CHAIN - Second Edition

SECOND EDITION

SEPTEMBER 22 – 24, 2020

Global Women Supply Chain Leaders Awards REGISTER NOW Ceremony 2020 Join us to celebrate Women Leadership in Supply Chain!

GWSCL 2020 is the first global event to shine the spotlight on the dedication, passion and incredible success stories of women in supply chain – cross-domain and from around the world. Join us for a 3-day mega event which will bring together industry’s brightest minds to share idea-focused insights on a wide range of subjects, provoking conversations that matter.

The first two days from September 22 - 23 will be packed with panel discussions with live Q&A, keynote speeches and loads of networking opportunities. This will finally culminate in the virtual awards ceremony on September 24 @ 6 PM.

Our Jury

Why Attend?

• 3 days of roundtables, talks

Lebogang Letsoalo

Heather Sheehan

Sandrine Annebicque

Founder, African Women in Supply Chain Association

Executive Director, AWESOME

Deputy Director of Transformation & Cofounder, WoMen @ Eramet

Chamariq Jamal

Francisco García Fornaro

Frederic Gomer

•

Senior Vice President Global Supply CHAIN - APAC, Estée Lauder Companies Inc.

Supply Chain Group Director L’Oreal

Partner B2G Consulting

•

and networking opportunities

• Participation and speeches

from C-suite decision-makers

• Jury comprising of global

business leaders from Estee Lauder, Eramet, L’Oreal and leading industry associations.

Expected attendance of 10,000 participants Opportunity to promote diversity and inclusion on a global scale

For sponsorship and speaking opportunities, please contact Jay Kostos at jay.kostos@b2g-consulting.com

WELCOME

A

fter the success of our launch issue of CHAIN Magazine, I am delighted to bring you our follow-up edition. So much has happened in the last few months, I don’t know where to begin, but, lucky for us, we have some great contributors shedding light on the state of play for supply chains in this new, post-Covid world.

Majid Abdulrahman is the former Supply Chain Director at Arabian Beverage Company (ABC) in Kuwait. He shares his perspective on the impact of the pandemic on the beverage industry’s global supply chains (p20). Plus, we chatted to Tara Burdeshaw, Vice President of Supply Chain at WinCup (p6). Tara is focusing on improving processes, implementing change management and lowering supply chain costs at the company. It was fascinating to hear her take on how the business has continued to evolve despite the coronavirus crisis.

As for strategies for supply chain success, we have valuable words of wisdom from Carl Ralph, Sr. General Manager, Vertex Supply Chain, LLC (p60); Ronald Wright, Senior Director of Strategic Sourcing, KAR Enterprise Optimization (p46); Tony Pelli, Practice Director, Security and Resilience, at BSI (p34); and Global FMCG Supply Chain Leader, Ron Volpe (p72).

We hope you enjoy the issue as much as we have loved putting it together. Please do not hesitate to drop us a line if you would like to share your story.

All the best

Editor

Director

editorial@ithink.media

d.harris@ithink.media

Anna McMahon

Senior Digital Designer

Daniel May

design@ithink.media

Danielle Harris Director

Tom Barnes

t.barnes@ithink.media

+44 (0) 203 890 1189 enquiries@ithink.media All rights reserved. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of material published in CHAIN Magazine. However, the company cannot accept responsibility for the claims made by advertisers or contributors, or inaccurate material supplied by advertisers.

CHAIN magazine is a product of iThink Media Ltd. Company Registration Number: 10933897. Company Registered in England and Wales

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Majid Abdulrahman on the beverage industry’s global supply chains post-Covid

6 An exclusive interview with Tara Burdeshaw, Vice President of Supply Chain at WinCup 4

Ronald Wright’s four principles for driving supply chain success

34 Tony Pelli, Practice Director, Security and Resilience, at BSI, believes agility is key

SECOND EDITION

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Global FMCG Supply Chain Leader, Ron Volpe’s allimportant ‘moonshots’

60 Carl Ralph’s three-step business strategy for mitigating future disaster

Convoy, the most efficient digital freight network

84 PricewaterhouseCoopers’ report on supply chain ecosystems

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BUSINESS INTERVIEW

Tara Burdeshaw, Vice President of Supply Chain at WinCup, a world-leading manufacturer of disposable polystyrene cups, bowls, containers, straws and lids, is driving new initiatives to help cut costs whilst maintaining product quality.

Written by Anna McMahon • Produced by Vince Kielty

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BASED IN STONE MOUNTAIN IN THE US, WINCUP OFFERS A RANGE OF DISPOSABLE EXPANDED POLYSTYRENE CUPS, BOWLS, CONTAINERS, LIDS, STRAWS AND STIRRERS FOR THE DINING, TAKE-OUT AND RETAIL SECTORS.

Vio® Biodegradable Foam Cups

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ith eight plants across the country, the company is committed to delivering highquality products and superior customer service. Tara Burdeshaw, Vice President of Supply Chain, is always on the lookout for new approaches to promote WinCup’s focus on sustainability. She says, “WinCup is not happy with the status quo. We want the company to grow, and we’re doing that with new products and bringing on different partners to help us figure out how we can be more sustainable.”

Its current offerings include Vio®, which was the world’s first biodegradable foam cups, containers and bowl product line. Tara explains, “With foam bans going on in different parts of the country, people want more sustainable options. We also launched phade®, the world’s first marine, biodegradable straw, which is soil biodegradable as well as home and industrial compostable. We are currently producing that and ramping up production.”

Since joining the company last year, Tara has focused

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on improving processes, implementing change management and lowering supply chain costs. She adds, “We worked on everything from new item setup to how we go to market from a freight perspective. We can be flexible in terms of volume and where we can ship from.”

Previously, many raw materials were delivered to WinCup’s plants via truck, which was expensive for the company.

Today, a switch to rail has made more financial sense. Tara also renegotiated contracts with raw materials suppliers. She explains, “Within the first four months, the

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strategy we executed saved us over a million dollars per year.”

WinCup has built up a solid network of suppliers over the years, but it has since made changes so it does not rely solely on a single vendor for a specific product. Tara adds, “We’re making sure we’re not putting all of our eggs in one basket, so we have backup if one supplier goes out of business or has a complete disruption in service.”

“WE HAVE NOT HAD ANY SUPPLY DISRUPTIONS, WHICH IS A TESTAMENT TO A SOLID ALIGNMENT WE HAVE BUILT BETWEEN SUPPLY CHAIN, OPERATIONS, SALES AND MARKETING” Tara Burdeshaw, Vice President of Supply Chain at WinCup

Phade™ Marine Biodegradable Straws

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www.volitionlogistics.com

Volition Logistics, LLC, 22900 Remick Dr, Clinton Township, Michigan 48036

This forward thinking has enabled the company to continue as usual in the wake of Covid-19. Tara says, “We have not had any supply disruptions, which is a testament to a solid alignment we have built between supply chain, operations, sales and marketing.”

