Sustainable Supply Chain

Send me a messageMy guest on this episode of the Digital Supply Chain podcast is Hans Thalbauer  (@HansThalbauer). Hans leads go to market and sales for Digital Supply chain for SAP globally.Hans and I attended the African SAP User Group conference Saphila and I sat in on Han’s presentation where he talked about how Digital Supply Chains can help organisations in times of uncertainty. I found his presentation fascinating, so I asked him to come on the show to talk about it.At 00:44 I asked Hans to summarise the talk he gave - why the times we are in are uncertain, and how Digital Supply Chains can help organisationsAt 01:18 Hans replied talking about the kinds of volatility you see all the time in supply chains - weather events, earthquakes, etc. He also talked about some of the extraordinary geopolitical events that are unfolding right now and how they impact supply chains. Hans talked about how organisations can not only use digital supply chains not only to help cope with these events but to use them as an opportunity to thrive in this uncertainty.At 04:52 I asked Hans what solutions Digital Supply Chains have that can help companies survive/thrive volatilityAt 05:02 Hans replied that companies need to be digitally connected with business partners, connected with assets “the things” (Internet of Things), and connected with customer data (possibly even experience data).At 09:34 I asked Hans how we move from a situation where 5-10% of things and partners are connected to 100%, and how do we then handle the huge influx of data this will createAt 09:56 Hans explained that this needs to happen in a stepwise fashion with the steps dependent on each individual companies business and prioritiesAT 11:58 I asked how we can encourage the 90% of partners that are not digitally connected, to connectAnd at 12:08 Hans pointed out that now we are in a situation where it is far easier to connect that it was in the pastAt 13:59 I asked how long it would be before the vast majority of partners and the things are connectedAt 14:07 Hans said that it will happen in some regions before others At 16:41 I asked Hans if there was any question I hadn’t asked him which he thought I should haveAt 16:56 Hans replied that not only is volatility an issSupport the showPodcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's generous supporters: Alicia Farag Kieran Ognev And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent episodes like this one.Podcast Sponsorship Opportunities:If you/your organisation is interested in sponsoring this podcast - I have several options available. Let's talk!FinallyIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - feel free to just send me a direct message on LinkedIn, or send me a text message using this link.If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover it. Thanks for listening.

Send me a messageMy guest on this installment of the Digital Supply Chain podcast is Richard Howells (aka @HowellsRichard). I kicked off the conversation with my usual opening question asking Richard for his definition of a Digital Supply Chain. Then at 02:07 I asked him do we have any practical examples of customer storiesRichard replied at 02:26 talking about Stara’s use of sensors in their digital supply chain to enable precision agriculture, producing as much or more output with fewer inputsAt 05:56 I asked Richard if he had any other examples06:08 - he mentioned how Bumble Bee fish producers are using blockchain to track tuna from the source all the way through the supply chain to the tin in the shop At 07:43 - he brought up another example: Mohawk, a manufacturer of carpets. They manufacture a line of carpets using 100% recycled bottlesAt 09:17 I asked Richard if Mohawk see a higher demand for their sustainably produced carpetsAnd at 09:53 Richard talked about Canadian paper company Cascades and how they are using Integrated Business Planning to reduce waste in paper manufacturing, with obvious knock-on benefits for forestryWrapping up I asked Richard at 12:19 if we have any examples of circular economy we can speak to?And finally, at 13:33 I asked if there was any question I didn’t ask, that I should have?If you want to know more about any of SAP's Digital Supply Chain solutions, head on over to www.sap.com/digitalsupplychain and if you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover it. Thanks.Support the showPodcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's generous supporters: Alicia Farag Kieran Ognev And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent episodes like this one.Podcast Sponsorship Opportunities:If you/your organisation is interested in sponsoring this podcast - I have several options available. Let's talk!FinallyIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - feel free to just send me a direct message on LinkedIn, or send me a text message using this link.If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover it. Thanks for listening.

Send me a messageMy guest on this episode of the Digital Supply Chain podcast is Thomas Ohnemus (aka @OhnemusThomas on Twitter). Thomas is SAP's Global Head of Solution Marketing for Digital Supply ChainAt 01:10 I asked Thomas what his definition of Digital Supply Chain is. Thomas gave some context to his definition, and talked about the five areas covered by Digital Supply Chain - Engineering (and design), Planning, Manufacturing, Delivery (logistics), and Operations (how you run the product it, maintain it, etc.).At 5:30 I asked Thomas for practical examples of how Digital Supply Chain solutions have helped customer organisations. Thomas talked about logistics companies having increased visibility, and also making their deliveries more sustainable reducing their emissions. Thomas also talked about a manufacturing customer who has digitised all 5 aspects of their supply chain. At 13:10 I asked Thomas about a recent blog post he wrote which has received a bit of attention. The blog post highlights how the initial design of a product is vital to making the outcome more sustainable. Everything from the choice of materials through to ensuring minimal impacts during the operation of the device. The blog post is available here.At 18:10 I asked Thomas for any other thoughts he has on the topic which we hadn't yet covered. Thomas talked from the heart about important Digital Supply Chain can help the world run better.If you want to know more about any of SAP's Digital Supply Chain solutions, head on over to www.sap.com/digitalsupplychain Support the showPodcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's generous supporters: Alicia Farag Kieran Ognev And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent episodes like this one.Podcast Sponsorship Opportunities:If you/your organisation is interested in sponsoring this podcast - I have several options available. Let's talk!FinallyIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - feel free to just send me a direct message on LinkedIn, or send me a text message using this link.If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover it. Thanks for listening.

