Data visibility can reshape procurement and supply chain management.

In this episode, hosts Scott W. Luton and Allison Giddens are joined by Ashley Greuel and Jeff Gillmer from OMNIA Partners to explore the critical importance of spend visibility for business leaders navigating the complexities of 2024.

Tune in for practical insights on leveraging data integration and automation to minimize manual errors and maximize organizational impact. Learn about the strategic role of group purchasing organizations (GPOs) in complementing procurement efforts and uncovering cost-saving opportunities, especially for smaller businesses. With a blend of expert advice, future trends in AI and machine learning, and lighthearted banter, this episode provides actionable steps and encourages a community-driven approach to embracing technological advancements in the supply chain sector. This engaging conversation not only highlights current challenges but also offers a roadmap for aligning teams toward common goals and thriving amidst global uncertainties.

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 Allison Giddens here with you on Supply Chain Now. Welcome, Allison. How you doing today?

Allison Giddens [00:00:40]:

I’m good. How are you?

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

I’m doing wonderful. I am melting away here in metro Atlanta. It’s only 125 degrees.

Allison Giddens [00:00:46]:

That’s it.

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

Goodness gracious. But you know what’s almost as hot as weather here in Atlanta?

Allison Giddens [00:00:52]:

Almost. Almost.

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

This conversation we’re going to be having right here today, very timely conversation in spend visibility. Folks, there’s no shortages of timeless and new challenges in this current environment. We’re all working through today. We’re offering up three key ways organizations can more than tackle some of these big challenges and be more prepared to find success moving forward. We’re going to be welcoming, Allison, a couple of business leaders from your ally in the purchasing process to help us all find a better, more profitable, scalable way. Now, Allison, as a business and manufacturing leader yourself and a fellow Atlanta Braves fan, one of our guests will enjoy that. Hey, I bet this show really resonates with you, right? Should be a great show.

Allison Giddens [00:01:39]:

Yeah. I’m taking notes. I’ve got a little mini wipe off board on my desk where I take a lot. Helps me not go through so many post it notes, to be honest. I’m ready to go. Let’s do this.

Scott W. Luton [00:01:48]:

Very, very sustainable. Got your own whiteboard ready to go. All right. If you enjoy today’s show, be sure to share it with a friend or your network. They’ll be glad you did. Okay, Allison, let’s get to work. Welcoming in our two featured guests here today, starting with Ashley Greuel, vice president, operations support and analytics at OMNIA Partners, and Jeff Gillmer, senior vice president, private sector at OMNIA Partners. Hey.

Scott W. Luton [00:02:15]:

Hey, Ashley. How you doing?

Ashley Greuel [00:02:17]:

I’m doing well. Scott, how are you?

Scott W. Luton [00:02:19]:

Wonderful to see you. And Jeff, welcome, welcome. How you doing?

Jeff Gillmer [00:02:22]:

Hey, Scott, how are you? Great to see you.

Scott W. Luton [00:02:24]:

Wonderful. Now, the Landon Braves bar was directed at our friend Jeff Gillmer. But hey, he’s got the trash talk reward right now. He’s a Phillies and an Eagles fan, and he’s got a leg up, certainly in the sports competition between Philadelphia and Atlanta. Alison, am I right?

Allison Giddens [00:02:42]:

We’re just salty because we’re jealous.

Jeff Gillmer [00:02:45]:

Very salty.

Scott W. Luton [00:02:47]:

All right, we got a lot to get into here today. Jeff and Ashley and Allison, we want to start with this. Well, a little fun warm up question here. I want to get pick y’all’s brain around travel. We’re breaking records here in the States with this travel season coming up here that’s already kicked off. And did you know it is the late Anthony Bourdain’s birthday here today. Yes. The famed chef and world traveler that we lost way too soon.

Scott W. Luton [00:03:12]:

Now, he once said, quote, travel changes you. As you move through this life, in this world, you. You change things slightly. You leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life and travel leave marks on you. End quote. I love that. All right, so with that in mind, Ashley, I’m gonna start with you.

Scott W. Luton [00:03:29]:

With global travel adventures in mind. What’s one trip that you and your family have made that had a big impact on your journey?

Ashley Greuel [00:03:37]:

Well, I’ve been very fortunate to travel quite a bit in my time, and I think the. The one that has impacted me the most was to South Africa, getting to see, not just, you know, taking us safari, seeing the animals that we really traveled across the country and got to see and experience a lot. So it was wonderful.

Scott W. Luton [00:03:56]:

Wow. A gorgeous part of the world, gorgeous people, delicious food, wonderful customs. We went there last year as well, and I can’t wait to get back. All right, so, Jeff, that’s gonna be tough to top, but what’s a recent trip, or you name it, a trip that’s made a big impact on your journey. Yeah.

Jeff Gillmer [00:04:16]:

So we took a trip up to a private island up off of British Columbia, up in Vancouver. Off of Vancouver, north of Vancouver. And to be in a remote setting like that where, you know, not many people were inhabited. The island, we were there truly with nature. I’ll never forget the landscape where you look at the trees along the ocean landscape, and there was little white spots on all the trees. It looked like Christmas lights, and they were bald eagles.

Scott W. Luton [00:04:44]:

Wow. Oh, my gosh.

Jeff Gillmer [00:04:46]:

Hundreds and hundreds of bald eagles and bears coming down to. To the seascape, and it just. It reminds you of how beautiful this. This world is and all the unique spots that are out there. And we had never been to a place like that, as remote as that. And because there’s a flying, you know, plane to flee in and then flee out, but just incredible. And the beauty that’s out there in this world, and, you know, if you can get out there and see places like that, it’s just absolutely terrific. And never forget.