In fact, as consumers have ordered more take-away food in recent times, WinCup has experienced an uptick in business. Tara adds, “With people not being able to dine-

THE RESULTS OF PARTNERING WITH VOLITION LOGISTICS

12% Cost savings in the first year of relationship

98%

80%+

Improvement in on-time Reduction in service deliveries to inter-plant stock-outs customers and expedited transfers

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“WINCUP IS NOT HAPPY WE WANT THE COMPAN DOING THAT WITH NEW PR DIFFERENT PARTNERS TO WE CAN BE MOR

Tara Burdeshaw, Vice Presid

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Y WITH THE STATUS QUO. NY TO GROW, AND WE’RE RODUCTS AND BRINGING ON O HELP US FIGURE OUT HOW RE SUSTAINABLE”

dent of Supply Chain at WinCup

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“YOU WANT TO WORK WITH THE PEOPLE TO MAKE SURE YOU’RE ROLLING OUT THE DIFFERENT PROJECTS SUCCESSFULLY”

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in, we’ve seen that volume increase. Our suppliers are keeping up and we appreciate each and every one of them.”

With the redesign of WinCup’s sales and operations processes, the company has embraced the implementation of demand planning software tools. When this is complete, WinCup will be able to create ‘what if’ scenarios and improve its accuracy. Tara says, “You can do analysis

and be more proactive than reactive.”

But, this has not been without its challenges, as customers, vendors and employees adapt to these new initiatives. Tara admits, “Change management is always difficult for people.

We’re human and people get comfortable doing what they’ve been doing. You have to have buy-ins with the people you’re working with in order to be successful. You want to work with the people to make sure you’re rolling out the different projects successfully.”

In cementing WinCup’s future offerings, the company has forged a key partnership with Volition Logistics.

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The relationship has resulted in 12 per cent cost savings in the first year, an improvement in on-time service deliveries to customers from 60 per cent to over 98 per cent since implementation, and interplant stock-outs and expedited transfers reduced by over 80 per cent. Volition has developed a complete database of WinCup customers, as well as a pickup and delivery system and dock management process for carrier visibility, analytics detailing accurate line items of

“WE ARE GOING TO EXPAND INTO DIFFERENT PRODUCTS ASIDE FROM THE CUPS, LIDS AND STRAWS, AND SEE WHAT PRODUCTS WE CAN GET OUT TO THE MARKET”

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customer delivery expenses in order to recoup and retain revenue, and inventory balancing and manufacturing optimisation. The latter has afforded flexibility with carrier base, market costs and market pressures, minimised the effect of peak season/non-peak challenges, and recommended shipping location changes, thus lowering landed costs.

Volition is positioned to assist with WinCup’s further

expansion, particularly into Mexico. On the subject of WinCup’s future plans, Tara concludes, “We are going to expand into different products aside from the cups, lids and straws, and see what products we can get out to the market. We want to use those avenues to just continue to grow the business.”

For further information on WinCup, visit www.wincup.com

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BUSINESS INTERVIEW

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MAJID ABDULRAHMAN is the former Supply Chain Director at Arabian Beverage Company (ABC) in Kuwait and the founder of The London Commission, a growth strategy consultancy which identifies growth opportunities for companies to help them deliver and execute the strategy through a ‘hands-on approach’. Here, he shares his perspective on the impact of the recent pandemic on the beverage industry’s global supply chains.

Written by Anna McMahon • Produced by Vince Kielty

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‘May you live in interesting times’ is an English expression that purports to be a translation of a traditional Chinese curse defined by a period of chaos and disorder.

Never have the events since the start of 2020 been closer to this truth, and global supply chains everywhere have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. ccording to a Fortune report, 94 per cent of the Fortune 1000 companies have experienced supply chain disruptions in 2020; from the tension of the trade war between Washington and Beijing trickling down to other populist cities around the globe, to the rise in protectionism, coupled with concrete costs and new monetary barriers, igniting broader challenges and concerns for logistics networks operating internationally.

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Industry expert, Majid Abdulrahman, says, “Today’s globalised supply chain calls for the use of the most cost-efficient recipe and it’s garnished by the increasingly important quality control dressing. Quality standards and hygienic practices are quickly becoming the key selling point for most producers and sellers.

“In the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the hidden costs of single-source dependencies and poor flexibility in adapting to real-time shocks have become clearer than ever.

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“Today, consumers are willing to accept higher prices for certain goods, if it means convenience.

Minimising physical contact with various sales channels does not come without additional cost.”

Over the next few years, we can expect to see a broad overhaul of our supply chain infrastructure and a new order focused on regionalisation, whereby logistics hubs will re-emerge at the regional level. This will eliminate single-source reliance, establishing a flexible and a resilient supply chain. In the case of beverage manufacturers in the GCC, this might mean shifting all production to the source of their raw materials, particularly to regions where the labour costs are substantially lower.

Majid adds, “China has prided itself for years on its competitive labour costs, but it has lost a big chunk of its labour cost differential. What still continues to hold water is the supply chain network of suppliers and sub-suppliers located in these Chinese hubs.

“Beverage manufacturers continue to depend predominantly on European production lines, with spare parts costing much more than their Chinese counterparts. The 24

real question going forward is can upstream and downstream equipment manufacturers in the EU reach a leaner level, resulting in sustainable operation with acceptable conversion costs?

This is a far cry from the rest of the world, which sources 40 per cent of its parts from China including sub-assembly.

“Supply chains from playing a organisational rol driver of the com

MAJID ABDU

“Given the incredibly high number of parts required, with different lead times, a return to regional supply chains poses a very complex challenge.”

In the post-Covid era, European manufacturers will need to ensure they can feed their supply chains from their own region. We can all agree that Covid-19 provides the natural environment for stress testing every sector in the economy.

s have moved a value-added le to being a prime mpany business�

ULRAHMAN

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Jadli Foods ( India) Pvt. Ltd, the Flagship of Food Division of Jadli Group, is a dynamic and exponentially growing company primarily engaged in the manufacturing and export of Processed Food Products and Agro Commodities business.

Established in the year 1999, Jadli Foods (India) Pvt. Ltd. is a Star Status Manufacturer Export House recognized by Govt of India since last two decades and are accredited with FSSC 22000 which is latest series in ISO certification which covers Food Safety Management System (FSMS), USFDA, SGF Certified and Halal certified from Halal India and Kosher Certificate also. Jadli Foods also produces organic fruit Puree & Concentrate, IQF Fruit Dice which are certified by Lacon Institute.

