The DCPerform Podcast: Beating the House: Bet on Transformation
EPISODE 10:
6 sessions, 8 industry innovators, 1 transformational journey… Beating the House: Bet on Transformation!
DCPerform, joined by partners Waller & Associates, LLC, and OPEX Corporation hosted a 2-day Masterclass at the Retail Supply Chain & Logistics Expo USA in May 2023. Tune into episode 10 of the DCPerform Podcast for highlights of each session and explore the journey of transforming your operations to capture brand loyalty.
View the full-length sessions here:
Session 1: Embracing Change: Turning the odds in your favor with transformation
Session 2: The Generational Shift in Buying Power: How this impacts GTM strategy and logistics infrastructure
Session 3: Data Drives Solutions: The what/where’s/why’s of data aggregation driving insights for transforming business models.
Session 4: From concept, to quote, to build, to integration. What you need to know to mitigate risk and ensure success.
Session 5: OPEX – Integrating world class automation solution to optimize KPI’s to meet forecasted order demand.
Session 6: The value of a partner ecosystem
Topics discussed in episode:
- Data analytics and aggregation
- Capacity/througput/velocity
- Supply Chain Network Analysis
- Facility Layout and design
- MHS solution and justification
- Workforce optimization
- Systems integration
- Generational shift in buying power/ customer profile
EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION:
00;25;04;20 – 00;25;08;12
Speaker 1
Hello and welcome back to the DC Perform podcast. My name is Rachel Webber.
00;25;08;45 – 00;25;10;22
Speaker 2
And this is one hour Greg with you.
00;25;10;40 – 00;25;22;10
Speaker 1
And D.C. perform just got back from a two day speaking engagement that we hosted at the Retail Supply Chain and Logistics Expo in Las Vegas alongside our ecosystem partners, OpEx and Waller and Associates.
00;25;22;41 – 00;25;42;08
Speaker 2
And we covered the hot topic of the entire show, which is transformation as industries and businesses are accommodating the new and customer experience, it’s evolving. How are they transforming their operations? And we had six sessions focused on that progression.
00;25;42;53 – 00;25;52;28
Speaker 1
Really excited about this month’s episode as it summarizing all of the highlights from each of these sessions. But the full sessions will be available on our website. We’ll link it in this podcast.
00;25;52;28 – 00;26;17;46
Speaker 2
We covered the assessment process and the market conditions that are driving it, as well as how our solutions developed, how are the designs finalized, and then the equipment procured. And lastly, the deployment and the integration of those systems to deliver the end customer experience. 6 hours consolidated into 15 to 18 minutes. The best of this is one that you want to make sure you see.
00;26;18;21 – 00;26;20;41
Speaker 1
Thanks for tuning in to the DC Perform podcast.
00;26;21;20 – 00;26;58;45
Speaker 2
Right, everybody. It is kick off time understanding the journey of transformation as our retail operations and businesses grow as a customer expectation change. The need for adapting your supply chain, logistics operations and your retail operations is key to your future success. Today we brought together a team and ecosystem of partners who have delivered logistics and warehouse solutions, including robotics, conveyance and integrating that with execution level software platforms.
00;26;58;54 – 00;27;30;28
Speaker 3
There’s been more change in the last few years in the supply chain than there were the 20 before that. So embracing the change and building a strong retail business that’s resilient through all of the changes, all of the disruptions and building a supply chain that’s different than it was prior to the pandemic. We don’t have a single retail customer out there that has not had inventory issues over the last few years.
00;27;30;40 – 00;27;57;56
Speaker 3
So data is the key. And throughout this masterclass, we’re going to keep coming back to data, how it’s used, what you do with it, what you should be doing with it, to to help build a better picture of your supply chain. Customer expectations have not changed. They still expect things as quickly as they did prior to COVID, if not faster, reliable data and accelerated decisions.
00;27;57;56 – 00;28;00;46
Speaker 3
You have to make decisions faster than you did before.
00;28;01;02 – 00;28;19;41
Speaker 2
And in a in a session that’s coming up, we’ll get more into detail, better data. But at a high level, as the long term strategy is defined based upon the data results, what the business objectives are, then it’s going to be how do we capture value in the changes that we have to make and the investments that we make?
00;28;20;04 – 00;28;47;40
Speaker 2
So you’re going to build a transformation roadmap which says, here’s where our point is. This is what our customers are saying that we need, that we don’t have. These are performance metrics. Here’s where we’re going. And then building that journey roadmap across the spectrum from discovery, knowing what your business is through all the way through to execution, servicing the customer, but then ultimately you want to accelerate your tactical execution to deliver the results.
