Manufacturing & Logistics IT - June 2019

JUNE 2019

MLIT Cover June'19.qxp_IBC publications 07/06/2019 11:15 Page 1

The European magazine promoting the effective use of IT in supply chain applications

Special Technology Report: DEMAND FORECASTING & PLANNNG/S&OP Interview: WANDER AG

Also in this issue: Unpicking the Brexit uncertainty facing UK manufacturers The real answer to the question ‘What’s our risk

For the latest news and to subscribe to the Manufacturing and Logistics IT weekly newsletter visit

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Ed Holden

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CONTENTS Manufacturing and Logistics IT June 2019 The European magazine promoting the effective use of IT in supply chain applications

Editor: Ed Holden Contributors: Derek E. Brink, Aberdeen Group Tom Downes, Quail Digital Spencer Gisser, VDC Research

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Interview

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Special Technology Report

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Manufacturing

Sophie Hand, EU Automation Mark Hughes, Epicor Andreas Koenig, ProGlove Matthew Robertson, NetDespatch

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Alex Saric, Ivalua Publisher: Dean Taylor Designer: First Sight Graphics Ltd, www.firstsightgraphics.com Production: Carolyn Pither

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Circulation: Carole Chiesa IT Manager: Ian Curtis Accounts: Sarah Schofield Published by: B2B Publishing Ltd PO Box 3575, Barnet, Herts, EN5 9QD UK Tel: +44(0)208 440 0372 Email (publishing): info@logisticsit.com Email (editorial): editor@ibcpub.com

ISSN:1463-1172

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Demand Forecasting & Planning/S&OP

Epicor: Unpicking the Brexit uncertainty facing UK manufacturers Frost & Sullivan: Global IaaS market rises as enterprises opt for hybrid and multi-Cloud deployment models Probrand: IT issues cost companies £3.4 billion per year in lost productivity Indeed: Revealed – The UK’s fastest growing jobs Gartner: 40% of Gen Z employees regret accepting job offer

Planning

Chaucer supports integrated business planning (IBP) with QAD DynaSys solutions Ivalua: How procurement can become the ultimate ally for the high street

Voice-Directed Picking

VDC Research: RealWear wins 10K unit deal opening up market for industrial head-worn computing solutions

Automatic Identification & Data Capture/Mobile Computing

IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index: Late Easter spells subdued growth for online retail in March VDC Research: Machine vision solutions & industrial scanner adoption driving automation to new heights Nordic ID recognised by Frost & Sullivan for its RFID Solutions that enable instant checkout for retail customers EU Automation: Is BYOD possible in hazardous environments?

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Transportation Management

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Supply Chain Management

Printed by: First Sight Graphics Ltd, www.firstsightgraphics.com No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publishers.

No liability is accepted for any action arising from the contents of this publication; readers are advised to check any manufacturer’s or supplier’s claim for products. The publishers do not endorse opinions expressed in any article by an outside contributor.

While every care is taken over photographs and illustrations, which are returned when requested, no liability can be assumed by the publishers for the loss of such materials.

Wander AG

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TIMOCOM: Worry about a chaotic Brexit causes explosion in EU exports to the UK Leading recycling firm optimises delivery with TIMOCOM NetDespatch: Understanding the best ways to retain customers in 2019 Gartner announces winners of the 2019 Supply Chainnovators Awards B-Stock Supply buyer base is growing 30% each month as demand for secondary market merchandise increases across Europe RetailEXPO: Experiential retail proves key for retailer performance Gartner: 90% of blockchain-based supply chain initiatives will suffer ‘blockchain fatigue’ by 2023 Gartner identifies the top 8 supply chain technology trends in 2019 JD Sports chooses Eurostop Retail systems for stores in South East Asia

Security

Aberdeen Group: The real answer to the question ‘What’s our risk from ransomware?’

Aberdeen Intent for Salesforce is live Quail Digital: Spotlight on in-store security

Warehouse Management

ProGlove: The future workforce: augmentation not just automation

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Wander AG

Interview

The right supply chain ingredients

W

Manufacturing & Logistics IT spoke with Steffen Grill, head of IS at Wander AG, about how the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s IT estate helps it to run an agile and efficient production, warehousing and distribution regime.

ander AG is one of Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading food manufacturers. Its distribution range includes tea and breakfast drinks, cereals, chocolate spreads, chocolate, biscuits, snack bars and desserts and speciality foods for athletes and weight management. The company has been synonymous with trusted brands and highquality products for more than 150 years. Its products are developed, produced and marketed in Neuenegg near Bern.

Global distribution Wander regularly invests in its infrastructure and cutting-edge technologies to safeguard its future. The company produces a range of products at its Neuenegg location near Bern, including Ovomaltine powder for the entire European market. A third of the products it produces are sold in Switzerland, while the rest are exported to about 50 countries

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around the world. 260 people work at Wander, which is a subsidiary of Associated British Foods (ABF), one of the largest international food corporations. ABF markets renowned brands such as Twinings, Ovomaltine, Blue Dragon, Jordans and Ryvita.

Based at the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s factory in Neuenegg, Steffen Grill, head of IS at Wander AG, is responsible for the running, upkeep and maintenance of the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s IT estate for Wander, together with a small supporting team. Although Grill and the team are mainly responsible for local activities they also coordinate regularly with the wider ABF Group on all matters IT. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Wander operates under the roof of ABF, but we remain largely independent in terms of how we choose and operate our IT systems,â&#x20AC;? explained Grill. â&#x20AC;&#x153;However, we do regularly coordinate at group level to keep up to date with IT solutions used by other members of the group and to determine whether there could be any

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Interview

Wander AG

prepare for production line planning on the shopfloor. “We implemented Preactor in 2013, just prior to Preactor’s acquisition by Siemens that same year,” explained Grill. “Preactor was already used by other companies within the group and was proven to be very effective for production planning activities. Initially, our Preactor system was linked to our legacy MFG Pro. Then, following go live of QAD Enterprise Edition in 2015, Preactor was fully integrated within this system. We are now in the process of enhancing and updating our Preactor system. This process should be completed during this year. For the implementation and updating of Preactor, we use a Polish implementation partner of Siemens called DSR.”

MES

valuable synergies if we were to source the same or similar IT systems.”

ERP In terms of Wander’s IT solutions of choice, Grill explained that one of the company’s flagship solutions is its QAD Enterprise Edition 2015 ERP system. This is integrated with QAD DynaSys’s Demand and Supply Chain Planning solution. Grill explained the background behind sourcing these systems.

“Wander was part of Novartis when in 2002 it was acquired by ABF. The Twinings Ovomaltine group, also part of ABF, used QAD’s MFG Pro ERP system at this time, so we also built our ERP platform around the same system.

Demand planning At this time Wander was still using MFG Pro and, although it was a couple of years old and in need of some updating, Grill explained that it was still working very effectively. “We looked at a range of options in terms of what was available in the marketplace but ultimately decided to stay with QAD and move to its Enterprise Edition ERP system in 2015,” he said. “We had been relying on Manugistics’ demand planning application since 2003 and had continued to use the

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system post the acquisition of Manugistics by JDA Software in 2006. However, QAD acquired DynaSys in 2012 and because of the strong synergy between QAD and DynaSys at the time we implemented the Enterprise Edition ERP system, we decided to move to QAD DynaSys for our demand planning and supply chain needs. This has proved to be a good decision; both systems work very well together and are perfectly matched.”

Grill explained the daily supply chain regime in place at Wander. “We start our daily supply chain processes in QAD DynaSys with the forecast based on historical order data in the system. QAD DynaSys also allows us to access the demand currently coming from the market in the form of quotes, sales orders etc.

We then create work orders at finished goods level in QAD DynaSys and interface these orders back into QAD where we utilise the system’s material resource planning (MRP) functionality to obtain the production orders for the lower levels postproduction.”

APS Once this process is completed, Grill and his team moves to Wander’s advanced planning and scheduling (APS) solution, Preactor, to

Once production line scheduling is completed in Preactor, the work orders are fed back automatically into the QAD ERP system. These orders are then interfaced with Wander’s ABB IndustrialIT ECS Enterprise Connectivity manufacturing execution system (MES).

“Companies often use their MES for reporting and data analytics; however, our MES focuses more on execution; we concentrate more on running our produc tion with the system,” said Grill. “This MES has been successfully running our production since 2008 when we first went live with the system.”

Wander’s finished goods production machinery is linked to an ABB 800xA distributed control system (DCS), which is connected to the ABB MES.

WMS and automated vehicles Within our automated warehouse on the Neuenegg site, Wander relies on a warehouse management system (WMS) supplied by a Swiss company called Brisoft. This is integrated with the company’s ERP and MES. The MES sends orders for packaging materials to the WMS, which in turn sends the required goods to the area covered by the MES. All the picking and commissioning data is interfaced w ithin the WMS. Wander also uses automated vehicles for the transportation of goods to the different areas within the production area.

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Wander AG

Customer base Wander supplies its goods to a wide range of retailers in Switzerland, including the two big players in the market, Coop and Migros, as well as to many smaller retailers. It also sells via its e-commerce platform. The order information is managed on Wander’s own platform.

Lean methodology Wander has adopted a lean strategy with regard to manufacture and warehousing. “At the time I joined the company 16 years ago more manual and semi-automated processes have been in place,” explained Grill. “We currently employ around 260 people, but the productivity and efficiency levels have significantly improved.”

Automatic data capture For barcode scanning and data capture within the warehouse, Wander uses Zebra’s Symbol barcode scanners with inbuilt logic.

“The devices are currently based on the Windows CE operating system, but we are currently in the process of replacing them with Android-based devices from the same supplier,” Grill pointed out. “I believe the Android operating system is particularly flexible, open and secure.”

rooms on-site and if one were to fail then the other would take over immediately,” said Grill.

“In the event of a major disaster we have a tape library to bring the systems back.” With specific regard to Wander’s ERP system, this is hosted in the UK by its mother company.

Further expansion In terms of further expansion, Grill explained that Wander is never content to rest on its laurels. “We are constantly looking to grow as a business,” he said. “Our fastest current growth market is in Germany.”

Regarding the IT solutions, Grill pointed out that Wander plans to move to the next upgrade cycle of its ERP and demand planning solutions by next year. The company is also looking at sourcing a new product data management system. said Grill. “Additionally,

Interview

e-commerce platform to make it even more fit for purpose in the modern age of online retailing.”

A couple of months ago Wander also began a project to improve the support given to its maintenance department with a view to addressing the whole equipment lifecycle.

With this in mind, it is currently considering sourcing a maintenance management solution to better achieve this.

Grill concluded: “The food & beverage sector is highly competitive, so at Wander, we are always focused on staying ahead of the curve. Our IT solutions are among the great enablers in this regard.” n

we are in the process of replacing our current

Printing & labelling Clear labelling is required for all Wander’s various types and size of pallets in the warehouse. For this task, it uses a label printer from German supplier, Bluhm. “This system is integrated with our WMS and the instructions for the label markings comes directly from the WMS,” explained Grill. For label creation, Wander uses a connected system called LP4. For canned goods, suppliers are provided with the labelling information in advance so that the cans can be delivered to Wander with correct ingredients information already printed on them. For products that are available online Wander provides the label information electronically via the GS1 network.

Backup and retrieval Wander’s backup and retrieval routine relies on virtual machines. “We have two computer

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Special Technology Report

Demand Forecasting & Planning/S&OP

The supply and demand dynamic Manufacturing & Logistics IT spoke with leading industry spokespeople from the analyst and vendor community about how modern Demand Forecasting & Planning/Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) solutions and other planning-related technology can help to facilitate better supply chain, manufacturing and distribution practice.

W

ithout a doubt, two of the

risks challenge the feasibility of the plan while

megatrends in this field. The first one he calls

most significant innovations

the opportunities question the efficiency of the

horizontal alignment. “Horizontal alignment

currently driving Supply

plan.” Phillips believes the second is the

means companies don’t want to take planning

Chain technology are the

mainstreaming of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and

decisions independently – they want them

advanced analytics technology. “Although we

aligned across the supply chain horizontally

techniques combined with embedded

have exponentially more data, we have more

including the customers and suppliers,” he

advanced analytics. Indeed, as Shaun Phillips,

tools to extract fact-based insights,” he

said. “This trend has been happening for a

global product director, QAD DynaSys,

explained. The third is millennials. “This

while now, but that’s what drives the vendors to

explained, the utilisation of Machine Learning

generation has entered the workforce

do what they do as well in terms of the

techniques has moved from its embryonic

questioning why enterprise software, such as

evolution of their planning solutions.”

stage to a phase of early maturity. “This is

Supply Chain Planning, does not look, feel,

more evident in Demand Planning solutions

connect and respond the same way as the

forecasting products whose future sales

screens they have been raised on. This

is vertical alignment. “When companies make

behaviour is influenced by events other than

generation has an unprecedented comfort level

planning decisions at a very granular level,

historical sales,” he said. “These include

with trusting AI decisions, deploying on Shared

short-term at the order level and make plans

periodic products, low-frequency high demand

Platforms, and outsourcing business functions

and decisions tactically and strategically, they

and products with no or little history. The same

to Cloud Services.”

need those layers of planning to be aligned as

advent of Machine Learning

Similar to that, the second trend cited by Payne

technology lends itself to the automation of exception resolution and the augmentation of daily decision making.”

well,” he said. “The poster child for that is S&OP – companies don't want to have S&OP

Horizonal and vertical alignment

sitting in an ivory tower sucking data in and making decisions that never go anywhere. So,

So, what has driven these developments?

Tim Payne, research vice president, Gartner,

you’ve got to work the layers and you’ve got to

Phillips maintains there are several forces

made the point that, whether it’s Demand

be able to have the right level of

behind this change that have fused into a

Forecasting & Planning or S&OP, they are all

alignment/communication between the different

powerful nexus. “The first is the unprecedented

planning at the end of the day. “It's all about

layers of planning that are going on.

availability of real-time data that perpetually

decision-making in the supply chain,” he said,

present risks and opportunities,” he said. “The

adding that there are currently three big

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“Ultimately, it's about your strategy – that

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Demand Forecasting & Planning/S&OP

Special Technology Report

informs what your

“This is where most of the main planning

countries, it’s probably going to be more

supply chain is

solutions vendors now do something around

difficult to standardise and coordinate things;

going to look like. It

machine learning and AI,” said Payne. “It’s all

what Germany wants to do might be different

informs how you are

about the desire from the market to reduce the

to what Italy wants to do or the US wants to do.

using the resources

amount of manual effort that goes into

So, the size of a company really isn’t the issue

you have available

planning. To automate that, it doesn’t

– it’s all about maturity.”

and informs how you

necessarily mean autonomous planning where

are going to be able

no human is involved; it probably will in some

to respond to what's

cases where special decisions need to be

really happening in

made, but it certainly is about augmenting the

Disruption in the value chain

execution, and that's

decision-making that the planners do. So, if

Archana Vidyasekar, research director,

how you execute on

you look at what end-user companies are

Visionary Innovation Group, Frost & Sullivan,

your strategy. So,

thinking about and the technology roadmaps

commented that technological revolutions in

that vertical alignment is now really important

they are working with, a lot now happens

the logistics space have resulted in minimising

and that's why we seen less distinction

around those two dimensions of alignment in

the current complexities and creating new

between the different planning solutions.

automation because there is now more desire

opportunities for value-chain participants. “Key

Today, nobody really says I’ll think about a

in the market for what some people call digital

future themes, including AI, autonomous

demand planning solution first, then I'll think

planning.”

technologies, digital platforms and Blockchain

Shaun Phillips, global product director,

are expected to create much disruption in the

about the supply planning solution and then I'll think about an S&OP solution – because you

In terms of uptake of these solutions and

value chain and give rise to new participants,

won't get the alignment in either direction.”

strategies, Payne reflected that this is a

business models, and disintermediation among

maturity issue. “There are immature big

others,” she said.

