The 10 Most Innovative SCM Solution Providers 2018

www.insightssuccess.com August 2018

THE

10

MOST

INNOVATIVE

SCM SOLUTION PROVIDERS

2018

Expert’s Column Challenges and Risks in adopting Digital Disruption

Wendy Buxton President

Buzz- of- Drone Drone Technology: The Next Big Disruptor Exhilarating Industry Giants

®

Editor’s Note

Redefining Supply Chain with Digital Trendsetters

I

t’s a glorifying age of technology and digital disruptions; redefining and rejuvenating every sphere of our lives. With the help of technology, new paths towards a successful and easier life have been opened up. And almost every business has adopted these disruptions, except for a few. Also, there are the ‘digital trendsetters’, the top performers in terms of both profitability and revenue growth. These trendsetters stand unique amongst all the digital followers in the way they approach the digital disruptions.

Digital trendsetters take different outlook in adopting and utilising the miracles of disruption. They use digital marvels to own the customer experience, end-to-end, across the ecosystem. Rather than focusing mainly on improved shopping and buying process like any other digital businesses, they prefer a more strategic approach of using these disruptions to enhance the existing business models and develop new ones.

Eliminating the traditional objective of giving the customers a unified experience, trendsetters strive to deliver a hyper-tailored customer experience which is highly individualized, focused products and completely customized services providing buy-anywhere, collect-anywhere, return-anywhere capabilities via flexible channels.

Another secret of the trendsetters is expanding the ecosystem and leveraging technology to access and share data, while managing cyber-security risk. Engaging proactively with strategic partners, including third-party partners and digital start-ups will help you to jumpstart innovative, value-enhancing capabilities.

Thus, with a totally different approach, we can transform our supply chains into superfast, digitally disruptive, hyper-flexible and highly collaborative enablers of superior customer service and profitable enterprise growth; this is the secret behind the most successful Supply Chain.

To highlight some of such top performers, we’ve come up with this edition “The 10 Most Innovative Supply Chain Providers 2018”.

On the cover of this issue, we’ve depicted LynnCo Supply Chain Solutions, one of the world’s premiere consulting and operational partners for supply chain excellence. LynnCo’s pursuit of innovating supply chain solutions is enlightened through study of the increasing relevance of supply chain in global economies. Its resolve to innovate supply chain solutions that trigger 3-5x growth levers, leading to better operating margins, with less inventory days, and increased working capital is strengthened by its heritage with Fritz Companies, founded by Mr Lynn Fritz and one of the world’s largest freight forwarding firms spanning thirty years serving more than 120 countries throughout the world before it became the backbone of UPS today.

Recognizing that the industry lagged technological adoption and global synergy, LynnCo was formed with the vision of pioneering a new model in which worldwide service could be achieved more efficiently and effectively through a centralized enterprise empowered by supply chain rigor and methodology.

Following the Cover Story, we’ve enlisted those companies which are providing innovative and digitized solutions to rejuvenate supply chain. The companies we’ve featured are: Crowdz, a pioneering Silicon Valley start-up, builds digitized, blockchain-based supply-chain networks designed to enhance the speed, efficiency, and financial performance of global supply chains; Gravity, Offering End-to-End Seamless Supply Chain Visibility and Execution; SurePromise, A Bridge Linking Business to Global Leagues; Bossard, a company headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, which is among the market leaders in fastening technology in Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific; Elite Transit Solutions, who provides highly competitive rates, while capitalizing on pro-activity and attention to detail-- all while being as transparent as possible with our customers; GoFrugal Technologies, a Digital first, Product first company whose sole purpose is of empowering traders, merchants & business into higher levels of efficiency & profitability. Other companies in the list are, respectively, Stowga, the on-demand marketplace for buying and selling warehousing and logistics services; Tive, who helps companies take surprises out of their supply chain using cellular-connected trackers and cloud software to track goods in transit; and Zencargo, who is a digital first freight forwarder & logistics provider. This platform allows customers to book, manage and keep track of their international freight as well as use analytics to drive intelligent supply chain decisions that help their businesses thrive.

We’ve also featured special articles Expert’s Insight: Challenges and Risks in adopting Digital Disruption and Tech-talk: Top 5 Email Security Threats; and Maestro’s Perspective: Choosing the Right Translator for Internationalization.

While leafing through the magazine, don’t miss out on articles from our Editor’s Desk: Chatbots: A Dynamic digital gesture for Creative Entrepreneurs; Buzz-of-Drone: Drone Technology The next Big Disruptor Exhilarating Industry Giants and Insights’ Perspective: Leadership Shadow.

Browse through and enjoy the read!

U

osw pama G

ami

Upama Goswami

COVER STORY

08

LYNNCO SUPPLY CHAIN SOLUTIONS ILLUMINATING THE SUCCESS OF SUPPLY CHAIN

CXO 16

26

36

Expert’s Column

Tech-Talk

Maestro’s Perspective

Challenges and Risks in adopting Digital Disruption

Top 5 Email Security Threats

Choosing the Right Translator for Internationalization

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Contents Crowdz: Accelerating the Supply Chain

30 Gravity: Offering End-to -End Seamless Supply Chain Visibility & Execution

40 SurePromise: A Bridge Linking Business to Global Leagues

ARTICLES 22

Editor’s Desk Chatbots: A Dynamic Digital Gesture for Creative Entrepreneurs

42

Buzz- of- Drone

Insights’ Perspective

Drone Technology: The Next Big Disruptor Exhilarating Industry Giants

Leadership Shadow: Fading the dark into light

32

Pooja M. Bansal Anish Miller Suhel Mashayak Upama Goswami Ashwini Deshmukh Rahul Niraj Visualiser David King Art & Design Director Amol Kamble Associate Designer Asha Bange Co-designer Savita Pandav, Shweta Shinde Art & Picture Editor Paul Belin Jayant Khanna Senior Sales Manager Passi D. Business Development Manager Peter Collins Marketing Manager John Matthew Business Development Executives Sophie Smith, Jim Williams Judy Kent Sales Executives David, Kevin, Mark, Vijay Technical Head Jacob Smile Technical Specialist Amar, Pratiksha Digital Marketing Manager Marry D’Souza Online Marketing Strategist Alina Sege, Shubham Mahadik, Vaibhav K SME-SMO Executives Prashant Chevale, Uma Dhenge, Gemson, Irfan Research Analyst Chidiebere Moses Circulation Manager Robert, Tanaji Database Management Stella Andrew Technology Consultant David Stokes Editor-in-Chief Senior Editor Managing Editor Executive Editor Contributors

sales@insightssuccess.com

August, 2018 Corporate Ofces: Insights Success Media Tech LLC 555 Metro Place North, Suite 100, Dublin, OH 43017, United States Phone - (614)-602-1754 Email: info@insightssuccess.com For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.com

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Wendy Buxton President

10 SCM MOST INNOVATIVE

T H E

SOLUTION PROVIDERS 2018

LYNNCO SUPPLY CHAIN SOLUTIONS ILLUMINATING THE SUCCESS OF SUPPLY CHAIN

LynnCo has become recognized as a marquee provider of profoundly impactful global supply chain solutions in niche markets

S

upply chain performance is inextricably linked to the success of business today. With intensifying consumer demands in an era of rapid technological advancements, diligence to supply chain management is quickly becoming one of the most important business disciplines to master.

