Digital Innovation Magazine - October 2020

Bryan Phillips, Managing Director at OceanSMART, is transforming the maritime industry with technology providing all-important transparency

Let’s rethink how the world works.

Businesses and communities around the world are in various stages of reopening. As they do, changing how they work isn’t a consideration for tomorrow—it’s an imperative for today.

Perhaps this isn’t a restart.

It’s a rethink.

A time to reimagine how business and society work. A time to reinforce the viability of our companies and the health of our workforces. A time to reconsider how we can solve today’s problems—and actually thrive in the years to come.

At IBM, we believe that when people and technology work together, our world can emerge in a way that’s more resilient.

Stronger. Smarter than ever before.

Find out more at ibm.biz/think2020uki

IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com and Let’s put smart to work are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. See current list at ibm.com/trademark. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. ©International Business Machines Corp. 2020. B33854

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utumn has arrived here at iThink Media, which brings us to welcome you to our October edition of Digital Innovation Magazine. We have some fantastic contributors who have come on board with us this month.

Many thanks to all for their valuable input.

First up is our exclusive interview with Bryan Phillips, Managing Director at OceanSMART (p6). Bryan and his team are transforming the way the maritime industry operates, offering much-needed transparency and visibility. It was a pleasure to chat to Bryan and learn more about bulk shipping and logistics as a global industry.

What’s more, on page 24, entrepreneur Mike Flache shares his view on how digital transformation is enabling growth in times of crisis and beyond. Isn’t it great to hear a positive spin on recent events for a change?

Speaking of positive vibes, we meet four inspiring women who were recognised by this year’s GWSCL Awards (p44). Congratulations to Alexis, Sandra, Magali and Sheri… Very well-deserved! Plus, keeping with the girl power theme, we talk to Emma Reilly and Lizzy Hodcroft, founders of pioneering UK mental health and wellness platform, Myndr (p72). Their work has never been more significant.

And that’s not all! Turn to page 34 for the latest Infor survey on the numerous risks and challenges currently facing manufacturing executives, and page 48 for Iain C. Steel’s take on what supply chain businesses must do to survive after Covid-19.

Enjoy the issue!

Editor Anna McMahon

Director Danielle Harris

editorial@ithink.media

d.harris@ithink.media

Senior Digital Designer Daniel May

Director Tom Barnes

design@ithink.media

t.barnes@ithink.media

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OceanSMART – the for the maritim

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How digitalisation is enabling growth in times of crisis and beyond

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48

Iain C. Steel, Chief Procurement Services Officer for TLT LLP, on supply chain post-Covid

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A report on the opportunities and risks facing manufacturing execs 4

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Meet some year’s

e future of tech me industry

e of the winners of this s GWSCL Awards

A step towards integrating AI with the human brain

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Our start-up of the month is global leader, Acronis

Emma Reilly and Lizzy Hodcroft are the founders of UK mental health and wellness app, Myndr.

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B U S I N E S S I N T E RV I E W

Bryan Phillips, Managing Director at OceanSMART, a new venture within Oceaneering’s Integrity Management and Digital Solutions business, has spent three years of blood, sweat and tears to get the OceanSMART vision off the ground, providing the maritime industry with muchneeded transparency and visibility. We find out more.

Written by Anna McMahon • Produced by Jennifer Davies

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Having worked in the maritime services industry for one of the biggest providers in his role as a c-level executive for 10 years, Bryan made the bold move to leave in March 2017, identifying an opportunity to innovate on traditional methods within the industry and to improve the status quo, focusing on cargo owners.

ryan explains, “It hit me that there was no real interest for a number of parties in the supply chain to improve efficiency. Fundamentally, the more inefficient the cargo movement, the more money people in the supply chain make because they are servicing that vessel and the cargo owner has to pay the price.

What fascinates me is how little the

external world understands about bulk shipping and logistics. If you speak to the general public about it, around 95 per cent would think container ships, but this industry is bigger than that. World trade is a nine trillion-dollar industry, and 90 per cent moves by sea. Of that, 60 per cent moves by bulk shipping, such as oil, mining and agriculture.�

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“essDOCS is a critical partner of ours. with each other. They will be taking som and integrating them into their softwar require a lot of documentation, like the origin, invoices etc, and essDOCS facili

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It was seeing how little control the person moving the cargo has that encouraged Bryan to develop a business plan to take to market, so he decided to raise some finance and build OceanSMART. It took nine months to write the business plan and another 12 months to secure the funding because he wanted to ensure the initial investment allowed him to build a complete ecosystem. Bryan adds, “It took another 15 months to build the initial release of OceanSMART. We wanted to partner with Oceaneering because they are a very respected company with

an existing maritime tech business and customer base. We built OceanSMART around that existing business and they committed quite a significant investment to build the launch version.”

The value proposition of the OceanSMART business is to build transparency around how much waste there is in the bulk logistics industry and to provide cargo owners with real-time visibility of their vessels, their cargos and maritime assets, thus reducing risk, hidden costs and inefficiencies.

Bryan says, “One of the key things we

We share information and ideas me of our OceanSMART features re suite. Trade and trade finance e bill of lading, certificates of itates the whole process digitally”

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Cargo owners can pinpoint where their ships are at the touch of a button do is that we show the customer what they can actually do about the waste. For example, we reviewed one company’s data over a 12-month span, focusing on how much time its ships were in port with cargo on board. What were they doing? When were they working? When were they idle?

