A new President in the Oval Office , Wall Street left scrambling over a Reddit community short squeeze , and , for once , positive news in the fight against COVID- 19 - the first month of the year after the year we ’ ll never forget has been memorable in its own right .

But the one thing that remains consistent in our corner of the world is the critical role of digital transformation , a point our cover story this month brings into sharp focus . We spoke to Erik LaValle , Digital Supply Chain Technology Leader at T-Mobile , who reminds us of a fundamental but often overlooked element of supply chain : that it ’ s far more than a back office function .

“ So much of the [ T-Mobile ] customer experience and the brand promise comes from its supply chain ,” he says , a bold statement that feeds into the telco ’ s ‘ uncarrier ’ philosophy to bend the rules of conventional wisdom a little . “ I see more change at T-Mobile in the short-term ,” he says . “ Both the volume and the magnitude of these changes will be significantly greater than I have seen in any other industry .”

We also explore the importance of a hybrid approach to procurement , with both human and mechanical elements working in tandem . We caught up with Sheldon Mydat , founder and CEO of Suppeco , and a passionate proponent of advances in procurement digitisation , all while remembering the most vital role relationships play - or the “ wooly subjective component ”, as he poetically terms it . Elsewhere we hear from industry experts about the latest developments on the ever pressing topics of supply chain management , logistics and how harnessing data to drive efficiency and value today will pay off even further down the track .

And don ’ t miss our top 10 this month , a refresher course on some of the biggest interviews we conducted in 2020 . Expect developments , insights and nuggets of gold courtesy of supply chain ’ s leading lights and biggest players , from SAP and Deloitte , to DHL , BP and Volkswagen .

From the team at Supply Chain Digital .

Rhys Thomas

rhys . thomas @ bizclikmedia . com

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