Despite supply chain costs typically being the second largest expense in organizations today, it is commonly undiagnosed as a key success lever to scalable, profitable business. Because it has tentacles in nearly every operative function within a company, it frequently lacks a single owner with centralized controls and visibility. And with no one line item on a financial statement identifying it, the supply chain’s quantifiable benefit is often buried in the details.

Portraying the Visionary Leader LynnCo is one of the world’s premiere consulting and operational partners for supply chain excellence. LynnCo’s pursuit of innovating supply chain solutions is enlightened through study of the increasing relevance of supply chain in global economies. It’s resolve to innovate supply chain solutions that trigger 3-5x growth levers, leading to better operating margins, with less inventory days, and increased working capital is strengthened by its heritage with Fritz Companies. Founded by Mr. Lynn Fritz and one of the world’s largest freight forwarding firms, Fritz Companies spanned thirty years serving more than 120 countries throughout the world before it became the backbone of UPS today.

Recognizing that the industry lagged technological adoption and global synergy, LynnCo was formed with the vision of pioneering a new model in which worldwide service could be achieved more efficiently and effectively through a centralized enterprise empowered by supply chain rigor and methodology.

With more than twenty years innovating solutions and applying best practices through technological advancements, LynnCo helps clients transform legacy supply chains to meet the evolutionary demands of consumerism and growth investments. Its proven success designing and operating highly impactful supply chain strategies tailored to meet the unique needs of its clients generates profound financial and operational efficiencies that accelerate value.

LynnCo is redefining the category of supply chain with strategic and custom operating solutions that radically leapfrog conventional methods

Beneficial Solutions for Client

A Supply Chain that Adds Value

Having served in the IT industry for moguls like TV Guide and originally hired into LynnCo as the Chief Information Officer, President Wendy Buxton, was given the charter of forging LynnCo’s path of enabling small to mid-size clients with a powerful, adaptive supply chain technology platform. Within two years of beginning this journey, LynnCo launched its first version of its proprietary SuiteEdge® mini supply chain ERP platform, fully web-hosted and adoption light. LynnCo is most impactful helping companies connect the dots through supply chain solutions designed to deliver collaborative methodologies, intelligent analytics, laser metrics, and visual reporting through its innovative technology application and interwoven best practices. These innovative supply chain solutions allow its clients to be responsive to market volatility and fast changing consumer demands with agility and scalability.

According to Ms. Wendy Buxton, President of LynnCo, to be a value-add supply chain partner today requires diligence to four salient mantras:

LynnCo’s success is driven by referral only growth and its value is best demonstrated through its library of success stories. One of LynnCo’s clients had issues with high-value product being delivered damaged on a regular basis - jeopardizing their brand reputation and quest to gain market share. With the product having traversed the globe through multiple handling points throughout the delivery chain, it was imperative to capture when and how the damage occurred. LynnCo deployed a pioneering IoT device within each crated product that monitored shock resistance and geo-tracking. This device was configured to alert LynnCo’s Supply Chain Center of Excellence at the precise moment and location of damage occurrence.

LynnCo then interceded recovering the product and resolving the damage- greatly improving our clients customer satisfaction.

1. Be Patiently and Politely Persistent – supply chain demands are evolving faster than ever and organizations are struggling to continually align their strategies. Supply chain partners should be problem solvers taking the time to identify the root of their clients supply chain challenges and with the patience to help them change practices that are often deep rooted within their organization.

2. The Power of 3 – There is an incessant tug of war between Price, Velocity, and Quality. The legacy adage that you can achieve only 2 of the 3 at any one time is no longer valid. Consumers today not just want, but expect, all three. Strategizing around these three imperatives to create a well-balanced supply chain allows for a win-win between consumers and the organizations servicing them.

3. Always Innovate – Innovation is not only about creating the “cool factor”. For supply chains, it means solving for specific challenges that have real impact and leveraging technology to advance efficiencies and cost benefits for their customers. Innovation is not an episodic event but, instead, core to the methodology of a robust supply chain management strategy and the organizational ethos. In order to compete in the future market, organization today must create time and space within their organizations to ideate and innovate around supply chain.

4. Jump on the Digital Bandwagon – the need for mobility and visibility continues to rise generating momentum around digital transformation. Collaboration and transparency between the many moving functions within a supply chain is a necessity to delivering to today’s consumers with a high rate of satisfaction at a competitive, profitable price. Join the race or be left behind.

A Trusted Journey Complex supply chains require a deep competency around the practical application of supply chain best practices versus shallow competency around many things. Many companies are faced with the challenge of transforming traditional brick and mortar distribution strategies to e-commerce strategies that localize proximity to key markets with direct purchase to consumer order to delivery strategies. This requires an organization to look at many facets of the supply chain including distribution network re-design, purchasing policies, inventory optimization, operational efficiencies, and logistics strategies.

LynnCo is unique in that it transforms supply chains through innovative design and engineering strategies while putting into operation the advised solutions. Its clients gain clarity around supply chain optimization strategies and can partner with a trusted advisor and operator that has a proven history of delivering a high performing supply chain that is scalable and resilient.

The Future Sketch LynnCo’s evolutionary roadmap has always been self-suggestive through the voice of their clients while gauging market and economic trends.

“We will continue to invent solutions that apply best practices through technological advancements. Our supply chain solutions will solve specific clients’ needs that ultimately align growth strategies and accelerate value.

Look for LynnCo to continue to heavily invest in data governance, intelligence, and analytics to forge innovation paths that achieve the profound results that have earned us the reputation as a marquee supply chain management provider within emerging growth markets.”, asserts Ms. Buxton.

Some consult.

Others execute.

At LynnCo, we do both.

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10 SCM MOST INNOVATIVE

T H E

SOLUTION PROVIDERS 2018

Company Name

Management

Brief

Bossard bossard.com

Steen Hansen President & CEO

The company headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, is among the market leaders in fastening technology in Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific.

Crowdz crowdz.io

Payson Johnston President & CEO

The B-Commerce Company™, Crowdz is the creator of the world’s first blockchain-based B2B ecommerce marketplace, who automates product search & sourcing, accelerates commercial transactions, and streamlines predictive-data analytics in ways never before possible.

Elite Transit Solutions elitetransit.com

Michael Johnson President & CEO

ELITE provides highly competitive rates, while capitalizing on pro-activity and attention to detail...all while being as transparent as possible with our customers.

GoFrugal Technologies gofrugal.com

Kumar Vembu CEO

GoFrugal is a Digital first, Product first company whose sole purpose is of empowering traders, merchants & business into higher levels of efficiency & profitability.

Gravity gravitysupplychain.com

Graham Parker Co-founder & CEO Darren Palfrey Co-founder & COO

Gravity Supply chain brings people and process together with amazing connectivity, accessibility and easy to use features.

Lynnco lynnco-scs.com

Wendy Buxton President

LynnCo Supply Chain Solutions is a firm that enhances performance of complex supply chains.

Stowga stowga.com

Charlie Pool CEO

Stowga is the on-demand marketplace for buying and selling warehousing and logistics services.

Sure Promise surepromise.com

Angus Chan Founder & CEO

Manufacturers are seeking new growth opportunities presented by e-commerce, while online retailers are constantly looking to grow their product offerings. SurePromise’s user-friendly B2B marketplace bridges online retailers with manufacturers, automates product photo and description listings, eliminates inventory risks, and oversees delivery of the products to the end customers, thus enabling online retailers to realize cost savings and focus on top-line revenue growth.