Jeff Gillmer [00:05:19]:

Yeah.

Scott W. Luton [00:05:19]:

Well said, jeff. And I love your advice. Even better. Folks out there pause what you’re doing. Take your family out there to visit. Visit somewhere right around the corner or somewhere far like Ashley and Jeff are talking about. But travel will change you for sure. Allison, we have quite some world travelers here, here today.

Scott W. Luton [00:05:37]:

What’s your.

Allison Giddens [00:05:38]:

Well, I was going to reference a work trip, but now I feel pressured to not include a work trip. So I’m going to answer with, I went to Italy right after college, and it was almost a last minute thing. It was a planned thing with a roommate, but at the last minute, the roommate had to cancel. So I had to decide if I was going to go to Europe by myself or if I was going to cancel. And I decided to go by myself. And I remember my dad dropping me off at the airport, and I leaned in the car and I said, don’t tell mom, but Michelle’s not coming. And he said, I’m not stupid. I’m not telling your mother.

Allison Giddens [00:06:14]:

And so, yeah, I went for ten days, had a blast, and looking back on it, I think it was a really good way to kind of enter reality, that is.

Scott W. Luton [00:06:24]:

I love that. What a great, great story there, Allison. I’m sure it was a great trip, too. Um, all right, Allison, Ashley, and Jeff, I’d love to dive deeper into your travel experiences. Clearly, y’all value travel like many of our audience members do, but we got a lot to get into here today. So I want to start with this. Allison, Ashley, and Jeff, let’s kind of set the table a bit, offer our audience some valuable context. We can’t get enough context in this fast moving world we’re in.

Scott W. Luton [00:06:49]:

So, Ash, to start with you, many folks know we’ve really enjoyed our programming with OMNIA partners going back a few years. Y’all been on the move, but for a handful of folks that may be new, tell us briefly, if you would, about OMNIA partners and a little bit about your background.

Ashley Greuel [00:07:03]:

Sure. So OMNIA Partners is the largest group purchasing organization in the United States. We help companies of all sizes and in all industries cut costs and simplify their procurement. And we do this through leveraging their combined spend and purchasing power to reduce their pricing, get better terms and conditions with some of the top suppliers in the nation, and better price than they could get on their end. And I have been with omni partners for about four and a half years. After about twelve years in the procurement, consulting and gps space, I spent some time on the public sector side, supporting one of our largest members and working with cross functional teams within OMNIA partners to do that before coming into my current role, which is leading our member facing or our customer facing analytics teams love that.

Scott W. Luton [00:07:55]:

And someone told me once, Ashley and Jeff and Allison, for every one year you spend in procurement, it’s actually worth three years in human lives. Is that right, Ashley?

Ashley Greuel [00:08:04]:

It feels that way sometimes, for sure.

Scott W. Luton [00:08:07]:

Well, welcome and appreciate what you’ve done in your career. All right, so, Jeff, tell us about your background, if you would.

Jeff Gillmer [00:08:14]:

Yeah, sure. So I worked, I’ve been dealing with supply chain and procurement leaders my entire career. In the nineties, I worked for a global air freighter logistics company, was the worldwide client executive for, at the time, General Electric and allied signals. So it was one of those things where something didn’t get to where it needed to be. You kind of heard about it from those two world class organizations. So I cut my teeth with them and then spent 22 great years at office Depot working with indirect procurement leaders in the businesses and services that a great company like office depot offers always been those two areas, supply chain and procurement. And it’s just, you know, kind of enjoy working with large, complex organizations and helping them to satisfy the needs that they have in their ever changing business. So it’s a great journey.

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

Just love my career, no doubt, and help, help those organizations find a better way, which we’re going to be talking, touched on here today, Allison, between Ashley and Jeff, and then, of course, your background that we don’t talk enough about, all your years in manufacturing. I’d say we have quite an esteemed panel of practitioner experience here today, huh?

Allison Giddens [00:09:27]:

Oh, for sure. I like the wide array. And gosh, if you were doing, if you’re doing supply and logistics and sourcing and procurement in the nineties through now, you’ve seen everything. Of course, we say that, and then tomorrow something will happen that no one’s ever seen before.

Scott W. Luton [00:09:45]:

But knock it on wood. Knock it on wood. If you’ve done that, you deserve like a Time life series.

Allison Giddens [00:09:50]:

Right? No kidding.

Scott W. Luton [00:09:51]:

Right?

Jeff Gillmer [00:09:51]:

No kidding.

Scott W. Luton [00:09:52]:

But hey, the good news is, kidding aside, you can learn and benefit from all the expertise here. Right. And that’s part of the big part of the value proposition. So more on that to come. Let’s talk about this. Jeff, I’ll stick with you for a second, because when it comes to the importance of spend visibility in 2024, what are some things that business leaders out there listening or viewing should know about?

Jeff Gillmer [00:10:16]:

Yeah. So, I mean, look, I mean, you think about the business leaders and procurement in supply chain in general, it can be viewed as an administrative function more so than strategic. And I think that visibility, we at OMNIA think that visibility is actually the pivot between transforming from an administrative function to strategic. We know that the Fortune 1000 organizations are faced with really difficult challenges in their business. They have complex supply chains getting their arms around the spend, geographic dispersion, in many cases siloed departments. And if they can get their eyes on the visibility, they can really become or help a company realize their full market potential. The more they utilize the visibility, I’ll say that they do a little bit less of managing the complexity in the business and more focused towards the strategic component and contribution of the organization. So we think it’s huge.

