CHAIN - September 2024

Trish

PATERSON

CEO of Copper Branch on how the company’s commitment to sustainable practice and community-focused approach to finding partners in its supply chain have driven its success within the plant-based restaurant space.

Stay ahead of the curve with the go to digital platform for senior supply chain executives.

FROM THE EDITOR

Welcome to the September 2024 edition of CHAIN Magazine.

ith a wedding and honeymoon to juggle last month, I am incredibly grateful to the whole team at iThink Media for all their support and fantastic work helping produce such a cracking magazine while I embarked on an exciting new chapter!

Let’s collaborate…

We’re delighted to share three exclusive interviews with you this month, along with the latest global supply chain news and features.

For our cover interview this month, I have the pleasure of speaking to Trish Paterson, CEO of Copper Branch, about the plant-based restaurant company’s commitment to sustainability and community-focused approach to finding partners in its supply chain (

I sit down with Shiv Tailor, Vice President of Enterprise Technology, and Fraser McBeth, Procurement Director of Volta Trucks to dive into the EV truck company’s innovations in lastmile logistics and technology, while celebrating the relationships which championed the

Our community consists of C, V and D level executives from a wide range of industries. A unique blend of thought leadership interviews and features that cover digital transformation, supply chain, procurement, logistics, technology, AI and sustainability. CHAIN is a specialist technology platform with over 211,300+ readers.

Craig Thornton, Director of Sourcing Strategies & Procurement at Air Products joins us to discuss how the company forged a position as a global leader in the supply of liquified natural gas process technology – elaborating on the supply chain strategies behind the company’s growth, innovation and manufacturing excellence (

Our features this month include overcoming obstacles to embedding sustainability in global ), analysing the top priorities for IT leaders in the transportation and ), expanding supply chain best practice offerings to Mexico and Latin ), enhancing risk visibility by innovating supply chain assurance ( exploring Oracle’s latest UX enhancements to elevate supply chain efficiency (

We are thrilled to welcome Andrew Swift, Chief Procurement Officer at the British Council, as the guest in our spotlight feature

Please enjoy our latest edition. As always, if you would like to be considered as an interviewee or you have a story for us to include, please do get in touch.

editorial@ithink.media connect with me on LinkedIn.

Trish Paterson, CEO of Copper Branch, explores the company’s sustainability initiatives and community-oriented approach to partnerships

KPMG UK on the need for a new approach to data insights to build a resilient supply

Shiv Taylor and Fraser McBeth

Trish Paterson

Craig Thornton

Andrew Swift

‘THINK, EAT, CHANGE’: Transforming the plant-based restaurant experience at Copper Branch

Trish Paterson, CEO of Copper Branch on how the company’s commitment to sustainable practice and community-focused approach to finding partners in its supply chain have driven its success within the plant-based restaurant space.

WHEN TRISH PATERSON JOINED COPPER BRANCH

IN

FRANCHISEE, HER

STORE WAS

THE

2016

AS A

ONTARIO

FIRST TIME THE CANADIAN PLANT-BASED EATERY HAD EXPANDED BEYOND THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC.

rish quickly began to appreciate the burgeoning interest people had in plantbased options as she flourished within her role at the company and, soon after COVID-19 hit in June 2020, she was made CEO.

“I saw the vision of where we wanted to take the brand, to bring it to that international level,” says Trish. “At that point in 2020 we were – like everyone in the food service industry – in a state of turmoil, so we were looking at restructuring the company to make us stronger.”

Copper Branch’s restructuring emerged after an acquisition by restaurant franchisor Foodtastic, which Trish credits as being a transformative player in the brand’s growth – leading the company to become one of the world’s largest plant-based restaurant chains.

“We tapped into Foodtastic’s marketing, supply chain and culinary strengths, leveraging that broad food service knowledge, and now we’ve got a little more muscle behind us,” says Trish. “Being as niche as we are, we always need to make sure we’re prioritising the customer experience, and they’ve been an incredibly supportive factor within that.”

As Copper Branch leans into its post COVID-19 era, the company is focusing on doing what it can to benefit both its loyal customers and the planet.

“Sustainability is in our DNA,” says Trish. “Being a plant-based brand, the very nature of our business and menu are focused on sustainable practice, but we’re always looking beyond that to see what more we can do. For instance, most of our packaging is recyclable and we’ve used compostable cutlery since 2017, long before it was mandated. It is

embedded in our core as a company to keep moving in that direction.

“Our motto is ‘Think, eat, change,’ and we firmly believe in considering our customers’ dietary needs with our menus, while also connecting them to sustainability in what we do. We’re working to reinforce that link in our customers’ minds between what you’re eating, environmental impacts, personal health and animal welfare. There’s so much we can do with food, and that’s why we continue to encourage that idea of change to our customers. Everyone wants to do their part and we are just providing a vehicle for people to contribute in some small way to making the world a better place.”

The concept of change within the company’s motto manifests directly in Copper Branch’s menu – the business is always investigating what new plantbased products customers are looking for, and seeking innovative suppliers which can help them deliver on these emerging demands.

“When we talk about menu innovation, we have to talk about our partnerships,” says Trish. “It’s a privilege to work with like-minded vendors who understand the products we need in order to fit our nutritional requirements – we’re not interested in serving heavily processed food.

“When we’re developing our menu, we start by looking at what’s trending in the industry. Although we’re a plant-based restaurant, we’re not just

targeting a vegan audience. We’re just interested in ensuring that we are creating great food that anyone can enjoy.

“Our focus is initially on texture and flavour. This can be challenging in the plant-based world, because you’re not dealing with chicken, pork and beef, you’re dealing with beans, lentils and mushrooms. Our job is to figure out how we can get that same flavour, texture and nutritional value on a plant-based plate.

“This is a different approach to how a traditional restaurant would develop a menu, so we seek out innovation in the wider industry, which we’re seeing in spades. We look for innovative companies doing new things in the food space, and then explore how we can implement these innovations into our menu. Our goal is to have something for everyone, including a robust catering menu that is designed to accommodate everything from the office party to a weekend chalet getaway.”

According to Trish, a particular challenge for Copper Branch within its menu innovation endeavours has been finding a suitable cheese supplier.

“One of the main reasons people always give for not being able to go plantbased is that they can’t give up cheese,” says Trish. “Finding good cheese in the plant-based world is a major challenge –you need stretch, you need flavour, and you don’t want that specific aftertaste or mouthfeel that some of the products on the market have.

“WE’VE WORKED WITH MANY, MANY CHEESE PROVIDERS IN THE PAST, BUT NOTHING WAS GIVING US QUITE WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR. AT THE SAME TIME, WE WERE LAUNCHING AN ENTIRE SISTER BRAND CALLED SERENITY PIZZA, AND WE NEEDED AMAZING CHEESE TO GET THAT OFF THE GROUND. IN THE END, WE FOUND UPFIELD”

“We’ve worked with many, many cheese providers in the past, but nothing was giving us quite what we were looking for. At the same time, we were launching an entire sister brand called Serenity Pizza, and we needed amazing cheese to get that off the ground.

“In the end, we found Upfield. Their chefs were super collaborative with us, coming to our test kitchen and working with our chef. One of the biggest challenges at Copper Branch is that we don't have deep fryers or grills, because we try to stay away from frying our food. Instead, we use steam and convection ovens, which can really impact how cheese performs. Upfield sat down with us and helped us carefully evaluate how cheese would perform under specific circumstances. It took several weeks and several iterations of the product, but it’s been a huge success and we’re currently using them on about six of our current menu

items.”

dairy free done

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“WE ALWAYS LOOK TO SEE IF THERE ARE LOCAL INNOVATIVE MANUFACTURERS PRODUCING SIMILAR PRODUCTS THAT WE CAN WORK INTO OUR MENU”

However, with the company growing globally Copper Branch is having to widen its supplier network beyond its existing partner system.

