Interview with Bharath Sundararaman

LogiChem asks... Bharath Sundararaman, Merck

We sat down with one of the guest speakers at LogiChem 2018, Bharath Sundararaman from Merck, to get his take on some of the issues that are rocking the industry right now.

Find out what he'll be discussing in Amsterdam at LogiChem 2018 here.

Why is digital transformation so important to supply chain operations?

Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences supply chain operations are under immense pressure to cut costs and increase efficiencies due to expiring patents, expensive mergers and acquisitions, generics, stringent regulations and the high cost of new product launches.

However, even with these pressures, we are still largely managing operations in more or less the same way as we did twenty years ago. In the last decade, digital technology has provided great opportunities to transform supply chain operations from being inward-focused to being more customer-centric, from being reactive to being proactive, and from relying on humans to letting machines think and act in human-like ways.

Companies that digitally transform their operations will far outperform their competition simply by maximising internal efficiency gains due to their digital capabilities.

What technology do you expect to rely upon on for supply chain excellence during the next five years?

Sophisticated transactional backbone systems such as ERPs, planning systems, manufacturing execution systems, quality systems and warehousing and transportation management systems will continue to be at the core of high-performing supply chain operations.

At the top, end-to-end supply chain visibility and analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning and the Internet of Things will bring differentiating edge.

How important do you think talent management will be in the future to safeguard the evolution of the supply chain leader?

In a digitally-enabled supply chain the skills required to be successful will be very different from the skills that are valued in supply chains of today.

For example, Excel wizards will have to train themselves to become data scientists; data warehouse experts will have to embrace data lakes; supply chain planners will have to learn how to provide the inputs to intelligent machines which will forecast demand, prescribe supply, order manufacturing execution and ship products to customers; and customer service reps will have to work alongside artificially intelligent assistants and chatbots.

Unless supply chain leaders start to recognise this shift and train their talent accordingly, they will be left behind.

What projects do you think companies should start with to initiate their digital transformation?

First, it is important to think about digital as an enabler of transformation. Companies should leverage digital capabilities to transform their operations in tangible ways which can create strong engagement and buy-in from the shop floor to the top floor.

There are two great places to start:

1. End-to-end supply chain visibility across the operations, in a single source of truth, on a near real-time basis

2. Machine-learning driven forecasts which can be 10-20% more accurate which means less variability, more predictable supply and potentially high service levels without needing high inventories.