Welcome to The Innovation Today podcast where we speak with today's technology leaders about how they're innovating to stay ahead of changing industry Dynamics and reaching new levels of productivity and automation brought to you by service now your partner in digital transformation thank you for joining us today for another episode of The Innovation Today podcast I'm your host Spencer B Miller I'm in The Innovation office at service now and today we're super excited to welcome Stefan clay partner at deoy welcome Stefan thank you so much Spencer very excited to be here yeah let's kick it off so let's let's learn a little bit about you today we're going to dive into this this increasing Innovation and efficiencies within the supply chain world and we're going to do it with the a bit of the lens of how customers are driving change in the industry which I know you're you're super passionate about working with working with customers in your world so let's start a little bit before maybe we hit down that path of your personal path I know in a previous call you said that you weren't you weren't necessarily a techie you were a production Logistics guys so how the heck did you get to where you're at today that's a very good question span so as you said my my background is is truly in manufacturing so I've been working all my profession care with manufacturing companies predominantly Automotive uh companies I I love cars but also their suppliers so I started as a as a Manufacturing Logistics guys so how to improve using very you know traditional methodologies couple years back uh we know the digitalization effort started to accelerate we intensively requ you know got requests from clients as to what can we do with our processes right is it is it just always these big transformation programs multi-year type of things but we said well well actually not it is also that but uh let's find ideas as to how we can improve in a matter much faster way right uh because there's a lot of people involved in typically in production proces Supply processes and that's how I slowly moved into the let's see how we can orchestrate proes and uh together with our Serv now team I then started well we then started to figure out what can we do with that uh in in a good manner in Supply chains and that's how I transition how I transition into into that space I'm very excited about it it's fun yeah it actually kind of makes a lot of sense that it I mean you your heads down in the in the logistics of it and naturally you got a lot of expertise in that world so they would probably come to you to say how do we make this thing better from the logistics how do we how do we streamline this what can we what can we use within the Technology field or the the giant landscape out there that helps helps these things piece together a little bit more smoothly than maybe you've experienced in the past yeah exactly exactly and so it's it's it's been a journey and I think that we we're not there well we we talk we I mean certainly our clients right uh but I think there have been some some great successes I'm excited to to share some of these successes and insights that that we see in the market yeah I know I know supply chain is a constant topic that keeps coming back up and I think where we all F maybe felt it from the customer standpoint or the consumer standpoint was most notably in 2020 when we really noticed Logistics Supply chains breaking down just because of lack of visibility and not understanding what happens if something goes out in this part of the world how that affects further down the line and from the the customer experience standpoint well we noticed it because it actually affected things that were showing up in our lives or things that maybe weren't showing up in our lives at that point what do you see now in the field again so 2020 is a bit of the rearview mirrror but what are what are customers wanting to solve for most notably now because the supply chain Logistics still haven't gotten any easier but it's uh the world is naturally opened back up so what's what's the lay of the land out there now good question so you know it's it's getting even more complex very fast answer so it's it's it's among other things probably three big Dimension we're seeing it still managing disruption right I mean as you said Spencer it certainly started in 2020 we fail it all but it's still managing that disruption that is still going on I mean in the auto space you know on average when we you know work with all our clients it's probably one Supply a week that has an issue and so and that might be different things right so disruption is still a big topic that's that's one the second one is certainly efficiency right it's not a new topic but what we see and that sometimes a little bit contradictory with disruption managing disruption especially because for doing so if proly not mature enough if you still lack certain capabilities in terms of using technology to be more transparent work on your your issues you know being efficient is is is is difficult right because we well companies or our clients tend to add additional people to to manage processes and so being more efficient is is is a big big topic um and that certainly also when it comes to you know being more efficient in in in how to operate for instance transports and all these kind of things and the the the third aspect is sustainability uh again sometimes going hand in hand but sometimes also contradictory to efficiencies because becoming green you know getting to a CO neutral supply chain is is difficult and it it requires investment right and so that's that's probably Third Dimension but there are ways you have all of these things going hand and head now I'll talk about it in a minute okay yeah and actually it's interesting because a few of the points that you bring up there when you said efficiency around adding people well it I mean to be quite Frank adding people isn't always it doesn't necess necessarily make it more efficient right so you kind