Supply Chain Insights | Issue Two

SupplyChainInsights News, Trends & Technology for APAC Supply Chain Leaders

Issue Two

September 2021

Re-thinking inventory management in a disrupted market

The Vaccine Supply Chain Learn how Zebra Technologies is improving visibility and safety

Contents

Welcome

About The Magazine

Welcome to Supply Chain Insights Magazine your primary source of industry news, focused on innovation, technology and knowledge-sharing in the logistics sector.

Published quarterly to a circulation of 20,000 + industry professionals across Australia, New Zealand and the wider Asia-Pacific region, Supply Chain Insights Magazine is focused on helping you solve the complexities of today's supply chain.

The digital magazine highlights the latest trends, operational strategies, technology advancements and best practice within the logistics industry.

In this edition, our features editor Mel Stark looks at the issue of “Re-thinking inventory management,” and asks the question if COVID-19 has led to a complete overhaul of traditional inventory management practices?

We take an in-depth look at the vaccine supply chain and how Zebra Technologies is helping to manage this, along with discovering new solutions that are helping organisations coordinate their workplace vaccination policies. Research from Manhattan Associates highlights what Australians want in terms of

delivery options when shopping online and TMX looks at how to manage excess inventory with off-price strategies today.

Supply chain thought leader and technology evangelist, Dez Blanchfield, examines the ways that 5G will improve supply chain operations and Tony Richter from Bastian Consulting addresses the current state of supply chain talent.

We hope that you enjoy this edition of our magazine and look forward to hearing your feedback!

For more information or story suggestions, please contact: editor@supplychain-insights.media For advertising enquiries, please contact: advertising@supplychain-insights.media

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Contents

In This Issue

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23

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The Latest Insights

The Current State of Supply Chain Talent

Know the Viability of Every Vial

Three Ways 5G Will Improve Your Supply Chain

Addressing Excess Inventory with Offprice Strategies

News

8 Australians Want Sustainable Delivery Options When Shopping Online Industry Update

9 Keeping the vaccine supply chain on track Analysis

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Industry Update

Industry Update

Analysis

Industry Update

13 Re-thinking inventory management

31 5 T&L Technology Tips to Drive Business Performance Today

Feature

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Order Management – a lifeline for retailers in a COVID-19 world

Transforming supply chains is not just about the physical, it’s about the digital too

Managing Vaccination Policies Across Your Supply Chain Workforce

Analysis

Analysis

Analysis

Industry Update

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News

News & Insights Manhattan Associates Named 13Time Leader in Gartner Magic Quadrant Manhattan Associates has been named a leader in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems for the thirteenth consecutive year.

Named for its revolutionary, cloud-native, Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), Manhattan Associates’ facilitates the endto-end management of distribution and transportation operations via one powerful application; enabling holistic planning and the ability to optimise operational performance with unprecedented levels of agility and adaptability.

According to Gartner’s latest assessments, Manhattan Associates has also “rewritten its WMS and Transport Management System (TMS) using a microservices architecture that allows continuous innovation, updates and extensibility in a cloud native environment.”

Ultimately, offering the only true, unified supply chain execution offering currently available today.Manhattan Active Warehouse

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Management, along with the recently launched Manhattan Active Transportation Management solution, effectively brings TMS and WMS functionality under the same platform ‘roof’, allowing for a fully transparent view of inbound and outbound goods from the warehouse environment to the front door of the end customer.

This game-changing approach to previously siloed areas of supply chain execution highlights the elegance of supply chain convergence, and underlines Manhattan Associates commitment to a platform-first approach to supply chain execution.

“We are extremely proud to have been named a leader in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems for the thirteenth time in a row,” said Raghav Sibal, Managing Director,

ANZ, Manhattan Associates. “While many organisations take leadership for granted, at Manhattan Associates, we see it as a privilege; something that our people and our teams earn daily through hard work, innovation, and listening to our customers and the industry as a whole. Backed by the industry’s most-experienced services and support teams, Manhattan’s WMS technologies are game-changers for any company operating in complex, demanding, and unpredictable environments, and we are pleased that this continues to be recognised in the industry.” ● To read more about Manhattan Associates featring in the Gartner Magic Quadrant, click here.

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News

Zebra Technologies improves offering with Fetch Robotics acquisition

Zebra Technologies has announced it will acquire the remaining 95% of Fetch Robotics, a pioneer in on-demand automation that provides the market’s only cloud-driven Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) solution.

Fetch Robotics’ AMRs address material handling and data collection for warehousing and intralogistics environments, reducing costs and improving throughput, efficiency, and productivity. Fetch features the largest portfolio of AMRs in the industry and offers seamless integration with warehouse and manufacturing systems without the need for

changes to facilities or infrastructure.

The acquisition will enable Zebra customers to increase the level of automation and digitisation in their warehouse environments, with the use of "automated workers" or autonomous mobile robots.

“The acquisition of Fetch Robotics will accelerate our Enterprise Asset Intelligence vision and growth in intelligent industrial automation by embracing new modes of empowering workflows and helping our customers operate more efficiently in increasingly automated, data-powered environments,” said Anders Gustafsson, Chief Executive Officer of Zebra Technologies.

“This move will also extend our ongoing commitment to optimise the supply chain from the point of production to the point of consumption. We are excited to welcome the Fetch team to the Zebra family.”

The acquisition follows a steady increase in the use of warehouse robotics, as Amazon, Kroger and other companies have turned to automation to increase productivity. The pandemic has boosted the use of robotics as a way to make up for productivity losses associated with social distancing and high staff turnover rates. ●

which is anticipated to maximise sales and reduce markdowns.

TMX supported Myer with its supply chain strategy including designing the operational and automated solution. The real estate solution was sourced by TMX on behalf of Myer on a 10-year lease term with Dexus.

"Our supply chain strategy and warehouse design teams have developed a solution that will ensure Myer is well positioned to improve its eCommerce fulfillment function whilst still meeting the replenishment needs

of it physical store network," said Andrew Maher, Director at TMX. "Omni-channel retail distribution is layered with complexities and increasingly requires automated solutions to deal with those complexities. TMX will support Myer with the implementation of the operating solution and will work alongside Dexus in the delivery of this facility."

Construction of the new site is underway, and Myer is expected to begin using the NDC in a phased approach from August 2022. ●

TMX Secures New National Distribution Centre for Myer TMX has secured a new 40,000 sqm National Distribution Centre (NDC) for national retail giant Myer. The site is based in Ravenhall, Victoria, and will manage both store and online fulfilment.

The Myer NDC will be a new build and located at Dexus’s ‘Horizon 3023’ industrial estate. It will be a state-of-the art facility holding over 100,000 SKU’s, with widespread customer benefits and efficiencies anticipated through the implementation of several automation solutions.

“Having a centralised fulfilment centre for stores replaces our historical push model, and will result in improved inventory management, reduced markdowns and maximised sellthrough whilst also producing significant efficiencies in our online fulfilment operations,” said John King, CEO of Myer.

It is anticipated that up to 70% of Myer's online fulfilment will be performed by the NDC, ensuring improved levels of service for customers, operational efficiencies and reduced cost per order. The new NDC is also expected to provide centralised fulfilment for stores ensuring stock is prioritised for locations with the highest sell through,

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News

Research shows COVID-19 was the ultimate digital transformation test As organisations scrambled to support fully distributed workforces and securely integrate new cloud-native data platforms and collaboration apps into already complex ecosystems as a result of COVID-19, many businesses accelerated their existing application modernisation efforts into overdrive.