Automation

companies and there are mature small companies, so it’s not necessarily about the

From self-running trucks to automated

The third big trend highlighted by Payne – one

size of the company. Indeed, it can be easier

contracts, Vidyasekar believes the supply

that he believes has really taken off over the

for smaller companies to embrace these

chain is ripe for innovation. “This is expected to

past 12 to 18 months – is automation; how to

trends. If you’re a big global multinational and

create much disruption in the value chain and

automate those decisions that you’re making.

you have operations in many different

give rise to new business models and,

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potentially, even lead to disinter-mediation

twice myself as a practitioner,” he pointed out.

place you can start to see things you never

within the supply chain,” she said. “For

“In the early days around the time ERP was

saw before. If you start changing the mix and

instance, the industry is making a conscious

first implemented S&OP used to be called

you start doing demand shaping and you

shift from asset-centric models to more digital

production planning. The idea was to get a

change the price all of a sudden the obvious

asset-light approaches, enabling new types of

good supply and demand match and it's

solutions can come out.”

services such as on-demand, real-time, and

amazing to me how many people still

agile last-mile delivery solutions suited for the

underestimate the value of that. Think of a fast-

uncertain nature of the urban supply chain.”

moving organisation where the sales team is

The power of social media

given an order, they pass it to operations and

Ball believes social media can also be of major

the operations personnel scramble to make it

benefit from a Demand Forecasting and

happen. This is achieved, but at what cost to

Planning perspective. “As an example, maybe

Richard Goluskin, director client services,

the organisation? If the organisation is in

sales for a particular clothing product aren’t

Panorama Consulting Solutions, made the point

growth mode and keeps making money maybe

going as well as you expected, but people on

that in the past traditional forecasting solutions

there isn’t any major problem, but there is a

social media say they really like it except the

tended to be built on historical information.

point when the organisation – particularly as it

button or zipper is in the wrong place. This

“Now, we have better computer capabilities

matures – really needs to focus on disciplining

type of feedback from people who have

base around analytics, and we have also seen

itself and focus on refining the supply and

actually worn the clothing can provide you with

the development of machine learning and

demand match. Once the mechanics are in

just the right nuances in terms of what could

artificial intelligence (AI),” he said. “These

place and everyone understands that is the

make the product better and therefore more

AI

concepts may still be in their infancy, but a

goal, then you get to the sophistication stage.

attractive to customers. Let’s say I'm looking at

number of vendors are trying to incorporate

This is where I think things have moved to and

a particular product on the planning screen

those types of technologies and trying to apply

where things have actually happened over the

and I’m trying to understand why our forecast

them to better forecasting algorithms and

past five years or so – connecting that S&OP

was overly optimistic. Without leaving the

better supply chain visibility and management.

and integrated business planning (IBP) into the

screen I can look at social media input in a

Together with that, there are just improvements

financials, so that as soon as you put the

sidebar and this could give me the answers I’m

in technology. Say you have something in the

operations plan into effect you can see the

looking for. So, social media doesn't become a

supply chain that is coming from China and it's

financial impact at that point. In other words,

separate project; it's part of the stream of data

currently on a ship in the middle of the Pacific

you are going to project what the results will be

that I can look at while I’m evaluating what's

Ocean. There's now software in the systems

based on what your operational plan is.”

happening with the forecast. It could be that things are flying off the shelves and the

that can give you real-time visibility in terms of where that ship is. For example, it might be

In terms of running S&OP scenarios, the ‘what-

analytics aren’t providing all the answers as to

circumventing a storm in the middle of the

ifs’, Ball made the point that this isn’t

why this is the case. Again, social media

Pacific that is going to require it to reroute and

something particularly new. However, he

feedback could be a useful indicator of the

take a day or two longer to get to a port which,

considers that where there has been

level of interest. Over the past two or three

would have an impact on the supply chain.

improvement is where vendors such as Kinaxis

years I’ve seen more companies incorporating

Knowing in advance that there will be a delay

can help companies run those scenarios

social media within their demand forecasting

in delivery can give you time to re-plan your

almost as quickly as snapping their fingers.

and planning activities.”

day’s or week’s supply chain activities more

“Being able to run multiple scenarios quickly is

efficiently. By combining track and trace with

probably one of the most valuable things you can do,” he said. “This is when you get really

The omnichannel model

capabilities you can

predictive. For example, on the demand side

Goluskin believes the omnichannel supply

see that information

you might want to determine what is likely to

chain model is one of the main drivers for

rather than just rely

happen if you change the price or run a

developments in the world of Demand

on a tabular bunch of

promotion. If you want to improve something at

Forecasting & Planning and S&OP. “If you

numbers.”

market level, you might want to stop pushing

think of B2B (business to business) and B2C

some new items because they’re not making

(business to consumer), in the B2C world

Bryan Ball, vice

as much money as you would like or drop the

there is a major focus on satisfying the

president, principal

price on something that could move along

customer; that’s really what’s driving this

analyst supply chain

faster. The opportunity for this type of improved

market,” he said. “So, there is a shift from the

management,

demand planning is there. The software and

predominance of the traditional bricks and

Aberdeen Group, is a

the tools are so much better now but not

mortar store to more online ordering, and

big believer in S&OP.

everybody has them. However, I think once

Amazon in particular is setting the pace. I

“Indeed, I installed it

you get the basic supply and demand match in

ordered something from Amazon today and

GPS functionality all in real-time with graphical

Richard Goluskin, director client services,

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was asked whether I would like to receive it

predictable goods,” explained Goluskin.

“Don't run all your

by 9 PM tonight. Imagine the logistics

“However, they are starting to be influenced by

online activity as

required to be able to guarantee that product

what they see in their daily lives when they

something completely

a can be delivered to a customer the same

make B2C purchases, so they are beginning to

separate, like a lot of

day. You can’t just have 10 warehouses

think why can’t I get better information from my

manufacturers do

across the country; you need a large number

suppliers in terms of where that shipment is,

because that’s the

of forward depots where you can have the

and why can’t I be notified by my supplier if

way their systems

product available for the customers. And you

there is going to be an exception to my

were built,” he said,

have to forecast each product’s life; you can't

shipment. So, the pressure isn’t normally so

adding that this need

stock everything all the time so you need to

high in B2B, but I think they are starting to trail

for better planning is

be very intelligent about what you should

the B2C world in being able to have real-time

driving a move

stock. So, the driver is customer expectations

visibility of their supply chain and benefit from

towards what Gartner

but the complexity behind that is logistical,

real-time notifications. One of the big drivers in

calls the digital

knowing what customers are going to buy.

the B2B world has always been cost, but more

supply chain twin. “This is the notion that with

The whole concept of trending products and

and more companies are now basing their

all this granularity and near real-time data that’s

placing those products in locations where the

buying decisions on service reliability and

available every planning solution no matter

turnaround can be very quick is key. So, the

accuracy; those kinds of things. So, this whole

where it is in the world has two major

Amazon model is putting a lot of pressure on

topic of demand forecasting & planning and

components; it has to have a model of the part

other organisations to produce excellence in

S&OP is important not only from the buyer’s

of the supply chain it’s trying to plan and then it

terms of delivery and customer satisfaction.”

point of view, but also incredibly important for

has to have analytics that run on that; mainly

In the B2B world, Goluskin reflected that the

the supplier as well.”

predictive analytics because you’re predicting

Tim Payne, research vice president,

pressure is probably not quite as high; at least

the schedule, predicting the demand plan or

when he talks to clients about what their

predicting the replenishment plan.

expectations are as far as the supply chain is

Digital supply chain twin

concerned. “They don't have the massive

Payne believes the omnichannel model can

“There’s a lot of focus on the analytics these

numbers that are involved in the consumer

also benefit from the horizonal and vertical

days where companies say they are going to

business and mainly deal with the more

alignment principles he previously highlighted.

apply machine learning and it's going to figure

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all this out and we going to see all the

needs to track that. Therefore, you get to the

alignment – the need for a model that

causality. OK, so this will give them better

realisation that what you need is a better digital

represents your supply chain more accurately.

analytics, but what's the model like? The

representation of the physical supply chain –

There are some really interesting solutions

models are often out of date, stale, static, when

hence the name digital supply chain twin – that

being introduced by some of the newer

did they ever last look at their lead times, did

is more living and breathing. It needs to be

entrants in the market in terms of how they

their lead times change during the year – well

able to track much more closely what's actually

create those models from the data – which is

actually they do, but the models don't say that,

happening in the supply chain and will happen

all Cloud, Big Data, analytics, machine learning

they say whatever number was put in the ERP

in the supply chain because it can become

driven.”

system whenever it was implemented. So, the

time phased as well.

argument here is analytics are great but if your model isn’t very good it’s not going to be a

“We are seeing a lot more interest in that as a

SaaS/Cloud

reliable representation of your physical supply

notion coming up from the market because

Picking up on the theme of the Cloud, has the

chain. It doesn’t matter how good your

with a lot of the newer technologies coming

Software as a Service (SaaS) model had any

analytics are you're still running it on a bad

through there are opportunities now to be able

notable level of impact on the planning-related

model which means

to create a much better model of the supply

software solutions market so far? Phillips made

you're going to get a

chain upon which you can then apply your

the point that QAD DynaSys customers want

bad plan. This is why

predictive and prescriptive analytics. That then

systems and the associated costs that scale in

companies should

helps with your different business models,

a linear manner with their growth. “Our

focus more on the

whether you they are online or traditional. If you

customers do not want to be experts in

model so that it offers

have a good digital twin of the supply chain,

cybersecurity or disaster recovery, our

a better

you can get that updated very quickly in near

customers want to focus on their core

representation of the

real-time. Then, you're in a really good place to

business,” he said. “The Cloud is no longer a

physical supply

be able to see, respond and plan and make

deployment option; it is a unique market

chain. Your physical

decisions about you what you really want to do

segment. Tech vendors must offer a true Cloud

supply chain is a

in the supply chain. This tends to be something

SaaS solution that leverages the benefits of a

living breathing thing,

that the more mature companies are really

shared infrastructure platform. The on-premise

it's changing all the

starting to think about now. It's the natural

SCM solutions will deservedly soon become a

time, so your model

endpoint of that horizontal and vertical

relic.”

Bryan Ball, vice president, principal analyst supply chain management,

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Archana Vidyasekar, research director, Visionary Innovation Group,

Special Technology Report

Phillips believes the

Goluskin thinks Europe leads the way as far as

tough laws that are now in place, and

commercial case for

privacy protection is concerned. “The US

companies now have to report orders that are

SaaS/Cloud will

seems to be considering adopting more

anomalies – if they don't they could be fined or

deplete the on-

stringent data privacy and security type

taken to court.” He added that these types of

premise market. “The

regulations, and when you hear of the scandals

things need to be understood and addressed

efficiencies gained

surrounding companies that have suffered data

in order for supply chains to remain legally

with shared

breaches I think invariably it’s going to have an

compliant.

infrastructure and

impact on the whole landscape of data

shared services will

privacy. I don't think it’s going to be limited just

offer compelling cost

to consumer data, so this could

Is there still an argument for best of breed? In

savings over the on-

consequentially have an impact on the type of

the case of Planning & Scheduling systems,

premise model,” he

data management involved in the demand

Phillips believes the argument for best of

said. “Furthermore, in

planning world. My view is that the US is

breed has never been stronger. “Consumer-

addition to the lower

Best of Breed

trailing Europe at the moment from a data

grade software like Google and Facebook

cost, the reduced risk from cyber-attack, the

security perspective, but I foresee that in time

have homogenised the user experience,” he

improved performance from 24/7 monitoring,

similar kinds of regulations are likely to be

said. “With the advent of the Cloud, all

and the increased up-time due to hardware

adopted in the US as well.”

solutions appear to ‘reside’ on the same

redundancy will make the decision for the

platform. The delineation between disparate

Cloud more powerful. Tech vendors are

systems has never been so nebulous.

investing heavily to provide the lowest cost

Legislation

shared platform with reduced royalties via

Legislation wise, Ball believes Brexit will be

Furthermore, some of the larger ERP vendors are struggling to deliver supply chain value

open source components and pay per use

one development that will result in

with monolithic transaction-centric systems.

licensing models. At QAD DynaSys, we foresee

considerable market volatility. “For example,

We observe that in many supply chain sales

the single version platform utopia with pushed

maybe there was a supply agreement in place

opportunities, ERP vendors have been omitted

software patches and releases. This will, in

between companies, and now there's not

from participation or have disqualified

turn, further reduce the providers costs-to-

because of different rules and regulations that

themselves.”

serve. We believe hybrid SaaS/on-premise

are put in place post-Brexit,” he said. “I don't

architectures will exist only as a transitional

want to overstate things; I'm just anticipating

Have ways of best integrating these types of

state on the journey to full SaaS, or in specific

that there will be some level of disrupt ion that

best of breed systems with other solutions

situations or industries such as aerospace and

will need to be settled. Perhaps this will be

developed to any nota ble degree over the

defence.”

