Supply Chain Point: People First Supply Chain Transformation
19:28 Share

Struggling with scanning errors and peeling labels? Moving or reconfiguring your warehouse? Implementing a new WMS? The wrong labels can slow your operation down. Luckily, ID Label has durable, scannable barcode labels and signs built to last and keep your operation moving. Plus, if you need to get those labels installed, they've got it covered.

Their expert team installs rack labels, overhead signs, floor striping, and more with precision. So your warehouse operations continue uninterrupted. I've installed tens of thousands of labels in my career, and I wish I had someone else do it for me.

Get a free sample pack at ID label Inc.com because when they do the barcodes, you can do more. That's ID label Inc.com for a free sample pack and more information. The new warehouse podcast hosted by Kevin Lawton is your source for insights and ideas from the distribution, transportation and logistics industry. A new episode every Monday morning brings you the latest from industry experts and thought leaders.

And now, here's Kevin. Hey, it's Kevin. I'm here at Supply Chain Point 2025. And joining me here is Jamil Hai, someone who has a prominent YouTube channel, but is also a leader in the supply chain space for Mars. And he is going to talk to us a little bit about what he's seeing in the industry and also his experience here at Supply Chain Point. But first, why don't you kind of tell us a little bit about your role and what you do?

Absolutely. Thanks a lot, Kevin, for inviting me to the podcast. Really excited to be here at this event and nice to meet great supply chain people like yourself. A little bit about myself. I've been in the supply chain industry for almost 22 years now. So...

mostly in the CPG space. So I started at Procter & Gamble. Then for the last 15 years, I've been working for Mars. Yeah. And I've worked in like different geographies, started in the Middle East. And then since 2014, I'm in Canada. Okay. Working for the North American region. Mm-hmm.

And currently, I'm leading the supply chain transformation side for my company. Okay. Interesting, interesting. What does that mean, supply chain transformation? So for us, I mean, you know, transformation is a word which is used very, very broadly in supply chain as you know. I know. That's why I'm asking you. Right. Exactly, right? But for us, transformation is more about changing our logistics networks.

and enhancing it further, and to some extent about digital transformation as well. So both on the system side and on the logistics footprint side, moving from one way of operation to another, hopefully trying to improve it. So that's really what transformation means for us. Interesting. And what would you say, since that's like your role, right? And you're solely focused on that. And that's been a topic of conversation, I think, here in the past two days since we've been here.

What would you say is like the best approach to having a successful transformation or even like what are some of the challenges? Yeah, so I think...

If someone asks me, like, you know, what is my one biggest learning in doing a project like the one that I'm doing a transformation role versus doing a classical operational role in supply chain is the importance of the people aspect of change management. I know Rick spoke about that yesterday extensively. And I think one of the common mistakes which we keep doing invariably in our industry is that when we think about change management, and this is probably why...

We keep talking about it, but we really don't fix it. Because when we think about change, we only think about systems and processes. But what we don't pay enough attention to is the people aspect of change management. So one of the things I have learned, I must admit, the hard way is that, okay, if I'm bringing in a new tool or I'm bringing in a new way of working,

Which roles is it affecting? What user stories are going to get affected? And what is going to be the from and to in terms of the day and the life of? So if a person X, let's say, this is a supplier planner, he or she does their work in a certain way today. Tomorrow with this new solution I'm bringing in, what will that job description look like? What will the day-to-day responsibilities look like?

And then adapt your training programs according to that change. So I think that is probably the most important aspect. Because you can have the most advanced process maps or the best system in the world, but if your adoption from the user end is not great or people really don't know how to use your solution, then it's not very effective. So I think that is...

One big thing. And then the other piece, which I think goes for our consumer goods industry more than the other ones, is the external focus. So having the awareness of what are the solutions available. Because I think the half-life of new technology, it's changing pretty fast in our industry, right?

Yeah, really fast. I mean, for the longest amount of time, we used to have ERPs, which are running for 20 years, or APSs, or planning software, which are running for 15, 20 years. But now we can see that change in what is being offered. And I know AI is a little bit of an over-indexed term. In my personal opinion, I might be wrong here. Happy to be corrected. I think you're right, yeah. Yeah.

But some of the things which are finally, I think, because here is the other piece, Kevin, right? Like, AI is not new in supply chain. AI has been around in supply chain probably for the longest period.

amount of time. If you think about maybe I heard this like 25 years ago that we had started using some companies that started using at that time bill of ladings which could be optically recognized and you could have some software doing OCR and load that information into your ERP. That technology has been there for a long, long time.

