June 26, 2025 • 51 mins
Traditional demand planning tools were built for a slower world. In today’s high-velocity CPG environment, waiting days or weeks for retail data means missed sales, rising stockouts, and overstuffed inventory. But what if brands could detect market shifts in real time and respond before the next order even hits?
This week, host Ellen Wood sits down with Joel Beal, CEO and Co-founder of Alloy.ai, to explore how real-time retail feedback is changing the game for supply chain and logistics teams. Joel shares how Alloy’s platform helps CPG brands integrate messy retailer data, spot early demand spikes, and generate prescriptive recommendations that drive both revenue and resilience. He also unpacks the critical role of clean data, agile infrastructure, and change-ready culture in unlocking next-level forecasting and replenishment.In this episode:
This week, host Ellen Wood sits down with Joel Beal, CEO and Co-founder of Alloy.ai, to explore how real-time retail feedback is changing the game for supply chain and logistics teams. Joel shares how Alloy’s platform helps CPG brands integrate messy retailer data, spot early demand spikes, and generate prescriptive recommendations that drive both revenue and resilience. He also unpacks the critical role of clean data, agile infrastructure, and change-ready culture in unlocking next-level forecasting and replenishment.In this episode:
- What’s broken in traditional forecasting and inventory planning
- Why retail feedback is the most valuable signal CPGs aren’t using
- How real-time visibility helps avoid lost sales and stockouts
- The mindset shift required to move from static plans to responsive supply chains
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to Speaking of Supply Chain, a meeboch podcast.
This is a show for logistics professionals looking to learn
more about the latest innovations in supply chain.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Each episode will.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Feature a conversation on topics such as mitigating supply chain
disruption and reducing risk, current automation trends, sustainability initiatives, and more.
Let's dive right in.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Hello, and welcome to Speaking of Supply Chain, where we
explore trends, current events, and innovations impacting the logistics and
supply chain industries. I'm your host, Ellen Wood. The CpG
industry faces increasingly unpredictable demand patterns, complex inventory management challenges,
and heightened expectations for agility and responsiveness. Traditional forecasting tools
(00:51):
often fall short, leaving companies vulnerable to costly stockouts or
excess inventory. In today's discussion, Joel beieal CEO and co
founder of alloy AI and I are going to explore
how their tool leverages advanced AI and real time analytics
to tackle these pressing issues, optimizing demand planning and inventory
decisions for a rapidly changing market.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Welcome Joel, Thank you, Ellen.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Excited to be here, Excited to have you here. We're
going to have a great conversation. I can tell because
this is such a huge topic right now. Planning is
the buzzword on everyone's mind. But before we get started,
let's do our ice break really quick. And the question
that you chose for today is what book are you
currently reading?
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Well, I'm going to give I'm going to give two
answers because I actually just finished a book and I'm
starting a new one. So I just finished Demon Copperhead, okay,
Barbara King Solver, which is a tough one. It's it's
pretty sad, sad book. So I need a little bit
of lighter fair after that, and I actually started reaching
reading Jack Reacher of All Oh, of all Things. So
(01:56):
i'd seen the show. I mean, i've seen the movie,
I guess years ago. Tom Cruise he's not a very
good Jack Reacher. He's a little too short. Back Reacher
is six'. Five i'm not Sure Tom cruise is five.
Eight but, YEAH i DECIDED i needed something a little more.
Lighthearted SO i actually just finished the first book AND
i was, Like i'll read the second because you can
get through them in a couple of.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
DAYS i am also a fan of, novels AND i
belong to a couple different book, clubs AND i love to.
Read but there is one series AND i read reread
the series every, year and it's The outlander. Series, yep
so made into THE tv. Show it's huge on multiple platforms.
(02:35):
Now for a while it was only on the one streaming.
Platform AND i am on book number four for this.
Year and each of the books is about a thousand.
PAGES i, mean they're heavy duty. Novels AND i remember
the first TIME i was reading through. It my brother
in law saw it on my coffee table and he was,
like are you actually reading that? BOOK i was, like,
yeah it's one of like. Eight he was, like why
(02:56):
would you do that to? YOURSELF i, thought what kind
of question is that readers read? Books and sometimes when
we read the bigger, ones.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Yeah and so are you reading them all in a
row or do you break it up with Other?
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Okay SO i will, well, OKAY i don't read just
one book at a time most of the.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Time so this is my two. THREE i, MEAN i
know the.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Three, YEAH i will read two to three at a.
Time in, fact the other book That i'm reading right
now is a book about marketing Video marketing For marketers
is the name of the. Book and Because i'm a,
marketer and So i've always got something that i'm reading
for like personal or professional. Development i've always got something
that i'm reading just BECAUSE i want to read something
AND i need something to call my brain down at.
(03:41):
Night and Then i'm usually reading something that someone suggested
to me OR i got at the. LIBRARY i, mean
on my vacation a couple of weeks, AGO i read
seven books in five.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Days, okay, well YOU i can appreciate. THAT i grew
up in a. Family i'm the youngest of six, kids
and we did not have A tv girl. Up that
was a decision my parents. Made, okay it was very.
UNUSUAL i think everyone was. Confused but as a, result
we're all big readers and we've Been that's All i've
(04:12):
been doing most of my. LIFE i do get distracted
now more BY tv shows THAN i probably used, to
but uh, yeah and stilled the love of. Reading and
my brother ended up being involved with one of the
largest online used booksellers in the. World so he ended
up running that business called Thrift. BOOKS i have used
(04:32):
you probably used. Them, Yeah so, yeah so reading is
SOMETHING i can tell you you deeply care, about and
SOMETHING i love to. DO i don't read a lot of,
fiction THOUGH i FIND i need it to just decompress
at the end of the. Day SO i LIKE i
generally again switch between more, serious sad and. Fair as
my wife will often, say she's and then and Then
(04:53):
i'll pick something that's kind of a throwaway but just.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
FUN i love to throw away fun ones, there they're
just lighthearted something to, do all, Right, well books is
not what we're talking about. Today we are talking about
THE CpG industry and stock and planning and.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
This is a big.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
One this is a big. Topic it's the. Novel this
is the missioner of situations right. Now so let's talk
a little. Bit starting at the. Beginning what was the
original inspiration behind Alloy. Ai what were you trying to?
Solve what was the big problem in the marketplace that
really drew you into this particular.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Venture, Yeah i'll not bore you with the full. Story
but WHEN i dropped out of a PhD program in
economics AND i started working in, software AND i worked
for a company that primarily did analytics for, retailers and
SO i got very experienced working with point of, sale inventory,
(05:56):
data things of that, nature but all provided by the
re tailor so the retailer could optimize its own. Business
and we struggled to sell to CPGs because they didn't
have the same. Data so that was kind of my
intro to the. Space BUT i saw, that you, know
and we were working with some of the largest CPGs
in the world and they would, wait you, know a
(06:17):
month after the fact they get some data From, nielsen
these syndicated data. Providers it wasn't super, granular it's very.
Expensive SO i just kind of filed that, away did
some other things for a number of years and financial,
technology but always liked the. Space and then AS i
started to talk to people i'd known from before more
(06:38):
on THE CpG, side they started to, say you, know
actually there is data that's. Available retailers share a lot
of data back with. Us it's just too hard to
work with because every retailer has their own mechanism for sharing.
It so that's HOW i came about the, problem AND i, said,
OKAY i had no idea that data was even. There
in many cases it was, free but it turns out
(06:59):
that every single retailer they don't coordinate to make it
easy for their. Suppliers they all know a different, solution
they provide different. Data so Really alloy was born out
of the FRUSTRATION i heard from those, companies and there
was SOMETHING i heard over and over, again as people would,
say we're blind once we ship out, products we ship
product out to our retail, partners and then we wait
(07:22):
for the next, week and then we get more orders
and we don't really know what's going. On we're talking to,
them you, know we'll anecdotally get. Data and so that
was really the problem that we set out to solve
at the, beginning is the data is, There it's just,
unwieldy it's hard to. Use AND i happen to have
(07:43):
a lot of experience at that point building out data,
platforms being able to collect a lot of disparate data,
sets and SO i kind of took that experience AND
i started to apply it to the.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Space, WELL i, mean and as you point, out being you,
know a software, engineer there's a lot of analytics tools out.
There there are tons on the. Market what makes this
one different from the other traditional tools that already.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Exist, yeah SO i think the key thing is to
understand While alloy does a lot of, analytics And i'm
sure we'll talk about. That at our, core we're really
a data. Platform and you, know most, tools you, know
the ones that most people are going to be familiar,
with the, tableaus the lookers and the, clicks the you,
(08:28):
know tools like, that they really don't help you collect the.
Data they're just they're good. Visualization they're they're kind of
good analytics layer on top of. It and the problem
that we saw is people couldn't even get the data
to start doing the. Analytics and so that's really where
we start as we, say, okay, brand who do you sell?
(08:50):
Through what are your major sales? Channels which, retailers, distributors you,
know e commerce. Platforms we're going to go get that
data for. You we're going to get the most there's
granular data that's available in a way that a computer
can do that a human might struggle with because you're
as you every single day, exactly you, know nobody wants
(09:10):
to sit there and click that. Button and that's how
by the, way these companies have been operating for. DECADES
i mean they have people manually downloading that data On
monday mornings and so so that is really Where alloy
starts is we collect all this, data we normalize, it
and so you can, compare you, know and see how
you're doing In, amazon you, know how you're doing In,
(09:32):
kroger how you're doing In, walmart et, cetera and really
understand your business. Holistically so that's really where we differentiate.
We you, know our business business model is such that we're.
Fine we play nice with all the other bi. Tools
if you want to Use, tableau we'll put the data
in there and you can do a lot of things
(09:52):
that you can't do an alloy or and that's. Great
but of, course because we have domain, experience we've also
been able to build a lot of analytics and workflows
that are very specific to this, space and we find
that that saves people a lot of, time and so
they tend to like to use our. Analytics but we're
fine if they have another solution that works for, them well.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Too.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Sure all, right so now we've got the, data it's all,
clean it's all, normalized as you, said and we've we've
got a ton of.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
It what is?