Security/confidentiality

resolved quickly but I think there is going to be

past year or two? From a technical level,

some legislative agreements that get erased

Phillips believes the capability of connectivity

and will need to be re-established in

has increased. “Using RESTAPIs and loosely

accordance with new rules.”

coupled messaging, dissimilar systems can

Ball also said that where Trump has changed

model,” he said. “However, the increased

give the perception of using a common data

Is security an issue with regard to Cloud-based solutions? Payne commented that the issue of security still comes up occasionally, but

the US trade agreements with China this could

complexity lies in the additional number of

nowhere near as often as it used to. “Now, a lot

introduce new suppliers into the supply chain

disparate data systems required to present an

of the software is Cloud only anyway,” he said.

equation that weren't there before because of

end-to-end supply chain picture. Wherea s in

“Occasionally, particularly with aerospace and

the new tari ffs or reduction in tariffs. He added

yesteryear supply chains integrated with one

defence, they can get more sensitive about

that the converse could also be true. “Some

or more transactional (ERP) systems, a typical

security, but there are big Cloud platforms

companies that were big players because they

supply chain planning product requires

running the US Department of Defence, so it

were taking advantage of the old tariffs could

interfaces into ERP, CRM, PLM, MES, TPM,

can be done. And as long as the Cloud

find themselves less competitive. So, I

TMS, and WMS. And these are just the in-

platforms have all the latest security

absolutely think those kinds of things are

house systems. When connecting the end to

certifications then it doesn't seem to be a

going to have an impact. Exactly how and

end supply chain we look to harness external

problem. Sometimes it can be an issue in

where it’s going to hit I don't know, but that’s a

data sources such point of sale data, and

terms of where the data is held. If a vendor is

‘stay tuned’.”

opportunistic freight and procurement opportunities.”

using their own Cloud and they haven't data centres in Europe that could be an issue. But if

Regarding the pharmaceutical industry, Ball

you’re SAP, Oracle on Microsoft, or if you’re

th inks there could be further legislative

Amazon or Google you have data centres

impacts affecting companies in that sector.

Demand Forecasting & Planning and S&OP all

everywhere so it's not really an issue.”

“Opioid-related issues have resulted in some

revolves around the supply chain, adding that,

www.logisticsit.com

Goluskin m ade the point that the topic of

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within this context, one of the big trends that

receive notification on your phone informing

make sense of all the data. Our target was to

has been developing for a couple years is

you that an exception has happened so you

find actionable insights from within volumes of

greater complexity. “Depending upon the

can let your customers know that there may

data. We used this technique in Demand

product that is being produced, supply chains

be a delay in delivery etc. In today’s supply

Planning to identify trends and causation and

can involve many different suppliers in many

chain environment, you want exception

determine suggested actions. We have only

different locations in many countries,” he

recording and real-time notifications and

just started to realise the potential value of

explained. “So, the complexity of the supply

alerts for things that are happening.”

data.”

vendors ha ve been trying to address. They’ve

Big Data and IoT

The future

been addressing this by trying to provide best

What effect are methodologies such as Big

What do our commentators think will be some

of breed forecasting and planning tools where

Data and the Internet of Things (IoT) having

of the key developments to lookout for in the

you can see a lot of that complexity in the

within the Demand Forecasting & Planning

world of Demand Forecasting &

chain is what’s driving the need for better planning, and that’s really what the software

supply chain through having better tools and

solutions space? Phillips made the point that a

Planning/S&OP solutions over the next year or

better algorithms for preparing forecasts.”

large and growing amount of data is now

two? Phillips believes the role of digital twins

required to drive fact-based supply chain

will become more tangible. “This will greatly

decisions that doesn't reside within the four

impact Demand and Supply Planning solutions

Mobility

walls of the enterprise. “This is a significant

as parameters such as price, cost, lead-time,

And what of the role mobile devices are

evolution from 10 years ago where most

batch-size, run-rate etc. will be derived from a

playing in the world of planning and

su pply chain data existed in-house,” he said.

physical object or transaction rather than a

forecasting? Goluskin considers that mobility

“Consequently, Big Data and IoT connectivity

master data management system. Business

is such a major expectation in just about

are having a huge impact on the world of SCM

Process Automation will start to gain

every walk of life these days. “That applies

technologies. However, not so much because

momentum and the hands-off planning

just as much to the area of Supply Chain

of the connectivity difficulty. Accessing

environment will become to look like a reality

Management and Demand Forecasting and

external data is becoming simpler via RSS

although it will take some time. This will re-

S&OP as it does to any other business

feeds and RESTAPIs. The challenge of IoT is

focus planners to engage in value-add tasks

activity,” he said. “If there is some disruption

how to cleanse the data, how to structure it,

such as analytics and scenario planning. Like

in the supply chain you want to know about it

and finally determine if and how it adds value

many supply chain leaders, I believe the

right away; you don't want to have to go back

to the plan . To overcome this, QAD DynaSys

emergence of Blockchain will be temporarily

to your desktop computer – you want to

introduced intelligent analytical techniques to

hindered by the lack of scale and security.”

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Goluskin thinks systems will continue to get

less fuel consumption. “Approximately 200,000

tasks – can be very highly automated and that

better with integration of unstructured data

trucks are expected to be making autonomous

will continue.”

and various sources of data. “For example,

deliveries by 2030,” sh e said. Vidyasekar also

when you are planning the supply chain

believes Blockchains will introduce more trust

Ball thinks the trend towards greater platform-

maybe there is a weather forecast out there

and transparency into the supply chain,

to-platform connectivity will also have a

that could affect the way you do your planning

improving business process agility. Finally,

greater impact on Demand Forecasting &

– it could inform you that there is a risk of

Vidyasekar maintains that artificial intelligence

Planning and S&OP. “It is now possible to look

winter storms in the Upper Midwest in the US.

approaches will lend new cognitive

way beyond where we have been able to do in

So, going forward it’s not just about further

capabilities to moving and thinking assets in

the past. In terms of the wider supply chain –

develop ments involving AI and machine

the supply chain.

you can access valuable supply chain data not just from your customers, but from your

learning – which are just better ways with coming up with the numbers – I think it’s also

Payne believes it’s a question of further

customers’ customers. Also, you might already

about the integration of many different kinds of

evolution regarding many of the areas

be working closely with your suppliers'

data. And in terms of unstructured data

highlighted above. “For e xample, we will see

suppliers, but it could be possible to go back

systems are going to get better at interpreting

more developments in terms of AI and

three or four further levels. Then, moving upstream and looking at the demand side the

those things and using AI-type techniques to

machine learning coming to the fore,” he said.

put all that together to help organisations to

“At Gartner, we paint a picture of what we

platform-to-platform model could mean you

plan better. I think it’s all about integrating

think that will look like eventually – something

can see from the distributor into the retailer,

data and ha ving the algorithms to do

we call Algorithmic Supply Chain Planning. So,

and from the retailer to the end customer in

something with that data that was never done

there will be much more automation in place,

the store. So, you can start to look at things

before in a structured way – that is the

and more autonomous things happening from

that haven’t been within the normal scope of

frontier.”

a decision-making perspective. It won’t be

your planning tools up to now. I think we’ll be

everywhere as somewhere people think . It will

seeing more of that type of connectivity and

be significantly automated but there are still

data access, which could help you to make

Vidyasekar anticipates that autonomous technologies such as drones and autonomous

decisions that require human input, and this

trucks are expected to plough the road, as

need won’t go away. That said, a lot of the

they drive efficiency through cost savings from

basic activities – particularly the short-term

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\\\ Manufacturing \\\

Opinion

% ! !% )' () "( !')uncertainty facing UK manufacturers

I

By Mark Hughes, regional vice president UK & Ireland, Epicor.

tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been nearly three years since the UK

variety of sectors â&#x20AC;&#x201C; food and cars, computing

voted to leave the European Union. Since

and electronics, or anything that needs

then, a number of big multinationals have

assembling â&#x20AC;&#x201C; that means business is about to

been planning for Brexit, with some â&#x20AC;&#x201C; like

change.

Dyson, Nissan and Sony â&#x20AC;&#x201C; choosing to

move their European or global company

A new trading relationship with the EU means

headquarters overseas. For smaller firms, the

firms will need full traceability and visibility â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

lack of clarity about the post-Brexit

and software that enables this â&#x20AC;&#x201C; of their day-

environment means many are adopting a

to-day operations. To ensure that compliance

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;wait-and-seeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; strategy. Others, however, are

with complex country of origin rules can be

proactively investing in technologies that will

demonstrated and assured when exporting to

give their business the agility required to cope

the EU, systems will need to handle more

with fast-evolving market scenarios.

complexity than ever before in terms of the type of data held and frequency of

There are some very specific challenges

submissions for customs declarations.

being banded around, so here we will aim to tackle some of the topics most discussed in

Falling labour resources

relation to Brexit and manufacturing and look at some of the steps that can be taken to

As the flow of European workers slows ahead

mitigate their impact.

of Brexit, forward-thinking manufacturers are investing in automation and robotics as

The reintroduction of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Rules of Originâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; provision

workers become more scarce and costly.

Automating labour-intensive processes could generate major benefits for UK productivity,

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) Rules of

which currently lags more than 20 percent

Origin criteria are used by customs authorities

behind the US, France and Germany.

$ & #) )# #'( #) & ()!')(&# )'$ $ ()'$)&) (&%(" ) & (" (## &% & ' "!% )(% !"$% (%' )#'$"!% )&% $ (%')!%)&) ! !'& ) $" &')&% &''& !% )' !#)'$)&% )'"&%#& '!$% )$" (" $") "$ ')!'( ) Cross-channel goods could be reduced by

to determine the economic nationality of a

87%post-Brexitâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;which means the supply of

product. Once the origin of a product is

Modern enterprise resource planning (ERP)

components and raw materials manufacturers

established, the correct rate of duty or tariff

solutions will be crucial to coordinating robot

rely upon could be severely limited. Torn

can be applied to it when it crosses a border.

workflows and enabling the sharing of data

between planning for border gridlock caused

Determining the country of origin of a product

between machines and humans across

by a no-deal Brexit, many manufacturers are

is usually the final step in the customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

multiple digital platforms. This, along with the

said to be turning to stockpiling.

clearance process, once the customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

addition of increased data processing

classification and the value of the goods are

efficiencies, and valuable real-time and data-

A recent survey found UK companies are

known.

driven insights, will allow manufacturers to

ramping up their stockpiling efforts to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;bufferâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

navigate the murky Brexit waters, improve

operations against supply chain disruptions.

To date, the UK has benefited from the

productivity and more easily drive future

As a result, UK warehouse space is nearing

absence of origin requirements for trade

business growth. Capturing data from

capacity, as manufacturers revert from â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;just-

within the EU. However, in the event of a hard

production lines can also be used to

in-timeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (JIT) production models to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;just-in-

Brexit, UK exporters will have to declare the

undertake real-time monitoring of all activities,

caseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; models, in which high precautionary

origin of their goods when trading with the

enhance process flows, and enable a more

inventory levels are maintained.

EU.

connected supply chain.

While such contingency planning may help

For process manufacturing companies in a

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Supply chain disruption

counteract potential supply chain disruptions

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Opinion

\\\ Manufacturing \\\

$)(%# "()' &') $ !&% () !' ) $ ( ) $ %'" )$ )$"! !%)" (#) &%) () ( $%#'"&'( )&% )&## "( ) (%)( $"'!% )'$)' ()

# #'( #) ! )%(( )'$) &% () $"() $ ( !' )' &%)( (") ( $"()!%)'(" #)$ )' ()' ()$ ) &'&) ( )&% ) "( (% )$ )# !##!$%#) $" #'$ #) ( &"&'!$%#

on the horizon, it also increases the risk of

high-quality materials from Scotland and

format and attaching this to any transaction,

waste or obsolescenceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;putting extra strain

Northern England, PureMalt feels confident

order or product item. With a few clicks,

on already pressured firms. Here, investment

about overcoming the challenges that 2019

manufacturers can generate proof of origin

in supply chain management (SCM) software

could bring.

documentation, maintain material planning

identify added-value activities, reduce and

Managing the supply chain for a changing

checks for international export rules, and

eliminate non-value-added activities, and

world means management will need to have

more.

move back towards a leaner and more

deep insights into how supply chain costs

efficient supply chain.

could change over the next five years while

Similarly, they will need an ERP platform in

building up a new and trusted UK supplier

place that makes it possible to take

information, manage compliance and control

could help manufacturing companies to

base. Todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s modern ERP can make it easy

advantage of current and future advances,

to rebalance inventories and supply chains

like robotic automation and digital

The UK is synonymous with low-volume, high-

and make more informed decisions in real

technologies, to produce goods quickly and

quality, and high-value products. With trade

time.

more efficiently. With the right ERP system in

Made in Britain

place, manufacturing firms can take

tariffs predicted to squeeze margins, many UK manufacturers are looking to re-focus on near-shoring â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Made in Britainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; manufacturing

The only certainty is, there will be more uncertainty

opportunities. There are a number of reasons

advantage of IoT innovations and undertake real-time management of the connected factory floor. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll also gain real-time

for bringing operations back to the UK or

In these unpredictable times, modern ERP

visibility into the entire supply chain to support

closer to homeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;rising overseas labour costs,

systems can enable manufacturers to

lean-production strategies such as immediate

modern slavery issues, maintaining control

respond to changes within the supply chain,

ordering, fulfilment and delivery.

over operations and processes, and the

adapt easily to new business models, and

positive brand benefits resulting from bringing

gain data-driven insights that inform decision-

For UK manufacturers that need to create

jobs â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;homeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

making and strategy. To maintainâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and

competitive advantage in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s uncertain

increaseâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;future manufacturing performance,

times, ERP systems not only serve to make

Some firms have already realised the benefits

manufacturing firms must be prepared to

businesses more responsive and agile, they

of near-shoring versus off-shoring. One

adapt to potential new regulations that could

can also provide the deep insights that make

company extolling â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Best of Britishâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; virtues is

alter trade processes and possibly affect

it possible to analyse the performance of

PureMalt, a Scottish, family-owned

growth trajectories.

contingency plans and identify which

manufacturer of innovative malt ingredients for

technical and organisational factors need to

the food and beverage industries that sources

Todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ERP systems make it easy to move to

its materials within the UK. With a competitive,

a leaner, paperless manufacturing

innovative product portfolio, and access to

environment, storing any document in a digital

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\\\ Manufacturing \\\

Analysis

$ & ) && ) &" (')rises as enterprises opt for hybrid and multi-Cloud deployment models

T

he strong market demand for cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) is expected to drive the US$45.6 billion market toward $150.7 billion by 2023, at a

compound annual growth rate of 27%.

Enterprises are using the Cloud for strategic benefits such as supporting digital transformation rather than for tactical ones, such as reducing IT infrastructure costs and

hardware/software maintenance burden. This has changed the way enterprises choose and manage their infrastructure, and led them to deploy applications across multiple infrastructures, from on-premises to Cloud (multi- and single-tenant), resulting in higher demand for IaaS. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As the mix of deployment models and bestof-breed Cloud IaaS vendors becomes increasingly diverse, single-tenant IaaS will gain revenue share over multi-tenant services,â&#x20AC;? said Maiara Munhoz, Cloud computing senior industry analyst.

which now control 74% of the global market

architecture â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and tools for enterprises to

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Meanwhile, the emergence of Cloud

share,â&#x20AC;? noted Munhoz. â&#x20AC;&#x153;North America

manage, analyse, and act on their data

brokerage and Cloud management platforms

continues to be the strongest IaaS market

is boosting the trend of hybrid and multi-

globally, followed by EMEA, but they are

enterprises realise that a single Cloud or

Cloud, making managed Cloud services

expected to gradually make room for APAC

deployment model will not address all their

providers key in supporting enterprises.

and LATAM. Some countries in APAC, like

application requirements

Managed service providers (MSPs) will support companies with workload assessment and placement, workload migration and hybrid Cloud integration.â&#x20AC;?