Jadli foods (India) Pvt. Ltd., is amongst front-runners in supplying Fruits-Pulp/ Puree & concentrates of Alphonso and Totapuri Mango, Pink & White Guava, Litchi, Papaya & Tamarind packed in Frozen, Aseptic Bag OTS cans to Fruit Juice, Dairy, Confectionary and other Food Industries in Far East, Sub continent, Middle east, Europe, North and West Africa, besides, North American Countries. The company has also emerged as one of the finest producers of IQF Frozen Fruits and Vegetables like IQF Green Peas, Sweet-corn, Mango and Papaya Dice alongwith canned fruits, vegetables, pickles, fruit jams, Tutti-Fruiti etc., packed in consumers, catering as well as industrial pack size.

Adding to the saga of success, Jadli Foods (India) Pvt. Ltd., the FMCG wing of Jadli Foods under our market leading brand MANSA has taken quantum leap, and forayed into supplying Condiments, pickles, jams, sauces, syrups, squashes, and canned foods to international and domestic market segment vis-à-vis Super market chain, retail shops, super markets chains,

Horeca Segment besides, other leading Institutions. Amongst other task, the wing is active in supplying diversified processed food products to Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India. Mansa Brand is active in both international and domestic market.

Operated from its Head Office in New Delhi, capital of India, Jadli Foods (India) Pvt. Ltd. is equipped with three factories. The unit is located in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu and Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh) in South are equipped in the state of art of machinery and latest technology of Processing of Fruit Pulp such as Mango, Guava, Banana with Aseptic and Canning process line. The unit located in Roorkee,Uttarakhand at the foothills of Himalyan region producesdifferent varieties of Fruit Jams, Pickles, Squashes, Amla & Apple Preserve (Murabba) of Export Quality meeting with International standards are manufactured.

The success of Jadli Group resides on Quality and Reliability.

For business enquiries contact: +91-11-27555459, 27555460, 27555461 • Email: info@jadlifood.net • export@jadlifoods.net

FSSC 22000-2005 certified company

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Going back to the economic crisis of 2008, governments and companies were forced to engage in stress tests to assure preparedness for an economic shock. Such was the case eight years before, which forced technology companies to institute penetration tests to their cyber-security mechanisms and prevent the Y2K millennium bug. Covid-19 is just another puzzle in this endless paradox that we must solve, and we cannot rule out the misfortune of another threat in the future.

Majid says, “In a post-Covid-19 era, supply chain stress tests will be embedded into every cooperation such as the need for business process reengineering.

The distributed global business

model is swiftly diminishing, calling for new priorities in optimisation.

“Supply chains have moved from playing a value-added organisational role to being a prime driver of the company business. They must be more flexible to allow for greater variations in volumes, force majeure, strikes, and potential social unrests. Many companies in China and the world reviewed and capitalised on force majeure in their contracts to cope with Covid-19 disruptions.”

The need for digitisation and the move away from a paper-based relationship between supplier and buyer has never been more essential, as well as dashboards

“Intelligent machines predicated on algorithms and predictive models will become more important than the human element, removing the emotional connection and focusing on bold hard numbers” MAJID ABDULRAHMAN

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“The current crisis is an opportunity to update a system that has relied on outdated processes and procedures. T world should look at this as a blessin disguise, in establishing/capitalising nimble supply chains as a key driver. then will global trade be in a position weather whatever storm may come�

MAJID ABDULRAHMAN

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n The ng in on Only n to

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to provide a real-time overview of the entire supply chain. Intelligent machines predicated on algorithms and predictive models will become more important than the human element, removing the emotional connection and focusing on bold hard numbers.

As unemployment rates rise across the world, Majid believes beverage companies will face labour shortages, with many workers migrating to other sectors.

Although there is a call for a human driver to be the link between these two worlds, Majid explains, “I believe AI will be quicker to react and anticipate market spikes. Only in situations where there is a new production line, or the modification of an existing one, is there a need for human capital.”

The GCC beverage market is still adapting to new ways of doing things and has been very traditional in its approach up to now. With most countries now focusing on protectionism tactics to secure domestic demand, the question is how to compensate sales losses in export sales whilst achieving 2020 financial targets?

Majid answers, “Most companies in the beverage industry don’t have sufficient expropriated provisions, and will resort to shifting CAPEX 30

“Lockdowns are adding to the struggle, as special permissions are needed to keep the flow of material and parts steady” MAJID ABDULRAHMAN

to working capital requirements to cope with variable change.

Ultimately, the differentiator will be the delivery mechanism and modular delivery process.

In other words, whenever a new development is made, it should be incorporated directly into the business for maximum benefit.

“We have inherited two unwanted effects in the aftermath of this pandemic. As many realise now, it is taking longer to settle an invoice, reversing a previous trend of faster payments. As a result, many beverage manufacturers will have orders on hand that will be delivered way past the intended ETA, impacting sales and, ultimately, profits. This cashflow gap is getting even more difficult for companies which don’t have sound financial ratios to receive the funding aid from 31

banks. The second unwanted effect is that they will be forced to use advance payments and reprioritise payments depending on their production plan and for the sake of business continuity.

The hard reality is that they will lose suppliers and credit insurance appetite to fund their operation.”

Lockdowns are adding to the struggle, as special permissions are needed to keep the flow of material and parts steady. To add insult to injury, the supply side dilemma has been replaced with a demand drop, as consumption in 32

the economy has moved; the essential needs and buyers are cascading down to the cheaper product alternatives or other categories.

According to PWC’s April CFO Pulse survey, cashflow is the primary concern, with 77 per cent of CFO’s implementing cost containment measures.

56 per cent of respondents thought they could get back to ‘business as usual’ in three months, down from 90 per cent when the survey ran in mid-March.

“Larger companies have already agreed to pay suppliers earlier to secure their inventory and benefit from early payment discounts” MAJID ABDULRAHMAN

Median and small businesses with sufficient cash reserves can remain solvent for one to two months. If cashflow dries up, it could have a devastating impact on supply chains, extending the recovery period and pushing them to the brink of critical mass.

Larger companies, on the other hand, with liquidity, have already agreed to pay suppliers earlier to secure their inventory and benefit from early payment discounts. We can anticipate many co-packing contracts taking place in countries where manufacturers’ regional hubs exist in the coming months.

In the GCC, there could also be an appetite for M&As from key players in KSA and UAE, but they will be limited.

Majid concludes, “The current crisis is an opportunity to update a system that has relied on outdated processes and procedures. The world should look at this as a blessing in disguise, in establishing/ capitalising on nimble supply chains as a key driver. Only then will global trade be in a position to weather whatever storm may come.”

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AGILITY

Written by Tony Pelli

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Tony Pelli, Practice Director, Security and Resilience, at BSI, says modern supply chains must be flexible in order to deal with any unforeseen changes.

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As the Covid-19 crisis continues, organisations are scrambling to re-arrange their supply chains to deal with closures and delays.