Tive tive.co

Krenar Komoni Founder & CEO

Tive helps companies take surprises out of their supply chain using cellular-connected trackers and cloud software to track goods in transit

Alex Hersham Co-founder & CEO

Zencargo is a digital first freight forwarder & logistics provider.

This platform allows customers to book, manage and keep track of their international freight as well as use analytics to drive intelligent supply chain decisions that help their businesses thrive.

zencargo zencargo.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR David Cahn is Global VP of Marketing for Elemica, the leading provider of a Digital Supply Network for process manufacturers.

David Cahn Global VP of Marketing Elemica

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|August 2018|

Expert’s Column

CHALLENGES & RISKS IN ADOPTING

DIGITAL DISRUPTION T echnological innovation is happening at a faster rate than ever before, causing digital disruptions for many businesses. A digital disruption is a transformation that is caused by emerging digital technologies and business models. These innovative new technologies and models can impact the value of existing products and services offered in the industry, actually disrupting the current market and causing businesses to reevaluate their competitive advantage.

Ignoring digital disruptions can impact businesses.

Remember Polaroid? The company led the market with its cameras that created instant pictures. Yet in 2001, the Polaroid Corporation filed for federal bankruptcy protection because the company failed to make the smooth transition from analog to digital cameras. The corporation decided to bet on their past innovations and, as a result, lost to companies who jumped on the digital bandwagon. By keeping abreast of changes in demand, businesses can follow the trends and adjust their strategies to embrace these changes, which will help them to thrive and grow profits.

Today’s digital disruptors are companies like Amazon and Uber, who use technologies to out maneuver the competition and build growth. Disruptors can be startup companies or long-established businesses. A wait-and-see attitude will not give a business sufficient time to make a comeback when the disruptor begins to dominate the industry.

|August 2018|

Companies must continuously reinvent their business using digital disruptive technology or watch from the sidelines while they lose market share. Yet, many businesses still struggle with acceptance, and others don't know where to start the journey.

Accepting Digital Disruption Digital disruption is fueled by next generation technology, such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, the Internet of Things and software-enabled platforms that tie all these technologies together. C-level executives understand that any industry can be profoundly affected by digital disruption and no one can afford to ignore the threat. In other words, digital disruption rewrites the rules of business.

Digital disruption begins with acceptance of digital transformation using digital technologies within operations and ecosystems. Today’s technology allows all business stakeholders to share a single network, connecting and collaborating on supply chain operations from one end of the enterprise to the other. Each trading partner has access to information generated through the network in order to gain visibility to all aspects of production, procurement, transportation and distribution. With the proper information, executives can make qualified decisions that drive improvements in the business.

Accepting digital disruptions within the enterprise means the business is no longer worried by the disruption and

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instead leverages strategic planning and technologies to drive the business. Disruption is accepted into the culture of the organization so innovation is a day-to-day experience.

Instead of concern, the business will be better able to sense and respond to changes in demand and disruptions to mitigate any risk.

technique is through some type of portal for order capture and invoicing for inter-business automation. Finally, some leading DSNs provide email as a simple onboarding method to digitize an inter-business process without requiring supply chain partners to have any integration software.

Benefits of Digital Disruptions

Often a business has to decide whether to respond to the digital disruption or not. While it is not conducive to ignore the disruption, businesses may not always have to respond.

Instead, the business can complement the disruption by adding value to it. An example would be to create technologies that augment the disruption, such as software (added value) for an iPhone (disruptor).

Beginning a Digital Transformation Journey To start the journey, management needs to design a strategy for digital transformation that involves people, processes and partners. The strategy should be broken down into process steps that contain material, information and people flow. Each employee knows that the product moves from process A to process B in a specific quantity, at a specific time, to a specific location. Because of digital technologies, people have visibility into what is happening with each step, giving them the ability to uncover bottlenecks that can cause delays or poor product quality.

Digital transformation helps customers know where their “stuff” is at all times, similar to the conveniences derived from mobile apps, where a taxi is ordered and the route visualized on the phone screen. Emerging next-gen end-toend visibility applications in concert with a network of interconnected buyers, suppliers and logistics providers are enabling companies to lower working capital and operating expenses, mitigate risk and improve customer satisfaction by breaking down silos within the organization. With digital transformation, the supply chain is now a completely integrated ecosystem accessible by all stakeholders.

With end-to-end visibility as the key driver for an effective supply chain improvement strategy, businesses must rely on building more collaborative relationships across their network of trading partners. Gaining end-to-end visibility across transportation processes can deliver 6% or more in transportation savings, remove the equivalent of 15 people from operating costs by improving productivity, and reduce the Cash-to-Cash cycle by 4 days or more.

Today’s technology allows all stakeholders to share a single network, connecting and collaborating on supply chain activities from one end of the enterprise to the other. Each trading partner has access to information generated through the network in order to gain visibility to all aspects of production, procurement, transportation and distribution.

With the proper information, executives can make qualified decisions that drive improvements in the business.

Digital systems gather data, which can be used for predictive analytics and machine learning to continually improve the organization. More informed decisions can be made by management. Disruptions from digital technologies can reshape markets and help with launching new products or services for less cost.

Digital Supply Networks (DSN) are part of a digital transformation journey, providing a technology foundation for improving inter-business processes, expanding supply chain relationships, increasing revenues and reducing operating costs. DSNs create greater opportunities by integrating suppliers, customers, and logistics service providers in various ways depending on the level of interbusiness processes that are performing.

With a digital transformation in the supply chain, silos dissolve and every part of the ecosystem has full visibility to what is happening from end-to-end. Supply and demand signals can travel through the network uninhibited, alerting the appropriate parties to low levels of raw materials or inventory, or seasonal spikes in demand. Because trading partners get this information in real time through the digital supply network, they can react accordingly. Digital disruptions from digital transformations will results into huge gains in customer satisfaction, profits and efficiencies.

One method is to connect via ERP-to-ERP integrations with high-volume suppliers and customers to streamline and automate sell-side and buy-side transactions. A second

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|August 2018|

CROWDZ Accelerating the Supply Chain

C

rowdz, a pioneering Silicon Valley startup, builds digitized, blockchain-based supply-chain networks designed to enhance the speed, efficiency, and financial performance of global supply chains. In the process, Crowdz also facilitates the selling of invoices and purchase orders, allowing small & midsize enterprises (SMEs)—which account for more than 70% of the participants in global supply chains—to get paid earlier than they otherwise would in order to keep the cash flowing at the best rates possible.

The Supply Chain Challenge From the start, Crowdz recognized that global supply chains currently face three major challenges: • Speed. More than two decades after the emergence of the Internet and ecommerce, 77% of global supply-chain transactions continue to be executed via antiquated, highly manual means, such as paper catalogs, paper forms, sales representatives, fax transmissions, email, electronic data interchange (EDI), and so on. The use of these methods can cause delays of days, weeks, or even months in the processing of orders and the settlement of financial transfers.

• Efficiency. The use of these same, highly manual techniques imposes huge inefficiencies on global supply-chain operations. Today, in the nearly $25 trillion global B2B commerce market, these inefficiencies result in at least $4 trillion in lost sales and added costs—each year.

• Financial performance. With supply chains, SMEs typically must sell their products on a delayed-payment basis via invoicing, which can result in delays in payments to SMEs of up to 120 days or more. Without steady, ongoing cashflow, many of these SMEs can't survive, and up to half ultimately cease operating,

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causing supply-chain interruptions, lost sales, and frequent costly searches for alternative suppliers.