“With a Canadian brand like Copper Branch we’re typically using Canadian vendors, because we prioritise using domestic suppliers,” says Trish. “However, we have stores all around the world, so it doesn’t make sense to export products from Canada to France. In France, for example, Copper Branch works mainly with French suppliers such as Heura, La Vie Food and Planted.”

“Joining forces with partners like Heura, who are committed to the plant-based market, helps to consolidate our positioning as a plant-based canteen,” says Charlotte Calvet, Director of Operations at Copper Branch France.

“We always look to see if there are local innovative manufacturers producing similar products that we can work into our menu,” says Trish. “We’re currently in discussions with a company doing unbelievable things with shitake mushrooms, and we’re considering bringing them onto our menu at our European and North American stores.”

Finding innovative new products and suppliers is simple, Trish explains, when

Charlotte

Calvet, Director of Operations at Copper Branch France

you’ve built up a robust network in the plant-based community.

“It’s all about getting close to the vendor community and giving back,” explains Trish. “This is easy in the plant-based community, because it’s a small world, and we’re all pretty close as a sector. We’re always trying to find ways to bring the truly innovative food companies we meet to life. At the same time, due to our focus on positive change, we also have many opportunities to work with various incredible partners in the field.”

“Copper Branch is more than just plant-based food,” says WesleyAnne Rodrigues, Director of Marketing at Copper Branch. “The brand's ethos comes from an inbuilt desire to do good and nurture community.

We're always looking for ways the brand can extend into outreach and cause-led partnerships. Some of the organisations we've worked with in the past include Vegan Women Summit, Canadian Cancer Society and Rainforest Trust to name a few. Our upcoming Benevolent Burger will be donating a portion of sales to The Burnt Chef Project, an organisation that strives for mental health and wellness within the hospitality industry.”

Copper Branch has been looking into new ways to find innovative vendors approaching meat substitutes differently. One of the company’s biggest successes in this area was in 2022, when in collaboration with the Vegan Women’s Summit, it held

WesleyAnne Rodrigues, Director of Marketing at Copper Branch

an international competition for manufacturers.

“With this competition, we wanted to give food manufacturers a launchpad through Copper Branch into food service,” says Trish. “While these companies had been creating some unbelievable products, many of them had faced challenges in the supply chain and hadn’t been able to break into the food service industry yet.

“The winner of that competition was a company named Atlas Monroe, from San Francisco. They had created a beautiful chicken product that we made used for a Nashville chicken sandwich, which ended up being potentially one of our most successful limited time offers (LTOs) ever.”

The company’s current LTO at the time of writing – a gochujang tofu bowl and gochujang tofu bao buns – has also been a huge success, thanks to Copper Branch’s Culinary Nutritionist Ilona Spudas’ ability to discern leading market trends.

“Being able to create and share menu items that are plant-based is truly a dream come true,” says Ilona. “It’s how I eat outside of work and so luckily for me, it feels almost effortless. A lot of people want to eat more plant-based foods, but unless it’s both delicious, and maybe something a little different, it’s hard to guarantee a repeat visit. The goal is to have guests crave Copper Branch, and feel good when they eat it.

“A great way to push innovation is through ethnic flavours. I love to travel and try ethnic foods – grocery store visits in different countries are essential stops on any trip! Our Gochujang Tofu LTO, made with fermented chilli paste that hits on many levels – spicy, sweet and smoky. Combined with Tofu, it incorporates everything I believe in: fresh, whole foods made with ingredients that are a little different and packed with flavour!”

“Our team is incredible at knowing the market, and what flavours are trending,” celebrates Trish. “They’ve built this beautiful dish which hit the market relatively recently and it’s been incredibly successful. We wouldn’t be where we are today without our culinary team.”

The company is in a strong position today, but as Trish looks ahead to

Ilona Spudas, Copper Branch’s Culinary Nutritionist

Angelo Ragas, Director of Operations at Copper Branch

the future, she’s prioritising careful, sustained growth at Copper Branch. “Right now, we’re focusing on stabilising, and ensuring that we’re in the right markets,” says Trish. “It’s a challenging time for plant-based companies, so we are focusing on our franchisee health.”

“The challenge is being able to offer delicious food and an incredible experience while being efficient operationally and without having a negative financial impact on franchisees,” says Angelo Ragas, Director of Operations at Copper Branch. “We are constantly trying to innovate our recipe preparation

process to make it easier for staff to create our meals and sourcing the best quality products we can while keeping food costs in line. Stabilising the network also sometimes means being as flexible as possible when it comes to non-standard opportunities for our franchisees. We are often on the lookout and supporting the development of custom catering options for local community groups, identifying alternative retail or grocer opportunities, and assisting in the planning and execution of local events.

“It isn't always easy in today's market, and it's often a bit of a balancing act, but with every improvement and with

every step that we make just that little bit easier and more cost-effective so our franchisees can spend more time getting our food to more people.”

“Visiting stores and interacting face-to-face with franchisees is a vital part of creating a healthy and successful franchise system,” says Clayton Paterson, Regional Operations Manager. “More importantly than conducting simple compliance and quality checks, it allows our operations team to check in with the franchisee and their teams to ensure their business is running as smoothly and effectively as it can. Whether that involves discussing local marketing opportunities, or looking at budget plans, or providing general business advice – establishing that trust and working relationship between the operations team on the ground and the franchisee is vital. When I can

Clayton Paterson, Regional Operations Manager

“IT IS EXCITING TO THINK ABOUT WHERE THIS BRAND IS HEADING, AND WHILE WE ARE ALWAYS LOOKING AT DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES, WE DON’T WANT TO DO ANYTHING TOO FAST”

walk out of a meeting with a franchisee smiling and knowing we accomplished something productive together, there’s no better feeling in my work day than that.”

“In addition to our robust operating procedures, we also look to technology to improve productivity and the guest experience,” says Trish. “We’re fortunate that we’ve got some fantastic tech solutions such as our online ordering app and a robust loyalty programme, so we’re really leaning into those dynamics as well. This includes distributing engaging content, regular updates and targeted advertising to reach our audience.”

“By leveraging our social media platforms, we can connect with

Frank Di Tomasso, Marketing Manager at Copper Branch

our guests, promote new offerings, and gather valuable feedback,” says Frank Di Tomasso, Marketing Manager at Copper Branch. “This comprehensive approach not only enhances our brand visibility but also fosters a deeper connection with our community, ultimately driving customer loyalty and satisfaction.”

“It is exciting to think about where this brand is heading, and while we are always looking at development opportunities, we don’t want to do anything too fast,” summarises Trish. “It’s all about nurturing what we have, making sure our growth is stable and prioritising longevity in the market.”

Learn more about Copper Branch at eatcopperbranch.com.

ADDED VALUE

PODCASTS

“I have a long commute to work every day, because I live outside of the city,” says Trish. “The beauty of that is that it gives me a lot of time to listen to podcasts, so I’ve spent a lot of time finding the ones that work for me.

“I’ve been listening to Simon Sinek’s ‘A Bit of Optimism’ podcast recently. He tends to focus on positive themes and self-improvement, which is exactly what I’m looking for in a podcast. I found his episode ‘The War On The Young’ with Professor Scott Galloway so interesting – they discussed the mental health and confidence pressures placed on masculinity in young boys. Having three sons myself it’s an incredibly important topic.

“I’m very focused on how we can make change happen, so everything I listen to is aligned to change in some way, whether it’s about making the world a better place for the next generation or helping ourselves get through the day.

