Manufacturing the Future SwagUp's Prashant Shah on Upgrading Supply Chains from Cost Centers to Profit Drivers
Meet Prashant Shah, Head of Supply Chain & Operations at SwagUp
Prashant Shah, Head of Supply Chain & Operations at SwagUp, brings a unique perspective to supply chain transformation shaped by his military background and 15 years of corporate experience. As he explains in our conversation, "In the military, through the military experience, I will say the one thing that came out very clearly that logistics means wars. We continue to say that in the military that if we want to win wars, logistics is the way to go. And same thing in business."
The promotional merchandise industry faces significant fragmentation challenges, with companies traditionally working with multiple vendors to source different items like hoodies, mugs, and notebooks. SwagUp addresses this pain point by creating a comprehensive one-stop solution with over 5,000 products available online, handling everything from design and production to warehousing and global fulfillment through their user-friendly platform.
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in New Jersey, SwagUp has grown rapidly by positioning itself as both a promotional company and a technology company, building most of their systems internally. Their mission to "make swag simple" resonated strongly in the market, leading to their acquisition by BDA in 2024, which expanded their reach while maintaining their innovative culture and customer-first approach.
In This EpisodeThis episode explores Prashant's insights on transforming supply chain operations from traditional cost centers into strategic profit drivers. He discusses his framework for technology implementation, the role of AI in amplifying human judgment rather than replacing it, and shares practical examples of counterintuitive decisions that led to dramatic improvements in operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Topics- Debunking the myth that cost savings equals supply chain success in modern business operations.
- Transforming supply chain departments from back-office functions into front-line competitive advantages for organizations.
- Implementing AI technologies to amplify human judgment and accelerate decision-making processes from days to minutes.
- Framework for digital transformation focusing on customer friction points and manual bottleneck identification processes.
- Counterintuitive leadership decisions like slowing warehouse processes to reduce returns from 20% to 3%.
- Dangerous assumptions about scaling supply chains and why yesterday's solutions won't work for tomorrow's growth.
- Supply chain leader involvement in acquisition processes and post-merger integration challenges facing growing organizations.
- Building flexibility into supply chain design early to enable scaling by design rather than brute force.
- Advice for supply chain leaders to focus on resilience over efficiency and build adaptable teams.
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