The Role of Supply Chain Financing The last of these three challenges bears emphasis. The most common answer to the financial difficulties just described is supply-chain financing (SCF). With SCF, banks or other investors purchase SMEs’ invoices, giving the SMEs cash for their invoices almost immediately, less a discount on.

Later, the SMEs reimburse the funding entity when their customers pay. The potential global market for SCF is immense, estimated at $9 trillion.

Despite the potential, however, only a small minority of SMEs now benefit from SCF because: • Only a few of the enterprise-headed supply chains that SMEs belong to provide SCF financing.

• Banks usually buy invoices only valued at $500K+, which shuts out most lower-invoice-value SMEs. • When SMEs do have access to SCF, the rates are punishingly high (~4-6%/month, or 45%+ annually).

• Newer peer-to-peer networks are limited by the fact that they must buy invoices on a one-off basis and then need to individually match funders to invoice sellers—practices that are not well-suited to enterprise supply chains, which demand more consistency and predictability.

The Crowdz Solution Crowdz solves the supply chain’s operational and financing challenges by creating automated, fully digitized supply chains. The Crowdz solution is unique among contemporary supply-chain financing (SCF) applications, which consist largely of standalone financing vehicles.

Crowdz, by contrast, is an entire supply-chain ecosystem, which brings product buyers and sellers as well as invoice

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10 SCM MOST INNOVATIVE

T H E

SOLUTION PROVIDERS 2018

• Crowdz fully digitizes the B2B buy/sell process via automated supply-chain product marketplaces that use artificial intelligence and advanced search technologies to accelerate the buying and selling of products, matching buyers to the most suitable sellers, while originating risk-rated invoices and purchase orders that are pre-configured for investor financing.

• Crowdz digitizes the invoices and other paperwork that flow from this buy/sell process, then places them on the Ethereum blockchain, where they are consolidated, transformed into digital smart contracts, and instantly transported to and from all transacting parties.

• Crowdz then automatically posts fundable invoices on the Crowdz invoice-auction exchange, where banks and other investors can bid on risk-rated (and ultimately packaged) invoices and purchase orders, enabling suppliers to receive instant, discounted cash payments for the value of their receivables.

“

Sale more, sale faster, with Crowdz

“

buyers and sellers together onto the most efficient global supply-chain platform ever created, as follows:

Payson Johnston

Techstars and Barclays Each year, Barclays—one of the world’s pre-eminent financial institutions—works with a number of innovative startups during its London-based Accelerator program powered by Techstars. The 13-week journey that begins each February gives some of the world’s most cutting-edge financial-technology (fintech) firms access to Barclays’ 328 years of financial expertise. It’s a collaborative process in which brilliant ideas can become problem-solving innovations with mass-market appeal.

The company that Barclaycard Payment Solutions sponsored during its most recent Accelerator is Crowdz.

First and foremost, Barclays points out, Crowdz’s online product marketplaces connect businesses seamlessly and digitally—moving the entire procurement process online.

The Crowdz solution also makes it much easier to find suppliers and to sell to other businesses. And, as part of this process, documents are digitized and placed on the Ethereum blockchain, meaning that transactions that used to take months can happen in milliseconds—the ultimate acceleration of the supply chain.

|August 2018|

CEO & Co-founder

THE IDEAL LEADER FOR THIS CHALLENGE Payson Johnston is the CEO and Co-Founder of Crowdz. With 20 years’ senior-level supply-chain management experience, he served most recently as Senior Manager for Global Supplier Management for Cisco, the global networking giant. Among other responsibilities in this position, he developed and drove the commodity strategies for five global supply chains.

He also designed one of the first-ever online supply-chain management systems, which is still in use today. More recently, he oversaw the creation of the first-ever blockchain-based supply-chain marketplace for processed raw materials.

Payson worked at the University of San Francisco as an Adjunct Professor and, recently, as an Instructor at the University of California, Berkeley Extension on the topics of sustainability and ethics, supply chains, risk management, and marketing channels. Payson holds an MBA from the University of San Francisco and an MA from the University of Nottingham.

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DRONE TECHNOLOGY The Next Big Disruptor Exhilarating Industry Giants

D

rone technology has become the latest buzz word these days and has generated immense rapture in the industry, especially among e-commerce companies, the promise of efficient inventory management and speedy delivery - fueling the growth of drone technology in logistics and transportation sector. The economic and process benefit of optimizing logistical operations thus triggering giants of the industries like Amazon, DHL, UPS among other to explore an alternative way for delivering a product and managing inventory in large warehouses without the direct use of trucks and humans.

Drone for Warehouse Inventory Management Cycle counting, stock counting, and inventory management are an integral and vital part of warehouse management.

Inefficiency, inaccuracy in these operations can cause any business a loss in terms of revenue. According to sources, retailers lose $45Billion worth of inventory every year due to returned goods, stolen merchandise, and misplaced packages. In the past, Walmart lost close to $3Billion due to inconsistencies between inventory data and actual stock.

Thus scanning and feeding precise information in the databases is crucial for any businesses to sustain long. But this is the area where warehouse managers find challenges.

To scan a commodity in a warehouse that is larger than 19 Football field is not an easy task for a human. And this is only the size of Walmart’s one of the smallest warehouses.

Now you can imagine how cumbersome for a human to keep track of the inventory records in one of the largest and biggest warehouse in the world- Boeing Everett Factory in Everett which comprises of 4.3 million square feet of total area. For a human to scan the barcode of varied commodities in such a gigantic area that also not only in horizontal but many feet’s vertical space as well are somehow tedious and cumbersome which lead to

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inconsistencies and consume lot of time as well. Now researchers have come up with a solution for inventory management problem in the form of RFID readable Drone.

Identifying product location, stock counting, and inventory management among other can be done much faster and with negligible inconsistency with RFID readable drone as compared with humans. The task which generally needs three days to complete a stock counting job by a team of eighty people with handheld scanners and forklift trucks can be completed in just two days with the help of a single drone. This scale of a consistent result in a time-saving manner is the need of the hour as the number of e-commerce products, websites, mobile users are growing at a rapid pace and these only expand the size of future warehouses on a positive curve.

The drones have been equipped to read RFID tags from tens of meters away while identifying the tags' locations. The equipped drone system has the capacity to be used in large warehouses in order to prevent inventory mismatches and locate individual items. Drones thus prove to a great boost in terms of accuracy and speed. This RFID readable drone technology invented in the labs of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and it could save retailers billions lost through faulty inventory records.

Challenges? Yes!! But Delivery based on Drones Seems Inevitable in Future ‘Speed of delivery’ is a vital part in any supply chain management process and depends upon the gravity of traffic on road. Growing world population and rapid urbanization of people will lead to more road congestion, more air pollution and thus increase the average transportation time required to reach a destination. Delay in the transportation of products thus making service providers wary about the future. This is the reason many e-commerce and other |August 2018|

Buzz- of- Drone

service providers are looking for drone technology as a viable option for delivery. In the future, Companies which promises faster delivery of the same products tends to attract more consumers over their competitors. This is the reason many companies are investing heavily in drone technology and even have tested successful trial run.

In 2013, Deutsche Post AG subsidiary DHL successfully delivered a sub-kilogram quantity of medicine via a prototype Micro drones “Parcelcopter.” DHL Parcelcopter already in use in Germany.