Jeff Gillmer [00:11:26]:

We think it’s here and now, easier said than done, but it’s how we’re thinking about it. And then the downstream costs associated. When you don’t have it, it’s hard to quantify all that goes into it with maverick spend and compliance related risks. Right. Without visibility, it kind of gets wide open season.

Scott W. Luton [00:11:51]:

That’s right. Jeff, just yesterday, Kevin L. Jackson, who, Alison, you know, the two of us were sitting down with a business leader up in the northern United States, and he was leading supply chain manufacturing for a company that has over 100 facilities around the world and over 90 distribution facilities. So kind of, to Jeff’s point, think of the complexity, right. And think of all the data. They could be tidal wave after tidal wave of data. But one of the initiatives they have been pushing through for years, kind of to your point, Jeff, is getting a hand around the data, right. Cleaning the data so that they can really focus in on the key priorities, because you can’t focus on everything.

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

Right. And naturally, they are also using technology and other resources to do just that. And they’ve uncovered some tremendous opportunities. A lot of business leaders of those larger organizations are facing a lot of the same challenges that you are laying out there. Jeff Ashley, spend visibility here in 2024. What should more business leaders know?

Ashley Greuel [00:12:53]:

Well, I think we’re, as I think everybody knows, we’re in an inflationary period and everything is cyclical. So we’ve seen it before. But I think when we’re in one of those environments, it’s critical for companies to cut their costs and reduce their spend. And so you can’t do that without spend visibility. You can’t make data driven decisions. You can’t even know where to look to cut those costs without visibility into your spend. So it’s extremely critical right now.

Scott W. Luton [00:13:21]:

That’s right. And I’ll get you to comment here, Allison, but before I do, Ashley, excellent comments. You know, we had a former guest, Reg Holden, that was on a show with our friends at OMNIA partners a year or two ago, and he’s got this great quote and I had to go pull it up because I want to get it right. And he basically said, without spend visibility, it’s like trying to get somewhere without a roadmap. You’re just lost in the dark. And that resonates with so many folks. Right. So, Allison, weigh in.

Scott W. Luton [00:13:48]:

When Jeff and Ashley both were speaking to what business leaders got to know about spin visibility and where we are in 2024, your thoughts?

Allison Giddens [00:13:56]:

It’s, you don’t know what you don’t know. And I think that is a challenging thing for business leaders to, you know, we get caught up kind of in our day to day. Like, this is what I have to do. And once I get fixated on something, it’s like, well, this is, I just have to get across this hill and then things will be clearer. But unless you start doing things a little bit differently, like engaging people that have been there, done that, and they’ve got the network, it can be tempting to just kind of stick in that rut. So you don’t know what you don’t know. You have to.

Scott W. Luton [00:14:25]:

That’s right. Staying in the run of the business, doing the business instead of working on the business.

Allison Giddens [00:14:31]:

And that’s where I. That can be hard.

Scott W. Luton [00:14:34]:

You’ve got a good big experience in that regard, Allison. So let’s get to more of the current environment, right. And especially as it relates to challenges when it comes to messy data swamps that many organizations get stuck in. Now, Ashley, you’re an expert in all things analytics, and then some tell us, what are some of those challenges? Ashley?

Ashley Greuel [00:14:56]:

Yeah, I mean, I think we are in an age where there’s just so much data available to us, right? There’s data everywhere. There’s information everywhere. And so I think that a lot of companies can find it challenging to navigate through everything that is out there to get to what matters and even understanding how to use their data to determine what matters and then go after it. I think there’s also still challenges with poor data quality. If data is not being entered into your system or captured correctly and accurately, they’re not able to take action on it. So I like to say garbage in equals garbage out.

Scott W. Luton [00:15:33]:

No doubt timeless advice there. And, you know, all data is not equal. Right. As business leaders, we need to pay attention to the true signals, right. That we’ve got to kind of pick out of these overwhelming waves of data and, you know, kind of as I was reading through some of OMNIA partners, some of y’all’s resources that we’ll drop later to 80 20. Wilfredo Pareto, we’re gonna make him really proud. Right. The italian economist way back in the day, trying to find as business leaders, the 80% that the 20% causes.

Scott W. Luton [00:16:05]:

Right. I may not say that very eloquently, but all you are nodding your heads and I. So I think I said it. Okay, but Jeff, what would you add to that? This messy data swamp that so many organizations are in these days?

Jeff Gillmer [00:16:16]:

Yeah, I mean, so, you know, from the human side of it, and actually is our data scientist queen. But, you know, it really is. We see companies from not having any idea where all the spend is. And we all can agree that it’s in every quarter of every company to companies that actually do have the spend. But a lot of them struggle on where to start. They don’t know what to do with it once they have it. They’ve taken the time and the energy to accumulate it, maybe they haven’t. And it’s really about, you know, so many cases where they just don’t know what to do with it and where to start and how to put it into that strategic motion, if you will, for their organization.

Jeff Gillmer [00:17:05]:

That’s just kind of what we see day in and day out. And they’re the types of conversations that we have with organizations.

Scott W. Luton [00:17:11]:

So. And that lack of. Lack of knowing where to start, or, Alison, going back to what you were talking about earlier, trying to pull yourself out of the day to day, right. By doing those two very natural things that happen across the business world every single week. Every single day. We’re leaving tons of money and other resources on the table. We’re leaving lots of friction and complexity in the business that we can pull out. I mean, there’s massive opportunities here, Allison, speak to whether it’s a messy data swap or some of those broader things that Ashley and Jeff spoke to there.