STAYING INVOLVED

“I challenge our team to stay involved in their communities, because part of what makes the franchise system at Copper Branch so successful is local flair,” says Trish. “You’ll see our stores carrying products from their specific communities and staying engaged within the local plant-based space. We’re not rigid as a franchise system – if you submit a request, we’ll generally approve it.”

Connect with Trish

Breaking

chains, building Overcoming supply chain barriers

sustainably: barriers

Highlighting key industry insights from ERM on three barriers blocking sustainable practice in supply chain networks – and how to overcome them.

As global supply chains grow in complexity, companies worldwide increasingly recognise the importance of managing risk and proactively identifying and addressing the issues

that are critical for ensuring resilient and effective business operations.

ere are the three major barriers to improving the sustainability of supply chains, and expert-led advice to break down these barriers within your organisation.

Keeping pace with regulatory requirements

The proliferation of supply chain transparency and accountability regulations at an international scale has overwhelmed supply chain managers as they navigate compliance requirements that differ across geographies.

While these regulations are crucial for promoting transparent and ethical business practices, the broad and binding nature of these requirements has proven difficult to manage. Compliance often

necessitates extensive data collection and a thorough understanding of a company’s suppliers.

The lack of standardised reporting frameworks and the need for comprehensive data can be timeconsuming and resource-intensive – particularly for small businesses. In addition to this, adapting to new or updated regulations often requires significant investments in compliancerelated activities, such as monitoring, reporting and auditing.

The experts recommend…

Developing a robust compliance management system that includes automated tracking, regular audits and meticulous documentation of detailed records is essential. Continuous monitoring and detailed reporting through environmental

management systems (EMS) such as the ISO 14001, alongside real-time monitoring and continuous reporting tools will help maintain regulatory compliance.

To stay informed on regulatory changes, join industry associations and subscribe to regulatory update services, as this helps you be aware of any updates the moment they happen. This will help your company adapt more swiftly, streamlining regulatory management processes to ensure efficiency and accuracy.

In addition to compliance, developing a robust corporate sustainability programme is imperative. This includes initiatives focused on environmental sustainability and actively engaging employees in these programmes. By establishing and publicly committing to these goals, organisations also enhance transparency and accountability.

Navigating stakeholder demands

Businesses are facing mounting external pressure from a variety of stakeholders. Currently, most companies find that the greatest external pressure comes from regulatory bodies, followed by customers and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Investors and eco-label organisations have also been noted for exerting particularly high pressure and

“Supply chain transparency is an indispensable cornerstone for sustainable practices within the technology sector”

submitting requests for companies to continuously provide more data and increase transparency.

As a result, corporations are tasked with continually enhancing their data collection and reporting processes to meet these escalating demands and ensure that their operations align with the growing expectations of all stakeholders involved.

The experts recommend…

Supply chain transparency is an indispensable cornerstone for sustainable practices within the technology sector as it serves as the foundation upon which meaningful environmental and social progress can be built.

Without comprehensive visibility into their supply chains, companies find themselves navigating blind spots that impede their ability to understand

and manage the sustainability implications of their operations.

Embracing supply chain transparency not only empowers companies to identify areas for enhancement but also fosters accountability, enabling stakeholders to hold companies to higher standards and driving collective efforts toward a more responsible, ethical and resilient industrial landscape.

Supply chain leaders say that one of the most useful resources for transparency is supplier engagement platforms – including The Responsible Business Alliance, SAP Ariba Supply Chain Collaboration and E2open.

Tackling

the shortage of skilled supply chain professionals

One of the most common barriers companies encounter is the shortage of available resources and trained employees to work with suppliers on incorporating sustainability into their operations.

In the past few years, many technology companies have downsized – leading to a shortage of personnel who are experienced in working with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). This lack of resources tends to be a greater issue at the supplier level, as suppliers do not

“Through training, employees are more likely to feel equipped to engage suppliers in sustainability initiatives”

always have dedicated staff to work on sustainability initiatives and are overwhelmed with other customer demands.

Additionally, budget constraints within organisations may hinder the implementation of comprehensive training programmes, leaving professionals without the necessary tools to integrate sustainability into their roles.

The experts recommend…

Training suppliers and employees on sustainability initiatives has proven to be a pivotal factor in driving successful supply chain operations and fostering a culture of awareness, accountability and action.

This can include factory consultations to mitigate risks and facilitate long-term improvements,

company-led training webinars to share best practices and online training and resources to promote proactive learning and corrective action.

As employees become equipped with better knowledge of sustainable supply chain principles, they not only gain a deeper appreciation for environmental and social sustainability but also feel

empowered to contribute more actively toward the company's sustainability goals.

Through training, employees are more likely to feel equipped to engage suppliers in sustainability initiatives, fostering partnerships aimed at driving change throughout the supply chain.

Source: ERM

Overcoming stalled starts with and innovation at Volta Trucks

Shiv Tailor, Vice President of Enterprise Technology, and Fraser McBeth, Procurement Director of Volta Trucks join us to reflect on the company’s innovations in last-mile logistics and the relationships that championed the startup’s growth.

with robust partnerships

Trucks

Bouncing back from bankruptcy, reassembling the organisation and supply chain, while maintaining a strategic vision during a transitional phase is no mean feat for any business.

But in the past nine months, electric vehicle (EV) startup Volta Trucks has achieved precisely this.

Founded during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Volta Trucks set out to create an EV truck focused on last-mile logistics – aiming to improve the health and safety of cities and the people in them along the way. Production commenced in early 2023, but towards the end of the year the company filed for administration protection before being acquired by Luxor Capital Group. Since then, Volta Trucks has embarked on a journey of rebuilding its teams and operations, eager to take the lessons learned from this experience and begin the process of reinvigorating the business.

Reflecting on these lessons today are Shiv Tailor, Vice President of Enterprise Technology, and Fraser McBeth, Procurement Director at Volta Trucks. Both Shiv and Fraser place particular emphasis on the importance of

technological innovation, relationshipbuilding within their teams and the overall supply chain, and how the partnerships they have built are propelling the business forward.

Shiv emphasises that his current priorities lie in enabling customer and supplier experiences through technology – an instrumental task in the process of re-energising the company.

“In the Volta Trucks rebuild, we’ve been looking a lot at emerging technologies,” says Shiv. “Artificial intelligence has been a huge trend across all industries, and while you can say it’s just hype, AI can provide a lot of value to a business. So the question I’m asking is: how do we get into a good place over the next 12 months to enable AI to be effective, adding value to our customer, employee and supplier experience? That’s the key journey we look at whenever we talk about involving a new technology.”

As the company rebuilds, Fraser has been re-examining how Volta Trucks works with suppliers – preparing for the challenges of returning to production and getting ready to have customer vehicles out on the road later this year.

For Fraser, this is all about employing new strategies to be more effective within the supply chain. Within

this, positioning Volta Trucks as an attractive customer to suppliers has been a top priority.

“We wanted to work with the best organisations to deliver the best products,” says Fraser. “Coming into it, we knew we didn’t have the same level of financial clout as established vehicle manufacturers and, on a surface

Fraser McBeth (left) and Shiv Tailor (right)

“For us, it’s all about managing our teams’ expertise and unique abilities to deliver a product”

Fraser McBeth, Procurement Director

level, that we would be viewed as a less attractive prospect than working with someone who can guarantee a hundred thousand vehicles a year.