Amazon is working on a few drone prototypes, which could fly at a speed of 50 miles per hour and could carry 5-pound packages which account for 90% of the retailer's packages.

In February 2015, China-based e-commerce giant Ali Baba started delivering products through drone services around some prominent cities in China.

China-based JD.com has successfully tested seven different types of drone’s delivery systems across four of their prominent provinces-Beijing, Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Jiangsu. Their drones can transport between 5 and 30Kg and can fly up to the speed of 100Km/hr. The giant is now working on a 1 metric ton (1000Kg) delivery drone.

Although the use of the drone is seeming inevitable but it raises some genuine concerns as well. Concerns related to

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public safety, air traffic congestion, drone pilot’s eligibility and responsibilities, privacy of individuals (as drone can capture images of individuals while flying over). Apart from these, how far a drone can deliver? How much bulky items could it be allowed? Which regulatory body will govern the operations of drone? These are some of the eminent questions and concerns that need to be addressed in order to transform this dream of drone delivery into reality.

Thus, to make positive inroads in drone delivery, the US has framed few guidelines that can be seen as a positive signal towards this dream.

In the United States initial attempts at commercial use of UAVs were blocked by FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) but in 2016, FAA frames new guidelines for the commercial use of a drone. FAA allowed the drone to carry weight up to 25Kg, can fly up to the maximum of 400 feet with a max speed of 160Km/hr. It is allowed only in daytime and that drone operator must also qualify for flying certificates and be at least 16-years old.

With all these positive testing’s, trial runs, investments and law framework, it seems, Drone will pass the test with time and its commercial usage at large scale might get delayed but its usage will be inevitable. It is expected that due to increasing awareness and understanding of drone technology, its market share will cross $9 Billion with over 15 Million unit shipments by 2024.

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Top

Email 5

Security Threats

early 95 percent of all successful attacks on enterprise networks targeted organization’s users through email. With the industry of cybersecurity evolving so rapidly, hackers are consistently changing their tactics, keeping it almost impossible to keep up with.

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spreader modules. The negative consequences from an Emotet infection can be temporary or permanent loss of sensitive proprietary information, disruption of regular operations, financial losses incurred to restore systems and files, and potential harm to an organizations reputation.

With today’s growing security landscape, email threats are one of the most common strategies utilized by cyber criminals. What started off with spam emails sent to your junk folder, has evolved to a more robust tactic to deliver destructive content straight to your inbox. Here are the top five email security threats that we’ve seen so far this year:

Ursnif Banking Malware A new version of the infamous banking Trojan Ursnif made its appearance again earlier this year in June. This malware is well known in the cyber security community and was the most active malware code in the financial sector from the end of 2016 into early 2017. This malware is capable of stealing users' credentials, credentials for local webmail, cloud storage, cryptocurrency exchange platforms and ecommerce sites.

Emotet Banking Trojan Emotet is an advanced, modular banking Trojan that primarily focuses as a downloader or dropper of other banking Trojans and continues to be among the most costly and destructive malware affecting governments, private and public sectors. Emotet can evade most signature-based detections, and because it is Virtual Machine aware, it generates false indicators when ran in a sandbox.

Additionally, Emotet has several methods for maintaining persistence, including auto-start registry keys and services as well as Dynamic Link Libraries to continuously update and evolve its capabilities.

Initial infection of this malware occurs when a user opens or clicks a malicious download link, PDF, or macro-enabled Microsoft Word document included in the malspam. Once downloaded, Emotet establishes persistence and attempts to propagate local networks through one of its incorporated

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Once Ursnif infects a new machine it will attempt to spread to other users in the address book of the compromised email accounts. It tricks the victim into opening the malicious email because the message is presented as the reply to an existing conversation conducted by the victim in the past.

For example, if you receive an email that was a replay to a previous conversation from a while back, you can look at the “To:” field in the email and see if it's replied to a large number of unsuspecting users.

Another feature about this malware is its ability to keep track of company names and title the malicious document “VICTIM_COMPANY_.doc” in order to look legitimate.

Once the victim clicks enable macros, the second step of the infection process begins, which launches a malicious

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Tech-Talk script that downloads and executes a payload from a server controlled by the attackers. Once installed, Ursnif can operate without being noticed by both the user and the operating system.

Extortion Campaign Extortion campaigns have been around for quite some time but there was one that was in full swing across the globe that used a clever twist to trick unsuspecting users into paying a ransom. The attacker for this extortion campaign claims to have installed malware on your system and has also used your webcam to record you watching porn. The attacker then goes on to threaten the release of this video to everyone in your contacts unless you pay the Bitcoin ransom.

The basic premise of this type of extortion attempt has been around for quite some time, but the addition of the Username/Password combination in the subject line has unsuspecting users worried. While researching this campaign, Nuspire’s Security Analytics Team (SAT) came across multiple different counts of affected users claiming the Username/Password combination was something they had used eight years ago. In this case, the attacker has somewhat automated the attack to create a script that pulls directly from usernames and passwords of a given data breach that happened eight years ago. Therefore, every victim who had their password compromised as part of that breach, is now getting this same email at the address they used to sign up for the hacked website.

Hopefully, if you were affected by that data breach you updated your username/password combination. Granted, the people who didn't bother changing this information, this attack directly affects them, but rest assured this attacker doesn’t have a recording of you that they plan to send out to your contacts. It is merely scare tactics to make some easy money, and upon investigation of multiple Bitcoin addresses associated with this campaign, the attacker was indeed making easy money.

This attack could evolve in the future and use more up to date data breaches which in turn could scare more users into paying the ransom, so be on the lookout.

Shawn Pope Cyber Security Engineer

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Shawn Pope is the Cyber Security Engineer of Nuspire Networks, a state-of-the-science managed network security provider for some of the largest and most distinctive companies around the world.

GandCrab Ransomware GandCrab holds the top spot in ransomware, partly because it’s used by the Magnitude botnet. Although GandCrab is usually spread via spam email, it has recently been distributed via compromised websites and is now

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appending the .KRAB extension to the encrypted files.

Towards the end of April 2018 a campaign with the subject line “Your Order #{Random Digits}” was circulating. There is limited content in the body of the email and has an attached ZIP file which includes a Word document that contains malicious macros that download and execute GandCrab ransomware.

GandCrab is under constant development where new versions are consistently being released at an aggressive pace. Its basic functionality is well document and does the same typical things ransomware does, including encrypting files with the. KRAB extension, changing the user’s background, and leveraging Tor for communications. One of the interesting elements of Gandcrab is its use of namecoin domains for Command and Control (C2) communication. These are easily identified by the .bit top level domain (TLD). Since attackers rely heavily on Tor and namecoin domains to help evade identification, it is a no brainer for them to use a decentralized DNS service that does not rely on central authority. This also increases the difficulty of having domains shut down and identifying those that are potentially behind them.

Phishing By the end of Q2 2018 Microsoft had taken over the top spot from Facebook for the number one target of corporate phishing attacks. Reason being, it’s highly profitable for hackers to compromise an Office 365 account. Hackers see email-based attacks as an easy entry point into data, files, and contacts from other Office 365 apps, including SharePoint, OneDrive, Skype, Excel, and CRM. We see all different types of Phishing attempts from quite possibly the worst attempts to exact replicas of a legitimate Office 365 login page. Unfortunately, Phishing will always exist and can slip through the gaps in email filtering due to the fact that new domains/URLs are popping up every day

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to host fake login pages. This is where user awareness training is extremely important. Educate your users, roll out training exercises where employees with fake Phishing emails and see who clicks on them and who doesn’t.