According to a recent survey by leading end-to-end multicloud technology solutions company Rackspace Technology, 71% of respondents say at least one out of four applications are undergoing active modernization, and 24% say more than half of all their applications are underdoing modernisation.

“The results paint a clear and consistent picture,” said Jeff DeVerter, Chief Technology Evangelist at Rackspace Technology.

“Organisations of all sizes and across all industries have firmly bought into digital transformation and are actively pursuing strategies of continuous application modernization. In fact, many have already experienced direct consequences from

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moving too slowly – which may explain why nine out of ten organizations say their appreciation for the business value of applications has increased.”

Most respondents described their digital transformation journey as actively “in-progress” (65%) and “at a similar place to their peers” (57%). Just over half said they have “a system in place to coordinate cross-functional modernisation activities,” with “digital initiatives extending beyond a single business unit” (53%). Public sector respondents were more likely to describe their digital transformation as “basic” or lagging.

On average, organisations now host 38% of all workloads on public cloud, surpassing private cloud (35%) and on-

premises data centres or colocation (27%). This breakdown was remarkably consistent across both business size and industry vertical.

Government and manufacturing organisations were more likely to focus on modernizing enterprise software, while retail businesses were more likely to prioritize customer-facing applications and digital content management systems. When asked what prompts modernising applications, over half of all organizations (54%) singled out improved customer satisfaction, with nearly as many (47%) also citing increased employee efficiency and satisfaction.

Motivations for replacing legacy applications with new solutions followed a similar pattern, with improved customer experience (CX) leading as a common driver (58%), followed by process optimization (52%) and cost optimization (46%).

“From an IT perspective, 2020 may be remembered as the year that application modernisation morphed from a corporate buzzword into becoming a central element of institutional survival,” added DeVerter. ● To download the full report, please visit www.rackspace.com/solve/ application-modernization

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News

New Google Cloud region in Melbourne Launches

benefit from enhanced business continuity planning with distributed, secure infrastructure needed to meet IT and business requirements for disaster recovery, all the while maintaining data sovereignty in-country - which is especially important for those in key sectors like Supply Chain, Logistics, Retail and Manufacturing.

Google Cloud has announced that its new Google Cloud region in Melbourne is live.

Designed to help businesses build highly available applications for their customers, the Melbourne region will see organisations

Beyond Cloud regions, Google Cloud’s investments in technical infrastructure includes subsea cables as well as new Dedicated Cloud Interconnect locations and points of presence in major cities including

Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Canberra, Brisbane and Auckland. Collectively, these deliver geographically distributed and secure infrastructure to customers across Australia and New Zealand “We initially turned to Google Cloud to help us process parcels faster and gain deeper insights into our business and its processes. The relationship has continued to deliver benefits to our customers and our organisation and we welcome Google Cloud’s opening of the Melbourne Cloud region as presenting even more opportunities for businesses to innovate and generate efficiencies.” - Munro Farmer, Chief Information Officer, Australia Post.

Melbourne joins 26 existing Google Cloud regions that are connected via a highperformance network, helping customers better serve users throughout the globe.

"Navigating this past year has been a challenge for companies as they grapple with changing customer demands and economic uncertainty. Technology has played a critical role, and we’re proud to partner with and serve our customers and communities around the world to help them adapt to new requirements, new opportunities and new ways of working," said Alister Dias, Vice President, Google Cloud in Australia & New Zealand. ●

SCLAA Webinar: Improving Visibility and Safety in the Cold Chain You can watch this exclusive panel of industry experts by clicking the link on this page: SCLAA Webinar: Improving Visibility and Safety in the Cold Chain Supply Chain Insights magazine (YouTube)

The pandemic has revealed the importance of Cold Chain Integrity.

Whether you’re transporting or storing critical vaccines or medical products, or food and perishable goods, having strict control and visibility over environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity and light exposure is vital to ensure product quality from origin to destination.

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A speaker panel organised by the SCLAA featuring industry experts was recently staged looking at the topic of how logistics providers must satisfy prevailing compliance requirements during storage and transportation activities to ensure product safety and effectiveness from source to customer.

Speakers include: • Royston Phua, Vertical Practice Lead for APAC Supply Chains, Zebra Technologies • Raghav Sibal, Managing Director ANZ, Manhattan Associates • Daniel Clutterbuck, Senior Consultant, TMX Global • Stephen Lakey, SCLAA Director

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Enhanced Cold Chain Data and Visibility Need a simple and efficient solution to help you comply with government or customer temperature monitoring requirements?

Are you struggling with an inefficient temperature monitoring system that is complicated to use, costly to manage, and does not provide the fast and accurate time-sensitive information you need?

There is a better way.

Zebra Bluetooth®-enabled electronic temperature sensors provide cloud-based data sharing capabilities to ensure the accurate monitoring of every temperature-sensitive product in all environments.

Tap into the future of temperature monitoring SUPPLY CHAIN INSIGHTS

Learn More 7

Industry Updates

Australians Want Sustainable Delivery Options When Shopping Online As online shopping rates remain high due to the impacts of COVID-19, sustainability is more important to Australian consumers than ever before, with 63% stating they would pay extra for a delivery service that was more environmentally-friendly.

The new research from Manhattan Associates also revealed 60% of Australian consumers are open to receiving a delivery at a later date if it meant that it was delivered more sustainably.

“Due to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic and its convenience, home delivery is now the preferred delivery option for 69% of Australian online shoppers,” said Raghav Sibal, Managing Director, ANZ, Manhattan Associates. “However, consumers are not prepared to just accept the convenience of delivery at the cost of the environment, and they are increasingly aware of the growing impact the eCommerce sector is having on CO2 emissions.”

Over half (60%) of Australian consumers indicated they often receive their online order in multiple shipments and 81% of them said that they think this is an inefficient and unsustainable way of delivering goods. In fact, the same number (81%) also said they would prefer to receive their order at a later date if it meant that it would arrive in one consolidated delivery.

A further 64% of consumers stated that they would be even more motivated to accept a longer delivery wait time - with all purchases consolidated into one package if the delivery fee was free or discounted.

“For many years now, the predominant consumer pressure on retailers across

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the globe has revolved around how they can deliver goods even faster, leading to massive gains in same or next day delivery windows. Yet, what this research is showing is that the issue of sustainability might be gaining traction as a circuit breaker for this consumer obsession with delivery speed.”

Demonstrating the efforts Australian consumers are already making to be more environmentally conscious, over 45% of consumers said that after placing an order online, they would usually check to see if the retailer offered a sustainable delivery option, such as carbon offset or order consolidation services.

“As online shopping delivery rates and the corresponding impact on the environment continue to rise, while at the same time the

issue of sustainability continues to move to the forefront of consumer’s minds, retailers will need to make sustainability a bigger priority,” added Raghav. “Those retailers who don’t make sustainability a core part of their business will likely find that down the track they lose out on this potential competitive advantage and drive environmentally aware consumers to other retailers who are taking steps to make their delivery services greener.” ●

For more information on how your retail supply chain can operate more efficiently, please click here.

