Now’s the time to learn to stay ahead of supply chain disruptions and improve your materials management capabilities for a competitive edge.

In this episode of Supply Chain Now, hosts Scott W. Luton and Kim Reuter explore the evolving landscape of materials management in the fast-moving consumer goods supply chain space. Joined by Michael King, Chief Customer Experience Officer at Nulogy, and Kevin Wong, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Nulogy, the discussion uncovers the critical role of technology in managing unpredictable demand, increasing product complexity, and the overall efficiency of supply chains.

Expect actionable advice, expert opinions, and a masterclass in leveraging technology to drive supply chain success.

Narrator [00:00:04]:

Welcome to Supply chain now. The voice of global supply chain. Supply chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues, the challenges and opportunities. Stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on supply chain now.

Scott W. Luton [00:00:32]:

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you may be. Scott Luton and Kim Reuter here with you on supply chain now. Welcome to today’s livestream. Kim, how you doing today?

Kim Reuter [00:00:42]:

I am doing all right. A little hot and sweaty in Virginia, but other than that, we’re doing all right.

Scott W. Luton [00:00:46]:

Well, hey, I love that shirt. I love that shirt almost as much as I love the conversation we got coming up. You ready? Yes. Let’s do it. We’ve got a, folks, we’ve got a master class in materials management ready to go. We’re going to be diving in a variety of topics today, including some of the most common and unique roadblocks to improving materials management outcomes, examples of companies that have really figured it out and figured out innovative ways to take that performance to the next level. And, Kim, we’re going to be identifying critical steps for business leaders out there that want the same thing. Right.

Scott W. Luton [00:01:19]:

Optimizing results in their organization should be really cool, innovative stuff and a great show, Kim.

Kim Reuter [00:01:26]:

Yeah. This is what I call deep supply chain. So I am very much looking forward to this conversation.

Scott W. Luton [00:01:30]:

All right, folks, get your snorkeling or your scuba gear ready to go for deep gear here today. We’ve got wonderful one two punch here today. And welcome in our featured guests, Michael King, chief customer experience officer with Nulogy, and Kevin Wong, co founder and chief operating officer, also with Nulogy. Hey. Hey, Michael, how you doing?

Michael King [00:01:52]:

Hey, morning. Not too bad. How you doing, Scott?

Scott W. Luton [00:01:54]:

Great to see you. Kevin, how you doing?

Kevin Wong [00:01:55]:

Very good.

Scott W. Luton [00:01:57]:

Wonderful, man. Really enjoyed the pre show conversations we’ve had with you all. Nulogy has been on the mood. Before we get to all of that, Ken, we got a pretty neat, fun warm up question here. Cause, folks, somehow I’ve missed this day, I hope. I like to think I’m productive, but I’ve missed this day in my journey here because today, folks, it’s World productivity day. So I’m going to ask Michael and Kevin and Kim, what’s one thing that you all do in your downtime that helps you be refreshed and most productive when you’re back at work? And also to our folks out in the audience, let us know what you do. So, hey, Kevin, let’s start with you.

Scott W. Luton [00:02:34]:

What’s your secret?

Kevin Wong [00:02:36]:

I like to go for runs. I actually do it at night so it gets all the energy that I have remaining out of my body. Yeah, love the metrics. So since I got a Garmin watch, I like to get myself into its productivity in that productive zone. One, maybe they’ll know what I’m talking about, seeing your load going up and you drive it up my vo two Max or whatever. So I always feel good the next day when I’ve had a good run the previous night.

Scott W. Luton [00:03:00]:

So I love it. You know, we’re all getting encouraged by robots and automation these days. Isn’t it brilliant? It’s great motivating factors there. All right, so, Mike, I think I know what your answer is going to be, but I want to spoil any surprises. What do you do to maintain that productivity?

Michael King [00:03:15]:

So definitely need to turn it off at the end of the day. So I’ve been a practitioner brazilian jiu jitsu for quite a while. I have two daughters in their late teens, maybe aging me a little bit, but got them started on it about 1011 years ago and I was able to join them about six years ago. So, I mean, I find this, you know, when someone’s trying to choke you up, it’s pretty hard to think about anything else. So it’s a nice stress relief there.

Scott W. Luton [00:03:38]:

Oh, Mike, I love it. I love it. And Kim, you know, I think the one and only Jim Crotch, he’s saying way back when, don’t mess with Leroy Brown. But it’s also don’t mess with Michael King is what I would add to that. Kim, how do you maintain your productivity?

Kim Reuter [00:03:52]:

I have adopted the art of doing nothing. It took me a long time to get there. You would be surprised how hard it is. But staring at the water seems to be what I do most. In addition, doing reading. But yeah, that’s what I do these days.

Scott W. Luton [00:04:07]:

Love it. I love it up there in lovely Virginia. You’re going to have to send some images of that, Kim. All right, folks, we got a lot to get to here today. Kevin, Mike and Kim, a lot of good stuff. Let’s start with some context, because in this ever faster moving world, we don’t get enough context. Right? So, Mike, I’m going to start with you. If you would briefly tell us about Nulogy.

Scott W. Luton [00:04:28]:

Three people out there may not know about you all just yet and some of your background.

Kevin Wong [00:04:32]:

Sure.

