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- [00:00]
A
All retailers want to know is like, how can I predict what the demand is? How can I forecast more accurately to make sure I have the right product in the right place at the right time at the right price? And with the tariffs coming in, you know, there's margin compression. So those retailers really have to leverage AI. They can't just be, you know, ah, that's the right price. Let's move on. You know, they can't do that anymore.
- [00:24]
B
Welcome to Supply Chain now, the number one voice of Supply Chain. Join us as we share critical news, key insights and real supply supply chain leadership from across the globe, one conversation at a time. Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening wherever you may be. Scott Luden with you here on Supply Chain now. Welcome to today's show folks. We've got an outstanding show coming up here today. We're going to be dialing it in on how innovative business leaders are leveraging AI and automation to transform their operations, especially in retail. Delight in their customers, empowering their suppliers, all while making it easier for their team members to find more and more success each and every day with a lot less manual work. Now that paints a pretty picture, huh? No wonder that Gartner Research and plenty of others all say that connected supply chains and effective automation of partner workflows are essential priorities for supply chain success in 2025 and beyond. And today we're talking with a couple of industry leaders that have their finger on the pulse of retail leadership priorities and are deeply involved in in innovations out in industry. So folks, you got to stick around for a great conversation that I promise you is going to offer up all sorts of actual insights by the truckload. All right, so let me introduce our wonderful guest joining me here today, starting with Angie Jula, Director of Product Management with SPS Commerce. Now, Angie leverages her entrepreneurial background and many other superpowers to craft and deliver best in class solutions for business leaders. Her approach is well known for being focused on understanding the customer's operational processes to make sure maximum value is unlocked and delivered. Angie, how you doing?
- [02:07]
A
I'm doing great, Scott. Thanks for having me.
- [02:09]
B
Outstanding. Great to have you. And you're joined by Matt Brosma, Senior Product Marketing Manager with SPS Commerce. Now, Matt has quite the track record when it comes to analytical prowess and creative storytelling, which I tell you global supply chains need a whole bunch more of, Right? Over the last decade, he's held a variety of roles sps. But above all else, Matt has remained laser focused on solving some of the most difficult challenges across the retail Supply chain ecosystem. Matt, how you doing here today?
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C
I am great, Scott. Thanks for having me.
- [02:41]
B
You bet. Angie and Matt, we've got a lot of stuff to get to, but I got y' all know how we do it around here. I gotta start with a fun warm up question to get to know you a little bit better. Now, Angie, going to start with your golf prowess as you played golf collegiately at the University of Kentucky, the home of the Wildcats program. Is that right?
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A
That's right. That's right.
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B
All right, so I got to ask you, and I think you also coach golf as well, but what was one of your favorite golf moments throughout that stretch of your journey?
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A
Favorite golf moment?
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B
Yes.
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A
Oh, gosh. You know, playing, playing in Hawaii at Koalu when Michelle we, I don't know if you, if anybody remembers her. She was an upand cominging young gol star and she actually joined our foursome and played a few holes with us because she was in town. That was her home course at the time. And so, you know, I was good, but I wasn't that good to play with her. So that was one of my highlights in my collegiate career is during that time I got to play with her. So that was a lot of fun.
- [03:48]
B
Not only Michelle, who was compared early on to Tiger woods in the earliest part of her career, that's how dominant she was. But playing Hawaii, I can only imagine the imagery and it's gorgeous. Oh gosh. Yeah. All right, good stuff. Now that you've got me craving to go lose 100 balls on a beautiful island out in the Pacific, Matt, here's an interesting one. I am not sure if we have ever featured a former DJ here on supply chain now. And that's exactly. You're a retired dj, as I think you put it. Tell us about what you played and what part of the world you delivered. Good vibes and music.
- [04:28]
C
Well, I graduated college in 2011, so this is about the peak of the whole EDM electronic dance scene. So I did that, that was fun. Some clubs and bars and then started a company, degen the whole weddings and private events. But then realized after my first kid I couldn't come back at 3am after bar close and wake up in time to take care of kids. So that had to, that had to end. But now here I am in supply chain so found a, you know, a different calling, if you will. So.
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B
Which is almost as cool, let's face it. Right? Almost as cool. Is that right?
- [05:05]
C
Yeah, I mean, almost as copia. Yes, for sure. Not quite. Not quite. The energy, you know. But hey, it's a different challenge for sure, Scott.
- [05:14]
B
It is. And I'll tell you, first off, consumers kind of figure out the incredible role that supply chain teams and professionals play right behind every one of their daily conveniences. And it's also great to have talent, whether it comes from athletic success or musical success. It's really a cool industry for all walks of life. And that's been really cool to see in recent years. So, Angie and Matt, now that we've gotten to know you a little better, I want to get to know you a little better professionally as we start to get into the supply chain topics we're talking about here today. And Angie, I'll start with you. Tell us if you would briefly about your professional journey and let's level set on what SPS Commerce does in a nutshell.
- [05:54]
A
Sure, sure. So I've been in supply chain more software technology, but supply chain software technology for the last 13 years. I started with a small company called Genius Central. We created order management solutions to help retail small retailers get a big box technology and gain some efficiencies through ordering through their suppliers. And so that then parlayed into SPS acquiring our company. And then I got to join the great team at sps. So that's been, that's been a lot of fun. And I've been on the product team ever since.
- [06:25]
B
Outstanding. SPS commerce has been growing left and right and in a nutshell, you had to describe what the company does. What would that be?
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A
So SPS is a supply chain technology company. We essentially power relationships and transforming and exchanging data between suppliers and retailers and helping them improve their supply chain performance.
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B
Love it. And help them delight their customers more and more. Good stuff there, Angie. Okay, Matt, let's learn a little more about your professional journey. Tell us a little about yourself.
- [06:55]
C
Sure. So I've been in like Angie software supply chain for 14 years. I actually started for a large part of that working with supplier brands and manufacturers and just in the past five years switched over and worked more on the buying organization side of it. So that would be retailers, grocers, distributors, really understanding the challenges that pain them right to service customers. So I've been focusing on that for the past five years.
- [07:22]
B
So outstanding. What a great mix of experiences here today and perspectives which is also a great beautiful part of global supply chain. Right. A big dominant theme in our conversation here today with Angie and Matt is going to be AI and automation in retail operations. And I want to demystify and level set effectively on the Front end. And I think there's three key items that I think will help us do that. Matt, what's the first one that we want to kind of level set with the audience around?