Allison Giddens [00:17:44]:

It’s also, I think they’ve alluded to this analysis paralysis, you know, so much data and you just get inundated and you don’t either you don’t know where to start, or it’s a decision fatigue. And you’re like, I just. I don’t know. You know, I’ve got all this stuff now. What? But, yeah, it’s that. It’s the first step. It’s the tiny baby steps. I’m a big, big fan of the psychology behind motivation, and sometimes it just takes just a couple of little wins on the front.

Scott W. Luton [00:18:11]:

Right. Break the problems down into bite size pieces. Right. And my hunch is, Ashley and Jeff, you and the, on the partners team do a lot of that because you’re working with big organizations that have a lot of different wherewithal to their operations and to their organization and business model. Any other comments? We’re about to get to some good news. Right. And three ways organizations can pack, really tackle well, some of these challenges and others Ashley and Jeff and Alison have spoken to. Any other comments, Ashley or Jeff, before we, we get there?

Jeff Gillmer [00:18:44]:

And the other thing that we see, too, is, you know, companies will go through, you know, an acquisition period over ten years where they might add 3456 organizations, and they still have the same seven people in the, in the procurement team. Right. So there seems to always be a little bit of a constraint on, on human capital there for the mid sized company. So it’s tough. I mean, it’s just really, really challenging for the, for the procurement teams to, to get out of that administrative mode and more into the strategic mode. It’s not easy. It’s not easy. Always see it.

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

Well, Jeff, I’m so glad you brought that up because so many challenges across global supply chain can be described, as you put it. Right. And I think instantly of the impact on our people. Right. And the burden they have, how much stress we put on, because we just can’t solve some of these things that are tough to solve. But I’ll tell you what, again, looking at data and the opportunities there, imagine if you could save up to 39% when it comes to human resources, or 16% with corporate services, 37% with it, and telecom, 28% in facilities. I’m looking at some of the things that you all have done, and some of the savings opportunities are there. Imagine how that could be reinvested to take some of the burden off the people in the business.

Scott W. Luton [00:20:04]:

Right. Allison, that we’re going to get to a $4 million figure towards the end of today’s show, which I can’t wait to get into. But, Allison, when you think about the impact that these, these great challenges have on our people, how, how cool is it to take some of the weight off them, huh?

Allison Giddens [00:20:19]:

Yeah. Yeah, for sure. It’s also empowering them to be able to think creatively, to take that information and run with it, because if you’re already in the weeds and you’re already doing this day to day, and all of a sudden, you know, your leadership has said, here you go, here’s some information, here’s the interpretation of it. Now go do good things. It lets everybody do what they’re best at.

Scott W. Luton [00:20:40]:

I love that. I love that charge. Go do big things. Right. Let’s take the friction out. Let’s take the obstacles out. And that’s a great segue, Jeff and Ashley, because we’re going to pick y’all’s brain on three better ways. Three ways organizations can do that.

Scott W. Luton [00:20:54]:

Do big things. More importantly, with big impact. Right. Big outcomes. If it’s not producing outcomes, why the heck are we doing it? Ashley, Jeff, and Allison. Right, right. All right, so, Ashley, we’re going to go through three ways. We’re going to start with you on the first way.

Scott W. Luton [00:21:09]:

Tell us more.

Ashley Greuel [00:21:11]:

So, data integration and automation, right. So, going back to the previous conversation, many companies do have an ERP or a P, two P, or some kind of data management system in place. Oftentimes they have multiple because they are decentralized. So they don’t have their data all in one place. And that makes it even more challenging to then action that data. So it’s critical, and it’s crucial to have data integration and automation so that you can see all of your data. It ensures that data from different sources adheres to standardized formats. It reduces inconsistencies.

Ashley Greuel [00:21:47]:

The automation piece can automatically identify and cleanse errors in the data, such as duplicates or incomplete records, and that will improve your overall data accuracy. It also reduces the risk of human errors that can contribute to that core data quality, and it minimizes that manual data processing effort.

Scott W. Luton [00:22:07]:

Love that. What a great starting point, because that really is a tremendous opportunity we have in this incredible, extraordinary technology era that we’re living in. We’re seeing innovations every hour and clearly are baking that into all that you all do at OMNIA partners. But, Allison, I gotta apologize to all the former organizations I’ve been a part of and how I’ve driven their human error factor wrong when it comes to the data. But, you know, kidding aside, if you look at any study, you know, 1020 percent of manual keystrokes, depending on what you’re looking at, that’s how many errors are being generated. Imagine impact organization. But when it comes to data integration and automation, automation. Allison, your thoughts here on the first way.

Allison Giddens [00:22:48]:

My first thought, too, was realizing in a day and time where all you read about is mergers and acquisitions, right? You have everybody. So you’ve got these companies that have been around for 10, 15, 20 years working from a single ERP, and now all of a sudden, they’ve combined with two or three other companies. They have also used their own ERP for ten to 15 to 20 years. You have all these weird overlaps. And again, to Jeff’s point, nobody knows where to start. How do you fix it?