Michael King [00:04:32]:

So, Nulogy, we’ve been focused on improving the productivity and efficiency of external manufacturing networks for over 20 years now. So we work both with suppliers, we offer purpose built solutions that manage inventory, labor, quality management, planning and with brands as well, or enterprise organizations. And they’re really enabling the connectivity and collaboration with their supplier networks. I’ll say we’re very good at what we do. We’re very proud of it myself. You mentioned the CXO here at newly g. He’s the chief customer experience officer. So I bring responsible for all of our customer facing teams.

Michael King [00:05:03]:

And that customer experience started off my education is actually in electrical engineering. I spent some time in my early career in automotive. So a lot of exposure, of course, to supply chain there and, you know, all the fun aspects that go along with the automotive industry followed that way about 20 years in the ERP space. So specifically for supply chain solutions designed for manufacturers, distributors and had an opportunity to work with all those things that come along with the ERP. So over that time, I had a lot of chances to work with customers of various capacities and developing high performance teams, really focused on delivering value to our customer base. And now I’m working with Dilogy, applying that experience to the customer base that we have here.

Kevin Wong [00:05:39]:

I’m also an engineer like Mike. I went to the University of Waterloo, co founder and COo. So maybe just a little bit. Before I started at Nulogy, it was more in the software space. So I was a product strategist at Microsoft down the Silicon Valley campus, working on some enterprise software there, and then up here in Toronto, where I am in a lesser known company in CRM space. But their big claim to fame was getting acquired for the highest value at the time for a say and software company. And over the past 20 years, just working from startup co packers to Fortune 50 global brands, trying to help them with their efficiency and manufacturing their supply chains, and responsible now for making sure we deliver really well on those promises, the product side largely, and just making sure we understand what those needs are. So spending a lot of time with customers and out in the industry, understanding the trends and where things are going and trying to make sure we’re delivering a lot of value.

Scott W. Luton [00:06:33]:

I love that Kevin, and that passion has come out in the previous conversations and now that we’ve had with you and really the rest of the Neoligi team, and I would just add, I appreciate your deep technology background. So one of the answers then, Kim, for folks that are trying to maximize productivity is they turn to Mike, Kevin and Nullogy team, right?

Kim Reuter [00:06:51]:

Yes, absolutely. Technology is your friend.

Scott W. Luton [00:06:54]:

Technology is your friend. And fear not, lean into it because there are some really cool things we’re going to touch on some of these that how companies are leveraging innovative technology and the human factor to move forward in this ever challenging global supply chain landscape. Okay, so Kim, Mike and Kevin, we got a lot to get into here today, and I want to start with this. Kevin, I’ll start with you. When you think about the importance of effective materials management, right. Some folks may roll their eyes a bit, but we all know how critical it is, and especially in the fast moving consumer goods supply chain space, that importance has continued to evolve and only grow more important. Kevin, your thoughts there.

Kevin Wong [00:07:34]:

Yeah, so, I mean, a bunch of things there. Materials management always has been quite important. I think in FMCG in particular, things that we’ve been seeing are some trends which are maybe driving more challenges for materials management. So a lot more innovation in products. We’ll see with social media, celebrities launching their own products, lots more startup brands using contract manufacturers. Often. In fact, for some of the social media sludge, of course that’s all they can do is do it. They don’t have their own manufacturing.

Kevin Wong [00:08:04]:

All these launches are driving very unpredictable demand in the supply chain. And that’s a trend you see more and more during the pandemic. Obviously, everybody’s probably familiar with that, with toilet paper or flour, because everybody’s getting back into making bread at home or something. You know, we predicted that. So huge spikes in demand there, and that’s just the trend more and more. And then also challenges on supply, supply side as well too. Suez Canal or whatever, it’s getting harder and harder to synchronize demand and supply. And obviously getting more and more sophisticated in how you manage materials through those kinds of challenges is becoming increasingly important because the challenges are just getting harder and harder.

Kevin Wong [00:08:44]:

And I’d say even the complexity of some of the products being made as well too. So like the number of materials or the specialization of the material, some more organic ingredients, maybe some sort of specialized type things, just getting harder to source and manage. The complexity of those bills and materials and the versions and the changing over which is making it challenging. So I don’t know if people knows like 80 flavors of Oreos now or more around the world globally and back in the early 19 hundreds when that was invented. You know, it’s just one little simpler.

Scott W. Luton [00:09:17]:

Yeah, a lot simpler. One of the common themes kind of throughout your response there, complexity is way up. But the good news, folks, is the opportunity to leverage synchronization and change how business is done with more powerful outcomes and giving your people the ability to be more successful day in and day out. Mike, when it comes to the evolution of the importance of effective materials management, what are your observations there?

Michael King [00:09:40]:

Yeah, I think over time, it’s always been kind of clear, maybe more evident recently and more obvious with the tools that we have. Holding the right amount of inventory and effectively managing the supply of the inventory is absolutely critical to maximizing your profit margins.

Scott W. Luton [00:09:55]:

That’s right.

Michael King [00:09:56]:

So it’s always been important. But again, over time, we’ve kind of seen an increase in the awareness and the types of tools that are available to manage materials and to most effectively monitor or manage those materials. What’s been really challenging, though, in recent years, just to, I guess, dovetail off of some of Kevin’s comments here, has been some of the hurdles facing supply chains. Right. So not too long ago, there was a huge trend, really to move towards JIt processes and have just enough inventory, the support demand. And to be quite honest, it was a little bit easier to do so. I mean, it was never easy, but it was a lot easier at that point in time. Over the last few years, we’ve seen a lot of disruptions in the supply chain, and it’s a big shift to making sure that you’ve got an adequate reserve of inventory to manage through those supply chain disruptions.