â&#x20AC;˘ Support hybrid deployment models, as

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

Managed service providers (MSPs) will support companies with workload assessment and placement, workload migration and hybrid Cloud integration.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Maiara Munhoz, Cloud computing senior industry analyst.

Frost & Sullivanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recent analysis, Global Cloud Infrastructure as a Service Market

Japan and Australia, are more mature, while

Outlook, Forecast to 2023, analyses the

India, China, Singapore, South Korea, and

current global IaaS market and forecasts

Hong Kong are fast-growing markets.â&#x20AC;?

â&#x20AC;˘ Partner with MSPs and deliver training, programmes and features to support them â&#x20AC;˘ Invest in educating clients on the

revenue growth from 2019 to 2023. The analysis is segmented by multi-tenant and

technology, as enterprises still need guidance on how to use the cloud to meet

Essential investment

single-tenant Cloud services, geographic

goals for innovation and digital

regions (North America, Europe and the

Going forward, it will be essential for Cloud

Middle East, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America)

IaaS vendors to invest in integrated services,

and by global market share.

on-premises and in the Cloud. For further

transformation Global Cloud Infrastructure as a Service Market Outlook, Forecast to 2023 is part of

growth opportunities, vendors need to: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The competitive landscape of the global Cloud IaaS market is concentrated between the top two providers, AWS and Microsoft,

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Frost & Sullivanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s global Information â&#x20AC;˘ Offer more advanced services in the Cloud â&#x20AC;&#x201C; such as containers and serverless

Technology Growth Partnership Service programme. n

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Analysis

\\\ Manufacturing \\\

)!## (#) $#')companies £3.4 billion per year in lost productivity Many UK businesses are losing out both financially and on productivity levels due to their workplace IT systems, new research has revealed.

A

survey of 1137 UK workers in full or part-time employment, carried out by technology services provider Probrand.co.uk has revealed

that companies are losing £3.4 billion every year due to IT issues. The surveyed workers, who all use IT systems in their workplace, said they waste an average of 5% of their working day due to connection or technology related issues.

Losing 5% of a working day to tech issues equates to 21 minutes of lost productivity per

day, 1.75 hours a week, or 7 hours (one working day) per month. This comes in at a cost of £3.4 billion* to UK employers annually.

The top five workplace IT issues reported by UK workers were: slow running equipment (34%), internet connectivity issues (27%), cyber breaches (19%), additional equipment such as printers and scanners not working (11%), and finally, outdated hardware (9%).

that. It’s clear from our findings that

issues fast, maintain everyday systems and

businesses are not helping themselves when

drive business growth by creating and

Some 27% of UK workers said that their

it comes to resolving IT related issues.

delivering cutting edge technology strategies.

workplace IT systems are hindering their

Naturally, issues arise from the IT itself as well

With companies wasting an eye watering £3.4

productivity, with this number rising to 33% in

as end user error. Employee training can help

billion in lost productivity each year, it’s

larger companies with in-house IT

here on basic use of IT systems, processes

clearly time for those with and without internal

departments. Those surveyed who have an in-

and company policies – particularly when it

IT teams to take a new look at how to tackle

house IT department said their colleagues

comes to cyber and data security.

end user issues.”

within that department often appear to be under resourced when resolving technical issues, with problems taking an average of 6.2 hours to be resolved after being reported.

Knowing that they will have to wait for assistance, many workers are attempting to resolve the IT issue themselves, but by doing

“

With companies wasting an eye watering £3.4 billion in lost productivity each year, it’s clearly time for those with and without internal IT teams to take a new look at how to tackle end user issues.”

– Matt Royle, marketing director, Probrand.

so, are detracting themselves from their own work, and often making the problem worse.

“As the data shows, in-house IT departments

* (Latest statistics from Gov.uk show that

[subhead] Integral to the success

are stretched more than ever and this is

29,943,000 Brits were in employment during

Matt Royle, marketing director, Probrand,

resulting in 6% less end user productivity than

2017, while latest ONS figures show that brits

said: “A productive workforce is integral to the

those without an internal IT team. IT

earnt a median weekly wage of £569 –

success of a business, as is ICT in enabling

departments are expected to fix end user

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\\\ Manufacturing \\\

Analysis

( (& ( )– The UK’s fastest growing jobs outpacing that for any other role, according

‘

available workers means recruiters are having

to data released by the world’s largest job site,

to fight increasingly hard to attract staff across

“While the tightness of the labour market means

Indeed. Job vacancies for IT engineers leapt by

the board, but the challenges are particularly

employers in many sectors are having to

IT engineer’ is the fastest growing job in

against the backdrop of the UK’s record low

advanced manufacturing skills like CNC

Britain, with demand from employers

unemployment rate. The shrinking pool of

machinists.

more than a third (33.7%) between April 2018

acute for those seeking to fill roles with such

reconsider how they attract talent, all this

and now, compared with the levels seen in the

intense competition.

competition is great news for jobseekers. It’s

preceding 12 months - making the role the

striking that the roles seeing the greatest

fastest growing in the British jobs market.

Surging demand

growth in demand often reward highly skilled

The analysis also reveals strong demand for

Bill Richards, UK managing director of the

For jobseekers the message is clear - no matter

people with high salaries, even at entry level. other design and technology professionals.

global job site Indeed, said: “The UK’s fastest

where you are in your career path, opportunity

Vacancies for product designers increased by

growing jobs range from entry level roles to

is there if you feel like a change.”

nearly a third (31.8%) over the same period,

highly specialist positions, showing that

while CNC machinists - who specialise in

employers generally demand a wide range of

Indeed analysed job postings on its site and

making machine parts for industry - account for

experience and skills. Virtually all organisations

compared the number of postings per million

the fourth fastest growing job (up 31.2%).

– not to mention the country as a whole – rely

between April 2017 and 2018, and April 2018

Demand for mobile developers jumped by

on IT infrastructure, and as a result the need for

and 2019 to determine which jobs had

28.2%, putting it comfortably into the top 10

people who can install, service and protect it

increased their share the most over the last

fastest growing roles.

has mushroomed. Likewise, the surging

These surges in employer demand come

demand for mobile developers and those with

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Analysis

\\\ Manufacturing \\\

&"'%(")#& #) )of Gen Z employees regret accepting job offer

A

growing number of candidates are regretting their career decisions, according to Gartner, Inc. In 2018, 40% of Gen Z respondents reported

that they would not repeat their decision to accept the job offer they had accepted and only 51% said they could see themselves having a long career at their organisation.

Candidate regret leads to turnover, low

engagement and low productivity; more than one-third of candidates who regret their decision intend to leave their position within 12 months. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To address this increase in candidate regret â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and stem the ensuing issues with underperforming talent and/or high turnover â&#x20AC;&#x201C; organisations need to better understand what

both in and out of the workplace,â&#x20AC;? said Smith.

employeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s manager who influences the type of development an employee gets on the job.â&#x20AC;?

Generation Z candidates want,â&#x20AC;? said Lauren Smith, vice president of Gartnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s HR practice.

New priorities

In todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s digital age, graduates know they possess unique skill sets that are very much

As digital natives, Gen Z candidates, those

Compensation is no longer a guaranteed

in demand and make up for a lack of

born from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s,

method for keeping the young workforce in

experience. Management approaches must

understand that innovation and change are a

seat, according to Gartner. In 2018, 38% of

adapt to this new reality and shift from an

constant. To ensure they are staying relevant

Generation Z candidates said that they would

â&#x20AC;&#x153;always-onâ&#x20AC;? approach to a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Connectorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

as technology and business processes

leave a job because of compensation,

manager approach.

advance, Gen Z workers are keen to leverage

compared with 41% of millennials in 2013.

various types of development opportunities,

Gen Z candidates also differ from their

Connector managers foster meaningful

from training programmes and boot camps to

millennial predecessors on seeking a defined

connections for their direct reports to and

continuing education. Data from Gartnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

career path. According to data from Gartnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

among employees, teams and the

Global Labour Market Survey found that in

Global Labour Market Survey, in 2018, only

organisation to develop an employeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

2018, 23% of Gen Z candidates listed

25% of Gen Z candidates listed future career

specific capabilities. Not only are managers

development opportunities as a top attraction

opportunities as a top attraction driver when

crucial to ensuring their employeesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; portfolio

driver, compared with only 17% of their

considering a job; in 2014, 34% of millennials

of skills stays relevant â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a key concern of Gen

millennial predecessors in 2013.

felt the same way.

Z â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but they can improve the performance of employees by up to 26% and triple the likelihood that their direct reports will be high

Along with development opportunities, Gen Z candidates expect flexibility in their work arrangements. In addition to the ability to work

Managing differently

performers.

from any location, these workers believe work

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Given that todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s graduates are focused on

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Employers who want to capitalise on the

should accommodate play and play should

learning and developing skills, employers

influx of Gen Z candidates into the labour

be incorporated in work. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With this latest crop

looking to gain a career commitment from

market must consider how best to appeal to

of workforce entrants, we are seeing an

their Gen Z employees must ensure they offer

these individuals and reduce the desire for

increased focus on work-life integration and

these opportunities,â&#x20AC;? said Smith. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our

them to seek alternative career opportunities,â&#x20AC;?

the ability to pursue interests simultaneously

research shows that more than anyone, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an

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lanning

Chaucer supports

integrated business planning (IBP) with QAD DynaSys solutions

C

haucer Foods was founded in

collaboration, innovation and an unwavering

Kent, UK in 1980 as a bakery.

commitment to product quality and customer

Two years later this developed

service. The companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission is to deliver

into a manufacturing practice

sustainable growth for all stakeholders by

supplying to manufacturers

providing product solutions that create value

around the world. Chaucer Foods produces

for its customers.

ingredients, products and solutions of consistent high quality across the globe. The

Chaucer decided to standardise its supply

company is claimed to be the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest

chain processes globally and began to

supplier of freeze-dried fruit and soup

investigate which solutions could enable it to

croutons. Today, it collaborates with leading

do this. The company began a competitive

food manufacturers and retailers across the

review of the market and determined QAD

world. Chaucer has an established and

DynaSys DSCP (Demand & Supply Chain

growing B2B business whilst also producing

Planning) was the best solution to address its

its own highly successful products which are

challenges.

sold in retail stores. These are developed through the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s B2C business â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

Gavin Evans, IBP & group supply chain

Chaucer consumer.

manager, Chaucer Foods, commented:

â&#x20AC;˘ Focus on new products being managed in the innovation processes

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Before QAD DynaSys DSCP, all forecasting

â&#x20AC;˘ Flag important assumptions for use in the Integrated Business Planning (IBP) review

Chaucerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expertise and continuous

or finance consolidation was performed by

investment in food technology and product

custom-designed and managed excel

â&#x20AC;˘ Support SKU codes

innovation ensures it continues to lead the

reports. As always when using such tools like

â&#x20AC;˘ Lock short term forecasts

field in the development of innovative health

Excel, it needs close management and

â&#x20AC;˘ Manage financial reports based on

and wellness ingredients to meet the growing

controls to ensure its security and compliance

forecasts, which enables the validation of

trend towards healthy eating and nutrition.

to the forecasting process and policy. A large

the volume forecast

Chaucer is a truly global company with four manufacturing facilities in the UK, France, China and the US. The companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s teams of agronomists work collaboratively with farming partners in China, Chile and North Africa and they source raw materials from around the world making it a highly complex network.

The group has over 650 employees across its

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

Having a solution like QAD DynaSys DSCP has given our business the opportunity to implement a robust demand planning process that has supported the foundations for our Chaucer Integrated Business Planning process.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gavin Evans, IBP & group supply chain manager, Chaucer Foods Ltd.

worldwide facilities.

The challenge: Standardising processes needed to address Chaucerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strategy for growth

amount of time and resources were being

Evans added: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Not having a true forecasting

spent trying to investigate the variances and

tool also created a perception that forecasting

global forecasting into a business demand

isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t an important part of the business and

and forecasting pack.â&#x20AC;?

only used for quarterly reviews and budget purposes. Since implementing QAD DynaSys

One of the key challenges for Chaucer was to

Demand Planning, this behaviour has been

create the most accurate possible forecast by

reversed and in turn we are starting to see

Chaucerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brand promise is to deliver product

focusing on Demand Planning. This solution

great benefits in demand, supply and visibility

solutions that add real value through

will enable Chaucer to:

to the business plans and strategies.â&#x20AC;?

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lanning

supply chain to give customers what they wanted, when they wanted it. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We started to look for a supporting solution like QAD DynaSys DSCP when we were implementing the IBP process,â&#x20AC;? explained Evans. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In this design stage of the implementation we identified the need to cover three key areas to ensure we were set up for success. These three areas of interest and alignment: behaviours, tools, process.

QAD DynaSys reinforces the support for each of these areas of planned success starting with the driving solution for the process in demand.â&#x20AC;?

The benefits

For Chaucer Foods, the QAD DynaSys

Evans concluded: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Implementing the QAD

solution was seen as more than Demand

DynaSys Demand Planning solution has given

Planning. It was seen as a platform for

our business the opportunity to implement a

growth. Chaucer wanted a single solution to

robust demand planning process that has

evolve to S&OP (Sales and Operations

supported the foundations for our Chaucer

Planning), whilst being able to integrate with

IBP process. To drive and support the

other ERPs.

business further we would be looking into adding QAD DynaSys Production Planning

â&#x20AC;&#x153;QAD DynaSys DSCP has improved the

and QAD DynaSys Distribution Planning

business globally by providing us the

solutions. Such supporting solutions will put

opportunity to design a clean and process

us further toward our goal to have a solid

driven forecasting policy,â&#x20AC;? said Evans. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our

world class global end to end supply chain.

sales team is more confident in using such a

From our support of implementing the

The solution: QAD DynaSys Demand Planning brings business visibility Chaucer Foods was growing fast and it

tool to provide a forecast as it gives

demand solution from the onboarding team,

wanted to implement Integrated Business

feedback. We are now able to provide a more

we feel positively assured that these next step

Planning (IBP) to give the business the

robust monthly demand forecast pack to the

for the business will be achieved with QAD

visibility it needed to make decisions about

business by the key areas and objectives for

where to site capacity and manage the entire

each of our business regions and markets.â&#x20AC;?