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Analysis

Keeping the vaccine supply chain on track WRITTEN BY ROYSTON PHUA, VERTICAL PRACTICE LEAD FOR APAC SUPPLY CHAINS AT ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES

Whether you’re in charge of administering COVID-19 vaccines at a large sports arena, a grocery store, retail pharmacy, or small popup clinic, the fundamental challenges remain the same: • Healthcare professionals are in short supply.

• Vaccine distribution is being disrupted more than expected.

• There are not enough vaccine doses available to meet current demand.

• The variable temperature sensitivity of the vaccine formulations is forcing doses to be administered almost immediately upon arrival.

That’s why it is so important that we put the right processes and technologies in place as soon as possible. We need a better way to collect, analyse and utilise data associated with vaccine distribution and administration to our collective benefit. This data is key to: • Tracking progress against vaccination goals.

• Monitoring vaccine performance and understanding how protocols may need to be adapted.

• Ensuring individuals receive the right second dose of the vaccine at the right time.

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• Confirming that the doses were not compromised due to temperature damage prior to administration.

• Reopening the economy.

It is also the best way to avoid missteps as we move fast to get shots in arms. The digitalisation of data collection, analysis and distribution will make it easier to standardise and streamline vaccination efforts at multiple touchpoints. It will also ensure the right patient and vaccine data is being reported now and referenced later when second shots are administered, or side effects are being monitored.

However, technology does far more than just improve the vaccination experience for patients and healthcare providers.

Key considerations for vaccine campaign managers Temperature-sensitive COVID-19 vaccines must be closely monitored to ensure they remain within the appropriate temperature range during distribution, handling and storage. Both vaccine vial monitors, indicator cards and electronic data loggers can simplify this effort. However, it’s not recommended to wait until the time of administration to confirm a dose’s viability. Checks should occur frequently during the distribution, storage and preparation phases.

If a temperature sensor confirms that a temperature excursion has occurred and doses are ultimately disposed of, patients will need to be notified ASAP. A mobile workforce management and/or task

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In addition to workforce scheduling, inventory management technologies are key to success as well.

Vaccine vials aren’t the only “inventory” that managers are accountable for at a vaccination site.

Other items including personal protective equipment (PPE), needles, alcohol wipes, band aids and waste management supplies and vaccination certificates/ cards must be accounted for. Any shortage could result in appointment cancellations and vaccination delays. Therefore, it’s critical that managers employ a technology-powered inventory management system to maintain an accurate count. These systems can automatically report usage to procurement teams – or even directly to suppliers – to trigger reorders before stock runs out.

In other words, the more technology that’s used throughout the process, the more likely managers are to accurately capture and report data, speed up the patient journey and maximise limited labour resources.

Why it’s never too late to start integrating technology into the vaccination process management app can alert staff of the issue and provide step-by-step guidance on how to contact and reschedule patients before they make the (sometimes long) drive to the vaccination site. Site managers can then monitor task progress and assign additional labour resources to make phone calls if needed so that people don’t show up for their appointments only to find out they’ll have to come back.

Proper staffing has a crucial impact on the success of COVID-19 vaccination campaigns.

Given the shortage of healthcare professionals, administrative staff, and facilitators available to support vaccination efforts, it is imperative that the scheduling of workers’ time is performed with extreme care. A workforce management solution helps balance labour resources with demand to provide the optimum schedule and allows vaccination facilities to quickly adjust to unexpected changes, such as unplanned vaccine availability or shortfall, extreme weather, or a worker calling in sick.

At government-run sites, there will be some people who were very recently trained to administer vaccines, as well as teams of professionals and volunteers who may have never worked together. It can be challenging to fully brief staff on processes, and transient teams may not remember the little variations as they move around. This is where a task management solution proves very valuable, as it can deliver step-by-step checklists and guidance to ensure no mistakes are made. For example, a simplified set of instructions can be developed for each role and station to improve consistency and safety (i.e., Step 1. Apply hand sanitiser to gloves between each patient. Step 2...).

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Inoculating billions of people in a matter of months, in the middle of a global pandemic, will be difficult.

But it’s achievable. (Remember, more than fifty years ago we sent a man to the moon and brought him back again.)

Once the right processes and technology are in place, it will become much easier for vaccination facilities to: • Successfully schedule both patients and staff at a manageable (but increased) capacity.

• Verify preservation of the cold chain after vials are received or removed from storage.

• Quickly confirm patient IDs, vaccination history and current dosing needs; • Report dose administration, side effects and other pertinent campaign monitoring information in critical healthcare, supply chain and government information systems.

• Certify vaccination for individuals eager to resume some of their pre-pandemic routines.

Changes won’t happen overnight, but vaccine site managers can take tangible steps today to improve the efficiency and expediency of vaccination administration, eliminate many pain points that currently frustrate both vaccine administrators and patients and reduce the risks of errors and oversights.

For more information on how technology is helping manage vaccine supply chains today, please click here.

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Industry Updates

The Current State of Supply Chain Talent

WRITTEN BY TONY RICHTER PARTNER AT BASTIAN CONSULTING

Supply chain professionals have never been in higher demand. The past 18 months have seen the transport and logistics infrastructure of the nation tested as the volume of house-hold goods, medical supplies and food products moving through supply chains reached record levels.

I’ve been working in supply chain recruitment for 11 years and for the majority of the time, supply chain was seen as a back-office function, and certainly not a competitive advantage that allows you to deliver your product or service faster to your customers than your competitors.

Although eCommerce / digital transformation in business and in supply chain has been embraced by some in the industry, this is far from universal. However, due to the impact of the pandemic and the way that this has disrupted normal working behaviours and driven people online and into the arms of eCommerce, things are changing. Today we’re all living in an eCommerce world and you either adapt or get left behind.

What does this mean for talent in supply chain? This is what we’re seeing here at Bastian Consulting:

1. If you’re in a supply chain or advisory business you’ve probably never seen the amount of requests or inquiries about your services It’s a great time to own or run a consulting and advisory practice but the challenge is it’s almost at a point where it’s “too” busy.

We see countless examples of consulting organisations significantly increasing headcount to keep up with demand for their services. All the big firms, the small boutiques and everyone in between are ramping up and in need of talent. The problem is there isn’t enough best practice consulting talent

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to go around. Firms are now having to get creative in their approach to the types of talent they’d consider bringing as well as their approach to talent acquisition. It’s an extremely competitive marketplace for supply chain consultants right now.

3. We believe there is a clear gap in eCommerce and order fulfilment talent that will begin to cause major problems and constraints across the network.

2. The investment in enhancing your digital or physical supply chain infrastructure is unmatched

So many organisations are investing in intralogistics automation, AMR’s and robotics but a lot of this technology is still new and at the early adoption phase so the number of professionals with demonstrated technical experience implementing or using the new technologies is very limited.

As the demand grows for these products, experience will grow thus creating an ability to scale but for right now there’s a clear unbalance between the number of companies who want to implement this new technology and the number of professionals who know how to.

It’s a great time to be in supply chain right now but it’s clear it’s never been more competitive for the right talent. ●

It feels as though everyone is investing in a new or upgrade to their WMS, TMS and last mile technology and all at the same time. The industrial property space is incredibly buoyant with businesses needing more space in the network or a different configuration to their existing warehouses given the new eCommerce consumer buying patterns. Usually these types of investments are staggered from a timing perspective which allows for the appropriate allocation of integration, configuration and implementation skills. With everyone wanting to “digitize” or invest in their supply chain, there is a considerable constraint around skills, specifically around WMS.

