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>> Hey everyone, welcome to Las Vegas!
Lisa Martin here on the ground with theCUBE
about Coupa Inspire 2022.
And can you hear the buzz behind me?
It is so great to be in person.
Nick Banich joins me,
the Chief Revenue Officer
and Global Partnership Manager
for the Coupa Alliance at Miebach Consulting.
Nick, it's great to have you on the program.
>> Thanks for having me, Lisa.
First time here at Inspire and it's exciting.
>> Is it exciting?
It's great to see this room packed.
>> It is!
It feels, like, the pandemic is finally-
>> It does. >> Maybe behind us.
>> Right, fingers crossed. (Nick chuckles)
So talk to us a little bit about Miebach Consulting
and a little bit about the Coupa Partnership,
so the audience gets that understanding of what you guys do.
>> Yeah, guess, we're kind of new to the Coupa ecosystem.
You could say,
we came as part of the acquisition of LLamasoft.
So Miebach is a supply chain focus,
advisory, consultancy, engineering firm.
So we have three different business lines.
Supply chain strategy,
where we do things like supply chain design
and the Coupa platform,
planning, inventory, engineering, automation studies,
and distribution centers,
with the labor crunch that we're facing right now.
As well as we have a digital transformation group
that works on getting the decision-making
as a supply chain industry
into the digital realm
and away from Microsoft Excel.
>> Let's talk about the digitization of the supply chain.
You know, one of the things that we've seen
in the last couple of years
is this massive acceleration to digital
because businesses in every industry had no choice.
But where are,
what are the current trends
from a digital supply chain perspective?
>> You know, I think the,
kind of the integration of the compression
of the decision-making cycle
has really gotten companies
to not look at strategic decisions
then operational decisions
and tactical decisions in execution.
That all has to be compressed now
with the volatility we've all been exposed to.
I mean, basically, for the past 20 years,
we took the supply chain
and turned it into a Swiss watch.
It was very long,
very well orchestrated.
But with the volatility,
with labor issues,
with the land war in Europe,
this volatility and change
is requiring companies to be much more adaptive.
And they've had to compress that decision cycle down
and the Coupa platform,
certainly, from a supply chain standpoint,
absolutely helps infuse that process
to shorten time from question to answer
and allow you to address strategic
and tactical topics in parallel to one another
and not kind of waterfall down over
the decision making product.
>> That's important, 'cause these days,
there is no time for waterfalls.
So let's unpack the Coupa supply chain design platform.
Talk to me about it,
what it does and how it is helping that acceleration?
>> Yeah, so it's incredibly powerful.
And what it allows you to do
is create that digital representation.
We can take a three dimensional world
and put it into a two dimensional linear program.
And within the same platform
we can optimize strategically
and take a look at end to end type
of supply chain decisions,
nearshoring, onshoring,
supplier diversification,
and risk aspects.
We can look at it more operationally.
We're actually looking at
which manufacturing plans should make what?
What distribution centers should serve what customers?
How do I segment my products?
How do I segment my customers?
Then within the same modules,
you can use and go to your inventory optimization,
not only optimize inventory,
but also simulate it,
which gives you phenomenal power
in a world where there is so much uncertainty.
You can apply risk in those questions of what if,
so you're ready.
So that way, when the thing happens,
you're not that scrambling
to have analysts crunch Excel files
to see what do you do to normalize inventory levels
or normalize your supplier base.
You're able to be more proactive
with the predictive and prescriptive analytics
that the full suite provides for you.
>> That is essential.
If that's one of the lessons we've learned
in the last couple of years,
not if, but when.
>> Nick: Yes.
>> Talk to me about customers that are using the platform.
What are some of the,
using it well.
What are some of the things that they have in common?
>> You know, I think the organizations
that are implementing it well,
look for it.
They view it as a real platform.
You know, historically,
supply chain design, network optimization,
was seen as a tool,
and companies implement it as a tool.