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lanning

How procurement

can become the ultimate ally for the high street

I

By Alex Saric, smart procurement expert, Ivalua.

t’s clear that the rise of pure-play e-tailers

centralise data from the company, suppliers

and the Amazon model have significantly

and third parties to develop a working supplier

disrupted the retail market, putting

database and monitor spend efficiently. This

Collaborate with suppliers to benefit both sides

traditional brick and mortar retailers under

smarter approach to procurement, gives

Efficiency is a two-way street, and while driving

more pressure than ever to manage costs,

retailers visibility into contracts, orders and

efficiency in-house is vital for retailers, there is

invoices; helping to better manage spend and

just as much value in building strong

expectations. This is being done against the

collaborate closely with suppliers to improve

relationships with partners and encouraging

bac kdrop of a retail landscape that has

operational efficiencies.

greater collaboration. By creating a single

whilst also meeting rising customer

supplier hub across the supply chain, retailers

become more challenging. According to the

can facilitate collaboration directly with

Centre for Retail Research, 28 retail

This 360-degree view means that retailers can

companies with multiple stores ceased trading

manage supplier payments and identify areas

suppliers and identify areas where both parties

in the year to August 2018, affecting 2085

for cost saving. For example, with a top-down

can benefit. For example, Marks & Spencer

stores and 39,000 jobs, with major names like

view of supplier proces ses, organisations can

recently worked with produce suppliers to

Toys R Us, Maplin and Poundworld

easily spot opportunities to receive reduction

decrease water wastage, which is helping to

disappearing from the high street. Even top

rates for early payment. By knowing which

reduce the risk of low food yields, which will

retailers like John Lewis saw profits plunge by

contracts are eligible for these types of

ultimately help bring down costs.

45% last year.

savings, retailers have a risk-free way to Retailers must cultivate more of these types of

reduce costs and get a better return.

relationships that ensure mutual benefit.

Retailers have alw ays operated on tight margins, however, the pressure to find savings

Whether it’s working with a supplier to input on

has grown fiercer. To combat this and thrive in

Using automation to speed up purchasing

an increasingly difficult environment retailers

With this central source of spend data, retail

working together to navigate regulation

has increased as the competition to cut prices

the product design process to find savings and innovate, sharing critical risk information or

need to focus on operational efficiencies by

businesses can also take advantage of

changes, closer collaboration is a simple but

working with their suppliers to innovate and

automation and AI. Retailers typically work

often-overlooked way for retailers to create

find ways to better manage their cash flow.

with thousands of suppliers who in turn will

sustainable savings. By building strong

sell thousands of products. Given the scale of

relationships with suppliers, retailers will gain

this operation, automation could become an

greater value from the relationship over time.

Using procurement to focus on the little things

essential tool to improving operational efficiency. Retailers need to look at ways to

Conditions are tough on the high street, and

We’re often told the savior of the high street is

use automation to save time and resources

retailers need all the help they can get to grow

better data analytics or adopting the latest and

across the source-to-pay process. By

and maintain margins where they can.

greatest retail technology to improve customer

automating critical tasks such as creating

However, these margin-moving measures need

experience. However, despite not being seen

process orders and reporting, pulling together

to be sustainable in the long term and work

as a transformational part of business,

supplier information and even managing

both ways, otherwise they could put suppliers

procurement can become the ultimate ally

certification, time and resources spent on the

at risk. As such, it’s vital that retailers utilise

when it comes to identifying areas for

purchasing process will be dramatically

procurement as a tool to better collaborate with

sustainable cost savings in a challenging

decreased.

suppliers and help identify ways to improve cash flow. This will allow organisations to find

trading en vironment.

opportunities for cost savings, but also assess

Not only can automation increase efficiency All too often there is poor visibility into

for retailers, but it can also help to identify

risk for the future and develop long-lasting

spending in retail, especially in brick and

new areas of saving through instant

relationships with suppliers. In an increasingly

mortar. However, by making seemingly minor

performance assessments, offering

competitive and challenging retail environment

changes in the purchasing process, retailers

companies a chance to correct inefficient

that isn’t about to get any easier, procurement

can make all the difference when looking for

processes and make changes that will

could be the saving grace for retailers when it

ways to increase margins. By taking spend

improve the source-to-pay process with every

management to the cloud, organisations can

future purchase.

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comes to maintaining their margins. n

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BUIL LDING THE FU UTURE OF Y YOUR OUR SUPPL LY Y CHAIN QAD Q AD D DynaSys DynaS Cloud Demand & Supp ply Chain Planning Solutions

MLIT June'19 Voice p26-27.qxp_IBC publications 07/06/2019 11:21 Page 26

V OICE technology

News

RealWear wins 10K unit deal opening up

market for industrial head-worn computing solutions

Q

By Spencer Gisser, market research and consulting professional, VDC Research.

ualcomm Technologies, Inc.,

RealWear, and UROS have

announced plans to provide

10,000 RealWear HMT-1 and

HMT-1Z1 devices to front line

industrial workers in Kazakhstan. UROS, a

Finnish technology company focusing on

connectivity solutions across industrial, natural resource and smart city segments. Per the agreement, UROS, will deploy RealWear HMT-1 and HMT 1Z1 devices to workers in Kazakhstan.

It is not particularly clear who specifically in Kazakhstan will be using the devices with the announcements making only loose references to ‘Digital Transformation’ initiatives underway in the country. However, VDC has confirmed that this is a real order with commitments to fulfil the 10K units by the end of 2019.

Improvements in price, technology, and ergonomics have reduced the leading barriers to adoption of head-worn mobile solutions.

might limit the overall opportunity it also

system of any smart glasses provider, a

provides the team a key filter to minimise

foundational capability that is crucial for some

distractions. Moreover, and more so than

use cases such as shipboard navigation.

Tough market to crack

others, the team has been able to identify and

Although the first HoloLens was widely

At 10K units – this is a major deal for the

articulate the primary applications suitable for

considered an ergonomic failure, the HoloLens

industrial wearable market and more

this class of device today, further simplifying

2 is more comfortable and can be worn for a

specifically the smart glass/heads up

their go to market.

longer period of time (although not an entire

display/AR solution segment. As evidenced by Google (Glass), ODG and Meta this is an extremely tough market to crack, plagued by

shift). The HoloLens 2 is priced at

Innovation around voice integration and noise cancellation technology

approximately US$3500, nearly $1500 lower than the list price for the original HoloLens. This

technical, ergonomic design, user safety and

Focusing on remote assist and knowledge

dramatic difference is still far above what many

general user acceptance issues. In all fairness

transfer provided the key hooks upon which to

organisations would be willing to pay for smart

to RealWear, they would not classify

later build applications that are more

glasses technology, but it makes the HoloLens

themselves as a smart glass and/or AR

sophisticated. While certainly not trivial or

2 available for real-world deployment. In

company describe their solution as a

simple, RealWear has avoided the trap of

November 2018, Microsoft won a $479 million

‘ruggedised head-mounted wearable Android

attempting to fast forward technology that is not

contract to supply the US Army with a version

tablet computer’. What RealWear has

ready for prime time. Where RealWear has

of the HoloLens augmented reality hea dset.

recognised almost from inception was a clear

innovated is around voice integration and noise

The US Army could purchase up to 100,000 of

understanding of who its target market

cancellation technology. So, what about AR

these devices through this contract.

was….and wasn’t.

and more immersive mixed reality solutions?

While these have been slower to develop due

We are now beginning to witness adoption of

to technology performance limitations, the

head-worn mobile solutions at scale in the

Safety, hands-free operations and realtime access to digital content and services

upside potential remains. From a purely B2B

enterprise. Improvements in price, technology,

The distinction between enterprise/B2B and

perspective, Microsoft and its recently

and ergonomics have reduced the leading

consumer is an obvious one. But event beyond

upgraded HoloLens stand out. The HoloLens 2

barriers to adoption for this form factor enough

that, RealWearwas laser focused on address

is the first of Microsoft’s smart glasses to be

for the private sector to begin investing. From a

the need of the remote mobile knowledge

realistically deployable for frontline workers.

worker for whom worker safety, hands-free operations and real-time access to digital

Greater comfort

content and services is paramount. While this

The original HoloLens had the best tracking

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purely hardware perspective we see RealWear and Microsoft leading this wave with their welldesigned and differentiated devices and

focused target market efforts. n

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EVERY SECOND COUNTS.

Voice-driven workers aren’t just faster: They’re focused on what counts.

Building voice into your distribution centre is one of the most effective ways to speed up operations. But your workers aren’t just faster – voice also enables you to rapidly scale your operations and redistribute labour where you need it most, giving you critical workflow agility. Find out what workflows look like when every second counts for more – with Honeywell.

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THE FUTURE IS WHAT WE MAKE IT

MLIT June'19 ADC p28-31.qxp_IBC publications 07/06/2019 11:21 Page 28

AUTOMATIC DATA CAPTURE MOBILE COMPUTING

Analysis

IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index: Late Easter spells subdued growth for online retail in March

W

ith no repeat of last year’s Beast from the East snowstorms and a later Easter pushing back holiday spend, the online

retail industry recorded growth of just +5% Year-on-Year (YoY) in March against a tough comparator last year, according to the latest IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index. While still positive growth, this subdued performance fell significantly below the 3(+7.5%), 6- (+7.1%) and 12- (+10.2%) month

rolling averages. Breaking it down further, online-only retailers saw marginally better results – growing +8.9% versus multichannel retailers’ +5%.

Across the sectors the impact of a late Easter was most apparent in Home and Garden, which saw its impressive growth trajectory from earlier in the year slow to just +1.6% YoY. Meanwhile despite a strong performance in Footwear (+16.7%), the Clothing sector continued its five-month run of single digit

13.9% growth. This performance is a mix of

actually two possible interpretations. On the

growth (+3.7%), and both Electricals and

supply outweighing demand, continued

one hand it looks bad as it’s below the 3-, 6-

Gifts saw sales plummet by -26% and -22.1%

discounting and customers being cautious

and 12-month rolling averages of +7.5%,

respectively. In contrast Health and Beauty

with spending.

+7.1% and +10.2% respectively; it’s also the lowest of the first quarter of 2019. On the

had yet another strong month of sales (+15.6% YoY), with Beauty outperforming the rest of the sectors with a +19.8% increase –

other hand, this growth is against a strong

Stand-out result

base from March 2018, which featured Easter

perhaps due to a few celebrity beauty line

The Beauty market was the stand-out result

(home and garden online sales were down -

launches during March.

this month, reporting 19.8% growth, bringing

15% in the equivalent week in March this

the sector to 16.8% growth for Q1. However,

year) and freezing temperatures that kept

Bhavesh Unadkat, principal consultant in

with Home and Garden also seeing poor

people away from high streets and boosted

retail customer engagement, Capgemini, said:

results due to the late Easter break and a

online sales in 2018.

“March 19 growth at 5% may seem slow but

continued decline in Electricals the overall

we were up against a very strong March 18.

performance was lacklustre. It will be

“As Easter falls in April this year, the growth

More concerning is the overall position of

interesting to see whether the Easter holiday

rate for that month will determine whether

clothing – which continued its five-month run

will boost April figures enough to spring some

March’s performance can be considered

of single digit growth (+3.7%for March 19).

life back into this year’s spending.”

good, bad or indifferent given those factors –

Many of the larger, often reliably robust,

not to mention the continuing general macroeconomic pressures on retail.” n

retailers also recorded low single-digit growth.

Andy Mulcahy, strategy and insight director,

Closing out Q1, Clothing now stands at 2.6%

IMRG, said: “While on the surface of it +5%

growth, significantly lower than last year’s

growth may not seem very positive, there are

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Product News

AUTOMATIC DATA CAPTURE MOBILE COMPUTING

Capgemini’s supply chain and manufacturing solutions certified by SAP as industry innovation accelerators

F

our of Capgemini’s supply chain and manufacturing solutions have

Strategic collaboration

distribution, improve quality of goods, certify and trace deliveries, and cut waste

been certified by SAP as industry

Certified partner-built industry innovation

• Trusted Goods Consumer Dialogue –

innovation accelerators. These

accelerators follow SAP best practices by

designed to enhance the customer

certifications recognise

incorporating design-thinking methodologies

experience by providing them with trusted information from a single source

Capgemini’s ability to help clients achieve

to help customers get to the root of the

their digital transformation goals by

problem and come up with a solution to meet

accelerating delivery and enabling

their needs in their environment. The

manufacturers avoid costly returns and

competitive differentiation. They also reinforce

innovation kits are part of Capgemini’s

customer dissatisfaction resulting from the

its strategic partnership with SAP.

strategic collaboration with SAP. Through the

shipment of wrong or defective parts

• Visual Inspection – designed to help

SAP Cloud Platform, Capgemini has been “We are very pleased to be successful in

able, with the necessary tools and resources,

“Over the past two years, the demand for pre-

completing SAP certification for our industry

to identify opportunities and build

built solutions designed to solve customers’

innovation accelerators,” said Philippe

prepackaged industry accelerators. The four

most strategic business problems has grown

D’Amato, SAP global alliance lead,

Capgemini solutions that are certified for the

impressively,” said Mike Flannagan, senior

Capgemini. “This industry recognition

manufacturing and retail (supply chain)

vice president of SAP Intelligent Enterprise

underpins our commitment to our customers

sectors are:

Solutions. “Capgemini and SAP have worked closely to help organisations transform their

to continue identifying and implementing innovative technologies to help them realise

• Intelligent Shipping – designed to achieve

the business benefits of their digital

efficiencies in the shipment process

transformation journeys.”

through the automated processing of a high

businesses, and ultimately build more

intelligent enterprises.” n

volume of delivery documents and converting them into shipments with better capacity utilisation for each shipment • Cold Chain Quality Assurance – designed to enable clients to achieve safe

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AUTOMATIC DATA CAPTURE MOBILE COMPUTING

Analysis

Machine vision solutions & industrial scanner adoption driving automation to new heights The markets for machine vision and industrial scanning solutions are growing rapidly as organisations automate to minimise defects, accelerate production, and cut costs, according to VDC Research.

F

rom factory floors to distribution centers, the

applications for vision and scanning solutions

Sophistication

have expanded across sectors, enabling

At the same time, the market for industrial

significant advances for e-commerce, track and

barcode scanners is growing due to the

trace, quality control and more. While machine

breadth and sophistication of scanners,

vision solutions are distinct from industrial scanners,

coupled with continuous price reductions.

both product sets are intertwined.

According to VDC, the market has seen an ongoing shift from industrial laser scanners to

Forecasted global shipments of machine vision systems and industrial barcode scanners (Billions of Dollars).

Machine vision solutions are essential to

camera-based imaging solutions. Imagers now

building connected factories of the future,

account for nearly 75% of overall global

with fragmentation, especially in machine

according to VDC. The upswing of image-

revenues, indicating the value that imaging

vision, we expect to see more vendor

based technology holds significant potential for

solutions provide in fixed-position industrial

acquisitions and consolidation in the coming

emerging areas such as vision-guided robotics

scanning environments. “Another trend to

five years,” said Adelson.

for applications such as packaging,

watch will be how vendors and integrators

warehousing, parcel handling. “Machine vision

across the globe are heavily investing in

Both of these markets are highlighted in VDC’s

systems are increasingly being integrated

automation to support booming growth in e-

recently published report, ‘Machine Vision

throughout the entire production line, rather

commerce and courier express parcel (CEP)

Solutions and Stationary Industrial Barcode

than only at the end to inspect the finished

delivery,” said Adelson.