Speaker 3 (10:22):
It how does it? Forecast how does it handle those
sudden shifts in consumer, behaviors unexpected, trends viral. TRENDS i
know they're you know that you hear the stories about
someone going On Shark tank and all of a, sudden you,
know all of their inventory is gone because it's it's
gotten its, publicity those types of market. Disruptions can It
(10:43):
can it handle those volatile changes and.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Shifts, yeah it's a great question and something THAT i
think is somewhat unique TO. CpG i, mean there's a
lot of other industries that tend to be a little more.
Stable you, know when you're in consumer, Products you're. Right
you can have a famous influencer goes on and posts
about a beauty brand and they're going to see a
twenty x spike in. Sales, SURE i can't predict when
(11:08):
that's going to. Happen that would be amazing IF i.
Could so the short answer is we can't predict the,
unexpected and that's not what we what we try to,
do AND i don't think that's. Possible if you look
at how does forecasting, work you, know whether you're using
more traditional statistical, models whether you're using kind of newer
(11:29):
machine learning, models all of them are just taking historical
data and you're fitting to. That and you, know, generally
as models have gotten more. Sophisticated you can you can
look at a lot more different. Factors you can try
to understand. Causality you can, Say, okay, yes if somebody posts,
online this is WHAT i think the impact is going to.
(11:51):
Be BUT i don't necessarily know when someone is going
to post, online and so you know what we. Do
of course we're building those. Models we have the same
limitations as everybody, does and that we only have historical
the data and none of us have a crystal ball
about what's going to happen in the. FUTURE i don't
know the weather next, week, RIGHT i don't demand. Exactly amazingly,
(12:14):
enough weather forecasting has gotten so much better if you
actually look at it over. Time so sometimes you even
have models that are inputs into other. Models. Right If
i'm trying if weather is highly, impactful you, KNOW i
sell ice cream or. Pizzas pizzas are highly dependent on,
weather you, know then you're actually using a forecast for
what you think the weather is going to. Be that's
(12:35):
an input into your, forecast your demand. Forecast, Right BUT
i think what how we approach this problem is we
say one of the limiting factors is, again what historical
data you're putting in how how granular is? It how
much data DO i have to feed in these? Models
and what's the frequency of? It and oftentimes if we're
(12:56):
talking about these consumer, brands they forecast they have you,
know they don't have super dense data. SETS i mean
most of them forecast using what they're shipping out to the,
retailers you. Know and again those shipments may maybe they're,
daily maybe they're, weekly they're they're, infrequent you, know they're
they're in, bulk and we're bringing what is the actual
(13:17):
consumption by you AND? I how much are people actually
buying day, in day, out and.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
How much is sitting in that retailer's back room store
room right?
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Right you, know we actually have that information. Too we
have the, invagory, right but it's a much more granular
and it's it's usually down to the. Location you, know
we can go to a specific store fulfillment CENTER dc
and and so you're getting a very rapid response Of,
hey when let's say that social media post happens And
(13:51):
i'm a beauty brand And i'm seeing that mascara shoot
through the, Roof we're going to see it instantly or
or as close to instantly as the data as, possible
and we're often seeing that days or a week. Before
kind of traditional planning systems will because they're relying on
a again often weekly data at its. Cores so that's
(14:13):
really how we differentiate is it's around how real time
can we see those? Signals so when things, deviate our
models can adjust and they can, SAY, whoa why are
we seeing this? Spike MAYBE i don't know why, yet
But i'm seeing, it and so both your forecast is
(14:33):
going to adjust for. That but we also you, know
usually there's if your sales are twenty, xing you're going
to be in crisis. Mode to take advantage of, that
there's gonna be lots of. Things you're gonna be expediting,
shipments you're going to be, saying hey DO i need
to adjust. Production you're going to be moving inventory, around
and we give you you, know at our, core, well
forecasting is an element of what we. Do it's this
(14:55):
kind of you, know sense and response system of you're
seeing what's happening in real. Time i'm it's never according to.
Plan nothing ever works according to. Plan it's just a
question of how far off you. Are and we're going
to tell you that sooner than you'd otherwise.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Know, Okay, NO i loved your analogy with pizza depending
on the, weather because in my previous, LIFE i was
the restaurant manager for a pizza, place and sure, enough
if it was raining that, day it didn't matter what
the forecast, said we were going to sell out a.
Pizzas so you'd have to adjust for that on the,
(15:30):
fly knowing, that you, know whatever that historical data said
doesn't matter anymore because this new piece of information is
going to completely change the. Game and so What i'm
hearing is that this tool gives that information a lot,
faster so that that person you, know who knows what that,
means or who can at least give a more educated
(15:52):
guess as to what that's going what impact that's going to,
have can make those adjustments on the, fly redeploying in
or ramping up.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Production, Right that's exactly. It and to use that, EXAMPLE
i love that you worked in, pizza because, YES i
don't think most people understand how much rain impacts the
sale of. Pizza THEY i worked with a pizza restaurant
chain years. Ago that's WHY i know the same. Thing
but you, know, yeah if you're managing the pizza. Joint you,
know you see the rain. CLOUDS i guess come and it's, like,
(16:24):
okay we're gonna get slammed, here yeah for. Dinner, well
if you're supplying the pizza, joint, right you're not gonna
you're not going to feel that impact until all of
a sudden you're than you. Had, yeah because the inventory
is running. Out you, know there's a big there's a bigger,
order and so that's the. Difference, again the retailers see
(16:46):
this and they can respond more. Quickly their suppliers are
all more blind and they're just waiting for that. Lag
and that's why you, have you, know the bull whip
effect and supply chain is because that signal, starts and
yet as you go further back in the supply, chain
other people aren't aware that things haven't gotten. It, yeah
exactly about the second that information has propagated up the supply,
(17:09):
chain well it's back to being, sunny and pizza demands
fallen and everyone's tired of eating pizza after the rainy,
week and you, know all of a sudden you have
an excess of of you, know pizza supplies that are
that are piling up the, suppliers so you can really think,
of you, know the starting point for everything we do
is how do we how do we propagate that demand
(17:30):
signal more quickly up the supply chain so the suppliers can.
Respond and obviously that benefits the retailers or in our
analogy the pizza you, know place where they can, say, okay,
Great i'm going to have the right WHEN i order,
Something i'm going to be able to get it at
the time and the place THAT i want. It mm.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Hmm so it it feels, like as we're talking about
this chaos is just the new. NORMAL i, mean polatility
and that, complexity it's just expected now in retail because
retail has taken. It it's a growing monster between e
commerce and brick and mortar stores and you, know all
(18:11):
of the distribution that happens behind the scenes and trying
to keep up with. It we've got the clearinghouses Like
amazon or Even walmart dot. COM i, mean they sell
things that you don't get.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
In A walmart.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Store so it's it's technically one of those those types
of sites and so brands that are trying to sell
into these these retail companies and they're trying to get
their products. Listed how are they responding to a lot
of that volatility and just not really knowing what's going
(18:45):
to influence the market in, retail, Right, so.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
You, know the volatility supply chains have been in the
news more the last couple of, years more on the supply, disruptions,
right everything that happened DURING, covid the so wes. Canal you,
know in the last couple of, months it's been all about.
Tariffs SO i think everyone's starting to be, like, oh,
yeah things don't just magically appear on the. Shelves you,
know there's a very communicated system system behind. IT i,
(19:14):
think you, know when we look in at our, customers
the companies we work, WITH i think the huge shift
THAT i see is there's so much more. Competition that's.
True there are just so many brands out there competing
for your, attention and it's global in. Nature. NOW i
(19:37):
actually saw a chart you were mentioning walmart dot com
and it was showing the growth Of walmart's marketplace and
how that's kind of taken off over the past five.
Years and there was a second chart and it showed
what percentage of those sellers Are american companies Versus chinese,
companies and you were just seeing you, know when they'd started,
(19:58):
out it was primarily you, Know american suppliers who are providing,
that and it still is a, majority but that you,
know those lines are going to, cross it looks like
and then not too distant. FUTURE i think you've already
seen that happen On amazon's, marketplace which obviously is bigger
and it's been around. Longer and so you're competing globally
(20:18):
with you, know brands around the world that are you,
know aggressively trying to undercut you on. Price they're, trying you,
know different ways of marketing getting access all, that and
SO i think that's just the nature of a. Brand
it also means there's a bigger, opportunity there's more way
to sell your. Product you can also sell your product internationally,
more you, know the distribution is just easier than it
(20:41):
used to. Be what does that. Mean so one of
the things that we've, seen and OBVIOUSLY i have a
biased view Because i've been looking at this, problem you
know from a certain, way is WHEN i started alloy
again this pre. Pandemic often the feedback we would get
(21:03):
as people would say that is really. Cool that's amazing
THAT i could drill into an individual store and see
a specific skew and how much inventory is sitting there
and how MUCH i sold over the past week and
my returns and all. THAT i wouldn't even know what
to do with that. Data and that was often the.
Feeling i'd be, like that is an overwhelming amount of.
(21:24):
Detail it is very, Neat but that's not the WAY i.
OPERATE i MEAN i, AGAIN i operate On i'm waiting
for my orders that come in from RETAILER x On
tuesday and filling. Those AND i think the thing that
we've seen is it really the pandemic accelerated this to
an understanding that the world is more competitive. Now there
(21:47):
are both more disruptions on the supply chain that have been,
happening AND i think everyone assumes those are going to.
Continue just kind of, geopolitically it's a little more complex
than it used to. Be but again there's also just
so much more competition on the demand. Side and so the,
speed again going back to the earlier example we're using
around a social media, post how fast CAN i respond to?
Speaker 1 (22:08):
That?
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Right AM i understanding that's happening within hours and doing
WHAT i can to you, know capture as much demand as,
possible or AM i just on my back foot and.