- [07:51]
C
Yeah, well, there's a lot of buzz in noise around AI right now. So the first thing I just hit on is what are we seeing from an adoption perspective? There's a PwC report this year that came out that said 78% of organizations globally are starting to step into or adopting AI. And more specifically in the retail space, we're seeing that around 83% of retail. But adoption alone is. Isn't the full story.
- [08:17]
D
Right.
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C
It's actually got a. Are we starting to see meaningful input impact from that? I think if you follow closely AI like I do, you probably have seen MIT research that came out that 95% of organizations aren't getting value, an impact out of AI. You can dissect that report a lot of ways. But I think the largely what we're seeing is that a lot of these projects aren't leaving the lab.
- [08:40]
D
Right.
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C
They're in a pilot phase. There are a lot of leaders that are allowing access to these applications to let their teams freely use. So there's obviously an adoption and operationalization problem that we see with that. Yep.
- [08:54]
B
So on this first one, this is a big one. We could do a whole podcast series.
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C
Around a ton of time.
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B
Yeah, it is. But it's really important because we see the same thing. A lot of those, the best of ideas, they're not leaving the lab and not creating the impact that so many organizations and business leaders are looking for. Angie, comment on this first kind of level setting bucket we that Matt's established here.
- [09:16]
A
Sure. I mean it really is incumbent on retailers when we, when we think about the them adopting AI solutions, it all really starts with data and visibility in the data. And so a lot of them are not leaving the lab, like Matt said, because of the data. So it's the ability to get it, to digitize it, to have that strong relationship with your supplier, have them understand what that value of digitizing, exchanging, keeping up the data updated, letting them know, you know, letting retailers know when shipments are coming or when they expect to come, how much inventory is coming. So it all kind of goes back down to the foundation of the data, making sure it's clean, organized and they're getting it from the suppliers. Once they have that, then the adoption of AI solutions may rapidly increase. Because once they can overlay the AI solutions over top of clean, good data, that's digitized and it's in their four walls, in their system, then they can start acting upon it and get those intelligent automations that they so desper need to increase the efficiencies inside the four walls.
- [10:26]
B
And you love that data and communications, some of the blocking and tackling when that, when we have that by the truckload, it's amazing how much friction we can take out of operations and how much innovation we can really effectively and tangibly put into operations. Matt, what's the second item we want to level set on?
- [10:47]
C
Yeah, I think if you go into the problem that exists with a lot of this stuff, it's why, why isn't there the adoption and why is data so hard? And I think you start to step into this deeper that whether it's automation, it's access to data, leveraging data, there seems to be, you know, problems in the organizations in how they're tracking and storing and keeping access to this data, which is impacting some of that work.
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B
Yep. Answering those whys, Matt, are absolutely critical for so many organizations and their teams. Angie, your thoughts here? Number two?
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A
Yeah, just, I mean it really sets back and goes back to where the data is. What is the retailer trying to solve for and really trying to understand what are their processes today that they really rely on manual touches here and there. And so if they take a step back and they start to look at the manual problems that they have, then they can start to figure out what are the next steps that they need to take to be able to make those problems go away, create more efficiencies for their teams internally.
- [11:55]
B
Yes, Angie, I'll tell you, going to the Ginba and really and seeing how the team members spend their day and some of the manual tedious work or seeing some of the headaches, man, really understanding that kind of to one of your points you mentioned there, and that might oftentimes that kind of tells you where to where to start and what to prioritize. All right, so Matt, we've tackled two items here as we level set before we get into the discussion. What's the third item we want to level set with our audience on?
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C
Yeah, so where are organizations focused right now? And largely that is the uncertainty that's in this landscape right now. We got tariffs that are coming down that are always creating this volatility in the supply chain.
- [12:37]
D
Right.
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C
So when you start to think about all that uncertainty, there's definitely a risk component to that.
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D
Right.
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C
And so when you start to think about these tools that we have access to data, things like visibility and performance. These are vital to be able to stay on top and manage through that uncertainty. In addition to some of these other focuses, we're seeing anywhere from, you know, closing the gaps in omnichannel from store and online to retail media networks.
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D
Right.
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C
From retailers perspective, trying to differentiate and add, add additional value services to attract more consumers.
- [13:11]
B
Man. I've been fascinated with some of the, as you mentioned, the retail media networks and how they're, they're, you know, creating content to help inform and educate buyers and consumers. It's a fascinating time. Angie, what would you add to this, this third level setting item on disruptions and kind of what's going on out in industry?
- [13:29]
A
Yeah, so like Matt said, you know, retailers are looking out at the economic landscape. There's some uncertainty out there. And so they're trying to find any way possible to kind of incrementally gain some efficiencies in their processes, be able to serve their customers better, understand better what their customers are wanting, when they're wanting items. And so these retailers have a lot of change that's in front of them. And so they need to get prepared for, for these changes that happen drastically. And then they need to be able to pivot quickly. And so the more that they lean into AI, it gives them that capability through different tools in different sets of data, that they can pivot more quickly and be able to service their customers better.
- [14:18]
B
Yes. Angie, as you described that you and Matt both thought of all the different ways we have uncertainty, I'd say we'd be making Baskin Robbins very proud because we got dozens and dozens of flavors of uncertainty out in this crazy market here. But, and we also have an anxious workforce. And that's why I believe a lot of what we're going to be talking about here today is really important because how can we enable our workforce to find more success more easily every day? And that's kind of where I'm going next here, because there's a big manual problem in global business, especially in supply chain operations everywhere. So when it comes to the retail world, Angie, why do so why do many retailers still manage suppliers manually and how does this impact their daily operations?