Scanners’. This comprehensive report contains

capture analyst at VDC. Additionally, new

As the markets for machine vision and

granular market sizing and forecasting, and

developments such as deep learning and AI

industrial barcode scanners continue to grow,

are emerging as key systems to improve object

vendors and system integrators will need to

a detailed directory of almost 100 vendors,

good,” said Andy Adelson, AutoID and data

detection and classification in digital factories,

make the most of emerging opportunities.

ultimately fueling Industry 4.0 initiatives.

“Given the growth of these industries, coupled

extensive primary research. n

Nordic ID recognised

B

by Frost & Sullivan for its RFID Solutions that enable instant checkout for retail customers

ased on its recent analysis of the

European market for radio-frequency

identification (RFID) for retail self-

checkouts, Frost & Sullivan has recognised

in different industries. It also provides a single

Speed and accuracy

application program interface (API) available for

“With the Nordic ID Self-Checkout, the company

all of its hardware, which is claimed to ensure a

has made the checkout experience quicker and

faster and less costly integration. To aid the

Nordic ID with the 2019 Europe New Product

more accurate for retail consumers,” said Ram

optimal application of its products by customers,

Innovation Award for facilitating a significantly

Ravi, industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “In

it also built a comprehensive support partner

faster checkout experience.

January 2019, Nordic ID also launched an

network consisting of its service facilities and

advanced information desk solution that presents

authorised service partners worldwide.

Nordic ID signed a strategic partnership with

an integrated reading area and touchscreen

Additionally, it guarantees a 3-day and 10-day

IBM iX, the design and consulting division of

display for digital content, retrieving the

repair turnaround to fix and deliver repaired products to customers worldwide.

IBM, to develop an RFID-based self -checkout

necessary information on the chosen product

solution. Inspired by the co-operation, the

instantly whenever needed. It delivers optimum

company developed a novel instant checkout

support to customers by facilitating product

solution – the Nordic ID Self-Checkout. Instead of

selection for purchase.”

having to scan items one by one, customers can

“In less than four decades, Nordic ID extended its commercial activity to over 10 locations worldwide across Europe, North America, and

scan them instantly, reducing checkout times to

At the heart of the company’s success is its

Southeast Asia,” noted Ravi. “Its outstanding

one-tenth of the time taken to scan 9 items by a

commitment to customers across diverse

value proposition, backed by full-range customer

cashier. This eliminates queueing and speeds

segments of the economy. Nordic ID offers

support, is expected to increase the adoption of

up checkout transactions, resulting in an

informational materials as well as technical and

RFID based solutions across verticals, all over

enhanced customer experience.

other support services to meet customer needs

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the world.” n

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Opinion

AUTOMATIC DATA CAPTURE MOBILE COMPUTING

Is BYOD possible in hazardous environments?

Just 20 years ago, mobile technology was a novelty for most. Fast forward to 2019 and it’s estimated that 62.9 per cent of the global population own a mobile phone. Smartphones, tablets and even smart watches help keep us organised and connected, so much so that our personal devices are making their way into our professional lives. Sophie Hand, UK country manager at industrial automation parts supplier EU Automation, assesses whether personal devices are equipped for hazardous environments.

T

he term Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) was first used in 2009, when Intel recognised that an increasing number of its employees were bringing their

own smartphones, tablets and laptops to work and connecting them to the corporate network. Since then, several companies have adopted the policy including the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Unisys.

A BYOD policy comes with a range of benefits, particularly in relation to productivity.

Employees are more familiar with their own devices, which increases ease-of-use, and it also means that time is saved by not having to transfer data between devices. BYOD also lends freedom to the employer’s IT department as it will no longer have to keep a

durability isn’t always one of them. In a harsh

or chemical environments, is the increased

multitude of devices updated.

environment a device might potentially be

risk that personal devices pose for cross-

exposed to solvents, acids, dust, metal filings

contamination. We all know how tempting it

Security

and vibration. If BYOD is to be introduced in

can be to check our phone when it’s in our

these environments, the devices must be

pocket. One absent-minded tap on the

However, BYOD also has its downfalls. The

protected somehow.

touchscreen with a gloved hand could lead to an entire product batch needing to be

most obvious is the potential security risk of

scrapped.

having outside devices interacting with

This could be achieved by providing

systems that hold potentially sensitive data.

protective cases for the devices. Of course,

Luckily, IT departments have become well

the cases must allow the device to be

We need to solve these challenges before

equipped to handle BYOD policies and the

accessible whilst still being out of harm’s way.

BYOD can become commonplace in

increased cyber security risks that they

In some of the harshest environments,

hazardous environments. Until then, we can

introduce. But, is this policy applicable to

employees are required to wear thick gloves

rely on traditional technology like industrial

harsher environments such as chemical

that are not compatible with most modern

PCs to help us along the way. No matter what

processing plants or machine shops?

devices, which are usually operated using a

your industry, location, or environment, EU

touch screen.

Automation can help you find the industrial

Durability The number of features that modern, smart devices have can be overwhelming. However,

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automation parts needed to keep your

Cross-contamination

machinery in operation. n

Another potential issue, specifically in medical

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TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

Insight

TIMOCOM: Worry about

a chaotic Brexit causes explosion in EU exports to the UK

F

ears that the UK will leave the EU without a deal have caused an explosion in the number of goods ordered for delivery to the British Isles. Compared with the previous year, truck transports from all parts of Europe towards Great Britain have more than doubled in the first quarter of 2019, with growth of 112%. These are the current numbers on the TIMOCOM transport barometer, which the IT company uses every quarter to document the development of transport offers and requests on Europe’s largest freight and vehicle application.

“Companies in the UK that depend on imports from the European mainland are increasing their stock, in order to be prepared in the event of a hard Brexit,” says TIMOCOM business analyst David Moog regarding the quarterly results. According to the data analyst, a no-deal Brexit could mean that vehicles wanting to enter the UK will face extremely long waiting times. “In turn, this could cause supply bottle-necks. Customs fees on the goods are another uncertain factor,” says Moog, noting that the biggest growth in exports to the UK has been from Germany, France and Poland.

The supply and demand developments on the

German market and on the European mainland are completely different. “The reserved economic situation has finally reached the transport economy,” says TIMOCOM Company Spokesman Gunnar Gburek about the quarterly results.

The number of companies searching TIMOCOM for transport options for their industry and trade goods decreased in the first quarter of 2019. On average, from

January to March 2019, there were 52 freight offers for every 48 vehicle offers. The freight to vehicle ratio for the first quarter of last year was 54:46.

Increased truck tolls curb the number of transport offers Higher tolls, which were introduced for trucks in Germany at the beginning of the year, have also had an effect on supply and demand within the transport market. In the first three months of this year, TIMOCOM documented a decline in vehicle offers of 12% as compared to the first quarter of 2018. “High toll rates, among other things, mean that European companies not based in Germany have less reason to offer transport within Germany,” is Gburek’s interpretation of the current development.

The transport barometer is an instrument used by the IT company to analyse, per quarter, trends in transport offers and demand as found on the freight exchange, part of the TIMOCOM Smart Logistics System.

TIMOCOM, with more than 130,000 users and up to 750,000 international freight and vehicle offers daily, is the largest system platform for road transportation of goods in Europe. n

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Success story

TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

Leading recycling

firm optimises delivery with TIMOCOM

P

ET Baltija Jsc specialises in used PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottle secondary recycling by producing high-quality PET flakes.

Founded in January 2003, the company started the recycling process of PET bottles in 2004 at its previous production premises in Riga. In 2008 PET Baltija moved to Jelgava where a new production line was installed through EU co-funding. PET Baltija’s current recycling capacity is approximately 39,000 t of PET bottles a year. The company cooperates with both Latvian and foreign used packaging collectors and suppliers.

Within the Baltic States, PET Baltija is the largest company in its field and is the only company of its kind in Latvia. It received two Latvian annual awards in 2011 – ‘Gazele’ (‘Gazelle’) for finance achievements in 2010 comparing to indicators in 2009, and the winning award in the Latvian nomination ‘The major exporter’ for achievements in 2010. PET

Baltija started recycling PP/PE caps by producing high quality grinded PP/PE in 2015.

The company has also started to offer also service possibilities such as metal separation from PET flakes and IV level increasing of PET pellets. PET Baltija aims to become the most proficient PET recycling company in Northern Europe with the most demanded production.

PET Baltija’s parent company, Eco Baltia, is the largest environment management company group in Latvia, comprising 8 waste management, raw material collection and used packaging recycling companies.

For its transportation requirements, PET Baltija relies on TIMOCOM’s Freight Exchange solution. According to the company, this system has proven to be invaluable for its supply chain requirements, allowing it to work closely with an extensive European network of road hauliers in a speedy, efficient manner.

Gatis Vārna, head of the purchase department at PET Baltija, explained how the

company benefits from Freight Exchange: “Every day, we enter available loads into the system and await prompt responses from couriers that are able to fulfil the deliveries.

We then select what we consider to be the most suitable courier for the particular delivery tasks at hand, and in many cases can ensure we benefit from full truck load, which is a major money saver.”

Vārna added that Freight Exchange is highly flexible and can integrate with PET Baltija own internal IT solutions as well as connect seamlessly with those of its carrier partners as and when necessary. Additionally, he pointed out that the system is very secure, ensuring that any communications with PET Baltija’s carriers, and the deliveries they make on the company’s behalf, are robust and protected.

“The solution can also be customised to suit PET Baltija’s own precise transportation needs,” added Vārna. n

Increase digitalisation in your supply chain at timocom.co.uk

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TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

Opinion

Understanding the best

ways to

retain customers in 2019

By Matthew Robertson, Co-CEO, NetDespatch.

S

tore closures, business failures, job losses and the worst Christmas for 10 years. 2018 was a tough year for UK retail, but is it really all doom and gloom on the high street? If you look beyond the dramatic headlines, it is clear to see an industry in transformation, with new channels driving growth as the old channels decline and retail is re-invented.

It is clear that keeping customers will be critical t o survival. We all know that acquiring new customers is proven to be 5 times more expensive than retaining existing ones. With the word among Millennials that retail should be about the ‘experience’ as much as it is about the product, what are the best ways to retain customers and drive that much needed

growth through new and existing channels?

Rethink the role of the store Without a doubt, I recommend that retailers look to evolve the store and the store experience. Retailers should use advanced technology to serve today’s high-expectation consumers. In order to capture the attention and spend of today’s technically savvy customers who expect instant gratification, the store must focus on the customer experience – not just the products being sold.

This means that retailers need to reimagine their physical space by exploiting sensory, social and digital technology to create dynamic store experiences and simplified processes.

Reinvent your supply chain At the same time retailers must also reinvent the supply chain so that they are putting the customer first. For example, it is tempting to opt for courier services that provide cost savings and convenience, but the fundamental principle of business is that the customer comes first, so what retailers really need to do is think about a service that best fits their target customers’ lifestyles and expectations.

Much will of course depend on the core market demographics, but it is worth bearing in mind that next day delivery is the expected norm. Likewise, Click and Collect deliveries are now a popular option for busy consumers who can pick up their purchase while they are out and about.

Instead of automatically giving customers a next-day delivery option, retailers need to make the customer the centre of the delivery process.

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Opinion

Reach the consumer at each touchpoint Retailers should use tech-driven marketing techniques to present customised messages and offers and keep consumers in the loop all the way through the process from ordering the goods to delivery. We all know that a positive buying experience can be badly soured by a late or failed delivery. To this point, research that we did a couple of years ago showed us that what consumers really dislike about online shopping is when their parcels don’t turn up at the allotted time.

Likewise, having a lack of visibility and control and the ability to track their parcel is also extremely stressful for shoppers.

Reduce the risk of failed deliveries Therefore, it is imperative that retailers look to reduce the risk of failed deliveries. Again, we commissioned research last year with online retail association IMRG into the reasons for failed deliveries. You might be staggered to know that this costs the industry £1.6 billion each year. Clearly if retailers are going to keep existing customers, they need to look at ways that they can reduce the risk of failed

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TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

deliveries. Here are three possible focus areas in order to achieve this: Encourage collection over receipt In the UK, we have a culture of home delivery; almost 80% of respondents to a survey IMRG ran in 2018 with GFS and maru/EDR said that home was their preferred delivery location.

The main issue with this is that most people are not at home during the day, when their deliveries are likely to arrive.

The pressure to deliver on-time in line with expectation means a portion of parcels are fulfilled to a ‘safe space’; some are elected by the customer, but in many cases this means it has been left with a neighbour. This may technically reduce failed deliveries, but it’s also quite annoying for people to have to collect their parcels. From the perspective of customer experience, it cannot be considered a long-term solution. Connecting people to their parcel is the aim of delivery; incentivising greater use of click and collect so customers are more focused on collecting rather than receiving their orders – and hence having more control over the process will definitely enhance the experience.

In-transit data Another solution would be greater adoption and use of in-transit data, so customers have

clear visibility of where their orders are – probably supported by text message updates at key points – to increase their chances of being available (or having someone available) to accept receipt of the parcel at the exact moment of delivery.

Putting the customer in control of their delivery Instead of automatically giving customers a next-day delivery option, retailers need to make the customer the centre of the delivery process. One way of doing this is allowing customers to be able to choose their own delivery window. If customers are able to choose their desired time window for their delivery, it automatically makes the delivery process more convenient for them and can potentially reduce the risk of a failed first-time delivery.

As we head towards the mid-year and summer, we can still see plenty of uncertainty where the UK consumer is concerned. The macro economic outlook looks positive with all the ingredients for increased consumer spending; however, it is difficult to say with any certainty what will happen given that so much depends on the nature of the UK’s exit from the EU. Therefore, it is imperative that UK retailers do everything they can to delight and retain their existing customers. n

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Supply Chain

Awards

Gartner announces winners of the 2019 Supply Chainnovators Awards

G

artner, Inc. has unveiled the winners of the 2019 Supply Chainnovator Awards. The awards, announced at the Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference, which took place in Phoenix Arizona US, recognised unconventional, innovative and high-impact supply chain initiatives in the healthcare, hightech, industrial manufacturing and consumer/retail sectors. The six winners across the categories were:

Healthcare Supply Chainnovators Geisinger won the 2019 Healthcare Supply Chainnovator award for its ‘Fresh Food Farmacy’ programme to help patients control their diabetes without needing medication.

This programme provides food-insecure individuals with education, one-on-one support and healthy foods on a weekly basis primarily via its community partner, Central Pennsylvania Food Bank. Within 18 months of the start of the programme, patients enrolled in the programme saw their HbA1c levels decrease – resulting in a 40% decreased risk of death or serious complications. This initiative not only delivered dramatic improvements in health and medical costs, but also greater patient engagement in their healthcare.