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

Well, I’ve got two folks that I bet do know where to start. Alison, I’ll be leaning on y’all, which, by the way, Supply Chain Now is a member of the OMNIA Partners ecosystem. We see value, we don’t just talk about it. Jeff, I’ll get you to, before we move to second the second way, I know you’ve may want to comment, especially given your journey on the great point Alison just made, because all the. Of course m and a oftentimes the outcomes there are, you’re putting a bunch of systems, technology platforms, and, goodness knows, millions of spreadsheets into a sandbox and then say, okay, figure it out. And man, we lose so many opportunities and so much to the top and bottom line, amongst many other repercussions from that. Jeff, your quick comment before we move to the second way.

Jeff Gillmer [00:24:03]:

Well, I mean, I just think that you need to recognize that you’ve got data in different places, right? Then you’ve got to make sense of it somehow, some way. And if you don’t, it’s just, it’s just a huge miss. I mean, Allison, you hit it spot on. It’s, it’s not uncommon to see organizations with double digit ERP systems, right? And there’s so much. And when that’s, when you let that remain where it is and don’t make an effort to consolidate it, you’re never going to be able to understand where the spend is, how widgets are being procured and how they’re being paid for and all the other downstream things that come with it, right. It just opens up Pandora’s box.

Allison Giddens [00:24:47]:

It reminds me, too, of, remember in the, like nineties or the early aughts where you’d have a guy standing on the corner trying to sell baseball tickets and you had a guy in another corner trying to buy them, and you’re like, guys, could somebody talk to each other here?

Jeff Gillmer [00:25:01]:

Just walk there.

Scott W. Luton [00:25:02]:

Oh, man, let’s just connect. But it’s such a great point. Such a great point. And the data integration opportunities that exist today to get all of these systems talking or eliminate some systems, right, and get rid of the too much redundancy that can be found oftentimes, especially in larger organizations, as you have different folks making different technology purchasing decisions, and you blink and you got three or four redundant systems and you don’t. You need one, right. Opportunities abound all right, so the first way is data integration and automation. The second way is more cultural. Jeff, your thoughts there?

Jeff Gillmer [00:25:40]:

Yeah, so, you know, we have a, we have a roadmap that we take organizations through. And the first one is to make sure, again, I’ll go back to the comment about spend is at every corner of a business silos. It’s important to collaborate with stakeholders because they all have different challenges depending on where they are in an organization. And so it’s, you know, you have to have a voice, you have to have a stakeholder from the various areas of the business. You have to then be able to make projections. You know, what is the goal? Because when spend is in different parts of the business, you know, somebody may be trying to reduce spend. Someone may be able to take it from 25 suppliers to ten, some maybe be looking to improve working capital. Right.

Jeff Gillmer [00:26:30]:

It goes all over the board. And so it’s important to, as, like, you bring spend together, it’s important that you bring the stakeholders together to understand what are the needs of the business. And then collectively you need to determine, okay, well, what’s the heavy lifts and light lifts. Right. And I think that’s where you start to think about, do I reach out to a GPO partner? Do I talk with suppliers buyers to better understand, am I thinking about this the right way? And then it comes down to, we’ve got 25 or 30 things on a piece of paper that we’ve collected from all the stakeholders. Get some quick wins. Allison, you said it before, get some quick wins. Get things in motion for the business, because that will build momentum that will allow you to prioritize short term to long term and really start to get accomplishments happening within the business.

Jeff Gillmer [00:27:26]:

And once you do that, then you start to get fancy and high, you know, high tech and start to implement KPI’s and SLA’s and make sure that as you think long term, you know, you now have a sense of what resources are needed and how do I build this out for a long term? And, you know, suppliers are so important in this process. And I would say that there’s nothing more meaningful than to make sure you have a cadence of sitting down with the suppliers doing constructive business reviews. What did we accomplish? Where are we? Are we ahead of or behind of where we thought we would be? What needs to change? And the next thing you know, you can really, really start to get your arms around the spend that’s out there across the business. It minimizes the geographies, the silos, and some really cool successes. Start to happen that again now takes the procurement and supply chain leaders from somewhat administrative to more strategic. Man, that’s the fun part of it.

Scott W. Luton [00:28:37]:

Allison, I feel like Jeff just walked us through, like, a cultural transformation.

Allison Giddens [00:28:42]:

Like, I understood every bit of that. Yes.

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

Yeah, I’m with you, Jeff, and I’m ready to break run through the wall behind me based on what you described there, Allison. And by the way, for the handful of folks out there, we love our acronyms and supply chain he mentioned after taking his first few bites. Then you can establish the key performance indicators, the KPI’s, the SLA’s, the service level agreements, just to make sure everybody’s with us. But what else did you hear there that’s so important culturally, Allison, to take advantage and find a better way that.

Allison Giddens [00:29:13]:

Bringing stakeholders together, conversation that happens early because I think that where we do have so many intersections of competing priorities, that there are some priorities and initiatives, I believe, that are almost mutually exclusive, and we have to watch for that. So you might be looking to minimize risk in one area. So you may limit the number of suppliers you have, but then over here, that minimizing the risk of something might introduce risk of something else. And so the conversation that you’re having at the table with all the stakeholders, again, it’s information and it’s knowing how to interpret it from the, from the get go.

Scott W. Luton [00:29:53]:

Excellent point. And what Jeff touched on and what you touched on again there, that alignment, you know, what are we trying to do here and have everybody pulling in the same direction? That sounds simple, maybe sounds cliche, perhaps, but that is so relevant across so many different functional areas of a business. On an earlier show, we had a global supply chain executive just hammer home, especially in this age of technology where things are moving so fast. Great communication, which is timeless, but especially as we’re. We’re taking on new initiatives, being able to communicate to the team, because that helps build the trust in the direction where we’re going. That and accomplishments and many others. And that trust, Jeff, Ashley, and Allison, is what moves mountains.