- [15:04]
A
Yeah. So, Scott, the way I think about it is it's kind of like when you have that iPhone, your first iPhone, or you have that iPhone that you, that you love, and you know, you know where all the buttons are, you know where all the apps are and what screen they're on, and then it breaks and then you got to go get a new one and it's like you're excited for it but you're unsure because you got to learn a new everything. So it's like, it's not great. This is the same thing. Supplier retailers know how to manage those suppliers in spreadsheets. They love their spreadsheets. They don't want to change. While it's exciting to think about automating their processes, they start, like you said, an easy workforce. They're like, oh, I'm going to automate myself out of a job. No, you're not. What you're going to do is learn how to work faster, more efficiently and be able to focus on the things that you really need to. So being able to use AI to assess contract language quicker so you don't have to read through a 20 page supplier agreement, retailer supplier agreement, being able to assess those are much quicker. So you can have those great conversations of building that relationship with your supplier. Being able to do pricing assessments, performance assessments, getting automated insights. It just really is going to allow team. If they embrace it, if retailers are embracing this automation, they'll really learn how to work smarter and be able to focus more efficiently on the matters at hand that they really need to solve the more important things that they need to have those face to face conversations. Because that face to face with suppliers and creating that relationship, that's super important to be able to deliver the product that you need to your customer. And that's never going to go away.
- [16:46]
B
Yes, Angie, that's right. All right, Matt, Angie's painting an exciting new world of a reality, really. Right. When folks lean into modern day innovative technologies, what else would you add to how we're still continuing to manage suppliers manually and its impact?
- [17:03]
C
It's so interesting and I'm glad Angie brought that up because let's pull in that thread a little bit more. Ask any merchant and where do they want to spend their time? They want to spend their time on, hey, what's going to be that next hot item that I can add to my assortment, right? What's happening in the market, my consumer trends, be able to forecast better, right. Spend time with my supplier, have more collaborative relationships, but instead they're spending that time firefighting. They pretty much surface that all the time. It's like, where's my product at? When is it in here? Is it my promo at risk?
- [17:31]
D
Right.
- [17:32]
C
So I think you, you see that come through as like, this is the culmination of all that manual effort and work, right? That to Angie's point, that's the automation will help them focus on the areas they want to focus on. A lot of this problem, it does, it's change management.
- [17:49]
D
Right.
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C
So as Angie called out, but I would also see that you've got siloed systems, you still have silos across teams. And so there's even just the ambition of trying to unite the teams to work under a single system. And this is why you see companies trying to software new technology. But there's always some level of an adoption gap.
- [18:08]
D
Right.
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C
That's always a struggle with that. So then we end up reverting to it, which I think is the continuous problem we always see of, of having to, of having to achieve that level of automation.
- [18:19]
B
So yes, well, and Matt and Angie, out of all of this chaos and calamity and old fashioned ways of doing things, there's a ton of good news and both of y' all are evangelists for this good news, a better way of doing things. So let's talk more about the modern day approach to finding supply chain success. How exactly are AI and automation transforming supplier management today? And what is that tremendous. Try to quantify that tremendous value to merchants and supply chain teams. Angie?
- [18:50]
A
Oh, wow. Yeah, great question. You know, retailers are really starting to lean into utilizing tools, AI for contract management, AI for pricing management, AI solutions for demand planning and forecasting, collaborative demand planning and forecasting where they're sharing sales data with their suppliers, they're collaborating on what items to bring in and they're really leaning into using AI to give them those insights and help them, like I said before, have those, you know, really thoughtful conversations of what's going to, what's going to drive consumer demand, what's going to drive consumers into my store and you know, how am I going to delight those customers at the end of the day to keep that loyalty going?
- [19:35]
B
That's right. And you know, also eliminating exceptions that require manual interventions. I've seen that big theme. That's great, man. Taking headaches and friction out of the day to day for the teams. Matt, what else would you add to that?
- [19:48]
C
I mean you have to pull from. I know it's a bit redundant, but Amazon, leveraging some of the AI capabilities have surfaced that they saw delivery time and cost reduction at 25% based on how they're using combination of AI and robotics. Right. So those are just use cases, albeit like isolated. Right, it's Amazon. But we're seeing customers starting to step into, as Angie kind of talks about computer automated ordering, which has been always hard but now AI is making that way more efficient in terms of sitting on top of planning and OMS systems to handle replenishment.
- [20:25]
D
Right.
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C
So being able to have supplier data like supplier intent to fulfill and the extent of the changes of an order to get ahead of. Okay, where is this order at? Do we actually need a replenishment order to kick out? Right, but that's a great analogy or a great example of how in order to really drive AI capabilities you need quality data in to do that.
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D
Right.
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C
And so that's where we're starting to see organizations step in is once they've established that foundation, what it starts to unlock.
- [20:53]
B
So Matt, Andrew, there's no shortage of ways that forward looking supply chain teams are leveraging AI and of course automation. So let's talk about retailer priorities that you're seeing and some of the progress or, or momentum that we're seeing out across industry. I don't know if it was in pre show that one of y' all had mentioned a survey, 93% of supply chain leaders had experienced supplier disruptions recently. I'm surprised that number's not 99.999%.
- [21:20]
D
Right.
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B
But what are the key trends that retailers are now prioritizing because of this disruption or others?
- [21:28]
C
Matt, that 93, I would agree with you is I think that's underselling it a little bit. I think the state of the world we live in today, disruptions are just to be expected. So it's about how you manage through disruption.
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D
Right.
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C
And a lot of that comes down to where we see a lot of focus is like Angie kind of called it out earlier is what can I do to operate more efficiently as a business, to be more and also be more agile and resilient when those disruptions happen? I think Scott, you made a call out to exception management.
- [22:00]
D
Right.
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C
How can I stay ahead of potential disruptions and react faster?
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D
Right.
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C
And what are the capabilities that are going to enable you to do that?
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D
Right.
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C
And I think tariffs are a perfect example. When those come and change, you're shifting a lot in your business to account for that. So you know, these are the types of things that's just commonplace today and organizations need to figure out ways to, to stay on top of that.
- [22:23]
B
Yep. You know, it's amazing the big gains thanks to modern day technology here in the golden age of supply chain techs, what I call it, that leaders are able to lean into not only really innovative reactive measures because that's, that'll always be part of supply chain management. Right. Surprises that that comes with the territory but more and more proactively where we're able to predict and prescribe what we need to be doing before it even arrives. That is amazing to me. Angie, what else would you, would you add to the list of things that retailers, key trends that they are prioritizing right now?