For more information on how to find and retain supply chain talent, please click here.

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Ready to transform your business?

World-class digital and physical supply chain solutions that transform businesses.

Find out how we can help drive efficiencies across your supply chain today.

Start your transformation today, visit www.tmx.global P:+61 3 9908 3040 SUPPLY CHAIN INSIGHTS

E: enquiries@tmx.global 12

Feature

Re-thinking inventory management As the impact of COVID-19 is still being felt around the world, retailers are adjusting their strategies to keep up with rising demands alongside dealing with continuing disruptions and delays. Supply Chain Insights looks at the issue of inventory management and asks: has COVID-19 led to a complete overhaul of traditional inventory management practices?

Eighteen months since the onset of the pandemic in Australia, COVID-19 continues to cause chaos to supply chains around the world.

Port closures, reduced freight capacity, container delays, escalating shipping costs, staff shortages and industrial action, alongside a continuing rise in consumer demands is prompting many organisations to re-think their inventory management strategy.

Major businesses and industries are feeling the strain more than ever before as the COVID-19 Delta variant is having a major impact on supply chains worldwide.

Toyota, the world’s biggest car manufacturer, plans to scale back worldwide vehicle production by 40 per cent in September because of the global

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microchip shortage. Volkswagen, the second-biggest car producer has also warned it may be forced to cut its output.

At home in Australia, major retailers have issued a stark warning to customers throughout the nation to get their Christmas shopping orders in early as inventory delays are expected over the coming months.

As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on global supply chains, how has this impacted the way organisations view their inventory management strategy and what will be the new normal?

Supply Chain Insights catches up with supply chain experts from TMX, Zebra Technologies and Manhattan Associates to find out more.

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If you can’t get it to your customer in a reasonable timeframe, then someone else can.

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Feature

“We’re starting to see our clients switch their strategies to hold more inventory in their supply chain.”

TOM FITZ-WALTER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TMX

Just-in-time vs just-in-case A just-in-time approach has dominated supply chain inventory thinking over the past three to four decades.

First developed by Toyota in Japan in the 1970s, justin-time became even more popular after the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) forced businesses to tighten the purse strings and operate a leaner model.

According to Tom Fitz-Walter, Executive Director at TMX, a leading business transformation consultancy, just-in-time philosophy is being thrown out the window.

“We’re starting to see our clients switch their strategies to hold more inventory in their supply chain. Getting an order to a customer is now taking priority over the potential back-end cost of holding more stock. It’s certainly different to what we saw pre-COVID,” he says.

According to Chris Buckthorp, Director Professional Services Consulting at Manhattan Associates, a leading supply chain software solution provider, previous demand planning principles have been challenged because of the recent supply chain disruptions.

“Traditional inventory planning practices we used to rely upon are now essentially broken,” he says.

Supply chain disruptions, paired with the cost of capital being as low as it’s ever been, have created the perfect storm for organisations to explore shifting their strategy from just-in-time to just-in-case.

“Pre-COVID inventory management strategies were based on 20 years of supply chain planning and this has been the foundation of what a modern supply chain looks like. But we’re seeing organisations consciously move away from this lean approach and it really is a big shift,” Chris says.

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“Traditional inventory planning practices we used to rely upon are now essentially broken.”

CHRIS BUCKTHORP, DIRECTOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONSULTING, MANHATTAN ASSOCIATES

Chris tells Supply Chain Insights:

“If you’re going to compete in the marketplace, you need to have product availability.

If you can’t get it to your customer in a reasonable timeframe, then someone else can.”

However, Royston Phua, Vertical Practice Lead for APAC Supply Chains at Zebra Technologies, a leading global enterprise mobile computing provider, says that switching from a just-in-time to a justin-case model may not be the best strategy as COVID-19 disruptions start to settle.

“This is a very fluid situation, and a lot of these shortages are down to external issues such as transportation delays, port congestions and labour availability. We hope that these issues will begin to settle over time. We’re already seeing positive signs from the International Air Transport Association June 2021 data where all airlines in the world, other than in Latin America, have reported growth in air freight.

So, switching to a just-in-case model long-term might not be the answer,” Royston explains.

Royston warns of the bullwhip effect, the phenomenon that refers to increasing swings in inventory in response to shifts in customer demand.

For Royston, this is particularly relevant when we look at unpredictable consumer behaviour such as panic buying and stockpiling that are commonly seen in snap lockdowns.

Chris at Manhattan Associates agrees: “Everything you’ve seen lately in terms of demand could be completely irrelevant in your long-term plans. Think about toilet paper for example, consumer demand rose to record levels, but did consumption change?”

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Feature

When it comes to eCommerce, everything rests on the customer’s satisfaction levels.

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“Success is a combination of processes, workflows and labour efficiencies. You need to capture data accurately and in real-time and across every step of your supply chain.”

ROYSTON PHUA, VERTICAL PRACTICE LEAD FOR APAC SUPPLY CHAINS AT ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES

Visibility critical to success Regardless of whether a business decides to hold more inventory or switch back to a just-in-time model, inventory visibility is key to supply chain success.

“Knowing what inventory you have and where it is located is now becoming more important than optimising your inventory levels,” Tom at TMX says.

“To be able to sell a product, you need to let someone know you’ve got it in stock,” Chris at Manhattan Associates says.

“Every business is aiming to provide the right products, in the right quantities, in the right quality, to the right place, at the right time for the right price and all of this is to do with inventory accuracy,” Royston at Zebra Technologies says.

For eCommerce retailers, it’s all about customer satisfaction and to be able to provide a good service, organisations need to offer convenient and fast delivery choices.

“It’s all about trying to provide a more accurate view of where your inventory is so you can present your customers with realistic and accurate delivery options,” Chris at Manhattan Associates says.

Tom at TMX says a dynamic approach to inventory management allows organisations to be able to pivot quickly on where inventory should be stored.

“If you’re going to take a punt on holding more inventory, then you have to manage this more closely to really reap the benefits,” he says.

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"For many customers, visibility of exactly when they will receive products is becoming more desirable than speed."

TOM FITZ-WALTER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TMX

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End-to-end collaboration

The end-goal: a happy customer

If inventory visibility is the key to success, what can organisations do to improve this?

“Success is a combination of processes, workflows and labour efficiencies. You need to capture data accurately and in real-time and across every step of your supply chain,” Royston at Zebra Technologies says.

Tom at TMX echoes this and says digitalisation is the only way to achieve true end-to-end connectivity.

“Good supply chain strategy is about integrating the physical and the digital through technology.

Digitalisation and technology are driving a new way of inventory management. Optimisation systems will continue to evolve and be adopted by supply chain managers. The new systems help to manage additional inventory levels, manage costs due to demand volatility and increase profit by having the right stock available,” he says.

Real-time data provides organisations with the ability to adapt quickly when unpredictable events do occur, and technology plays a significant role here.

“You have to digitise. You have to start capturing data across your entire supply chain and use purposebuilt technology that allows you to continuously transmit this data to the cloud for analysis and action,” Royston at Zebra Technologies says.