00;28;47;40 – 00;29;11;25
Speaker 2
See to the squared. That’s capacity. How big should the facility be? How much inventory are you going to carry? Throughput, how much hand? How fast do you have to push it through the operations and then volume? How much of this stuff at one time and at incremental times to meet the demand do you have to push through? And then how fast your send those orders through?
00;29;11;46 – 00;29;33;34
Speaker 2
All those things are enabled through the design process and depending on the types of equipment and technologies that you deploy, are you going to go into a new facility, a greenfield site, where you have an open slab, open building, and you can install and build as you want, and then as you move into the replenishment areas, you still have to meet your cycle times.
00;29;33;34 – 00;29;56;11
Speaker 2
Do your customers, how do you plan to accommodate for that in an existing facility? This is why the professionals who have done this for decades have this perspective and help you navigate through that process and ultimately afterwards, when it’s done to go live and support, because that’s what gets you to value. Try to enjoy the journey even though you’re stressed and you’re being pushed and challenged.
00;29;56;24 – 00;30;00;07
Speaker 2
Thanks for your time and we’re looking forward to doing the next sessions.
00;30;00;10 – 00;30;04;20
Speaker 1
My name is Rachel Webber. I’m with DC Perform. I am brand strategist and marketing.
00;30;04;20 – 00;30;25;53
Speaker 4
Lead now Richie I’m with and associates we’re going to talk about the customer experience and how things are different. Back in the day things were made. You went to the store and you bought what they had. Today is is more about what is the consumer interested in. And you’ve got this generation coming up, which is teaching this generation about where is it sourced, what’s the labor?
00;30;26;11 – 00;30;47;03
Speaker 1
And those are all different factors that are coming into play about how my generation is making a purchasing decision. And so it’s really creeping into value when you’re building your entire go to market strategy. There is a huge generational shift going on in the marketplace right now. So the marketplace looks little is going to look a lot different in 2035 compared to what it was in 2020.
00;30;47;03 – 00;30;51;20
Speaker 1
And those baby boomers are having less significance in consumer demographics.
00;30;51;49 – 00;31;08;13
Speaker 4
So I’m a baby boomer. I’m on the end of it. Yeah. So I’m not at the beginning, but we’re not getting younger. But this next generation coming up, that’s where the growing power for the buying power is. That’s the people we have to attract. And let’s talk about price versus value.
00;31;08;14 – 00;31;28;59
Speaker 1
My generation or in my eyes, I’m looking for something that is going to bring me an experience when I purchase something. So I am shifting away from that mindset of, okay, you know, I could buy that really expensive thing, but only having it for a short amount of time and not getting as much use out of it compared to an entire experience that I can experience with my friends.
00;31;28;59 – 00;31;36;07
Speaker 1
I’ll have that memory forever. I’ll have photos of videos. That is something that is so much more valuable to me and my generation.
00;31;36;09 – 00;31;50;28
Speaker 4
Minimalistic experience friends more than stuff corporation versus car is what causes support. So you just driving for bottom line are you trying to make a difference and that’s important to this next generation. Coming up.
00;31;50;44 – 00;32;17;47
Speaker 1
How can you communicate what you’re doing as a company to your customers? Because with these younger generations gaining more buying power, that’s something that we think about. I want to know that this company is in is treating their their employees correctly. They’re paying them. Right. I want to know that I’m supporting a brand that is aligned with a lot of other sustainability causes that are helping keep our earth a better place.
00;32;18;01 – 00;32;24;37
Speaker 1
So it’s shifting that messaging into falling into those categories and communicating that that is really a value.
00;32;25;29 – 00;32;51;01
Speaker 4
And then brand loyalty. When the young generation finds a brand they like and a cause they like and a situation they like, they’re going to stay with it. Millennials, look at this. They have the most spending power of any generation starting this decade. That’s massive. We need to adjust to Generation Z. You think the millennials are moving fast, Gen Z is moving faster, and they’re growing at the fastest rate.
00;32;51;12 – 00;33;13;43
Speaker 1
It all starts with a strategic shift in your plan. Thinking about what your customer is expecting when they’re purchasing something from you. In terms of my generation, I would rather purchase something that is of better quality. Supporting a cause that aligns with what I believe in. And if I’m going to have to spend 5 to 10 more dollars on it, I’ll do it.
00;33;13;43 – 00;33;18;21
Speaker 1
And I will stay loyal to that company because I really agree with what they’re doing.