- [22:58]
A
I mean, they're definitely prioritizing their IT spend on AI solutions. I mean, we're seeing that all over. The big spend right now is on demand planning and forecasting. So you mentioned Scott, the predictability. Right. That's one of the things that, that all retailers want to know is like, how can I predict what the demand is, how can I forecast more accurately to make sure I have the right product in the right place at the right time at the right price? And with the tariffs coming in, you know, there's margin compression. So those retailers really have to leverage AI. They can't just be, you know, that's the right price. Let's move on. You know, they can't do that anymore. They really need to be able to assess competition, what the pricing demands are, you know, with the store down the street and so leveraging those that spend on AI solutions to be able to solve some of those problems, to be able to, you know, gain operational efficiencies, margin anywhere they can so that like Matt said, they don't have to raise the prices on those consumers when those tariffs come in. They can be more proactive about their strategy and approach to how they're pricing and positioning products in their stores.
- [24:05]
B
That is right. Oh, the art of the possible is just ever evolving, Matt. I think one of the sectors that you had experience, good, A bit of experience in is, is the grocery sector.
- [24:14]
D
Right.
- [24:15]
B
I've been checking out recently how robotics and, and automation approaches are now picking more groceries than ever before. They finally figured out in some ways, you know, the thumb is uniquely human, the opposable thumb.
- [24:28]
D
Right.
- [24:29]
B
And if you ever, if you've ever cut your thumb and you can't use it, you'll realize just what separates us from the, the rest of the animal kingdom. But they're starting to figure that out from a robotics automation standpoint, how to, you know, pick up like bags of oranges, which has been really challenging for robotics. So kind of along these lines, Matt, what's the connection that you see between automation and improving fill rates, groceries otherwise on time, in full purchase order accuracy? What's, what's some of the beautiful connections that you're seeing there, Matt?
- [25:01]
C
Yeah, well, first of all, on that call out, I think you're talking about the demos of like the Tesla Optimus robot Which is just insane. I mean, you talk about a disruptor technology, where that's going to go. But I know more specifically, I think what we're talking about right here is as Andrew kind of call out, where SPS focuses quite a bit is that data and communications between retailers, suppliers and other entities.
- [25:22]
D
Right.
- [25:23]
C
And I think the important part of that is you need data to actually assess performance.
- [25:29]
D
Right.
- [25:30]
C
And when you think performance, you think otif you think accelerate lead time.
- [25:35]
D
Right.
- [25:35]
C
Those, those critical measures and that requires data actually be accurate on what are, how are we actually doing from an enterprise perspective down to category department to a supplier level.
- [25:46]
D
Right.
- [25:47]
C
To be able to assess that now while why that's valuable. I think if you look at just what's happening right now, what we just talked about previously, right. In Q4 here, the tariffs like you really need to assess risk in your supply chain.
- [26:00]
D
Right.
- [26:01]
C
Especially staring down, getting inventory in time to meet those promo windows for Q4. Where are my biggest areas of risk? You're actually able to drill in. It's important to drill into performance of where in your supply chain is there going to be risks and do you have contingencies in place to be able to do that?
- [26:17]
D
Right.
- [26:17]
C
That all requires data and capabilities to roll up at an enterprise level. How are we performing? For me, as a business, you don't.
- [26:24]
B
Want to say, oh, they're doing pretty good. What does that mean? What does that mean? We want to get specific and, and objective. And as you say, Matt, let's lead, let's get the data and let us let the data tell the story. Angie, what else would you add in terms of that, that connection to an automation and all the performance metrics?
- [26:43]
A
Yeah. So I'll, I'll just lean into something you said, Scott. I have a sticker on my laptop right now. It's a, without data, it's just an opinion. So you're, you're, you're right. I mean it. You have to have data. As, as Matt said, and retailers are starting to lean heavy. We're seeing a big trend in our business around scorecarding. They want to scorecard their suppliers and being able to overlay AI onto those scorecards, making sure that those metrics, they're performing in the right categories that retailers can start to assess. Did I actually put out the right expectations for my suppliers to have a healthy relationship and how are those suppliers performing against that, you know, that relationship or those expectations and then, you know, utilizing AI to be able to, like Matt said, mitigate those risks, assess new supplier opportunities? So if you've got a supplier that's not consistent on delivery for their otif, then you look at another partner who can be more consistent and provide more value to your relationship.
- [27:44]
B
Yes. And suppliers are craving that objective feedback so they can get better and protect and grow their business. Matt, lots more good topics here. I think one of my favorite topics to talk about is breaking down silos going silo smashing. Some organizations are really good at it, others, well, we're stuck in 1985. But Matt, how are cross functional dashboards helping to break down silos between supply chain merchandising and the operations teams?
- [28:12]
C
Oh, let's just first assess that everyone has a dashboard and everyone loves their dashboard. So I think the biggest thing is whose data is right. Whether that's internally, you're merchandising the supply chain or you're talking to the supplier.
- [28:25]
D
Right.
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C
So I think Angie called it up, I feel like a little bit earlier, but there's so much importance in the relationships.
- [28:31]
D
Right.
- [28:31]
C
And I think whether that's your relationships with your suppliers relationship cross functionally, internally you start to see a lot actually in retail, a little bit more consolidation within departments. So supply chain and merchandising coming together so that they are looking at things more holistically in tandem.
- [28:49]
D
Right.
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C
So you get around that. But really, I think once you're able to overcome some of those like organizational or operational issues there, then you're able to start to step into the question of, okay, what is the platform the way, the single point of view, single pane of glass as, as you probably have heard it used.
- [29:06]
D
Right.
- [29:06]
C
Of what's actually happening today so that we can make decisions together as a team based on still that people have different priorities and they have different focuses on what they care on their job.
- [29:17]
B
Yes. Better decisions, faster, more confidently in some cases, as we've talked a lot about here on supply chain, now we can even eliminate decisions and need to make decisions using automation and AI much more. Angie, what, what else would you add to, you know, how dashboards are helping to create that organizational alignment?
- [29:35]
A
Sure, sure. You know, the good thing is it's objective data. And then teams, teams are able to start talking to one another about why another team should care about their performance metrics because they all overlap. Supply chain should care about the merchandising data and information because that's going to impact, you know, is a supplier going to respond to me when, you know, I ask them where their ASN is or, you know, where, where the, where the shipment is. And so if Supply chain then also needs to understand how finance works. Finance needs to understand how merchandising works and what their KPIs are, because they have to work in an integrated way. So just making sure that teams start to work together and they start to see each step in each other's shoes and understand why, what data is important to them and really how it affects the supplier and the flow of products because it ultimately affects the customer.