You purchase licenses,
you assign a couple of people to work on it
from your analytical department
and you just went with it.
This is a very powerful platform
to completely revolutionize
how you make decisions within your supply chain.
And you need to approach it
the same way you approach a new warehouse management system,
a new planning platform,
a new labor management system,
the change management aspects,
the organizational aspects,
the education of stakeholders
on what is this,
demystifying it.
So it's not a black box
and everybody knows what it can and should do
and how best to utilize it.
So those organizations
that view it as more than a distribution network tool,
"Hey, where do I put my new warehouse?
Hey, this lease is coming up in Central Europe.
It's coming up in Ohio.
Do I extend the lease?
Do I need to move?"
That's, like, a level zero maturity on our maturity graph.
The very mature companies are using it
and infusing it both strategically,
operational, technically,
and are using it for distribution decisions,
transportation decisions around mode selection,
production footprint decisions.
You have the capability to have a digital twin.
And by having,
the other thing companies struggle with is,
they just build one model.
>> Uh-hmm. >> I start out,
I buy the product.
You know, I get it built in,
I move everything to the cloud
and then I do a distribution solve for the U.S.
And then the European group says,
"Hey, that was great.
That was insightful.
Can we do the same thing in Europe?"
And you take that model and then you add Europe into it.
And then the production group says,
"Hey, you know, we're thinking about changing some
of our make-buy decisions.
Can you model what the effect would be on total cost
if we did do some nearshoring?"
And all of a sudden,
you turn your one model
that you had built for a specific purpose
into this Christmas tree
where everybody's hanging their ornaments.
And what you really need to do
is having a modeling strategy.
What type,
you should have a volume,
a portfolio of models you can pull from and say,
"Hey, here's our strategic end to end model.
Hey, here's our tactical Asian production models.
Hey, here's our total landed cost
for top 15% of our customers."
And having that set of models,
so you have right models,
the right questions. >> Uh-hmm.
>> That's what the companies
that are really scaling this
and really excelling.
And you'll notice a pattern.
The companies that are excelling
that have the Coupa platform,
typically, you'll find them on list,
like, Gartner's Top 25
and things along those lines.
Because it is a very powerful platform
when you unlock the art of the possible with it.
>> Sounds, like, those are companies
that are very innovative.
But where does the company,
that maybe isn't there yet?
How do they start?
'Cause it sounds,
like, there's a tremendous wealth of potential
and opportunities that the technology can deliver.
Do they have to start with executive buy-in?
What do you see as kind of,
like, some of those early steps?
>> This is a change management exercise
from the very beginning.
So creating that sense of urgency,
creating your powerful coalition.
You have to start with that.
If you view this as,
"Hey, we're going to have a tool,
we're going to use this once,
and then our supply chain's fixed for the next 10 years."
I mean, I think most leaders
are realizing that those days are long gone.
That supply chain design
has to be a continual topic at the top levels.
You know, supply chain is on the lips of every politician
and every (chuckles) board member right now.
So this is a wonderful moment
for those supply chain leaders
that have wanted to infuse
a greater level of digital decision-making.
This is the perfect opportunity.
You can get buy-in,
like, you never had before.
Your CFO is probably analyzing labor inflation,
fuel inflation rates,
disruptions on supply base,
and you're probably having to deal
with more pressure out of the CFO and its department
than you ever had to in the past.
We see it with our clients.
The pressure is on with those leaders.
And this allows you to very quickly
be much more holistic in that decision-making.
You're not relying on how good was the analyst,
that made this Excel file
that told you to open up this plan,
move this distribution center,
serve this customer base in this way.
It's not based on how that data looks
and how good that analyst was,
you're infusing an entire practice into your organization.
>> That's critical,
because every company these days is a data company.
If they're not,
they're not going to be around.
It's about the ability to have visibility extract
the value from the data
to make those data-driven decisions,
because we don't have time.
We heard a lot about that from a real-time perspective
and the keynote this morning
that's table stakes run any organization.
