Declan Supple, Global Supply Chain Director at AB Enzymes shares his thoughts on the challenges facing supply chain leaders, technologies transforming business processes and the future of supply chain. A fascinating insight into how to achieve supply chain excellence. We are looking forward to hearing more at ESCDF17!

What are the key areas for growth that your business is focusing on?

Our business is active and growing in a large number of different industries around the world. We’re a global player providing products in over 50 countries. As we grow and the level of sophistication in our markets increases, we need to deal with ever more complexity in our Supply Chain.

As with most companies, we are constantly facing new requirements from the markets we deliver into. Dealing with these demands becomes more and more relevant to business performance. Therefore, we are focused on managing this through improved integration of all our activities along our Supply Chain, both inside and outside our organisation.

What are the recurring challenges you are facing as a supply chain leader and what are the new challenges?

The classic recurring challenge is, of course, dealing with demand uncertainty, ensuring the reliability of supply and constantly improving the collaboration with our partners along the value chain. A new challenge is dealing with a much higher level of transparency and availability of information in the market. Customers and stakeholders that we work with are far better informed and the degree of flexibility that they’re expecting is far higher. That brings with it the challenge of finding the right skills and people to be able to deal with varying requirements and demands in supply chain organisation.

What recent innovations have helped to add the most value for your company? Which technologies are going to be game changers in supply chain and why?

The ability to access data all the way up and down our entire value chain and being able to analyse that has had a huge impact. We have a very clear picture of where we’re creating value and where we’re not. Using that information has helped us to focus on niche areas that bring the most value.

B2B businesses such as ours are perhaps not yet seeing the full impact or potential of the digital transformation we face, but there is no doubt that dealing with and integrating new technologies into such operations will be a challenge and an opportunity.

The impact of new and converging technologies, whether 3D printing, mobile, sensing technologies or IoT is still not clear. It will be hugely helpful to merge the technologies used in scientific R&D, complex manufacturing processes, finance, sales and customer solutions projects etc. and augment these with simulation and modelling tools. B2B businesses such as ours are perhaps not yet seeing the full impact or potential of the digital transformation we face, but there is no doubt that dealing with and integrating new technologies into such operations will be a challenge and an opportunity.

Can you tell us more about enzymes used in manufacturing and your thoughts on sustainability?

Enzymes are used as a catalyst in many different industrial production processes, performing very specifically at particular steps in those processes. The enzymes used also originate from nature and so can therefore be used in the same way as nature does. The products produced can thereby be produced in a more environmentally friendly manner, with the production of less energy, water and raw materials and the generation of less waste. It is clear that consumers and industries are more focused on more sustainable products and so the biotech industry is playing a key role in this trend.

Our transport and logistics partners are also trying to achieve more – they are differentiating themselves based on their sustainability targets. In supply chain there are many things you can do to reduce the volume of unnecessary production and also shipping times. There is a lot we can do.

What does a digital supply chain mean to you and what is the effect on your business?

What’s really interesting is how we will use data and information to generate new value propositions to the market, as add-ons to the current product or product-service models.

I think there’s a certain amount of hype around digital and Industry 4.0. I’m in no doubt that IoT, networking of multiple devices and sharing data will have a big impact on how we work. In terms of supply chain I think that the use of digital capabilities will push the supply chain function into becoming a smarter partner in harnessing information. The traditional view of the supply chain function will change as it adopts new technologies into physical “trucks and sheds” operations. Here, we will see more extensive use of robots, drones and self-driving machines integrated more or less directly with the consumer. Fundamentally, this is an upgrading of existing processes with new technologies. What’s really interesting is how we will use data and information to generate new value propositions to the market, as add-ons to the current product or product-service models. Supply chain will move ever closer into business decision making because of the challenges of accessing and managing such information.

What are your most recent efficiency/lean culture initiatives?

We’re implementing an integrated business planning initiative at the moment which is focussed on making our planning and decision making process more lean, more flexible and more relevant. Our continuous improvement initiatives aim to increase efficiency in all our processes. We put lean six sigma principles at the centre of all our operations, reducing waste in transport, inventory, over production, skills etc. We are adopting lean management, reducing error, minimising waste and streamlining production which is reflected in the company code of conduct and standards we’ve set for ourselves.

What is your vision for the future of supply chain and what are you doing to prepare for it?

Supply chain will not only react to fulfilling demand or concentrate on adopting new technologies into existing operations, but will play a much more fundamental role as an integrator and facilitator, sensing demand and optimising supply, and also identifying and creating new opportunities within networks of businesses and consumers.

This trend towards integrating signals from the market is increasing supply chain complexity and pushing the function closer to business decision-making than it ever has been.

Supply chain is already becoming recognised as more than managing trucks and sheds. There is huge opportunity in using data and available information to develop transparency. This trend towards integrating signals from the market is increasing supply chain complexity and pushing the function closer to business decision-making than it ever has been. It also poses new challenges, as we face a skill gap over the coming years and a declining work force alongside unlimited technological possibilities.

At ESCDF17 I’m hoping to catch up with supply chain leaders facing similar challenges, discuss initiatives they’re running, trends and how they’re dealing with them. I attended ESCDF in February last year and engaged in thought-provoking discussions. It was invaluable to hear different perspectives from my peers.