The amount of time the ships did nothing equalled the amount of time four ships sat idle for a whole year. We found more than 40 per 12

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“We started fro away from com so we really ha doing. We wen spinning. build money and bui now, launching in one of the m existence of m

Bryan Phillips, Mana

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om scratch and walked mfortable corporate lives, ad to believe in what we were nt through three years of wheel ding business plans, raising ilding Oceansmart. It is exciting g a new start-up business most disruptive years in the mankind�

aging Director at OceanSMART

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cent of the time that the ships were at the port, they were doing nothing.

The total opportunity cost, when factoring loss of revenue, idle time, cost of capital and fuel waste, came to more than $500million. That is just one company.”

The bulk cargo industry itself is the backbone of the world’s economy, but it is huge, opaque and very complex, with many stakeholders involved in the buying and selling of cargos, and cargo owners are at the mercy of the supply chain, relying on middlemen throughout the process.

Bryan outlines the core of the problem as follows:

• A lack of transparency: Where is the vessel/cargo and what is it doing? The information about where it is going and when it will get there is manually added by the crew, who may enter incorrect data, sometimes intentionally.

• Huge duplication of data: The industry is essentially paper-driven with a lack of technology around buying, selling and operations, and billing and revenue sharing mechanisms are not structured to benefit the person moving the cargo.

• Complete lack of information and misinformation: Where there is information, it is closely guarded because it is the competitive advantage of the middlemen.

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“OceanSMART built an ecosy of software an There are thre SaaS (Softwar Service), Optim Resourcing”

T has ystem nd services. ee verticals; re as a mization, and

• The amount of waste: Nobody really knows how much there is and what to do about it. It is accepted as a cost of doing business. Digitalisation exposes the enormity of the problem in order to tackle it.

The industry can benefit from OceanSMART solutions offering complete transparency OceanSMART offers tools and solutions to help make the commercial transaction of the cargo as seamless as possible, having built tech to improve supply chain 17

operations. Bryan explains, “We build tools and solutions that give far more transparency and predictability, that address the hoarding of information and the prevalence of misinformation. This provides cargo owners a lot more control and reduced risk.”

According to Bryan, in order to make the industry a more digital place, you must have buy-in from several key players. He adds, “The biggest is the market maker, the massive companies that are moving the cargos. They would be the driver to change. You also need support from regulatory bodies.

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The industry’s current contracting mechanisms and processes are very archaic and this is one of the biggest impediments to moving the industry forward. The third group are the system integrators, companies like us working in collaboration with others to integrate our products across the board. Collaborating reduces silos and ensures capabilities and values are shared across the supply chain.

All the parties in the supply chain are relevant to the future of the industry and its successful digitisation.”

OceanSMART has partnered with paperless trade technology house,

essDOCS, to further enhance its offering. Bryan says, “essDOCS is a critical partner of ours. We share information and ideas with each other. They will be taking some of our OceanSMART features and integrating them into their software suite. Trade and trade finance require a lot of documentation, like the bill of lading, certificates of origin, invoices etc, and essDOCS facilitates the whole process digitally.”

Forging key partnerships with likeminded individuals is something that has enabled OceanSMART to release a product that demonstrates

value. Bryan explains, “What we released in June is not insignificant as a suite of products. We were fortunate that Oceaneering backed us completely to invest funds over 18 months of development before we released the product. What we released is something that adds a lot of value. Oceaneering’s belief and support of us has been invaluable and has added a lot of credibility to our value proposition, as they are a large, well-respected business that is independent from the industry we are playing in.”

OceanSMART has built an ecosystem of software and

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services. There are three verticals; SaaS (Software as a Service), Optimization, and Resourcing. Each vertical can be used by the customer as a standalone product, or the ecosystem can be used in its entirety.

• SaaS – includes tools that add value to the commercial transaction of the cargo and the agreeing of the contracts, as well as the operational processes of the movement of the cargo. Example products are SMART Analytics, SMART Mobile, SMART Position, SMART Vessel and SMART Vetting.

• Resourcing – designed to provide people with tools, complementing existing functions, to eliminate repetitive and low-value tasks, and improve internal processes. As an example, OceanSMART provides the maritime skills and expertise to validate, monitor and process movements of barges, checking all information is correct and

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“On a personal level, the belief that Bryan and his business partner, Neill Tomlin, have in the OceanSMART proposition is profound, having taken numerous risks to get to where they are today�

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accurate. Example products are OCEAN Demurrage and OCEAN Barge.

• Optimization – the core

Neill Tomlin VP of Product and Business Development

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of exposing the waste. The implementation of datadriven insight to easily identify waste, providing logistics and maritime expertise to work with the customer to help them make efforts to tackle the waste and improve efficiencies, either through operational

improvements or better contracting. OceanSMART’s sophisticated data science tools process offline operational documents in seconds and turn that into structured data.

On a personal level, the belief that Bryan and his business partner, Neill Tomlin, have in the OceanSMART proposition is profound, having taken numerous risks to get to where they are today. Bryan concludes, “We started from scratch and

walked away from comfortable corporate lives, so we really had to believe in what we were doing.