Waiting AND i think for for, decades you, know brands
didn't have the ability both technologically or the data wasn't,
there and they also didn't have the mindset to be
(22:29):
able to respond that that. Fast AND i think that
is the shift you're seeing is you, know again we're
just in a, digital always on, world AND i think e,
commerce of, course massively accelerated this because you can see
your sales. Live you, know you can see who's on your.
Website so that to me is really the shift that
we're seeing right.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
NOW i agree absolutely the demand is obviously bigger with
e commerce just because of the convenience of. It but,
ALSO i mean to your point, point and this is
me coming from a marketing perspective and not necessarily you,
know a management. Perspective but IF i have the data
to be able to show me on these e commerce
(23:10):
sites what times people are buying what you, know what
sites they're coming, from you, know where that that attribution
is coming, from then that gives me the ability to
then kind of control that or at least have some
sense Of, okay this is this is, working this is.
Not and you, know from from a marketing, perspective SO
(23:31):
i think that that granularity of the data is a
huge thing for. Companies i'm really surprised, that you, know
the marketers aren't banging on THE ceo s door saying
you need to get this data so that we know
what we're doing and we know when to sell and
where to, sell and when to push and when to pull.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Back, yeah and there's a huge. DIVIDE i, mean as you,
said you're looking at website analytics right and you're trying
to understand you, Attribute, okay who's coming in From? Google
who's COMING i mean we're looking today on our site
how much traffic is starting to be driven through LIKE,
chatgbt people do searches and you, know so a whole
new channel right with with a total different way of.
(24:11):
Optimization and and SO i think that has trained people
for this just instant, this you, know expectation for instant
understanding of what's going, on and then what CAN i
do about? It physical world's a little. Slower you, KNOW
i can't unfortunately magically transport, uh you, know inventory across the.
(24:32):
Country you, know it takes a little, longer but again
they're getting a lot faster there, too and that's just
going to. Continue BUT i think e commerce has been
such a powerful catalyst for showing people what's possible, absolutely
and then it's, Like, okay how how close to that
real time uh decision making can we get in the physical.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
World SO i know that we were talking about, retailers
but also consumer. Goods their their supply chain often rely
on older legacy systems that maybe don't play nice with other.
Systems so are there any practical limitations that you've encountered
when trying to deploy or integrate with their inventory systems? ERPs?
(25:17):
MANY i, mean that's just the nature of.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Software but so there's something that's a little probably surprising
when people talk to. Us there's broadly, speaking you can
bucket a company's data into internal data and external. Data
so internal generally being what's in YOUR, erp what's in
that inventory management, system all the things THAT i, control
and then the external data being all the other data
(25:44):
points that are available from partners or other data. Sources,
okay we play with. Both, okay so we but our you,
know our genesis was really around the external. Data but,
naturally once you start to, see, well what's happening across
all my different retailers and e commerce, platforms people want
(26:04):
to marry that together with well how much inventory DO i?
Have where's my own? Inventory because you, know they have
more direct control over. That it is much easier for
us to connect with external data sources than it is
with internal. Ones, well now that's, surprising, right you, know seem.
Counterintuitive you're, like, well the brand already controls this. Data
(26:27):
why is that? Harder and it's, because, well brands go
and buy THEIR erp and they heavily customize it and
they change, it and they have their own very specific
way of looking at the, world and every single one
as their own. Way, well the nice thing Is target
has one system that is shared by every single. Supplier
(26:47):
it has the same data, watch it has the same data.
Points so it only requires a single integration for, us
and you can flip a switch and it doesn't matter
if you're selling tires or ice, cream it's the. Same,
yeah the skews are, different and they have different season
out you, know there's all the analytics what you're looking
at might be very, different but the data itself is the.
(27:08):
Same so we can we can turn on these external
parties or partners extremely. Quickly it usually takes a little
bit of work with it to make sure that we
can marry that nicely with internal data. Sets when people want.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
To bring that, in that's that's surprising but interesting and
it makes perfect. Sense so what kind of internal resources
are realistically needed for these types of. Deployments let's say
a mid sized consumer goods. Company you, know there's, personnel there's,
time there's, infrastructure there's mapping all of those data. Points
(27:47):
what's the typical timeline look.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Like, yeah so the usually we're we're getting some kind
of it. Resource we try to keep it as lightweight as,
possible and so we have a very specific set of
data that we're using looking for and for the for
the main, eerps we've integrated with them many, times we
know which tables we want access, to et. Cetera so
it can be pretty, straightforward but you're, right there's almost
(28:10):
always some mapping that needs to be. Done and, again funny,
enough we can do a lot of this in a
very automated way for the external data sets that we,
get but we're going to need to bring in all
of your you know master. Data, okay what give me
your full product master you know what are all the
different the hierarchies you, use et cetera For it really
(28:34):
depends on how deep you want to. Go we, have you,
know some customers they want to connect their entire supply.
Chain they're, like, LOOK i want to understand. MANUFACTURING i
want to see all the. LOGISTICS i want to see
it from you, know raw or or finished goods rolling
off that manufacturing. LINE i want to be able to
track that all the way to the point of. Consumption
(28:55):
that's going to be a bigger. Exercise there's a lot
of mapping to kind of map out what that full
supply chain looks, like and those are going to take.
Months in other, cases people are happier more With, LOOK
i just want to bring in my inventory at my you,
know main. Warehouses let me connect that into my orders and,
shipments and then again connect that into the consumption and
that can happen much more, quickly usually a matter of.
(29:17):
Weeks so to give you an idea connecting into the
external data, SOURCES i mean usually data is blowing in.
HOURS i mean it's it's a extreamly. Fast for how
how quickly we can do it, now depending on data,
sizes and usually we're pulling a couple of years of
history that can take. Longer but one of the big
(29:37):
areas we've focused on is just that time to value, saying,
hey we can we can be showing you your data
the day after you engage with, us and you can
kind of you can kind of get a taste for
what's going to become, possible and then you decide how
deep you want to. Go and often for our, customer you,
know you start. Basic we're, bigger big believers in, crawl, walk. Run,
hey let's start with your main. Retailers, right let's just
(29:59):
do that for. Now let's make let's show you some
recommended order some of the things that we can. Do
once that looks, good, well, hey let's bring on a
couple more. Retailers let's start plugging into your earp and
you kind of build out from. There rather than signing
up for some huge project with you, know unclear timelines AND,
roi you, know it's, like let's let's build you, know
kind of step by.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Step, yeah and develop a really robust case for this
business case before we spend all of the time and
effort to map all of that. Data so you MENTIONED,
roi can you quantify what that return looks like or
even the timeframe of getting THE roi for those those. Clients,
(30:40):
yeah and what makes a difference in getting a BETTER
roi versus not achieving?
Speaker 2 (30:46):
One, yeah so many points to that. QUESTION i will
say we target we're usually shooting for kind of a
payback period of six to eight. Months that's our. Goal, okay,
OKAY i mean doesn't mean we always get, it but
that is that's what what kind of the target. Is
and again we can implement pretty, quickly which which helps
(31:08):
a lot for that because you're not signing up necessarily for,
hey the next six. Months we're just an implementation. Mode
sure THAT roi can come from a lot of different.
Things so there's no of, course perfect example of. This
some of that is just going to be time. SAVING i,
mean at this, point every company is out there collecting this,
(31:28):
data doing reporting on, it and so there is certainly
just a you, know a time savings you, know kind
of manpower element of, hey we're going to save you
a couple of people's, time, Right but obviously that's not
usually the exciting part of. It you, know people are more, Like,
okay how DO i sell? More that's the number one
(31:49):
question we're to. Get and one of the things that
we do is we make recommendations of where retailers aren't
ordering enough from. You so and it's very. Specific this
is not, like, hey you're undersupplied here you, know this is,
(32:10):
hey for this, retailer this is exactly how much inventory
you should send on this given day to each of
their distribution. Centers and here is all the justification for
why that inventory is, needed because generally you can't initiate
that order. Yourself you have to go convince the retailer to, say,
hey you've purchased by a million. Dollars of Course i'm
(32:33):
biased in, THIS i want to sell more, product but
here is the justification for WHY i think this is
going to make sense for both of. Us, so those
those are the, Things those are the sweet. Spots so
if you want to talk, about you, know when you
have you, know quickly replenishing, items we can almost always
find lots of opportunities where you can make incremental. Orders
(32:54):
and that's a very very CLEAR. Roi so that's kind
of one of our favorite things to focus, on and
it's usually a little bit of a wow moment when
people are, like oh my, GOSH i found we had
a customer the other, day or it wasn't the other.
Day NOW i guess this is you, know back to
school last, year you know brand everybody would. Know AND
i mean they got millions of dollars in incremental orders
(33:15):
during back to school because they could just look through. That,
again it's huge seasonal period for. Them they do a
massive amount of. Sales you missed that, Window you're not
going to sell that, product, RIGHT i, mean this is
a this is a window you need to. Hit and
and we could start seeing where the out of stocks
were about to start. Happening you, know you could you
could see the sales start to. Spike you can see
(33:36):
the weeks of supplies start to. Drop we can give.
Justification we were all to selling that to some of
the largest. Retailers AND i mean they got millions of
dollars in incremental. Orders so those are those are kind
of our, favorite uh you, know ones to. Have but
but it's always a mix OF i think very you,
know specific things people can, do some cost, savings and
then you get you, know canidly you get a bunch
(33:57):
of stuff that's probably somewhere in the. Middle it's the insights, that,
hey you're going to better understand your. Business how do
you quantify? That i'd be lying IF i SAID i,
Knew but it's it's clearly. VALUABLE i, mean that's why
people pay for a lot of, this and you, know
just having a better pulse of your business is worth,
something even if it's hard to put an exact number against.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
IT i would think that having the knowledge of stockouts
in you, know individual retail locations or individual retailers just
in general would be huge information to, say you, know
when we send our, inventory when they order, it they sell,
it and it's it's a quick. Mover and if we
can get that information faster that you, know they just
(34:36):
ordered and now all of a sudden they're out of
stock three days later and it's four days until their next,
order maybe we need to have a discussion about how
much they're. Ordering SO i mean that that's huge, intelligence
especially for you, know the sales, teams but just also you, know,
operationally trying to figure out which channels are driving the
revenue for your.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
Business, well so let's let's use that, example because we
can break it up into a couple different pieces and
in kind of levels of maturity as an. Organization, sure
because you're absolutely. RIGHT i, MEAN i think hopefully everybody
listening could, say understanding Where i'm out of, stock there's
a clear value to, that, Right i'm missing a sale.
