SONIC MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES
30 % of orders , and resolving them through manual calls and emails . API accuracy is above 99 %.’
Connective And while some say that computers will eliminate any personal bond between companies and suppliers , David argues that it actually strengthens the connection . ‘ I ’ m no longer calling you once a week to repeat orders for parts we negotiated months ago ,’ he says . ‘ I ’ ll take 100 next week . 51 the week after that . Come on ! Routine , boring , uninspiring . But if the computer is working in the background then the relationships are focused on problem-solving . You ’ re out of stock for a week . How do you work together to fix it ?’
“ I NEED THE COMMUNITY SAYING — THIS IS A LOT MORE ACCURATE . IF WE ALL ASK FOR THE SAME THING , WE ’ RE GOING TO GET IT ”
DAVID GINSBERG , VICE PRESIDENT OF SUPPLY CHAIN SONIC MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES
What about the humans ? First of all , a digital supply chain will never be 100 % digital . ‘ You ’ ll always manage late packages ,’ David says . ‘ You ’ ll always deal with constrained capacities with suppliers . But that ’ s where the relationship part comes in . Supply chains are half math , half business relationships . So you have the people focus on building connections and allow the computer to take care of the rest . It ’ s really the best of both worlds .’
Automation can also affect how your team members see themselves and their roles . ‘ Your entire division transforms to problemsolvers ,’ David explains . Once people start to move away from more repetitive tasks , this shift snowballs . ‘ They ’ ll spend their day on resolving tricky problems , and because of that , they ’ ll get better and better at it over time . When two-thirds of what ’ s running through your building is completely automated , you have an awful lot of capacity to work on orchestrating the system – keeping it running smoothly .’
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