- [30:35]
B
Yes, Angie, I wish I had a perfect golf analogy for what you're describing, but I'll use a baseball one. You know, the pitcher cares that the third, the third baseman can make a play on every grounder and start a double play. And he cares that he or she cares that the center fielder can catch all the routine pop flies and the more challenging ones. It is a ecosystem that's got to come together and continuously find new ways of delighting the customer and leaving no supplier behind. Because we all know, Matt and Angie, that any supply chain ecosystem is only as strong as its weakest link. All right, so Matt, Angie, gosh, you'll got a couple more hours because I got some more questions for you. Lots of good stuff here. SBS Commerce has been on the move. I've enjoyed previous conversations going back a couple of years with you and your colleagues. I want to dial in on what your role is in all of this, especially when it comes to enabling and activating and optimizing rather, automation. Right, optimizing automation. So where does SPS Commerce fit into this automation journey for retailers? I'll start with you, Angie.
- [31:38]
A
Okay. You know, SPS starts with that foundation that we talked about, you know, at the top of the podcast, which was we help enable retailers to get that data to start that automation journey. We also help them message to their suppliers to make sure that their suppliers understand the value of them exchanging the data. And then there is, you know, we set up the systems, the flow of data, and then we help the retail organization understand what process changes do they need to implement internally and what data that they're going to get so that they can start to manage those exceptions via automation throughout the different teams. So we play from, from start to finish with retailers and help them through that, that automation journey.
- [32:23]
B
I love it. All 18 holes, all four rounds, major championship. Angie, Matt, what else would you add to that?
- [32:31]
C
I think there's an important thing that's worth doubling down on here and I kind of think of this as aligned value and you kind of send value. I think that is the missing link that we so often see when it comes to data and technology. That's because we sit between organizations so frequently.
- [32:47]
D
Right.
- [32:48]
C
Three PLs. Suppliers, retailers. So I think it's an important call out that so often in the conversation it's like, do you know why this matters?
- [32:57]
D
Right.
- [32:57]
C
And it's all the way down to when we talk to a supplier and a retailers roll out a new requirement. Do you know why this retailers roll out this requirement? For the purposes of helping sell your products and get your products where they need to go more efficiently.
- [33:09]
D
Right.
- [33:10]
C
And it's even as tactically as looking at supply chain and merchandising.
- [33:14]
D
Right.
- [33:15]
C
Does merchandise really care about throughput in their DC or where the product goes? They do if it impacts OSA or on shelf availability.
- [33:23]
D
Right.
- [33:23]
C
In terms of. As well as being in soccer out of stock. So I think it's just the important communication this just reinforces. What do you think about the important of relationships, communicating why we're doing things and the value. That's such an important piece that I just add on to what. To what Angie was saying.
- [33:39]
B
So you are quite the one, two punch. Matt and Angie, we're gonna have to take this act on the road and get the Rolling Stones open for y' all and. And continue this.
- [33:48]
A
We'll be at the Spear next week.
- [33:50]
B
Oh, man. That's right, man. Okay. A minute ago we were talking about proactive and reactive and kind of how those ratio, you know, we're moving more and more to an ever more proactive world, which is outstanding. Right. Question for you. I'll start with you, Matt. Tools or capabilities that SPS Commerce provides that helps those retailers out there and their supply chains move, move successfully from reactive to proactive supplier management. And of course it always helps to, you know, kind of process that through an example. Matt, your thoughts?
- [34:26]
C
Yeah. So I would say the bread and butter, really what we do is close the adoption gap. That happens typically with technology, right? Yes, we have a technology platform. We've got tools to enable exception management. So if you're trying to understand your order across the status of the order life cycle or the item lifecycle of getting items set up, or even down to kind of what we talked about around performance and understanding what does enterprise wide performance look like down to supplier item level. But I think it really comes down to driving that information flow and exchange between organizations and helping and ensure they're using that information. So helping close that adoption gap. And I think really that's the crux because at the end of the day there's a lot of technology a Lot of tools that you're seeing that explosion with AI now there's so many options, but really at the end of the day you gotta have that data to activate on. And so that's where we're really focused in helping organizations.
- [35:23]
B
Matt, there's a tremendous amount of value there. A lot of organizations, we all see them and probably talk with them every day. They all have some form of that gap you're talking about. Yeah, they get tools, they see examples. But how can they bring it into their organization with tangible success? Right. Angie, what else would you add to that transition from reactive to proactive supplier management and how you're doing it?
- [35:50]
A
Yeah, so one of the solutions that we provide retailers and suppliers is the ability to share and collaborate on sales data. Being proactive, looking at that historical sales data, those trends, looking at or feeding that data into a demand planning forecasting system. It really allows that supplier retailer collaboration understanding what items should, you know, should be brought into their organization, what items should be discontinued. Pricing optimization. So it really allows them, that solution allows them to be more proactive collaboratively with their, between the retailer and the supplier.
- [36:29]
B
Angie, that pricing optimization is a big one. It's a great example, especially right now with as we're seeing via the trade war and all the tariffs, you know, changing. I was at a conference earlier that, that was, it was one of the best gatherings of returns leaders. Right. Returns management and reverse logistics leaders. And I hadn't even thought about the tariffs on returns products coming back in and how in one of the panelists of this conversation we're having what, what's the tariff rate today? And it's, it was such a, a moment in time because a lot of organizations are struggling with successful pricing velocity. Not only what price do we set it at, but how quickly can we change it and optimize it process. All right, speaking of change here in the golden age of supply chain tech, where which I really feel we're in, how teams operate and how supply chains are managed is changing and changing by the hour. It's really being transformed. So I got a two part question. Angie, I'm going to stick with you here for a second. How does automation change the daily work of a supply chain manager or merchant or their teams? And, and of course how does that impact overall team productivity? Angie?
- [37:40]
A
Sure. I think like we said before, Scott, it's really allowing them to step out of those daily redundant manual processes of looking at spreadsheets and numbers and starting to utilize AI for insights so that they can stop doing the manual processes and start having the more important, important conversations with their teammates across departments. You know, how do they achieve their strategic initiatives and focus on those more than the daily operational, mundane tasks that take up so much of their time? You know, that's really how I see teams transforming. It's just working smarter and not harder.