(35:18):
Exactly that's kind of everybody's worse. Nightmare so the first
step of that is SAYING i have an out of.
Stock you get some kind of report or alert you
are out of stock OF x. Item and this is
where the next, question though someone may, have is, WELL
i have a lot of out of. STOCKS i, mean
(35:39):
for the AVERAGE CpG five percent ish is often the, stock,
right sure can you quantify those for? Me? Right which
out of stocks are bigger problems than? Others and so
you know we started with out of stocks years. Ago
and then the next thing we just said is, well
really what we want to do is we want to
have a weighted measure that we call lost. Sales how
(36:01):
much are you actually losing losing because not all out
of stocks are. EQUAL i could be out of stock
in one store and it's LIKE i don't really. CARE
i don't do a lot of volume. There, yeah it's,
unfortunate you, KNOW i WISH i had, zero but that's
NOT i don't want one hundred percent service. LEVEL i
can't have, one and it would be incredibly, expensive, Right
so there's that trade. Off so WHAT i want to
(36:23):
understand is where are the biggest? Issues where are the
ones Where i'm going on a stock WHERE i do
a ton of? Volume right the vo you.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
Start, hire you know that it's it's the it's the
revenue stream you want to, chase.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
Exactly, right eighty twenty rule applies and everything in, life
it seems. Like, so so that's kind of that next.
Step and then and then the next thing people will
say is so what DO i do about? It that's
great that you told me THAT i lost a million
dollars last week at this. Retailer where AM i going
to lose a million dollars next week or two weeks from,
now depending on what my lead time and all that
(37:01):
THAT i can get ahead. Of and that's where WHEN
i was talking about those recommended, orders that's actually the
culmination of years of work that started with the very
simple question you had and then worked up to lost,
sales and then it would start to be, like, well in,
aggregate this is how much they should order To, no
we need to be extremely precise so that literally someone
(37:21):
can take this data and turn it into an order
and SAY i need ten thousand units, HERE i need
twenty thousand units. Here this is WHEN i need them
buy and so you can actually act on. Them and
so that's you, know but, again we have we have
companies that are still in like stage. One they're, Like
i'm just excited IF i can see out of socks
and others every single, week you, know or out there
(37:43):
banging on the doors their sales, teams their you, know
customer supply chain teams talking to those retailers saying this
is where we're going to have. Issues let's get aheut
of it.
Speaker 3 (37:53):
NOW i, mean and that's a win win for the
retailers and the. SUPPLIERS i, mean, no one doesn't want
to make the, sale.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
Yes and out of stock is not good for.
Speaker 3 (38:04):
Anyone, so speaking of failing or, underperforming what are some
examples of customers or a type of client or company
where your tool is not a great, fit where it
doesn't work as. WELL i, MEAN CpG covers a lot
(38:24):
of different, potential different. Products are there some that do
better than?
Speaker 2 (38:28):
Others? ABSOLUTELY i WISH i could say that every single
company we talked to or a perfect. Fit generally, speaking
we we've had quite a bit of success across a
lot of different. Verticals so there are some verticals where
we've probably had. More we've done more IN, CpG we've
(38:51):
done more in consumer, Electronics health and beauty is a
big vertical for. Us, historically we've done probably a little
less in, apparel although we've gotten a number of brands
on that side. Too LIKE i, said the, data it doesn't.
Matter the data is it's pretty agnostic as to what
the type of product. Is but the types of problems
(39:13):
that companies have and what they're trying to solve does.
VARY i, mean apparel companies extremely. Seasonal they generally have
products that you know they are shipping in for the,
season and then it's about how DO i sell through that? Inventory?
Right what do those sell through rates look? Like when
DO i what's a markdown? Schedule you know that's very
(39:34):
different than you, know selling toothpaste or there's a real
concept to. That you, know we'll call it kind of
an evergreen. Product the product doesn't change very. Often it's
just in regular replenishment. Mode and so you. Know as a,
result you, know people will use it very. DIFFERENTLY i
think we tend to often do better with replenishment items because,
(39:59):
again a lot of what we're doing is looking for
where can you replenish more versus if it's something where
you're just selling in for the. Season you, know there's
not really opportunities in some cases for, replenishment but there's
opportunities to optimize in other. Ways, right you can change
that markdown, schedule you can do other things the other.
Thing SO i would say it it, matters but we've
(40:21):
been successful across all of. Those the bigger thing that
comes down is change management at these. Companies and this
is going to be. True i'm sure it's true for your. Business,
true everybody's how much do they really want to? Change
not at.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
All everybody wants to. Change no one wants to do the.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
Change, yeah you, know and you have you know where
where do? Where does it not? Work, well it doesn't.
Work when you have a. Buyer it brings you in
and then you have the support to make the hard.
Changes and you, KNOW i WISH i could say we
try to make it and this is a huge focus for.
Us how can we make it as easy and simple
(40:58):
again to get, implemented to do it, quickly to make
alloy as simple as. Possible but it still requires somebody
on the other side who's, LIKE i WANT i want this.
CHANGE i want more visibility into our data by the
way we we air dirty laundry a little.
Speaker 3 (41:15):
Bit, yeah because.
Speaker 2 (41:18):
All of a sudden you start seeing that channel where
you perpetually have too much. Inventory, Yeah we've had that
happen many. Times people don't like to see. It you're
in a meeting and it's awkward when all of a, sudden, like,
wait why is there twice as much inventory in this
channel as this? One what is going? On and you,
know so you need to have an organization where we
(41:39):
see a lot between sales teams and supply chain. Teams,
right sales teams will be, HEY i need, THIS i need,
this you, know supply channel will be like do You
and all of a, sudden you have alloy and they
have visibility and they can, SAY i don't think you
do need. That you got money inventory, Already so SO
(42:01):
i think that is that's where you, know there have
been a couple of times WHERE i look back AND i, say,
yeah that deal didn't work because for the most, part
there wasn't THE i think the organizational desire for the.
Change but the flip, side of, course you see the
companies that do, change and it's so. Neat it's so
(42:21):
cool to, see you, know and it's not. Easy it's never. Easy,
AGAIN i WISH i could tell people it. Was but
companies that are just, like we're going to, reorient we're
going to think on a different, timeframe we're going to
be that much, faster we're going to use this extra,
data and and that's that's really fun to see.
Speaker 3 (42:38):
Too, yeah it is really fun to see organizations who
who want the, change who are excited, about you, know
whatever implementation it. Is you, know for me at me,
back we see lots of different implementations of different softwares
or or you, know new facilities or new production. Flows
and it's it's fun when they're engaged and excited about
(43:00):
it and they want to see their company succeed in
a new. Way and SO i totally get that where
you're able to show them something new that they can
do with this information that they've had sitting there this whole,
time and they just didn't understand what it meant and
now they're able to see it clearly for what it
is and adapt and grow and thrive in the. Marketplace
(43:24):
what would be your favorite customer success? Story and you
don't have to list a client name if they want
to stay, anonymous but, like what's that one time that
you made that biggest change or the biggest aha moment
and the client was just blown, away super. Excited tell
us about.
Speaker 2 (43:43):
THAT i think the first one that comes to, mind
and this will be a little, general but it gets
to that theme around change. Management this was a customer
who had in the very early. Days there's still a
customer so they've been with us for many. Years and
so this is when we were very. Small we didn't
even have a fully formed product at the. Time we
were still figuring it. Out and, uh it was a
(44:07):
it was a smaller company actually mostly in, apparel so
AND i think they were just kind of confused by
what we were. DOING i think a lot of it was, Like,
okay this sounds kind of. Neat you, know they had
they'd had a lot of. Success it had kind of
been a company that had just taken off and you,
(44:31):
know mid size company they, were they were a huge.
Company but, uh but they were willing to take a
bet on. Us and so this is probably why it
kind of feels close to my heart BECAUSE i was,
like they bet on me when we didn't have. Much
but if you want to talk about a company that,
changed you, know and again it started at the. Top
(44:53):
it was like their leadership, saying we need to become
a data driven organization and we. Don't we don't want
to be that kind of traditional. Company AND i, Again
i've seen it now for, years And i've seen how
they today in many ways are more sophisticated than companies
(45:14):
that are, many many times their, size just because it's
been a part of THEIR dna and it's it's just
like not even a question of is this data that
you look? AT i, mean they live and they breathe
it every single, day and when when new employees, join
it's just, like this is what you. Do this is
how you do your. Job if you're a salesperson and
(45:34):
you don't intimately understand you know what is happening and
are super. Honest one of the other Things i'm good
friends with THE, ceo and he'll talk about it's like
you've got to you've got to be honest when you're
dealing these are relationships and saying this is, working this
isn't even when the things that aren't working aren't to
your own personal. Advantage you, know that's what really build that.
(45:57):
Trust SO i think again that's a very general. ONE
i think there's lots of other examples that have, that
Like War. Concrete, hey they came in and they immediately
were able to turn it. Around they had this problem
with overstocks and they were able to figure it. Out
but this is one THAT i guess is just kind
of close to my heart because, Again i've just seen
(46:18):
that over the years and it's just been so cool
to say this is a very different organization than the
one THAT i met. You that's.
