I just finished my first day at the Supply Chain Insights Global Summit in Philadelphia and spent the day in the analytics track with manufacturing and technology leaders from across the country. The message from day one was clear: there’s a lot of talk about the technology behind analytics, and not enough focus on the human side that will ultimately yield results.
There are a lot of buzzwords being thrown around these days regarding analytics, including AI (artificial intelligence), machine learning, and augmented analytics. During breaks, in speaking with other attendees, there is a general feeling that the technological capabilities are overshadowing the need for individuals to be involved in the process. One executive stated “there’s no easy button” for analytics, and he wished there were analytics that could simply highlight the top priorities for his team, to help them prioritize (of course I let him know that LeanDNA does precisely this!). Another attendee mentioned that adoption only occurs when the people feel empowered by the data, not overwhelmed by it. It was clear that although the technology itself is of interest to those who are tech-minded, the business leaders faced with solving tricky supply chain problems are most inspired by the tools that are easily adopted—and accepted—by the teams who have to use them.
This whole day was inspiring to me, as I continue to find evidence for the solution my team has built here at LeanDNA, and feel proud to discuss how we bring people and data together to achieve inventory and customer commitment goals.