- [38:22]
B
Angie, what's old is new again. And really we can't, all of us as humans kind of cling to how we always have done things, whether they're spreadsheets or other kind of archaic ways. But the opportunities are too great and, and the gains are too great and the challenges we're trying to solve are too great to, to, to cling to 1985. I don't want to pick on that year, but I am. Matt, what would you add, what would you add to how automation is changing the daily work?
- [38:49]
D
Right.
- [38:50]
B
And, and overall team productivity?
- [38:53]
C
I think Angie hit it well. The only element I would add is incorporating the supplier right into the equation. You know, back to this element we talked about firefighting, right. If you're constantly focused in your relationships around getting that latest item set up in the work back and forth to do that accurately.
- [39:12]
D
Right.
- [39:12]
C
Getting the order cut, understanding where is the order at, and even what Angie said to you around sales, data sharing.
- [39:17]
D
Right.
- [39:18]
C
Empowering your suppliers with what's selling and how it's performing so that they can come to the table with help and recommendations on maybe new opportunities to look at.
- [39:27]
D
Right.
- [39:28]
C
All of this stuff. I think in this day and age, it's like you need all the help you can get.
- [39:31]
D
Right.
- [39:32]
C
And so I think that's where we can see working better together around this. That is important.
- [39:36]
B
So, Matt, I love it as much as the, the parent organization or the ultimate customer organization need to make better decisions or need to get good information or bad or, you know, good news or bad news faster. But we got to equip our suppliers with those same advantages so that their performance levels can be protected but also increased the whole ecosystem benefits. That's a great point, Matt and Angie, let's talk about decision making for a minute. But not, not necessarily at the supply chain manager level, but at the executive level. So Angie, in what ways are you seeing all this innovative technology we've been talking about enable more strategic decision making at the executive level in the C suite?
- [40:19]
A
Sure. I think, you know, the great thing that we're, we're seeing is there are a lot of early adopters as far as the C suite, really leaning into AI solutions. They see it as essential for their organizations to achieve their strategic initiatives. So I think they're really leaning in letting their VPs of supply chain, VPs of merchandise, CMOs, they are all leaning in and supporting those decisions because they want to, you know, have a great customer experience, build those, build loyalty of that customer and become, you know, best in class retailer. And so any way that they can gain advantages and have that competitive advantage, we're starting to see them really lean into and ask a lot of great questions about how can we innovate, how can we automate, you know, how can we move faster, become more flexible and agile like Matt said earlier, become more nimble so that we can be proactive, achieve those business goals much faster so.
- [41:18]
B
And find more single sources of truth where teams can align around what, what reality is. We're seeing, we're seeing some good movement there. Matt, what would you add to how all this technology we've been talking about is again helping to enable more strategic and successful strategic decision making at the executive level?
- [41:36]
C
I think definitely kind of building on. Angie said it's important as you think culturally within your organization to foster that data driven culture.
- [41:46]
D
Right.
- [41:47]
C
And part of that is either build relationships internally or work more collaboratively, break down silos as we've talked about sooner to figure out how do we get that enterprise wide view. So we are looking at one set of data.
- [41:58]
D
Right.
- [41:59]
C
And then at an executive level you actually have a full pulse on what's happening in the organization. I'm going to actually double click on what Angie said with the AI piece with leadership out of that MIT study that said 95% Harvard Business Review decided to do a study on the 5% that got value. And the thing that they pulled out of that, if you read the report, is the commonality is leadership. It comes down to leadership putting a business purpose behind an initiative around AI. So yes, AI is exploding. Yes, AI isn't an investment, but it definitely needs executive level leadership in force. Here's what we're trying to do as a business with this input parameters around success, what success looks like.
- [42:41]
D
Right.
- [42:41]
C
Because ultimately that's when you're going to start to see results in women with that. So just an interesting tidbit that I thought I'd throw in there that I thought actually when I read that recently was interesting.
- [42:50]
B
So I appreciate you bringing that because it is so much of what we're trying to solve. An industry does all too often, or maybe not often enough come down to real forward looking leadership, hands on, focused leadership. And I think I'd add to what you shared there, not only does AI benefit from the right type of leadership, but it benefits from a very focused business. Case of the question that both of y' all have, have brought up various times, this conversation, just what the heck are we trying to do here?
- [43:18]
D
Right?
- [43:20]
B
No team anywhere likes to be tasked with vague objectives, especially with big investments that they know lots of dollars are tied up in what's our North Star? What does success look like? What are we trying to do here? And, and frankly, for our workforce, what's in it for me?
- [43:36]
D
Right?
- [43:36]
B
If the workforce can figure out how it's going to make their job easier because they already want to do a great job. But how can we make enable that to happen easier? Man, the buy in you'll get and the greater change faster you'll get, it'll. It'll blow your socks off.
- [43:52]
C
I'll just add real quick to that, Scott. I think like that's a hundred percent, like so often when we talk to customers, it's still in this. Oh, leadership has empowered me with this. Go, go play around with it. Go use it, go test it. Here's what. And nothing comes of that. I think the data is showing nothing is coming of that. So if you set your sights on a overarching business objective, and here's what we're trying to do with it, I think that is going to be a huge focus as we go ahead.
- [44:19]
D
Right.
- [44:19]
C
To drive actual value out of it.
- [44:20]
B
So well said, Matt. That's right. And picking the right solution and technology too.
- [44:24]
D
Right.
- [44:25]
B
As probably all of us have heard the whole hammer and nail analogy, that has seemed to be like commonplace with the AI movement. You know, everything isn't an AI problem. Both of y' all really hammered home, no pun intended, the value of data and gosh, what you can do with incredible data using the right tool at right, right time on the right problem or the right objective. Critical. What's old is new again, it's basics. Okay, so Matt and Angie, we've talked a lot about the transformation going on really globally in all industries, but especially a lot here today on the retail supply chain, ecosystem and space. And you know, we all know what's driving transformation, right? The usual suspects, return on investment and tangible but also intangible business outcomes. So I want to ask you, Angie, what kind of improvements, especially when it comes to your performance metrics or on the intangible side.
- [45:17]
D
Right.
- [45:18]
B
Making people's days easier. That's important. What should business leaders be looking for there?