Speaker 3 (46:24):
Awesome, no and that's exactly what you set out to
do was to change these organizations and the way that
they approached this problem and help them through. That so
that's got to be incredibly. Gratifying SO i would, say
from my last, question what do you see next For? Alloy,
(46:46):
like what are you guys working? On what are you
trying to?
Speaker 2 (46:49):
Do? Extra, yeah, well is this going to shock? You
it's not going to shock you at, all because it's
what everybody's talking about so IF i look at what
do we have that's, Unique we've got a very unique
data set that we collect on behalf of our. Customers
(47:10):
we have a very deep understanding of the types of
problems that our customers are, solving right because we see
it across hundreds and hundreds of different. Companies we have
a new technology out there WITH. Lllms, okay RIGHT, Ai
and you, KNOW i, think to, me what gets me
(47:33):
the most exciting or excited is there are so many
of these use cases WHERE i, say we can really
train you, know AN ai to do these M AND
i know that seems kind of scary to some people
because they're, like wait a, minute or we just training
away our. Jobs and the short answer, is in some, ways,
(47:53):
YES i mean all of our jobs are but we're
not going. Anywhere we're, Gonna we're, Gonna we're we're pretty.
Adaptive but that to me is. Fascinating and as we've
started to play with you know, again we've also got
all the, tools, Right we've got all the models and
(48:15):
all the, analytics and you, know instead of training an,
analyst you train AN ai to be, like, well how
do you do this? Job what tools can you? Request
what data do you ask? For and it's it's fascinating
seeing if if you follow kind of the chain of
thought of these lms as you train, them you can
be like, hey at each step like ask for data
(48:36):
or ask to use this, tool and then you, know
our platform will give them that response and they have
to kind of digest the information that's provided and decide
the next step of what they want to. Do it's.
INCREDIBLE i mean they're in the speed at which they're getting.
BETTER i mean it's just looking this. MORNING i mean
it's like they get, better you, know every three, months
they like double and. Capabilities it seems. Like SO i
(49:00):
think that to me is going to be a fascinating.
Change is how do you, know get to a world
THAT i don't think that's is that far away where
we're essentially all going to have our own team of
analysts of these agents that are, out you, know operating relatively. Autonomously,
again they're not going to be doing everything on their,
own but they go out and do, things they come back, Report,
(49:22):
hey this is WHAT i. Found you give them some,
direction they go off and do that. Again so that's you,
know we as a company are really. Focused we don't
we try to avoid getting into the MARKETING ai hype
because it's. Insane i'm sure you, see it is. Insane,
yeah we just had our team came back from you,
(49:44):
know one of the big supply chain, conferences and they're
like every single company that's all it, was you, know
and then you go talk to companies like who's using?
WHAT i, mean almost everybody's using almost nothing at this.
POINT i think it's it's a lot of. Dabbling so you,
know we're we're taking maybe the slower, approach but one
of saying we want to put something out there that
(50:05):
really works and has a CLEAR roi and all. That
but i'd say the things that we're working on right,
now you certainly AGAIN i don't know are they going
to be ready three months from? Now is it a
year from? Now but you can see the promise and
that's pretty darn. Exciting that is.
Speaker 3 (50:20):
Exciting SO i think that brings us to the end
of our. Episode to our, listeners if you found today's episode,
valuable be sure to follow speaking of supply chain on
wherever you get your. Podcasts we are On, Spotify Google,
podcasts and, YouTube and share it with someone else who's
shaping the future of.
Speaker 1 (50:40):
Operations you've been listening To speaking Of Supply, chain a meboch.
Podcast keep connected with us by subscribing to the show
in your favorite podcast. Player if you like what you've,
heard please rate the show that helps us to keep
delivering the latest in supply chain. Information thanks for, Listening
(51:01):
until next.
Speaker 2 (51:01):
Time
You're listening to Speaking of Supply Chain, a meeboch podcast.
This is a show for logistics professionals looking to learn
more about the latest innovations in supply chain.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Each episode will.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Feature a conversation on topics such as mitigating supply chain
disruption and reducing risk, current automation trends, sustainability initiatives, and more.
Let's dive right in.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Hello, and welcome to Speaking of Supply Chain, where we
explore trends, current events, and innovations impacting the logistics and
supply chain industries. I'm your host, Ellen Wood. The CpG
industry faces increasingly unpredictable demand patterns, complex inventory management challenges,
and heightened expectations for agility and responsiveness. Traditional forecasting tools
(00:51):
often fall short, leaving companies vulnerable to costly stockouts or
excess inventory. In today's discussion, Joel beieal CEO and co
founder of alloy AI and I are going to explore
how their tool leverages advanced AI and real time analytics
to tackle these pressing issues, optimizing demand planning and inventory
decisions for a rapidly changing market.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Welcome Joel, Thank you, Ellen.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Excited to be here, Excited to have you here. We're
going to have a great conversation. I can tell because
this is such a huge topic right now. Planning is
the buzzword on everyone's mind. But before we get started,
let's do our ice break really quick. And the question
that you chose for today is what book are you
currently reading?
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Well, I'm going to give I'm going to give two
answers because I actually just finished a book and I'm
starting a new one. So I just finished Demon Copperhead, okay,
Barbara King Solver, which is a tough one. It's it's
pretty sad, sad book. So I need a little bit
of lighter fair after that, and I actually started reaching
reading Jack Reacher of All Oh, of all Things. So
(01:56):
i'd seen the show. I mean, i've seen the movie,
I guess years ago. Tom Cruise he's not a very
good Jack Reacher. He's a little too short. Back Reacher
is six'. Five i'm not Sure Tom cruise is five.
Eight but, YEAH i DECIDED i needed something a little more.
Lighthearted SO i actually just finished the first book AND
i was, Like i'll read the second because you can
get through them in a couple of.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
DAYS i am also a fan of, novels AND i
belong to a couple different book, clubs AND i love to.
Read but there is one series AND i read reread
the series every, year and it's The outlander. Series, yep
so made into THE tv. Show it's huge on multiple platforms.
(02:35):
Now for a while it was only on the one streaming.
Platform AND i am on book number four for this.
Year and each of the books is about a thousand.
PAGES i, mean they're heavy duty. Novels AND i remember
the first TIME i was reading through. It my brother
in law saw it on my coffee table and he was,
like are you actually reading that? BOOK i was, like,
yeah it's one of like. Eight he was, like why
(02:56):
would you do that to? YOURSELF i, thought what kind
of question is that readers read? Books and sometimes when
we read the bigger, ones.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Yeah and so are you reading them all in a
row or do you break it up with Other?
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Okay SO i will, well, OKAY i don't read just
one book at a time most of the.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Time so this is my two. THREE i, MEAN i
know the.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Three, YEAH i will read two to three at a.
Time in, fact the other book That i'm reading right
now is a book about marketing Video marketing For marketers
is the name of the. Book and Because i'm a,
marketer and So i've always got something that i'm reading
for like personal or professional. Development i've always got something
that i'm reading just BECAUSE i want to read something
AND i need something to call my brain down at.
(03:41):
Night and Then i'm usually reading something that someone suggested
to me OR i got at the. LIBRARY i, mean
on my vacation a couple of weeks, AGO i read
seven books in five.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Days, okay, well YOU i can appreciate. THAT i grew
up in a. Family i'm the youngest of six, kids
and we did not have A tv girl. Up that
was a decision my parents. Made, okay it was very.
UNUSUAL i think everyone was. Confused but as a, result
we're all big readers and we've Been that's All i've
(04:12):
been doing most of my. LIFE i do get distracted
now more BY tv shows THAN i probably used, to
but uh, yeah and stilled the love of. Reading and
my brother ended up being involved with one of the
largest online used booksellers in the. World so he ended
up running that business called Thrift. BOOKS i have used
(04:32):
you probably used. Them, Yeah so, yeah so reading is
SOMETHING i can tell you you deeply care, about and
SOMETHING i love to. DO i don't read a lot of,
fiction THOUGH i FIND i need it to just decompress
at the end of the. Day SO i LIKE i
generally again switch between more, serious sad and. Fair as
my wife will often, say she's and then and Then
(04:53):
i'll pick something that's kind of a throwaway but just.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
FUN i love to throw away fun ones, there they're
just lighthearted something to, do all, Right, well books is
not what we're talking about. Today we are talking about
THE CpG industry and stock and planning and.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
This is a big.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
One this is a big. Topic it's the. Novel this
is the missioner of situations right. Now so let's talk
a little. Bit starting at the. Beginning what was the
original inspiration behind Alloy. Ai what were you trying to?
Solve what was the big problem in the marketplace that
really drew you into this particular.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Venture, Yeah i'll not bore you with the full. Story
but WHEN i dropped out of a PhD program in
economics AND i started working in, software AND i worked
for a company that primarily did analytics for, retailers and
SO i got very experienced working with point of, sale inventory,
(05:56):
data things of that, nature but all provided by the
re tailor so the retailer could optimize its own. Business
and we struggled to sell to CPGs because they didn't
have the same. Data so that was kind of my
intro to the. Space BUT i saw, that you, know
and we were working with some of the largest CPGs
in the world and they would, wait you, know a
(06:17):
month after the fact they get some data From, nielsen
these syndicated data. Providers it wasn't super, granular it's very.
Expensive SO i just kind of filed that, away did
some other things for a number of years and financial,
technology but always liked the. Space and then AS i
started to talk to people i'd known from before more
(06:38):
on THE CpG, side they started to, say you, know
actually there is data that's. Available retailers share a lot
of data back with. Us it's just too hard to
work with because every retailer has their own mechanism for sharing.
