Supply Chain Insights | Issue Four

SupplyChainInsights Issue Four

Supply Chain Disruption

News, Trends & Technology for APAC Supply Chain Leaders

Navigating the New Normal

Contents

Welcome

About The Magazine Published quarterly to a circulation of 20,000 + industry professionals across Australia, New Zealand and the wider Asia-Pacific region, Supply Chain Insights Magazine is focused on helping you solve the complexities of today's supply chain.

The digital magazine highlights the latest trends, operational strategies, technology advancements and best practice within the logistics industry.

Welcome to Supply Chain Insights Magazine your primary source of industry news, focused on innovation, technology and knowledge-sharing in the logistics sector.

In this edition, our features editor Mel Stark looks at the issue of “Supply Chains Disruption”, focusing on the current crisis Australia is facing in the supply chain sector.

While much has been reported about the consumer impacts of supply chain disruption (lack of food in supermarkets/delivery delays), less is discussed around how this problem is impacting on and being worked through in the back-end by organisations.

We take a look at Mitre 10 selecting Zebra Technologies to optimise omnichannel customer experience, Manhattan Associates discusses a major research project looking at how Australian retail delivery methods cause delays and

customer dissatisfaction in a disrupted market, and technologist Dez Blanchfield looks at how to reimagine customer experience for a new breed of shopper.

The edition also includes details on why Australia Post recorded strong revenue growth but expects eCommerce to moderate, Bastian Consulting has tips for winning the supply chain talent wars, TMX discusses the key lessons learnt from the current supply chain crisis, while low-code specialists Appian highlights how to improve your supply chain resilience through automation today.

We hope that you enjoy this edition of our magazine and look forward to hearing your feedback!

For more information or story suggestions, please contact: editor@supplychain-insights.media For advertising enquiries, please contact: advertising@supplychain-insights.media Visit our website: www.supplychain-insights.media

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Contents

In This Issue

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The Latest Insights

Who (or What) will Save the Supply Chain?

New IBP Service to Deliver a Strategic Roadmap for Supply Chain Organisations

Australia Post Delivers Solid Revenue Growth, with eCommerce Expected to Moderate

Industry Update

Industry Update

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How to Improve Your Supply Chain Resilience Through Automation Today

Reid Fruits Experiences a Dramatic Decline in Product Counterfeiting

Analysis

Industry Update

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Reimagining Customer Experience for a New Breed of Shopper

The War for Supply Chain Talent: The Bastian Consulting Perspective

News

Analysis

9 Rising above: Lessons Learnt from the Supply Chain Crisis Analysis

11 Australian Retail Delivery Methods Causing Delays & Customer Dissatisfaction in a Disrupted Market Industry Update

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Navigating the New Normal Feature

21 Key Supply Chain Challenges all Retailers Need to be Aware of Today Analysis

Analysis

Analysis

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News

News & Insights

Mitre 10 Selects Zebra Technologies and Reflexis Systems to Optimise Omnichannel Customer Experience

first interface to increase transparency and communication company-wide. Mitre 10’s field management team will use the mobile Q-Walk solution to streamline the on-site auditing process, enabling more efficient collaboration amongst team members and allowing them to spend more time with customers.

“We chose Reflexis Systems and Zebra Technologies to support our modernisation project due to its world-class Reflexis ONE™ platform and history of supporting large retailers across the globe,” said Andrea Scown, Chief Operating Officer, Mitre 10.

“We have confidence these advanced software solutions will facilitate superior

communication by creating a direct feedback loop between stores and our support centre, particularly around implementation of new initiatives. All of these details will make it easier to do business across the cooperative.”

The recent acquisition of Reflexis Systems by Zebra Technologies empowers teams with advanced software to drive value by simplifying communications, enhancing task execution and aligning labour with demand via AI-powered forecasting. ● Visit the Zebra Reflexis website here.

Reflexis Systems (now part of Zebra Technologies), a leading provider of intelligent workforce management and execution solutions for multi-site businesses, has announced that Mitre 10 New Zealand Ltd has selected its Real-Time Task Manager, Q-Walk and Mobility solutions to simplify work, enhance front-line communication and empower productivity across its stores.

Mitre 10, New Zealand’s largest home improvement retailer with 6,000 team members across 84 stores, will leverage RealTime Task Manager’s simplified processes, built-in intelligence and intuitive mobile-

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News

TMX to Deliver New facility for Universal Store Universal Store, the leading Australian youth fashion retailer, has signed a 10 year lease for a new distribution centre and national headquarters in Brisbane, Queensland.

According to Alice Barbery, Chief Executive Officer at Universal Store the leading fashion retailer has been through an exceptional period of growth. She said, “This new facility in Brisbane will strengthen both our supply chain operation and fulfilment capacity while also creating a world-class corporate headquarters for our growing team. We’re delighted to be working with TMX on our supply chain and property project management requirements.”

Occupier demand in Brisbane has reached record heights over the past 12 months and as a result, Matthew Frazer-Ryan, Property Director at TMX

is delighted to have secured this site for Universal Store. He said, “This new facility will ensure that Universal Store has the capacity and flexibility to not only support future business growth, but also continue to deliver on their sustainability goals and ambitions.”

Universal Store partnered with specialist supply chain and property consultancy TMX on procuring their new site and reviewing their supply chain operation. TMX secured a 10-year lease for the leading fashion retailer and will project manage the development on behalf of Universal Store. The new site will be fully operational from Q3 2022. ●

Manhattan Associates has a team of experienced professionals who know how to use technology to solve problems in retail, eCommerce and distribution,” says Feliton.

What makes the Crocs supply chain complex is the large number of different flows that Crocs DCs handle.

“The number of online orders has increased tenfold in five years. Often it is one or two pairs of shoes with a handful of Jibbitz in different shapes and colours.

Processing those orders can be very labour-intensive. We have to change gears quickly and continuously work on process improvement and capacity expansion in order to be able to absorb the online growth,” says Dennis Boor, Senior Director Distribution and Logistics at Crocs Europe BV. Boor relies heavily on WMS: “First of all because it is a very reliable and stable system, but also because of the ease with which we can control all those different

flows. As clients’ expectations rise and our flows and processes change as a result, we can easily adjust the configuration in WMS.” In order to be able to pivot quickly, Boor’s team remains in close contact with the commercial team. Their forecast provides insight into the expected demand and is prepared for those demand spikes by utilising Supply Chain Intelligence, an add-on from Manhattan Associates. “With this tool, we can analyse the data from the WMS and make data-driven decisions. For example, what does the demand mean for our fast movers and slow movers? We also use Manhattan’s labour management solution to gain insight into the performance and competencies of employees. This is crucial to be able to respond quickly, now and in the future. Because of the rapid growth and dynamics in the market, we have to keep monitoring whether we can still manage the workload and, if necessary, distribute the workload better. Our supervisors and team leaders have real-time information at their fingertips with labour management.”

Boor also relies on the high availability and stock accuracy of the system. “Whatever we think we can sell from stock is actually in stock. And when we receive an order, the chance of missing it is very small, making our operation efficient and reliable.” ●

Situated at TradeCoast Central, in Eagle Farm in Brisbane’s north-east, Universal Store’s new facility features a 5,000 sqm high bay warehouse and 2,200 sqm corporate office headquarters.

TradeCoast Central is located on the former Brisbane Airport site adjacent to the Gateway Arterial Motorway and is home to major industry retailers including EB Games, OzTrail, Chemist Warehouse.