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ost companies are finding it difficult to find new suppliers for critical components or raw materials and are realising that it’s not easy to quickly procure the shipping and logistics capacity they need to keep their products moving to their customers. In the wake of the crisis (and perhaps even as it continues), companies will look to increase the agility and adaptability of their supply chains so they can quickly react to rapid changes in consumer demand,

adapt to changing costs of inputs, and better weather crises that disrupt their supplier base. In order to do so, resilient organisations need to have a decision-making structure in place to enable agility, better understand the capabilities of their current suppliers, and quickly obtain and digest information about possible alternatives.

When attempting to increase supply chain agility, most companies’ first instinct is to reach for technology that will either increase supply chain visibility or aggregate their supply chain data into one portal or viewpoint. This is undoubtedly important, but in some ways, it’s a wasted effort if the organisation doesn’t have a solid framework for acting on the new information that’s gathered.

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This framework should consist of understanding the organisational constraints, deciding what success means, and assigning responsibility for those goals across the many internal groups that have a hand in the supply chain.

To begin, understanding current organisational constraints and decision-making abilities are a key step along the path to supply chain agility. For example, how does the organisation weigh the financial risk of a key supplier against their ability to rapidly increase capacity? Risk management frameworks, such as ISO 31000, help organisations understand how to prioritise the types of risks that may stand in the way of supply chain agility.

Companies should also determine which inputs are important for measuring supply 38

chain agility and which metrics will be used to measure success. A clear statement of goals is key. For example, is it more important to respond to changes in consumer demand or to remain resilient to disruptions? The answer to these questions will determine which inputs are used to make decisions about supply chain agility and how success will be measured.

Understanding and deciding who within the company is responsible for enabling supply chain agility (and in what capacity) is as important as understanding existing roadblocks. Modern supply chains are complex, requiring multiple touch points within a company, from procurement, to compliance, to logistics.

Unfortunately, these groups often work in silos – and in rare

“Better visibility enables better decisions about the supply chain�

Tony Pelli, Practice Director, Security and Resilience, at BSI

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“Organisational evaluation a supply chain agility must be a daily practice in order to be

40

and review of an ongoing, successful�

Tony Pelli, Practice Director, Security and Resilience, at BSI

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cases, even at cross-purposes – that prevent them from quickly dealing with supplier issues.

A clear understanding of who is responsible for developing suppliers to allow for greater agility will help companies move quickly and make better decisions, becoming more agile themselves in order to enhance the agility of their supply chains.

Once a framework has been built to enable supply chain agility – understanding the organisational context, deciding what success means, and assigning responsibility for those goals across the many internal groups that have a hand in the supply chain – companies can begin to measure their own supply chains. At this stage, using software or other technologies to better understand supplier capacity and resilience becomes more useful. Supplier surveys, benchmarking of suppliers against one another and their industry peers, gathering real time inventory data from suppliers and customers, and indepth reviews of their policies, procedures, and practices can all help companies better understand which partners (or prospective partners) are the most flexible and adaptable.

As noted above, organisations must ensure that the information gathered is timely, relevant, accurate and aligned with the company’s goals.

Better visibility enables better decisions about the supply chain. Being able to see that suppliers are running out of a particular type of raw material more quickly than others, for example, will allow buyers to seek out new suppliers who are better able to source the raw material.

Organisational evaluation and review of supply chain agility must be an ongoing, daily practice in order to be successful. To ensure this occurs, companies should work across regions and business functions to share best practices and compare metrics. In addition to sharing lessons, companies will benefit from continually evaluating the inputs used for their supply chain agility strategy, as well as their decision-making context and constraints. Doing so will help them avoid getting stuck in models that worked five years ago but are woefully inadequate for the supply chain challenges of today. As with most things, the only constant in supply chain agility is change.

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44 SECOND EDITION

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Produced by

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DESIGN

Pillar Produc

Ronald Wright, Senior Sourcing, KAR Enter explores the four p driven supply chain professional

Written by Ronald Wright

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rs of ctivity

r Director of Strategic rprise Optimization, principles that have n success in his vast l experience.

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Over the years, I have been blessed to have been able to work in four industries and serve in various Enterprise Optimization positions at a variety of levels and at a diversity of companies. t has been great to work with different disciplines and stakeholders to achieve goals and targets for companies. During my time with these companies, I was able to develop a set of principles for the teams that I led or of which I was a team member.

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These four principles proved mighty and powerful to solve and address over 90 per cent of the problems and issues that I have faced over the last 20 years. They have never failed me, so I would like to share them with my fellow leaders in the Enterprise Optimization community.

TURN OVER TO READ ABOUT THE 4 PILLARS

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“Without teamwork, selfishness abounds; it destroys the company from within�

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1 TEAMWORK First and foremost, the key principle is teamwork. It is essential to have your internal team working on the same page. My definition of a team is a diverse group of people moving as one to achieve shared goals and vision. We see it every day with sport teams as they come together to win. The coach must get the team members to buy into different roles that they may need to serve in order for the entire team to be successful. The internal team needs to be strong to be able to reach out to the external teams and help them to define requirements and strategic partnerships. The sourcing team has great sight into the organisation because they interface with more stakeholders than any other group (sr. leadership, marketing, IT, finance etc.). If the team does not embrace this approach, they are ripe for failure.

Without teamwork, selfishness abounds; it destroys the company from within.

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2 Innovation The next pillar or principal is innovation. We simply define this as making processes, procedures and costs significantly better. This is not always driven by adding the newest and sleekest technology, but by assessing the needs within the business and taking the next steps accordingly. When we first started working with some operation teams, we found they performed nearly all their ordering tasks by phone call or fax. We have worked with our supplier and internal stakeholders to transition all this ordering online. It helps to mistake-proof our processes and give us better data. We are now moving this process to mobile devices and will be able to be even more efficient. With innovation, we are seeking every avenue to add value that flows with the speed and the pace of the business.

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“we are seeking every avenue to add value that flows with the speed and the pace of the business�

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These four pillars have allowed process and foundation for acco and communication with every pa organisation. Our team mission is people and solutions to fuel a mo company, and our principals help this mission every day�

Ronald Wright, Senior Director of Strategic Sourcing, KAR

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me a ountability art of the s to connect ore effective p us to live

R Enterprise Optimization

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“We were able to move on a variety of issues because of our core pillar of adaptability�

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3 Flexibility The third pillar is adaptability or flexibility. In this time of Covid-19, it was important for our team to be able to pivot to meet the business needs. We needed to ensure that we were helping the team preserve the balance sheet. Our team was able to defer payments or even eliminate payment for some services. We pursued alternative routes and methods to find manufacturers of PPE given the worldwide shortage, and we worked closely with our legal, safety and operations teams to review current contracts to assess our responsibility and liability. We were able to move on a variety of issues because of our core pillar of adaptability. We started moving with, and at times, ahead of the business, to anticipate needs and services to help us recover rapidly during this time.

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4 TRUST The final pillar is trust. As an Enterprise Optimization team, we need to be honest with each other about our performance or areas where the team can improve. Over the past few years, we have spent focused time on our culture and the way we treat each other. We have developed a bond where we can trust our teammates to tell us the truth and have our best interests at heart. We use this internal trust as a platform to reach out to our stakeholders.

