Back in the good old days, when I had
just arrived in the working world, supply chain management was still a
new field. I was working at a new company and we learned new things
every day. It was like drinking out of a fire hose, both exciting and
challenging. Time just flew by.
Soon, we hit the end of the year and
with it the holiday party, complete with all the normal festivities,
music, and food. The best part was hanging out with the founder and CEO
of the company. We would ask him questions about the promise of the then
newly emerging .com boom. The Internet was the big buzz in the Silicon
Valley then. It was a time when small companies raised millions of
dollars with a PowerPoint presentation.
Meanwhile, he was focused on figuring
out the formula, not just for acquiring new customers, but also for
delivering in terms of execution. He wanted every deployment to be a
huge success, with customers getting measurable return on investment
(ROI) and a clear path to solving business problems.
We asked him “What’s our secret sauce?
What really contributed to the adoption of our system in the market?” He
was clear: it’s the people. He said that the people made sure the
systems were installed correctly. They built strong connections with
customers, making them feel comfortable with on-boarding the new system.
He added that the real reason the company took off was by solving a
problem of suppliers to retailers. The biggest retailers (Target,
Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Depot, Nordstrom, etc.) created
thick and complex compliance manuals. For a small seller, managing the
requirements of the various retailers was a nightmare.
Labelling was a critical factor. If the
wrong label was applied or it was applied in the wrong place, the boxes
would not be processed and the supplier wouldn’t be paid. Suppliers,
then, have programmers tasked with programming the necessary labels for
each retail outlet. Staying up to date with shifting requirement was no
easy task. Our system, out of the box, was compliant with the top 100
retailers—so it was an easy sell.
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