Crocs Optimises Supply Chain Operations with Manhattan Associates Crocs, Inc., recognised around the world for their iconic Classic Clog, entered the Covid-19 pandemic with incredible momentum. That momentum was not only maintained but increased as demands for the iconic footwear continues to accelerate to this day.

To meet growing levels of demand, Crocs is evolving its own supply chain network according to Mike Feliton, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Crocs, “In addition to expanding our network in the United States and Europe with our own distribution centres, we are looking at ways to further expand our reach in both Europe and Asia.”

The Manhattan Warehouse Management System (WMS) solution plays a crucial role in optimising Crocs’ supply chain.

“We are looking for global partners who understand our markets and consumers.

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News

Supply Chain Disruption Expert Panel Renowned technologist and industry speaker, Dez Blanchfield, recently hosted an expert speaking panel on behalf of Supply Chain Insights Magazine.

The “Supply Chain Disruption” virtual panel features powerful insights from sector experts along with hearing firsthand from Frank Ainalis, Chief Executive Officer, TFMXpress.

In this virtual event, panellists explore the challenges facing the transport, warehousing and logistics sector today and how companies can employing strategic thinking and new solutions to overcome operational obstacles.

Watch this exclusive gathering of industry thought leaders simply by clicking here.

The Retail Fulfillment Summit is back The Retail Fulfilment Summit is back from 31 May - 2 June 2022 at the Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park. The event will provide a unique opportunity for retail professionals to gain insights and learn new strategies that will advance their fulfilment.

Akolade’s 7th Annual Retail Fulfilment Summit will see senior executives across supply chain, eCommerce and marketing functions from Australia’s retail sector come together to gain practical tools and strategies on how they can optimise their fulfilment strategy. They will get access to best practice case studies on how to improve order processing efficiency and optimise their eCommerce strategy, enhance inventory and warehouse capacity and increase the speed and capacity of the last mile.

The summit will present attendees with insights into international consumer trends and characteristics of successful online exporters, highlight how to embark on a digital journey to drive flexibility and build the intelligent supply chain and help prepare businesses for the future of fulfilment.

Case studies will be presented by Target (looking at how their organisation ensured their fulfilment was agile and resilient enough to cater to fluctuating demand),

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Super Retail Group (presenting on how they optimised their fulfilment to improve the customer experience while also cutting costs) and L’Oréal (developing a strategy for a sustainable fulfilment) amongst others.

Key speakers will include Belinda Hay, Director eCommerce, Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), David Warrick, General Manager of Global Supply Chain and Supply Chain Technology Officer, Microsoft – United States – along with panellists Darren Wedding, Chief Supply Chain Officer for Super Retail Group and Tennealle O’Shannessy, Chief Executive Officer for Adore Beauty.

Attendees of the Retail Fulfilment Summit can expect to learn how to improve

customer experience through an optimised eCommerce strategy, how to improve control and visibility through an enhanced inventory management strategy and how to increase the flexibility and capacity of warehouses to meet increased demand.

This year’s event will be co-located with the Supply Chain Planning and Logistics Summit and Supply Chain Insights Readers will receive exclusive discount with code INSIGHTS20 to SAVE 20% on the conference rate for both events. ● For more information, please click here.

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World-class digital and physical supply chain solutions that transform businesses.

Find out how we can help drive efficiencies across your supply chain today.

Start your transformation today, visit www.tmx.global P:+61 3 9908 3040 SUPPLY CHAIN INSIGHTS

E: enquiries@tmx.global 7

News

Why Now is the Time to Introduce Wearables in Your Warehouse

experiencing a decline in worker efficiency, order accuracy and customer satisfaction because of the unpredictability and overload of orders.

Simply put: workers who have to carry devices in hand quickly become disadvantaged, and both customer satisfaction and sales suffer as a result.

This is why wearables are now the go-to form factor for a multitude of supply chain use cases. They help to enhance workers’ capabilities, which in turn accelerates order fulfilment for customers.

In order for an organisation’s workers to stay at the top of their game and process as many orders as possible per shift (especially in high-pressure situations), they need a wearable that has: 1. A physical keypad option for manual inputs in addition to a touch display that automatically adjusts its sensitivity for bare and gloved hands.

WRITTEN BY ROYSTON PHUA VERTICAL PRACTICE LEAD APAC SUPPLY CHAIN, ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES

With supply chain disruption at an all-time high and labour in very short supply, your warehouse staff should have all the tools they need to work as productively and comfortably as possible.

Time is absolutely critical in a warehouse environment, and that has become even more important in times of significant disruption like the COVID-19 pandemic, where online orders are piling up, and extensive delivery delays are occurring due to a short supply of labour. Given the roundthe-clock nature of warehouse operations, it is extremely important that organisations choose the right tools for each worker and workflow. Trying to force-fit a generalpurpose device into an application-specific environment can introduce unnecessary risk and lead to potential productivity declines, impacting an organisation’s ability to keep the orders flowing.

We know that handheld enterprise mobile computers can enable front-line workers to scan barcodes and complete tasks more efficiently. However, the continued growth of e-Commerce coupled with the effects of COVID-19 restrictions requires workers

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to handle more goods, process more orders and count inventory faster than ever before, all while dealing with staff shortages.

Demand for a purposebuilt wearable mobile computer that maximises productivity in hands-free workflows has never been greater.

As recently as 12 months ago, it was quite possible that only a few select workers required a wearable computer to do their jobs most effectively – perhaps those who were frequently picking up or breaking down pallets or loading trailers and needed both hands to lift packages. Now, even workers picking goods in the front of the warehouse need a hands-free data capture solution if they are to zoom through the high volume of online orders received each day.

Inventory put away is now an aroundthe-clock operation, as everyone rushes to restock shelves with essentials and luxuries alike to satisfy burgeoning demand.

Even with team members putting forth the increased effort, many organisations have reported to Zebra that they are still

2. All-shift power and a hot swap battery that prevents loss of application data in the event of inadvertent battery removal.

3. An extreme temperature tolerance enabling the devices to remain operational, whether it’s 30 degrees Celsius or -30 degrees.

4. Multiple communications ports for corded ring scanners and wired headsets, as well as other peripherals, such as headmounted displays and ring scanners.

5. Bluetooth connectivity and near-field communication (NFC) pairing options to sync with any Bluetooth or NFCenabled devices.

6. A host of accessory options that allow for the customisation and safe use of shared devices.

7. A solution that boasts a long lifecycle so that you can minimise operational disruptions and maximise your ROI. Giving your workers the right tools for the task at hand is the key to keeping the current supply chain disruption from crippling your operations. ● Discover how Zebra’s range of wearable computers enhance workers’ productivity here.

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Analysis

Rising above: Lessons Learnt from the Supply Chain Crisis

Freight disruptions, coupled with sharp changes in consumer behaviour and an influx of businesses pivoting to online in response, were some of the major challenges the industry faced at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two years into the pandemic, tides are finally starting to turn, with businesses starting to rebound from the challenges of 2020.

We've seen that forecasting is critical to the industry's long-term recovery, which is the driver behind the TMX State of the Industry reports.

In developing last year's report, Building Back Better from the Pandemic: A Look into Supply Chains in the New Normal, TMX surveyed more than 250 business leaders in the fast-moving consumer goods, logistics, eCommerce, retail, and manufacturing industries across Southeast Asia.