Michael King [00:10:38]:

Those types of disruptions have really played havoc on people’s economic order quantity calculations, if you’re familiar with the term. And I guess working with that level of depth and detail, your data over time is really taking a bit of a stumble over the last few years.

Scott W. Luton [00:10:54]:

Yes. Kim, man, just the opening salvo there from Kevin and Mike as they both describe the evolution. I love what Mike picked up on just in time. It’s changed just a smidge here. Ken, what’d you hear there between Kevin and Mike?

Kim Reuter [00:11:08]:

So the unpredictability is really, you know, I just had some conversations about this recently. The market is never going to go back to the. What it was before. Like, our sort of predictable rates don’t really change. Kind of chuckling recently about how we used to get, like, have meltdowns over a 1% fuel surcharge.

Scott W. Luton [00:11:24]:

Right.

Kim Reuter [00:11:25]:

Entire buildings would catch fire and build and burn to the ground over that. But now we have rates that jump 100, 200, 300, 400% in a couple of months. So unpredictability is going to be with us forever in supply chain now, and using good software, good technologies, good processes is the only way you’re going to get around it.

Scott W. Luton [00:11:44]:

That is right. And we got to lean into technology because in many cases, while the beautiful human factor is certainly so critical, right. In some cases, we can’t assign army of humans to some of these challenges. We’ve got to lean into technology here. So, Mike, you touched on something we’re going to touch on in a second, right, in terms of some obstacles, but I want to kind of back up for a second. And Kevin, I want to ask you, hey, when companies get it wrong, there’s a tremendous price to pay for ineffective materials management, for fast moving consumer goods, their external partners, other aspects of global supply chain. Your thoughts here, Kevin?

Kevin Wong [00:12:21]:

Yeah, I mean, it’s back to the bullwhip effect, nothing new. This is like classics supply chain stuff, but with more and more outsourcing. It’s harder and harder when you’re trying to synchronize all of those different partners with all this variability. So the challenge, I don’t think is a new challenge, but it’s really exacerbated right now. So impact on material costs, you’re maybe making too much of material or your supplier is ending up getting wasted. If it expires, you got too much working capital obviously tied up in that. Maybe lines are stopping more than they need to because they’re missing some small component that got delayed or something that’s critical and it got overlooked. Expediting obviously huge costs there.

Kevin Wong [00:13:04]:

And also sustainability impacts as well, too, which we’re hearing more and more as being an increasingly important factor, something that we’re quite passionate about in ology as well, too. How do we reduce that material waste, which is so prevalent? We get it wrong and reduce carbon emissions as well, too, from all that wasted movement and production.

Scott W. Luton [00:13:22]:

Yeah, Kevin, excellent points there. And on the last point there, the more successful and the more optimized our supply chain performance can be, the more bigger gains we can make in sustainability, which is in demand from across any stakeholders out there. But he also touched on Mike. Material costs tied up capital, production interruptions, expediting fees, going through the roof. All of that makes up ever bigger price to pay when it comes to ineffective materials management. What would you add to that list, Mike?

Michael King [00:13:51]:

Yeah, I mean, you hit the nail on the head there. You got Kevin touching this as well. Too much inventory, you’re paying for extra real estate. You know, with the perishable goods, you got an immediate impact to your balance sheet, your income statement. Maybe you got too little inventory. Then you got the inability to service your customers. You got lost business, you got competitors eating your lunch. You got fines associated with those broken commitments.

Michael King [00:14:09]:

And, you know, going back to your comment about unpredictability, those fines have gone through the roof as well, right up to 40%, in some cases even more. They can quickly eat into narrow profit margins or its not something that you can easily sustain in the supply chain industry. So how do you operate as real time as possible? And that is what, that synchronization, that sharing of information. Now what we often see, however, and what we help our customers address that latency involves that information transfer between suppliers, manufacturers, retailers, that can be killer. How do you eliminate that? How do you become synchronized? Or how do you minimize that latency as much as possible so you can operate in a as close to real time as possible and move with those fluctuations.

Scott W. Luton [00:14:47]:

I love that. Mike, don’t be late and avoid that latency. That really eats away your ability to act real time. And Kim, I don’t like anybody eating my lunch, certainly not my competitors. Your thoughts on the price to pay? We heard from Kevin and Mike there.

Kim Reuter [00:15:01]:

Kim, so it’s a huge price. Well, you know, one of the things we’re seeing a lot, well, not, I guess, in the last 20 years, if I’m really going to date myself, we moved away from proprietary parts, right. So if we look at automotive, Ford used to make all of their own proprietary parts and they own their own manufacturing and they could drive and penalize as needed. Right. They controlled it. But as we moved into generalized parts manufacturing, and they no longer have that kind of control, but they still have the risk to their manufacturing plant. Right. So, you know, I worked in the automotive with Ford many moons ago, like not quite model t, but.

Kim Reuter [00:15:39]:

And at that time, we had to do what were called aircraft on ground clearances for parts, because now this is, you know, back around the gold standard. But it was a million dollars an hour for that production line to be shut down. So that is how extreme this is. And manufacturers have less and less control. So you got to use technology to manage.