of have to understand the type of people with the skills that these those people possess on where and where you're adding them which to me brings out the the question of well how where within my operations do I need the expertise of what kind of people it's it's just a a better understanding almost like a mindful approach to what the supply CH like what each portion of the supply chain needs based on the analytics and the information that you're collecting throughout the entire process and then sustainability you also mentioned was is can add barriers to that that ease of use or that that enduser experience because it it it might require more invested and might might require more complex layers based off of how maybe you've historically done it so if I think about this from a back to kind of the customer experience Lin and maybe how customers are starting to to to have higher levels of expectation of on what they might expect from when the when the product is coming in their world how are they how are they driving this change around those big three how are they driving this disruption efficiency and sustainability from a a customer expectation standpoint so I'll give you an example again you know Auto auto companies are are let's say you are not just my passion right but it's it's also one of the prenomen client base I have and and so customer expectations especially with this whole direct sales model so being very transparent as to I order that car online and I want to get it ideally right away or whatever data is being given to me I'd like to have that date being adhered to right and so if you then kind of you know break that down into what does it mean for instance for a supply chain right it's it's still you know for these Automotive companies to manage disruption efficiency and sustainability and so what we see for instance you know in today's world just just a couple of numbers it's still some days 25 to 30% of the reality uh is uh subject by disruption it's it's sometimes part being missing or transport coming too late and given that these Auto Supply chains are so so integrated but also inventory levels are you know are quite low in the manufacturing facilities it's so crucial to keep it running right and so managing these 25 to 30% disruption is is almost the the success sector one of the success spects for f sucess I'd say and so that that's one aspect the the second one is then how to do it not just in an effective way so making sure that the parts get in but actually an efficient way and that's where we see you know Prost orchestration coming to play you know can imagine in a inbound supply chain so getting a part from your supplyer to manufacturing facility there's certainly you know Erp systems being in place you have a lot of external par so your suppliers your transport carriers and so there's also still a lot of data and signals coming by email coming by telephone and so managing all of these type of signals that's the crucial exercise then when we talk about efficiency because you still need obviously people to make the right decisions right and make sure that it um it that that get the parts in but the way you do it that's where we see pross orchestration absorbing tons of data from the different systems that's where we see connected supply chain based off of service now being a very powerful exercise and then when you have that transparency that that say one platform type of approach then you can also just not solve the equation via from a efficiency standpoint but then you can also see well what does it mean to my CO2 footprint because I just have all the transports for instance in the system and that's where we see still a lot of things to be done right to make sure not just that these Dimensions work but these Dimension are so crucial as you said spener from a customer perspective because one I want to get my product one time but ideally you know if I'm when I'm very you know um sustainability focused I certainly want to make sure I want to have the knowledge that it's it's sustainably produced and so that's a couple of of of aspects we we see being really crucial right now yeah I love your point around the transparency from the customer experience and so you hit on disruption efficiency and sustainability I mean it's almost a fourth bullet around that on when when you tell me I'm going to get my part my product my car whatever the the thing that you're ordering is from a a transparency standpoint I I I hold you to that that's that's something that feels like the the bidirectional communication is almost like this contrac of agreement and from a customer experience standpoint that's that's when I now know you know to use our techy terms of an SLA when my SLA is going to be met or when it's not going to be met so having that data and consolidating that all into these from these multiple different areas taking all the notifications into one spot and then providing that level of transparency back to the customer is really where the the huge value is I I would imagine in in how this perception of the companies that you support support their customers and even being able to broadcast out those metrics out into you know the street if they're a public company or broadcast them out into their their earnings reports I got to imagine that's something that they probably hold themselves in in extreme High noted value for agreed sp Let me let me just uh you know reiterate on on that point absolutely I think there's a big customer perception uh if you look at at those companies we just talked about again auto companies for instance um certainly there you know targets being put in place to make sure and also reportings to the stock market and so forth as to how is the CO2 frint moving right but the let's say the the the aspect that you know obviously be need to be taken care of is in this day-to-day operations not for your own let's say within the for WTS your own Factory but also for that further Upstream part um getting the parts from a supplier via