We also conducted in-depth interviews with six supply chain experts across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

Through this report, we hoped to shed light on the seismic shifts of the past year, how businesses and industry leaders in the region responded, and what their plans are for building back stronger.

Among the many shifts that have taken place, the

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industry has seen the adoption of omnichannel approaches following an eCommerce boom, the diversification of value chains, and an increased focus on employee upskilling.

When it comes to moving forward from situations as unfavourable as a pandemic, the report also highlights the importance of increasing digitalisation across the supply chain as well as the urgency of introducing more sustainable business models.

It is no longer news that the pandemic threw unprecedented challenges at the industry, pushing supply chains to their breaking points amid fastchanging consumer demands. However, insights from the report highlight some of the industry’s silver linings, like the valuable lessons businesses learnt in strengthening and reconfiguring their supply chains and operations, rising from the past two years stronger than before.

How businesses are forging ahead Shortly after the pandemic hit, businesses realised they needed to change the way they did things if they wanted to ride out the storm and come through

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the other end intact. The TMX report reveals that adopting an omnichannel approach was one of the most important changes businesses made.

Research indicates the eCommerce boom that escalated during the pandemic is here to stay.

The report reveals that 40 per cent of business leaders have already invested in omnichannel strategies as a way to ‘future proof’ their businesses, and nearly half (46 per cent) have indicated that a comprehensive omnichannel strategy is a key business priority in the next three to five years.

While this is in line with the expectation that eCommerce is here to stay, businesses also recognise that consumers will eventually return to traditional brick-and-mortar shopping as social restrictions ease.

Having an omnichannel approach allows businesses to ensure a consistent presence, or in other words – show up both online and offline – offering a seamless customer journey.

Secondly, whether it is through third-party logistics providers (3PL), vendors, or shipping routes, the report also indicated the importance of diversifying supply chains to manage future shocks and maintain a more resilient supplier base. Through diversification, businesses will at the very least have alternative back-up providers to support them when disruptions occur. Over half (52 per cent) of the businesses surveyed have started to diversify their supplier base, with another 35 per cent actively assessing their reliance on third-party vendors.

Finally, industry players also acknowledged the importance of prioritising their workforce’s wellbeing and upskilling talent in preparation for future disruptions. This includes taking measures to optimise employee retention, such as keeping them engaged and their skills relevant.

With resilience in mind, businesses are looking to hire people who take the initiative and exhibit leadership and critical thinking skills, which are crucial to navigating periods of disruption and uncertainty.

Key trends gaining traction in a post-pandemic era Despite the challenges from the past two years and many more unknowns to come, industry leaders are rising to the challenge of preparing their businesses for what lies ahead. Now equipped with the major lessons learnt from the pandemic, they are getting ahead of industry trends and exploring various ways

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to gear up for a post-pandemic future.

One of the key emerging trends is the continued acceleration of digitalisation.

The industry has already seen increased digitalisation across business operations and the supply chain, but according to the report, businesses leaders are expected to build on this wave. To future proof against unexpected shocks, an organisation’s physical and digital supply chain will now require interconnected systems that provide full end-to-end visibility, enabling real-time databacked decision-making that allows businesses to be flexible and responsive.

Sustainability is also moving up the agenda, according to industry leaders surveyed.

Amid the challenges of the pandemic, consumers have become more socially and environmentally conscious and are voting with their wallets, supporting brands with ethical practices.

According to the report, businesses have acknowledged how Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) commitments are no longer an option but are a necessity to establish a social licence to operate.

Onwards and upwards Through the many key takeaways from another year spent in uncertainty and instability, there has been one striking difference from the first year the pandemic hit: the mindset shift that has taken place within the industry.

Business leaders have embraced an attitude of flexibility and started to think outside the box for solutions to not only salvage and rebuild their businesses, but also to thrive during such trying times. By turning the situation on its head, businesses are now able to identify the areas in which improvements are needed for their businesses and supply chains to become more resilient.

Businesses are now better prepared to overcome any potential disruptions like the new, ever-evolving Omicron variant. The report shows that no matter the new challenge, leaders have and will continue to take action that will enable their businesses and the industry as a whole to thrive in the new normal and build back stronger than before. ● Click here to read the full report: Industry Report 2021 | Building Back from the Pandemic - TMX

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Industry Update

Australian Retail Delivery Methods Causing Delays & Customer Dissatisfaction in a Disrupted Market Retail supply chains are under greater pressure than ever before due to the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, with 76% of Australian shoppers indicating that they had experienced unusual delays in receiving goods they ordered online in the last three months.

New research undertaken by Manhattan Associates has identified that a major source of customer dissatisfaction and delays in receiving goods today was multiple-shipments for single orders. Sixtysix per cent of shoppers stated that items commonly arrived in separate deliveries when ordering online – even though they ordered all their goods in one shop. This is despite 70% of shoppers saying that they would prefer to receive goods at a later date if that meant everything they ordered arrived in one delivery/shipment.

“Given the pressure that Australian retailers are under to meet customer demands in a challenging market, it is understandable that brands want to get their

goods to customers as fast as possible, even if this means that orders arrive in multiple shipments, with goods from one order coming in different deliveries on different dates,” said Raghav Sibal, Managing Director, ANZ, Manhattan Associates. “However, new research shows that this approach is actually causing friction with the customer, many of whom would prefer options to receive their goods in one delivery.”

Alarmingly, 41% of shoppers indicated that they waited on average more than one week between their first delivery and subsequent other deliveries of goods from the one order.

This has led to confusion and frustration amongst consumers, with 63% of shoppers contacting the retailer thinking there was a problem (such as their purchase not being accurately recorded) with their order.

“Such is the issue of online delivery delays and multiple-shipments today that 75% of shoppers said that the delivery reliability of a retailer would impact on their willingness to shop with them in the future,” said Raghav.

“Not only is the issue of multiple shipments for a single order causing confusion and frustration amongst Australian shoppers and impacting on the reputation of the retail brand, but it also comes at a real financial cost to retailers. Every time an online order is split over two or three different shipments, there is an extra cost to the business for handling, packaging, and transport, which can all add up at a time when many retailers are already under financial pressure.”

Only 50% of shoppers were contacted by the retailer when their delivery was delayed or notified that their delivery would come over multiple shipments, and an overwhelming 67% feel that the business could have better managed the process around communicating likely delays in receiving goods.

“In a disrupted operating environment, retailers must not only improve their communication with customers, but they must also intelligently manage order fulfilment across their complete omnichannel network to minimise multipleshipment issues and meet shopper expectations. Retailers need to manage stock across distribution centres, stores, and transportation, along with optimising order routing to reduce costs while ensuring customer promises are always kept,” said Raghav. ●

To learn more, please click here.

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Solve your employees' biggest problem, so they can solve yours.

Labour shortages across the supply chain are hitting hard. Empower your staff to be their best by simplifying communication, streamlining task management and optimising labour scheduling.

ZEBRA AD Reflexis ONE™ real time work platform helps businesses transform their operations across multiple locations: Real-time task management Simplify communications between staff Optimise labour forecasting, budgeting and scheduling AI-powered for informed decision making Advanced analytics and reporting

LEARN MORE SUPPLY CHAIN INSIGHTS

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Analysis

Who (or What) will Save the Supply Chain?

WRITTEN BY ROYSTON PHUA VERTICAL PRACTICE LEAD, APAC SUPPLY CHAIN AT ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES

It is no secret that there is friction at several stages of the supply chain right now, which is contributing to the vast shortages and bottlenecks we are currently seeing.

