How tech is helping companies future-proof their supply chains
How can manufacturers prepare for the unpredictable? Scott DeGroot, vice president of Global Distribution and Planning at Kimberly-Clark Corporation, discusses how strategic foresight can shape flexible and durable supply chains.
Until the recent pandemic, few probably gave much thought to supply chains. But that changed as people hoarded toilet paper and shopped empty shelves. Now, consumer goods companies are making their supply chains more consumer-centric, faster and data-driven, says Scott DeGroot, vice president of Global Distribution and Planning at Kimberly-Clark Corporation. With business now returning to a more normal cycle, DeGroot has been applying new technologies and processes to make the company’s supply chain more resilient, responsive, and renewable for the future. What’s next is to help make the company’s hygiene products more recyclable.
Kate MacArthur: How are supply chains evolving for the fast-moving consumer goods business?
Scott DeGroot: There are three major words that are important here. One is consumer-centric. The second is speed. We have to make decisions faster and better, which is driving us to become much more agile, resilient and data-centric. Because of the speed, the third word is talent, which is making sure that the talent and capability within the supply chain are upskilled to the point where we can achieve our mission, which is providing better products and services at a faster pace so that product availability is there.
MacArthur: What do these changes in supply chains mean as you look ahead?
DeGroot: Let's talk about it simply as plan, source, make, and deliver. We have oceans of data, and we're bringing in tools and technologies to better see and understand all that data. As we bring on new systems, it’s vitally important that we fully leverage the benefit they bring. Some of that’s through process, and technology, but a lot of it is through continuing to ensure that Kimberly Clark’s people are among the best in the industry.
MacArthur: How are you exploring foresight to figure these things out?
DeGroot: We are intentionally staying very connected to the industry and academia, either through peer groups and industrial groups, universities and the best thinkers in the academic space to understand how quickly things are changing and to ensure we're making intentional decisions.
MacArthur: How could that evolve over the next decade?
DeGroot: One learning from COVID-19 is that the traditional lean manufacturing thinking likely was carried a bit too far in that we just applied one approach across the entire enterprise. What we're learning now is that we have to be much more comfortable thinking in ranges, thinking about the actual variability of any process or sub-process, and how they connect across the network. It's this idea that all the foundational concepts of lean are 100% valid, but we need to be, and are now, applying them in ways that are bespoke or segmented.
MacArthur: What would create the most dramatic shift for the future?
DeGroot: Toilet paper moves through the customer-to-supplier stream in a different way than, say, feminine care products or adult incontinence products. So how we apply our manufacturing technology, our inventory policy and our supplier policies need to be adjusted for the fact that those are distinctly different from a consumer point-of-view.
“What we’re learning now is that we have to be much more comfortable thinking in ranges, thinking about the actual variability of any process or sub-process, and how they connect across the network.”
MacArthur: How much of this will be driven by AI?
DeGroot: We have many cases of AI applications that, for example, smooth out volume at our distribution centers and our transport capacity by looking across multiple systems and then moving freight that can be moved without disrupting the customer. When we tie together both the physical automation of robotics, which is a labor-quality issue, and AI, we’re starting to build interconnected ecosystems.
MacArthur: Is there a holy grail or pinnacle of manufacturing sustainability or profitability?
DeGroot: Part of the holy grail is exploring what innovations we can apply to make and promote circularity within the business model. In that sense, we and the industry have more work to do, changing consumer perspectives and creating sustainable business models that allow for the recyclability of hygiene products.
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