The SupplyChainBrain Podcast

In the age of the omnichannel, is there any hope for traditional retail chains? The signs aren't especially encouraging. Old-line retailers such as Sears, Roebuck & Co., Kmart Corp. and J.C. Penney Co., Inc. have struggled to stay profitable while battling competition from two directions: big-box giants such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. on one side, and the e-commerce wave, led by Amazon.com, on the other. It's the latter trend, however, that has done more to transform retailing in recent years. Today, the traditional brick-and-mortar retailer is expected to maintain multiple fulfillment streams, including ship from store, pick up in store, ship direct from suppliers and deliver to homes and businesses. What's more, all of those channels must be seamlessly blended to provide for a consistently excellent customer experience. How can they do it? On this episode, we get answers from Diego Pantoja-Navajas, vice president of product development with Oracle Warehouse Management Cloud. He stresses the need for an integrated approach to fulfillment, both from a systems and business-process standpoint. Old-line retailers that can achieve that goal, he says, stand a chance of survival after all. It's all about ''retail reinvention.''

The blockchain has emerged from the shadows. Now it might hold the key to transforming global supply chains. The blockchain was originally intended as a system of record for the digital cryptocurrency bitcoin. Now, however, the blockchain finds itself poised to play a much larger role in global commerce – and, especially, the supply chain. The blockchain provides all partners in a transaction with a secure, distributed ledger that allows them to see the same information at the same time. The open-source software protects against discrepancies in the record, as well as fraudulent manipulation of the data, while eliminating inefficiencies in data management. Among the key players in developing blockchain on a broader scale today is IBM. On this episode, we speak with Brigid McDermott, the company's vice president of blockchain business development and ecosystem. She explains how the blockchain works, why it's such a radical concept in global business, and how it's likely to evolve. ''Blockchain,'' she says, ''is about trust.''

How can a new company break into the venerable freight-forwarding business? Technology holds the key. For decades, freight forwarding was dominated by a host of smallish, regional firms, many of them family-owned and passed down through generations. Later, the function got swallowed up in the global mega-providers who offer a whole range of logistics services. That has made it tough for new entrants to succeed. Now, however, the doors appear to be opening, thanks to technology. Turns out there's plenty of room for a startup that's out to digitize and automate a business that has long been highly paper-intensive. On this episode, we speak with Ryan Petersen, CEO and founder of San Francisco-based Flexport. He recounts how he built the company with little or no up-front money from big investors, and how it has grown beyond expectations over the past four years. Petersen also offers advice to others who seek to break into the highly regulated business of logistics with new service models. It might be one of the last sectors to be transformed by technology and data.

The cash-to-cash cycle is a key metric for measuring the efficiency of a supply chain. But many companies seem unable to deploy it with success. ''Cash-to-cash'' is defined as the period from when a company spends its first dollar on materials for a product, to when it gets back a dollar of revenue from the buyer. It's an extremely useful tool for assessing the way in which product gets to market, as well as the producer's bottom-line profitability. But many companies have a tough time implementing it. On this episode, we speak with Jay Fortenberry, a former executive with Honeywell, John Deere and Toyota. He has developed a ''cash-to-cash series'' model that claims to save companies millions of dollars through the removal of supply-chain inefficiencies. Turns out you can have a strong return on investment, but not be consistently generating cash. And the ability to do that, says Fortenberry, ''is imperative for the survival of a business.''

So the major driver behind all those lost American jobs is free trade? Not so fast. Trade has indeed caused many manufacturers to shift their operations offshore. And there's no denying that a hefty portion of the U.S. manufacturing base has been decimated over the past couple of decades. But is the first trend really to blame for the second? On this episode, we hear a nuanced perspective on why domestic production jobs have disappeared. Michael Hicks, professor of economics and director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University, says the real reason behind most job losses is higher worker productivity, not trade. And that's primarily a result of advances in automation, coupled with more efficient supply chains. Hicks also points out that U.S. manufacturing output today is higher than it's ever been. But what do we tell those workers who have lost lucrative plant jobs?

Going up against the behemoth that is Amazon.com, does the smaller e-commerce provider have a chance? The answer is yes, provided that the small or medium-sized e-tailer can find a way to match Amazon's level of service, as well as differentiate its product in the marketplace. On this episode, we get some tips on how that daunting task might be achieved, in our conversation with Dan Coll. He is senior manager of e-commerce fulfillment with FedEx Supply Chain. Coll discusses how smaller entities can carve out market niches by focusing on what he calls ''the unboxing experience.'' It's all about giving customers what they want, in selection, convenience and product quality. Or maybe what they didn't even realize they could have. Long live the little guy!

Somebody out there is talking about your product. And you had better be listening. Social media can be the bane of a brand's existence. Justified or not, a complaint can quickly go viral on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and the like, causing irreparable damage to a company's reputation. But there's a positive side to the explosion of social media. Through the techniques of social listening and social sensing, companies can get a better understanding of how buyers are reacting to their products, and what the marketplace really looks like. On this episode, we speak with Juan Camilo Dorado, director of advanced analytics with ToolsGroup. He discusses how social media, the cloud, machine learning and artificial intelligence are combining to furnish companies with an unprecedented wealth of information about buyers and markets. He also addresses the challenge of translating that raw data into quantifiable metrics that allow merchandisers to understand true demand patterns, now and in the future.

Companies today need to cut costs, speed up fulfillment processes and manage growth. All the while providing ''the perfect order.'' It's a tough set of challenges to meet. Scrambling to keep pace with rising customer demands, supply-chain managers are unable to step back, take a breath and review the most basic processes. And there's little room for error. A few bad data entries can result in a late or incorrect order, costing the supplier millions of dollars in product-replacement and expediting fees. On this episode, we talk solutions with two executives from Esker, a provider of document process automation: sales director Dan Reeve, and business development manager Jeremy Deuchars. They offer guidance on how companies can embark on the road to automation, who should oversee the initiative, and who holds the purse strings. In the process, we learn why so many companies continue to fall short of the goal of ''the perfect order.''

American manufacturing is in need of a reboot. Steven L. Blue calls it ''Manufacturing 2.0.'' That's the title of his new book, in which he imparts guidance on how to create a competitive yet humane manufacturing environment. His experience in the matter is more than academic; Blue is chief executive officer of Miller Ingenuity, a global producer of locomotive and freight-car parts. He takes a dim view of the concept of ''Smart Manufacturing,'' at least to the extent that it overlooks the human element in crafting an optimal work environment. Blue also talks about why many American CEOs have become ''fat, dumb and happy,'' and why companies should strive to build cultures ''by design, not default.'' Maybe there's hope for a resurgence of American manufacturing after all.

It's tough enough stopping the use of conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. How about attacking the larger issue of human trafficking throughout the supply chain? On one hand, the Securities & Exchange Commission's disclosure rule on conflict minerals in manufactured goods can serve as a guide for broadening the fight against human trafficking on a global scale. But expanding that limited rule to incorporate all sources and products won't be easy. Many companies are sitting on the sidelines, instead of undertaking a bold effort to wipe out modern-day slavery the world over. But they can't sit forever. Regulators in the U.S. and elsewhere are toughening up on companies that rely, even inadvertently, on forced labor to make their products. On this episode, we discuss the problem with Kristen Sullivan, sustainability services leader for the Americas with Deloitte. She offers guidance on how companies can approach the issue through the adoption of established standards and frameworks. In the process, they'll reap the benefits of becoming socially conscious, while improving visibility throughout their supply chains.