Because Phishing has become so popular, education will pay off in the long run.

Solutions Aside from training and educating employees on malware, and ransomware that might come in through a user’s email, there are a few other solutions to take into consideration that can prevent these attacks from entering your network.

1. Use antivirus programs with behavior and heuristic detection capabilities, with automatic updates of signatures and software on clients and servers.

2. Implement a spam filter to filter out known malspam indicators such as malicious subject lines, and block suspicious and blacklisted Ips. 3. Mark external emails with a banner denoting it is from an external source, this will assist users in detecting spoofed emails.

4. Implement a block policy for file attachments that are commonly associated with malware such as .dll, and .exe, and attachments that cannot be scanned by antivirus such a .zip files.

5. Implement Domain-Based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC), a validation system that minimizes spam email by detecting email spoofing using Domain Name System (DNS) records and digital signatures.

6. Implement a solution that can send the unknown/suspicious files to the sandbox for further investigation and analysis.

7. And most importantly employee training on social engineering and phishing. Urge employees not to open suspicious emails, click links contained in such emails, or post sensitive information online. |August 2018|

GRAVITY SUPPLY CHAIN Offering End-to-End Seamless Supply Chain Visibility and Execution

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clear shift has become obvious in the way the SCM Solution industry is looking at the value it delivers. The focus is no longer on the technical aspects of the solution (i.e. what it does), but instead on the outcome the solution delivers for a business e.g. increased speed, higher visibility, reduced costs, more informed decision making.

Gravity Supply Chain is a Supply Chain management technology provider which supports retail and manufacturing organisations with their digital transformation agendas by seamlessly connecting their global end-to-end operations, supplier base and logistics network on a single platform that provides easy management and real time visibility. By leveraging modern cloud, automation, machine learning, big data, IoT, mobility and user experience capabilities, users of Gravity are seeing their supply chain become a competitive advantage as the world shifts to a fully digital economy era.

Offerings and Solutions from Gravity Gravity’s product offering for retailers and manufacturers is modular so they can pick and choose what solution works best for their business. Not all companies are ready to digitize their entire supply chain all at once. This modular approach allows organizations to focus on one area of the critical path and build out from there. The modular solutions of Gravity include: Source - a real-time collaborative product lifecycle management software, which automates tedious manual tasks, and enables buying and merchandising teams to quickly find product and vendor data in one place, rather than spread across multiple spread sheets or documents.

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Purchase Order Management (POM) – real-time order management, vendor management and logistics visibility.

The POM solution connects suppliers and logistics providers through a single platform for a business wide view of an organisation's operations from Purchase Order to Destination.

End to End Supply Chain Management - combining Source and POM enables businesses to achieve a real-time view of their end to end operations, allowing them to make faster decisions on product procurement and delivery.

Distinguishing Features Gravity is very much led by the fact that its SCM technology platform is actually not the solution, but is an enabler to the end-result. This is often greater than just the sum of the real-time visibility the company delivers, but is centred on developing a supply chain solution that helps organizations take advantage of the opportunities that exist with a customer-centric approach.

This particular mind set leads the company to a couple of approaches that make its solutions stand out in the market.

First, Gravity doesn’t follow the ‘one-size-fits-all’ philosophy. Supply chains are unique or they differ for every customer, however customers should also not have to pay for bespoke solutions. That is why baked into Gravity’s technology is the ability to configure the solutions to match the differences in their customers’ operations.

Second, data is available in huge quantities these days and is easily accessible. Gravity’s solution comes with out-of-the-box supply chain and logistics data sets powered by its proprietary Magnet-T engine. This increases the value

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SOLUTION PROVIDERS 2018

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Gravity’s customers gain from the platform, since it allows them to make smarter data-driven decisions.

We provide a platform that connects all the parties on the Supply Chain

World-Class Customer Experience The digital supply chain today is defined by speed, agility and transparency— where the total end-to-end value created trumps a low-cost focus. By providing real time visibility and automation, Gravity paves the way for its customers to make the most of the digital supply chain.

In fact, some of its manufacturing customers reduce manual tasks, such as data keying, email updates and so on by 60% by digitizing many of their processes. They have also at the same time increased their value proposition to provide their customers with visibility of their sales orders that they didn’t previously have – one manufacturer likened it to being able to deliver an ‘Amazon-like experience’ that they previously did not possess.

Graham Parker CEO & Co-founder

Designing the Future The future plans of Gravity include further investment and development of the technology platform into a global trade platform connecting all processes from product ideation through to delivery to the consumer.

“This is a true end to end supply chain management platform and we’ll develop it based around what we believe are the four building blocks of a real-time supply chain visibility solution – how does a supply chain watch, analyse, respond and learn - and ultimately, how can a user use this”, Graham Parker, Gravity CEO, states, “We firmly believe by providing the combination of real-time, end to end visibility, predictive insights, prescriptive actions and intelligent, automated decision support across the network, our customers’ supply chain management teams will be able to minimize risk and capitalize revenue opportunities, whilst enhancing customer engagement”, concludes the visionary CEO.

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FEATURING THE DYNAMIC LEADER Graham Parker, the Co-founder and CEO of Gravity has worked extensively within the SCM sector for almost 30 years and experienced first-hand the industry issues that stem from poor data, lack of visibility and reactive partners. Along with Darren Palfrey, Co-founder and COO, he has created a platform that enables supply chain users access to real-time data with a view to incorporate both predictive and prescriptive technologies.

Parker also wanted the ability for users to execute operations across the supply chain in one place, regardless of whether those users are buying and developing products, placing POs for replenishment, making goods at a factory, managing logistics at the port of origin or receiving goods at destination. And his vision has come to life with one platform connecting every player within the critical path or value chain, so retail and manufacturing executives can make real time decisions with absolute certainty.

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CHATBOTS A Dynamic Digital Gesture for Creative Entrepreneurs

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Editor’s Desk

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he arrival of Chatbots is considered to be an incredible breakthrough in the realm of business or any kind of entrepreneurships. It is one of the smartest innovations by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) that businesses can count on. The Chatbot is a software that can be programmed to carry out a certain set of actions all by itself, like a wind-up toy, in text or spoken formats. The capability of the bots to learn from the past interactions and grow in itself, makes it more attractive and interesting.

Chatbots work in two different ways. Firstly, predefined responses are given from an existing database, based on the keywords searched by customers. The smart machine based bots attract their knowledge from Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Computing and adapt their behavior based on the customer interactions.

Applicability of Chatbots in Business: The applicability of these chatting bots is quite relevant in this era of digital glory. As the new tech-savvy generation of customers is always connected to the social platforms, they definitely expect a seamless and less time consuming customer experience with the brands they love.

Econsultancy found in a research that 57% of customers prefer live chat to email or a phone call. There’s no surprise that consumers today are appreciating chatting or texting more than any other forms of communication. To address this priority of the customers and outgrow in this competitive business world, many business giants are adopting these virtual agents.

It’s a Smart Trend for Entrepreneurial Venture: With the widespread adoption of the artificial intelligence, the human interaction and connectivity has taken a fascinating turn. This extremely sophisticated and versatile tool can be helpful in crafting any small or big business plan. Apart from being awesome in resolving customer care queries, Chatbots can be a part of an entrepreneurial strategy in many ways. That’s where the appeal of Chatbots lies. There are many different approaches to navigate this connectivity tool throughout the business venture. Let’s have a look at some of these approaches: • As every organization has a unique set of customers, the Chatbots must be programmed in accordance with

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customer journey. Knowing the finer details of the customer journey from A-Z, might be proved as the foundation for success. As AI is enacting a larger role in business reforms, having accurate foresight and experience is the most needed prerequisite to program the bot.