>> Yeah, and with the move of the platform to the cloud,
as part of the Coupa ecosystem,
with the DDM,
with the rapid model builder,
and all those things that come along with it,
it will significantly squash
the amount out of time you have from question to answer.
Because the first time you do this,
it probably takes four months.
And of that four months to ask that question,
and get an answer,
build your model,
you know, replicate the 3D world in that 2D environment.
Over half of that time is spent on cleaning data,
building the baseline model,
aligning with finance,
they peanut butter spread certain aspects
of cost onto the onto SKUs
and really getting correct cost allocations
for A, B, and C SKUs.
You spend half your time just playing around with your data
to get the model to work right now.
Once you add that model,
next time, question and answer infinitely quicker.
But you have to have a good data strategy.
You have to have the right data architecture.
If you don't have that specific to supply chain,
leaders really need to get on that.
Because what we see a lot of times
is organizations will have an enterprise data strategy.
>> Uh-hmm. >> And they're going to build
a data warehouse or a data lake,
you know, whatever,
I'm a consultant, so I'm also guilty of the buzz words.
But, we kind of call it the supply chain data plan.
You don't need to wait for the whole enterprise
to get ready to have all of your data sorted out
in a single instance, homogenize.
Start collecting that supply chain data,
have a data strategy around it.
So that way, you can start replicating these things
then you can feed it back into the enterprise data strategy.
But you have to get your data right.
It's the old adage garbage in garbage out.
>> Right. >> It's still true to this day.
No matter how powerful the analytical tools are,
we're infusing machine learning,
artificial intelligence into some
of the solves in the platform.
But if you don't have that good data,
you're going to struggle.
So that's a key piece to it,
getting that executive buy-in
and having that right data strategy
will set you on a much smoother path to success
than if you don't do those things.
>> Right, the data strategy is critical.
If not, one of the biggest
competitive differentiators these days.
Where is the chief data officer,
the chief digital officer,
the chief information officer,
in these conversations that Miebach
is having with customers?
>> Too often, not at the forefront enough.
>> Lisa: Really?
>> Those clients that have that group,
have that organization,
and they have influencing power,
those programs go much quicker, much simpler.
The rate of adoption,
the scalability of the program.
All of a sudden, you're not thinking about,
"What am I going to do
with one or two analysts interacting with the product?"
You're now developing apps.
You have your planners interfacing with it.
You have capacity managers interacting
with the digital model.
Those that don't have that,
do have much more impetus,
because it's always the adage of,
"Oh, IT, what do we do?
And our data's a mess.
We have this data program
and our IT resources are super constrained."
So you have to bring those people to the table.
You have to have them part of the conversation,
'cause they can be an incredible enabler
if you bring them and get them bought in.
>> That's a great point of those enablers.
And especially, given the fact
that nobody has extra time to waste here.
This is a,
everything is so fast moving.
You mentioned supply chain being on
the lips of every politician.
Everybody's lips,
everybody's expecting some delivery
that is delayed for whatever reason.
>> I mean, 12 years ago when I started with the firm,
and people, "Oh, what does the firm do?"
I'm like, "Oh we're a global supply chain consultancy."
And they're like, "What?"
>> Yeah. (laughs)
>> You know, now everybody knows.
And they're like, "Oh, yeah!"
It's amazing that the revolution,
I mean, the pandemic has been incredibly unfortunate
with all the hardships and deaths and everything
and still dealing with hotspots and things.
I think it did bring supply chain,
supply chain was struggling for a while
to get a seat at the table.
Organizations started having chief supply chain officers.
You know, that was a new thing not that long ago.
This has brought table stakes
to the supply chain organization.
My challenge back to us is
what do we do with this now?
>> Right. >> For years, as an industry,
we've asked to be at the table,
we're here now,
spotlight's on us.
It's time for us to deliver.
Things like the Coupa platform
are an incredible enabler of that.
But you got to get it right when you roll it out.
>> The spotlight's on you,
but there's also a skill shortage.