We went through three years of wheel spinning. building business plans, raising money and building Oceansmart. It is exciting now, launching a new start-up business in one of the most disruptive years in the existence of mankind.”

For further information on OceanSMART, visit www.oceansmart.com

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

Mike Flache is an entrepreneur, business angel and philanthropist.

Together with talented teams, he builds digital businesses worldwide.

Here, he shares his view on how digital transformation enables growth in times of crisis and beyond.

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Written by Mike Flache • Produced by Danielle Harris 25

ecause, as diverse as the perspective on this topic is, as diverse were the people I spoke to; from sole proprietorships to start-up founders to experienced entrepreneurs in medium-sized companies, as well as board members of listed branded goods companies – across all industries.

To get one step closer to a substantive answer, we first need to dig a little deeper.

The fact is, real growth is simply impossible in some industries during a recession. Demand is almost at zero and global sales markets have collapsed. And what is made even 26

more difficult during this pandemic and completely independent of the sales market: the procurement market and supply chains were/ are completely interrupted in some cases.

What is one suffering is another's joy‌ While many retailers and automotive suppliers are struggling to survive, on the other hand, we are experiencing a boom in technology companies.

For example, at Zoom Video Communications. Over the past six months, the share price has increased 3.5 times, from around $150.00 (mid-April) to around $510.00 (mid-September).

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In view of these extremes and looking back on my conversations, the question asked at the beginning of this article should first be answered by another question: how can companies drive growth in a recession? And only then to ask whether digital transformation can actually enable growth in times of crisis and beyond.

The example of Zoom Video Communications underpins one fact very clearly: growth in a recession is possible, but only if companies can solve the immediate problems of their customers.

And of course, technology as well as digital transformation can help to get a decisive step closer to this goal.

We have all experienced first-hand how technology can help fight the unexpected effects of Covid-19.

Technology has not only helped us monitor the spread of the coronavirus, but has also enabled us to work productively from home.

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THE EXAMPLE OF Z COMMUNICATIONS ONE FACT VERY C GROWTH IN A REC POSSIBLE, BUT ON CAN SOLVE THE IM PROBLEMS OF THE

ZOOM VIDEO S UNDERPINS CLEARLY: CESSION IS NLY IF COMPANIES MMEDIATE EIR CUSTOMERS

Technology has also ensured that our children can keep learning. And last but not least, that we can stay in touch with friends and family despite social distancing.

But back to the business area…

The pandemic has hit numerous companies hard. Also, numerous SMEs. For many of them, the rapid transition from the analog to the digital world was of crucial importance. Offering and selling services and products directly online to their customers has not only ensured their survival, but has even made some of them flourish.

And although there is no tried and tested playbook for our special crisis situation today, the above examples are more than illuminating. The ability to quickly adapt existing products, offers and services to new consumer needs is essential.

Adaptability is the key!

Another key aspect is: prioritise the right customers and create an investment plan for the move to digital. See the crisis as an opportunity and sensitise your entire team to the ‘new normal’.

A look back at 2008 also makes it clear how much potential there is in the current situation. Back then, the financial crisis was the hour of birth for many technology companies worldwide that are successful today.

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“DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIO CAN ENABLE GROWTH IN T OF CRISIS AND BEYOND. TH PREREQUISITE FOR THIS IS HARMONISE THE FRAMEWO CONDITIONS OF THE CRISIS NEEDS OF CUSTOMERS AND RELEVANT LEVERS FOR VAL CREATION” MIKE FLACHE

Entrepreneur • Business Angel • Philanth

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ON TIMES HE TO ORK S, THE D THE LUE

hropist

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In the UK, this includes Zoopla or SwiftKey, for example.

In the first six months of this year alone, venture capital investors invested around $5.5 billion in UK companies. Around $5 billion for new venture funds were announced during the same period.

The future will belong to the prepared…

Lessons from the last two recessions suggest that companies that have balanced growth and cost management have outperformed their competitors in the aftermath.

According to McKinsey's analysis, B2B companies embarking on digital transformation tend to generate 8 per cent more

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shareholder returns. And on top of that, a five times higher sales growth than their competitors.

Since the beginning of the crisis, digital adoption in the UK has increased at a rate that, under ‘normal’ conditions, was expected in five years.

Back to our initial question...

Digital transformation can enable growth in times of crisis and beyond. The prerequisite for this is to harmonise the framework conditions of the crisis, the needs of customers and the relevant levers for value creation.

It is important to understand that there is a great opportunity in every crisis – for you and for your business.

ACCORDING TO MCKINSEY'S ANALYSIS, B2B COMPANIES EMBARKING ON DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION TEND TO GENERATE 8 PER CENT MORE SHAREHOLDER RETURNS. AND ON TOP OF THAT, A FIVE TIMES HIGHER SALES

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M A N U FA C T U R I N G I N T E C H

OPPORTUNIT VS. RISKS

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TIES

Industry leaders are driving performance with new technologies, presenting both advantages and challenges for manufacturing executives.

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Disruptive technologies are increasingly automating day-to-day activities and boosting workforce productivity and quality in the manufacturing industry, helping executives monitor operations and improve collaboration among suppliers and customers.

A recent study published

by Infor explores the opportunities and risks associated with rapid change, as well as best practices from industry leaders already implementing disruptive technologies to boost their bottom lines.

