Drowning in data is not always useful for organizations unless you know how to make sense of them for decision-making and understanding customers. When Microsoft went through a major transformation in their supply chain, they knew that analytics and data science would play a big role. Putting their data together allowed them to see a pattern, one that became even more relevant to predict trends and future behavior that ultimately helped them address their customers' needs in the right way.

Don't miss out on this insight and more from Dave Weinman, Director of Supply Chain Capabilities for Microsoft. Listen to our podcast now!

Streamlining processes is crucial, especially for organizations with large-scale international supply chain operations. Take it from full-service logistics company CastleGate Forwarding with bases in Boston, Berlin, and Hong Kong. To successfully do that, they worked with the right partners with excellent tech capabilities and prioritized transparency and open communication.

We talked to Jack Echeverria, Senior Manager for Global Logistics at CastleGate Forwarding, about the role of tech and partnerships in managing a global supply chain operation.

How long does a relationship with an information/analytics firm lasts❓

For Paul Bingham, Director of Transportation Consulting for IHS Markit Now Part of S&P Global, it might depend on the kind of goals the client has. Some have definite goals that can be addressed depending on budget, level of effort, etc. while others remain as ongoing relationships where Paul and their team continue to work together to help improve their client's service or features.

🎧 Don't miss out on this insight and more. Listen to our podcast now!

“Some of those changes can be matched up to a company's budget years, pretty readily. We can scale the level of effort and the type of work to match iteratively, really to match the appetite of a company and their management to do that so that they're not biting off more than they can chew in terms of how much they're trying to change their current supply chain profile and the current way that they serve their customers. And maybe align it over several years, even. If it's going to be a major effort, it may be one where you can lay that out with a strategic plan to say, "Okay, in year one, we're going to attempt to do this. And in year two, depending upon the results of that, we'll attempt to..." Additional increment in the sophistication and complexity and so forth.

And then really for some of the greatest relationships we have, it's an ongoing relationship where it really doesn't have an end to it, that we're providing information, we're getting feedback from our customers in terms of what's proved to be relevant for them, where they would like some enhancement, perhaps in terms of the level of information or the speed with which it's being updated, or perhaps sometimes adding to some of the metrics that are being provided in terms of additional information that can be found useful for those particular companies.”