Transportation carrier um and that can be depending on on how much disruption we see it can be rail it can be a truck it can be an airplane right and so having these targets but then really understanding what is happening on a day-to-day basis right from an let's say unplanned perspective so how well do you manage the things that don't go well basically but then also from a plan from a how do I plan how do I put also the targets onto my partners in the supply chain my suppliers my Logistics carriers because all of these things are subject to to CO2 uh footprint admissions anyways and so that's where we we see companies currently currently heading yeah that that's another great point I mean the the the notion of unplanned things that are going to happen out there and then what to do when they do happen has got to be top of Mind in this as well what what are some things that you've seen or that you help consult or help have technology provide some some value around for those unplanned things that occur out there because once again back to the customer experience lens yes you promised to me that it's going to get there this point in time and then something naturally comes up along the way and you know the rail the bus the ship doesn't get there in time that company is now on the hook to hold to that commitment to their uh to that customer on that product still getting there in some form or fashion so how can how can companies or how can individuals that are listening out there think about uh almost these Disaster Recovery plans or unplanned changes that might occur throughout their supply chain Logistics yeah so I I'll answer that question Spencer with with a case study with just a few examples from one of my clients and I I'll just explain it in a in a fashion as to what was Al our journey with that line right so what are the different levels we see in terms of maturity so when we got in and that was two years ago um certainly there was they had sply management they had different Erp systems in place let's say also all from a happy flow perspective so they called happy flow so technically in a perfect world in the happy flow everything works out right and the Machine does basically everything so I do put a request out to my supplier and they know exactly how many parts on which truck do they need to put and when do I need to have it in my plan so happy flow was was established and now the the the topic when we came in was well EP was fine but you know some point we had 30 to 40% of of of the dayto day was actually not in the happy flow so you can imagine happy flow is fine but then it becomes it it becomes So Pro as to how you do and how do you know what do you do about about these these un plan things and so um what we did together also with our service now team is to understand so what is the the process from Happy flow perspective but more specifically what is also the process for the not happy flow so how do you manage to suctions how do you manage uh in any searches this where do you get the signals from what's the ideal process to to go about these things as well right so where do you get data from which system where's email involved where's telephone involved what are you mentioned slas um Spencer so what's the service level agreement I want to put us in place for these not planned things and so the journey was very much at that point we got full transparency on the asset process on the different data points um and then our supply CH of Excell team came in and started operating these not happy for proces using the service now solution we we also established back back then and so what we we got to a point and that that was that is Curr death Bo the state a year ago where we got to a point well now we have we have that platform type of of view we get certainly all of these planned uh information in but we also get these unplanned these these 20 30 sometimes 40% times a little less as information as well in and we we can manage these disruption more effectively right and a much more efficient way and and once you have that into one system that gets me now to the what's the next maty level uh we really you know really understood what's the what's the lead time of certain of certain things that are not going well so is there certain patterns that we see for instance on a Monday between 10 and 2 there's because you can imagine that's that start of the week there's a lot of things going on there might be issues in production and so that kind of triples back further up supply chain so do we see patterns and is it something we can then further improve going forward and that's where we now since a couple months now work with that client getting him to the next level of maturity so to say right from you have full visibility now we started orchestrating your processes right but there's still a lot of human human in Loop human interaction necessary now we um like to get them to a point where we say well now with that incremental amount of data with that huge amount of knowledge where also the system learns right can we use AI or even generative AI to move certain workloads to that computer so have him run certain aspects of things where we don't need have human Direction anymore and we just really focus on these crucial aspects and we make everything more efficient goes back to my point at the beginning we get more efficient but we still manage that disruption more more efficiently right um and it's a very exciting journey I have to say and it all started with you know the traditional as you mentioned you asked me at the beginning what's my background it's it's these traditional method of what's the process right you know doing these uh you know production lean production lean Logistics type of approaches but then using the power of of technology and in the current step using the power of AI yeah I mean I'm I think both of us being in now the techie Fields it's so excit it's like the most exciting time to have around what where Ai and where this world can take us