Scott W. Luton [00:15:57]:

Thats. Right. You got to do it better. Love that. Ken, really appreciate your input there. So a few minutes ago, Mike talked about roadblocks, and there’s plenty. So I’m going to ask you both, Mike, starting with you, what are some of the common and unique roadblocks to improving materials management capabilities, workflows, and most importantly, outcomes?

Michael King [00:16:17]:

Yeah, so, yeah, let’s start with great common ones. We’ll move into something unique. But I mean, from a common side of things we see not using the right tools comes to mind pretty quickly. I mean, it’s shocking to me over the course of my career, how many times I walked through a warehouse floor that was managing inventories and spreadsheets or pen and paper or in my favor is the whiteboard. Right. You know, you bump into it and, you know, somebody’s work has disappeared. You know, nowadays, like, even for new businesses, there are so many opportunities to use even like, entry level solutions that provide structure, increase accountability, you know, collect that historical data, and, you know, they don’t disappear if you happen to pump into them. Right.

Michael King [00:16:54]:

So I think I was. That’s one that comes to mind. You know, the adversity to change is another the way we’ve always done it. Right.

Kevin Wong [00:17:00]:

Right.

Michael King [00:17:00]:

You run into it all the time. So even in instances where the right tools are there, if there isn’t a structure or an application in place that promote the usage and adoption, if there isn’t a plan in place where the change management required, when you’re introducing new processes, technology, those teams are going to quickly revert back to what they’re comfortable with and what they’re confident in. And all of a sudden, the investments you’ve made in your new technology, new processes that, you know, they disappear. And along with them go the expected benefits that you had on the material management side. The last one, I guess I’ll add on the common side is the inability or unwillingness to keep track of industry developments.

Kevin Wong [00:17:32]:

Right.

Michael King [00:17:33]:

So if we take a look, you know, recently, you see a huge movement towards an integrated supply chain. You know, a lot of larger enterprise organizations are looking to their suppliers which are willing to be a little bit more transparent, which are willing to share that information with them, you know, to really create that synchronized supply chain. But a lot of people are resistant to that move. Either theyre not willing to make the investment in the technology, or they are unwilling to really allow their customers to peek under the hood of what their operations really look like. In those cases, businesses are losing their competitive edge. Theyre losing their business competitors who are keeping up with the curve and are willing to share that type of information are willing to be a little bit more collaborative. I think what people forget is that nobody is perfect, but being able to work with your partners, thats the type of partners that everyone wants to work with.

Kevin Wong [00:18:21]:

Right?

Michael King [00:18:21]:

To work through those hard times. A little bit of a monologue there, I guess. Happy to share some of the unique ones as well.

Scott W. Luton [00:18:26]:

No, I’ve been there, done that monologue, and that’s in the stage world. That’s a soliloquy. And I would add that, say a powerful soliloquy today. Like I know anything about the stage world anyway. Kim, really quick, though, before I go to Kevin, Kim, you got a kick out of, uh, when Mike was talking about the whiteboards. I would just add to that y’all’s colleague Christine Barnhart and the Nulogy team wrote a really neat blog article that focused on we got to break up with our, the love affair with the spreadsheets. And I love that. Right, because spreadsheets are running the world in some cases.

Scott W. Luton [00:18:56]:

Kim. No.

Kim Reuter [00:18:57]:

Yeah. So I harp on this all the time because, like, michael, I can’t tell you how many times I walk in and I see, like, here’s our 43 page Excel spreadsheet, 43 tabs, blah, blah, blah. This how we manage everything. And you’re like, wow. You know, and then they say, well, and Susie upkeeps it, and she’s out on vacation for a week, so it hasn’t been updated. I’m like, get software, right?

Scott W. Luton [00:19:20]:

There’s a better way. There is a better way.

Kim Reuter [00:19:22]:

There’s a better way.

Scott W. Luton [00:19:23]:

Love that.

Kim Reuter [00:19:23]:

Yeah.

Scott W. Luton [00:19:24]:

All right, so Kevin, Mike laid out a lot of common, some unique roadblocks there to doing things a better way. What would you add to the list, Kevin?

Kevin Wong [00:19:32]:

I got one, but just on spreadsheets. Before going to that, at the very founding of Newlogy, one of the first things that sort of was impetus for what we built was someone trying to show us the spreadsheet that they had built to try to manage their production in this case. And they were like, well, one of the big problems is that it takes about ten minutes to open the spreadsheet. And I was like, that can’t be. And they’re like, well, let me show you. And then they like, literally, like, double click the excel. And we sat there in the room and waited for it to just open, let alone manipulate. It was like, had gone completely crazy.

Kevin Wong [00:20:05]:

Anyways, definitely. I think the one thing I would just add my kid a lot of great points is a little bit like a roadblock almost in the mentality or in the thinking and the culture, almost within people, within leadership. Maybe we can all be part of that change. But I think people become maybe jaded and accustomed to what they think is possible with technology, like, say, integrations, for example. They just, oh, you know, it’s going to be so much time, so much money. I can’t prioritize that. How could I possibly fit that into my it team is to so strap? But there are real technologies going so fast, you shouldn’t hear about all the AI stuff. But even using APIs, low code, no code solutions, these kinds of things have really, really lowered the bar, like RPA, robotic programming kind of stuff.

Kevin Wong [00:20:54]:

The possibility of technology now to really make it much easier to get solutions into your business. It’s quite dramatic. So I just encourage people to maybe shed that old thinking that maybe get you stuck in jaded and try some of those projects you’ve been wanting to get into.

