4 Pillars to Future-Proofing Your Supply Chain with Yatish Desai

[00:41] Tell us a little bit about where you’re from and what you do.

• I’m Yatish Desai, managing director with KPMG. I’ve been with them for ten years.
• I’m also the US leader for their transportation, logistics, and distribution service offering.
• Our customers typically fall into one of four categories: industrial manufacturing companies, consumer and retail companies, pharmaceutical companies, and oil and gas/chemical companies.

[01:56] What are the 4 pillars to future-proofing your supply chain?

• The 4 pillars to future-proofing your supply chain are visibility, managing the data, predictive analytics, and establishing and developing curated partner ecosystems.

[02:54] Why don’t you get into visibility?

• It’s not about just looking from a functional perspective. We look at it end-to-end on the supply chain, not just “where are my trucks?”
• With a wide range of internal and external parties involved in the supply chain, a lot of managers have to constantly monitor every activity to ensure consistency.
• This calls for high levels of collaboration.
• It’s all about integrating cross-functional visibility across the enterprise.

[05:04] What is the next pillar for future-proofing the supply chain?

• It’s managing the data. We live in a world where data is cash.
• Our clients struggle because they are collecting data but often not able to bring it all together to provide business opportunities.
• Collecting the data is one thing, but using it is another.
• It’s important to determine a few notable KPIs instead of getting caught up in analyzing as much data as possible.

[09:58] The third pillar to future-proofing your supply chain is predictive analytics, so tell us more about that.

• This is becoming more and more important to a lot of clients.
• Traditionally, supply chains have been managed by people. In the future, a growing number of decisions will be automated.
• This will increase operational speed and free up supply chain professionals to focus on more complex decision making.
• This translates to a future where supply chains will be able to reduce waste, line shutdowns, etc.
• Control towers today are built around helping clients mine data, look at it, and recognize gaps. It’s a reactive system.
• Machine learning will provide you with real-time business insights to make better decisions proactively.

[17:29] Let’s get into the fourth pillar.

• Successful businesses are moving away from traditional, asset-based supply chains to a managed services model.
• Capital-intensive capabilities, such as warehousing, are outsourced to partners. In the future, it won’t only be physical processes that are outsourced.
• As supply chain management depends more on cutting edge analytics, there will be a skill gap that is unable to be filled quickly enough.
• A curated partner ecosystem means you’ll have to tailor it to what fits your purpose; using just any partner will not work.
• You’ll build up a network of specialized partners who are within your supply chain and providing service to you.
• The specialized partners will be relied on to bring more innovation into the fold.

[26:28] Tell us a little bit more about what you guys are doing at KPMG.

• We are helping clients in three different facets: clients that are hurting from their business being stagnant, clients that are growing and need help future-proofing, and clients who need transformational change to become a leader in their space.
• Our clients expect us to be thought-provoking for their business. They can’t afford to be stuck in the status quo.

Learn More:

Yatish Desai LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yatishdesai/
KPMG Advisory: https://www.kpmg.us/