there's there's so many thoughts around disrupting business models and having true AI assisted predictions on directions on where you can make business level decisions that might completely transform the way your company operates I mean it's the next evolution of digital transformation which some are arguing that a lot of companies didn't even you know kind of didn't necessarily get 100% right we just kind of took an old process and put it into a digital world and didn't think about reframing it B Bas on new capabilities that we had at our fingertips I think what's so cool about AI is now we it it's going to force us to think and it's going to augment us to utilize these tools to be able to predict new things that might we may not have have had in the past or take that unplanned supply chain Logistics note in in your world well you could tease out a bunch of wh if scenarios leveraging some AI mocked up capabilities to say you know what happens if something happens at this point in the supply chain or what where where would it where would what would be some suggestions if this supplier goes down at this point and have it start to tease out these scenarios with you that then you can plan further for those unplanned changes and help that customer experience really be truly truly lovely because you've ironed out all the different details or as many as the possible different avenues that could have been taken which it's kind of a a big thought but I think I think it's happening I mean I think I think it's happening as we're we're starting to talk to leaders out there you're you're seeing that the a conversation is not just a a CIO or CTO conversation this is a board level conversation and companies are thinking about it at a a truly CEO level so the fact that we can now start to help them understand what that strategy might look like for their companies and consult them based on the technologies that we're familiar with I think it's a pretty pivotal point for for all of us in the technology field absolutely let me just one couple points I loved about what you just said as as so it's it's certainly a board level topic right because it's so transformative you know using AI using data and the second aspect i l about your comment or that word is is augment data you have today because what we see you know a lot of client conversation a lot of let's say there's a lot of interest into what what can AI what can ji do in Logistics in supply chain right but it's it's still it still sounds a little fuzzy well where do I start where's the actual business case well I have a lot of issue with my data quality and and how do I go about it so there's there's Optical right we we we hear a lot but I think one aspect of and that's why you said it's it's it's got to be a board level decision it's got to be you know top down decided that it's priority to use these CH because it's so it's so crucial also for future success of companies right it's it's really let's start let and it can be in an experimenting exp exploration type of manner to understand well where can I where can I augment my current processes while I'm orchestrating already a lot I've work with in place where can augment these type of things with AI right and to make it even more specific and it's not so much that I got a you know for instance you know how to certain steering aspects of we talked about that let's say how do I manage things not going well in a supply gen how do I manage to disruptions well we're not saying that the computers is taking over that management aspect but what we're saying is Well have the computer come up with his own suggestions in terms of predicting where do I see tomorrow the day after issues uh and some of these things might be might be also uh something that a human being would have would have gotten to with a lot of experience right but some of the things them actually might have not come to a point and some of these scenarios also might might not be realistic right all I'm saying is all we saying saying is Well you you you should start right and use that you know co-pilot type of of concept to really see well what's the value at the thei or a generative AI is bringing into my logistic steering process for instance and then based on that Journey you move further up the lad in terms of also maturity um you have your organization learn much more as to what geni or AI can can do in the day-to-day process business and so you know a couple of of thoughts to the point you just made yeah so a lot of big a lot of big thoughts there a lot of big pictures of where geni can take us a lot of role playing around what we think that that empathetic tone might be from how this how this could affect the customer experience and if we if we tune certain knobs and Logistics within our org I'm almost curious to bring it back to the beginning around if I'm just a if I if I'm a if I'm a company and I'm looking to get a little bit better at my supply chain listing Logistics today how do I even think about getting started in because it can feel rather Monumental with you know generator out there and the different components of tying into it where where can I just kind of start to wrap a strategy around it if I'm just looking to to start getting it a bit better than I am today so it's it's so I'd suggest I'd have is is and that's what we see in Supply Chain management in all day is what do you need from your perspective to have full visibility into the things you think are relevant to manage your supply chain more efficiently so so what is it is it very specific focus on that not happy flow so things that not go well is it also on that let's say you know how part flows from A to B where exactly is that truck and so it's it's very much that transparency aspect that visibility aspect um that that we see companies should strive for it at the very first because what it what it does it creates these additional data points to then just get better in in in a more efficient manner manage disruption right and so you know