“Demand planning worked well at an aggregated view of demand –but now you want to understand demand by SKU and by channel. There’s so much more market segmentation. Machine learning and artificial intelligence in modern supply chain planning systems can increase the effectiveness of the demand planner and allow an organisation to adapt to planning at a more granular level,” Chris at Manhattan Associates says.

Royston at Zebra Technologies says digitisation across every step of the supply chain is the only way to ensure collaboration and accurate real-time view of your inventory. “Organisations need to leverage all the technology available to them – whether it’s a 1D or 2D barcode, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies, sensors, systems of records (e.g., Warehouse Management System), artificial intelligence etc. Every part of the supply chain needs to work together to get the challenge of accurate inventory management right,” he says.

As lockdowns and mobility restrictions continue up and down the country, the proliferation of eCommerce uptake in Australia is set to continue and having available stock and accurate inventory data is more critical than ever.

“When it comes to eCommerce, everything rests on the customer’s satisfaction levels. Especially while they have restricted mobility. It’s so important that their experience is seamless and one way to do this is with inventory accuracy,” Royston at Zebra Technologies says.

Tom at TMX says retailers are now starting to think about how they can offer customers a truly omnichannel experience and inventory accuracy is critical in this mission.

“We’re starting to see a lot of clients link their inventory strategy to their last mile strategy."

"We’re seeing smarter fulfilment methods such as dark stores and micro-fulfilment and having accurate inventory levels allows these organisations to pivot and replenish these last mile distribution networks quickly so they can offer their customers prompt and convenient delivery options. Inventory visibility is also critical for the consumer. For many customers, visibility of exactly when they will receive products is becoming more desirable than speed.

Speed of delivery is still critical, however giving the consumer the convenience to plan for the delivery is a major competitive advantage,” he says.

Chris at Manhattan Associates says the worst thing you can do is give a customer inaccurate information around stock availability and location.

“It often costs you more, because the goods aren’t where you think they are and you may have misquoted for delivery, but it also upsets the customer. When it comes to eCommerce, having an accurate view of where your inventory is at all times is going to drive cost efficiencies and improve customer service and engagement,” he says. ●

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Analysis

Order Management – a lifeline for retailers in a COVID-19 world WRITTEN BY RAGHAV SIBAL, MANAGING DIRECTOR, ANZ, MANHATTAN ASSOCIATES

The ongoing pandemic has changed the way that people purchase and acquire goods.

Soaring demand for eCommerce and increased interest in new ways of collecting purchases, such as curb side pickup and click & collect, mean that Australian retailers are now faced with the challenge of recalibrating their business strategy to serve an increasingly complex omnichannel environment.

Alongside various city and state lockdowns, many brands have had to get creative and accelerate their journey towards digital services over the last year.

However, not all of them have successfully managed the transition.

To assist, new business-to-consumer distribution models are coming to market, with a core focus on the importance of ‘living’ the omnichannel customer experience, rather than just talking about it. One such model is Order Management Systems (OMS), which integrate all sales and distribution channels into one place, bringing absolute transparency and making it easier for retailers to manage customer orders. An OMS helps retailers to see what inventory they have where, what’s been allocated, what is in transit, what’s been sold, what is available, what needs to be replenished and what’s being returned.

Optimising order sourcing New demands being placed on retailers today have forced innovation to occur at an unprecedented pace. From adding drop-shipped items to websites

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to quickly beefing up sales, launching quick ‘on ramp’ digital solutions, or streamlining operations to maximise strained employee bandwidth, the need for innovation through technology has never been greater. In fact, in the latest Forrester Wave Report, it was revealed that 39% of retailers increased their investments in technology immediately after the pandemic began to disrupt supply chain operations.

Without this necessary push towards efficiencyboosting technology, retailers would be left behind their competition. With innovations like OMS, retailers have even been able to review the rules of stock allocation, temporarily giving priority to in-store stock over warehouse stock, thus, freeing up any trapped inventory confined within closed stores. This comes as a great advantage to the many retailers whose physical stores were closed for long periods during lockdowns.

Optimising order sourcing is a new focus for retailers, allowing brands to use the stock available in their entire network, wherever it is located. A smart OMS allows retailers to use the 'pool' of physical stores in large urban areas to offer same day, or next day delivery by couriers, whilst also favouring the warehouse stock for less immediate orders.

Addressing multiple shipments Recent research undertaken by Manhattan Associates has shown that due to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic and its convenience, home delivery is now the preferred delivery option for 69% of Australian online shoppers. Interestingly, 60% of Australian consumers indicated they often receive

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their online order in multiple shipments and 81% of them said that they think this is an inefficient and unsustainable way of delivering goods. In fact, the same number (81%) also said they would prefer to receive their order at a later date if it meant that it would arrive in one consolidated delivery. These changing consumer preferences pose challenges for retailers and their supply chains to match their inventory and delivery capabilities against what customers actually want.

For those orders that have to be shipped in multiple deliveries, advanced OMS allow customers to view the status of all items within an order in a Digital Self-Service order tracking page. If an order is shipped in multiple packages, customers can view all tracking details, estimated time of arrival, and the delivery date of each package from a single page. If all items have not been shipped, the customer can view the status of all items, including items which are in-process or cancelled. By providing customers with complete order transparency there is less uncertainty around an order’s status, working to substantially reduce customer call volumes to the contact centre to check where an order is.

Cost-effective omnichannel offerings

For more information on Order Management Systems from Manhattan Associates, please click here.

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In a recent study, conducted by Manhattan Associates and IHL Group, it was revealed that retailers who optimised their digital customer journey saw their margins improve by three to eight points more than those who didn’t. Additionally, by enhancing the customer journey through the use of technology, retailers are equipped with the knowledge they need to understand what their consumers want, and in turn, they can clearly communicate their promises to consumers – such as delivery dates and returns processes - leading to a positive bump in overall margins.

According to several independent studies, the conversion rate is said to increase up to 30% when a brand communicates a precise delivery date promise on a product page. However, 50% of consumers agree that they would in fact abandon a purchase if there was no delivery date indicated at the checkout.

This is a good signal of the importance of offering total transparency to the customer regarding their order, as without it, consumers are left uneasy about not only the wait time for delivery, but the credibility of the brand itself.

immediately integrated into the global stock pool, making them available for sale online, even if the item was not originally listed at the point of sale.

For consumers who are on-the-go, new QR code solutions exist which allow customers to drop a return item at a carrier location. The QR code can be made available to customers via email. This avoids situations where customers previously had issues printing a return label at home.

More efficient returns processes enable faster refunds, improved order accuracy, and delivery transparency, develop a greater peace of mind for consumers, and ultimately, improve overall brand advocacy and loyalty – which comes as the biggest advantage to retailers in the long-term.

Managing order cancellations With more online orders being placed, today’s consumers expect to have full visibility of their orders' progress, as well the flexibility to cancel their order if needed. With an advanced OMS, customers can cancel items that are being shipped to their address before the items have been packed, without having to reach out to the contact centre. Customers can view which items are eligible for cancellation, select items and reasons for cancellation, and preview their new order total before confirming the cancellation.

Supporting order cancellations and changes as late as possible prevents the situation where a customer wants to cancel an item that has already reached the ‘point of no return’ in the fulfilment process.