Thermo Fisher Scientific won the 2019 Healthcare Manufacturers, Distributors and Retailers Supply Chainnovator award for its data visibility platform for reconciling performance management across its 36

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proliferation of 40+ ERP systems. Thermo Fisher has effectively solved the challenge of running a diverse business on so many ERP systems, without the cost (money, time and people) of migrating to one ERP system. The dashboard allows the business to keep its many ERP systems, yet still be effectively compared and managed.

High-Tech Manufacturing Supply Chainnovator Dell was recognised for its circular economy initiative that includes creating the first global network of commercial-scale, oceanbound plastics supply chains. Dell’s multimodal approach to this global waste problem is paving unchartered territory – using a circular approach to design while also helping to educate, engage and inspire consumers and other companies to participate. The effort also involves working as a founding member in a cross-industry consortium – NextWave – to intercept and reprocess materials collected from beaches, waterways and coastal areas for use in products and packaging.

Because of its reputation and leadership in building a legacy of good, a number of companies have joined Dell in its quest. In this past year, Dell’s efforts alone have kept 99% of the waste it generated out of landfills, recycling 1.9 billion pounds of e-waste and reaching 88% of its goal to collect 2 billion pounds by 2020.

Industrial Manufacturing Chainnovator Schneider Electric won the 2019 Industrial

Manufacturing Supply Chainnovator award for its digital transformation initiative that developed workforce competencies required for the manufacturing and supply chain jobs of the future. To date, more than 50 of Schneider’s manufacturing locations been converted to smart factories, with plans for a further 100 sites to be converted by the end of 2020. In order to prepare the workforce for the changes in their jobs, Schneider Electric implemented a strategy that identified competencies increasingly needed for the digital transformation and engages employees with continuous learning to develop the new skills.

The aim is to map, anticipate, and grow its digital acumen and competencies by assessing its current and future use of technologies. The benefits of the programme reflected well for Schneider as well as for its employees. Schneider Electric reports an increase in employee engagement from 68% to 72% in the smart factories. The involvement of employees in the effort helped ease fears about the impact of technology on their jobs and engaged them to participate in the process.

Consumer/Retail Supply Chainnovators Consumer Products: Anheuser Busch InBev won the 2019 Consumer Products Supply Chainnovator award for its unique use of artificial intelligence (AI) to better predict when the filter must be replaced during the beer brewing process. This enabled the brewer to produce higher quality beer in less time with less waste. The initiative resulted in

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Awards a 400% improvement in accuracy prediction on filter media changes. From an environmental standpoint, AB InBev is now able to produce beer at a far more efficient rate, while reducing wastage on the filter media material. This also means less power use, fewer energy variations from stops and starts, and a higher percentage of beer created per filter run.

Retail: JD.com was awarded the 2019 Retail Supply Chainnovator award for its innovative approach to collaboration with Walmart China, which combines JD.com’s extensive online logistics capabilities with Walmart China’s physical store network to deliver an increasingly integrated experience for their combined customer base, including joint promotions, shared inventory across their respective store and DC networks and a unified last mile delivery offering.

Consumers are embracing the collaborative offering with the number of orders per day for products incorporated in the program increasing 2900% between 2017 and 2019 and it is also driving sales growth during critical peak Chinese sales periods such as the 618 Shopping Festival. This initiative highlights the critical role supply chain can play in developing new service and product offerings to customers and how, through innovative cross-company collaboration, profitable business growth can be achieved.

Through the Supply Chainnovator research and recognition program, Gartner recognises supply chain innovation and impact delivered by supply chain organizations. Companies recognised as Chainnovators have been successful with unconventional, innovative and/or high-impact approaches that peer leaders can learn from and emulate. The

Supply Chain

programme provides chief supply chain officers with valuable insight for annual strategic planning, resource allocation and investment cycles.

These innovations must meet the threshold of being impactful, sustainable, unconventional, collaborative and measurable. Participants must be willing to share with the broader supply chain community lessons learned and how results were achieved. The goal is to recognise innovative approaches to supply chain excellence that result in a step change in business performance. The winners were selected by a panel of judges that consisted of Gartner analysts. The identification of a Gartner award winner or finalist is not an endorsement by Gartner of any vendor, product or service. n

News

Supply Chain

B-Stock Supply buyer base is growing 30% each month as demand for secondary market merchandise increases across Europe

B

-Stock, the marketplace for returned, excess and other liquidation merchandise, has announced that the number of European buyers registered on its B-Stock Supply Europe marketplace is growing an average of 30% each month. It believes this reflects a growing demand for products on the secondary market as more businesses and consumers look to embrace the circular economy.

Returned and excess stock is a problem for every retailer: in the UK alone £60 billion of stock is returned each year. Whether a global retailer or a smaller specialty shop, most companies undervalue their returned and excess stock by 30-80%. Worse, when it comes to damaged or obsolete goods, a great majority of items are sent to landfill; in 2016, the UK generated 41.1 million tonnes of commercial and industrial waste.

However, B-Stock offers a solution for the waste that is placing a strain on the retail industry.

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Auction-based Ben Whitaker, B-Stock’s EMEA director, said: “There is a huge secondary market demand for returned, excess and used goods, and the trick is knowing how to tap into this market.

Today’s largest retailers are using online marketplace solutions to gain access to a global buyer base, however you don’t have to be a global retailer to utilise these marketplace solutions. B-Stock Supply is an online auction marketplace where SMBs can sell returned and excess merchandise directly to business buyers. The marketplace is auction-based: you can list inventory across any category, condition, or lot size and have thousands of buyers bid for it. The competition drives up pricing.”

By selling on B-Stock Supply, retailers have access to a buyer base that is growing 30% month over month, enabling them to efficiently move and offset loss from overstock. Buyers using the Supply platform are located across Europe, with heavy concentrations in Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and

Romania. Reflecting the European market, the most popular categories on B-Stock Supply are Home & Garden, Fashion and Consumer Electronics.

“Another benefit of selling on B-Stock Supply is what we call the Network Effect: in addition to Supply, B-Stock operates private online auction marketplaces for today’s largest retailers, including the European division of the world’s largest e-commerce retailer and a leading UK department store,” said Whitaker.

“When you list your inventory on Supply, the listing will appear next to listings from both national and international retailers. You won’t get that type of exposure elsewhere.” n June 2019

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Supply Chain

Analysis

Experiential retail proves key for retailer performance Mixed use retail, which offers up a blend of experience-led leisure activities and transactional shopping, is key to enhancing customer experience and driving business performance in the era of new retail, the latest report from RetailEXPO reveals.

O

riginal research of 2000 UK consumers in the ‘ONE VISION: how to re-energise retail in 2019 and beyond’ report from RetailEXPO showed that three quarters (73%) would spend more time and money in stores that offer up in-store experiences as well as just product, demonstrating the changing role of bricks-and-mortar when it comes to delivering customer experience (CX) in-store.

‘Retailtainment’ trend With over two thirds (68%) of consumers saying they now wanted stores to offer experiences, services or leisure activities, where they could spend leisure time as well as browsing and buying products, the trend towards ‘retailtainment’ continues to grow.

Retailers such as Hobbycraft, which offers up crafting lessons in-store, Sweaty Betty, which runs free weekly fitness classes and JD Sports’ in-store DJ sets, have already showcased how retail businesses can capitalise on the draw of experiential retail to drive footfall.

towards the ability to deliver experiences and retail theatre - prompting retailers such as John Lewis offering staff acting classes – consumers still had have traditional views of where store staff added the most value in their shopping encounters.

“

Digital transformation, store restructuring and resizing, the move to serviceled, experiential retailing, and the need to innovate and compete with not just other retailers – but other entertainment, leisure and hospitality providers – illustrates a complex path ahead for the industry.”

– Matt Bradley, event director, RetailEXPO.

Two thirds (66%) of shoppers would visit a retailer for its food and beverage (F&B) offer, including in-store cafés, bars and restaurants, while cookery tastings, wellness classes and music events would draw 37%, 15% and 14% into store respectively.

However, while format of the store has shifted

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The top five areas where consumers perceived that store staff added value to the CX in-store were: store navigation – showing me where to find products (51%); friendliness – where staff were happy to engage in conversation as opposed to focusing on making the sale (45%); taking payments at

the tills (37%); showing genuine passion for the products or services the retailer offers (35%); assisting with out of stocks and ordering them online for the customer (27%).

Matt Bradley, event director at RetailEXPO, commented: “Digital transformation, store restructuring and resizing, the move to service-led, experiential retailing, and the need to innovate and compete with not just other retailers – but other entertainment, leisure and hospitality providers – illustrates a complex path ahead for the industry. In support of all this change and complexity, retailers must consider any number of new innovations, formats, partnerships, or alternative business processes. Joined-up thinking is required at every decision point in order to deliver the retail experiences required to realise the demands of new era retail.” n

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Analysis

Supply Chain

90% of blockchain-based supply chain initiatives will suffer ‘blockchain fatigue’ by 2023 Blockchain remains a popular topic, but supply chain leaders are failing to find suitable use cases. By 2023, 90% of blockchain-based supply chain initiatives will suffer ‘blockchain fatigue’ due to a lack of strong use cases, according to Gartner, Inc.

A

Gartner supply chain technology survey of user wants and needs found that only 19% of respondents ranked blockchain as a very important technology for their business, and only 9% have invested in it. This is mainly because supply chain blockchain projects are very limited and do not match the initial enthusiasm for the technology’s application in supply chain management.

“Supply chain blockchain projects have mostly focused on verifying authenticity, improving traceability and visibility, and improving transactional trust,” said Alex Pradhan, senior principal research analyst at Gartner. “However, most have remained pilot projects due to a combination of technology immaturity, lack of standards, overly ambitious scope and a misunderstanding of how blockchain could, or should, actually help the supply chain. Inevitably, this is causing the market to experience blockchain fatigue.”

The budding nature of blockchain makes it almost impossible for organisations to identify and target specific high-value use cases.

Instead, companies are forced to run multiple development pilots using trial and error to find ones that might provide value. Additionally, the vendor ecosystem has not fully formed and is struggling to establish market dominance. Another challenge is that supply chain organisations cannot buy an off-theshelf, complete, packaged blockchain solution.

“Without a vibrant market for commercial blockchain applications, the majority of companies do not know how to evaluate, assess and benchmark solutions, especially as the market landscape rapidly evolves,” said Pradhan. “Furthermore, current creations

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offered by solution providers are complicated hybrids of conventional blockchain technologies. This adds more complexity and confusion, making it that much harder for companies to identify appropriate supply chain use cases.”

Caution As blockchain continues to develop in supply chains, Gartner recommends that organisations remain cautious about early adoption and not to rush into making blockchain work in their supply chain until there is a clear distinction between hype and the core capability of blockchain. “The emphasis should be on proof of concept, experimentation and limited-scope initiatives that deliver lessons, rather than high-cost, high-risk, strategic business value,” said Pradhan.

Gartner clients can read more in the report ‘Predicts 2019: Future of Supply Chain Operations’. More predictions for all aspects

of the IT industry can be found in ‘Predicts 2019: Leadership Means Expanding Options, Not Limiting Them - A Gartner Trend Insight Report’, a collection of research aimed at helping CIOs and other IT leaders focus on how the landscape is shifting for individuals, businesses and IT organisations.

More information on how to innovate and scale the supply chain can be found on the Gartner Chief Supply Chain Officer Insight Hub.

About the survey The survey was conducted between November 2017 and February 2018 among 303 respondents from North America, EMEA, Asia/Pacific and South America. The survey explored the role technology plays in supply chains, how supply chain organisations leverage technology for competitive advantage, and their changing views about how best to exploit technology in supply chain management organisations. n

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Supply Chain

Analysis

Gartner identifies the top 8 supply chain technology trends in 2019

G

artner’s top strategic supply chain technology trends have broad industry impact but have not yet been widely adopted. They might be experiencing significant changes or reaching critical tipping points in capability or maturity.

“These technologies are those that supply chain leaders simply cannot ignore,” said Christian Titze, research vice president at Gartner. “Within the next five years, if half of large global companies are using some of these technologies in their supply chain operations, it’s safe to say that the technologies will disrupt people, business objectives and IT systems.” The top 8

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supply chain technology trends in 2019 are:

evolving patterns, and predicting disruptive events along with potential resolutions.”

AI

Advanced analytics

AI technology in supply chain seeks to augment human performance. Through self-learning and natural language, AI capabilities can help automate various supply chain processes such as demand forecasting, production planning or predictive maintenance.

Advanced analytics span predictive analytics – those that identify data patterns and anticipate future scenarios – as well as prescriptive analytics – a set of capabilities that finds a course of action to meet a predefined objective. The increased availability of Internet of Things (IoT) data and extended external data sources such as weather or traffic conditions allow organizations to anticipate future scenarios and make better recommendations in areas such as supply chain planning, sourcing and transportation.

“AI supports the shift to broader supply chain automation that many organisations are seeking,” said Titze. “For example, AI can enhance risk mitigation by analyzing large sets of data, continuously identifying

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Analysis

“Advanced analytics are not new, but their impact on today’s supply chains are significant,” said Titze. “They will help organisations become more proactive and actionable in managing their supply chains, both in taking advantage of future opportunities and avoiding potential future disruptions.”

IoT The IoT is the network of physical objects that contain embedded technology to interact with their internal states or the external environment. “We are seeing more supply chain practitioners exploring the potential of IoT,” said Titze. “Areas that IoT might have a profound impact on are enhanced logistics management, improved customer service and improved supply availability.”

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) RPA tools operate by mapping a process in the tool language for the software “robot” to follow. They cut costs and eliminate keying errors. “We are seeing a significant reduction in process lead times RPA technology is used to automate the creation of purchase and sales orders or shipments, for instance,” said Mr. Titze.

“RPA technology reduces human intervention and improves consistency across manual data sources within manufacturing.”

Autonomous things Autonomous things use AI to automate functions previously performed by humans, such as autonomous vehicles and drones.

They exploit AI to deliver advanced behaviors that interact more naturally with their surroundings and with people.

“The rapid explosion in the number of connected, intelligent things has given this trend a huge push,” said Titze. “The once distant thought of reducing time for inventory checks by using drones’ cameras to take inventory images, for instance, is here.”

Digital supply chain twin A digital supply chain twin is a digital representation of the relationships between all physical entities of end-to-end supply chain processes — products, customers, markets, distribution centers/warehouses, plants, finance, attributes and weather. They are linked to their real-world counterparts and are used to understand the state of the thing or system in order to optimize operations and respond efficiently to changes.

“Digital supply chain twins are inevitable as the digital world and physical world continue to merge,” said Titze.