Scott W. Luton [00:21:10]:

Kevin, I’m with you and Kim, I would say that what Kevin and Mike both spoke to is that clinging to how business has been done for years or decades or whatever, we’re paying a higher price for that type of mindset in this environment, and it’ll only keep going up. Kim, your thoughts?

Kim Reuter [00:21:28]:

Yeah, so I’ve done a lot of change leadership, and I always say, don’t forget the human. You’ve got to bring everybody along. You don’t have to necessarily get their buy in, but you do need. It always helps if people are somewhat part of the process, are aware of what’s going on. Where I’ve seen it be, the biggest failure is when no one talked to the people who are going to use the software, didn’t tell them what’s going to happen, and then it was kind of dumped in their laps and as expected, they rejected it. Right. But yeah, don’t forget the humans. You have to bring them along as part of the journey.

Scott W. Luton [00:22:00]:

Well said. Well said, Kevin. We’re very passionate about that because it’s real. All right, let’s talk about data is the new oil, as some have said, famously, one of the semiconductor company CEO’s. So, Kevin, come back to you here, especially with your deep technology background. What’s the critical role of data in materials management, especially doing it better?

Kevin Wong [00:22:22]:

You know, I think a lot of folks there who’ve had to manage materials know that. You know, it’s like a lot of, it’s a big numbers game. You know, you’re just trying to manage the right quantities and it’s all about numbers. All about data. Specifically, when we think about it, we work with our customers. Do you have clear visibility into inventory? Not just your own, but those of the trading partners that you depend on to maybe make the things that need to get made? Do you know what’s in transit, the status of inventory, what’s available to you, what’s in maybe a whole state, core quarantine state. People would need to understand if there’s certain inventory that’s set aside for WIP, if how much of that’s actually been used or still available potentially to be redirected, minimum order quantities against demand. And the materials with the right bill of materials.

Kevin Wong [00:23:12]:

Like, all these decisions are based off having up to date real time data, and you get some of them a little bit wrong. Bullet perfect. Again, it just amplifies throughout the supply chain. So accurate data in real time is just. It’s totally critical. It’s the lifeblood.

Scott W. Luton [00:23:29]:

I’m with you. I completely agree. And, gosh, you get out there in plants, in warehouses and factories, you name it, and you look at folks try to operate off old data, even as old as the previous day or the previous hour, and you see the constraints in person. Mike, continue that. Your view on the critical role of data, especially in materials management?

Michael King [00:23:50]:

Yeah, I mean, these days, especially, it’s all about the data, right? Think about the business maturity curve, you know, measuring and managing, optimizing. That all begins with the collection of data and then, you know, moving to turn that data into meaningful information. So, I mean, we’re at a very interesting point in history here where we can start to use the information, not just to look in the rearview mirror and look at the past, but, you know, you have enough data, you can start to look into the future. And so predictive analytics, AI, that technology is going to take us to places we really haven’t been before for, but it all starts with the collection and the sharing of that data that we can turn into information. So, from maternal management standpoint, I think Kevin kind of hit the nail on the head, understanding your inventory positions, fluctuations in demand that might be related to seasonality or fluctuations in supply from your vendors. And how do you use that information to help to minimize the costs of holding inventory and maximizing your revenue? By what do you have available and how do you minimize any disruptions to your customer supply chain?

Scott W. Luton [00:24:45]:

Good stuff there. Mike and Kevin, we’re building the first church of data scientists and folks that believe in the incredible power and criticality of data and real time data to move global supply chains and move them in an effective, successful manner. Kim, what would you add? I know you’re. You’re a deacon in that church, Kim, but what would you add?

Kim Reuter [00:25:06]:

I run that church. So the other thing I will add here is quality data. Quality. I have seen a lot of crap data, and I’ve seen a lot of people make decisions what they thought were good decisions and crap data. So quality data is, I would say, is number one. And number two is being able to massage that data quickly to get the answers that you need. Because in today’s world, you have to make decisions in minutes. We don’t have days.

Kim Reuter [00:25:33]:

We don’t have hours, especially we’re dealing overseas. It’s 48 hours turnaround. So you need to get quality data, and you need to be able to get it quick so you can make a decision.

Scott W. Luton [00:25:41]:

Yeah.

Kevin Wong [00:25:42]:

You hear all this hype about AI and all these kinds of things, and it’s transformative, but if it’s working off of bad quality data, you’re just going to get a computer telling you the wrong thing to do, like, way faster than a human could. Like, the data has to be good. Otherwise, don’t even waste your time on any of the AI stuff. For sure.

Kim Reuter [00:26:01]:

Right. And to build on Kevin, just a little bit, it’s actually even more dangerous. Right. When you’re using bad data with good technology, because you make the bad decision faster.

Kevin Wong [00:26:10]:

Yeah.

Kim Reuter [00:26:10]:

And then you repeat it faster. So, yeah, it’s even worse. Yeah.

Scott W. Luton [00:26:15]:

Kim and Kevin, excellent points. Because the only thing more dangerous than bad processes is really efficient bad processes, I would argue. Excellent point. Both of you are making, and, you know, not just making faster decisions, but making better, more confident decisions. Right. Faster. All of that faster. Like this stuff there.