• After programming the bot, it should be designed in a way that would enhance customer success by advancing them down the sales funnel. A microscopic view of the customer service and sales data always helps in this regard. One should have a good grasp on: • Which patterns and questions are asked the most?

• How the responses can be programmed to answer all of them?

• And most importantly, in what way all the necessary information can be provided to bring people from awareness stage to a decision?

• In order to guide the customer seamlessly through the sales funnel with the help of the intelligent bot, an entrepreneur needs to put himself/herself in the shoes of the average customer and develop the bot around their path to success.

• To build strong relationships with customers, another smarter way is to “humanize” the Chatbot. People generally want to buy something from other people, not from a robot. Therefore, programming responses needs to be done in a way that reflects the character and personality of the brand. The Chatbot need to be designed with a tinge of human empathy with the authentic brand voice.

• Lastly, with the changing digital landscape, customer mindsets are also always in the verge of change. To stay on the top of the game, one must have to consistently analyze the data and evolve the bot accordingly.

Future of Chatbots: Chatbots are currently being utilized as easy and fun ways on websites, social platforms and smartphones to assist customers in their interactions with a brand. Even if the Chatbots are still in rudimentary stage, we can expect a lot more progressions in this trend. With the gradual evolution of Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning, the Chatbots will become more empowered to edify the conversational interface of businesses. Chatbots are going to get a lot

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smarter, more intelligent and indistinguishable from a human being with the advancement of AI. However, it will deďŹ nitely take some trials and errors before the chatting robots master and adopt the delicacies of polite conversation.

Also, it’s quite predictable that the cost of Chatbots will eventually get cheaper as the adoption of it increases across multiple domains. An example is Facebook’s decision to let third-party applications build Chatbots in their platform has drastically lowered the price.

Conclusion: It really amazes us how far technology has come up in the last several years in the digital marketing arena. However, some things will always remain the same. Even if everything gets automated in the future, nothing will minimize the appeal of optimal user experience. The bots can be used to automate a huge chunk of the marketing process, but without making the process dull and impersonal. Only then these marvels of technology will be able to make wonders.

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|August 2018|

www.samsung.com

CHOOSING the

RIGHT TRANSLATOR for INTERNATIONALIZATION services. The biggest barrier to business over the years has been language. Most entrepreneurs use English on their websites, which is a huge drawback especially to the native language speaking clients. Changing the world can be an impossible task to take up, instead the business world took an adaptive approach through internationalization.

Rilind Elezaj Digital Marketing Specialist

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n the 21st century, the main focus has been making the world more connected, and entrepreneurs are no exception. All entrepreneurs aim at increasing their customer base, and going international is one way to do it.

To achieve this, the business world opted to merge with the technological sphere to ensure the physical boundaries from state to state are not a barrier to the exchange of goods and

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Internationalization is the process whereby the producers strategize on products that are acceptable and appealing to people in as many countries as possible. In case the producers have a website, they design it in such a way that people speaking different languages can translate the content on the site to their own language. Transactions done in one’s native language are as personal as it gets. This trail of logic has been backed by studies that show 55% of clients have a preference of online shopping in their local dialect. Using their native language makes the process easier and the producer/seller becomes more trustworthy.

That’s a good indication which lets us know that localization helps with business growth, but there’s more to it. Investing on an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that has the option of localizing language is of benefit to both the entrepreneur and the customers considering that 56% of clients confess to value the use of their local languages more than the price of the product itself!

Coming to translations on the website, all the critical contents and documentation should be translated. To get the most accurate and honest translations one has to vet the

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Maestro’s Perspective translator and ensure they are familiar with the native language. Investing on the best translation services and translators will help avoid poor translations which lower the business’ level of professionalism. Even the marketing and branding should be localized depending on the culture of the setting. Some holidays and discounts may simply not make sense to the locals. With the right local specialist or translator you will know the kind of marketing and branding that works for the specific community. The specialist will come up with the best translation for the slogan, the best colors and even give tips on the peak and off-peak seasons of that particular community.

To get the best translations, ensure that you have the best ERP providers who will make sure the localization details are well taken care of. To achieve all these, one has to ensure they have the best language service provider for their organization. The organization has to consider whether the translator is a native speaker or not, because it will be advantageous if they are natives so that they translate accurately. In case the materials to be translated have a specific format or subject matter that can only be handled by professionals in the area, then specialists must be hired.

All translators must provide proof of relevant education or previously translated work to show they are well acquainted with the task and most important they must be within the budget.

Other than the hiring issue, the organization has also to consider the number of languages the organization needs to have translated. If the languages are few and the translations minimal then they can get small language service providers like freelancers, but in case the languages are numerous, then it is advisable to use one language service provider. One service provider is also an easy and convenient contact person in doing follow ups unlike dealing with various small service providers. To maintain the brand, one translator is suitable, as all the documents will be written in different languages but in one voice unlike a variety of small service providers who will all be speaking in their different voices and in different languages, in which case the aspect of uniformity will be lost. It is advisable to use one provider who will develop a deep understanding of the business and can be a long-term translator for the organization bringing about consistency and uniformity.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rilind Elezaj is an experienced a Digital Marketing Specialist with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry. Rilind possesses a strong entrepreneurial mindset and has devoted his career to enhancing the sphere of digital marketing. In his methodological approach, Rilind integrates web development and other digital marketing solutions to create hybrid strategies that bring the best results.

organization to manage international websites and ensure they have the capacity to modify the content on local sites.

It should also have an automated translation workflow, this will help reduce time wasted when launching new sites within the website. The minute new information is posted, it is translated to all the languages through the service providers. Pseudo-localization is another aspect to look at.

Language may have a specific font of writing, or direction of writing. This is sorted out by the pseudo-localization which presents language in its most original form. A fallback location should also be put in place to go back to the original language in case the client speaks a language that is not available.

All these features have been brought together to ensure the best localization experience in entrepreneurship wherever one may be and grow the business sector to the highest possible heights, internationally.

To ensure consistency of the multilingual platform, the organization has to ensure they choose the right web control and management solution (WCMS). WCMS enables the

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SUREPROMISE A Bridge Linking Business to Global Leagues

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n a competitive market such as e-commerce, organizations aim to disrupt the traditional ideas of commerce by introducing innovative models. These models connect suppliers with the online sellers through innovative supply chain platform. SurePromise Limited is one such company which brings products globally through its unique solutions.

With over ten years of experience, SurePromise's marketplace specialists connect products with sellers in major e-commerce sites. SurePromise powers its operations in a real-time data analytics platform. It analyzes and optimizes every aspect of its clients business from shipping routes to product prices, that too with the surgical precision.

The firm’s flexible omni-channel retailing platform allows selling of products across different marketplaces. The state-of-the-art system of the company ensures customer fulfilment and customers get their shipments on time at the lowest cost. SurePromise’s extensive experience with a variety of product categories informs its detailed quality control and packaging procedures that maximize customers’ satisfaction.