I mean, one could argue that was the first attempt at AI because that is like, you would call it perceptive AI to some extent. But now the challenge is, okay, generative AI or agentic AI, how do we adapt? And I'm yet to see like a

stellar success story, of course, with the exception of Amazon, who has done some wonderful stuff with some of their robotics and their warehouses, right? So I think that external focus, coming back to my original point, about what's available out there and trying to internalize that, I think that's the other piece which we need to be very careful about. Interesting, interesting, yeah. Yeah, interesting perspective there. And I think that it is very...

right, to kind of navigate all that because like you said, there's been some AI solutions that have been in the market for a long time, right, but now it's become more, I guess, mainstream in a sense, right, it makes it a little more accessible when you have like the chat GPT and it's very user friendly, right, to be able to interact and say like, oh, I'm using AI because I asked chat GPT like, what questions should I ask Jamil today on the podcast, right, something like that. So, you know, I think it,

navigating that is certainly a challenge, but I'm curious for you, you know, we're here at supply chain point, right? And we're looking for new solutions, learning about new solutions. What type of technology or solutions are standing out to you right now as ones that you think are maybe critical or definitely necessary to try and stay up and stay ahead of the curve? Yeah, so I think, first of all, like,

the last day and a half has been really eye-opening for me. What's happening in the industry. From a business problem solution standpoint, because I think if we have to bring in any new technology, the best place to start is the problem state.

I think two common problems that I see in our industry is one is this constant pursuit of inventory optimization. We have been talking about demand sensing, for instance, for the last 10 years, and it has worked in some shape or form in some levels, right? But there is always going to be a need of, okay, what's the best way for me to predict my inventory levels across the network? How do I optimize? So that's one, I would say it's more on the planning side. The other one is how do you

upward integrate with your suppliers. The biggest challenge is once again to the CPG industry is that how is your information about your delays or issues in your upstream supply chain from your raw material suppliers flowing into your systems so that you can make better decisions because as far as finished goods is concerned, you can have the most optimized finished goods

replenishment strategy and you can probably have the most seamless system because that inventory is very much under your control. To some extent, your customers are also pretty open to share their inventory information. But if you have problems up there, your raw materials are not arriving on time,

None of this matters, right? Because at the end of the day, you will have a stock up. So that's the other problem they're continuously trying to solve, that can we use some of this new power that some of this new technology gives us of number crunching at a very different level to get better integration with our suppliers. Interesting.

Interesting, interesting, yeah. Yeah, and I think that's a great thing is like thinking about the whole picture in a sense, right? And, you know, if we're trying to solve something here, you know, does that also solve here or does that create another problem here, right? You know, we've solved one thing, but now we've created a new problem in a sense, right? So now tell us too a little bit about, because you have a YouTube channel as well, right? Tell us a little bit about that. Yeah, so that's purely out of personal passion. So one of the things I've enjoyed in my 20 plus years of...

supply chain career is developing people. So I'm personally passionate about it. I think that's why I also really

emphasize on this point to whoever I speak to, like if you want to become a successful manager or a senior leader in supply chain, you really need to be good at developing your people because the best way to get promoted is to make yourself redundant and you won't be able to do that if you don't have a capable team. So that's been a personal passion point for me. So my YouTube channel, which hopefully by the end of this month, I should cross 10,000 subscribers. Yeah. I saw you almost there. Yeah. Almost there. Like 9,100 right now. Uh,

So it's mostly focused on the stuff that I learned the hard way through my journey. So, for example, if you are a fresh graduate trying to find a job, how do you navigate in the supply chain? Because although the education industry around supply chain has developed a lot, when I was in college, there was no supply chain degree at the time. It's really strange.

20 plus years ago. Now, of course, there are undergrad programs available, which is great, but still there are so many things that you only learn once you get into the workforce. Yeah, once you're in it, yeah. So the reason why I started the channel is that, I mean, I said,

said to myself that now with all of this YouTube and social media available out there, I think the things that I learned the hard way in boardrooms and working in a warehouse at 11 o'clock at night, those kind of things, if I try to democratize that information, that would be very, very helpful for a lot of younger professionals out there.

So that's kind of my target audience as well. Young, mid-career professionals trying to, you know, get to the next level in their careers and that kind of stuff. And in the process, of course, I have stumbled upon a lot of, you know, interesting people in terms of how they are solving the business problems, how we are bringing in...

you know, for example, the kind of stuff you are doing, Kevin, you are also trying to democratize the supply chain through your platform, right? So, and I think there's a lot more potential in this field because people, I think COVID, while I should not say it this way because, you know, a lot of people lost their life, but it has been a huge blessing in disguise for the supply chain industry because until that point, supply chain was always perceived as this back office role. Yeah, it was a little behind the curtain. Yeah, yeah. Exactly, right? But now, I mean,

have gone through the pandemics. And unfortunately, there are so many different events happening around the world which keep bringing supply chain to the forefront. But that has been a very good thing for the supply chain professionals themselves. Just to give you a very simple example, just maybe 10 years ago, you would never seen roles like, let's say, supply planning directors or CEO. Right.

senior leaders in a specific area of supply chain. The classical career was that, okay, you do demand, you do supply, you do logistics, you do customer service, and then the only senior leader position available is a supply chain director, and that's all, right? But now you can see there are planning directors, procurement directors, so people are realizing that this is not just a department that moves boxes around. It's much more complex. It's a little more than that, yeah. Exactly, right? So I think that is where...