It so that's HOW i came about the, problem AND i, said,
OKAY i had no idea that data was even. There
in many cases it was, free but it turns out
(06:59):
that every single retailer they don't coordinate to make it
easy for their. Suppliers they all know a different, solution
they provide different. Data so Really alloy was born out
of the FRUSTRATION i heard from those, companies and there
was SOMETHING i heard over and over, again as people would,
say we're blind once we ship out, products we ship
product out to our retail, partners and then we wait
(07:22):
for the next, week and then we get more orders
and we don't really know what's going. On we're talking to,
them you, know we'll anecdotally get. Data and so that
was really the problem that we set out to solve
at the, beginning is the data is, There it's just,
unwieldy it's hard to. Use AND i happen to have
(07:43):
a lot of experience at that point building out data,
platforms being able to collect a lot of disparate data,
sets and SO i kind of took that experience AND
i started to apply it to the.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Space, WELL i, mean and as you point, out being you,
know a software, engineer there's a lot of analytics tools out.
There there are tons on the. Market what makes this
one different from the other traditional tools that already.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Exist, yeah SO i think the key thing is to
understand While alloy does a lot of, analytics And i'm
sure we'll talk about. That at our, core we're really
a data. Platform and you, know most, tools you, know
the ones that most people are going to be familiar,
with the, tableaus the lookers and the, clicks the you,
(08:28):
know tools like, that they really don't help you collect the.
Data they're just they're good. Visualization they're they're kind of
good analytics layer on top of. It and the problem
that we saw is people couldn't even get the data
to start doing the. Analytics and so that's really where
we start as we, say, okay, brand who do you sell?
(08:50):
Through what are your major sales? Channels which, retailers, distributors you,
know e commerce. Platforms we're going to go get that
data for. You we're going to get the most there's
granular data that's available in a way that a computer
can do that a human might struggle with because you're
as you every single day, exactly you, know nobody wants
(09:10):
to sit there and click that. Button and that's how
by the, way these companies have been operating for. DECADES
i mean they have people manually downloading that data On
monday mornings and so so that is really Where alloy
starts is we collect all this, data we normalize, it
and so you can, compare you, know and see how
you're doing In, amazon you, know how you're doing In,
(09:32):
kroger how you're doing In, walmart et, cetera and really
understand your business. Holistically so that's really where we differentiate.
We you, know our business business model is such that we're.
Fine we play nice with all the other bi. Tools
if you want to Use, tableau we'll put the data
in there and you can do a lot of things
(09:52):
that you can't do an alloy or and that's. Great
but of, course because we have domain, experience we've also
been able to build a lot of analytics and workflows
that are very specific to this, space and we find
that that saves people a lot of, time and so
they tend to like to use our. Analytics but we're
fine if they have another solution that works for, them well.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Too.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Sure all, right so now we've got the, data it's all,
clean it's all, normalized as you, said and we've we've
got a ton of.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
It what is?
Speaker 3 (10:22):
It how does it? Forecast how does it handle those
sudden shifts in consumer, behaviors unexpected, trends viral. TRENDS i
know they're you know that you hear the stories about
someone going On Shark tank and all of a, sudden you,
know all of their inventory is gone because it's it's
gotten its, publicity those types of market. Disruptions can It
(10:43):
can it handle those volatile changes and.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Shifts, yeah it's a great question and something THAT i
think is somewhat unique TO. CpG i, mean there's a
lot of other industries that tend to be a little more.
Stable you, know when you're in consumer, Products you're. Right
you can have a famous influencer goes on and posts
about a beauty brand and they're going to see a
twenty x spike in. Sales, SURE i can't predict when
(11:08):
that's going to. Happen that would be amazing IF i.
Could so the short answer is we can't predict the,
unexpected and that's not what we what we try to,
do AND i don't think that's. Possible if you look
at how does forecasting, work you, know whether you're using
more traditional statistical, models whether you're using kind of newer
(11:29):
machine learning, models all of them are just taking historical
data and you're fitting to. That and you, know, generally
as models have gotten more. Sophisticated you can you can
look at a lot more different. Factors you can try
to understand. Causality you can, Say, okay, yes if somebody posts,
online this is WHAT i think the impact is going to.
(11:51):
Be BUT i don't necessarily know when someone is going
to post, online and so you know what we. Do
of course we're building those. Models we have the same
limitations as everybody, does and that we only have historical
the data and none of us have a crystal ball
about what's going to happen in the. FUTURE i don't
know the weather next, week, RIGHT i don't demand. Exactly amazingly,
(12:14):
enough weather forecasting has gotten so much better if you
actually look at it over. Time so sometimes you even
have models that are inputs into other. Models. Right If
i'm trying if weather is highly, impactful you, KNOW i
sell ice cream or. Pizzas pizzas are highly dependent on,
weather you, know then you're actually using a forecast for
what you think the weather is going to. Be that's
(12:35):
an input into your, forecast your demand. Forecast, Right BUT
i think what how we approach this problem is we
say one of the limiting factors is, again what historical
data you're putting in how how granular is? It how
much data DO i have to feed in these? Models
and what's the frequency of? It and oftentimes if we're
(12:56):
talking about these consumer, brands they forecast they have you,
know they don't have super dense data. SETS i mean
most of them forecast using what they're shipping out to the,
retailers you. Know and again those shipments may maybe they're,
daily maybe they're, weekly they're they're, infrequent you, know they're
they're in, bulk and we're bringing what is the actual
(13:17):
consumption by you AND? I how much are people actually
buying day, in day, out and.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
How much is sitting in that retailer's back room store
room right?
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Right you, know we actually have that information. Too we
have the, invagory, right but it's a much more granular
and it's it's usually down to the. Location you, know
we can go to a specific store fulfillment CENTER dc
and and so you're getting a very rapid response Of,
hey when let's say that social media post happens And
(13:51):
i'm a beauty brand And i'm seeing that mascara shoot
through the, Roof we're going to see it instantly or
or as close to instantly as the data as, possible
and we're often seeing that days or a week. Before
kind of traditional planning systems will because they're relying on
a again often weekly data at its. Cores so that's
(14:13):
really how we differentiate is it's around how real time
can we see those? Signals so when things, deviate our
models can adjust and they can, SAY, whoa why are
we seeing this? Spike MAYBE i don't know why, yet
But i'm seeing, it and so both your forecast is
(14:33):
going to adjust for. That but we also you, know
usually there's if your sales are twenty, xing you're going
to be in crisis. Mode to take advantage of, that
there's gonna be lots of. Things you're gonna be expediting,
shipments you're going to be, saying hey DO i need
to adjust. Production you're going to be moving inventory, around
and we give you you, know at our, core, well
forecasting is an element of what we. Do it's this
(14:55):
kind of you, know sense and response system of you're
seeing what's happening in real. Time i'm it's never according to.
Plan nothing ever works according to. Plan it's just a
question of how far off you. Are and we're going
to tell you that sooner than you'd otherwise.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Know, Okay, NO i loved your analogy with pizza depending
on the, weather because in my previous, LIFE i was
the restaurant manager for a pizza, place and sure, enough
if it was raining that, day it didn't matter what
the forecast, said we were going to sell out a.
Pizzas so you'd have to adjust for that on the,
(15:30):
fly knowing, that you, know whatever that historical data said
doesn't matter anymore because this new piece of information is
going to completely change the. Game and so What i'm
hearing is that this tool gives that information a lot,
faster so that that person you, know who knows what that,
means or who can at least give a more educated
(15:52):
guess as to what that's going what impact that's going to,
have can make those adjustments on the, fly redeploying in
or ramping up.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Production, Right that's exactly. It and to use that, EXAMPLE
i love that you worked in, pizza because, YES i
don't think most people understand how much rain impacts the
sale of. Pizza THEY i worked with a pizza restaurant
chain years. Ago that's WHY i know the same. Thing
but you, know, yeah if you're managing the pizza. Joint you,
know you see the rain. CLOUDS i guess come and it's, like,
(16:24):
okay we're gonna get slammed, here yeah for. Dinner, well
if you're supplying the pizza, joint, right you're not gonna
you're not going to feel that impact until all of
a sudden you're than you. Had, yeah because the inventory
is running. Out you, know there's a big there's a bigger,
order and so that's the. Difference, again the retailers see
(16:46):
this and they can respond more. Quickly their suppliers are
all more blind and they're just waiting for that. Lag
and that's why you, have you, know the bull whip
effect and supply chain is because that signal, starts and
yet as you go further back in the supply, chain
other people aren't aware that things haven't gotten. It, yeah
exactly about the second that information has propagated up the supply,
(17:09):
chain well it's back to being, sunny and pizza demands
fallen and everyone's tired of eating pizza after the rainy,
week and you, know all of a sudden you have
an excess of of you, know pizza supplies that are
that are piling up the, suppliers so you can really think,
of you, know the starting point for everything we do
is how do we how do we propagate that demand
(17:30):
signal more quickly up the supply chain so the suppliers can.
Respond and obviously that benefits the retailers or in our
analogy the pizza you, know place where they can, say, okay,
Great i'm going to have the right WHEN i order,
Something i'm going to be able to get it at
the time and the place THAT i want. It mm.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Hmm so it it feels, like as we're talking about
this chaos is just the new. NORMAL i, mean polatility
and that, complexity it's just expected now in retail because
retail has taken. It it's a growing monster between e
commerce and brick and mortar stores and you, know all
(18:11):
of the distribution that happens behind the scenes and trying
to keep up with. It we've got the clearinghouses Like
amazon or Even walmart dot. COM i, mean they sell
things that you don't get.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
In A walmart.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Store so it's it's technically one of those those types
of sites and so brands that are trying to sell
into these these retail companies and they're trying to get
their products. Listed how are they responding to a lot
of that volatility and just not really knowing what's going
(18:45):
to influence the market in, retail, Right, so.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
You, know the volatility supply chains have been in the
news more the last couple of, years more on the supply, disruptions,
right everything that happened DURING, covid the so wes. Canal you,
know in the last couple of, months it's been all about.
Tariffs SO i think everyone's starting to be, like, oh,
yeah things don't just magically appear on the. Shelves you,
know there's a very communicated system system behind. IT i,
(19:14):
think you, know when we look in at our, customers
the companies we work, WITH i think the huge shift
THAT i see is there's so much more. Competition that's.