Send me a messageMy guest on this episode of the Digital Supply Chain podcast is global influencer Tamara McCleary (aka @TamaraMcCleary on Twitter).Tamara is the CEO of Thulium (@Thuliumco on Twitter), a social media marketing agency focused on strategy and analytics.Tamara is also a good friend and knows the tech, and supply chain space upside down and inside out, so I was stoked when she agreed to come on the podcast. You can tell from the banter that we go back a long way. Tamara asks me probably as many questions as I asked her!We had a fun, wide-ranging conversation about the rise of consumer power, the increasing importance of customer experience, and how those topics impact on supply chains.Here's how the conversation broke down:00:26 Tamara, would you like to introduce yourself? 02:16 What are the principle advantages organisations can get from digitising their supply chains?03:42 Consumers have far more power now because we are living in a social media age…05:50 Will digital supply chain create an opportunity for manufacturing to go straight to the consumer?08:51 Customer experience story12:20 In this universe, we all now expect our goods to be delivered immediately, and we use this need for instant gratification to filter for suppliers…16:46 Increasingly we are becoming more aware of issues in suppliers supply chains, and reacting accordingly…20:06 More and more people are becoming aware of their supply chains and it is informing their purchasing decisions22:10 Companies that integrate social media into their supply chain have a vastly superior customer experience 26:00 What haven't we talked about that you'd like to mention, and if people want to conElevate your brand with the ‘Sustainable Supply Chain’ podcast, the voice of supply chain sustainability.Last year, this podcast's episodes were downloaded over 113,000 times by senior supply chain executives around the world.Become a sponsor. Lead the conversation.Contact me for sponsorship opportunities and turn downloads into dialogues.Act today. Influence the future.Support the showPodcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's generous supporters: Alicia Farag Kieran Ognev And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent episodes like this one.Podcast Sponsorship Opportunities:If you/your organisation is interested in sponsoring this podcast - I have several options available. Let's talk!FinallyIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - feel free to just send me a direct message on LinkedIn, or send me a text message using this link.If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover it. Thanks for listening.

Send me a messageMy guest on this episode of the Digital Supply Chain podcast is Cathy Morrow Roberson (@cmroberson06 on Twitter).Cathy is the founder and head analyst at Logistics Trends & Insights LLC (@LogisticsTI on Twitter), a market research firm that specialises in global supply chains.We had a great and wide ranging conversation about Digital Supply Chains. I kicked off the chat by asking Cathy first how she got into the supply chain field at 01:00 in the podcast.Then at 03:12 I asked Cathy what is her definition of a digital supply chain, and how she sees them progressing.At 05:07 I asked Cathy if having a Digital Supply Chain is a competitive advantage for organisations.At 06:01 I asked Cathy what are the more interesting things she is seeing in global supply chains today.At 09:46 I asked what are the challenges companies are seeing in their supply chains that digital can help with.At 13:22 I asked Cathy how Digital Supply Chains help companies solve the challenge of lack of visibility into their supply chains.At 15:10 I asked Cathy if there was anything else we hadn't mentioned that is catching her attention at the moment in digital supply chainsFinally at 17:25 I asked Cathy her opinion on the rise of Business Networks such as the Logistics Business Network, Ariba, the Asset Intelligence Network, etc. If you want to know more about any of SAP's Digital Supply Chain solutions, head on over to www.sap.com/digitalsupplychain Support the showPodcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's generous supporters: Alicia Farag Kieran Ognev And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent episodes like this one.Podcast Sponsorship Opportunities:If you/your organisation is interested in sponsoring this podcast - I have several options available. Let's talk!FinallyIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - feel free to just send me a direct message on LinkedIn, or send me a text message using this link.If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover it. Thanks for listening.

Send me a messageIn this first "real" episode of the Digital Supply Chain podcast I invited my friend and colleague, SAP Chief Digital Officer Marcell Vollmer (@mvollmer1 on twitter) to be my guest on the show.We mined Marcell's deep knowledge of the Supply Chain space starting off with an easy question at 01:35 where I asked Marcell to give his definition of supply chain.The at 03:06 I asked Marcell to give some examples of digital supply chains he has seen, and the advantages they have achieved for their organisations.Then at 07:20 I asked Marcell to talk a little about the rise we are currently seeing in the importance of business networks.At 12:37 I asked Marcell how can business networks help ensure that a company's supply chain is free of things like slavery/child labour, conflict minerals, or carbon intensive energy?At 15:53 I asked Marcell if he were advising a company thinking of digitising their supply chain what would he advise them to do as first steps?And finally, at 19:16 I asked Marcell if he had any final advice he wanted to impart to companies who are embarking on digital supply chain journeys...If you want to know more about any of SAP's Digital Supply Chain solutions, head on over to www.sap.com/digitalsupplychain Support the showPodcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's generous supporters: Alicia Farag Kieran Ognev And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent episodes like this one.Podcast Sponsorship Opportunities:If you/your organisation is interested in sponsoring this podcast - I have several options available. Let's talk!FinallyIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - feel free to just send me a direct message on LinkedIn, or send me a text message using this link.If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover it. Thanks for listening.

Send me a messageThis is a short introductory show outlining the aims of this Digital Supply Chain podcast, and also serving as a test to ensure that all the right tech is in all the right places!Support the showPodcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's generous supporters: Alicia Farag Kieran Ognev And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent episodes like this one.Podcast Sponsorship Opportunities:If you/your organisation is interested in sponsoring this podcast - I have several options available. Let's talk!FinallyIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - feel free to just send me a direct message on LinkedIn, or send me a text message using this link.If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover it. Thanks for listening.