COVID has been a bit of a blessing in disguise, to be very honest. And I think that's where there's an opportunity to talk more and more about this industry, especially with younger graduates who are trying to enter the workforce, just to emphasize on them the importance of what we do. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I think that's such a great thing to be able to share that knowledge and do that. And I see from what I do, right, and I can imagine from what you do, you know, it is rewarding to be able to help people and, you know, get them to learn about other things and learn about how to

continue to improve their operations or continue to improve their careers. So I teach, I'm an adjunct professor, I don't know if you knew that, in supply chain. So for my students, I would love for you to give them your one piece of advice for them as they enter into a supply chain career. What should they focus on?

Absolutely. This is a great question, Kevin. And I'm so glad you're asking because I ask this question to every guest I invite on my program. Oh, I'm turning around this time. Yeah. And I think probably I don't have to work really hard to answer that question because all the senior people I've interviewed so far and I asked them this question, there is one answer that I invariably get from most of them. Let's hear it.

get your hands dirty early on in your career, right? One trend I see is that, you know, as soon as somebody gets a job, it's your first or second job, people are looking for like a cubicle or like a, you know, office where I can sit down with a laptop or I can work from home. Well, work from home is a great thing, but...

In supply chain, if you really want to grow, especially in your first five years, you have to get your hands dirty. Get into an operational role. And that operational role could be in a factory, it could be in a warehouse, or it could be in an office, but you are then running day-to-day operation. Because what you will learn, and this is something which one of my very respected guests mentioned on one of my podcasts, is that what you will learn out of solving a real-time problem, let's say your truck didn't arrive on time, or you're gone,

you've got some other major crisis going on in a warehouse at 2 a.m. in the morning, that learning is unparalleled. And fortunately, there is no shortcut of learning those things. When you go through that crisis, you really get your problem-solving skills up there. And over time, what happens is a lot of supply chain people become great firefighters, right? Because you're good at...

That is very important because you don't know what the situation tomorrow is going to be like. Yesterday there was COVID, today there is something else going on, tomorrow there will be another like gray swan, black swan kind of an event. So it's really your problem solving ability on the fly which matters the most in supply chain. One common question, by the way, which I get is, oh, should I get this certification or that? Yes, certifications do help, but don't expect that you are going to make a great career in supply chain by just getting certifications.

It's really that practical experience that matters. So I would say that would be my one single advice to any fresh people watching this. Absolutely, yeah. And if you had me as a guest, I would actually say the same thing. I think...

you know, and when you get in the thick of it and, you know, you're in like an operation or manufacturing and there's something goes wrong and there's just like pressure to do that. And you have to think on the fly and to get that, you can't, you can't get that from a cubicle. Right. And that's something that you'll carry with you long into your career. And you'll be able to understand how to, how to translate that to the floor and, and make sure that, and help with that. Some of that change management that we talked about earlier too, as well. Um,

So really great to talk to you here. And I got to ask, we're here at Supply Chain Point. So what do you think about the event? The event is fantastic. I mean, I've already shared some of this feedback with the organizer. I think they've done a wonderful job. And I think one of the reasons I signed up for this, because I don't go to a lot of conferences, because I used to do that a lot before. But I came to a point where a lot of these conferences end up becoming like, you know,

dog and pony kind of show kind of a thing where there's lots of thousands of people. There's a lot of things to enjoy for sure. But then what is the real learning you're getting or what is the real problem that you're trying to solve? So what I like about this format is that it's like a speed dating format where they in advance ask for your business problem. They will send you the list of the vendors and then you can pick and choose who do you want to talk to because not everybody out there is there. So I think...

Great format, great event. On the improvement side, I think because supply chain is a very, very broad field. So, for example, like this event is great, but it's very focused on the warehousing and robotics side of it. Supply chain is much more than that. There's procurement, there's planning. So I think in the future, what could really make a huge difference is that instead of just doing like an overarching supply chain event, they could probably break it down into logistics and maybe use the core model, right? It's a great...

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. You know, you've got plans, source, make, deliver. Yeah. So I think that could be done better next time, but I think overall fantastic event, very focused. So I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I'm learning a lot of things.

All right. Great to hear. Definitely. And I love the feedback, too. So we'll see you at the next one for sure out there. But if people want to check out your YouTube channel, how can they do that? Yeah. I mean, just search for my name, Jamil Hai, on YouTube. I'm sure you're going to find it, especially if you are preparing for a supply chain job interview. Even if you search anything on YouTube, I'm pretty sure one of my videos will be in the top 10. So definitely. And I am also, of course, very active on LinkedIn. So please follow me on LinkedIn as well.

Yeah, those are the two platforms I'm very active on. All right, awesome, man. We'll definitely put a link to everything at thenewwarehouse.com as well as in the show notes here. So, Jamil, thanks for taking some time and talking to me here at SpyChainPoint. You've been listening to The New Warehouse Podcast with Kevin Lott. Subscribe and check us out online at thenewwarehouse.com.

Enjoyed this episode? Make sure you are subscribed to the podcast and for more content from The New Warehouse, find us on LinkedIn and YouTube. Links to subscribe can be found in the show notes and for everything The New Warehouse, head to thenewwarehouse.com.