Approximately 28 per cent of manufacturing executives identify their company’s ability to leverage disruptive technologies as ‘industry leader’, two-thirds of

88%

of manufacturing executives believe that their industries and markets are vulnerable to disruptive technologies

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executives (65 per cent) describe their firm’s ability as ‘competitive’, and 8 per cent described their organisations as ‘laggard’ or no ability.

Industry leaders are most likely to be found in the following groups: Region: Europe (32 per cent) and North America (30 per cent) Industry: Paper products (48 per cent) Size: Companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue (41 per cent) The MPI Disruptive Technologies in Manufacturing study examined the state of disruptive technologies at more than 400 manufacturers in two dozen countries and in 19 product sectors. It found that 88 per cent of manufacturing executives believe that their industries and markets are

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“The top challenges in technologies are cost, c capabilities, and availa vulnerable to disruptive technologies (29 per cent ‘extremely vulnerable’ and 59 per cent ‘somewhat vulnerable’). Market vulnerability is highest in Europe (39 per cent ‘extremely vulnerable’) and the industry with the highest percentage of market vulnerability is textile and textile products (54 per cent ‘extremely vulnerable’).

These executives also worry about the impact of disruptive technologies on their own companies, and even executives at companies that are ‘industry

57%

of Industry leaders see the most gains in manufacturing technologies from robotics

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leaders’ in leveraging new technologies fret about the impact of disruptive technologies.

Roughly 75 per cent of executives at industry leaders consider their markets and companies vulnerable, with about 90 percent of executives at ‘competitive’ companies and almost all executives at ‘laggard’ firms.

The study examined manufacturing technologies (those found primarily in a production setting) and enterprise technologies (those found primarily away from production). The manufacturing technologies that are most likely to benefit manufacturers in the next three years are production automation, robotics, and smart devices/embedded intelligence/IoT sensors.

Enterprise technologies most likely to benefit manufacturers are AI, cloud technology, and big data/business analytics. Industry leaders see the most gains in

adopting manufacturing confidence in new ability” manufacturing technologies from robotics (57 per cent), and in enterprise technologies, from AI (62 per cent).

With so many performance measures likely to improve via disruptive technologies, it’s no wonder that manufacturers are implementing them aggressively.

The top enterprise technologies to be adopted in the past year are:

• Enterprise resource planning (ERP) – 78 per cent of manufacturers

• Cloud technology – 77 per cent • Customer relationship management (CRM) technologies – 77 per cent

The top manufacturing technologies to be adopted in the past year are:

• Analytics – 77 per cent

• Production automation – 78

• E-commerce – 75 per cent

per cent of manufacturers

• Smart devices/embedded machine intelligence/IoT sensors – 74 per cent

• Machine learning – 73 per cent • Embedded/in-process metrology – 70 per cent

• Robotics – 68 per cent

The top challenges in adopting manufacturing technologies are cost, confidence in new capabilities, and availability. The top challenges when adopting enterprise technologies are confidence in new capabilities, cost, and reliability.

The high adoption percentage of cloud technology may help to diminish cost concerns in years to come.

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Not all manufacturers are earning the same returns on their investments in new technologies. Analysis of study data shows that manufacturers pursuing disruptive-technology best practices (industry leaders) are more likely to achieve better outcomes.

Why? Industry leaders are far more likely to pursue a strategic approach (71 per cent of industry leaders have a companywide strategy in place versus just 45 per cent of

71%

of industry leaders have a companywide strategy in place versus just 45 per cent of competitive companies and only 9 per cent of laggards

competitive companies and only 9 per cent of laggards).

Industry leaders invest heavily in the human capital behind their emerging technologies (71 per cent of industry leaders have a ‘significant number of employees’ evaluating and utilising emerging technologies versus just 41 per cent of competitive companies and only 15 per cent of laggards).

Industry leaders are more likely to look to their IT departments to lead efforts around both manufacturing and enterprise technologies.

Industry leaders are most likely to look to IT suppliers (43 per cent) for help with both new manufacturing technologies and enterprise technologies.

A full 50 per cent of manufacturers budgeted more than 10 per cent of sales in 2018 for

“Adoption of disruptive better performance, if m technologies and imple 40

new manufacturing technologies, and 41 per cent budgeted more than 10 per cent of sales for new enterprise technologies. Industry leaders invest even more:

• 57 per cent of industry leaders budgeted more than 10 per cent for new manufacturing technologies, with approximately 14 per cent budgeting more than 20 per cent of sales.

• 55 per cent of industry leaders budgeted more than 10 percent of sales for new enterprise technologies, with approximately 12 per cent budgeting more than 20 per cent of sales.

In sum, manufacturers are right to fear negative consequences from disruptive technologies, but they should remember what the study also uncovered: adoption of disruptive technologies can lead to better performance, if

manufacturers select the right technologies and implement them in the right ways. Industry leaders are significantly outpacing their slower competitors in leveraging new technologies to improve operations, profitability, and productivity. These companies are wielding their technology investments for gains that may make the difference between surviving – and thriving.