Jeff Gillmer [00:30:33]:

Right.

Scott W. Luton [00:30:34]:

When you can do it together, aligned to and together. So, good stuff there. All right. As much of a data geek I am, Ashley, I love the cultural. That’s one of my favorite parts of the three ways. And now we’re going to move right into the third way, and we’re going to start with Jeff. So, Jeff, we’ve talked about data integration, automation. We’ve talked about building that culture of compliance and transparency and can do.

Scott W. Luton [00:30:59]:

What’s the third one, Jeff?

Jeff Gillmer [00:31:01]:

Utilizing a GPO.

Scott W. Luton [00:31:04]:

Hey, and not your grandfather’s or your grandmother’s GPO, but a forward looking, innovative change in how stuff gets done GPO is what I would say. Jeff, your thoughts?

Jeff Gillmer [00:31:16]:

Yeah, I mean, so, you know, just on me, right. I mean, when we do this with, with members, it’s important to make sure that the company is not viewing the GPO as a replacement or in conflict. It’s. We are actually. A GPO is actually an extension of a procurement team. Right. There’s only so many hours and days and weeks in a year. And our procurement leaders are faced with the direct spend challenges, inflation, which is pretty prominent right now, and you can’t get to it all.

Jeff Gillmer [00:31:55]:

And so it really becomes working with a GPO, especially in the indirect spend, which we see billions of dollars in the long tail, and you can’t get to it. You need to determine where does a GPO fit in? Where do you want them to focus? Because if you’re going to get to the car rental, great. Maybe you’re not going to get the office products, maybe MRO, which can be extremely large in a long tailspan, where is that complement? Where is that connection? And in a sense, GPO becomes a part and an extension of the procurement organization without you having to pay for it. Right.

Scott W. Luton [00:32:33]:

It’s free, man. And I want to pull something out before I move to you. Ashley, you really can’t get to it all. You can’t. You know, we had all thousands of conversations we’ve had here over the years. Some organizations have tried to throw as many members of the team at certain big problems, but as they’ve grown and grown global, we got to leverage a better way, a better process, a better technology, better partners, like Jeff’s describing. So, Ashley, speak to leveraging a GPO as a third way.

Ashley Greuel [00:33:04]:

Right. Well, with OMNIA partners, we do have the ability to help you with your spend visibility and take a look at your spend and help you identify those areas where we may be able to help you, as well as take a look at that tail spend. Right. So you might be with one provider, you think you know who you’re with for office products, to use Jeff’s example. But we can see ten additional suppliers there by helping you look at your data and then work with you to potentially implement that solution with one of our supplier partners. And we can do that across the vast majority of our contract, probably, but over 160 contracts on the private sector side, and I think over 1500 contracts on the public sector side. So there’s a lot of opportunity where.

Scott W. Luton [00:33:50]:

We can help you and a sense of urgency so we can get quick wins. Quick wins all. I think all three of you all have spoken to how important that is, and not to be rash, but because they exist. Allison, we covered three ways there, including the third being, you know, leverage resources, like a group purchasing organization, an innovative one. Your thoughts are? Allison, that last one.

Allison Giddens [00:34:14]:

I think from a small business perspective, it’s always nice to hear the conversation about GPO being there for the leverage for people like us. And I know it’s not exclusive to us, but, you know, having. Having the ability to be able to play with the big dogs, that’s a nice thing. So, yeah, it’s a tough. You know, if you’re always working with certain vendors, because you’re always working with certain vendors, you might not be aware of the opportunities that exist in something like this. So it’s just a. It’s a win you didn’t even know was possible.

Scott W. Luton [00:34:49]:

How about that? Send the blind spot. And Allison, hey, there’s good news, too, because while you and I both wish we had billions of data and spend data that we could analyze with Ashley, Jeff and the team, hey, they work many gpos, but especially omnipartners works with companies of all sizes right across many sectors. We’re going to offer some links for you to check it out. And again, I like a deal. I know Allison likes to deal, too. Free to join the community. More on that to come in just a second. But hey, before we get there, we’re going to break out our shades, get real bold and fearless here today as we’re going to be offering up several future trends and predictions.

Scott W. Luton [00:35:30]:

I can’t wait to hear what Ashley and Jeff have to say. So what can we expect to see just around the corner, perhaps. Ashley, your thoughts?

Ashley Greuel [00:35:40]:

Right. So I think with spend visibility as we look into the future, I think crystal ball, I think we’re going to see enhanced machine learning, more AI being leveraged within the data and the system. So we’re already seeing that, but I think it’s going to be more widely used and much more dependable than perhaps it is today. I think that will then lead to on demand or real time spend analytics. So right now, we’re taking a historical view of the data. Maybe we’re doing quarterly, maybe monthly refreshes for some of those more sophisticated companies out there, but it still takes time to process all that data and we’re still looking backwards. So I think with that enhanced machine learning and AI, we’ll be able to process the data much faster. And be able to act on it much quicker and then also predictive analytics.

Ashley Greuel [00:36:31]:

So looking at those trends over time and to be able to predict seasonality trends in the data and where procurement teams should focus their energy.

Scott W. Luton [00:36:40]:

Yes. And Ashley, speaking of AI and machine learning, I bet you’re seeing at least what we’re seeing. The most successful organizations are not taking AI and then trying to apply that everywhere. They’re being very targeted. What’s the business opportunity, what’s the business challenge and finding the right tool or technology. Your thoughts here, Ashley?