True there are just so many brands out there competing
for your, attention and it's global in. Nature. NOW i
(19:37):
actually saw a chart you were mentioning walmart dot com
and it was showing the growth Of walmart's marketplace and
how that's kind of taken off over the past five.
Years and there was a second chart and it showed
what percentage of those sellers Are american companies Versus chinese,
companies and you were just seeing you, know when they'd started,
(19:58):
out it was primarily you, Know american suppliers who are providing,
that and it still is a, majority but that you,
know those lines are going to, cross it looks like
and then not too distant. FUTURE i think you've already
seen that happen On amazon's, marketplace which obviously is bigger
and it's been around. Longer and so you're competing globally
(20:18):
with you, know brands around the world that are you,
know aggressively trying to undercut you on. Price they're, trying you,
know different ways of marketing getting access all, that and
SO i think that's just the nature of a. Brand
it also means there's a bigger, opportunity there's more way
to sell your. Product you can also sell your product internationally,
more you, know the distribution is just easier than it
(20:41):
used to. Be what does that. Mean so one of
the things that we've, seen and OBVIOUSLY i have a
biased view Because i've been looking at this, problem you
know from a certain, way is WHEN i started alloy
again this pre. Pandemic often the feedback we would get
(21:03):
as people would say that is really. Cool that's amazing
THAT i could drill into an individual store and see
a specific skew and how much inventory is sitting there
and how MUCH i sold over the past week and
my returns and all. THAT i wouldn't even know what
to do with that. Data and that was often the.
Feeling i'd be, like that is an overwhelming amount of.
(21:24):
Detail it is very, Neat but that's not the WAY i.
OPERATE i MEAN i, AGAIN i operate On i'm waiting
for my orders that come in from RETAILER x On
tuesday and filling. Those AND i think the thing that
we've seen is it really the pandemic accelerated this to
an understanding that the world is more competitive. Now there
(21:47):
are both more disruptions on the supply chain that have been,
happening AND i think everyone assumes those are going to.
Continue just kind of, geopolitically it's a little more complex
than it used to. Be but again there's also just
so much more competition on the demand. Side and so the,
speed again going back to the earlier example we're using
around a social media, post how fast CAN i respond to?
Speaker 1 (22:08):
That?
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Right AM i understanding that's happening within hours and doing
WHAT i can to you, know capture as much demand as,
possible or AM i just on my back foot and.
Waiting AND i think for for, decades you, know brands
didn't have the ability both technologically or the data wasn't,
there and they also didn't have the mindset to be
(22:29):
able to respond that that. Fast AND i think that
is the shift you're seeing is you, know again we're
just in a, digital always on, world AND i think e,
commerce of, course massively accelerated this because you can see
your sales. Live you, know you can see who's on your.
Website so that to me is really the shift that
we're seeing right.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
NOW i agree absolutely the demand is obviously bigger with
e commerce just because of the convenience of. It but,
ALSO i mean to your point, point and this is
me coming from a marketing perspective and not necessarily you,
know a management. Perspective but IF i have the data
to be able to show me on these e commerce
(23:10):
sites what times people are buying what you, know what
sites they're coming, from you, know where that that attribution
is coming, from then that gives me the ability to
then kind of control that or at least have some
sense Of, okay this is this is, working this is.
Not and you, know from from a marketing, perspective SO
(23:31):
i think that that granularity of the data is a
huge thing for. Companies i'm really surprised, that you, know
the marketers aren't banging on THE ceo s door saying
you need to get this data so that we know
what we're doing and we know when to sell and
where to, sell and when to push and when to pull.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Back, yeah and there's a huge. DIVIDE i, mean as you,
said you're looking at website analytics right and you're trying
to understand you, Attribute, okay who's coming in From? Google
who's COMING i mean we're looking today on our site
how much traffic is starting to be driven through LIKE,
chatgbt people do searches and you, know so a whole
new channel right with with a total different way of.
(24:11):
Optimization and and SO i think that has trained people
for this just instant, this you, know expectation for instant
understanding of what's going, on and then what CAN i
do about? It physical world's a little. Slower you, KNOW
i can't unfortunately magically transport, uh you, know inventory across the.
(24:32):
Country you, know it takes a little, longer but again
they're getting a lot faster there, too and that's just
going to. Continue BUT i think e commerce has been
such a powerful catalyst for showing people what's possible, absolutely
and then it's, Like, okay how how close to that
real time uh decision making can we get in the physical.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
World SO i know that we were talking about, retailers
but also consumer. Goods their their supply chain often rely
on older legacy systems that maybe don't play nice with other.
Systems so are there any practical limitations that you've encountered
when trying to deploy or integrate with their inventory systems? ERPs?
(25:17):
MANY i, mean that's just the nature of.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Software but so there's something that's a little probably surprising
when people talk to. Us there's broadly, speaking you can
bucket a company's data into internal data and external. Data
so internal generally being what's in YOUR, erp what's in
that inventory management, system all the things THAT i, control
and then the external data being all the other data
(25:44):
points that are available from partners or other data. Sources,
okay we play with. Both, okay so we but our you,
know our genesis was really around the external. Data but,
naturally once you start to, see, well what's happening across
all my different retailers and e commerce, platforms people want
(26:04):
to marry that together with well how much inventory DO i?
Have where's my own? Inventory because you, know they have
more direct control over. That it is much easier for
us to connect with external data sources than it is
with internal. Ones, well now that's, surprising, right you, know seem.
Counterintuitive you're, like, well the brand already controls this. Data
(26:27):
why is that? Harder and it's, because, well brands go
and buy THEIR erp and they heavily customize it and
they change, it and they have their own very specific
way of looking at the, world and every single one
as their own. Way, well the nice thing Is target
has one system that is shared by every single. Supplier
(26:47):
it has the same data, watch it has the same data.
Points so it only requires a single integration for, us
and you can flip a switch and it doesn't matter
if you're selling tires or ice, cream it's the. Same,
yeah the skews are, different and they have different season
out you, know there's all the analytics what you're looking
at might be very, different but the data itself is the.
(27:08):
Same so we can we can turn on these external
parties or partners extremely. Quickly it usually takes a little
bit of work with it to make sure that we
can marry that nicely with internal data. Sets when people want.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
To bring that, in that's that's surprising but interesting and
it makes perfect. Sense so what kind of internal resources
are realistically needed for these types of. Deployments let's say
a mid sized consumer goods. Company you, know there's, personnel there's,
time there's, infrastructure there's mapping all of those data. Points
(27:47):
what's the typical timeline look.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Like, yeah so the usually we're we're getting some kind
of it. Resource we try to keep it as lightweight as,
possible and so we have a very specific set of
data that we're using looking for and for the for
the main, eerps we've integrated with them many, times we
know which tables we want access, to et. Cetera so
it can be pretty, straightforward but you're, right there's almost
(28:10):
always some mapping that needs to be. Done and, again funny,
enough we can do a lot of this in a
very automated way for the external data sets that we,
get but we're going to need to bring in all
of your you know master. Data, okay what give me
your full product master you know what are all the
different the hierarchies you, use et cetera For it really
(28:34):
depends on how deep you want to. Go we, have you,
know some customers they want to connect their entire supply.
Chain they're, like, LOOK i want to understand. MANUFACTURING i
want to see all the. LOGISTICS i want to see
it from you, know raw or or finished goods rolling
off that manufacturing. LINE i want to be able to
track that all the way to the point of. Consumption
(28:55):
that's going to be a bigger. Exercise there's a lot
of mapping to kind of map out what that full
supply chain looks, like and those are going to take.
Months in other, cases people are happier more With, LOOK
i just want to bring in my inventory at my you,
know main. Warehouses let me connect that into my orders and,
shipments and then again connect that into the consumption and
that can happen much more, quickly usually a matter of.
(29:17):
Weeks so to give you an idea connecting into the
external data, SOURCES i mean usually data is blowing in.
HOURS i mean it's it's a extreamly. Fast for how
how quickly we can do it, now depending on data,
sizes and usually we're pulling a couple of years of
history that can take. Longer but one of the big
(29:37):
areas we've focused on is just that time to value, saying,
hey we can we can be showing you your data
the day after you engage with, us and you can
kind of you can kind of get a taste for
what's going to become, possible and then you decide how
deep you want to. Go and often for our, customer you,
know you start. Basic we're, bigger big believers in, crawl, walk. Run,
hey let's start with your main. Retailers, right let's just
(29:59):
do that for. Now let's make let's show you some
recommended order some of the things that we can. Do
once that looks, good, well, hey let's bring on a
couple more. Retailers let's start plugging into your earp and
you kind of build out from. There rather than signing
up for some huge project with you, know unclear timelines AND,
roi you, know it's, like let's let's build you, know
kind of step by.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Step, yeah and develop a really robust case for this
business case before we spend all of the time and
effort to map all of that. Data so you MENTIONED,
roi can you quantify what that return looks like or
even the timeframe of getting THE roi for those those. Clients,
(30:40):
yeah and what makes a difference in getting a BETTER
roi versus not achieving?
Speaker 2 (30:46):
One, yeah so many points to that. QUESTION i will
say we target we're usually shooting for kind of a
payback period of six to eight. Months that's our. Goal, okay,
OKAY i mean doesn't mean we always get, it but
that is that's what what kind of the target. Is
and again we can implement pretty, quickly which which helps
(31:08):
a lot for that because you're not signing up necessarily for,
hey the next six. Months we're just an implementation. Mode
sure THAT roi can come from a lot of different.
