Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending the #SCLhub conference in London as one of the sponsors. Thanks a lot to the brilliant organisation from Leon Wheatle, Abigail Collett and the entire #VFmedia team. Some fascinating discussions with the supply chain leaders from diverse sectors sharing knowledge, challenges, and best practices.
It was wonderful meeting some old and new contacts Alex Dewhirst MCIPS, Gareth Williams, Bradley Saunders, Claire Young, Paul Howard, Céline Batlouni, Gaurav Wakalkar, Gary Copeland, James Gray, Matthew Hughes, Cemil Djemil and many more.
Last but not least, thanks for the wonderful company and collaboration Andre Pereira, David Wightman, Alex Lipnitskiy and support from Maha Ashraf Ali, Mark Ellis, Suzanna Hinnell, Will Sillar
Here are some key themes from the discussions that resonated with me:
1. Collaboration with upstream supply chains, especially co-packers poses unique challenges when demand fluctuates. While cost remains a critical factor during sourcing, Supply chain function needs flexibility and efficient information-sharing
2. The era of manual spreadsheet planning is waning. Supply chain professionals are hungry for system-based solutions that enhance planning accuracy, visibility, and collaboration across the supply chain.
3. Stock optimisation remains a key challenge with rapidly changing demand with uncertain supply. While organisations are implementing the latest digital solutions, inventory and OTIF/ fill rate more or less remain the same.
4. Beyond the challenges of spreadsheets and collaboration, supply chain leaders grapple with network optimization and distribution strategies to optimise their cost to serve.
Looking forward to continuing these conversations, thoughts, and experiences.
Managing Director and Co-Founder, 25 year veteran in B2B marketing, content syndication, CTV, custom content, and programmatic. We are a marketing agency built to support other B2B agencies.
2moJames, great news....congrats..... I feel old now....when I can say I remember when....focus was so many lifetimes ago.