Ashley Greuel [00:37:00]:

That’s absolutely right. So you have to be very strategic and thoughtful in terms of what systems and products you’re going to implement and how you implement them, as it’s still relatively new technology out there.

Scott W. Luton [00:37:14]:

But at the same time, as I talk out of both sides of my mouth, Gartner and many other firms are pointing out that leading organizations are finding ways to increase that competitive disadvantage between where they are and where their lower performing companies are. And sometimes you got to bring in experts from the outside that have a track record for doing so. That’s kind of what we’re showcasing here today. Jeff, back to the future. We don’t have flying DeLoreans yet right around the corner, but what predictions would you have, Jeff?

Jeff Gillmer [00:37:44]:

I want to predict the Phillies in the world. No, I can’t go there.

Scott W. Luton [00:37:47]:

Wow.

Allison Giddens [00:37:48]:

Wow.

Jeff Gillmer [00:37:50]:

Hurts my heart. Listen, you’ve been throwing the braves at.

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

Me, so.

Jeff Gillmer [00:37:56]:

I think, listen, with spend visibility, I think we’re early in the game. I think it’s going to be leveraged and utilized more and more in the not too distant future. I think you have to. I mean, if you look at the US, we’ve got unprecedented debt. We’ve got an election coming up that we’re not going to know what’s going on. Inflation is here. Is it going to go down? Meh, probably not. But who knows? Offshore, we’ve got, it’s unsettled geographies out there and we don’t know what that impact is going to be to supply chain.

Jeff Gillmer [00:38:27]:

So what I would say is uncertainty in the world. Data analytics is going to be needed because it’s one of those things that we could control. There’s things that we can’t control.

Scott W. Luton [00:38:40]:

Right, right.

Jeff Gillmer [00:38:41]:

But there are things that we can control and data and spend visibility is absolutely one of those things. So for those companies that haven’t started no time, like the president, take the baby step. Right, Allison. And for the companies that are down the road, make sure you have a plan. You got the stakeholders and get it engaged because it’s something that can happen today. You don’t have to wait. There’s no way that I don’t think it can be. It’s going to be more and more needed for organizations because you also don’t see the extra head count coming in either.

Jeff Gillmer [00:39:16]:

So it’s about figuring out how to do it differently and utilizing what’s available to you out there in the universe.

Scott W. Luton [00:39:22]:

Excellent point, Jeff. And if we, if folks are feeling like we are playing up the fomo factor, it is because we are. Right. That fear of missing out leading companies. Right. They are uncovering this and they’re bringing more resources to the game and they’re cracking the code again with that inside and outside perspective that’s so important. And letting the experts be the experts. Right.

Scott W. Luton [00:39:44]:

Because to Jeff or Ashley, when he all said, you can’t get to it all. You can’t unless you’ve got, I don’t know, seven drones or you name it. But, Allison, what’d you hear there in Ashley and Jeff’s predictions of what’s to come?

Allison Giddens [00:39:57]:

It’s really interesting that we are very cautiously optimistic, I think, with, with future, whether it’s utilization of technology and data. You look at all the projections post Covid, of everything from logistics to supply chain and people trying to wrap their heads around a new framework and trying to say, okay, this is how it’s going to be going forward. But I think these predictions are a good stretch. Right? I think that they are. The data, the current data shows that’s, that’s where things are going now, and this is where we’ve got to be pointed in that direction. I’m happy. We just interviewed an intern here at Wintech, and they’re going to be probably just for the month of July. And I was all excited when I saw the resume because they’re doing data analytics, they’re doing data science, they’re doing all these things, and they want to come work for here for a month.

Allison Giddens [00:40:48]:

I’m like, that’s so exciting. So I’m encouraged. I think the future is brighten.

Scott W. Luton [00:40:55]:

You know, Alice, I share in your optimism. I think the future is bright as well. But I will say we have got an ever challenging road to go, you know, from cyber, from geopolitical turmoil, from the economic. Goodness gracious, Jeff, I can’t wait to get past this election, right, and gain and regain some headspace there, you know, and all of that and a lot more requires us to do business differently. And, folks, that’s why we got to lean into some new resources, like what Ashley and Jeff are talking about. Okay. So we’ve really covered a gamut here. We have established some of the challenges out there right on the front end.

Scott W. Luton [00:41:35]:

And then we went through, hey, some good news. Y’all know I love good news. Three ways that you can do things better, be better prepared to tackle these challenges and a whole lot more. Then we got Jeff and Ashley’s predictions for what’s to come, including some, some non serious ones. No, I’m kidding. The Phillies are poised, Jeff. They are the best team, clearly the National League. So that’s the easy bet to make.

Allison Giddens [00:41:55]:

Trying to jinx it at this point.

Jeff Gillmer [00:41:58]:

Thank you, Allison. It’s a long season. Please.

Allison Giddens [00:42:00]:

Well, I think, I think they’re going all the way, too. What do you think? I mean, they’re unbeatable. They’re unbeatable.

Scott W. Luton [00:42:06]:

Too. Good. They’re too good, folks, if you join, if you’re joining late, Jeff is a big Philly Philadelphia sports team fan. And Ashley is a Liverpool, her and her family, Liverpool soccer fans. So there’s something for everybody here today. Speaking of resources, right. I want to do this in a couple different ways. I want to, first off, make sure folks know how to connect with both of you all.