The biggest issue is that not one piece of the supply chain is breaking right now; it is the entire structure.

This makes it difficult to pinpoint one area of the supply chain and resolve the issue. While the supply chain was highly efficient prior to the pandemic, it was running based on a predictable environment.

The changes brought on by the global pandemic were unprecedented, making it difficult for supply chain operators to predict demand. Without any historical data or similar disruptions of such a large scale, companies had to make quick adjustments and, in many cases, did so in such a conservative way that manufacturing started to slow down as a result.

Now that we are beginning to move out of the pandemic, at least from an economic perspective, demand is accelerating so quickly that manufacturers are struggling to keep up. It will take some time for the supply chain to recover from the changes brought on by this pandemic as operators adjust to what is needed from a material, labour, and transport perspective. So, what is happening behind the scenes and on the front lines to keep things moving?

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Smart warehouses front-andcentre in the customer service race As consumers go online to purchase everything from groceries and dry goods to gadgets, they expect orders to arrive tomorrow or even the same day, or within a few hours, the warehouse is now frontand-centre in the customer service race. Warehouse operations teams are rethinking everything – from how the floor is organised, how goods move from intake to shipping and labour strategies. Driven by the need for real change, robots and automation are no longer a curiosity or a future investment that needs to be piloted for years. We are seeing more and more teams boldly moving ahead with implementations, recognising that robots and automation are essential to the demand-driven model for warehousing operations that will be born from this disruption.

Visibility and flexibility is key On the supply side, inbound materials availability, supplier response time, materials and transportation costs are dynamic and unpredictable. In response, organisations are prioritising visibility and flexibility in their technology investments and their operational designs. They are implementing newer generations of intelligent mobile robots to make physical automation accessible to smaller facilities and inherently less risky and more flexible than more traditional alternatives. They are recognising that

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necessary to marry internal and external data (i.e., promotions, pricing, product attributes, competitive activity, local events, social media, mobility data).

This produces insights and predicts highly granular forecasts that are significantly more accurate than current traditional practices. This increase in accuracy reduces uncertainty and provides a confident signal to plan, source, make, and deliver (the individual ‘legs’ of the supply chain). And it’s all built from the lens of the customer, to serve the customer best which is essential in these times of uncertainty to retain and grow revenue.

Open and honest communication is key Full supply chain visibility enables all participants to ‘keep the promise' and deliver goods to customers on time. Although the situation is far from perfect with delays and looming shortages, organisations can proactively and openly communicate their inventory levels, location of goods, delivery times and schedule updates to customers to create a sense of transparency. Customers will likely not mind ordering an item in advance to allow for longer lead times. Clear, honest communication based on full inventory visibility will make all the difference in these trying times.

To learn more, please click here.

they must provide workers with tools that are easy to learn, easy to use and ergonomically designed if they are to attract and retain labour, which is critical to their performance. These tools include wearable computers and scanners. Workers have shown that they also appreciate when mechanised solutions like autonomous mobile robots (AMR) take a lot of the physical effort out of their workday.

Minimising the impact of shipping delays If you take a step back, the supply chain is a system of delays. Meaning there is lead time involved from raw material sourcing, manufacturing and the delivery of the finished product that can be expressed in days, weeks, or months for each ‘leg’ in the chain. The notion of delays and dependencies of one ‘leg’ on another, many of which have been exacerbated due to the pandemic and recent supply chain disruptions, creates demand uncertainty and poor customer service.

Manufacturers and retailers need to get closer to the source of customer demand – at the postcode or store level.

To accomplish that goal, advanced analytical solutions such as AI-based forecasting are

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Putting workers' needs first The labour shortage is no secret. The pain is felt in every industry, especially amongst frontline employees or rather our front-line heroes.

Organisations need to identify demand proactively to ensure they can have the right capacity available to pick, pack, and ship all desired products. But it is not as easy as simply identifying this critical requirement.

There is a larger element of understanding your workforce, having uncomfortable conversations about challenging prior ways of working and finding new solutions that will build on workers' capabilities and motivate them to succeed.

Outside of ensuring that a competitive wage is being offered, companies should be looking at ways to have more flexible hours, better humanistic design offerings, and revaluating overall benefits offered to these employees. We owe it to these heroes to take a hard look at our past offerings and ways of working to ensure they really align with our values and to what our employees value most. ●

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Feature

Navigating the New Normal SUPPLY CHAIN INSIGHTS DISRUPTION FEATURE

Shipping constraints, labour shortages, and stock availability have dominated the supply chain conversation for the past two years. But are we about to turn a corner?

While we might be getting sick of the term “supply chain disruption”, as we head into the second quarter of 2022 and with one of the most challenging peak periods in history behind us, businesses are still grappling with many issues caused by the onset of the pandemic.

Shipping constraints, labour shortages and stock availability issues have become the norm, and many organisations have made the dramatic shift from a just-in-time strategy to a just-in-case mindset.

At the consumer level, most of us have gotten used to not being able to secure our favourite goods in the weekly grocery shop, and at a global level, the longstanding semiconductor shortage is still crippling the automotive and technology manufacturing industry.

Leading up to Christmas, there was large-scale anxiety around shortages of festive consumer goods, as the supply chain industry was once again thrust into the spotlight.

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While supply chain disruption continues to dominate the mainstream media – two years on, the question now is: what do the next 12 months look like and will we ever see a return to pre-pandemic days?

Supply Chain Insights takes a deep dive into the disruption and asks leaders from across the industry what challenges we’re likely to face in the year ahead.

The big inventory issue According to Travis Erridge, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at TMX, Asia-Pacific’s leading business transformation consultancy, businesses are still holding a huge amount of inventory.

“We’re seeing massive amounts of inventory kept in storage. Australia is at maximum capacity, and most businesses are carrying a lot more product than they normally would,” he tells Supply Chain Insights.

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Feature

“Retailers are still not sure about the split between eCommerce and bricks and mortar, so they are still finding that their inventory is often in the wrong places,” ALEX MACPHERSON, DIRECTOR OF SOLUTION CONSULTING & ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT, MANHATTAN ASSOCIATES

Coming into the peak period last year, organisations were worried about missing out on sales so, they ramped up their stock holding. “People went crazy getting inventory in, and some of that stock is only just arriving in Australia now,” Travis says.

Furthermore, retailers have had issues with inventory in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and as we move further into the year, businesses have to grapple with the issue of storing seasonal or obsolete stock.

Alex MacPherson, Director of Solution Consulting and Account Management at Manhattan Associates, a leading global provider of supply chain software, says as a result of businesses holding more stock than usual, there’s been a lot of markdowns and challenges around where to hold stock and when.

“Retailers are still not sure about the split between eCommerce and bricks and mortar, so they are still finding that their inventory is often in the wrong places,” he says.

According to Darren Bretherton, Senior Business Development Manager at Zebra Technologies, a world leader in innovative digital solutions, hardware, and software; holding excessive amounts of stock not only has implications from a property and operational point of view, but this has a significant impact on short term cash positions for retailers.

“Carrying large amounts of seasonal inventory means that working capital is severely constrained,” he says.

While pre-pandemic, just-in-time lean methods may not be acceptable in today’s environment, as organisations look to plan for the post-pandemic world, TMX’s Travis Erridge says holding huge amounts of inventory is not the answer and asks:

“How can you make strategic decisions about the future of your business when all your capital is sitting in inventory?”