Stellar Services SurePromise’s full-stack e-commerce solution will aggregate big data to provide precise sales and logistics information that includes five main aspects: Big Data and Cloud-Based Analytics Solution: Using big data aggregating multiple types of data obtained from multiple e-commerce platforms, the supplier will be able to easily identify market trends and customer preferences whether current or future.

Sales and Marketing Tool: The suppliers aim to utilize this tool to recruit and manage a specialized sales team that is

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experienced and able to design multiple sales strategies for multiple audiences internationally. This tool would also allow for the brand creation, able to connect specific products with a specific audience based on both psychographic and demographic information gleaned from big data.

Electronic Inventory Management System: This system would streamline the inventory management process and allow increased precision concerning globally inventory stocking.

Enterprise Performance Management System: EPMS would also include a fully integrated CRM platform on which it will be able to connect with multiple online sellers worldwide.

Logistics Management System: This tool is aimed to have the capabilities of automatically selecting the optimal logistics solutions for each individual shipment of the supplier’ products.

Success Mantra: Building Relationships From the last decade, SurePromise has been amassing a solid reputation in the e-commerce industry. The key to success is the dedication towards the businesses that work with the company. The firm considers them partners, rather than simple clients. Company’s primary focus is to build a relationship. This alliance has resulted in the development of a strong and loyal partner base. It has allowed the firm to expand beyond its original interests in traditional sourcing and retailing. SurePromise now provides e-commerce solutions designed to maximize revenue and minimize wastage for its partners. This has provided the company with a unique vantage point to reinvent itself, by capitalizing on the new wave of businesses entering e-commerce.

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SOLUTION PROVIDERS 2018

SurePromise simplifies the operations, by stating “Whatever your needs are, as a supplier, or as an online seller, SurePromise will be with you every step of the way, aligning your key strengths and existing capabilities with our powerful suite of services”.

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Keeping it Short and Simple

We transform e-commerce through technology to craft a more efficient global marketplace

The firm cuts unnecessary steps in the supply chain and keeps inventory moving fast. Daily insights and adjustments maximize sales while preventing overselling.

Consequently, both the suppliers and sellers can enjoy its first-rate analytics regarding the products to develop. For customer services that prefer localized attention, the firm’s multilingual customer service centre delivers an up-to-date and specialized help and advice in over eight major global languages to every customer’s delight.

Harnessing the Disruption The firm splendidly differentiates opportunities from challenges. It aims to be adaptive to all the technological and operational changes. It also acknowledges the challenges related to the latest trends and opportunities.

SurePromise is more engaged in the industry innovations that are on the rise. The corporation is flexible enough to move to a better position during the high demand. It knows storing and protecting data will aid in business running, even in ever-changing technological climate.

Future Perspectives While efficiency has always been a key priority of businesses, the firm will improve its usual key of success. It will build relationships and will keep its stickiness high with user viscosity of suppliers and online sellers, which will reassure its positive cash flow. In the future, as standards, accuracy, and quality outputs are increasing, the company perceives tremendous scalability with no inventory constraints.

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Angus Chan Founder & CEO

THE VISIONARY WITH STYLISH WORK ETHICS Angus Chan, the Founder and CEO, established SurePromise as one of the first ever e-commerce supply chain platform. He founded the company when he was a college student in 2004. The notion was to ease the relationship between the manufacturer and online sellers. Since then, the firm has grown into a multimillion-dollar venture.

He possesses a keen eye for future trends in business opportunities that have given SurePromise a distinct competitive advantage.

Foreseeing the shift towards online shopping and position of China in the global supply chain, he has developed strong partnerships with manufacturers to build a solid B2B2C business model. Angus has led the diverse and international team at Sure Promise for over a decade now, inspiring employees and achieving growth through an open-minded yet results-driven management style.

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Leadership

Shadow fading the dark into light

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Insights’ Perspective

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eadership is not about individuals, it’s about the relationship between a leader and his followers and that’s why Warren Bennis has said: “A leader doesn’t just get the message across; he is the message”. A Shadow is defined as a dark area where light is blocked by an opaque object. Shadow, in this case, is a metaphor and relates to the leader’s character, relationship, integrity and work ethic. Leadership is a concept that posits that leaders affect those who they lead. Leadership shadow is not a new concept, yet it has to secure its position in the world. A leader’s action, messages, words, behavior, and attitude flow into its followers directly and indirectly. A leader sometime has the most subtle indirect shadow that has the biggest impact even though it’s less visible. This shadow is one such property required by an individual to be a front runner in the corporate world. It is difficult to see, but its shape and clarity will reach everyone who follows them. A wise leader makes prudent decisions and travels the road less taken thus leaving behind the legacy that is unmatchable. Shadows, in-terms of psychology can be defined as “those untamed emotions and behavior that lie, largely unconsciously beneath the surface of our lives”.

These shadows have positive and negative attributes that individuals possess but they are not aware of. Negative attributes are those hostile wounds which can sabotage someone’s success and relationship with others. Positive attributes are the survival strategies that help in coping up with negative attributes.

Blown-out overall image A 2014 study found that 40% of workers would rate their bosses a ‘B’ grade for overall management skills. In a 2012 survey, workers said that their bosses misbehaved even saying that they displayed inappropriate behavior, bad language, and bullying. Few other surveys suggest that their managers are doing inadequate work. In the fast-paced, interconnected and immensely competitive world, this growing problem is increasing rapidly and causes rifts between leader and followers. The tensions that these rifts trigger are the negative shadows. Followers also ignore program and services that their manager thinks invaluable.

This diminishes the possibilities of learning and development.

Understanding the other side of the story Individuals work hard; and push themselves every day trying to reach the top tier of an organization. Sometimes,

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in ascending the ladder of success, personal and business catastrophes emerges among the co-workers. Executives have such power influences overs the others, without their own awareness. The demand and responsibilities of a job often makes bosses hard to understand the impact of their shadows. The higher they go, the responsibilities get bigger and so does the shadows. They have to get the work done which creates psychological demands. They get stuck into antisocial, workaholic and sometimes depressing states.

These states complicate and make difficulties in understanding the dynamics and repercussions of the impact that their shadow generates. Sometimes these shadows go so much deep that it turns into a blind big black spot. These powerful heads have to understand that the employees not only mirror their boss but take cues after them. Mirroring boss is a safe strategy to stay healthy in the corporate world. A move, smart or dumb is accessed by everyone around the whole company. Leaders should be aware of what they say, what they prioritize and how they get the work done. By doing deficient leadership, they fail to find the inspiration and in inspiring others because of they’re even bigger getting a negative shadow. A leader also reaches the slippery point in career and starts to get comfortable into the role. At this point, a leader ignores his duties and depends upon their juniors to complete the work.

Attitude towards the role Every leader should embrace his/her shadows. These contain the positive and negative experiences of life. These are the experiences that have empowered them to be someone’s boss. Embracing these shadows will give them huge relief, and more importantly, leaders should acknowledge the dark side without being afraid. They should be aware of their actions and messages both internally and externally. Accessing these sides will help them in creating their organization more humane, friendly, approachable and connected. Acknowledging weakness will surge more respect among the workers and the strengths in inspiring. Relying on others in weakness will generate the highest marks. The famous formula”E+R=O” i.e.

“Events+Response=outcome” is the perfect solution of maintaining the engagements. Any leader must remember that the culture of any organization is shaped by any type of behavior if only a leader is willing to tolerate. It’s up to individuals how they want to cast their shadow on their followers and themselves on black-to-white colour spectrum.

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Light your Own way