The path they’ve blazed is clear:

1. Develop and implement a disruptive technologies strategy.

2. Back up strategy with human resources, skills, and talent.

3. Explore what’s new, and retain outside help if necessary.

4. Invest – and profit.

For further information, visit www.infor.com

e technologies can lead to manufacturers select the right ement them in the right ways” 41

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BUSINESS NEWS

We catch up with some of the award winners of GWSCL 2020

Alexis Bateman Director at MIT Sustainable Supply Chains What is your key take-away from GWSCL 2020?

My key take-away is that it is so important to value diversity in the supply chain – women, minorities, disadvantaged groups that are often overlooked but add so much to the profession. We need all the brain power from every perspective we can get!

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Supply Chain Academic Excellence Award Winner

What does it mean to you to win the SC Academic Excellence Award?

It means so much to win because I am not what you would call a ‘traditional’ academic. While I spend a lot of my time researching and teaching, I also enjoy engaging with key players to really understand the issues in supply chain management, integrating those learnings into our work to make it as impactful as possible.

Sandra MacQuillan

Chief Supply Chain Officer at Mondelez International

What do you see as the key technology trend for supply chain innovation in 2021?

I am not sure technology is going to be the key trend in 2021; I think it is going to be people. As far as I have seen this year, the companies that valued their staff and workers across the supply chain highly were the ones that have performed better. And valuing not just people, but a diverse group of people that add value in different ways.

What advice would you give to aspiring female leaders in supply chain?

Please, please keep at it. Of all the things that supply chain management is good at it, the thing it is best at is change. And while SCM might seem male dominated now, that is changing. The struggle will be worth it because the reward is sweet.

Leaders’ Vote Award winner What is your key take-away from GWSCL 2020?

Being able to have a meeting 100 per cent dedicated to women in supply chain. It indicates just how far we have come over the years in gender diversity in our profession.

What does it mean to you to win the Leaders’ Vote Award?

The legacy I want to leave as I move through life is to inspire and create the space for everyone to be the best they can be. Winning this award means I move closer to being able to feel like I am doing so, specifically, in this case, helping other women

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see the potential of what they can become.

What do you see as the key technology trend for supply chain innovation in 2021?

Magali Anderson

Chief Sustainability Officer at LafargeHolcim

For me, it is all about data and analytics, enabling us to make technological shifts positively in how we operate, learn and connect with the minimum (or complete lack of) human intervention.

What advice would you give to aspiring female leaders in supply chain?

Bring all of you to everything you do, the IQ and the EQ. Don’t be afraid of the power we have as women to make a difference and help others around us succeed. As you progress, leave that door open and the ladder down so others can follow – there is plenty of space for us all!

"Be bold, confident and kind.

And if you have the chance, be a door-opener, a helpful ear, and seek to understand with empathy, because it’s often these meaningful moments that matter as we look back on our lives"

Sheri Hinish

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Supply Chain Sustainability Leader Award winner What does it mean to you to win the SC Sustainability Leader Award?

I'm delighted! I have a passion for sustainability, supply chain and women in the industry. It puts all these together and that's fantastic.

What do you see as the key technology trend for supply chain innovation in 2021?

Technology and innovation will play a key role in making supply chains sustainable, protecting the environment and respecting human rights. I see them as a key enabler to deliver on our commitments to reduce CO2 emissions from transportation by 2030.

What advice would you give to aspiring female leaders in the supply chain?

Ladies, it is a tough journey. It will be difficult, but it is all worthy.

Sheri Hinish

Founder and CEO at Supply Chain Revolution

What does it mean to you to win the People’s Vote Award?

Winning the People’s Vote Award is a career highlight. I feel immense humility to be selected and to stand in the company of other women I admire, and who also inspire me to do what I love every day. There are so many women and underrepresented people in supply chain doing amazing things – this award is ours!

What do you see as the key technology trend for supply chain innovation in 2021?

People’s Vote Award winner What is your key take-away from GWSCL 2020?

We lost an icon and advocate in women’s rights, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, right before the conference started. Her words echoed in my thoughts as I watched so many people advocating for diversity in supply chain, that women belong in all places where decisions are being made.

As the world continues to navigate Covid, I think the biggest trend will centre around digital supply networks and nuances of ecosystem sensing.

Simply put, smart, reliable sourcing intelligence and figuring out, with a strong degree of accuracy, where your stuff is in an e2e environment.

Multi-enterprise business networks that use single information models and convey one source of the truth will shape 2021 and beyond.

What advice would you give to aspiring female leaders in supply chain?

My advice is to be so good that they can’t ignore you. Be bold, confident and kind. And if you have the chance, be a door-opener, a helpful ear, and seek to understand with empathy, because it’s often these meaningful moments that matter as we look back on our lives.

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S U P P LY C H A I N

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Written by Iain C. Steel Produced by Jennifer Davies

Iain C. Steel, Chief Procurement Services Officer for TLT LLP, is an award-winning technical procurement specialist with over 25 years’ experience in procurement, business transformation and bid management across the private and public sectors.

Here, he shares his view on what supply chain businesses must do to mitigate future risks following Covid-19.

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In the days follo lockdown announ 2020, when the Prim all that we mus and that certain close, we all saw fragile our supp he news coverage told endless stories about people queueing for essential items for hours, only to be faced with row after row of empty shelves.