00;33;18;27 – 00;33;27;59
Speaker 4
Yeah, a company like that nearly has to screw up to chase the customer away. Well, I could introduce myself. My name is Helgi Lee Joe. ADC Perform at my calling.
00;33;28;00 – 00;33;29;52
Speaker 5
I’m Dan Denton with Walter Associates.
00;33;30;10 – 00;33;37;00
Speaker 4
And welcome to our Masterclass on Data, how to interpret data, how to use data and really how do we transform our business using this data?
00;33;37;12 – 00;33;53;52
Speaker 5
Why do we want to have data? If you’re counting on good data and it’s not, you can go down the wrong road. You’re no longer just about collect data for data sake. There’s got to be a reason behind that. You have to have you have to have a reason why you’re doing this, because data is becoming such big business.
00;33;54;05 – 00;34;10;29
Speaker 5
There are different sources of all this, this kind of data, and there’s different types that we’re going to give it to. Different sources will come from your customers point of sale, some industry specific. What I’m going to get out of the pharma data, it’s going to be different. Why don’t we get our high tech or the oil industry?
00;34;11;01 – 00;34;16;52
Speaker 5
You’ve got to make sure you’re getting the right data based on your customers field, their needs.
00;34;17;03 – 00;34;38;44
Speaker 4
We just heard in the earlier masterclass about generational shifts and buying power. Right. Our current data is not going to show us what’s going to happen in the future. So how do we interpret the generational buying power of the Millennials, General and Gen Z and our anticipate that growth with our current data? There’s a lot of data. Not all of it is actionable, not all of it is valuable.
00;34;39;04 – 00;34;55;24
Speaker 4
So it’s essential for us as we start to assess it, what really is changing our business much, helping us transform. So with any kind of data analysis, there’s always the science and the arts. The science to me is measurable. What do we have data on? What’s exact, what’s internal? What’s our point of sale? All that kind of data.
00;34;55;57 – 00;35;18;13
Speaker 4
Then you have the arts, what data really matters, what KPIs really matter, how do we interpret the data? So as you’re designing facilities, you see that phrase right there. BFD For all of you that have implemented labor management in a person, when they start at eight in the morning, they’re more productive between eight and nine than they are between four and five because there is fatigue and delay through the course of the day that makes them slower.
00;35;18;29 – 00;35;28;19
Speaker 4
So how do you do that engineered labor standard doing you know corporate that that drives the results. So there’s a lot of qualitative and quantitative data that’s required to be successful.
00;35;28;33 – 00;35;47;52
Speaker 5
If you’re making decisions tomorrow for what happened yesterday, you’re not going to survive. So dashboards, real time dashboards that come down to accuracy, real, real time solutions and trust in your supply chain, you know that your data is right. It’s on time. It’s here, it’s real. I can make decisions now. I don’t have to make them. Yesterday.
00;35;48;08 – 00;36;03;45
Speaker 4
Your dashboards can tell you how productive are each of my associates. Where are we to the demand? What do we need to adjust? That’s one level of dashboard. You could have an executive at the corporate office in New York City looking at how’s the business overall. So I think dashboards are really helpful in a standpoint of giving you real time data.
00;36;03;59 – 00;36;08;04
Speaker 4
So if you can act on and stuff that you can improve upon to drive your business.
00;36;08;09 – 00;36;29;39
Speaker 5
We saw a transformation earlier. The steps in creating a new facility, a new design, stepping up to new technology that is all done through data. You don’t take those steps without understanding and knowing and are sure that the numbers are telling us the right thing. Thank you for being here. Thank you very much.
00;36;30;51 – 00;36;32;08
Speaker 4
Thank you. I appreciate it.
00;36;32;08 – 00;36;36;05
Speaker 3
Well, folks, welcome to the final master class of day one.
00;36;36;16 – 00;36;37;35
Speaker 5
About how to mitigate the.
00;36;37;35 – 00;37;07;10
Speaker 3
Risk of starting up your distribution center. My name is Jeff Waller. I am with Waller and associate JT Grebe. Welcome to our class today. I’m with OpEx. We’re manufacturer of our goods. The person solution. I’m Stuart Platt. I’m with DC perform one two lead engineers and project managers with them. A lot of different variations that go into starting out your warehouse, starting out that investigative part on creating a solution.
00;37;07;50 – 00;37;33;24
Speaker 3
You look through here and you think, Oh, trainers, I don’t need trainers. I do this in my garage, I do this at my home table, I do it in my living room. Right? Well, when you start to grow and you’re like, I’ve got this. Well, now you have three people, five, ten, 50, you have 100 people. And so with that, now you need trainers to be able to go out and help or that new process.