Talk to me about that.
I just saw you do a big sigh.
How can Miebach and Coupa with this platform help
to mitigate some of the supply chain skills gap
that organizations in every industry are facing?
>> You know, it really comes down to the human element
and when people talk a lot about sustainability,
they talk about environmental conditions.
There's a human sustainability topic we have to cover.
Nobody likes being assigned to be a data analyst
on a transformational project.
And you're crunching Excel spreadsheets
and running it sequel coding.
No, no, that's not an enjoyable fulfilling task
for many people. >> Lisa: No.
>> There are special people that it is,
and God bless (chuckles) them.
So with things, like, the apps,
with things, like, building out,
so that way,
we can take the people that you do have
and have them making decisions,
driving discussions around the insights
the platform's giving
versus just crunching numbers and building models.
This is where you're going to have a much higher retainment.
People are going to be excited about the job.
They're going to have fun at the job
because you do see a turnover of organizations
that don't get the data strategy right,
that people don't like being
in a supply chain center of excellence in perpetuity.
Again, there are certain people that are,
but a lot of times,
once the people get this analytical insight
to how strategically the design of the company is set up,
business units will grab them
and give them a significant role.
And then you're continually churning
and replacing your COE talent.
So having a talent strategy for your COE
and having a strategy of how you're going to leverage,
you know, we're in a world
where my first grader's are learning coding, right?
Like, you need to have a data strategy.
So that way,
that becomes your people strategy as well.
And too many times,
people think, "Hey, I buy the platform.
I need a project strategy.
What are the projects we're going to do?"
And not often enough,
do they talk about the people element of it
to really make this work.
And it absolutely has to be part of the discussion
as you're setting up your center of excellence,
it's people, it's processes and it's technology.
>> Absolutely!
>> You got to bring those three together
or you real struggle a bit.
>> You do.
And then change management
is not an easy thing to do for anybody.
But one of the things you talked about,
this is the pandemic as an accelerator
of getting the supply chain folks to the table,
being able to accelerate,
getting data into the hands of people
that can actually take in clean insights
and make decisions based on that.
So if you look into a crystal ball,
what's the future of supply chain design?
Where is it going?
>> I believe we're going to see
a lot more of movement towards applications
and infusing of artificial intelligence
and machine learning.
It's there.
It's ready to go.
What a lot of companies are lacking
and it goes back to what we already talked about
is the data piece of it.
I mean, we have been developing algorithms
in a machine learning environment for three, four years now.
It goes back to garbage in, and garbage out.
So I think it's going to be a big element
of supply chain talent,
securing that,
figuring out with robotic product process automation
and things like that.
How do you take non-value added work
so you can take the talent you do have
and give them more fulfilling work?
I think companies are going to need to have data strategies
and all that unlocks applications and things.
So you can democratize, right?
You have this digital twin in the cloud.
How many people within the organization cross-functionally
have questions about the supply chain?
>> Right. >> What if this happens?
What if that happens?
Hey, if we do this,
what does it effect upstream downstream?
>> Right.
>> So once you build that cloud,
develop the applications
that allow the entire enterprise to interface
with this digital representation to play around
and see what the effect is
to then make better,
more informed, more holistic decisions,
drive more conversational,
cross functionally amongst leaders,
and even below the top leadership level.
I think this is really where we're going to go
and the companies that don't just survive,
but thrive in this new normal,
whatever that's going to be,
is going to be the companies that get that right.
>> They have to embrace that.
There's no doubt. >> Nick: Have to embrace it.
>> Nick, it's been great having you on the program,
talking about supply chain,
what's going on there,
the accelerators,
but also the opportunities.
Thank you so much for sharing your insights.
>> I appreciate the opportunity.
So it's been a great conversation.
I look forward to the rest of the event!
>> I agree.
For Nick Banich,
I'm Lisa Martin on the ground in Las Vegas
at Coupa Inspire 2022.
Stick around, I'll be back with my next guest shortly.
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