“I had previously sat on the other side of the table, and I understand the frustrations of suppliers wanting to work in a new way with more established companies. A lot of supply chain executives want to grow and develop their business, but sometimes to them, it feels like all customers are interested in is cost. That’s how we tried to differentiate our approach – we built relationships with suppliers where we could work together and tried to make ourselves a customer who was easy to work with. That was our key strategy for finding like-minded organisations who wanted to sustain a relationship.

“For us, it’s all about managing our teams’ expertise and unique abilities to deliver a product. Rather than saying ‘We’ve got this team, this is how we want something to be run,’ we like to work in a more collaborative way throughout the entire supply chain network. We wanted to avoid falling into the obscurity of normality, and

we believe we’ve been able to do that within this organisation – finding new ways of working with both customers and suppliers alike.”

Here, Shiv jumps in to emphasise how technology and data are helping to differentiate Volta Trucks as a partner of choice.

“The beauty of the Volta Trucks’ supply chain is that it’s connected at many data points, so we can understand specific details on how a component is interacting with a wider system,” explains Shiv. “What that means is that we have a greater ability to understand the downstream impacts of the supply chain, which helps us optimise the overarching network. We have enabled an automated process using our tech stack in the sales and manufacturing pipelines, which means that our suppliers receive much greater demand visibility.

“We’ve got the sales and operations planning (S&OP) process completely connected throughout the supply chain. A lot of our previous modelling relied on people, but now we’re

prioritising an emphasis on using AI and machine learning to make things more efficient and automate workflows. With this in place, we want to better enable our suppliers so that they can easily do what they need to do across the supply chain.”

While Volta Trucks has re-developed its approach to supply chain modelling in

the past few months, its efficient and streamlined approach has been in place from the beginning.

“Initially, our approach prioritised speed to market,” says Fraser. “You don’t have the luxury of time if you want to break into the commercial vehicle market as a newcomer. So we were trying to find products

“The beauty of the Volta Trucks’ supply chain is that it’s connected at many data points”

Shiv Tailor, Vice President of Enterprise Technology

THE COMMON PATH OF HENDRICKSON AND VOLTA

The collaboration between Hendrickson and Volta Trucks involves the creation of a new vehicle from the initial concept stage. Hendrickson has played a pivotal role in this process, providing expertise in suspension design and engineering. With over a century of experience in suspension design for the global markets, Hendrickson was able to offer Volta Trucks the optimal HA4 suspension, which was developed through extensive investment, research and development.

In order to provide a tailored suspension system solution, it is essential to respond promptly and passionately to the specifications of a new vehicle launch. Utilising the collaboration with Volta’s engineering team, Hendrickson was able to develop and deliver a prototype suspension system within a few months. This was facilitated by Hendrickson’s extensive global portfolio of commercial vehicle suspension systems, which enables the company to provide customers with the optimal suspension solutions and ensure that the suspensions effectively address the customers’ specific needs.

Guntram Rüf, Senior Engineering Manager, reflecting on the project with Volta, states: “Developing and building a complete vehicle is a challenge due to complicated regulations varying all over the world and even in EU and due to more and more complex vehicle architecture. A reliable well experienced system supplier like Hendrickson is one thing less to worry about and can assist and also guide if requested through all development phases from initial concept to prototype until delivery of serial products. Highly evolved tools and highly skilled employees in engineering and production support the vehicle manufacturer using their expert knowledge to ensure the suspension fits perfect to the intended application.”

The most encouraging aspect of the new HA4 suspension is the consistently positive feedback on rear suspension performance. This includes successful meeting of durability targets and positive dynamic feedback from both professional test drivers and customers who participated in the initial vehicle tests.

Volta’s forward-thinking approach to sustainable urban development has the potential to disrupt the commercial truck industry. The combination of enhanced battery performance and the ongoing reduction of inner-city emissions, coupled with the notable advancement in vehicle safety, aligns with Hendrickson’s sustainability principles.

Matthew Penistone, Team Leader of Engineering, continues to add, “It was great to be able to offer Volta a suspension system that allowed them to bring their vision from an idea, to a first running mule, through prototype to production and customer deliveries. Our team ensured seamless integration of the suspension into their vehicle systems, actively listening to their requirements and offering effective solutions to achieve ‘their goals.”’

Volta was able to place its trust in the Hendrickson suspension system and focus its attention on developing its innovative new components, safe in the knowledge that its suspension was in capable hands. While it was unfortunate that a product that had the potential to change the market was ultimately unsuccessful due to unforeseen circumstances. Hendrickson is now even more determined in the partnership with Volta Trucks to ensure the success of the re-launch, especially given the journey travelled and the challenges Volta has faced.

Hendrickson expects Volta Trucks to continue to be successful and is committed to exploring future opportunities for collaboration in the area of vehicle technology. As Volta Trucks grows and develops,, Hendrickson will be supporting with a range of well-designed suspension systems that meet the highest quality standards and exceeds customers’ specifications.

Finally, as James Parr, Managing Director of Hendrickson UK, comments:

“As a global market leader in providing suspension system solutions, where we design, manufacture, and sell highly engineered safety critical systems to the commercial vehicle market, it has been a privilege to be involved in such a high profile sustainability project with a strong vision around safety.”

“A great example of a supplier we’ve been able to work effectively with is Hendrickson. We’ve used their expertise in the truck market to try and facilitate high-quality products at speed”

that already existed, with realworld experience of being used in commercial vehicles, which helped us keep development costs down and focus our investment on trying to build the product itself.

“We felt that this gave us a stronger standing in the market, as we were taking products that were also used by our competitors and had been proven to be effective, rather than trying to build everything from scratch.

“However, because of this, we needed suppliers who were able to accommodate a more challenging timescale.

A key supplier who has been instrumental in this process is

“A key supplier who has been instrumental in this process is Lander. They have the ability to build products quickly in-house, piecing together what needs to be done to make the vehicle function and help us provide a solution”

Lander. Their engineering expertise and flexibility have been invaluable, especially in the early phases of prototype building. They have the ability to build products quickly inhouse, piecing together what needs to be done to make the vehicle function and help us provide a solution.”

According to Fraser, what made Volta Trucks stand out to the strategic

suppliers it targeted in the early stages of development was the company’s commitment to building relationships.

“A key facet of supplier relationships is transparency,” says Fraser. “We’ve always taken supplier feedback on board – what we do well, and importantly what we could do better. You can’t discount the value of oneon-one relationships with a supplier, especially in a post-COVID-19 world.

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“Accelera has been an example of a great partner to work with through the whole project and have continued to be extremely supportive through the challenges of last year”

“Accelera has been an example of a great partner to work with through the whole project and have continued to be extremely supportive through the challenges of last year. We’ve been able to build strong relationships across their business and the focus and attention they’ve given us as a customer has helped us secure access to new technologies and opportunities in fresh markets.

“We’ve put a huge amount of time, energy and resources into building these relationships, including physically going to the suppliers’ plants. This has helped us better understand their strengths, as well as any challenges or pain points they may have as our business grows that we can work on together. When we get to that one-on-one level, we want to make sure that it’s not all about us. We want to look at our suppliers’ operations, and see what we can learn from them.”

Shiv and Fraser insist having a strong relationship with suppliers is particularly important when trying to disrupt the status quo as a business, particularly in the automotive and commercial vehicle industries.

“Cost has to be an important factor when we talk about being a sustainable business,” says Fraser. “Not only do we need to be sustainable, but the overall market needs to become more competitive. With alternative fuel products like electric vehicles, it’s the end customers who are ultimately paying more money. But we all need to find ways to bring more benefits into our supply chain to make it more accessible for the customer. And we couldn’t do that without our existing partnerships.”

Shiv echoes this sentiment from a technological perspective.

“I would like to add that culture is not more important than the quality or the capability of our partners,” says Shiv. “But when you’re working in such an adaptive world, you need to make sure that you have partners who are aligned with your vision.