Immersive experience Immersive experiences such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and conversational systems are changing the way

Supply Chain

people interact with the digital world. “In supply chain, organisations might use AR along with quick response (QR) codes and mobile technology to speed up equipment changeovers in factories,” said Titze.

“Immersive user experiences will enable digital business opportunities that have not yet been fully realized within global supply chains.”

Blockchain in Supply Chain Although supply-chain-related blockchain initiatives are nascent, blockchain has potential to fulfill long-standing challenges presented across complex global supply chains. Current capabilities offered by blockchain solutions for supply chain include traceability, automation, and security.

“Organisations might use blockchain to track global shipments with tamper-evident labels, allowing a reduction in the time needed to send paperwork back and forth with port authorities and improved counterfeit identification,” said Titze.

Gartner clients can learn more in ‘The 2019 Top Supply Chain Technology Trends You Can’t Ignore’, which provides an outlook into other emerging trends that might disrupt supply chain operations in the upcoming years, such as 5G and edge computing. n

JD Sports chooses Eurostop Retail systems for stores in South East Asia

J

D Sports has selected Eurostop Retail Systems for 24 of its stores across Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. JD Sports has chosen Eurostop’s connected EPOS, mobile POS, ERP, data warehouse and business intelligence and reporting solutions for the region.

The connected solutions which will also be integrated by Eurostop to JD Sports’ existing systems will provide a centralised, fully connected stock management and fulfilment

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system to process online and in store sales in SE Asia, linked to its local country and UK warehouses to efficiently manage its multichannel offering.

JD Sports selected Eurostop systems following an in depth market review and in light of the work that Eurostop has completed with the Tiso Group, which is part of the JD Sports Group. Barry Loftus, Group IT Director of JD Sports Fashion PLC said “I am looking forward to working with our strategic partner, Eurostop, once again on this expansion in

South East Asia. ” Hew Poh Yin, managing director for Eurostop operations in Asia said: “For large retailers like JD Sports, the challenge is to have a complete overview of stock and sales across a multi-channel and international business.

Investing in Eurostop’s connected systems ensures that every item and sale is managed, from purchase through to sale and despatch, across JD Sports’ entire estate in the UK and SE Asia.” n

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Analysis

SECURITY

The real answer to the question

‘What’s our risk from ransomware?’

By Derek E. Brink, CISSP, vice president and research fellow, information security and IT GRC, Aberdeen Group.

Q

uick – someone from your organisation’s senior leadership team asks you a simple and straightforward question: “What’s our risk

from ransomware?” How do you respond?

While the technical details and trends of ransomware are interesting and important for subject-matter experts, what the senior leadership team ultimately wants to understand is the risk.

Security professionals (as well as high-tech media, solution providers, and industry

analysts) often confuse technical information about threats, vulnerabilities, exploits, and information technologies with risk, and commonly use these terms interchangeably — but they are not synonymous with risk. This kind of technical information is about the “who,” “what,” and “how” of ransomware.

Risk, on the other hand, is about the all-

deployment of ransomware – to evade the

important “so what.”

protection mechanisms put in place by the

they’ve experienced at least one ransomware

defenders, and to maximise their own

attack during the previous 12 months.

• Of those who were attacked, most are

Risk, as properly defined, is always about

return on investment. Technical trends

‘how likely is a successful ransomware attack

currently include high growth in new

to occur’ for our organisation, and ‘how much

ransomware variants, as well as increased

enterprise endpoints – although

is the corresponding business impact’? If

targeting of mobile devices, connected

increasingly they are also impacting the

we’re not talking about how likely and how

devices (i.e., IoT), servers, and Cloud-

data on mobile devices, connected devices

much business impact, we’re not really talking

based services in addition to traditional

(i.e., IoT), on-premises servers, and cloud-

about risk. So, by all means – based on what

enterprise endpoints.

attacked more than once.

• Most ransomware attacks impact traditional

based services.

• About two-thirds of ransomware attacks are

you know about who asked the question, your response might need to include some high-

But then, it’s time to get to quickly to what

successful in infecting at least one

level background information, such as a

they really want to know when they asked you

endpoint.

definition and a summary of recent trends:

the question – how likely is a successful

• Ransomware refers to malicious code

ransomware attack to occur, and how much is

designed to gain unauthorised access to data and encrypt the data to block access

• More than half of successful ransomware

• Few organisations pay the ransom to

that victims pay a ransom, in exchange for

Breaking down the risk of ransomware: How likely?

the key to decrypt and recover their own

From a variety of public sources, we can

data.

readily provide a sense of several key factors

by legitimate users. Attackers then demand

attacks subsequently expand to infect more than one endpoint.

the business impact if it does?

recover their data – almost all can restore from backups.

for the likelihood side of the risk of

Breaking down the risk of ransomware: How much impact?

financially motivated attackers are

ransomware, e.g.:

Similarly, we can explain that the business

constantly evolving and adapting their

• More than half of enterprises report that

impact side of ransomware has several

• Today, technically sophisticated and

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Analysis

potential factors, including: • Lost productivity of users and responders – i.e., the extent to which users are unable to

unavailable disrupts the generation of revenue during the time of disruption.

• Loss of future profitability – i.e., the extent

SECURITY

The real answer to the question: What’s our risk from ransomware?

If you’re already laying out the factors of

do their jobs during the time their data is

to which the organisation’s handling of the

likelihood and business impact in response to

encrypted and unavailable. To date, such

ransomware attack results in lower revenue

questions like this, good for you. Even better,

non-availability has been the primary

(e.g., customers take their business

however, is taking the next step, and using

business impact of ransomware.

elsewhere) or higher costs (e.g., higher

these factors to quantify the risk of

marketing expenditures required to attract

ransomware, e.g., ‘it’s 10% likely that the

and retain new customers).

annual business impact will exceed US$2.5

• Loss or exposure of sensitive data – i.e., the extent to which ransomware results in a data breach, with its associated costs,

million’.

fines, and/or penalties. To date, attackers

Key factors contributing to the annualised

have generally not been exfiltrating the

business impact of ransomware attacks also

Now this is a response that will actually help

encrypted data, just holding it for ransom

include the number of devices and users who

the senior leadership team make a better-

and more immediate financial gain.

may be affected, the total volume of data to

• Loss of current revenue – i.e., the extent to

informed business decision about risk. n

be recovered, and the total time-to- recover.

which data being encrypted and

Aberdeen Intent for Salesforce is live

A

berdeen has announced Aberdeen Intent for Salesforce – the first Salesforce-native solution that identifies and pushes intent-qualified

opportunities directly into your Salesforce instance so your sales team never misses another deal.

Aberdeen Intent for Salesforce uses machine learning to track the online research of

millions of companies across the internet to generate the most accurate intent score available with client measured accuracy as high as 91%.

Aberdeen Intent for Salesforce is based on

accounts and feeds them directly into

“We’ve deployed Aberdeen Intent for

Salesforce for sales teams to engage.

Salesforce and it has fundamentally changed my conversation with Sales,” said Brad

the most accurate, most actionable and highly targeted intent data in the market. On a

Aberdeen Intent for Salesforce includes:

Gillespie, Cvent’s VP of corporate &

daily basis, Aberdeen monitors over 55 million

• Intent Calibration – Tailor intent signals to

enterprise marketing. “Instead of ignoring

Device IDs from over 17 million companies, tracks their research across 12.8 billion webpages and 480,000 keywords and compares their behavior versus a 52-week

best fit client offerings and market • Intent Pixel – Track account activity on website and incorporate into intent score

ABM, they are now actively engaged and seeing qualified opportunities move through the pipeline to close.”

• Intent Monitoring – Continuously monitor all

baseline to determine a purchase intent

accounts within target market for intent

“Intent data has been trapped in marketing

score.

signals

tools as just another score,” said Marc

• Intent Qualified Opportunities (IQOs) – Most sales teams focus their time on static target account lists and unqualified, inbound web traffic. This approach misses high volumes of deals happening in the market with similar account profiles. Aberdeen Intent

Create opportunities above intent threshold • Account Intelligence – View keywords, top websites, ads viewed and intent score • Measurement – Track IQOs contribution to

Osofsky, Aberdeen’s CEO. “Aberdeen Intent for Salesforce delivers what sales wants – accounts looking to buy that are fed directly into Salesforce for sales to engage and increase pipeline.” n

pipeline via the Visualforce dashboard

for Salesforce identifies these in-market

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SECURITY

Opinion

Spotlight on in-store security Rising crime, specifically violent crime, is a concern for every retailer. Staff are well trained. Stores are alarmed and often linked to 24-hour monitoring services. But is that enough? Real-time communication between staff is already proven to reduce shoplifting; adding instant access to security expertise provides another level of staff protection. Tom Downes, CEO, Quail Digital, comments that when faced with an incident, staff with wireless headsets can communicate not only with their colleagues across the store but also directly with the security experts at the monitoring service to gain essential assurance and instruction.

R

etailers take staff safety incredibly seriously, but how should companies respond to the latest retail crime figures from the British Retail

Consortium? Not only is crime rising but attacks are increasingly violent, involving not only knives and guns but also syringes, even tasers; while threatening behaviour is also on the rise.

Of course, staff have always been well trained to deal with issues such as shop lifting and

drunkenness. But with individuals now increasingly concerned about the use of violence to assist theft, or in response to a request for proof of age, should retailers still rely on an under the counter panic button?

For those convenience stores often staffed by one or two people late at night, the ability to

in shrinkage due to petty theft. Shoplifters are

everyone can respond as required – from

raise the alarm is clearly essential. But what

deterred by the fact that staff can immediately

removing customers from the store to

happens next? A 24 hour monitoring centre

communicate their concerns to colleagues

avoiding accidentally blundering in and

will immediately alert the police and pull up

and gain instant support. Extending the

exacerbating the situation. In addition, just as

the CCTV in store; these security staff may

headset communication to include a 24-hour

headsets deter shoplifting, the fact that store

even be able to access an in store speaker

monitoring service can deliver essential real-

staff are immediately in touch with security

system to speak directly to everyone in the

time support and expertise for staff when a

experts and, by default, the police, could also

store, in a bid to calm down the situation and

dangerous situation occurs.

act as a deterrent to those with more violent intent.

deter the criminal.

With wireless headsets, as soon as the alarm However, such a direct approach is not

is raised, security staff can not only pull up

Retailers have extremely robust protocols in

always ideal, especially if there are a number

the CCTV but also hear (and record)

place today to minimise the impact of crime

of customers in store. What is required is a

everything going on in store via the headset

on staff. However, the rise in violent crime has

way for the 24-hour monitoring service to

microphone. Advice can be provided to staff

raised the stakes and it is incumbent upon

speak directly to staff – including those who

members on the front line, not only offering

retailers to reconsider the staff experience –

might be in the stock room or on a break – to

comfort during a terrifying situation but also

especially in those stores with long opening

provide advice and guidance as to how best

reinforcing the training already in place and

hours and small staff numbers. Given the

to proceed with the specific situation.

ensuring staff follow protocol to minimise their

changing nature of the threats facing staff, a

risk of being hurt.

real-time response is becoming ever more

Immediate contact

important not only to support, safeguard and

Better communication is already proven to

At the same time, all other members of staff

deter crime, with retailers providing staff with

also hear everything being said, wherever

wireless headsets reporting a 25% reduction

they are in the store. This ensures that

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comfort individuals during the incident but

also present a far more robust deterrent. n

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Warehouse Management

n

Opinion

The future workforce: augmentation not just automation

The latest generation of ergonomically designed wearables, such as gloves with detachable barcode scanners, can be rapidly introduced to augment day to day worker experience and transform productivity, explains Andreas Koenig, CEO, ProGlove.

O

f course, automation has an important role to play in warehouse efficiency, especially in handling simple, repeatable processes; but it is no panacea. To meet the challenges of transforming productivity, the existing workforce remains essential. With the added pressure of recruitment and retention facing the industry, organisations must therefore look at opportunities to augment and enhance the worker experience to improve efficiency, safety and morale.

reported in the UK in 2017/18 within the transportation and storage industry related to musculoskeletal disorders. In addition to avoiding one handed pick up of items, a wearable scanner eradicates the risk of scanners being dropped on other workers. In addition, wearables can include sensors and emit a signal to alert other workers to an individual’s presence, addressing the risks created by forklifts and other moving infrastructure.

Human centric design

In addition, such wearable devices improve picking accuracy by using adjustable feedback options, such as acoustic signals, vibration and LEDs on the back of the hand to provide immediate confirmation of correct product selection. By helping the worker to rapidly distinguish between ostensibly identical products, for example, helps to minimise both delays and errors. This not only drives up productivity but also avoids worker frustration.

One of the biggest challenges for improving productivity is that humans get tired. From stamina to muscle power, errors typically increase as workers run out of steam. For this reason, the science of ergonomic design has become ever more important to maximise both performance and worker comfort.

One key opportunity is to minimise extraneous movement and ensure the majority of physical movement is directly linked to productive activity. For example, replacing the traditional point and shoot barcode scanner with a glove with in-built scan functionality offers a number of benefits. Obviously, the worker has both hands free at all times to pick up items and safely negotiate warehouse locations, often at height. The wearable devices are always to hand; the worker simply presses a button in the glove to scan an item, making the entire process much easier. Furthermore, there is no need to put down and pick up the device; while scanners are relatively lightweight, even removing this level of additional weight from a worker can have a tangible impact on fatigue.

The hands-free nature of wearable devices can also improve worker safety – a key issue since the majority of health & safety incidents

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Knowledge driven performance

These wearables can also be connected to other devices such as tablets, smartwatches or wearable terminals to provide individuals with additional information. Rather than time consuming – and tiring – treks back to a static information display, workers can immediately be provided with the next pick location, for example. Essentially, wearable devices enable individuals to avoid extraneous, tiring activity: every step, every arm movement is directly related to undertaking the task at hand.

Of course, this efficient, augmented workforce will increasingly work with machines.

Automation technology and artificial intelligence will continue to evolve, releasing human workers from the tedium of many simple processes. The provision of real-time

Andreas Koenig: “As the evolution of wearable devices continues, workers will increasingly be able to leverage an ecosystem of wearables that will enhance not only human collaboration but also human to machine interaction.”

information via wearables will be an essential component of this intelligent, augmented human workforce, supporting a team of informed individuals taking on increasingly complex, changing and time-sensitive tasks in tandem with automation.

Wearables ecosystem The implication for businesses of this augmented human workforce is significant.

Scanning time reduced by up to four seconds per scan. Minimising unnecessary and tiring repetitive actions and improving accuracy significantly increases the volume of work undertaken by each worker. Augmenting the workforce will rapidly transform productivity and efficiency.

This is just the start. As the evolution of wearable devices continues, workers will increasingly be able to leverage an ecosystem of wearables that will enhance not only human collaboration but also human to machine interaction. From gloves to glasses and cameras, the augmented human workforce will be not only more productivity but safer and, hopefully, happier. n June 2019

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