The Executive Spotlight series will feature several of Amber Road’s key thought leaders as they discuss what they see as the biggest challenges and trends in the GTM space.
What do you believe to be the key challenges facing your customers and their supply chains in the year ahead?
As supply chains continue to expand globally, customers will face new challenges. Whether a small to medium company looks to expand globally for the first time or a large multi-national accesses a new geographic region, the value equations are similar.
As an example, retail customers often seek the ability to optimize against total landed cost before executing on a quote. They want to understand their all-in costs up front, and then measure against those costs on the back-end to in order to gauge accuracy and create self-improvement. In addition, they want to allocate these costs across products and/or divisions. With GTM software, they can optimize the quote when the elements like global logistics costs and duties, taxes, and fees are added to the calculations. These costs, via electronic invoice receipt, can be validated automatically and reconciled by the GTM software. This type of automation and integration of trade content creates value by allowing the importer to make better, more optimal buying decisions upfront and allowing for automatic validation and payment on the back-end, including the allocation of bulk costs to an individual product line if required. This type of information flow creates a more accurate picture of the overall cost structure of a given product and will help the importer manage their overall profitability moving forward.
Another example concerns helping customers move their goods through customs at a quicker pace. The most prevalent delay at customs is incomplete or inaccurate paperwork. A GTM software solution that provides the proper toolset will allow standard documents to be created and/or modified to meet the specific requirements of the importing customs regime. For instance, Brazilian customs require a breakdown of product components to be printed on the customs invoice for certain commodity types, whereas other countries do not require that level of detail. With a configurable GTM system, the customs invoice can be generated in the context of the importing country. The proper component detail will show in Brazil, allowing those goods to move through customs without delay. Since it is common for customs delays to last anywhere from a week to a couple of months, the value created in this example is reduced Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) as well as increased customer satisfaction.
These are just a few examples in a world of many. The bottom line is that trading globally creates an entire new set of issues. Moreover, these issues and challenges continue to change on a dynamic basis; what was the rule today may not be the rule tomorrow. GTM software creates value by helping to address these kinds of issues in a systemic and automated way.
How can supply chain, as a function, better align with a company’s broader strategy?
The supply chain should be flexible enough such that it can be tuned to align with company goals. Nobody wants to be locked in to a rigid and inflexible supply chain, especially in the global world where the business complexity and economic stakes are often higher than in the domestic world. Of course, company goals may change over time due to overall economic climate or change in direction at the executive level. A company may decide to move from a customer service-oriented supply chain to a low-cost, no fringes supply chain or vice versa. Having an execution platform that is flexible enough to be easily configured to meet the desired overall business strategy is a powerful tool. A highly configurable GTM supply chain execution platform creates a solid foundation from which a company can perform and, more importantly, provides the insurance to meet the dynamic requirements of a rapidly changing global business world.
Ty Bordner is the Vice President of Product Management and Solutions Consulting at Amber Road and has over 18 years of experience in the GTM software market. He is responsible for both product strategy and direction, as well as customer and prospect focused solution creation.