“We didn’t necessarily get this right at the start, but we corrected quickly. Now, we have a set of suppliers who understand how the business is changing and what we’re trying to achieve, and I would argue that our relationship has become a true

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partnership at this point. These partnerships are very intuitive –you know when you’ve got it right incredibly quickly.”

However, while Volta Trucks has built close relationships with its suppliers, bringing together components from a range of suppliers to create a cohesive product can be challenging. Fraser celebrates how the high-quality partnerships the company has built up have made this process more streamlined.

“From the beginning, we’ve tried to work with suppliers who can be fast and agile,” says Fraser. “And we’ve done our best to work closely with those suppliers, especially on an engineering front. As every supplier has different standard parts, it can become challenging to fit these components together without significant changes for all parties.

“A great example of a supplier we’ve been able to work effectively with is Hendrickson. We’ve used their expertise in the truck market to try and facilitate high-quality products at speed, supporting some really challenging timescales on safety critical components. They’ve been incredibly supportive from the outset, all the way through the process of bankruptcy, to today – this support gives us the confidence to restart with a new, exciting project.”

As Shiv and Fraser look to the future, they note how they see supply chains and the wider industry evolving

over the next few years – and what businesses need to do to be futurefocused.

“I do think that, looking forward, the biggest challenge for any supply chain is going to be cost,” says Fraser. “Many upfront costs are higher than ever, and cost-cutting can still cause challenges for customers. Across the industry, we need to be looking at new, sustainable components – but these industries need to become more competitive, because right now customers are the ones suffering from significant costs.

“A trend I’ve noticed is that there’s been a tremendous change in how businesses view supply chain teams. Over the next few years – in both

procurement and logistics – we really need to challenge how traditional roles are viewed and the way we work.

“Businesses which can give supply chain teams access to more data are the ones that are going to be the most successful. Unless you put the effort in, it’s very easy to lose the importance of relationship building in a post-COVID-19 world. People don’t travel as much anymore, and a lot of the interactions they have with suppliers is virtual. That doesn’t help you understand how your suppliers operate – their factories, their challenges, the work they put in. Connecting with people in person and utilising the best data around you will help differentiate your business, but it requires putting in the time.”

Currently, Fraser stresses how the relationship between businesses and suppliers is shifting.

“Suppliers are changing,” says Fraser. “Just because your business spends a lot of money with a supplier, doesn’t mean they’ll accept unreliability. They don’t need to work with you anymore, especially if you’re viewed as a difficult customer. Events like COVID-19 and the blockage of the Suez Canal have created so much pressure in the supply chain that businesses need to be much smarter about how they look at product flows and work better with people. If there are going to be challenges within your business, work alongside your supplier so they understand the problem fully. You can’t

be the business that cried wolf every week.”

“Touching on Fraser’s point, we need to make sure that we’re enabling the buyers from a technology standpoint to make the right decisions,” says Shiv. “So it’s all about simulating the data and displaying it in a way that makes sense. We must understand what the supplier needs to ensure we’re ahead.

“We want to enable our suppliers, but we need to understand what they expect to see from us from a digital perspective. For us, we have a threeclick mentality, meaning that suppliers should be able to access anything that they need from our system in three clicks. That’s our vision for our supply base.”

As the conversation comes to a close, both Fraser and Shiv celebrate the resilience their teams and wider supply

base have shown in a challenging time for the business.

“Our current supply chain and the support they have provided, especially over the last few months, has been invaluable,” says Fraser. “It’s a real testament to them and their abilities to help us transition into our next chapter. We’re doing everything to make the most of this situation and be successful, and the resilience that all of our teams have been able to show throughout the bankruptcy process has been remarkable. I think our suppliers recognise this, and vice versa.”

“We are ultimately nothing without our people,” agrees Shiv. “Our whole team is now even more motivated to see Volta be successful. The passion and energy they have, given the current uncertainty, is remarkable. I could not have wished for a better team.”

Learn more about Volta Trucks here.

ADDED VALUE

Fraser

“I’ve been listening to more podcasts recently,” says Fraser. “One of my favourites is the High Performance podcast, and in particular a recent interview with Gordon Ramsey. Obviously, he’s in a very different field to me, but how he spoke about his career journey resonated with me. He’s built his career making sideways moves, so when it became time for him to run his own kitchen he was prepared for the various challenges. In this podcast episode, he mentions that he learned to dance in the rain – having the resilience to know that in business there’s always going to be a storm, you have to learn to dance in the rain and thrive in the situation.”

Connect with Fraser

Shiv

“I recently read Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building by Claire Hughes Johnson, which is incredibly relevant when you’re looking to build a team,” says Shiv. “She’s the former COO of Stripe, and it was really interesting to learn how she built her operating model. I have begun applying her insights in terms of my own management and leadership strategies.”

Connect with Shiv

Four top priorities for IT leaders in the transportation and logistics industries

Info-Tech Research Group’s new research provides critical strategies for IT leaders in the transportation and logistics industry to embrace Exponential IT, ensuring competitive advantage and industry resilience.

As the transportation and logistics industry faces rapid technological advancements and increasing market demands, organisations are compelled to evolve their IT frameworks to stay ahead.

aced with challenges such as heightened industry competition, customer demands for transparency and stringent zero-carbon regulations, the industry's need for an adaptive IT framework is more pressing than ever.

Recognising these challenges, Info-Tech Research Group has released its latest research findings, Priorities for Adopting an Exponential IT Mindset in the Transportation & Logistics Industry. The global research firm's comprehensive blueprint offers IT leaders sectorspecific strategic insights to adopt Exponential IT, driving

innovation and optimising operations.

The blueprint provides critical strategies for IT leaders to embrace Exponential IT, ensuring competitive advantage and industry resilience. This approach leverages advanced technologies with a focus on scalability, flexibility and rapid innovation in order to meet the ever-evolving demands of the industry.

By adopting an Exponential IT mindset, organisations can increase competitiveness, enhance their operational efficiency and deliver superior customer experiences.

“From digitising service models to computerising operations, information technology – including the new influx of artificial intelligence processing –has drastically changed organisations,” says Kevin Tucker, Advisory Practice Lead at Info-Tech Research Group. “Thanks to this rapid pace of technological change, opportunities are multiplying at an exponential rate.

“To make the most of these opportunities, IT executives will need to transform into business leaders who can unlock advanced value and insights for their company while reducing risk by implementing an IT transformation.”

In order to facilitate this transformation, there are four key priorities that IT leaders in the transportation and logistics industries should consider when adopting an Exponential IT mindset >>>

Team up data operations (DataOps) with model operations (ModelOps): 2

Integrating DataOps with ModelOps is essential for optimising data management and analytics processes. This collaboration ensures that data is clean, accessible, and effectively used across the organisation while models are continuously monitored, refined, and deployed at scale. By teaming up DataOps with ModelOps, IT leaders can facilitate real-time datadriven decision-making, reduce operational costs and enhance the overall effectiveness of their data initiatives.

Architect business capabilities 1

To thrive in an Exponential IT environment, organisations must design and implement business capabilities that are flexible and scalable. This process involves creating a robust architecture that supports rapid innovation and can adapt to changing market conditions. By architecting business capabilities, IT leaders can ensure their organisations are equipped to deliver enhanced value, improve operational efficiency and sustain their competitive advantage.

Let AI handle core operations 4

Embracing AI to automate core operations can significantly enhance efficiency and productivity. AI-driven automation allows organisations to streamline repetitive tasks, optimise resource allocation and generate real-time insights for better decision-making. With this system in place, IT leaders can turn their focus to strategic initiatives – helping them reduce operational risks and ensuring that their organisations remain competitive in a rapidly evolving market.