Scott W. Luton [00:26:35]:

And see, him’s like, okay, I think she’s celebrating the point that y’all both were just making there. Right. All right, so let’s get. Let’s do this. I want to get into some examples. Right, examples. Because we’ve talked a lot about the landscape we’re in, some of the constraints, some of the ways we gotta lean in and do things better, some of the costs. And now we’re gonna show some examples of companies that have taken their materials management execution to that proverbial next level with big outcomes.

Scott W. Luton [00:27:03]:

And, Mike, I think you’re going to share some of those stories with us. Your thoughts?

Michael King [00:27:07]:

Yeah, I’ll kick it off here. Anyways, a couple companies come to mind. I’ll hold on to some of the names, although happy to dive into some deeper details for anyone who’s interested afterwards. But we have a fairly reputable co packer out of the Pennsylvania area using. And I’ll be a little biased on this first one. Anyway, this is using new lucid technology, able to reduce their invoicing from a five day latency to five minutes. So that’s all about making sure that, of course, the stuff that’s being invoiced is being tracked through the right pieces of technology, and that’s integrated to your invoicing system. So, I mean, that one was pretty impressive, I think, you know, if anyone on there was, you know, a little bit more finance oriented and, you know, understanding what it means to kind of get those invoices out there a little quicker and ideally, collect that cash a little quicker.

Michael King [00:27:50]:

And that was pretty significant. Another one that comes to mind is a very major three PL name that many of you would recognize. But now I’m not going to. This isn’t a new g commercial. I’m all about technology. Again, I spent my career in ERP, and all those solutions that come along with ERP, which is usually the last few years here, have been with nulogy and I think some of our largest and most complex customers. Nulogy is an element of their tech stack, of their ecosystem. In this example, though, we played a major role in allowing them to increase their overall capacity by about 35% through the right, you know, we were, again, a core element of that, but through the right combination of tools and reduced their on hand material, specifically pallets, by 45%.

Michael King [00:28:30]:

Yeah, so, you know, this was ultimately, you know, ended up in over a million dollars in stocks. It was made for, you know, easy ROI conversations, of course, but the talk is real. You know, having the right systems out there, having the right systems that talk to each other, resulted in some very real impact to your bottom line.

Scott W. Luton [00:28:44]:

Well said. Before I go to Kevin Kim, capacity up costs down five days to five minutes on that first example. Your thoughts, Kim?

Kim Reuter [00:28:54]:

So I’ve said it before, minutes or hours or days. So anything that you can do to have good data, good visibility, and good flexible management. Flexible is important over your extended supply chain is going to pay in spades. It’s just too risky. A bolt can shut you down. Let me just put it that way.

Scott W. Luton [00:29:11]:

Right.

Kim Reuter [00:29:12]:

So it matters.

Scott W. Luton [00:29:13]:

Well, you know, my friend Greg White used to love this example. How many parts does it take to stop an automotive production line? Kevin Mike gave us some great examples, some very compelling examples with some big outcomes. Anything to add there, Kevin?

Kevin Wong [00:29:28]:

Yeah, I mean, I just one that I was particularly close to serving a big supplier to a large global consumer packaged goods company. They were even surprised themselves and how much they were able to reduce their inventory obsolescence. So they were able to raise by 75%, which is incredible. Just Mike’s point. There’s other examples of there being really millions of dollars of savings here. It’s absolutely true. There’s huge opportunities, incredible amounts of waste that really does need to be there. That’s why we’ve put a lot of emphasis on trying to help on the materials management side at our company.

Kevin Wong [00:30:04]:

It’s a big issue.

Scott W. Luton [00:30:06]:

Excellent point, Kevin and Kim. For folks out there that may not think they have much waste in their organization or in their materials management. Anything you’d like to share with those folks? Kim, you do.

Kim Reuter [00:30:18]:

I’m going to tell you that you do. Unless you’re running like 100% lean, you have some Mudda that’s right in your manufacturing. So there’s always opportunity. I don’t care who you are. There’s always opportunity for improvement.

Scott W. Luton [00:30:32]:

Always opportunity. And I appreciate what Mike said. It’s not a new logic commercial. I’m sure they have countless examples. And to that point, Kevin and Mike, big examples in fast moving consumer goods, big opportunities in contract manufacturing. Co packers are doing a lot of work across that space. All right, so we’re going to get some advice from Mike and Kevin and Kim here today. And, you know, for business leaders out there that want to achieve similar results as what you already just touched on.

Michael King [00:30:58]:

Right.

Scott W. Luton [00:30:58]:

Some of those big outcomes, what are several critical steps to choosing the right solution that enables more effective and successful materials management? And Michael, and start with you. How would you advise folks there?

Michael King [00:31:10]:

Yeah, this one’s a little close to the heart here. Being customer experience standpoint, you want to make sure that people are achieving the outcomes that they expect. Right. I think the first thing, though, is making sure you have a clear understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. What is the problem you’re trying to solve? And if there’s many problems, which often there are, you prioritize them. So you make sure that you’ve got them in order so you understand exactly how to build that cost benefit analysis. Kim, I think you said this earlier, but just to underscore it, involve your team. One of the major success factors in any implementation of technology is going to be the change management that’s involved.

Michael King [00:31:42]:

So involving your team from the beginning, it helps to improve the support for the implementation and ultimately the adoption for the solution, which is going to help you to realize that ROI. The last one I think I would add here is look for technology that works well with others. There’s a lot of options out there right now and a lot of, some pretty impressive tools, but how well do they work with others? There’s not a single platform that’s going to address all of your operational needs. So making sure that you’ve got systems that can talk to each other, systems that can talk to your, perhaps your customer systems, your vendor systems that’s critical.