Looking ahead, businesses need to start looking to long-term solutions about what level of inventory is acceptable in a post-pandemic world. According to Manhattan Associates Alex MacPherson, while supply chain wasn’t previously on many Boards’ agendas, it is now, and will continue to be so:

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“We’re seeing massive amounts of inventory kept in storage. Australia is at maximum capacity, and most businesses are carrying a lot more product than they normally would,” TRAVIS ERRIDGE, CO-FOUNDER & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, TMX

“C-suites around the world are going to start to ask: why are we holding so much stock?”

Widespread labour shortage “Supply chain challenges are still very much exasperated by the labour shortage caused by the pandemic,” Darren Bretherton from Zebra Technologies tells Supply Chain Insights.

The restriction of movement and COVID-19 isolation rules are still having a major impact on the supply chain and retail industry, and according to Travis Erridge, this is unlikely to go away any time soon.

“While there could be some labour relief as people start to travel and move around the world again, one thing the pandemic has done is show that people do not want to do hard, labour-intensive work – that’s the reality this industry is dealing with,” he says.

This issue isn’t only felt in the supply chain space, but also in retail and according to Alex MacPherson,

93% of retailers were worried about the labour shortage in 2021.

“One of the challenges for the supply chain is that we have to make the industry more attractive for people to work in. We have to promote professional development opportunities and show that there is a career path in this sector. If we don’t tackle these issues now, we’re going to be faced with serious shortages down the track,” he says.

While the supply chain industry acknowledges it has an issue with labour availability, Darren Bretherton says there is an opportunity for organisations to utilise technology to help manage this issue.

“Workforce management software can help find replacement workers at short notice. Organisations can use these tools to find available resources urgently and continue to deliver goods and services on time,” Darren says.

However, most agree that solving these issues with labour is a short-term fix. “Short-term, labour hungry processes come at a significant cost and do not offer a long-term answer. The labour shortage will continue, so businesses need to look further

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ahead and start to invest in automation,” TMX’s Travis Erridge says.

For Alex, collaborative robots, or cobots, will play a central role in solving the labour availability issue.

“Cobots will be key to offering warehouse operators more variety in their work and therefore make roles in this industry more attractive,” he says.

Alleviating the short-term pain with AI and Machine Learning While some of the high-level long-term solutions take five to 10 years of planning, some solutions which can help to alleviate some of the pain caused by the large-scale disruption in the supply chain are available now.

“Right now, I would say it’s all about optimising business as usual."

"Get rid of obsolete stock, rationalise inventory holdings and digitise your supply chain so you can utilise real-time decision making."

"Businesses cannot rely on the past 12 months of data to accurately predict the next 12 months, so they need to use predictive and machine learning to help with sales forecasting based on real-time patterns,” Travis Erridge says.

Zebra Technologies Darren Bretherton agrees and says that AI tools can help companies predict future demand. “Forecasting will have to start utilising AI and Machine Learning because we simply cannot rely on the past two years of data,” he says.

Utilising AI and digitalisation are a quick fixes that organisations can adopt to start reaping the benefits almost immediately. “The quickest to digitise and utilise existing information to make realtime decisions is going to win. This is an immediate thing you can do right now. Some of the other stuff is a lot more complex, with long lead times. This is why it’s important to look at your existing data and use it to make decisions that will help you get through this turbulent time,” Travis Erridge says.

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Feature

"If we don’t tackle these issues now, we’re going to be faced with serious shortages down the track,” SUPPLY CHAIN INSIGHTS

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“Supply chain challenges are still very much exasperated by the labour shortage caused by the pandemic,” DARREN BRETHERTON, ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES

A positive outlook While the landscape continues to be turbulent and disruption has continued into the first few months of this year, the industry may be turning a corner.

“At TMX, we have a view that the disruption of containers and shipping availability is likely to ease this year. This is also coupled with what we expect will be a change in consumer demand. We are likely to see people starting to spend less money on material consumables and more on lifestyle such as travel, dining out etc.” Travis Erridge says.

With a little smoothing out of demand, Darren Bretherton says now is a good time to look at the systems you have in place and see if they fit a postcovid environment.

“Business decisions were historically made with very steady demand curves, but can they manage a new environment where we’ve are seeing changes in how consumers buy a product and the way business operates as a whole?”

Where this will settle remains unknown, and TMX’s Travis Erridge says we might even see an oversupply of shipping availability.

“It’s a bit controversial and goes against what everyone has been saying so far, but we think we’ll start to see things normalise this year, which might mean we see a lower-than-normal demand coming into peak season this year. Similar to post GFC, we might see an oversupply and under demand which will present its own issues for the supply chain,” he says. ●

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Analysis

Key Supply Chain Challenges all Retailers Need to be Aware of Today WRITTEN BY RAGHAV SIBAL MANAGING DIRECTOR, ANZ, MANHATTAN ASSOCIATES

The retail landscape is significantly challenged today. With supply chain issues impacting stock levels, increasing volumes of returns and increased customer expectations in relation to online deliveries, local brands will have a hard time satisfying customers in 2022.

As a result, retailers will find that they quickly need to adopt new systems and approaches to enhance their supply chains and meet consumer demand for a seamless and more personalised shopping experience.

So, what supply chain challenges should retailers be aware of, and how can they overcome these?

Returns management will increasingly impact consumers’ perception of retail brands While eCommerce has served as a lifeline for retailers over the past year, the ever-increasing volume of returns poses significant challenges, including impacting consumer perceptions of a retail brand. The returns process can regularly make

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or break the overall brand experience, and savvy retailers are increasingly viewing the return process as an opportunity to further engage with customers, providing, as it does, an additional touchpoint to enhance the overall customer experience.

customers quicker whilst also providing a convenient collection point for consumers. With the adoption of this kind of smart fulfilment method, retailers can get their goods to consumers faster, cheaper and more efficiently.

Retailers today need to have greater visibility and more intelligence around their inventory, regardless of where it is currently residing in their network.

Manage stock visibility issues through advanced technology

Smarter front-end omnichannel systems capable of efficiently dealing with customer enquiries and greater insight into data around transportation processes will be the key areas for brands looking to solve the challenges presented by the growing returns trend.

The war for talent will put pressure on supply chain operations Given the extent to which a positive or negative customer service interaction can have on a shopper’s perception of a retail brand, the war for talent and the need to retain high performing staff will create additional business pressures. In such an environment, organisations need to focus on selling themselves as an employer of choice and create and promote initiatives that set their business apart in a competitive hiring field.

Given the need to retain IP in a challenging hiring market, more employers are focusing on career planning and succession internally to ensure adequate support and training for workers to move up the ladder. Many supply chain and retail organisations also offer financial support for further tertiary education studies or provide retention bonuses to ensure continuity.

With supply chain issues leading to stock level challenges for many retailers, the last thing any business wants is to run out of stock – or worse, to later find out that the stock they needed was in the warehouse the whole time.

To mitigate this, operational visibility and forward planning remain fundamental to retail and supply chain continuity and efficiency. To gain these insights, solutions like a Warehouse Management System (WMS), which integrate all sales and distribution channels into one place are required.

With innovations like a WMS, retailers have absolute transparency around their goods. They can review the rules of stock allocation, temporarily giving priority to in-store stock over warehouse stock, thus, freeing up any trapped inventory confined within closed stores. ● For more information on how your retail business can enhance the customer experience in 2022, please visit here.