Treat data as a product 3

Managing data as a product means treating it with the same rigour and strategic importance as any other business asset. This approach involves establishing data governance practices, ensuring data quality and leveraging data to create actionable insights. Through this approach, organisations can drive innovation, improve customer experiences and unlock new revenue streams.

These findings underscore the transformative potential of Exponential IT for the transportation and logistics industry. As the industry continues to navigate rapid technological changes and evolving market demands, utilising these key priorities will be crucial for sustaining growth and resilience –driving substantial improvements in efficiency, innovation and competitive positioning.

Source: Info-Tech Research Group

How

Air Products is leveraging relationships to build strength and agility in the chemical manufacturing industry

Craig Thornton, Director of Sourcing Strategies & Procurement, on the supply chain strategies behind the company’s growth, innovation and manufacturing excellence.

build chemical

Founded in 1940, Air Products has built a reputation operational excellence and commitment to

he company is a global leader in industrial gases serving customers in dozens of industries, including refining, chemicals, metals, electronics, manufacturing and food. Owning and operating some of the world's largest industrial gas and carbon-capture projects, Air Products supplies world-scale clean hydrogen for global transportation, industrial markets and the broader energy transition.

Joining us today is Craig Thornton, Director of Sourcing Strategies & Procurement at Air Products, who works primarily with Rotoflow and Gardner Cryogenics – two Air Products businesses and industry leaders in the fields of turbomachinery and cryogenics, respectively.

To begin, Craig provides an insight into Rotoflow’s supply

chain strategy – which focuses on the importance of relationship building.

“Looking specifically at Rotoflow, we’ve aimed to develop mutually beneficial relationships with our suppliers,” says Craig. “And we’re doing that by taking a closer look at the partnerships we have built at Air Products overall. There are key commodities that overlap within the different groups, and we want to provide opportunities for our supply chain partners to serve multiple areas of the business.

“So we’ve been looking at the different markets we’re in to identify suppliers in other divisions that could help us and in doing so, we’ve been able to strengthen our sourcing strategy. By leveraging the overall Air Products brand, we’ve been able to pull in our industry knowledge, and then reach out to many of our established suppliers. This has been very beneficial from a partnership perspective, because

reputation for its innovative culture, to safety and the environment.

they understand that we’re looking to progress, and they want to move forward with us.”

When looking for suppliers outside of the Air Products’ umbrella, the company’s priority is making the process as straightforward as possible for potential partners.

“We have dramatically evolved our supplier selection process,” says Craig. “It was originally a very long and arduous process, but we’ve been

able to tailor it to be more agile and efficient. We would go through many different phases of due diligence and qualification, but now we’re trying to scale it based on the complexity of the supplier’s capabilities.

“We make sure to put the right focus on our selection process to make things simpler for our suppliers. Taking information and getting back to potential suppliers does not work in today's day and age. The foundation of this new approach is agility – and

that’s really helped us specifically in establishing a really strong supply chain base.”

But it’s not just the company’s supplier selection process that has evolved – the company has also developed its sourcing strategy, significantly improving lead times and its service capabilities.

“We are resolved to be excellent in what we do every day”

Craig Thornton, Director of Sourcing Strategies & Procurement

“One of the best things we ever did in developing our sourcing strategy was looking not only with a nationwide focus, but also having a more localised focus,” says Craig. “We’ve been very successful in ensuring we have a strong supply chain that can support us locally – both within the US and abroad.

“We value having an international reach, but we need to make sure we have the right types of suppliers, being able to support our sites within hours, not days. This is a strategy that we’ve developed over time by using stakeholder feedback.

“In order to achieve that, our supply chain has shifted to prioritise both the internal and the external, sourcing feedback in all areas to develop our strategy further. It’s great to be able to leverage these large companies we’re dealing with, but that’s not going to help when we’re working from an isolated location.

“We needed to ask ourselves how we could service these locations better, and what suppliers in those more remote regions we could work with. This has not only made a huge

“One of the great things Circle Valve has been able to do is looking at some of our specific applications as a strategic supplier”

difference to the responsiveness of our operations, but helped us develop close relationships with local suppliers. We’ve been able to tailor that approach over the last couple of years, and it’s enabled strength and agility for all of our corresponding sites.”

However, this combination of strength and agility only exists because of Air Products’ commitment to excellence.

“We are resolved to be excellent in what we do every day,” says Craig. “We have strong foundational groups looking at process efficiencies and excellence in manufacturing. Here, we’re looking at what our existing processes are and how they work together, while developing an understanding of what we can do better. For instance, can we put ourselves in a better place by looking at specific automation process efficiencies?

“To do this, we look outwards, to our key suppliers. When we have our

relationship discussions, which we typically do quarterly, we ask them what they’re working on that can benefit us both, and if we’re doing something that can help them. This has opened the door to us building partnerships, as opposed to transactional relationships

“We've been able to turn around and leverage our suppliers and they have leveraged us. What are we doing that maybe could help our partners become more efficient in their processes? Is it relative to any type of specifications, technical drawings or processes –whatever we can do to make life easier for our partners, we will consider how we can support them.

“In doing so, we’ve been able to cut down our lead times, increase our productivity and take a closer look at specific areas of innovation. We’re always trying to embrace our suppliers’ capabilities by looking at them internally and seeing the areas of growth we can best facilitate alongside them – for us and for them.”

One such partner has been industrial valve manufacturer Circle Valve.

“We utilise Circle Valve specifically in our Gardner Cryogenics division,” says Craig. “This division handles all of our transport for our liquid hydrogen and helium. As the world’s leading supplier of large liquid helium storage vessels, we needed to build a reliable partnership.

“One of the great things Circle Valve has been able to do is looking at some of our specific applications as a strategic

supplier to ascertain the efficiencies they’re able to provide,” says Craig. “It’s been a very strong collaboration because they’ve always valued open communication and feedback.

“Some suppliers can be complacent in the sense that they will just sell what they sell, but Circle Valve is always coming to us with new innovations and clearly explaining how these innovations can benefit us specifically. They understand us deeply, and we understand them. That’s what I’d categorise as a true partnership.”

With such strong partnerships behind them, Air Products is looking at an exciting future. Its next focus? Deploying sustainable initiatives.

related technology,” says Craig. “However, our long-term goal is to continue to drive the energy transition through clean hydrogen.

“It’s all about seeing where we can build, how our machinery can be more efficient and how we can be more agile to see results quicker. This sustainable development is hitting different sections of the company all at once, and it’s incredibly exciting because we’re all part of it in one way or the other.

“Rotoflow’s turbomachinery in particular has been a huge part of that drive, and it’s certainly going to be our continued focus, particularly as Rotoflow creates the parts that make a lot of these things work. Innovation is mission critical. It is a very exciting time to be a part of where we are heading relative to energy efficiency and clean energy, especially in the hydrogen market.”

And the company’s growth doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

“As an overall company, we’re moving at a strong pace and from a Rotoflow perspective, we’re continuing to evolve,” says Craig. “We are always continuing to grow the business and looking at various opportunities to do so. So if there’s anything to celebrate, it’s our strong growth mindset.”

“As a company, our current focus is looking at our industrial gas business, and how we can enhance that with

Learn more about Air Products at airproducts.com.

ADDED VALUE

Different perspectives

“I’m constantly looking at what different markets hold,” says Craig. “I’ve been a career-long member of the Institute for Supply Management, and there are some incredible leaders within that organisation with insights that can transform the way you do business.

“I always like to see different ways of handling situations. You get to see so many different businesses and professionals with different perspectives on things, and I think it’s so useful for my own progression to understand these different strategies and where they come from.