Scott W. Luton [00:32:12]:

For an effective tech stack like this stuff there. Mike said, by my account, Kim and Kevin, let’s see, clarity, prioritization involving the team, one of my favorites. And tech that works tech that connects technic works well with others. Cause as your point there, Mike, and I’m kind of get your comment for. Go to Kevin. There’s a plethora, right? There’s a plethora out there, and a lot of it has AI plastered on it in some way, shape, or form. And a lot of it isn’t truly AI powered. Gotta do your homework, right? Ask tough questions, get those referral calls, go out and look and see.

Scott W. Luton [00:32:43]:

Lift the hood up. But, Kim, what would you add to Michael’s four pronged set of recommendations there?

Kim Reuter [00:32:49]:

So, building on, know your problem, you gotta know what you’re trying to solve. That is key. And the other tip I will give to people is if your software that you’re looking for is gonna require you to do, like, 60% customization, it’s not your software. So go find more software. Go find another software solution. But the thing I see, and I hate when I’ve worked with companies is when they just over customize something because they’re trying to make it do something that they used to do or they think they’re supposed to do. What’s the problem we’re trying to solve? How does the software solve the problem? These are the two questions.

Scott W. Luton [00:33:23]:

Yes. They’re taking Larry Bird and trying to make him run wide receiver routes in NFL, right? Hey, he’s a basketball legend. Let’s let larry bird be larry bird. I love that.

Kim Reuter [00:33:32]:

Yeah. And then they’ll give it to you free. They’re like, but we’ll give it to you. Oh, wait, there is no free software. That’s the other thing. There is no free software. Free software is like free puppy to.

Scott W. Luton [00:33:41]:

Get what you pay for in some ways. Kevin, a lot of good stuff from Mike and Kim there. What would you add some of your advice for folks that are trying to choose the right solution?

Kevin Wong [00:33:51]:

Yeah, Kim sort of stole one of mine that I was going to mention, but maybe just to build on that, like, I think a lot of people think I just need the piece of software that does this one thing should be pretty easy to build. My IT guy says he can do it, but there’s a lot involved in actually really having an enterprise software system that is the operating system for your company or something critical. And the news that you read about on cyber attacks and ransomware, all these kinds of things. Cybersecurity is actually a huge thing, and, like, a lot of real work needs to be done in that, like maintaining the software, working out technical data, these kinds of things, like maintaining over the lifespan of how long you’re actually gonna be using that software is like a very significant investment. And to Kim’s point, like, it can be very easily underestimated, really what’s gonna be involved in, like trying to build your own thing. And we do see those folks who try and come back a lot of the time actually ask for our help and just on that as well too. I think one of the advantages of working with a partner or someone has some leadership and experience in the area is back to that. Other comments about the data? Definitely hear this, too.

Kevin Wong [00:34:54]:

It’s like, I’ve got tons and tons of data, but I don’t know what to do with it or I don’t have time to go through it. I got just systems that are spitting out data, but I don’t know what to do with it. Having someone who’s got experience in industry, maybe services teams, or it’s in the product itself, the data schema and the reports and the visualizations are already built with some experience from the industry to know what things to really focus on. On can be really something that’s viable and something to look for. One other thing, definitely we try to encourage people to think outside of their four walls as well, too. So we kind of say that companies don’t win and lose themselves. It’s like their supply chains that really determine if they win or lose. It’s how they work with their trading partners that’s really defining success now.

Kevin Wong [00:35:40]:

So whenever you’re making an assessment, think about not just what it does for you, but how it’s going to interact with your partners and help you work with them better is really important. And just before, one last thing, just, it’s a big one for me. Just again, the culture and the mental attitude I think is really important in not being afraid of change, because there’s one thing that’s constant, it’s change. All these cliches, but it’s really true that you can either get drowned by that wave of change, or you kind of be like, surfing it and definitely go for surfing it.

Scott W. Luton [00:36:12]:

Kevin, I love that. And going back to one of your first components of your response there, cybersecurity. That is such a great, I mean, it sounds like intuitive folks are so focused on the real problems that they are trying to solve that are tangible, that are impacting day in and day out, that are creating pains in the operation. And that question is not asked enough. So folks ask that question, and if they say, oh, yeah, we got that. Dive deeper for all the time you.

Kevin Wong [00:36:40]:

See in the news that some business got shut down because they got ransomware. There’s probably like ten, a dozen. That just doesn’t make the news. You read the stats. It is terrifying, actually, how much the cybercrime is like, just, it’s crazy how much there is really.

Scott W. Luton [00:36:57]:

I’m with you, cat. It’s going to get, it’s only going to get worse, folks, because this technology continues to evolve with the good side. Hey, the bad guys keep on getting better access and technology, too. So, Kim, really quick, before we move on, we’re going to make sure folks on a connect with Mike and Kevin. We got some resources out there. Kim, what stood out? And I love Kevin’s comment about basically don’t get overwashed by the tidal wave of data and challenges and change, but surfing it. Kim, your thoughts there?

Kim Reuter [00:37:26]:

So, yeah, you got to stay on top of data. And you know, my key takeaway from today is data, data, because software with bad data is just bad software with bad data. So key takeaway is you got to have good quality data and you got to be using solutions that can massage and store and give you access to that data in quick and meaningful ways. It doesn’t have to be pretty. It just has to be meaningful and actionable ways.