We want to be more than a trusted resource; we want to be an essential, reliable partner to the business and their overall needs. We want our team members to count on us and feel confident in our ability to deliver.

We also have a keen sense of responsibility when there are misses. It is not the supplier or process at fault if we do not deliver. We take ownership. We want to have a high say/do ratio.

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“we are seeking every avenue to add value that flows with the speed and the pace of the business�

These four pillars have allowed me a process and foundation for accountability and communication with every part of the organisation.

Our team mission is to connect people and solutions to fuel a

more effective company, and our principals help us to live this mission every day. We therefore review our activities in light of the pillars to check if we are conducting ourselves in the best manner.

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S T R AT E G Y

Lessons

Written by Carl Ralph

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s Learnt

Carl Ralph, Sr. General Manager, Vertex Supply Chain, LLC, reveals the three important steps businesses can take to mitigate future disaster.

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While there is s disagreemen healthcare com the reach and im supply chain man are all pretty mu supply chains – p healthcare, man food industries disarray for mo

Carl Ralph –

What No

y now, most smart businesses have found ways to get by. Re-sourced key components, re-engineered parts to use available products, identified alternate materials, but what do we do next?

I like to keep in mind the old proverb, “Fool me once...”

Who could have anticipated a worldwide pandemic that would decimate the global supply chain? Certainly not me. But being the proverbial ostrich with its head buried in the sand does not prevent this or any future disaster.

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still significant nt among the mmunity about mpact of Covid-19, nagement experts uch in agreement; particularly for nufacturing and s – will remain in onths to come.

ow

It only ensures that you are caught unprepared when it does happen. The wise supply chain leader continues building an agile, flexible, resilient network of suppliers and logistic capabilities.

Recently, I was chatting with Bill Hurles, who was Executive Director of Global Supply Chain at General Motors when the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami occurred in 2011.

This event severely impacted many of GM’s critical suppliers.

I asked Bill what were the most important steps GM took to mitigate the disaster. Three points topped his list: 63

1. Allocate resources to

minimise loss 2. Ensure, to the best of your ability, that your key suppliers survive 3. Take steps to safeguard against future vulnerabilities

“Determine how supply you ha production rat analysis neede how to get ma from those

Carl Ralph, Sr. General Mana

Allocating resources Here are the basics steps every business should be taking to properly allocate critical supplies. First, look at your resources, that is the materials you need to generate revenue. Determine how many days of supply you have at current production rates. Next, do the analysis needed to determine how to get maximum profit from those resources. To be clear, I am not talking about seeing where you can gouge your customers. What I am talking about is shifting those limited resources away from low profit contribution products and services, and ensure they are allocated to the high profit contributors. This may mean you temporarily stop production of some of 64

w many days of ave at current tes. Next, do the ed to determine aximum profit resources�

ager, Vertex Supply Chain, LLC

your goods and services until your suppliers are back up to capacity.

This is what GM did in 2011.

GM closed its assembly plant in Shreveport, Louisiana, which made a pair of compact pick-up truck models. These models contributed less to the company’s profit than the models made in other locations, so the Shreveport plant was temporarily shuttered, and its allocation of scarce components and parts were reallocated to other, more profitable plants until supplies stabilised.

Ensure your suppliers survive It is often the smallest of your suppliers that are hardest hit when disasters occur. For example, when Covid-19 struck, more than a third of Chinese suppliers had less than two months of cash reserve. This all but ensures the extinction of many of these vendors without some outside help. Some of these could be your tier-2 or tier-3 suppliers; some could be critical to your 65

products or services, critical to your brand.

GM proved that by extending a lifeline to many of its small vendors devastated by the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami, a company can not only ensure continuity of critical materials, but it can also build alliances and loyalties that serve both parties for years to come.

Take steps to safeguard against future vulnerabilities The last, and possibly most important, step a savvy supply chain leader can take now is to exercise clear foresight to mitigate future vulnerabilities. But, building a resilient supply network does not happen haphazardly. It is not simply a matter of adding additional capabilities; rather, it is a persistent effort to add the right capabilities. It takes a focused, systematic approach that begins with a comprehensive assessment of your current strengths and weaknesses. Through such an assessment, the 66

enterprise can evaluate and prioritise its true vulnerabilities. Only then can it identify the appropriate capabilities to develop as countermeasures. Any other approach threatens to erode profit without adding adequate value.

Once the right capabilities have been identified, a roadmap to implementation needs to be carefully designed. The journey towards supply chain resilience, like most corporate initiatives, must overcome initial inertia. At the earliest stages, the project is still fragile and can easily be derailed. For this reason, it is imperative that you begin with low-risk projects that are likely to have good adoption by the users, while demonstrating value that can be appreciated in the C-suite. We like to start our clients off with Inventory Replenishment Optimisation.

While almost every ERP system has some form of inventory optimisation tool, most are pretty perfunctory in their performance and leave significant room for improvement. Utilising tools that simultaneously evaluate both the total cost

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“A lot of consultancies claim to be your ‘partner’, but a genuine partner will not give you suggestions, take your money, then walk away. Look for a team that will be there with you all the way to completion”

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of inventory ownership and manage delivery performance levels is ideal in that they improve the user experience by ensuring the proper material is available on a timely basis whilst concurrently driving down the inventory investment.

The final consideration is the effective deployment of the strategy. All too often, companies hire consultants who send in a team armed with templated deliverables.

After a few weeks or months, the consulting team leader sets up a meeting with the project sponsors or steering committee. There, they drop off a stack of documents along with a sizable invoice, announce that these contain the Holy Grail of solutions, and all the client must do is fully enact their suggestions.

Then they shake everyone’s hand, declare victory, and head to the airport never to be heard from again. Sadly, this represents a sizable investment with little to no accountability, leaving the client little better off than when the consulting team arrived.

A superior approach is to ensure the outside team

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“begin to d deploy an ag and flexible resilience Remember… fo shame

you engage will embed one or more of their team members as management augmentation to drive their proposed plan to conclusion, adjusting and adapting to real-world contingencies and problems that are certain to arise during deployment.

A lot of consultancies claim to be your ‘partner’, but a genuine partner will not give you suggestions, take your money, then walk away.

Look for a team that will be there with you all the way to completion.

Carl Ralph –

What’s Next?

All too frequently, when crisis hits, we can get swept up in a form of triage that is hyper70

design and gile, strong supply chain e strategy. ool me twice, on me”

reactive. We end up finding ourselves too busy mopping up spilled water to turn off the tap. When this happens, crisis begets crisis. So, right now, stop for a moment and take stock of on-hand and pipelined resources. How can you get these to produce the highest revenue in the short run?

– What Now

Next, who are your critical sub-tier suppliers? Check on their fiscal health and see if you can throw a lifeline to those in peril.

