The supply chain’s missing link

The supply chain’s missing link

If you ask Jason Tham, CEO of Nulogy Corp., a specialist in digitizing and automating supply chains, what makes his company’s work important, the answer is a no-brainer.

The supply chain “is the backbone of trade,” Tham says. “Without trade you wouldn’t have commerce and without commerce, you wouldn’t have an economy.”

A September 2018 survey by consulting firm Dun & Bradstreet found that 65 per cent of financial executives agree, citing supply chain failure as either a high or moderate risk for their organizations. The flip side of that risk is opportunity. Treating a supply chain as a strategic asset not only makes it more resilient, but it can help companies make their products better and get them to market faster.

Yet a lack of data and understanding still leaves many companies stumbling on both fronts. That same Dun & Bradstreet survey, for example, found that 60 per cent of executives manage supply chain data in a “silo,” relying on self-created analytics and credit reports.

This is where Nulogy and tealbook Inc., another Toronto-area supply chain management contender, come in. Their platforms use machine learning and other tools to help companies expand their understanding of their supply chain’s potential while guarding against disruptions caused by labour disputes, extreme weather or business failure.

Stephany Lapierre, tealbook’s founder and CEO, says her company combines technology with procurement expertise to help its clients create broader, more interconnected supplier networks. She tells the story of one client that recently used tealbook to expand its supplier network and meet diversity requirements in various sourcing contracts. The company thought tealbook might unearth 100 vendors, but instead, it found 1,600 potential suppliers, a “massive increase” over their existing supply chain. “We’re uncovering innovative ways of finding value for customers,” says Lapierre.

Tham, likewise, cites the example of one consumer goods client that saved almost $100,000 per SKU using Nulogy’s platform. “Digitization of the supply chain brings efficiencies,” he says.