Scott W. Luton [00:37:53]:

That’s right. I love that. I’m glad you mentioned actionable because it’s not good enough to have really cool technology. It’s got to be able to power actions and your teams and outcomes. What are they going to do with it?

Michael King [00:38:06]:

Right?

Scott W. Luton [00:38:06]:

Everybody’s after visibility or when you catch it, it’s like that dog catching the car. Once he’s got it, you don’t know what to do with it. And that’s so critical. That is so critical. I really botched that analogy. But y’all think y’all know what I’m talking about. All right, see him? Yeah. No one has cybersecurity.

Scott W. Luton [00:38:21]:

You got to ask those questions. So got to make sure we connect folks with Mike and Kevin and the cool things you are doing at newlogy. Because again, folks, have the conversation after. Don’t take any word you’re hearing here today. Have the conversations, ask the questions, explore the art of the possible. For sure. Kevin, how can folks connect with you social wise?

Kevin Wong [00:38:43]:

LinkedIn is really the thing for me. You can find me Kevin Wong. That she’s a very common name. Kevin Wong. Nu Luigi, maybe will maybe help you out. But my email is just kevinwliji.com. so you email me as well, too. And happy to connect and follow up on everything.

Kevin Wong [00:38:57]:

I’ll also be in Austin at the ASCM connect in September. So if you’re there, come up, say hi, love to chat with you. Connect in face to face.

Scott W. Luton [00:39:06]:

Love it. Austin, Texas. Keep it. Was it, keep it. Weird.

Kim Reuter [00:39:10]:

Austin?

Scott W. Luton [00:39:11]:

Is that one of the mantras there? I love that, by the way. But check out Kevin and the gang at the ASM connect there in Austin in September. All right, Michael King, have enjoyed your perspective here today as well. How can folks connect with you?

Michael King [00:39:24]:

Same thing. So, I mean, LinkedIn is probably the, the best way. Pretty common name as well. So Michael King, Nullaju will be there. My ugly mug will pop up pretty quick. Hopefully you recognize me email wise, the same format. So Michael, m I c h a e l king. And yeah, they’re likely going to be joining Kevin at ASCM Connect in September as well.

Michael King [00:39:42]:

So you almost fooled me there, Scott. I was about to say July, but yeah, I hope to see some of you all there.

Scott W. Luton [00:39:48]:

Hey, we’re all excited to get Austin sooner. Really cool city. A lot of cool things going on. All right, so Kim, you’ve given us your key takeaway, but I would encourage you. Hey, connect with Kim Reuter on LinkedIn. She just published a great blog. Y’all check that out. Kim, really enjoyed your color commentary here today.

Scott W. Luton [00:40:04]:

And we got some other resources. Kim, Mike and Kevin, really important here. I think we’re already dropping them in the comments there. First off, a really neat ebook entitled waste not solving materials management challenges in the external supply chain. I would add, fear not, right? Lean into new ways of doing things. Don’t let that deadly. Hey, we’ve been doing this the same way for so long. There’s better ways of doing things.

Scott W. Luton [00:40:28]:

And Mike and Kevin and Kim have all touched on that here today. So check out that ebook. And next up, this industry report entitled Contract Manufacturing the value of a network based approach. Check out both of those CTA’s from our friends at Nulogy. You’ll get a lot more cool insights from a company that is do helping organizations do it different and do it different in a very powerful way, which of course, Mike and Kevin both touched on here today. All right, big thanks. Michael King, chief customer, experienced officer with new logic. Great to have you here, Mike.

Michael King [00:41:01]:

Thanks, Scott. Thank you, Kim.

Scott W. Luton [00:41:03]:

You bet. Safe travels to you. I look forward to some pictures of you continuing to beat up on folks out. I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Mike’s cool guy, but don’t mess with him. Kevin Wong, co founder, chief operating officer with Nulogy. Man, I tell you what, congrats on all the growth and success over there. Great to have you here today, Kevin.

Kevin Wong [00:41:21]:

Thank you, Scott. Thanks, Tim. Enjoyed the talk.

Scott W. Luton [00:41:24]:

Definitely. We look forward to getting pictures around good things. You’re eating in Austin coming up in September. I think Mike and Kevin and Kim brought it today with actual ways of driving real improvement, not just in your materials management approach, but in your supply chain management performance. Kim Reuter, always a pleasure. Look forward to our next conversation. But, folks, here’s the deal. You got to take something, you know, from Kim saying that she runs that church to what Mike and Kevin talked about in terms of real, tangible ways, not fluff, not theoretics.

Scott W. Luton [00:41:59]:

Technology that works and as important as driving outcomes is making it easier on your people to have more success day in and day out. Right? Taking the friction out. I love that. But onuses. Take one thing that Kevin or Michael or Kim said here today, put it into action. That’s the owners right. That’s what you got to do, deeds, not words. With all that said, Scott Luden here on behalf of the suppose you now team challenge you to do good, give forward, be the change that’s needed.

Scott W. Luton [00:42:24]:

And we’ll see you next time right back here at supply chain now. Thanks, everybody.

Narrator [00:42:30]:

Thanks for being a part of our supply chain now community. Check out all of our programming at Supply chain now.com and make sure you subscribe to supply chain now anywhere you live. Listen to podcasts and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. See you next time on supply chain now.