And, most importantly, begin to design and deploy an agile, strong and flexible supply chain resilience strategy.

Remember, “…fool me twice, shame on me.”

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D I G I TA L I S AT I O N

ONE GIAN FOR MA GLOBAL FMCG SUPPLY CHAIN LEADER, RON VOLPE, SAYS, IN THE WAKE OF COVID-19, SUPPLY CHAINS MUST BE MANAGED DIFFERENTLY, WITH LEADERS FOLLOWING HIS FIVE ‘MOONSHOT’ PRINCIPLES. 72

NT LEAP ANKIND Written by Ron Volpe 73

“THE MOVEMENT OF GOODS AND SERVICES THROUGH THE ECOSYSTEM OF PHYSICAL, DATA, FINANCIALS, REGULATORY AND PEOPLE DIMENSIONS FROM DESIGN AND CUSTOMER DELIVERY LIFE CYCLE” Definition of supply chain by Professor Nick Vyas, of the University of Southern California Marshall School of Supply Chain Management

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A TRAGIC AND RECURRING NARRATIVE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS BEEN THE SEEMINGLY RANDOM PATTERN OF HAVE AND HAVE NOTS WITH RESPECT TO THE REQUIRED FLOW OF CRITICAL GOODS AND SERVICES. ne of the most heartwrenching examples was that of Gireesh Kumar Suri.

Arriving from India in 1978, he worked a myriad of jobs to support and establish his family in Queens, New York, only to die of the disease in a nursing home, unable to be tested due to a shortage of nasal swabs.

His son Himanshu’s comment to the media was, “Why do I have to grieve with the notion of a supply chain?” It is a challenge the world’s supply chains should not take lightly.

data, financials, regulatory and people dimensions from design to customer delivery life cycle’.

What was once a one-to-one transaction between two parties is now a complex, orchestrated process involving, in many cases, hundreds of actors.

Take the case of the Apple iPhone 11; parts from 200 suppliers go into just the production of each iPhone.

Layer on the processes and actors required to get the parts to the enormous Shenzen, China production facility, and Ron Volpe

Professor Nick Vyas, of the University of Southern California Marshall School of Supply Chain Management, defines supply chain as ‘the movement of goods and services through the ecosystem of physical, 75

then layer on the processes and actors required to get that iPhone into your hand, and the number of actors in the supply chain tops 500.

The days of mass production are behind us; today’s supply chain is all about mass customisation and flows. The move from mass production to mass customisation has brought significant advantages, lower costs and higher levels of innovation, as entire companies or (in China) entire cities specialise in producing a single component of a product.

Specialisation is the name of the game.

In the case of Apple, their consistently successful orchestration of the flow of materials, labour and processes for 500 players for a single product is arguably a function of two things; design and digitisation. In terms of design, Apple believes that supply chain design is as critical to the overall design of a product as colour or utility or shape. It is a defining feature of their product design process. In terms of digitisation, the company has long invested in the tools of digitisation (AI, IoT, machine learning) required to effectively manage the level of complexity in their supply chain.

But Apple is an outlier. While the complexity of managing 76

a supply chain has increased exponentially in recent years, the systems, processes and skills required to effectively manage this complexity lags far behind for most supply chains.

The amount of data required to manage a global supply chain is staggering and, not insignificantly, 80 per cent of it resides outside of the enterprise itself.

“TAKE THE CASE OF THE APPLE IPHONE 11; PARTS FROM 200 SUPPLIERS GO INTO JUST THE PRODUCTION OF EACH IPHONE�

Supply chains have seen this day coming, performing a high wire act consisting of continuous balancing and rebalancing to ensure they deliver on both their cost and output remits.

In recent years, supply chains have struggled to manage through the politicization of supply chains that has occurred as a result of tariffs and trade wars, but, in the end, most supply chains have been able to maintain their footing.

However, in the case of Covid-19, 77

“SUPPLY CHAINS ARE NOT BROKEN SO MUCH AS THEY ARE OVERWHELMED. AND THAT SITUATION LEADS TO A LEVEL OF UNPREDICTABILITY IN SUPPLY CHAINS THAT IS TRICKY IN THE BEST OF TIMES”

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companies, with supply chain costs as high as 90 per cent of their cost base, have not been so lucky. Nor have the people who rely on these supply chains for their incomes. Nor have the intended consumers and users of their products.

While many supply chains across many industries have moved to this network of complex flows and specialisation to reduce cost and drive innovation, it’s a relative few that have harnessed the power of digitisation to manage it. And therein lies the issue. When you have a supply chain built around the complexity that comes with flows and customisation, even relatively minor shifts in production capacity, demand or cash flow for a node in the supply chain has a bullwhip effect that ripples up and down the value chain. For those supply chain professionals who have played the ‘beer game’, a type of gamification that is used to experience typical coordination problems of a supply chain process, they think of Covid-19 as the ultimate disruption. What started as a production shutdown in China and panic buying in the rest of the world, eventually turned into production coming back on line in China at the same time that the pandemic swept through

Europe and North America, and demand stagnated as consumers stayed home. The result? Stranded inventory, cancelled orders, negative cash flow, and unemployment. An estimated 450 million people around the world work in global supply chains, and it’s the people working at the lowest levels of these supply chains that were hit hardest by the impact. We’ve seen massive unemployment of women in China (women represent 75 per cent of the factory workers in China), meat factory workers in the U.S. contracting Covid-19 and being pressured to go back to work, and farm workers in Argentina forced to watch crops die and lose their wages as supply chains struggled to get produce to market. No part of the globe has been spared.

The UN’s Framework for the Immediate Socio-Economic Response to the Covid-19 Crisis distilled the issue well in stating, “The Covid-19 pandemic is far more than a health crisis: it is affecting societies and their economies at their core. While the impact of the pandemic will vary from country to country, it will most likely increase poverty and inequalities at a global scale. Without urgent socioeconomic responses, global suffering will escalate, 79

jeopardising lives and livelihoods for years to come.”

As one factory owner in Wuhan was quoted as saying, “If my workers are not killed by coronavirus, they will die of starvation.”

Supply chains are not broken so much as they are overwhelmed. And that situation leads to a level of unpredictability in supply chains that is tricky in the best of times. They have enthusiastically adopted a strategy (specialisation and flows) that increases innovation and reduces cost, but they have consciously ignored the fact that their way of managing supply chains is outdated. HBR foretold this well in its article ‘The Death of Supply Chain Management’ a few years ago. The technology exists to enable companies to manage the extreme supply chain complexity they now face, but the skill sets to deliver this digital transformation are lacking. For every company with a former Chief Supply Chain Officer as CEO (see Tim Cook, Apple), there are far more that view supply chain as simply a cost centre.