While we are still very much in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic, now half a year later, we continue to see rolling news coverage of supply chain fragility, albeit now based on

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owing the fateful ncement in March me Minister told us st stay at home businesses must w first-hand how ply chains can be.

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high-demand, essential frontline items rather than missing toilet paper and a lack of flour for our banana bread. The coronavirus pandemic has starkly highlighted our reliance on our extended supply chains, and the global nature and connectedness of modern

business is more visible than ever before.

With a little distance and perspective from, at least, the initial stages of the crisis, is it now perhaps time to assess what we have learned and what is still to be done.

Supply Chain Risk It is clear that many businesses have had to adapt to a new way of thinking in relation to their management of supply chain risk. In some cases, for the first time, businesses are having to think about the further reaches of their supply chain to assess whether there is a dependency. It’s no longer sufficient to rely on the goodwill of a key supplier; what about their suppliers?

And so on down the chain.

Against a backdrop of potential future localised restrictions, irrespective of geography, do businesses fully understand the impact, both

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on their own operations and on the suppliers they rely upon? To ascertain resilience, this requires a view of the supply chain that is dynamic and fact-based. Any review should start with some consideration of your supply chain to the nth degree. For example;

• If this service/supply were to suddenly stop, is it a dependency on my future operation?

• How long could my business continue without any further supply?

“Managing an increased and increasing level of visibility across a supply chain becomes a Herculean task�

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“Organisations can no longer bury their heads in the sand when it comes to the length and breadth of their supply chain.

Consumer demand concentrates the mind – people are increasingly likely to take their money elsewhere if the brand values are opaque to them�

Iain C. Steel

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• Could I insource? Over what time/cost? Can I do this without disrupting customer operations/ internal operations?

• Does my business rely on a supplier being able to ship locally/nationally/ internationally?

• What is the health of the supply market, locally/nationally/ internationally? What margins do my suppliers operate within?

How long would it be before a disruption event to a supplier would be critical to my business?

• Is my supplier dependent on further supply (to the nth supplier degree)?

• Do I understand the sustainability, carbon footprint and ethical nature of the supply?

The answers may lead to some difficult messages from current suppliers; it is an unfortunate truth that many may not survive. Of those that do, they themselves could face disruption or reduced service in the months and years to come.

Transparency and Sustainability Starting to assess the responses to the above questions is a starting point. However, effective risk management cannot be a single point in time exercise.

When businesses are considering the risk against a small group of suppliers, it can perhaps be left in the hands of a manual process or an Excel spreadsheet. However, many businesses have suppliers in the tens or even hundreds of thousands. Managing an increased and increasing level of visibility across a supply chain becomes a Herculean task.

It is also the case that assessing the failure risk of supply is only a

single dimension. For example, consumers increasingly want more transparency in the products they buy in terms of sustainability, carbon footprint, and the ethical nature of the supply. Organisations can no longer bury their heads in the sand when it comes to the length and breadth of their supply chain. Consumer demand concentrates the mind – people are increasingly likely to take their money elsewhere if the brand values are opaque to them, and this obligation doesn’t stop at the first tier of the supply chain.

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Visibility Where all this takes us to is an increased reliance on data. At this time when many organisations have taken a hit to their bottom line in dealing with the impact of the pandemic, or in planning for Brexit, it is a difficult ask for them to increase spending on the technology to support their buyers. However, many buyers and planners are going to rely on data to deal with the current and emerging risks to their supply chains.

Many organisations have methods to manage their supply chain.

Those at the forefront of these risks are investing now in blockchain supported transparency and traceability, AI to manage supply volatility in terms of both price and availability, and often more traditional technologies to track supply failure metrics through industry benchmarks, financial assessments and risk assessments.

However, there is no point in collecting data if it is not in the hands of the people who need it to make the buying decisions, to inform risk management strategy, or to communicate with the consumer.

A new question to ask is not ‘what are my risks?’, but ‘where are the gaps in my knowledge?’. What do I know about the nature of these gaps and what are the indicators 56

when things are heading in the wrong direction? What do I need to do to bring these tools together and give my organisation a fighting chance of managing these risks by investing in the right technology infrastructure?

“A new question t ask is not ‘what are my risks?’, bu ‘where are the ga in my knowledge

to

ut aps e?’”

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Changing Demand Supply chain risk is not new, is not limited to the pandemic or to Brexit, and is certainly not going to go away.

The very visible nature of some recent supply chain failures has brought these risks onto the radar of many consumers, and this, added to the growing demand for transparency in sustainability, is the tip of the iceberg.

If organisations decide not to invest in technology to help supplier managers manage and mitigate their supply chain risks, this could, in itself, be accepting a risk with a significant cost.

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TLT is a UK law firm that supports large corporates, public institutions and high growth businesses on their strategic and day-to-day legal needs, with significant experience advising organisations in the clean energy; digital; financial services; leisure, food & drink; public sector; real estate; and retail & consumer goods sectors.

For further information, visit www.tltsolicitors.com

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"A highly professional approach" Andy Brierley, Vice President, Cloud Application Modernisation at IBM

"Proud to be part of Digital Innovation" Bouke Hoving, Executive Vice President Networks and IT

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SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE!

