GSCW chat: Predictive and prescriptive analytics’ place in the supply chain

FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Predictive and prescriptive analytics 

DETAILS: When you are making a value proposition to current and prospective customers, prescriptive and performance analytics should be part of your continuous improvement plan. Randy Ofiara chats about all things continuous improvement and the value of historical data as a way to move forward.

SPEAKER: Randy Ofiara, VP managed logistics, BlueGrace Logistics.

BIO: Ofiara has a background in transportation ranging from automotive and manufacturing to the Department of Defense. He has served in leadership roles at XPO Logistics, YRC Worldwide and ProTrans. Currently, he is helping customers utilize historical data from their supply chains to grow their revenue, improve processes and make informed decisions.   

KEY QUOTES FROM RANDY OFIARA

“The past two years the traditional bid cycles and when to go to market have been flipped upside down. It is extremely important to make sure you have the data and analytics  to make sure you can go to market at the right time.”

“The procurement part of logistics and supply chain management is just one piece of it.”

“Help companies move further upstream but saying what will happen, the predictive, and how can we make that happen, the prescriptive. Customers move up that value stream of not only what happened and why it happened but what happens next. How to better execute your freight.”

“The analytics capability usually translates to a pivot table out of Excel. Fifty percent of companies are still using spreadsheets to manage their supply chains.”

“It’s key when you are identifying opportunities for improvement that you have the ability to execute said improvements.”

“Once we go through that reality check, what actually can get implemented on the back end?”