. As the director of TechSnails for this organization, what I always tell my clients is my number one goal is to take our clients out of the data collection business and put them in the data analyzing business. I love that. Because if you're spending your time collecting data, you're not analyzing the data. And you're being reactive as opposed to being proactive. And what a business intelligence platform and a supply chain planning software, with a robust ecosystem of different industry solutions and applications, what that ultimately does is it allows you to become data driven. It allows you to be a proactive organization as opposed to reactive of what's going on in the market or within your organization.
Jey - 00:24:01:
You're staying ahead of the curve.
Eric - 00:24:03:
Absolutely. 100%.
Jey - 00:24:04:
All right, man, I'm going to put you on the spot. For all the listeners out there who are looking for a good partner, looking for good solutions that can help them, whether that's supply chain planning, whether that's just pure business intelligence in any aspect of the organization. What is your leading message for those listening today about how they can take the first step to adopt business intelligence?
Eric - 00:24:24:
The first message I would give folks is you don't have to go at it alone. Taking on a partner or reaching out to a partner that has industry expertise or tried and true software solutions is a great first step. Particularly those companies that are starting to grow. You need to have partners where you can leverage that expertise and their resources. Leveraging a company's resources is huge from a cost standpoint. And then the second was stay focused. I talked many times earlier in the podcast of a phased approach. Don't try to do too much too soon. Start at a very small phased approach and take baby steps. Because once you get one or two wins, you're going to get to five wins quickly. Once you get to five wins, you're going to get to 10. And now you've started to spread that type of success throughout the organization, because everybody's rowing in the same direction and everybody is now becoming truly data-driven throughout the organization.
Jey - 00:25:27:
Love it. Eric, I appreciate your time. Very insightful. Thanks for joining the TransImpact Podcast.