“A great insight into these different perspectives for me is the annual Turbo Expo, which takes place in Houston. We attend every year, meeting different industries and doing panels with various leaders. To me, that’s one of the best ways to get your information is engage our peers and partners.”

Learning from family

“I feel so lucky to have the life that I do,” reflects Craig. “It’s easy to get hung up on having the right balance of business and personal, but for me it’s all about the people I’m surrounded by – both my incredible work family and my wife and family.

“I have a 16-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter. They’re phenomenal, and the primary focus of my life. I wish I could say that I have all the answers, but they’ve taught me so much in becoming a better person. They’re just tremendous.”

The importance of staying active

“I played college football at Georgetown University, and am an avid Philadelphia Eagles fan,” says Craig. “My entire family have been Eagles fans for as long as I can remember – we all have season tickets, and we go to as many games as often as we can.

“There can be a lot of love and a lot of hate that comes from following football, but for me it all comes down to a passion for sports. I coached youth football for over 20 years. I did stop once my son was old enough to not want his Dad coaching him anymore, but I’m still involved.

“We’ve always encouraged our children to be involved in sports – my daughter has been very into volleyball, which has been great to see. It’s so important to have that involvement with sports, because it’s foundational stuff and you can learn a lot.”

Connect with Craig

to skill-building

to expand supply chain skill-building offerings in Mexico and Latin America

Institute for Supply Management®’s latest expansion highlights the of Mexico and Latin America in global supply chain networks.

As the global leading notfor-profit professional supply management organisation, the Institute for Supply Management® (ISM®) is committed to advancing the practice of supply management.

ith a community of more than 50,000 people in over 100 countries, the organisation prioritises advancing the practice of supply management to drive value and competitive advantage for its members, contributing to a prosperous and sustainable world.

To support the growing needs of the global supply chain management community, ISM® will expand its offerings in Mexico and Latin America as of September 2024. This will include providing supply chain skill-building courses, ISM certification preparation programmes and executive-

level events. This ISM presence in Mexico and other Latin American cities will be in English and Spanish, and builds upon its existing distribution and community in the area.

This movement signals the importance of supply chains in the region and further recognises the global footprint of ISM®'s gold standard certification, CPSM®. The programmes in Mexico will be deployed in partnership with Supplynity – the largest community of buyers in Latin America designed to distribute information, foster training and collaboration among

members and generate synergies to facilitate the adoption of best practices in the procurement process. The organisation spearheads a CPO LATAM Conference, bringing together its executive procurement community within the region.

“The Mexico and Latin American markets are critical for supply chains and are a growing region for supply

chain expertise,” says Tom Derry, Chief Executive Officer of ISM®.

“This offering is a natural evolution for ISM® and addresses a regional need we can support with this collaboration.”

Skill-building courses will begin in September 2024 on key topics, including negotiation, financial analysis and more. Certification-

“The Mexico and Latin American markets are critical for supply chains and are a growing region for supply chain expertise”

Tom Derry, Chief Executive Officer of ISM®

“We are very excited to have a partnership with ISM®, which is the most relevant organisation related to procurement”

Gabriel Rosales, Founder of Supplynity

oriented courses will begin in Mexico City as of January 2025, with an exclusive executive conference to occur beforehand in Mexico City in November of 2024.

“We are very excited to have a partnership with ISM®, which is the most relevant organisation related to procurement,” says Gabriel Rosales, Founder of Supplynity.

“This will better serve our objectives to share procurement best practices, as well as training and related certification courses with buyers in Latin America.”

As a global association looking to make local and regional impact, leveraging a partner such as Supplynity will enable ISM® to further its mission of advancing the supply chain management profession in a significant area.

Source: Institute for Supply Management®

Innovating supply chain assurance gain risk visibility

A new approach combining data insights, process enhancements to embed resilience operations is required, according

supply assurance to visibility

insights, technology, and resilience and continuity of according to KPMG UK.

In today’s interconnected business environment, organisations rely on a complex web of third, fourth and even nth-party suppliers (spanning many tiers of the supply chain) to maintain operations.

ritical Third Parties (CTPs) are external entities that provide essential services to financial institutions, technology firms and many other organisations that are not directly connected to the financial services sector but play a crucial role in maintaining operational continuity. These services can include technology infrastructure (data centres), data analytics, cloud computing and more.

CTP’s, however, are not the only stakeholders that require focus –third parties of all sizes play roles in supporting the operations of many

organisations. This dependence on external services introduces potential vulnerabilities and exposes organisations to a range of risks.

Today, organisations have implemented various supplier assurance activities to gain visibility into these risks. These activities include:

• Strengthening contractual arrangements and expectations: Defining the supplier’s obligations, performance expectations and risk mitigation strategies within contracts.

• Defining standards: Establishing clear standards for quality, security and performance that suppliers must adhere to.

• Segmentation based on risk: Categorising suppliers based on their inherent risk profiles – allowing for tailored assurance activities.

• Supplier questionnaires and audits: Gathering information from suppliers about their capabilities, processes and risk management practices. Then conducting periodic audits to assess the supplier’s compliance with agreedupon standards and contractual obligations.

“a new approach is required to combine data insights, technology and process enhancements to embed resilience and continuity of operations”

• Monitoring of compliance: Monitoring on a continuous basis of controls, technology vulnerabilities, performance and adherence to relevant regulations and industry practices.

Despite these efforts, supply chains remain susceptible to disruptions and vulnerabilities. To address this challenge, a new approach is required to combine data insights, technology and process enhancements to embed resilience and continuity of operations. These capabilities include:

• Scenario testing: Simulating potential disruptions and assessing the impact on the organisation's operations. By identifying potential vulnerabilities and developing mitigation strategies, organisations can proactively address risks before they materialise.

• Risk quantification: Assigning a numerical value to the potential impact of risks to be more objective, using a data-driven approach to risk management. This enables organisations to prioritise mitigation efforts and allocate resources effectively.

“Organisations must test their ability to continue to provide material services in the event of severe disruptions. CTPs can identify weaknesses and strengthen their response mechanisms”

• Threat intelligence: Gathering and analysing information about emerging threats and vulnerabilities in the supply chain to identify potential disruptions and take proactive measures to mitigate risk.

• AI-powered continuous monitoring: Assuring compliance

through real-time monitoring of contractual and service performance to bring early detection and rapid response to emerging threats. This includes due diligence data gathering, chatbots for vendor onboarding, contract analysis, assessment data analysis and many other use cases. Taking this proactive approach enhances

risk management, minimises the impact of disruptions and ensures business continuity.

• Industry collaboration: Sharing insights and experiences by collaborating with firms, financial market infrastructure firms (FMIs), industry groups and other stakeholders to ensure a comprehensive assessment of supply chain resilience.

Organisations must test their ability to continue to provide material services in the event of severe disruptions. Scenarios may include cyberattacks, natural disasters, supply chain disruptions, and other plausible threats. By simulating scenarios, CTPs can identify weaknesses and strengthen their response mechanisms.

With this comprehensive approach, organisations can gain a deeper understanding of their supply chain risks, develop effective mitigation strategies and ensure the resilience and continuity of their operations in an increasingly interconnected and complex business environment.