The stakes have never been higher for supply chains, and 80

“THE FACT THA IS FLOURISHING OF SUPPLY CHAIN REALITY THAT THE THE PRODUCT, A THAT NEED THE DISPROPORTIONA IMPACTED BY B IN THE SUPP THIS NEEDS T

AT COMMERCE G IN THE MIDDLE NS IGNORES THE E PEOPLE MAKING AND THE PEOPLE E PRODUCT, ARE ATELY NEGATIVELY BREAKDOWNS PLY CHAIN. TO CHANGE”

the spotlight is on them to do better. The fact that commerce is flourishing in the middle of supply chains ignores the reality that the people making the product, and the people that need the product are disproportionately negatively impacted by breakdowns in the supply chain. This needs to change. Supply chain leaders have a responsibility, a social contract, to invest in the tools and training required to manage their new, more costefficient ways of managing their supply chain. Digitisation is the key.

One of my favourite thinkers is Gary Hamel from the London School of Business. In his seminal article ‘Moonshots for Management’, published by the Harvard Business Review in 2009, he details 25 ‘moonshots’ (a nod to the greatest moment in history for supply chain, man’s first moon landing Apollo 11) for leaders. There are many of Gary’s ‘moonshots’ that resonate for supply chains. Two of my favourite challenges were 1) Reconstruct management’s philosophical foundations, and 2) Redefine the work of leadership. I think both of these are particularly relevant for supply chain leaders to consider at this point in time.

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SO, WITH A NOD TO GARY HAMEL, HERE SUGGEST FOR SUPPLY CHAINS IN A

1

2

3

MAKE THE PATH TO DIGITISATION CLEARER AND SIMPLER

Organisations fear the disruption, perceived cost, and change to ways of working that are part of any transformation. We need to find ways to create digitisation ‘on-ramps’ that fit companies of all sizes and at all stages of transformation. For many industries failing to get started on this path, this represents an existential threat. The technology part is easy; it’s the leadership gap that is the issue.

RECONCEPTUALISE THE COST OF GOODS

Running supply chains that meet shareholder goals but ignore human rights protections, refuse to guarantee worker safety, ignore environmental protections, are unconcerned with the sustainability of their supply chains, and which reap the benefits of innovative supply chain models but fail to invest in commensurately innovative tools to manage them, are neglecting the needs of the people that make their product and the people that need it. Increased ESG focused inventing by institutions is one of the steps that would help drive this change.

CREATE CLOSER BONDS BETWEEN THE PEOPLE THAT MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT SUPPLY CHAINS, AND THE PEOPLE DOING THE WORK

The way we manage supply chains today sometimes feels like the way countries wage war; remote bunkers out of harm’s way directing the action. We need to ensure that middle managers in America, for example, making decisions that impact workers in China, are accountable for the societal impact that the business has on its workers.

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E ARE FIVE ‘MOONSHOTS’ THAT I WOULD A COVID-19/POST-COVID-19 WORLD;

4

5

MAKE FUNDS AVAILABLE TO HELP UNDER-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES DIGITISE THEIR INDIGENOUS ENTERPRISES

Loans to SME’s in under-developed countries serve to upskill workers and increase buying power. Companies operating in these economies need to embrace the notion of a social contract that compensates countries for use of their natural resources, most notably their people.

MAKE TRACEABILITY A REQUIREMENT NOT AN OPTION

In the end, if companies don’t have granular, sell unit level, line of sight to the movement of their products, from the harvesting of resources to their post-consumption disposal, they are ultimately unable to take full responsibility for their products' lifecycle footprint. Increasingly across the globe, governmental regulations are being created to mandate creation of this transparency (for example, Food & Beverage, Pharma, Tobacco, Cannabis) on behalf of the people that are impacted. These, and many other industries, would be well-served to initiate this part of their transformation because it is the right thing to do, not because they are forced to by governmental regulations.

sense that the impact of inadequately managed modern supply chains was so severe and far-reaching; death, unemployment, and social unrest, in virtually every corner of the globe. To be clear, this is not a condemnation of innovative global supply chain models; it is a call to action to reinvest the savings they generate into the tools required

to manage them effectively. The solutions exist; it’s time to change.

Ron Volpe is Senior Vice President of International Markets for Persequor, a Danish Software Company that crafts and engineers Track and Trace software, modules and data solutions to assist in the optimisation and digitisation of supply chains across industries.

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S U P P LY C H A I N

SMART

STRATEGIES

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A PricewaterhouseCoopers report on connected and autonomous supply chain ecosystems highlights the approach of the so-called ‘digital champions’.

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CUSTOMER BEHAVIOURS AND EXPECTATIONS ARE CHANGING DRAMATICALLY, BUYING PRODUCTS ACROSS MULTIPLE CHANNELS, INCREASINGLY DEMANDING PRODUCT PERSONALISATION AND EXPECTING TRANSPARENCY AROUND ORDER STATUS AND DELIVERY, WHICH CHALLENGES THE ESTABLISHED SUPPLY CHAIN OPERATIONS. upply chains are also increasingly facing major disruptions such as extreme weather conditions, global health crises (like the coronavirus outbreak) and supply shortages. These changes are taking place against the backdrop of emerging digital technologies, ushering in new real-time data gathering, smart analysis and algorithms to better simulate

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and predict different supply chain scenarios and foster data-based decision-making.

To succeed in this digital marketplace, companies need to transform their supply chains, becoming more autonomous and more integrated with multiple value chain partners.

In turn, companies can become more customer-centric and flexible whilst maintaining cost efficiencies.

The research found that the companies that stood out as supply chain leaders have already implemented a wide range of advanced technologies, developed sophisticated digital capabilities and are upskilling their employees to achieve digital transformation 87 87

Digital champi ahead of the pa comes to makin of end-to-end

To take a closer look at the supply chain infrastructure, PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted a survey into how digital champions are transforming linear supply chains into connected and autonomous supply chain operations. They surveyed more than 1,600 supply chain executives and decisionmakers in 33 countries across the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific between October and November last year. Questions were asked about their key supply chain capabilities, supporting technologies, organisational structures and challenges, as well as the benefits they are seeing from their investments into

88 88

ions are far pack when it ng the most planning

the supply chain. In addition, the survey included an in-depth report on six companies whose supply chains are leading the way by driving innovation and excellence in the supply chain.

The research found that the companies that stood out as supply chain leaders have already implemented a wide range of advanced technologies, developed sophisticated digital capabilities and are upskilling their employees to achieve digital transformation.

Representing around 9 per cent of the sample group, what are these digital champions doing differently to boost their results and promote success?

According to the report:

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Having access to the right data is the first step to accelerating supply chain improvements, and many companies are already making use of a wide variety of different types of data to support their supply chain decisions, particularly financial data

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80% of digital champions describe their supply chain focus as external integration or even end-to-end orchestration, compared to just 36 per cent of all companies Tomorrow’s supply chains will be connected and selforchestrated ecosystems, connecting the supply chain with other functions across the enterprise, such as R&D, finance, sales and customer service. The links will run both internally and externally, working closely with suppliers on the one hand and with logistics service providers and customers on the other hand, to optimise all aspects of supply chain performance.