one way to to think about it it's it's very much you know do that platform approach it's not just got to be a big transformational program to change the entire Erp landscape but what is and you mentioned it as well your internal customer right your your supply chain manager sitting in a facility on a day-to-day basis being stressed out to make sure Parts get into right you know being being yelled at from from the plan manager for instance so what is exactly you know from a Persona perspective the things he would need to you know be to get to be better at at at um not just his job but for from his perspective what is necessary for him to make sure that to supply Runing more smoothly right and in the typical start we hear from our clients is visibility transparency right and these different type of signals you get from Erp you get from your carriers you get via email you get via telephone you know you know using that platform approach that orchestration approach from from service now for instance is is is is typically a good starting point in the client environments that that we're curently in yeah so what what I'm hearing there is kind of a general theme is bringing together the Loose Ends to provide a a better standing point for the individual whoever it is at the at the line of uh that's accountable throughout the line of the supply chain to be able to make a an a solid decision at that point and to be able to be informed of those different components that they're making that decision on it really does hit on that transparency layer so that's that's super crucial thanks so much for bringing that in but it also hits on that transparency lay from a what is happening today sometimes you know also from you know from an historic perspective using also past data but it also then hit upon that prediction aspect right and it's at the beginning it doesn't need to be AI gen and abls but it's it's that you know very traditional risk you know risk management approach what do you think from a liked perspective is most likely to happen to tomorrow the day after right and what are the type of data points you would use to say well tomorrow it's not between 10 and 4 2 p.m we have issues tomorrow just going to be very Cru between 10 and 11 because that's where on my current delivery plans I see most of parts coming in and I understood that yesterday in our warehouse we had an issue with you know with the third thresold being being you know being you know uh let say being not to and so that's the kind of approach we see and then you know in then the next step you know you can then use that data you first generate with that transparency effort to then you know get more uh let's say get more automated get more predicted use AI but it's that very first step we we see and and and typically well you know I heard some clients say well with transparency I can't buy anything transparency doesn't give me certain efficiency gains doesn't give me money right um probably very D and saying but if you convert it then into well with that transparency as to where exactly is my truck you know how what's the lead time of of of for instance on average solving a certain issue with that transparency then I can avoid extra cost in terms of emercy transports uh you know I can avoid you know standing up incremental uh uh uh incremental uh menual Workforce R and so it's it's it can be translated into for instance efficiency you want to call it and so that efficiency aspect is so Cru that's huge I mean it gives you it gives you the the the state of where you're at today and and you can't optimize something that you can't measure today so the predictive aspects and the predictive components are great of where we can go but you have to start understanding the the lay of the land as it currently stands so then you can make better decisions from the human Center design approach which you alluded to earlier that plant manager are not wanting to get yelled at understanding that those components are giving him or her the the information that they need to justify what's happening throughout the logistics and then from there they can report and say here's how we're going to get better going forward and here's some here's some tools that can help us predict that betterment of optimizing our path that's super insightful well Stefan let's let's bring this a little bit to a close here this has been a a a really interesting conversation from my end I I greatly appreciate your wisdom in this space what maybe as a last last thought what are what do you think these these trends of supply chain and and and how customer experiences or expectations are going to influence the the future of of how this how this world starts to unfold in the supply chain World well I think that whole aspect of of of fish efficiency there's a lot of again if we talk about Automotive there's there's a lot of Investments being currently made in Battery Technology and and transform the industry and so efficiency will always be there but you know besides for instance driving electric vehicle we think I think personally that that whole focus on sustainability and you know making the green making the operations more green is going to be very important aspect and I think personally that that technology and and and you know the all things we've talked about in in this very exciting uh 40 last minutes I think that a lot of of these uh aspects touch up on these things so I'm very excited as to see where we are in the year or two because the world is moving very fast than this yeah me too it's most exponential growth I've seen in my my career I'm guessing you're probably the same for you well thanks so much thanks so much again today I I love the conversation Stephan I I really appreciate you coming on and and talking to us a little bit about your Innovation world thank you so much perfect and thank you to all our listeners out there please subscribe and share if you like what you heard today and join us for our next episode much appreciated [Music]