- [45:24]
A
So as far as outcomes, if they're going to deploy AI solutions. They should, you know, if they deployed correctly, if their adoption is optimal, they can see up to a 15% reduction in logistics costs, 35% reduction in inventory levels. Some studies have said 65% reduction in efficiencies and service efficiencies, forecasting improvements by 50%, manual planning time drops by 13, 14%. But we have to keep in mind, like Matt said, is you can't just deploy an AI solution and cross your fingers and hope it works. Like you really have to have adoption. You really have to have make sure that that data is in a good structure, is consistent, is clean, is organized well. So there has to be some legwork in a foundation so started. But you can see some great outcomes and impact from those solutions.
- [46:18]
B
Angie, that is terrific. That's a, that's a laundry list of, of what we call in Georgia that dog will hunt. All those dogs will hunt.
- [46:25]
A
That's right. That's right.
- [46:26]
B
And I bet that's what you're seeing across your customer portfolio, some of the gains they're making. Matt, what would you add to that in terms of the improvements that can be expected by this incredible age of supply chain tech?
- [46:38]
C
I think the what you start to see really importantly when you institute better expectations with suppliers and you have a reporting structure around things like supplier compliance that roll up into supplier performance, ultimately then impacting your water cycle time, inventory turn in days of inventory on hand.
- [47:03]
D
Right.
- [47:04]
C
It's actually quite incredible to see the focus and how much moving just a few basis points of on time fill rate can actually move the needle on sales.
- [47:13]
D
Right.
- [47:13]
C
We see so frequently that, that becoming the focus for some organizations putting in the tools and the capabilities in place to move the needle there has ramifications across the business whether that's keeping the right levels of inventory balance, right. Improving speed to shelf in osa. So I think those are the types of things that we see a lot of focus go into that actually can move the needle quite a bit for.
- [47:38]
B
The organization and all of that that both of you are speaking to rolls up into a clear cut, undeniable competitive advantage. So Angie, speak to that for a second. How have you seen retailers in particular use automation and this technological transformation that's going on really across the globe, how has that resulted in clear cut competitive advantage? What do you see?
- [48:03]
A
I mean it really comes down to I've seen a lot of demand planning and forecasting. I noticed I've said it a lot during this podcast. But the AI demand planning and forecasting really has allowed these retailers to make sure that they're carrying the right products or they've got them in the right stores, right location and they're pricing them correctly. So that alone is helping these retailers be able to build that customer loyalty. I mean, as we all went through the pandemic, what did we see? Holes on the shelves left and right. Right. Their supply chain disruptions. They couldn't get the product from suppliers, couldn't get it shipped in. So that automation, the automation of making sure that they have visibility into the product. They're managing exceptions, they're finding new sources to source products, being able to fill those holes and making sure they have the right product. Those are the competitive advantages that retailers are really starting to see with some of the AI solutions they're implementing.
- [48:59]
B
Increasing customer experience is, is what I'm hearing a lot of you speak to there. And you know, you and Matt both have talked about on shelf availability at various times. You know that starting and stopping with that, the customer, all of us and all of us are consumers too. We don't care why, why it's not on the shelf and available. We don't care about that. We care that it's there when we need it at the right price, the right time. And of course we get it these days in 45 minutes or less it feels like. But anyway, that aside, Matt, speak to what you're seeing in terms of retailers gaining real competitive advantage.
- [49:33]
C
Yeah. So I'll give you, I'll give you an example. So we worked with a retailer with the focus of actually that what we talked about here, osa.
- [49:42]
D
Right.
- [49:42]
C
Being able to bring products to market faster than competitors so that you can land those Right. There is clear research, if I remember correctly. I believe it's adverting research, did some work around that. First to market products capture 47% more long term revenue than products launched six months late. So if you think about the implications there of everything that goes into whether getting a supplier onboarded or whether it's getting an item set up, this is where we talk about the power of automation and even AI layering on top of it to help drive things like all the attribution needed for item setup.
- [50:18]
D
Right.
- [50:18]
C
Helping inform suppliers and educate suppliers on what they need to do once they get that order to get it out the door and labeled correctly, packed correctly so it can hit the DC or hit the store and move onto the shelf as quickly as possible. So those are the types of things that we sat down and started to map out with them. What are all those touches look like Today and really consult on ways we can make improvements to get that speed to market goal that they had laid out.
- [50:46]
B
Well said, Matt. You know, as you're, as you're sharing your response, you know, happy customers or happier customers, happier suppliers, happier team members, all of that. I know I'm not following our quantified data driven perspective, but all of that rolls up to a very tangible competitive advantage. And that's how retailers to both of your points are using, using these forward looking innovative technology platforms and approaches. Okay, so now we're gonna get some advice from both of y' all as we start to wrap here today on a very full conversation. So first question for supply chain leaders that are tuned in, whether they're listening to us, watching us, you name it. Matt, where should they start if they want to automate more of their operations?
- [51:33]
C
I think my first recommendation, and I feel like Angie and I are pretty aligned here when we talk with retailers, but distributors and grocers. But it's really just, I think we kept this theme, focus on relationships, right? Building those relationships, whether that's internally or with suppliers, and that there's building that relation on the premise of trust in the value of the data, right? Data is one thing, you gotta have context. Context matters. And it's important to know what is this data gonna do? Because if I just tell you data, you don't really care. It's not meaningful. So there's gotta be a story around that, right? That's where I would say is like the starting point. And then you've got, you know, when you think about starting to actually tactically step into some things as a business, it's really looking at auditing your current state of your data. Where is it, how is, is this, how is multiple systems, who has access to manipulate that, right. Starting to step into that. As you think about carving out that foundation of, for us to get full advantage of AI and for us to get full advantage of automation, we need to actually start to do that audit. How are we doing today in those areas? And then I just will add, make the plug because I think we talked about it. But to reiterate it, don't just be that person that just says, here's an AI chatbot, go nuts, put some rigor. And even if it's a simple use case, right, like we're going to use this for cost analysis, right? This is what we're going to do. Here's what we hope to get. Put some rigor and some, you know, guardrails up for what you're trying to do with it to make it real.
- [53:10]
B
Yes. And some homework starting with where your teams are finding lots of pain. That's a great starting point.
- [53:16]
D
Right.
- [53:16]
B
Figure out where those time sucks are right. Angie, what advice, adding to Matt's advice, practical advice here, what advice would you offer in terms of where folks can start their automation journey?
