4 Pillars to Future-Proofing Your Supply Chain with Yatish Desai

Dec 7, 2019

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[00:41] Tell us a little bit about where you're from and what you do.

I'm Yatish Desai, managing director with KPMG. I've been with them for ten years.
I'm also the US leader for their transportation, logistics, and distribution service offering.
Our customers typically fall into one of four categories: industrial manufacturing companies, consumer and retail companies, pharmaceutical companies, and oil and gas/chemical companies.

[01:56] What are the 4 pillars to future-proofing your supply chain?

The 4 pillars to future-proofing your supply chain are visibility, managing the data, predictive analytics, and establishing and developing curated partner ecosystems.

[02:54] Why don't you get into visibility?

It's not about just looking from a functional perspective. We look at it end-to-end on the supply chain, not just "where are my trucks?"
With a wide range of internal and external parties involved in the supply chain, a lot of managers have to constantly monitor every activity to ensure consistency.
This calls for high levels of collaboration.
It's all about integrating cross-functional visibility across the enterprise.

[05:04] What is the next pillar for future-proofing the supply chain?

It's managing the data. We live in a world where data is cash.
Our clients struggle because they are collecting data but often not able to bring it all together to provide business opportunities.
Collecting the data is one thing, but using it is another.
It's important to determine a few notable KPIs instead of getting caught up in analyzing as much data as possible.

[09:58] The third pillar to future-proofing your supply chain is predictive analytics, so tell us more about that.

This is becoming more and more important to a lot of clients.
Traditionally, supply chains have been managed by people. In the future, a growing number of decisions will be automated.
This will increase operational speed and free up supply chain professionals to focus on more complex decision making.
This translates to a future where supply chains will be able to reduce waste, line shutdowns, etc.
Control towers today are built around helping clients mine data, look at it, and recognize gaps. It's a reactive system.
Machine learning will provide you with real-time business insights to make better decisions proactively.

[17:29] Let's get into the fourth pillar.

Successful businesses are moving away from traditional, asset-based supply chains to a managed services model.
Capital-intensive capabilities, such as warehousing, are outsourced to partners. In the future, it won't only be physical processes that are outsourced.
As supply chain management depends more on cutting edge analytics, there will be a skill gap that is unable to be filled quickly enough.
A curated partner ecosystem means you'll have to tailor it to what fits your purpose; using just any partner will not work.
You'll build up a network of specialized partners who are within your supply chain and providing service to you.
The specialized partners will be relied on to bring more innovation into the fold.

[26:28] Tell us a little bit more about what you guys are doing at KPMG.

We are helping clients in three different facets: clients that are hurting from their business being stagnant, clients that are growing and need help future-proofing, and clients who need transformational change to become a leader in their space.
Our clients expect us to be thought-provoking for their business. They can't afford to be stuck in the status quo.

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