SUBSCRIBE "The team were professional and diligent throughout" Leigh Feaviour, CTIO for BT’s Supply Chain

"Absolute pleasure working with the Digital Innovation team" Mun Valiji, Chief Information Security Officer at Sainsbury’s

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A RT I F I C I A L I N T E L L I G E N C E

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Technology could enable new health diagnostics and achieve the goal of integrating AI with the human brain.

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SCIENTISTS HAVE DISCOVER BIOSYNTHETIC MATERIAL THA TO MERGE AI WITH T

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RED A GROUND-BREAKING AT THEY CLAIM CAN BE USED THE HUMAN BRAIN. t is a major step towards integrating electronics with the body to create part human, part robotic, beings.

Connecting electronics to tissue has been a major challenge due to traditional materials like gold, silicon and steel causing scarring when implanted, as scientists working in the field of human implants have discovered.

Scars not only cause damage but also interrupt electrical signals flowing between computers and muscle or brain tissue. The researchers

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from the University of Delaware were able to overcome this after trialling various types of polymers.

Dr David Martin, who led the study, said, “We got the idea for this project because we were trying to interface rigid organic microelectrodes with the brain, but brains are made out of organic, salty, live materials.

“It wasn't working well, so we thought there must be a better way. We started looking at organic electronic materials like conjugated polymers that were being used in nonbiological devices. We found a chemically stable example that was sold commercially

“THE POLYMER, KNOWN AS A PEDO NEEDED TO INTERFACE ELECTRO TISSUE WITHOUT CAUSING SCARR IMPROVING THE PERFORMAN 66

as an antistatic coating for electronic displays.�

The polymer, known as a Pedot, has exactly the properties needed to interface electronic hardware with human tissue without causing scarring, while also dramatically improving the performance of medical implants.

The versatile Pedot polymer was also recently discovered to be capable of transforming standard house bricks into energy storage units, due to its ability to penetrate porous materials and conduct electricity.

The latest research used a Pedot film with an antibody that

OT, HAS EXACTLY THE PROPERTIES ONIC HARDWARE WITH HUMAN RING, WHILE ALSO DRAMATICALLY NCE OF MEDICAL IMPLANTS�

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“MR MUSK HAS MADE SEVERAL CLAIMS ABOUT NEURALINK'S TECHNOLOGY, STATING EARLIER THIS YEAR THAT IT “COULD EXTEND RANGE OF HEARING BEYOND NORMAL FREQUENCIES”, AND EVEN ALLOW PEOPLE TO STREAM MUSIC DIRECTLY TO THEIR BRAINS”

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ELON MUSK DISCUSSES NEURALINK

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“NAME YOUR FAVOURITE BIOMOLEC MAKE A PEDOT FILM THAT HAS GROUP YOU MIGHT

Dr David stimulates blood vessel growth after injury and may be used to detect early stages of tumour growth in the body.

Pedot polymers could also potentially help sense or treat brain or nervous system disorders, while versions could theoretically attach peptides, antibodies and DNA. Dr Martin added, “Name your favourite biomolecule, and you can in principle make a Pedot film that has whatever biofunctional group you might be interested in.”

The researchers made a polymer with dopamine, which plays a role in addictive behaviours.

Several companies and research institutions are already working on technology to connect brains

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CULE, AND YOU CAN IN PRINCIPLE S WHATEVER BIO-FUNCTIONAL BE INTERESTED IN”

d Martin to computers, with Elon Musk's Neuralink perhaps the closest to achieving a commercial product.

The start-up plans to reveal more details about its brain chips later this month, which could one day provide “fullbandwidth data streaming” to the brain through a USB-C cable.

Mr Musk has made several claims about Neuralink's technology, stating earlier this year that it “could extend range of hearing beyond normal frequencies”, and even allow people to stream music directly to their brains.

Such technology is essential for humans to compete with advanced AI, as, without it, we run the risk of being overtaken

by AI within the next five years.

Source: Daily News

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PROFILE

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We celebrate the work of Emma Reilly and Lizzy Hodcroft, founders of UK mental health and wellness platform, Myndr.

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was created by entrepreneurs Emma Reilly and Lizzy Hodcroft, born out of their frustrations with the lack of options for mental health care. aving joined forces with tech accelerator, Ignite, with nothing more than an initial idea for a mental health and wellness platform, Myndr was soon launched, with the sole aim of empowering those struggling with mental health.

Co-founder Emma, who is also CTO at Myndr, explains how the AIdriven mental health and wellbeing app offers support to people suffering from mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. She said, “Our service is for anyone but I do personally think those feeling as though they have lost control and connection during this lockdown will find our tools most useful.

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“The way Myndr is made with empowering individuals in mind means that we can support them in identifying issues, exploring different ways they may solve these problems and guide them to choose what solutions they feel will work best for them to move into a plan of action.”

Myndr has laid down its plans for UK growth and expansion, having recently received a £300,000 backing from the government’s Innovate UK programme. With only a 2 per cent chance of success and over 1800 applications submitted, the company will now use the grant to roll out its vision of reaching thousands of UK employees and the general

public who are in need of mental health care. The innovative digital learning and support platform helps company leaders and its employees to battle common mental health issues via peer-topeer support.

In the coming months, Emma and Lizzy are aiming to further develop Myndr’s online technology,

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invest in new staff, and strike up partnerships with likeminded businesses. The company was recently crowned the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Startup of the Year for 2020, and is now trialling its product with the social housing giant, Home Group. The feedback and insight gleaned from Home Group’s employees will be used to help finetune it.

