Ed Rusch

I have a simple assessment that you can use to quickly understand whether you use true marketing at your company or not. I’m not talking about labels on an org chart. Sure, the word “marketing” can appear prolifically. That doesn’t mean you’ve “got marketing.” The crux of this issue is a simple assessment rooted in the assignment of value. It has a decades-old tell and involves three constituencies — the CEO, the marketing leader and their other colleagues in leadership.

Too much communication coming from technology providers is unfortunately based on an inside-out view: “Let me tell you about my company and why we are totally and undeniably awesome in every facet of awesomeness.” Companies waste hours of effort crafting and honing messages that are not speaking to people. And with that, key questions that your audiences are asking remain unanswered: Do you get me? Can you empathize with my circumstances? Are you speaking my language? Our industry is different.

Since the onset of the pandemic, Ed Rusch, CMO of Command Alkon, has managed the dual goals of modernizing his own company's company marketing while helping to digitally transform supply chain management in the heavy construction industry. Rusch discusses how the sudden need to be able to work from anywhere has been a blessing in disguise for his team, his company and his customers.

A Digital Collaboration Platform will change the world by helping companies save millions on their construction projects, along with reducing the carbon impact, eliminating waste, and saving lives.

Using supply chain collaboration technology, construction firms will see meaningful productivity gains. As construction in the US is a $1.27 trillion annual business, a very modest 3% productivity gain would translate into an industry created $40B stimulus package.

Construction today involves an enormous number of manual and paper-based inter-company processes and siloed operations, which not only cause delays but also increases overall costs. To combat these challenges, organizations need a robust supply chain platform to transform the way end-to-end processes are executed. Enter Command Alkon's CONNEX Platform - The Supplier Collaboration Platform for Construction's Heavy Work.

The Internet of Things (IoT) captures location, temperature, moisture, pressure, and other data that can be crucial to properly managing your supply chain. 10 Top value-based outcomes from leveraging IoT in the supply chIn are covered in this article.

Having laid the groundwork, Command Alkon is redefining what is possible on large construction sites, revolutionizing how job-site coordination and ticketing takes place in the greater interest of efficiency, time-lines, safety, use of resources, and ultimately, optimum project outcomes and stronger bottom lines.

Platforms are mighty tools that can solve integration and data management challenges, provide data visibility for all parties, and drive new business insights that you never dreamed possible. Stick with me. I’ll be your guide in the quest to being a platform guru.

Today, construction is a $10tr global industry. Nearly 15 percent of the world’s GDP is used to fuel construction. And these figures are growing rapidly. Yet, the industry is stuck. Productivity across heavy civil or mega-projects has only increased by a mere 1% over the past 20 years. The extent to which a company can optimize their activities, processes, and services depends directly on the quality of connectivity and the level of visibility achieved. Insufficient knowledge transfer has… Show more

Today, construction is a $10tr global industry. Nearly 15 percent of the world’s GDP is used to fuel construction. And these figures are growing rapidly. Yet, the industry is stuck. Productivity across heavy civil or mega-projects has only increased by a mere 1% over the past 20 years. The extent to which a company can optimize their activities, processes, and services depends directly on the quality of connectivity and the level of visibility achieved. Insufficient knowledge transfer has caused gaps in the industry. Show less

The reality is that companies can’t expect all their customers, suppliers and carriers to collectively adopt a single process. Instead, manufacturers and their trading partners want to conduct business in a network environment that allows easy connectivity without having to change the way they already work. These types of B2B networks are called Supply Chain Operating Networks.

The more tightly knit your community is on the network, the easier it is to avoid or recover from a disaster. Share risk mitigation strategies and backup plans with your trading partners to build a true ecosystem that is poised for continuing business, no matter what.

Every supply chain professional understands that these two risk categories – likelihood and magnitude – are vital considerations when identifying and preparing for potential disruptions. But a third factor that is often overlooked, yet is just as important, is detection lead time: the actual length of time the organization has between initial warnings about a potential incident and the time the incident (or its effects) actually takes place.

Social media benefits supply chain management in many ways. Through their social channels, companies enhance communication with customers, generate demand, reduce operating costs, mitigate risk, increase productivity, and gain marketplace intelligence. Companies that aren't active on social media are at a disadvantage because most of their customers, suppliers, and competitors are.

By its very nature, the cloud allows for connections to be made quickly with palpable effects so that supply chain issues can be resolved much faster. Connected companies gain useful, real-time knowledge of what is happening within their supply chains, allowing them to respond to market demands and events.

Adding digital functionality will increase customer satisfaction, streamline operations and improve efficiencies. Businesses are demanding the features found in most business-to-consumer (B2C) technologies, which allows them to easily search for products, compare features, shop for bargains, watch product demonstrations, track shipments and manage returns.

End-to-end supply chain visibility is a key to becoming a demand-driven enterprise. Enterprises gain significant benefits by collaborating with their supply chain trading partners through supply chain operating networks.

As supply chains extend globally, they become more complex. The flow of supplies, finished goods and information are widely distributed, presenting significant challenges across a manufacturer’s entire supply chain network of customers, suppliers and logistics providers. For success, companies need to gain visibility into this complex supply chain network to collectively sense and properly respond to changes in supply and demand.

Companies are able to support sustainability throughout their supply chains with many different approaches. Reducing paper by automating manual business processes, optimizing shipments and loads with end-to-end visibility, saving fuel and lowering emissions by avoiding disruptions, and sourcing materials from suppliers with like-minded goals are just a few examples.

Differentiated service is about making your company easier to do business with, anticipating the needs of your customers, and having products available when needed.

The inter-connectedness, expansive footprints, and co-dependency within the process industries, and the dynamic supply chain interactions in an inter-enterprise network, form the basis for these “10 Top Resolutions” to building a better Supply Chain Operating Network.

Using these initiatives, business leaders will gain greater profitability, improve productivity and increase customer satisfaction to drive more value out of their supply chains.

The business climate today is rife with missed opportunities. Our challenging global marketplace is compelling companies to elevate supply chain’s leadership role within their respective organizations, and these “E Lessons Learned” are key ingredients in their recipe for success.

Electronic data interchange (EDI) systems are more than 30 years old. They no longer work effectively in today’s challenging, hyper-competitive and volatile business environment. Combine that with the rigid requirements of a company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP), it’s no wonder most companies become stuck. However, recent technology innovations are presenting a plethora of opportunities. Those that seize them will get themselves unstuck and be in a lead position to capture tangible… Show more

Electronic data interchange (EDI) systems are more than 30 years old. They no longer work effectively in today’s challenging, hyper-competitive and volatile business environment. Combine that with the rigid requirements of a company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP), it’s no wonder most companies become stuck. However, recent technology innovations are presenting a plethora of opportunities. Those that seize them will get themselves unstuck and be in a lead position to capture tangible competitive advantages. Show less

Global supply chains by definition are very large and include a number of vendors, distribution centers, suppliers, buyers, manufacturing plants, logistics service providers, etc. If social media is embedded in the supply chain, the supply chain can gather information from a broad base of different sources. This collective intelligence can be used to uncover evolving trends or for better-informed decision-making.