New approaches can help solve fulfilment challenges As eCommerce and ‘store to door’ delivery continues to grow, many retailers are struggling to turn a profit from online sales. The challenges of the last two years didn’t just fast-track eCommerce uptake.

They also accelerated advances in technology, pushed businesses to revaluate traditional models, and forced many to rethink relationships between retailers, disruptive start-ups and automation, setting the scene for a radical shake-up of fulfilment strategies over the coming year.

One of these fulfilment strategies and one of the most cost-effective trends retailers and supply chains are adopting is micro-fulfilment. Microfulfilment involves moving out of large singular DCs to smaller and more local and convenient hubs. By expediting the fulfilment process, micro-fulfilment gives brands the opportunity to get goods to their

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Industry Updates

New Integrated Business Planning (IBP) Service to Deliver a Strategic Roadmap for Supply Chain Organisations WRITTEN BY LUKE ROCHESTER, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, INTEGRATED BUSINESS PLANNING (IBP), TMX

How can you better predict supply and demand to maximise profit, improve customer experience and increase cash flow?

Getting the balance between supply and demand has been one of the main goals of almost every business for decades. Whether you’re supplying essential medical goods, fast-moving consumer goods, fashion apparel, or professional services – the fundamentals of supply and demand apply.

Get it wrong, and you’re faced with the challenge of holding too much stock, tying up cash flow and limiting opportunities to invest in marketing or promotional activities to grow your business. Or even worse, you miss out on the sale, damage your reputation and lose a customer for life.

As COVID-19 has disrupted supply chains and businesses throughout the world, finding the equilibrium between supply and demand has never been more important. This continued disruption to global supply chains has resulted in CEOs and General Managers shifting their focus and attention to operations and supply

chain planning like never before.

All of this is happening at the same time as both the influence and capabilities of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are growing. So, what if we could avoid supply and demand issues by using Machine Learning and AI?

What is IBP? IBP is not software or technology; it is a high-level process that, once complete, will enable a business to predict and maximise profitability, customer service levels and cash flow.

By following a five-step process, IBP provides a strategic roadmap that assesses people, processes and systems to identify gaps and challenges to overcome and ultimately results in redesigning the business for future success.

How does it work?

While the pursuit of accurate supply and demand forecasts is not new, until now, businesses have had to deal with competing

views of the forecast – departments would have their own view based on what was important or relevant to them.

With the advancement of Machine Learning, we can now revolutionise the way businesses generate forecasts and create one system to forecast everything.

This single source of truth is called a Digital Business Plan.

Now anyone in the business – sales and marketing or operations, executives in the boardroom or staff on the front-line – can access the Digital Business Plan to see the company’s forecast for tomorrow, next week or next year.

Is your business IBP ready?

Regardless of what processes or software a business currently utilises, any organisation can benefit from IBP. TMX can work with sophisticated ERP systems or manual invoicing data. We will go through the same five-step process to drive the same outcome for all businesses – utilising machine learning to maximise customer service, profitability and cash flow.

For any business looking to gain a better understanding of future risks and opportunities, IBP presents an opportunity to improve supply and demand visibility, customer service, profitability and cash flow. ● To find out about TMX’s services in this space, visit: Boost business recovery with Integrated Business Planning (tmx.global)

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Manhattan Active Warehouse Management.

Cloud-native and built on 100% microservices, it redefines what a WMS can do, delivering exponential improvements.

Australia’s Most Awarded Warehouse Management System and a 13 Time Leader1 in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems.

Analysis

How to Improve Your Supply Chain Resilience Through Automation Today WRITTEN BY LUKE THOMAS REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENT APAC AT APPIAN

Traditional supply chains are struggling to keep up with heightened customer expectations, increased regulations, and outside influences on the market — including how to pivot operations in response to global pandemics.

Today, Australian businesses must look at their work processes and how these can be streamlined, improved and made more resilient through digital transformation.

To improve supply chain operations, organisations must improve asset performance and reliability. Yet they often deal with manual processes, inflexible systems, and spreadsheet-tracking for asset management, creating silos and limiting visibility into the performance of key assets such as equipment, machinery, vehicles, factories, etc. This lack of control and visibility impacts performance, production, service delivery, and ultimately customer satisfaction.

For stronger business outcomes, organisations need better asset lifecycle management across the enterprise – Improving asset performance and reliability is critical to achieving operational excellence. Organisations often rely on manual processes and spreadsheet tracking, limiting enterprise-wide visibility across high priority assets,

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including equipment, machinery, vehicles, refineries, plants, and factories. Logistics teams often handle a wide range of complex but repeatable tasks that require large amounts of data. Automation can help transform key aspects of logistics management, including automating workflows, more effectively leveraging asset data, and improved visibility of operations such as:

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• Fleet management: Automation capabilities give organisations the ability to track fleet utilisation and costs, trip and maintenance activity, and vehicle check-in/checkout processes – all from mobile devices. With an innovative solution, businesses can effectively collect and utilise data on invoices, available hours for drivers, load/ticket information, job run-sheets, per-delivery costs and more.

• Track and trace: A digital control tower allows users to track geographic location, control coldchain distribution, and ensure the accuracy, authenticity, and safety of products in transit.

This helps organisations protect against fraud and counterfeiting and ensure corporate responsibility.

There must be a heightened focus on communication and collaboration amongst supply chain partners moving forward to make the supply chain more agile and resilient. Amplified engagement will boost disruption response and ultimately customer satisfaction. Transformation opportunities include: • Vendor onboarding: Streamline the workflow for vendor qualification and performance measurements. Implement a solution that improves visibility throughout to ensure reduced onboarding cycle times.

• Inbound supply management: Leverage data and implement technology that ensures endto-end transparency across the supply chain.

Choosing a platform that can unify data and processes into a single interface, allows you to adapt to changing environments, and streamline workflow with automation capabilities.

• Supply chain planning: Streamline the sales and operations planning process, creating an integrated business management process that empowers stakeholders to focus on key supply chain drivers, including sales, marketing, demand management, production, inventory management, and new product introduction. Orchestrating the planning process ensures executives have the information needed to make key decisions that improve customer experience and drive positive financial impact.

The sourcing and procurement process is also growing more complex due to increased demand for accelerated timelines, heightened sustainability concerns, and the need to reduce risk with trusted suppliers. Looking forward, sourcing and procurement professionals will need to turn to automation capabilities to help them improve productivity and streamline critical processes.

Sourcing and procurement are well-suited to the addition of automation capabilities. Key aspects of the procurement process can benefit from automation in areas such as: • Procure-to-pay: Automation streamlines and accelerates the entire process, allowing organisations to increase productivity and efficiency while saving costs. Robotic process

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automation (RPA) removes redundant steps, while enhanced workflow leads to more accurate decisions and greater process transparency.

• Contract lifecycle management: Automation capabilities can help transform contract management by allowing for standardised processes, better visibility for negotiations, and improved contracting cycle times.

A lack of proper demand planning puts organisations at risk of inventory miscalculations and production delays.

With the addition of intelligent automation capabilities, managers can gain more control of key processes and areas of operation, including: • Inventory and materials management: Automation allows users to manage workflow at every stage: requests for materials, cataloguing and provisioning, the movement of materials, their use in production, and distribution to the end consumer.

• Warehouse management: By implementing automation capabilities, organisations can improve the transparency and productivity of warehouse operations. Leveraging RPA for manual tasks across order processing, inventory tracking, fulfilment, and shipping can increase efficiency and accuracy.