When these situations occur, it causes friction and frustration for the customer who has to receive and return the item, plus time and cost for the retailer who will often have to absorb the shipping and handling costs for both the shipment and the return.

Turning returns into a positive customer experience

Order Management for futureproof retailing

Since the pandemic, the ability to promote a more efficient returns process for eCommerce purchases in-store has become an increasingly important allround service for brands looking to maintain an adequate retailer-to-consumer relationship. Using an OMS in-store application, customer service teams can directly search for customers’ original orders and records of the returned items. Then, the products that are in return-worthy condition are

With the everchanging nature of the retail landscape, and the increasing demands and expectations of consumers, enhancing retail operations with innovative technology such as OMS will serve as a way for retailers to optimise their operations for the future, to withstand even the harshest fulfilment, delivery, and customer services challenges. ●

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Industry Updates

Know the Viability of Every Vial: How Zebra is improving vaccine management at every step of the journey Did you know 50% of global vaccine wastage stems from temperature-control logistics and shipment-related issues, and 37.1% of global vaccines are exposed to noncompliant temperatures during storage?

Over the next year, the cold chain management of COVID-19 vaccines will impact the lives of billions of people.

Successfully distributing billions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines, all with slightly different stability profiles, through the cold chain will be an unprecedented task. These precious vaccine doses will be delivered at mass vaccination sites, drive through facilities, and 24/7 operations.

Impact of Vaccine Mismanagement Maintaining the temperature of unprecedented volumes of vaccine vials through each stage of the cold chain will be an exceedingly difficult operation.

Distribution of temperature-sensitive products involves many hand-offs, and each step in the process presents an opportunity for temperature excursions.

When vaccine temperature protocols are not monitored — or are only partially monitored — along the distribution chain, potentially damaging temperature excursions may go undetected. In addition, there are many points of failure that could happen, such as freezer or refrigerator breakdowns, weather-related shipping delays, power outages, etc.

Without the appropriate technology to identify heat-compromised vials, the efforts of healthcare professionals become even more complex and may result in a few negative scenarios. Firstly, vaccines may be

SUPPLY CHAIN INSIGHTS

erroneously discarded due to suspected heat damage. Secondly, an increased timeframe will be required to vaccinate the world’s population. Thirdly, a false sense of protection will be given to the public, if individuals are given a vaccine that was exposed to damaging heat.

In December 2020, a Wisconsin hospital was forced to throw out more than 500 COVID-19 vaccine doses that were rendered unfit for use due to temperature mismanagement by an employee. Because of the mismanagement, the hospital concluded that 57 vaccinations given over a two-day period were either less effective or ineffective.

Best Practices In order to avoid any heat damage, Vaccine Vial Monitors (VVMs) should be applied at the time of manufacture. Furthermore, distributors and logistics departments should utilise Temperature Indicator Cards and/or Electronic Temperature Sensors

to monitor the temperature exposure of vaccine shipments in real-time.

Vaccine administration sites should also utilitise Temperature Indicator Cards and/ or Electronic Temperature Sensors to monitor the temperature exposure of vials upon receipt, and those stored in freezers and refrigerators for later use.

With Zebra’s diverse range of Temperature Monitoring and Sensing Technology, staff at each stage of the COVID-19 vaccine cold chain can gain real-time actionable insights to ensure consistent and safe temperature management, and easy identification of vaccines that may have been heat compromised up until the very last mile.

Zebra offers the most complete portfolio of Temperature Monitoring and Sensing Technology at the individual product, shipment, and storage levels. ●

For more information on vaccine management, please click here.

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Manhattan Active Warehouse Management.

Cloud-native and built on 100% microservices, it redefines what a WMS can do, delivering exponential improvements.

Australia’s Most Awarded Warehouse Management System and a 13 Time Leader1 in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems.

SUPPLY CHAIN INSIGHTS

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Analysis

Transforming supply chains is not just about the physical, it’s about the digital too WRITTEN BY TOM FITZ-WALTER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SUPPLY CHAIN TMX

Over the last year there has been an onslaught of disruptions to supply chains across the globe. When COVID-19 first hit, supply chains around the world halted and organisations had no idea where their inventory was.

Today, with global freight issues and massively blown out lead times, visibility and flexibility in supply chains remains a significant challenge. These disruptions have seen the “just in time” supply chain philosophy thrown out the window for “just in case”.

Safety stock metrics for many companies have shifted and they are holding more inventory, which supply chain management would have penalised in the past. Having inventory and knowing where it is located is becoming more important than leaning out operations, which is bringing about a shift in focus from the physical to the digital supply chain.

Traditionally supply chains have been viewed to follow a linear path from designing a product, sourcing the materials, producing the product to fulfilling it and so on. Now with a digital supply chain, all these stages are integrated through internal and external systems to provide visibility in the whole value chain. The result is real-time analytics for smarter decision-making, data-backed predictions and more dynamic processes.

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While some supply chains are only just starting their physical transformation, ongoing disruptions are now also pushing supply chains to digitalise quickly, while those that haven’t started either journey are about to be left behind.

Old legacy systems not keeping up While systems such as Warehouse Management Systems, Transport Management Systems and Enterprise Resource Planning models are all wellestablished, they are all separate components that do different tasks.

Most organisations can relate to all these systems, therefore are already engaged in digitalising elements of their supply chain. However, companies can no longer only have visibility in parts of their supply chains. Organisations need to be able to track in real time the entire process from the point of origin, transit on shipping, to the distribution centre and in the case of online all the way to the consumer’s door.

Integrating the physical and digital supply chain The advancement of an organisation’s physical supply chain needs to synchronise with their digital supply chain. Supply chains now require interconnected systems that all interact with one another to provide full end to end operational visibility.

This will enable real time analytics for rapid databacked decision-making enabling organisations to be flexible and responsive, especially in the midst of ongoing disruption in global supply chains.

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Design

Produce

When data is shared between the production and operations team, it enhances the research and development of a product. By integrating these functions through shared live data, a product’s design can be refined to create more efficient and seamless production processes.

The manufacturing process can be improved beyond just physical advancements through smarter decision making.

Visibility in a company’s supply chain through technologies such as asset tracking and data on external factors such as the environment or consumer behaviours can enable quick decision-making on fast moving or lagging stock and whether to ramp up or stop production.

Plan While advancements in materials handling equipment have automated tasks, digital supply chains enable the automation of complex decision making.

The centralisation of a company’s data onto one platform that is backed by cloud-based planning systems, big data and artificial intelligence can significantly improve a company’s planning capabilities.

An interconnected digital supply chain can enable real time analytics for rapid, more granular and informed decisions.

Source The sourcing and procurement stages can become automated and predictive through digitalisation.

Greater visibility in a company’s supply and costs and external data on prices can make sourcing more predictive, which could enable automatic replenishment orders, payments and exchange of goods.

With transactions becoming more automated, they can also be easier to track through technologies such as blockchain.

Fulfil Digitalised systems synced with warehouse and fulfilment operations create the continuous realtime insights and data needed to enable dynamic fulfilment.

Visibility of inventory and how it’s being impacted by seasons, weather or buying trends would inform fulfilment strategies and enable companies to pivot quickly on where inventory should be stored on any given day.

For an omnichannel company, this would inform whether inventory is stored in the distribution centre, dark store, micro fulfilment centre or stores to be picked up or delivered directly to the customer.