- [53:28]
A
Sure. So realistically we see our retailers, they have some form of automation throughout their business. My recommendation to them is start to look at the disparate processes. Where do you have automation but where do you still do a manual process? And then start to align on how do we create complete automation or 99 get to 99% automation because as long as you have those disparities spirit processes, you have a suck on your operating expenses and so and then you have to have a couple of employees managing different processes in different ways. So doing that analysis on the manual processes, doing an assessment on how much time you're spending on these manual processes will really tell you, okay, I can go to SPS or I can go to another company and say I want to automate this process process. I it takes my team this much time to do this process. How much time are you going to save me? So Scott, I know you hit on it earlier ROI to be able to understand what your return on investment is so that you can lean into that and then really drive home the value to your team of you can automate this process, you're going to save this much time and you can focus on other more important tasks and career development so you can set like you said earlier, there's an uneasy workforce. And so as long as you're providing new opportunities for your teams, AI can do that as well because you're increasing, you're allowing your team to focus on other things, increasing their skill sets and providing more value back to the organization.
- [55:03]
B
Well said, Angie. And what a call to action both of y' all have issued here today. I got one more, I got the toughest question I'm going to ask both of y' all here today the billion dollar question because we've covered a lot of great ground in a very actionable manner too. But if you had one takeaway, if our audience, because we all have those that 7 second goldfish attention span. Right. We all do. If they forget everything else but one key point here today, what would you challenge our audience to really take away from this discussion? And Matt, you get the toughest question first.
- [55:35]
C
Okay, give me a second. AI isn't the magic your data is.
- [55:45]
B
I like it. I Like it. It's so true. It is so true. Instead of everyone hunting for the the perfect thing to do with AI as both of y' all have suggested, let's start with our data first. There's so much gold in those heels, as they say. Angie, that's been tough to top. But what would be one, your key takeaway. You challenge our audience with you today.
- [56:05]
A
I think my takeaway is that AI is not a nice to have anymore. It's a strategic imperative to get that competitive advantage.
- [56:14]
B
It is an imperative is the right phrase because every day that companies and business leaders and supply chain leaders don't take action, they're losing some degree of their competitive advantage because as all the research out there points those early movers, man, they're making big gains. And both of y' all had have quantified what those gains can look like today. Okay? And if you don't get help from SPS commerce in terms of eliminating manual work and increasing visibility and really leaning into the 2025 way of optimizing retail supply chain success or business success, get help somewhere, as they say. Let's make sure folks know how to get in touch with both of y'.
- [56:54]
D
All.
- [56:55]
B
So Matt Brosma, the retired DJ but the supply chain guru, really have enjoyed your perspective here today. How can folks track you down and continue the conversation?
- [57:05]
C
Well, I'm all out of my DJ business cards from long time ago, so we're gonna have to go with the LinkedIn profile so you can check me out on LinkedIn.
- [57:14]
B
We'll do that folks. Go connect with Matt, follow Matt, you name it and have a have a chat with Matt. I tell you'll learn a lot from talking with him. And Angie, I really enjoyed our time here today. Angie, same question. When you're not, I'll tell you your golf story from the beautiful Hawaiian islands. That is a bucket list item for sure. But if folks want to pick your brain about all things supply chain, retail supply chains and and leaning into one of the opportunities you and Matt have shared here today, how can they track you down?
- [57:43]
A
Sure, if you haven't booked the retired DJ, you can find me on LinkedIn.
- [57:48]
B
So good stuff. I really appreciate both of yalls time here today. What a great conversation we'll have to have back.
- [57:55]
C
Hey Scott, can I actually ask a question because I'm sure people watching this, they've been staring at your bookshelf for, you know, an hour or a half now. So what tell me a little bit like what's your favorite book on that bookshelf? You go to constantly.
- [58:10]
B
Oh, that. Okay. That's the toughest question of the, of the conversation probably. But you know what? My favorite one, well, one of my favorite ones is right here. I'm just gonna grab it. And it is the fearless front line. And it's written by a buddy of mine, a former employer of mine, Ray Atia. And I love the front line. The front, the beautiful front line that is often overlooked and invisible. They're the experts of, of any process, of any factory, any warehouse. They're the, the heroes of global supply chain. So I love that, number one. But number two, I love the system that this book describes. It's all about run, improve, grow and how we can ensure that, that we don't stay stuck in the run. Because when we're, and all of us know that and probably all of us can relate to that, when we stay stuck in the run, we can't get to improvement and growth opportunities. And there's got to be some mix of that ratio at all levels, including at the front line. And that really goes to why it's, you know, this is the missed opportunity if we don't engage our frontline workforce in improvement and growth opportunities. We're missing out. We're missing out. We're doing business like it's 1985. So that is my answer to a very tough question. Matt, lots of good, great books there.
- [59:26]
C
That I might, that might have to be my next buck.
- [59:29]
B
Oh, you got to. Yeah. And I think he's working on a follow up, so check it out. Matt, I appreciate the question. Okay. Angie Jula, Director of Product Management with SPS Commerce. Angie, thanks so much for being here today.
- [59:42]
A
Thanks, Scott. I appreciate the invite.
- [59:44]
B
Well, had a great time learning from both you and Matt Brosma, Senior Product Marketing Manager, also with SPS Commerce. Matt, thanks so much for being here.
- [59:53]
C
Scott, it's a pleasure. Had a lot of fun today, so thank you.
- [59:56]
B
I did too. I feel like I got a certification or in this master class on what the, what the cool kids are doing in retail supply chains and again, how we're leaning into the, the modern, innovative way. Like it's 2025. It's amazing what the cool things you and the SBS commerce team are doing. So big. Thanks to Angie and Matt, our audience members out there. Hopefully you've enjoyed this conversation as much as I have. Lots of actionable perspective here, but you got homework. You got to take something you heard here today from Angie and Matt and you got to put it into practice. Y' all know it's all about deeds, not words. That's how we'll continue transforming the global business world and realize more and more of the art of the possible is getting bigger and bigger and better and better. So with all that said, this is Scott Luton challenging all of our listeners. Hey, do good, get forward. Be the change that's needed. We'll see you next time right back here on Supply Chain Now. Thanks, everybody. Join the Supply Chain now community. For more supply chain perspectives, news and innovation, check out supply chain now.com subscribe to Supply Chain now on YouTube. YouTube and follow and listen to Supply Chain now wherever you get your podcasts.