• Claims investigation and compliance: Organisations can use AI to identify potential fraud cases to investigate. Further integrate AI to validate claims, ensure quality control, and expedite claims processing.

• Maintenance and repair operations: With automation capabilities, companies are better able to adopt predictive maintenance programs and prevent costly machine repairs and replacements. Additionally, they can automate repair processes such as order entry, inspection, quotes, reviews and approvals, part shipment and invoice of repairs.

With the ongoing disruption caused by the pandemic, changing customer expectations, an evolving technology landscape, and the demand for more sustainable practices, supply chain managers need efficient and transparent processes more than ever before. One of the most powerful tools in digital transformation today is low-code; by connecting process mining, to workflow, to automation, low-code becomes central to an organisation’s improvement. ● For more information on how automated processes can help improve your supply chain operations, please click here.

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Analysis

Reimagining Customer Experience for a New Breed of Shopper WRITTEN BY DEZ BLANCHFIELD, CHIEF DATA SCIENTIST AT SOCIAALL

Many retailers have quickly and successfully navigated the challenges of the last two years and are now equipped with many of the right tools required to seamlessly serve their customers across whichever touchpoints or platforms they prefer.

As learned pandemic behaviours become the default setting for millions of consumers around the globe, brands have continued serving customers via click & collect and curbside pickup, simultaneously processing online returns in-store.

For many retailers, this agile, innovation-heavy fusion of online and physical demand is becoming more commonplace, placing the role of modern, dynamic Point of Sale (POS) technology squarely at the centre of a redefined connected commerce era.

For brands today, a reimagined customer experience can be broken down into three key stages, with modern POS playing an important linchpin function at each of the three phases: • Pre-purchase: retailers need to have full visibility of not just customer data such as purchase history, but also their own inventory too • Purchase: out-of-stock is no longer an option for retailers today. With modern POS, endless aisle

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capabilities, mean shoppers can purchase goods from across an entire network, rather than being restricted by the availability of inventory at a single location • Post-purchase: stores have a critical role to play in the returns process, but without smart, joinedup store systems, returned goods can often fall into an inventory ‘black hole’ • The industry has come a long way from the very first point of sale system invented by American shopkeeper James Ritty in 1879 to those that can now meet the needs of the 21st-century shopper, irrespective of device or channel used.

But, as we observe an acceleration towards a true convergence point between physical and digital retail (fuelled by the effects of the pandemic), it’s important for retailers to continue to innovate and remove any remaining points of friction from this reimagined shopping experience.

For example, let’s go back to the perennial problem of out-of-stocks. It’s hard to believe that even in this day and age, only a small minority of retailers are capable of offering in-store purchasing from another store’s inventory or the warehouse. From a customer experience perspective, this feels dated, not only risking the sale but also brand loyalty too.

To truly reimagine the customer experience journey at a deeper level in 2022, we have to recognise that the role of the store is no longer limited to selling; rather, bricks and mortar retail must be repositioned as a hub for fulfilment too.

The benefits of this approach have been played out over the last two years and continue to do so

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today: retailers with store fulfilment options see higher revenue growth – a 114% increase when click and collect is implemented and a 60% increase when ship from store is implemented.

The future of the customer experience journey is closely linked to eCommerce, and the future of eCommerce is intrinsically linked to the evolving capabilities offered by stores.

In order to meet supercharged customer expectations, retailers need to adopt a sell/fulfil/ engage anywhere mentality. However, when it comes to future-ready POS implementation, brands often make three common mistakes, • Adopting a store-only plan which could limit future agility • Minimal investment in change management leading to uncertainty or failure to thrive

Instead, they need to develop a unified commerce roadmap (POS + clienteling + store fulfilment + customer engagement), make a clear plan for organisational change and select the right vendor capable of delivering against long-term, aspirational and often moving targets.

As the evolution of POS continues amidst the backdrop of a pandemic-effected economy, one thing has become clear: customers are in the driving seat when it comes to how, when and where they want to shop.

It’s up to retailers to take the reins of this new customer experience journey and drive the narrative forward, but they can only do this by having sophisticated, modern POS and order management systems in place that support their customers varied shopping journeys.

Whether in-store, online, curbside, via mobile, or even shopping via social media, ask yourself: are you capable of delivering a seamless customer experience journey across all the places your brand is represented, both online and physically?

If the answer is ‘no’, maybe it’s the right time to talk about the evolution of your store systems and broader supply chain. ●

• Selecting a “proven” vendor with old technology without consideration for new innovations All too often, brands are still thinking in silos.

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Industry Updates

Australia Post Delivers Solid Revenue Growth, with eCommerce Expected to Moderate Australia Post has announced group revenue for the first half of $4.80 billion, up 10.4 per cent year-on-year, driven by the strongest parcel volumes in Australia Post’s history.

The improved Group profit before tax of $199.8 million was underlined by asset sales and revaluations, as well as favourable bond rate movements.

Operational costs, which increased by 13.2 per cent on last year, reflect volume increases and COVID-19 related network constraints, which are likely to continue in FY23.

Capital investment during the period increased to $217.8 million, up $28.4 million on last year. This forms part of the $400 million committed to new parcels facilities, fleet and technology by mid-2022 to help service the growing demand for services, bringing the total committed investment to more than $1 billion over three years.

The business also committed an additional $20 million in upgrading systems to cloud based solutions over the next year to improve parcel scanning and tracking in the network.

Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Paul Graham, said the result was a significant achievement given the ongoing disruptions to the business during the COVID-19 pandemic and the necessary network changes required to continue to provide essential goods and services to customers.

“Just like many businesses around the country, we have dealt with unprecedented challenges over the past year, but the ability of our people to adapt during ongoing challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic has been nothing short of remarkable,” Mr Graham said.

“Together, we worked tirelessly to manage the health and wellbeing of our people, with isolation rules and travel restrictions across different states and territories all carrying different challenges – while our people remained resilient and delivered for our communities.”

While Australia Post experienced the strongest parcel volumes in the organisation's history, eCommerce growth is expected to moderate in the second half of the 2021-2022 Financial Year, while letter revenue will continue to decline over the next six months. ●

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Industry Updates

Reid Fruits Experiences a Dramatic Decline in Product Counterfeiting Due to Digital Fingerprint Solution Tasmanian cherry grower Reid Fruits has announced a dramatic decline in product counterfeiting, over the past three export seasons to Asia. This is a result of a Smart Fingerprint® solution developed by brand authentication technologists Laava collaborating with digital printing specialist Peacock Bros. The Laava Smart Fingerprint is the secure on-product gateway - for brand protection and consumer engagement.

“Counterfeiting is a massive issue for us, as well as for countless other Australian fresh fruit producers,” said Tim Reid, Managing Director, Reid Fruits. “The Smart Fingerprint technology offers a level of secure authentication that will make it extremely difficult for counterfeiters to replicate.”

Reid Fruits has been applying Laava’s patented Smart Fingerprint technology on its cherry boxes for 20 export markets from the 2019-20 picking season.

Reid Fruits went from experiencing potentially thousands of counterfeits per season to having 10 cases automatically stopped by the Laava platform in 2019-20, and only three in 2020-21 – a 60% reduction over the previous year.