00;37;33;24 – 00;37;52;02
Speaker 3
Yeah, having trusted partners in that process is key. Your decisions have to be rooted in data and so your assessment is step one, doing the the observations of why we’re doing this, why we’re taking it to the next step is it volume related?
00;37;52;22 – 00;37;55;24
Speaker 5
Is it customer related? Documenting all of that.
00;37;55;42 – 00;38;28;26
Speaker 3
And setting the formation of your plan to implement your distribution center is key. So for solution design, obviously, this is probably the aside from the data collection, this is going to be what drives every other decision that’s being made. If you’re going into a new building, whether it’s, you know, an existing warehouse or a brand new greenfield site that’s being built from the ground up, going back again to the data, understand the cube requirements and, you know, the capacity throughput and the velocity of your day to day operations with your orders.
00;38;28;26 – 00;38;34;45
Speaker 3
The next step is really to put a RFP together. The RFP is so important because.
00;38;34;45 – 00;38;34;58
Speaker 5
It.
00;38;34;58 – 00;39;07;11
Speaker 3
Defines what you expect out of the project. Obviously, probably one of the most important things too, that we’re all concerned about is our ROI and understanding what is it actually? How much is this investment actually going to pay back and is that investment really the investment I need to make today for what I’m planning for in the future based on the data in the design of a warehouse, what considerations should be made due to the generational shift, breakroom, size?
00;39;07;11 – 00;39;27;52
Speaker 3
You know, obviously we want make sure everyone’s comfortable goods the person technology is really on the rise. And I think a lot of that is driven by these newer generations where no one really wants to walk ten miles a day in a warehouse. A lot of newer technologies now allow the operator to stay in a single location and all their picks are brought to music.
00;39;27;52 – 00;39;47;55
Speaker 3
Music’s a big thing and environments, breakroom designs. What’s in the breakroom? What amenities do you have? Do you have enough microwaves? You have a vending machine. Can you do you use a credit card for a vending machine because we don’t have cash, just all those little things outside of just operational. But when you start designing the entire building, how far do they walk?
00;39;47;55 – 00;40;12;06
Speaker 3
Where’s the closest restroom? Making sure that, you know, you’ve designed that for the right amount of people when you’re implementing something new warehouse environment, adding new automation, adding new mass, adding solutions have a great plan A have even a better plan B because something will fail. So ensure that you have your consultant team working with all the solutions that you have.
00;40;12;22 – 00;40;37;47
Speaker 3
You know the design aspect, you’ve got the manufacturing team, really make sure you have a full year plan and your head is going to be the best plan that you think you have. Then create plan B, that’s even better. Documentation of training, documentation of every process, and then testing it ahead of time before you go live is is a critical piece to helping mitigate that risk.
00;40;37;58 – 00;40;53;24
Speaker 3
If you’ve done this process and you’re all of those stakeholders are on board, then your go live is going to go just fine. We are going to be talking about integrating world class automation solutions, optimizing your KPIs to meet your forecast and demand.
00;40;53;44 – 00;41;04;41
Speaker 4
My name is Helgi Lege. I’m a DC perform and we’re an ecosystem partner with OpEx and happy to join JT on the stage today and excited to share with you some what we consider transformational solutions for your business.
00;41;05;04 – 00;41;28;14
Speaker 3
You know, when you’re looking at automating and looking at your business, what are some of those key factors that you need to take into consideration when you’re looking at integrating automation cost per unit, huge ROI. That’s kind of what everybody’s looking at. How much does it cost to run my business forecast first demand. Do you have the right forecast to meet what your business demand can do?
00;41;28;14 – 00;41;44;41
Speaker 3
Inventory accuracy. If you don’t have it, you can’t sell it. If you can’t sell it, you’re not going to be automating and need that ability to automate. So having an automated solution in your facility is, is important for inventory accuracy.
00;41;44;48 – 00;41;58;57
Speaker 4
JT There’s a great line I’ve heard from a client before around inventory accuracy, and this was during the COVID era, and his response was, we learned quickly, you can’t sell from an empty cart. And I think that is so resonates with that with that comment 100% delivery speed.
00;41;58;57 – 00;42;23;46
Speaker 3
Rachel, we did a generational, you know, ordering and buying with Rachel yesterday on a masterclass she will not order if it’s not to her door within an hour. Ex mod x mod is is the safety aspect of your operation. When you’re manual and you’re wheeling around heavy carts, a couple hundred pounds, that is that is a added worker’s compensation cost to that.