Service In the age of immediacy consumers expect fast and reliable deliveries, with digitalisation key to achieving this in an efficient manner.

This starts from having control towers tracking assets from the ship to the last mile delivery van.

Information throughout this journey needs to be digitised, with processes triggering automatic information sharing ensuring the product is always visible and accessible to the company but also the end customers.

Digitalisation harnesses the ability for an organisation to have data at their fingertips. This visibility in operations enables real-time analytics for smarter decision-making, predictive analytics and more dynamic processes, ultimately driving a more competitive supply chain critical to a company’s profitability and success. The key is to start by reviewing the holistic supply chain and performing a digital diagnostic. This identifies where the opportunities are for an organisation and supports the roadmap to implementation. An organisation’s digital strategy may take years to implement, therefore it’s important to initially focus on change that will provide the biggest wins. ●

To learn more about transforming your digital supply chain, please click here.

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Analysis

Three Ways 5G Will Improve Your Supply Chain

WRITTEN BY DEZ BLANCHFIELD, CHIEF DATA SCIENTIST AT SOCIAALL

Each advancement in network technology brings with it great promise of enhanced features, improved connectivity, and better security. However, the arrival of 5G isn’t merely about enhanced coverage, rather it delivers higher device density, lower network latency and dramatically higher network throughput or data transfer (speed).

It is transformational for enterprise and industry workflows, none more so than for the supply chain sector.

5G is already changing key industries with its faster connectivity and greater bandwidth. What was once considered the stuff of science fiction movies, such as e-health, connected and autonomous vehicles, intelligent traffic systems and advanced mobile cloud-gaming, are already here.

Central to the concept of the ‘digital supply chain’ today is end-to-end electronic connectivity.

The ability to track the movement of goods and information in real-time through every area of a supply chain, anywhere in the world, is enabled through 5G.

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When applied to environments such as warehouse management, inventory management, transport, logistics, security, 5G will transform supply chains in three key areas.

1. Streamlining Transport & Logistics Although there has been significant investment in digital technologies as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of transport & logistics (T&L) organisations still operate with predominantly manual controls, either to track and trace product movement through their logistics processes, or to manage their physical environments and infrastructure.

By leveraging 5G, T&L companies can address a host of issues from lost cargo, misplaced containers, counterfeiting and smuggling. This is done through the use of 5G enabled labelling, real time tracking, public cellular networks and “hand off” to private 5G network AP connectivity, i.e. private 5G networks within warehouses, shipping yards, and domestic or international dock yards.

From the moment an item is “tagged” at the point it is packaged by the manufacturer, it can be traced in real-time from packing to wholesale order fulfillment, through to loading on a dock, to transporting by land, air or sea. Tracking capabilities extend all the way to the end point of sale or delivery to a customer’s front door, delivering enhanced product security and improved customer service.

2. Smarter Warehouse Management & Robotics Humans are increasingly less visible and less required as part of warehouse management functions. Robotics can speed pick and pack activities, through to stock movement or placement for storage in warehouses, enabling businesses to streamline operations and have staff focus on tasks that add greater value. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies powered by 5G are further reducing risk and cost, and increasing agility and flexibility, and empowering lower skilled resources to complete higher skilled tasks.

Today an item in a warehouse with a single 5G tag attached can be tracked in 3D space, in realtime. It can be unloaded from a truck into a loading dock by robot forklifts and it can be shuffled around a warehouse by autonomous micro-robots that have 4K cameras connected over 5G to enable movement.

For products that need to be located, a human with AR glasses (or simply using a smartphone with an in-built camera) can be directed via AR

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to locate the package, scan its 5G tag and edit or update details in an inventory management system instantaneously. This helps to improve stock visibility processes for supply chain accuracy and omni-channel activity.

3. Inventory Control data becomes Enhanced Fleet Management Significant technology enhancements are being made in key areas of transport, from trains and planes, to shipping and trucks. Although advancements in areas like autonomous driving and a future of driverless transport attract much attention, major transformation is actually taking place in areas like loading, tracking, tracing and monitoring of what’s being transported.

5G capabilities are accelerating almost all of those developments, which indirectly are also making fleet management smarter, safer, while reducing costs. For example, by tracking what is loaded on a truck, you are in effect tracking the truck, and its load, its speed and direction, time of departure, time of arrival and loading time.

5G tags on products, crates, containers, are all producing data that can be used to produce a view of your fleet and offer data to help make smarter operational decisions. This same data can also be fed back to the driver to help them make better decisions around the best route to take based on how packages are stacked in the truck to ensure efficient unloading occurs.

Where should businesses start their 5G journey The adoption of 5G will ensure that supply chains become more integrated than ever before.

We will see greater integration with manufacturing, allowing generic items to be shipped to local distribution centres, where 3D printers and painting devices can then tailor them to specific client requirements.

There will also be greater integration with finance, so that as goods move in one direction and funds move in the other, the data can also move in both directions.

The bottom line is that 5G has arrived and it requires immediate attention. History shows that those who move early gain a lead on their competitors, and often that lead can be so great that their competitors never actually catch up. ●

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Industry Updates

Managing Vaccination Policies Across Your Supply Chain Workforce As increasing the rate of vaccination amongst the general public becomes a primary path towards reopening Australia, local workers are indicating a preference to work in environments where their colleagues are vaccinated. To assist supply chain businesses – which are often made up of a complex mix of fulltime, part-time, contract and casual shift workers – in managing challenging workplace vaccination issues, new solutions have been released to help organisations communicate and manage their policies.

“As Australian businesses have been significantly impacted by COVID-19 lockdowns and have needed to ensure the safety of employees and customers, encouraging and in some cases mandating vaccines in the workplace is being increasingly discussed.” said Clayton Pyne, CEO of Humanforce “In fact, we’re already seeing vaccination mandates being enacted in high-risk settings like residential aged care and even private enterprises, like Qantas, Virgin and food producer SPC.” “The challenge for workplaces who are introducing vaccine policies, is how they can effectively communicate, enforce and track these policies with their employees.

An automated workforce management solution can help to streamline this process and ensure compliance, which is very important when dealing with such a high priority health issue affecting the safety of the entire workplace and wider community.”

Recent research has shown that 67% of casual workers said they had been concerned about their health in the workplace during the pandemic and 79% said they would prefer if their colleagues were vaccinated.

“Given there is a strong desire amongst casual workers to complete their shifts in safe environments where those around them are vaccinated, the onus is on employers to formulate and communicate clear vaccination policies for the future,” said Clayton.

Humanforce, a leading provider of workforce management solutions, has released a solution to streamline workforce management for COVID-19 vaccinations in the supply chain sector, which will allow organisations to manage the vaccination policies that may apply to their workforce in the future, and to effectively communicate and track this. This will help managers to have one single source of truth when it comes to ensuring the people who need to be vaccinated within their workforce are, and at the right times.

Humanforce can support employers and employees with a solution featuring the following tools: • Create custom vaccination requirements, including expiration rules and allow upload of vaccination proof.

• Automated communication of vaccination requirements to relevant employees.

• Prevent people from being rostered on if they don’t meet vaccination requirements, ensuring compliance.

• Single view of all employee vaccination status and any upcoming expirations.

• Collect vaccine status and proof from new employees during onboarding.