Source: KPMG UK

"The team were professional and diligent throughout"

Leigh Feaviour, CTIO for BT’s Supply Chain

"Absolute pleasure working with the Digital Innovation team"

Mun Valiji, Chief Information Security Officer at Sainsbury’s

"A highly professional approach"

Andy Brierley, Vice President, Cloud Application Modernisation at IBM

"Digital innovation Magazine is a very flexible and professional team"

Kim Larsen CTIO, T-Mobile Netherlands

Oracle is elevating supply chain efficiency with UX enhancements

Oracle Cloud SCM has been designed to help customers increase efficiency, accelerate operations and improve supply chain resilience.

help organisations increase the efficiency of global supply chains, Oracle is introducing new user experience (UX) enhancements to Oracle Fusion Cloud Supply Chain & Manufacturing (SCM). Built with the award-winning, consumergrade Oracle Redwood Design

System, the UX updates help procurement professionals, logistics managers, field service technicians and product managers increase productivity and accelerate supply chain processes.

“Supply chain professionals are under pressure to move with speed and accuracy as

they navigate numerous challenges in every step of the supply chain,” says Chris Leone, Executive Vice President –Applications Development at Oracle.

“In this high-stakes environment, a poor user experience can add to frustration, cause further delays and add costs. With the latest Redwood user experience updates, Oracle Cloud SCM customers can increase the speed and accuracy of operations, reduce costs and improve overall efficiency.”

The Oracle Redwood Design System features common capabilities for Oracle Fusion Applications that help Oracle Cloud SCM customers enhance user experience, streamline processes and increase productivity. These features include:

1.Smart search

With enhanced keyword matching, comprehensive features and

“With the latest Redwood user experience updates, Oracle Cloud SCM customers can increase the speed and accuracy of operations, reduce costs and improve overall efficiency”

Chris Leone, Executive Vice President –Applications Development at Oracle

automatic suggestions, Oracle Cloud SCM helps users quickly find, review and edit information related to their role. For example with smart search capabilities in Oracle Product Lifecycle Management, organisations can quickly find componentlevel information, take action and reduce development cycle times.

2. Business rules

By offering users the ability to tailor and conditionally control pages based on specific criteria – such as countries and business units – Oracle Order Management helps organisations to create editing and defaulting logic to match specific order needs and optimise fulfilment.

3. Oracle Guided Journeys

This feature helps users define custom workflows with contextualised, multi-format assistance during process execution. With this tool, organisations can reduce support costs and deliver an enhanced buying experience.

New supply chain-specific Redwood UX enhancements for Oracle Cloud SCM include:

“With the new user experience updates in Oracle Cloud SCM, organisations can empower users, seamlessly connect supply chain processes and quickly respond to changing demand, supply and market conditions”

1. Pricing rules for order management

Using this tool helps price administrators set up complex pricing rules and define eligibility based on the customer and item attributes. With a new pricing rule builder in Oracle Order Management, organisations can automate discounts and increase the efficiency of sales promotions.

2. Field parts inventory for maintenance

A field parts inventory aids service technicians in managing parts inventory, reservations, transfers and returns while working in the field. With the ability to view on-hand, available and reserved parts across all field service locations in Oracle Service Logistics, organisations can optimise

service efficiency, resolve issues faster and improve the customer experience.

3. Structures view for product management

This helps product managers quickly analyse and validate bill of materials and component item information. By being able to toggle between levels within an item structure and apply filters in Oracle Product Lifecycle Management, organisations can increase the speed and accuracy of processes and reduce new product information (NPI) cycle times.

4. Guided task for mass component replacement

By utilising this tool in their operations, product managers can perform a mass replacement of a component on one or more item structures. With a guided process for mass replacement (including reviews) in Oracle Product Lifecycle Management, organisations can improve user efficiency and reduce potential errors.

With the new user experience updates in Oracle Cloud SCM, organisations can empower users, seamlessly connect supply chain processes and quickly respond to changing demand, supply and market conditions. As new features are added every quarter, Oracle Cloud SCM helps customers create a resilient supply network and processes that outpace change.

Source: Oracle

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In the Company of...

Welcome to our spotlight profile feature where we chat with the leaders and innovators in the supply chain, procurement and logistics industries.

For this month’s In the company of… we sit down with Andrew Swift,

Chief

Procurement Officer at the British Council.

A brief summary of your role and what your organisation does

I work at the British Council as Chief Procurement Officer. The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities, supporting peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and over 200 countries worldwide.

We combine the UK’s expertise in arts and culture, education and the English language, working directly with individuals to help them gain the skills, confidence and connections to transform their lives and shape a better world. We support people across the globe to build networks and explore creative ideas, to learn English, to get a high-quality education and to gain internationally recognised qualifications. We also work with governments and our partners in the education, English language and cultural sectors, in the UK and globally, ultimately benefitting millions of people all over the world.

Our procurement team consists of almost 90 colleagues who work in various countries in our regional teams. We also have a category management team here in the UK and our compliance, governance and systems team based out of India.

“We support people across the globe to build networks and explore creative ideas, to learn English, to get a high-quality education and to gain internationally recognised qualifications”

“Procurement is the best career you can be in as it has a number of professions all wrapped into one – from sales and business development to finance and supply chain”

How did you start working in procurement?

After leaving university back in 1996 I owned a surf shop in Leeds and I used to close the shop on a Monday. I then took a part-time job at the Yorkshire Post newspaper inputting data for Management Accounts. This led to me moving to Purchase to Pay and really that was my first role in procurement. After helping the purchase to pay manager negotiate an electricity contract it was suggested that I become their first buyer which is where I started – the Yorkshire Post paid for my CIPS foundation level as it was then known and the rest as you say is history!

What has been the biggest highlight of your career to date?

That’s a hard question to answer as I think I have a career highlight in every job I have had.

At the Yorkshire Post, my first-ever procurement project led to millions of pounds saved in electricity and gas. While I worked at Thistle

Hotels, it was the successful delivery and installation of 56 new switchboards, air conditioning and fibre systems without the hotels having to close. At SKY we led the concept of flexible procurement of storage for the emerging SKY GO systems which needed more storage when big sports games were on. While I was at SITA my highlight had to be during the COVID-19 pandemic when procurement stepped up and saved over £65m in one year when our normal savings were around £20m per year.

At the British Council we are still writing the story but already I would say the highlight has been to see the transformation of our team, from being focused just on their regions or countries to thinking more strategically as one procurement team.

Which emerging trend do you think will be most crucial in your industry in the next ten years?

I think there are four major trends which are not just impacting one

industry, but every organisation and procurement team globally:

a. Digitisation and AI

b. Environmental and sustainability efforts

c. Global inflation and cost increases

d. Supply chain risk

Procurement is no longer just transactional – it’s more about adding value and reducing risk.

That’s why digitalisation and AI can help tremendously because they take away the low-value transactional spend from our teams – which means we can focus on adding value, reducing the risk of supply interruptions and mitigating cost increases we see across the globe.

If you could spend a day in the life of another profession, what would it be and why?

Procurement is the best career you can be in as it has a number of professions all wrapped into one – from sales and business development to finance and supply chain, I can go on! But if I could spend one day in another career it would be as a stuntman. As a kid I watched the original Fall Guy films all the time and I always pictured

myself on the set of a movie film as a stuntman!

Outside work, what helps you feel like the best version of yourself?

My main thing is running, which helps me to stay focused and be mentally alert. I try and run 1,200 miles a year which I have managed for the past 10 years, although this year I did the London Marathon and the week after I played badminton with my son and twisted my knee which has taken me out for many weeks. I also enjoy other sports such as golf and surfing, and I like to take my kids on the Thames on our SUP boards.

Before we go: what advice would you like to share with our readers?

Gandhi said it best when he said “Learn as if you will live forever, live as if you would die tomorrow.” Take every opportunity to enjoy yourself but keep learning, teach yourself new skills and stay on top of emerging trends. And finally, always find a mentor that you can aspire to and remember to be a mentor to someone else, we need to pass on the things we have learned!

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