Speaking about Myndr’s investment and future plans, Lizzy said, “We’re incredibly honoured and proud to have received this grant. Most of the funds will be used towards further development and content for the app as we have high expectations to deliver a platform that is contextually smart as well as impactful with practical, 76

“It was importan ensured Myndr w everyone and ga practical advice, over 500 differen mental health pa health profession insights”

nt to us that we was made for ave impactful and so we spoke with nt businesses, atients, carers and nals to seek their

actionable steps and content.

“We have already recruited new members of staff that will help us drive the service forward are they’re helping with the agile dev to get data into the system fast. We have also recently recruited a new COO.” Reacting to the outbreak of Covid-19 and explaining why there’s a need for Myndr now, more than ever, Emma

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Lizzy Hodcroft, Co-founder of Myndr

added, “Apart from the obvious benefit to our users in terms of support and action plans for their mental health, we are also very proud that we can offer a helping hand to many that have found themselves without a job or income during this time.

“Because of the Innovate grant and its timing, we have been able to reach out to professionals, freelancers, doctors, peers and so many others to help to provide Myndr with courses, content and suggestions and, in turn, pay these amazing individuals for their service. Although we aren’t able 78

“We know that 2020 has already been such a trying year for so many of us, which is why we want to open up 2021 in the right way, supporting the mental health, personal development and wellness needs of our communities”

to completely solve any financial issues for people, we are very proud that we can support in some way.”

The company has also announced plans for a series of national mental health conferences. Hosted by presenter, comedian and actor, Alfie Joey, Myndr X Con will take place on Thursday 4th February 2021 at Northumbria University, and will showcase the latest innovation in mental health and wellbeing technology.

Commenting on the upcoming event, Lizzy said, “Myndr X Con will

follow the journey of local celebrities and business leaders through their own personal experiences with mental health issues.

“There will be giveaways, meet and greets and an invite-only VIP party to close the conference, plus some amazing special guests that you'll not want to miss!”

The conference will also give attendees an insight into why Myndr is so essential in the UK’s current mental health landscape and how it seeks to revolutionise the future of mental health support.

Lizzy said, “The event is perfect to

Emma Reilly, Co-founder of Myndr

release the platform to the world as well as celebrate how far we have come and put down a flag to establish the North East as a leader in reducing mental health stigma.

“We know that 2020 has already been such a trying year for so many of us, which is why we want to open up 2021 in the right way, supporting the mental health, personal development and wellness needs of our communities.”

Since launching in 2018, with early support from Northstar Ventures, Myndr has gone from strength to strength. Its innovative approach

“Once we felt confident that we were on the right track, we started on developing the platform and we will continue to develop with our focus group users, taking their feedback and implementing it into our product” 79

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and ambitious plans for disrupting the mental health and wellbeing sector have made Emma and Lizzy industry pioneers.

Emma concluded, “We have been around since the end of 2018. In our first year, Lizzy and I focused on validating our assumptions, making sure we were addressing

“Once we felt confident that we were on the right track, we started on developing the platform and we will continue to develop with our focus group users, taking their feedback and implementing it into our product.”

In a world with growing concerns over mental health post-Covid,

“Emma and Lizzy’s platform allows people to reach out without judgement, providing a safe environment for accessing help and support at a time when they need it most” mental health and wellness in the right areas.

“It was important to us that we ensured Myndr was made for everyone and gave impactful and practical advice, so we spoke with over 500 different businesses, mental health patients, carers and health professionals to seek their insights.

Myndr is fulfilling a real basic need. Emma and Lizzy’s platform allows people to reach out without judgement, providing a safe environment for accessing help and support at a time when they need it most.

Keep up the good work, ladies!

For further information on Myndr, visit www.myndr.co.uk

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IN THE SP OTLIGHT

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With flexible deployment models that meet the demands of service

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providers and IT professionals alike, Acronis’ systems and applications have won over 400 prestigious awards worldwide.

The company’s AI-based antimalware and blockchainbased data authentication technologies have been recognised as capable of protecting any environment, from cloud to hybrid to on-premises, at a low and predictable cost.

Founded in Singapore in 2003, Acronis is now headquartered in Switzerland. It employs more than 1,500 people in 33 locations in 18 countries, and its solutions are trusted by more than 5.5 million home users and 500,000 companies across a broad range of industries. Acronis products are available through 50,000 partners and service providers in over 150 countries, and produced in more than 40 languages. The company’s award-winning customer support centres offer 24-hour assistance to its customers across the globe.

When it comes to delivering the new generation of cyber protection products, Acronis is the undisputed global leader. According to the company, the reason Acronis is ahead of its competitors is because every one of its solutions delivers greater security by detecting and stopping ransomware and cryptomining attacks in real time, platform flexibility (keeping data

"Acronis solutions are trusted by more than 5.5 million home users and 500,000 companies across a broad range of industries" safe no matter where it lives), and unmatched speed (up to ten times as fast as the competition!). In addition, Acronis products boast end-to-end encryption, ensuring data privacy with user-defined passwords, and reliable recovery, providing access to data with Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) that independent tests show are twice as fast as the closest competition.

To find out more, visit www.acronis.com 83

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