Scott W. Luton [00:42:29]:

And then we got a couple resources for folks to learn more about what we’ve talked about here today. So, Ashley, what’s the easiest way? How can folks connect with what you’re up to and how can folks connect with you?

Ashley Greuel [00:42:41]:

Yeah, just go to our website, OMNIA partners.com. i think there was a playbook that was put in the chat and that will connect directly to me and my team and we can talk about anything and all things spend visibility and data science. So yeah, reach out.

Scott W. Luton [00:42:59]:

It’s just that easy. It’s just that easy. And then, Jeff, when you’re not taking in Eagles games or Phillies games and, you know, when you’re not traveling the world helping business leaders cracked the latest chapter and their growth and success. How can folks connect with you? Jeff?

Jeff Gillmer [00:43:16]:

Sure. So I’m on LinkedIn, you know, or Jeff Doc gilmer@amyapartners.com shoot me a, shoot me a note and I’ll be happy to respond and get engaged with conversation.

Scott W. Luton [00:43:26]:

Love that. Okay, Jeff and Ashley, it’s been great to have you all here. Before we all go, though, we’re still going to get Allison’s key patented key takeaway from this jam up conversation. But more, but equally as important. Not more, equally as important. I want to share these resources because I’ve enjoyed diving into both of these, including, we mentioned earlier, the $4 million figure. Well, folks, how about you check out this neat case study where a logistics service provider saved about $4 million in their first year of being an OMNIA partners member. How about that? And also, I pointed out the step by step process.

Scott W. Luton [00:44:04]:

I think I love the linear. It’s not perfectly linear, I’m sure, because there’s all kind of stuff you got to do at the same time. But folks, they’ve been there and done it, and the proof is in the pudding like this here. So check out that link to that case study there. And then secondly, folks, again, we’re going to offer up the opportunity to become a member, become a supplier. But in particular, membership is free. Membership is free, right? You’re ally in the purchasing process. Check that out.

Scott W. Luton [00:44:33]:

I’m sure Jeff and Ashley and the whole team would welcome you all being a part of the growing community y’all have at OMNIA partners. Right. And to make it even easier, we have dropped links to all of that. The case study right there. You want to click away. We also dropped where the link. You can learn more about joining OMNIA partners free for members, or you can check them out as a supplier. Ashley and Jeff, we’re going to put pressure on Allison now because we’ve got, by my count, I’ve got about 19 key takeaways from the brilliance Ashley and Jeff dropped on today.

Scott W. Luton [00:45:09]:

So, Allison, what’s your favorite from today’s conversation? Yeah.

Allison Giddens [00:45:14]:

So I ran out of room on my wipe off board. I have a little wipe off board that instead of post it notes, that’s where I take my notes, and I’m officially out of space. I think my biggest takeaway was really going back right to one of the first things Jeff and Ashley said, which encompassed the idea that you’ve got to have the visibility to begin with. You can’t fix problems. You can’t really have goals if you don’t know what it is that you’re working with now, you can’t figure it out where you want to go. So by working with this group and by being able to turn around and say, all right, if I don’t know what I don’t know, what am I missing? To the very people that can help connect you to those resources, you’d be crazy not to. I mean, $4 million, I know that that’s not indicative of everybody, but just to think, like, what? What money are you leaving on the table?

Scott W. Luton [00:46:03]:

Have the conversation, Allison. Well said. Have the realization you can’t do it all and that there are better ways and have a conversation. I promise you, as Alison’s pointing out, you’re gonna meet some great people along the process, whether y’all do business together or not. So check it out. A lot of good stuff here today. Really enjoyed our conversation with Ashley and Jeff. Big thanks to Ashley Groro, vice president, operation support and analytics at OMNIA partners.

Scott W. Luton [00:46:30]:

Ashley, thanks so much for being here today.

Ashley Greuel [00:46:32]:

Thank you. I had a blast. It was great to speak with you.

Scott W. Luton [00:46:35]:

We did, too. We did, too. And Jeff Gillmer, senior vice president, private sector, OMNIA Partners resident, Philadelphia sports team fan. Let’s have some more baseball conversations, but take it easy on me and Allison and Braves Nation, would you?

Jeff Gillmer [00:46:50]:

Total respect for you, too. Total respect. I enjoy the time. Thanks so much.

Scott W. Luton [00:46:54]:

Well, absolutely. Really appreciate what y’all both are doing and all of our conversations we’ve had over the years with our friends OMNIA partners tell you the hits keep on coming with Ashley, Jeff and the team. Allison, always a pleasure. I always appreciate your manufacturing and leadership brilliance and a lot of what you shared here today. Look forward to reconnecting with you soon.

Allison Giddens [00:47:15]:

Same with you. I’m excited about today. I learned a lot, and it was great to meet Jeff and Ashley. Thank you.

Scott W. Luton [00:47:20]:

It sure was, folks. But now, after everything you’ve heard here over the last hour, the onus is on you. Take one thing like C Ham points out, take one thing from today’s conversation, from what Ashley, Jeff and Allison dropped on us here, put it into practice. Take that first step. Whether it’s a realization from a leadership perspective or picking up the phone, making that first call, whatever it is, it’s all about deeds, not words. So with all that said on behalf of our entire team here at Supply Chain Now, Scott Luton challenging you to do good, give forward, be the change that’s needed, and we’ll see you next time right back here at Supply Chain Now. Thanks, everybody.

Narrator [00:47:56]:

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 listen to podcasts and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. See you next time on Supply Chain Now.