The Humanforce solution also supports contact tracing reporting amongst employees, should there be a positive COVID-19 case occur within the workplace.

This helps employers to rapidly and accurately identify and report any workers who are contacts of a positive case. ●

To learn how to manage vaccination policies across your workforce, please click here.

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Industry Updates

Addressing Excess Inventory with Offprice Strategies WRITTEN BY MITCH BITTERMANN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ECOMMERCE AT TMX

Many retailers are stuck with excess amounts of inventory meant for their stores over the pandemic. With the high seasonality of fashion products, retailers are being faced with ageing inventory and cash tied up in stock that is quickly becoming obsolete.

This can potentially pose a great threat to a retailer’s or brand’s financial health, so alternative channels of distribution are increasingly sought after. eCommerce rose to 30 per cent of a retailer’s total sales during the peak phases of the pandemic lockdown. But even if eCommerce remained at this level and all inventory was made available online, it would not absorb all the stock sitting in stores. To minimise the damage to the balance sheet, there is a significant opportunity for retailers to tap into the rapidly growing off-price segment and build new and complementary revenue streams.

Leveraging product lifecycles

Off-price channels should become a key part of eCommerce strategies, as it provides a platform to sell to many consumers, especially new ones from different segments.

Many brands have a clear idea of their commercial operating model, which usually entails launching a new product or collection and seeing it gradually mature over time with a tactical merchandising and discounting approach.

There will always be some leftover

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inventory, but this can be leveraged into a major opportunity instead of becoming a burden, if played tactically with off-price channels. This will ensure their products have a life even after the original season ends and ageing inventory can be monetised in a smart way.

Protecting your brand through off-price Traditionally the off-price segment focused on bargains and deals for consumers.

Brands were hesitant to be associated with bargain hunting platforms and drastic price reductions, however, new platforms and shopping clubs target a more upscaled segment that consciously market the products in an appealing way.

The Outnet, a sister site to luxury platform Net-a-porter, is a perfect example of this.

They stock high-end brands at up to 75 per cent discount and do so through high-quality imagery and content marketing, which does

not diminish the brands associated with the platform. The product may not always be current season but flawless and highquality, nevertheless.

Additionally, retailers can consider building their own shopping club, which shields discounted products from being visible to everyone online. This protects the image and price perception of the brands as high quality.

Off-price segments no longer have to be cheap in appeal and can be a considerable business opportunity. An off-price retail strategy can now be part of an overarching operating model to keep products moving.

With more opportunities available from retailers, brands can ensure their image is protected, while building new revenue streams and de-risking their business. ●

To learn how to better manage excess inventory issues, please click here.

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Analysis

5 T&L Technology Tips to Drive Business Performance Today WRITTEN BY MICHAEL DYSON, VP OF SALES, APAC, SOTI

Recent supply chain disruptions have taught us that innovation is critical for business survival and, for the most part, the use of integrated technology has been the differentiating factor between a company succeeding or failing during the pandemic.

So, as we look forward, what lessons can be learnt and what technology trends will emerge that will help meet customer needs and drive business performance in the T&L sector?

1. Visibility across the supply chain is key With only 1 in 5 companies having total visibility into their mobile and IoT deployments, businesses that don’t employ analytics to enable this visibility will struggle to achieve their full potential. Insights from apps and user analytics can improve performance and serve customers better, delivering unprecedented levels of visibility and helping to forecast when to scale capacity up or down and adjust operations.

When transport and logistics (T&L) companies adopt a mobile-first strategy supported by powerful analytics, they can obtain end-to-end visibility across the supply chain. This delivers critical insights such as real-time decision-making, which can improve workforce productivity and create better and more responsive experiences.

With the T&L sector being so fast-paced, companies must adapt to be successful.

Visibility is the key to simplifying workflows and driving greater efficiencies across the operation.

Without visibility, businesses could see a devastating impact on their operations, especially now that consumers expect quick and trackable deliveries.

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Title business elsewhere. It’s also the most expensive part of the supply chain process; accounting for 53% of the total cost of shipping and up to 41% of the total supply chain cost.

The continued rise of eCommerce has aggravated the cost and inefficiencies of lastmile delivery. This has led to customers expecting fast and often free delivery regardless of location.

This places businesses under pressure to optimise delivery routes and processes. If they don’t, they risk disappointing their customers and losing out to competitors. Through all of this, technology has been the key tool for businesses to adapt to the rise in online shopping and the demand from consumers by working to streamline business processes and provide real-time visibility.

4. Integrate a mobile approach for business continuity

2. The in-store experience must be seamless Shopper loyalty is harder to secure than ever before.

One poor in-store shopping experience can lead to a shopper abandoning a sale and taking their business to a competitor.

In the future, retailers need to deliver frictionless in-store experiences and avoid stock issues at all costs. Retailers will struggle to sell what they don’t have, or can’t see, and any lack of stock visibility risks lost sales opportunities.

The coming year will demonstrate the importance for retailers to have real-time insights into their product inventory and logistics operations, so they can rapidly adapt to changes in consumer shopping patterns and meet customer needs.

3. The eCommerce boom Throughout the pandemic, there has been an accelerated move to online shopping. As people have been unable to visit physical stores, many have turned to online shopping, which has meant that fast shipping is no longer a luxury, but an expectation.

Last-mile delivery has also been a global, industrywide challenge faced by T&L companies during this time as it is traditionally the slowest part of the delivery process, yet the element that has the biggest impact on consumer satisfaction. When deliveries do not show up on time customers complain, and with multiple options, they won’t hesitate to take their

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Keeping up with the kind of accelerated consumer demand that has been experienced throughout the pandemic doesn’t have to be a strenuous task, as long as a business has an integrated mobile approach. By implementing a robust mobile-first strategy, companies can provide better customer experiences and ensure they increase speed, minimise costs and increase transparency in the delivery channel.

When T&L companies invest in up to date technology and ensure their staff are using an integrated mobility and IoT management platform, the T&L industry will not only see powerful customer retention, but will also be able to form an effective operations strategy.

5. Technology is key to successful growth Overall, technology adoption will be a critical factor for business success in the next 12 months and beyond. From research undertaken by SOTI, 76% of all T&L businesses agree that their organisation would benefit or has already benefited from having an effective mobile-first strategy for last-mile delivery, while 58% agree that it is an effective strategy that has reduced operational costs. Our research also showed that 29% of all senior executives said that introducing or growing a mobile-first strategy is their current priority to drive their business forward.

Updating technology processes will ensure that T&L operators are positioned to succeed in a postpandemic world. It is also the best way to ensure customers are satisfied with the experience they receive and evolve from first-time shoppers into long-term customers ● To learn how technology can drive T&L business performance, please click here.

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Next Issue

Look out for the next issue For all of your latest supply chain industry news, be sure to join our community on LinkedIn

We will be taking a detailed look at the issue of Sustainability in the Supply Chain, including an in-depth overview around costumer expectations today.

While consumers advocate for environmentally friendly retailers, are they willing to accept delivery delays if it means that their goods arrive in a more sustainable manner? Or does convenience win out? What can businesses do to make their supply chains 'green' today while still meeting customer demand?

For more information or story suggestions, please contact: editor@supplychain-insights.media For advertising enquiries, please contact: advertising@supplychain-insights.media

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