"The fact that Reid Fruits has experienced such a dramatic decline in product counterfeiting activity demonstrates the direct benefit of the Smart Fingerprint technology. Not only does this identify instances of fraudulent activity, but counterfeiters soon realise that their actions will be noticed if they try to copy Reid Fruits packaging to leverage their strong market

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reputation with a substituted and inferior product," said Gavin Ger, Laava’s CEO. Laava Smart Fingerprints are digitally printed by Peacock Bros, utilising state-ofthe-art digital label printing and finishing technologies. The Smart Fingerprints use images uniquely generated for each individual product, and use proprietary optical scanning technology, making them much more secure than a QR code. When a counterfeit Reid Fruits cherry box featuring a counterfeited Laava Smart Fingerprint is scanned by the consumer, a ‘Suspected Counterfeit’ message will be displayed on the consumer’s Smartphone screen, alerting them to the product not being authentic, along with support information from Reid Fruits.

"Peacock Bros. is excited to be supporting Laava in disrupting the business model of counterfeiters with an innovative solution that combines advanced digital printing technologies. With consumers and brand owners across the Asia-Pacific region becoming increasingly concerned about authenticity, solutions that validate products and limit counterfeit goods in the supply chain will enhance buyer confidence and help protect brand reputation and

integrity,” said Ryan McGrath, Managing Director at Peacock Bros. “Securing products at item level provides us with the framework for implementing emerging technologies such as connected packaging solutions. These provide advancements in consumer engagement (through augmented reality), product track and trace capabilities, and sustainability improvements within the supply chain.”

In the 2021-22 season, Smart Fingerprints were incorporated onto over 400,000 Reid Fruits cherry boxes, bound for 20 global markets. A significant number of those boxes were sent to China, one of the company’s largest export markets and also the destination where the Australian business has historically encountered significant counterfeit challenges.

“Chinese consumers, in particular, are aware of issues associated with product counterfeiting and have a very strong appetite for product information and brand narratives that allow them to connect directly with Australian producers,” Mr Reid said.

When consumers scan a Smart Fingerprint, they not only get a guarantee of the product’s authenticity, but the digital platform also provides engaging content.

Reid Fruits can educate buyers on the product they have purchased, as well as provide the ability to serve up special offers and social media integration.

“Reid Fruits brand is a leader in the premium cherry market in Asia and is now leveraging Laava’s unique combination of brand trust, product traceability and digital storytelling capabilities,” said Mr Ger. “All of this was enabled cost-effectively and with incredibly high quality by Peacock Brothers digital label printing capabilities.

And critically, it was easy for Reid Fruits seasonal staff to apply to their existing cartons, with no changes to operational processes, and no new technology.” ● To learn more, please click here.

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Analysis

The War for Supply Chain Talent: The Bastian Consulting Perspective WRITTEN BY TONY RICHTER PARTNER AT BASTIAN CONSULTING

Global supply chains are under greater pressure than ever before due to ongoing disruption caused by the pandemic. Increased unavailability of everyday goods and supermarket shortages have both raised the profile of the supply chain sector and highlighted how fragile interconnected logistics systems can be and how easily supply lines can be broken.

Compounding supply chain issues in recent times has been a lack of specialist talent. Just as supply chains were challenged by increased online orders and a scarcity of goods, the worker pool in Australia with specialist relevant skills and experience was also impacted and diluted through international border restrictions.

Simply put, companies are struggling to find the right supply chain talent for their business today.

There's a huge need for talent that can fix supply chains or talent that can scale supply chains, but not enough workers. Most companies need workers either because they weren't prepared for the current

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talent crunch and have now realised they need to address their worker shortage, or they actually were prepared and properly skilled, which led to their business gaining market share, which as a result means that they need more headcount to service their own rapid growth.

In Australia, there is an acute shortage of experienced workers in roles like WMS implementation or configuration and those with digital skills in automation. These types of workers are central to businesses attempting to digitally transform their own supply chains to automate processes and meet demand in an eCommerce environment, so it is of little surprise that they are so valued right now.

An additional challenge faced by companies looking to bring in new talent is that fewer and fewer people have a comprehensive knowledge of the entirety of supply chains and how each part works and depends on the other. The trend in the last ten years has been to find supply chain professionals that were specialists in one specific area, and while that might meet a company's short-term needs, it also makes it harder for these specialists to have a macro understanding of the bigger picture. New entrants into the supply chain sector also appear keener on office roles – such as working in analytics or technology. However, without experience on the warehouse floor, they’re never going to know how the decisions they might make will actually impact other areas of the business, which can lead to operational and personnel tensions.

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Australia and New Zealand, increasing the available worker pool and easing the local talent crunch, the opposite may actually be the case. As Australia has some highly sophisticated supply chains and a strong reputation for investing in training workers, professionals in this country are prime candidates for international companies. So, we could actually see a brain drain of highly skilled workers to overseas markets that also need for experienced supply chain professionals. For instance, Asia is experiencing growth in cold-chain facilities and networks right now, and the amount of talent required to design and automate these new sites is significant – leading many organisations to consider highly regarded Australian workers.

Given the increased competition for workers today, companies have to think outside the box to attract and retain talent.

There is a growing need for generalist supply chain professionals. Someone who has supply chain and procurement experience along with technology and e-digital skillsets to meet the needs of companies looking to scale or troubleshoot supply chain issues.

Companies need staff with operational know-how, the ability to take data and model scenarios, make smart decisions and execute digitally.

Given the lack of experienced workers, companies need to be wary about trying to do too much with too little.

If a business is trying to meet increased supply chain demands without any extra workers (because they cannot find or afford new talent) and they are forced to ask their existing team to take on more work for longer and more frequently - this situation is not viable in the long-term. If existing team members do not feel like they are properly supported or valued, it can cause worker burnout or distress, leading to staff discontent eroding workplace culture and increasing turnover at a time when finding replacement workers has never been harder.

Although many businesses might be hoping that the reopening of international borders will present opportunities to attract workers from outside of

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This includes offering signon bonuses and retention bonuses to mid-level workers to attract their interest - a move that previously was reserved for senior workers.

It also means taking a different approach to finding the next generation of supply chain leaders.

Bastian Consulting was recently engaged by a large beverage manufacturer to help it scale its team.

This meant analysing its wider workforce to uncover individuals outside of the supply chain team with appropriate and transferable skills and knowledge base, as these workers could be onboarded faster and were more likely to feel comfortable in a new role.Companies that undertake this process to introduce future supply chain professionals into their wider organisation and provide training and hands-on experience to accelerate their learnings will be better positioned in 2-3 years’ time.

Unfortunately for many companies, the war for talent in the supply chain sector is not going away in the short-term. As companies recognise that their supply chain is central to their business operations, the need for experienced workers will only grow. It is those companies that recognise the challenge, manage their existing teams and upskill workers to bring through new professionals that will be successful in the long run. ● For more information around how your business can attract workers in a talent crunch, please click here.

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Next Issue

Look out for the next issue For all of your latest supply chain industry news, be sure to join our community on LinkedIn

We will be taking a detailed look at the issue of “How the customer experience is transforming supply chains.”

Today, businesses need to foster positive customer experiences throughout the entire supply chain, otherwise they will struggle to meet end user expectations. Supply chain traceability and providing visibility of goods-movement has never been more important to consumers, so how can businesses ensure their logistics operations are as reliable, efficient, transparent and accountable as possible?

For more information or story suggestions, please contact: editor@supplychain-insights.media For advertising enquiries, please contact: advertising@supplychain-insights.media

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