00;42;23;46 – 00;42;52;00
Speaker 3
So to help lower your x mod rate, which helps lower your worker’s comp, look at automated solutions to reduce your footprint, reduce your ability to walk around with carts in a in a bunch of individuals, you know, potential safety issues, operating expenses, just overall everything, operating expenses, customer experience can you add automation to your facility to help increase customer experience?
00;42;52;27 – 00;43;10;43
Speaker 4
The end game is to ensure that our clients deliver world class experience to their customers. This is a perfect way to drive that to your customers using a high automated good to the person. The things that saves you on building safety human. You know not to worry about the workman’s comp. We talked about it one time worker’s comp.
00;43;11;04 – 00;43;22;01
Speaker 4
There are so many other side things that go into a business case, which is why high speed automation like this and gets the person is so to me it’s what helps transform your business and helps you beat the house.
00;43;22;40 – 00;43;47;44
Speaker 3
Forecasting not for today, but for tomorrow. So we want to look at that five, ten year down path for your forecast when you’re going to automate. I don’t want to put in an automated solution that meets today’s numbers with OpEx and with our solutions and our coordination. We can be able to add additional bots, add additional tracking, add additional throughput.
00;43;47;44 – 00;43;57;01
Speaker 3
So you want to be able to scale benefits for automating. Why should you automate? And the world we’re at in the retail world here today, if you build it, they will come.
00;43;57;17 – 00;44;05;14
Speaker 4
If you aren’t automating, you’re actually dying because your competitors are investing in that technology, that automation, and they are taking leaps forward ahead of what you’re doing.
00;44;05;18 – 00;44;13;59
Speaker 3
And that ends our master class. On integrating automation solutions to maximize your KPIs. I want to thank the best dressed guy, Helgi.
00;44;14;26 – 00;44;18;06
Speaker 4
For The Stylist and Dapper for joining me as well.
00;44;18;54 – 00;44;35;00
Speaker 2
This is our final presentation in our journey of transformation that we’re sharing in, and now we’re going to talk about the team that helps you deliver the value of a partner ecosystem. I’m here with Jeff Waller from Warren, Associate.
00;44;35;00 – 00;44;35;45
Speaker 3
Yes. Thanks.
00;44;35;45 – 00;45;08;14
Speaker 2
Well, so not only do you have a partner ecosystem for your own objectives, but also to ensure that you deliver that great customer experience. Ultimately, you all do it together. And keeping pace with change is a big challenge for retailers. Keeping current what’s in fashion they assortment availability of inventory, value added services, those pesky returns and also the fact that is social conscience and the mind of buyers.
00;45;09;05 – 00;45;12;35
Speaker 2
This leads towards what’s the experience that these buyers are getting.
00;45;13;11 – 00;45;43;22
Speaker 3
A framework for making sure you get from the very beginning of your retail experience, the procurement side all the way through the shipping side and every part in between plays a vital role. And you are not going to play every single role of that part. What you need to do is find people in the different areas of the supply chain that do it well and would fit well with your ecosystem.
00;45;43;22 – 00;46;09;57
Speaker 2
And then all of a sudden transformation happens, your business changes. So that ecosystem that you have currently may not support what you need to do for the future and you need to change. And this is where finding a partner who has an ecosystem of their own expands it and builds on to your existing ecosystem. If you do this right with a right partner, it shouldn’t be an overwhelming activity.
00;46;09;57 – 00;46;16;26
Speaker 2
While you go through your transformation, you want them to manage that for you. They are just an additional seat at the table of your existing network.
00;46;16;38 – 00;46;39;32
Speaker 3
Everything that we’ve presented to you over the last two days has been that you can apply very easily to your business, building your business, planning for growth, being flexible with your systems, being flexible with your ecosystem, building an ecosystem and and putting it all together to take your business to the next step.
00;46;40;28 – 00;46;59;12
Speaker 2
We hope you enjoyed seeing the best of the segments from our Transformation Journey Master Class. If there’s one takeaway, it’s that you can’t do this alone, not as a single company or as a single person. Bring in your partners, bring in your trusted advisers, and make the transformation journey payoff.
00;47;00;06 – 00;47;11;08
Speaker 1
All of the materials are available on our website DC perform dot com and linked in this podcast and that give you a deeper dove into the content of these sessions. Well, thanks for tuning in to the DC Perform podcast.
00;47;11;26 – 00;47;15;09
Speaker 2
We’ll see you next time. Thanks.