55% of digital champions consider supply chain transparency as a top priority This kind of visibility across the entire supply chain, from materials to customers and back and all the steps in between, involves the power of AI solutions, detecting relevant patterns in the vast amount of data flowing from the supply chain, as well as managing supply chain risks. This is the first step on the way to an autonomous supply chain.

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82% of digital champions have implemented smart logistics, putting it at the top of their agenda Smart logistics is having a very large positive impact on the businesses of digital champions, given that respondents reported that transportation management and warehousing solutions together contribute to over half of the total cost savings gained from advanced supply chain capabilities. This therefore presents a major opportunity for many companies to drive efficiency.

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72% of digital champions are already using endto-end planning Although many companies recognise the value of an endto-end integrated planning approach, many still have a long way to go to create one.

Digital champions are far ahead of the pack when it comes to making the most of endto-end planning, having gone beyond the pilot stage and having partly or fully implemented it, and those efforts are paying off, with improved volume flexibility, for example.

DIGITAL CHAMPIONS appreciate the importance of end-to-end planning, smart logistics, transparency and data-driven decisions 93 93

70% of digital champions use financial data to make supply chain decisions Having access to the right data is the first step to accelerating supply chain improvements, and many companies are already making use of a wide variety of different types of data to support their supply chain decisions, particularly financial data. This data can then be further enhanced by applying AI methods such as machine learning.

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By achieving all of the above, the digital champions enjoy accelerated supply chain improvements, which are soon to become the new norm for those companies following in their footsteps. They appreciate the importance of end-toend planning, smart logistics, transparency and data-driven decisions, but they now need to put this into practice in order to see the kind of results that the supply chain leaders have reported.

To view the full survey, visit www.pwc.co.uk

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PROFILE

THE FUTURE OF TRUCKING

DIGITAL FREIGHT NETWORK, CONVOY, IS DRIVING EFFICIENCIES

BY COMBINING MACHINE LEARNING WITH AUTOMATION. 96

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IN 2015, CONVOY STARTED A MOVEMENT IN EFFICIENT FREIGHT, EMPLOYING TECHNOLOGY TO FIND SMARTER WAYS TO CONNECT SHIPPERS WITH CARRIERS WHILST SOLVING SOME OF THE TOUGHEST PROBLEMS THAT RESULT IN WASTE IN THE FREIGHT INDUSTRY, HELPING TO BUILD A MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE.

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n turn, shippers and truck drivers adopted Convoy’s solutions in order to gain a competitive edge.

The efficient digital freight network uses machine learning and automation to connect shippers and carriers to move millions of truckloads, save money for shippers, increase earnings for carriers, and eliminate carbon waste planet.

Convoy lowers total costs for shippers, providing assetlike reliability and efficiency, with broker-like flexibility.

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Providing transparency via real-time data insights, shippers are able to improve operations, while carriers can maximize earnings by keeping their trucks full on the lanes.

CONVOY’S SERVICES INCLUDE: CONVOY FREIGHT FACTORING An easy way to manage cashflow.

Convoy processes invoices for freight that trucking companies have already delivered, keeping the cash flowing so they can keep on hauling.

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CONVOY QUICKPAY Find, bid on and haul loads, ensuring you keep your trucks full and get paid quickly. Free Convoy QuickPay is available on all loads offered on the Convoy app. To qualify, the driver must be logged in with location services enabled 3.5 hours before the pickup and for the entire shipment duration. Once the shipment is complete, a photo of the bill of lading must be uploaded within 24 hours.

CONVOY FUEL CARD This is available to every carrier in the network, meaning no transaction fees at over 1,000 participating locations. The team 101

TRUCKING IS ONE OF THE LARGE STATES, WITH 80 PER CENT OF EV SPENT ON TRUCKING. IT IS ESTIMA ANNUALLY ON TRUCKING SERVICES DRIVEN ARE EMPTY MILES, LEADI METRIC TONS OF CARBON EMISSIO MILES, CONVOY IS ON A MISSION T INDUSTRY WITH THE USE OF

has dedicated account managers on call to assist whenever needed.

CONVOY SHIPPING Convoy offers dry van, reefer and drop-and-hook services to shippers of all sizes across the ever-expanding freight network in the US, with border service to Canada. Whether you're looking to book a quick spot load, manage your contract freight or track the progress of your Convoy shipments 24/7, the online products and TMS integrations make it simple. Get instant quotes and guaranteed capacity, book spot or contract freight with just 102

a few clicks, and get live GPS shipment tracking with the free online shipper platform. Discover the easy-to-use 'freight command center' that helps you tender all your shipments, manage your carrier relationships, and optimise your routing guide.

Trucking is one of the largest industries in the United States, with 80 per cent of every dollar moving freight spent on trucking.

It is estimated that $800billion is spent annually on trucking services, and 35 per cent of all miles driven are empty miles, leading to waste. With 72million metric tons of carbon emissions

EST INDUSTRIES IN THE UNITED VERY DOLLAR MOVING FREIGHT ATED THAT $800BILLION IS SPENT S, AND 35 PER CENT OF ALL MILES ING TO WASTE. WITH 72MILLION ONS THE RESULT OF THESE EMPTY TO REDUCE WASTE IN THE FREIGHT F THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY

the result of these empty miles, Convoy is on a mission to reduce waste in the freight industry with the use of the latest technology.

It is this commitment to saving the planet, as well as Convoy’s dedication to customer success that has made the company a leader in the global supply chain.

Angie Slaughter, VP at Sustainability Procurement, said, “We are continuously searching for ways to improve sustainability and reduce emissions across our entire value chain. By working with Convoy, we are able to lead this charge by collectively addressing the challenge of empty miles

within the industry, streamlining our business and contributing to a more sustainable future.”

So, what makes Convoy the most efficient digital freight network?

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SAVE MONEY, SAVE TIME AS SHIPMENT VOLUMES GROW, THE NETWORK BECOMES MORE EFFICIENT, LOWERING THE TOTAL COST TO SHIP

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RELIABLE AND FLEXIBLE CAPACITY

TRANSPARENT DATA AND INSIGHTS

Get the reliability and network planning capabilities of an assetbased carrier with the flexibility of a broker.

Access real-time data that delivers insights to transform your business.

IMPROVE QUALITY AND COMPLIANCE Move your freight with the nation’s safest carrier network, with a 16 per cent lower crash rate versus the industry average.

Convoy prides itself on improving the lives of its three million truck drivers, as well as continually striving to find new ways to make trucking easier for both carriers and drivers.

As the company is transforming the way the world is now doing freight logistics, it is certainly one to watch for 2021.

For further information on Convoy, visit www.convoy.com

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