Things so there's no of, course perfect example of. This
some of that is just going to be time. SAVING i,
mean at this, point every company is out there collecting this,
(31:28):
data doing reporting on, it and so there is certainly
just a you, know a time savings you, know kind
of manpower element of, hey we're going to save you
a couple of people's, time, Right but obviously that's not
usually the exciting part of. It you, know people are more, Like,
okay how DO i sell? More that's the number one
(31:49):
question we're to. Get and one of the things that
we do is we make recommendations of where retailers aren't
ordering enough from. You so and it's very. Specific this
is not, like, hey you're undersupplied here you, know this is,
(32:10):
hey for this, retailer this is exactly how much inventory
you should send on this given day to each of
their distribution. Centers and here is all the justification for
why that inventory is, needed because generally you can't initiate
that order. Yourself you have to go convince the retailer to, say,
hey you've purchased by a million. Dollars of Course i'm
(32:33):
biased in, THIS i want to sell more, product but
here is the justification for WHY i think this is
going to make sense for both of. Us, so those
those are the, Things those are the sweet. Spots so
if you want to talk, about you, know when you
have you, know quickly replenishing, items we can almost always
find lots of opportunities where you can make incremental. Orders
(32:54):
and that's a very very CLEAR. Roi so that's kind
of one of our favorite things to focus, on and
it's usually a little bit of a wow moment when
people are, like oh my, GOSH i found we had
a customer the other, day or it wasn't the other.
Day NOW i guess this is you, know back to
school last, year you know brand everybody would. Know AND
i mean they got millions of dollars in incremental orders
(33:15):
during back to school because they could just look through. That,
again it's huge seasonal period for. Them they do a
massive amount of. Sales you missed that, Window you're not
going to sell that, product, RIGHT i, mean this is
a this is a window you need to. Hit and
and we could start seeing where the out of stocks
were about to start. Happening you, know you could you
could see the sales start to. Spike you can see
(33:36):
the weeks of supplies start to. Drop we can give.
Justification we were all to selling that to some of
the largest. Retailers AND i mean they got millions of
dollars in incremental. Orders so those are those are kind
of our, favorite uh you, know ones to. Have but
but it's always a mix OF i think very you,
know specific things people can, do some cost, savings and
then you get you, know canidly you get a bunch
(33:57):
of stuff that's probably somewhere in the. Middle it's the insights, that,
hey you're going to better understand your. Business how do
you quantify? That i'd be lying IF i SAID i,
Knew but it's it's clearly. VALUABLE i, mean that's why
people pay for a lot of, this and you, know
just having a better pulse of your business is worth,
something even if it's hard to put an exact number against.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
IT i would think that having the knowledge of stockouts
in you, know individual retail locations or individual retailers just
in general would be huge information to, say you, know
when we send our, inventory when they order, it they sell,
it and it's it's a quick. Mover and if we
can get that information faster that you, know they just
(34:36):
ordered and now all of a sudden they're out of
stock three days later and it's four days until their next,
order maybe we need to have a discussion about how
much they're. Ordering SO i mean that that's huge, intelligence
especially for you, know the sales, teams but just also you, know,
operationally trying to figure out which channels are driving the
revenue for your.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
Business, well so let's let's use that, example because we
can break it up into a couple different pieces and
in kind of levels of maturity as an. Organization, sure
because you're absolutely. RIGHT i, MEAN i think hopefully everybody
listening could, say understanding Where i'm out of, stock there's
a clear value to, that, Right i'm missing a sale.
(35:18):
Exactly that's kind of everybody's worse. Nightmare so the first
step of that is SAYING i have an out of.
Stock you get some kind of report or alert you
are out of stock OF x. Item and this is
where the next, question though someone may, have is, WELL
i have a lot of out of. STOCKS i, mean
(35:39):
for the AVERAGE CpG five percent ish is often the, stock,
right sure can you quantify those for? Me? Right which
out of stocks are bigger problems than? Others and so
you know we started with out of stocks years. Ago
and then the next thing we just said is, well
really what we want to do is we want to
have a weighted measure that we call lost. Sales how
(36:01):
much are you actually losing losing because not all out
of stocks are. EQUAL i could be out of stock
in one store and it's LIKE i don't really. CARE
i don't do a lot of volume. There, yeah it's,
unfortunate you, KNOW i WISH i had, zero but that's
NOT i don't want one hundred percent service. LEVEL i
can't have, one and it would be incredibly, expensive, Right
so there's that trade. Off so WHAT i want to
(36:23):
understand is where are the biggest? Issues where are the
ones Where i'm going on a stock WHERE i do
a ton of? Volume right the vo you.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
Start, hire you know that it's it's the it's the
revenue stream you want to, chase.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
Exactly, right eighty twenty rule applies and everything in, life
it seems. Like, so so that's kind of that next.
Step and then and then the next thing people will
say is so what DO i do about? It that's
great that you told me THAT i lost a million
dollars last week at this. Retailer where AM i going
to lose a million dollars next week or two weeks from,
now depending on what my lead time and all that
(37:01):
THAT i can get ahead. Of and that's where WHEN
i was talking about those recommended, orders that's actually the
culmination of years of work that started with the very
simple question you had and then worked up to lost,
sales and then it would start to be, like, well in,
aggregate this is how much they should order To, no
we need to be extremely precise so that literally someone
(37:21):
can take this data and turn it into an order
and SAY i need ten thousand units, HERE i need
twenty thousand units. Here this is WHEN i need them
buy and so you can actually act on. Them and
so that's you, know but, again we have we have
companies that are still in like stage. One they're, Like
i'm just excited IF i can see out of socks
and others every single, week you, know or out there
(37:43):
banging on the doors their sales, teams their you, know
customer supply chain teams talking to those retailers saying this
is where we're going to have. Issues let's get aheut
of it.
Speaker 3 (37:53):
NOW i, mean and that's a win win for the
retailers and the. SUPPLIERS i, mean, no one doesn't want
to make the, sale.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
Yes and out of stock is not good for.
Speaker 3 (38:04):
Anyone, so speaking of failing or, underperforming what are some
examples of customers or a type of client or company
where your tool is not a great, fit where it
doesn't work as. WELL i, MEAN CpG covers a lot
(38:24):
of different, potential different. Products are there some that do
better than?
Speaker 2 (38:28):
Others? ABSOLUTELY i WISH i could say that every single
company we talked to or a perfect. Fit generally, speaking
we we've had quite a bit of success across a
lot of different. Verticals so there are some verticals where
we've probably had. More we've done more IN, CpG we've
(38:51):
done more in consumer, Electronics health and beauty is a
big vertical for. Us, historically we've done probably a little
less in, apparel although we've gotten a number of brands
on that side. Too LIKE i, said the, data it doesn't.
Matter the data is it's pretty agnostic as to what
the type of product. Is but the types of problems
(39:13):
that companies have and what they're trying to solve does.
VARY i, mean apparel companies extremely. Seasonal they generally have
products that you know they are shipping in for the,
season and then it's about how DO i sell through that? Inventory?
Right what do those sell through rates look? Like when
DO i what's a markdown? Schedule you know that's very
(39:34):
different than you, know selling toothpaste or there's a real
concept to. That you, know we'll call it kind of
an evergreen. Product the product doesn't change very. Often it's
just in regular replenishment. Mode and so you. Know as a,
result you, know people will use it very. DIFFERENTLY i
think we tend to often do better with replenishment items because,
(39:59):
again a lot of what we're doing is looking for
where can you replenish more versus if it's something where
you're just selling in for the. Season you, know there's
not really opportunities in some cases for, replenishment but there's
opportunities to optimize in other. Ways, right you can change
that markdown, schedule you can do other things the other.
Thing SO i would say it it, matters but we've
(40:21):
been successful across all of. Those the bigger thing that
comes down is change management at these. Companies and this
is going to be. True i'm sure it's true for your. Business,
true everybody's how much do they really want to? Change
not at.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
All everybody wants to. Change no one wants to do the.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
Change, yeah you, know and you have you know where
where do? Where does it not? Work, well it doesn't.
Work when you have a. Buyer it brings you in
and then you have the support to make the hard.
Changes and you, KNOW i WISH i could say we
try to make it and this is a huge focus for.
Us how can we make it as easy and simple
(40:58):
again to get, implemented to do it, quickly to make
alloy as simple as. Possible but it still requires somebody
on the other side who's, LIKE i WANT i want this.
CHANGE i want more visibility into our data by the
way we we air dirty laundry a little.
Speaker 3 (41:15):
Bit, yeah because.
Speaker 2 (41:18):
All of a sudden you start seeing that channel where
you perpetually have too much. Inventory, Yeah we've had that
happen many. Times people don't like to see. It you're
in a meeting and it's awkward when all of a, sudden, like,
wait why is there twice as much inventory in this
channel as this? One what is going? On and you,
know so you need to have an organization where we
(41:39):
see a lot between sales teams and supply chain. Teams,
right sales teams will be, HEY i need, THIS i need,
this you, know supply channel will be like do You
and all of a, sudden you have alloy and they
have visibility and they can, SAY i don't think you
do need. That you got money inventory, Already so SO
(42:01):
i think that is that's where you, know there have
been a couple of times WHERE i look back AND i, say,
yeah that deal didn't work because for the most, part
there wasn't THE i think the organizational desire for the.
Change but the flip, side of, course you see the
companies that do, change and it's so. Neat it's so
(42:21):
cool to, see you, know and it's not. Easy it's never. Easy,
AGAIN i WISH i could tell people it. Was but
companies that are just, like we're going to, reorient we're
going to think on a different, timeframe we're going to
be that much, faster we're going to use this extra,
data and and that's that's really fun to see.
Speaker 3 (42:38):
Too, yeah it is really fun to see organizations who
who want the, change who are excited, about you, know
whatever implementation it. Is you, know for me at me,
back we see lots of different implementations of different softwares
or or you, know new facilities or new production. Flows
and it's it's fun when they're engaged and excited about
(43:00):
it and they want to see their company succeed in
a new. Way and SO i totally get that where
you're able to show them something new that they can
do with this information that they've had sitting there this whole,
time and they just didn't understand what it meant and
now they're able to see it clearly for what it
is and adapt and grow and thrive in the. Marketplace
(43:24):
what would be your favorite customer success? Story and you
don't have to list a client name if they want
to stay, anonymous but, like what's that one time that
you made that biggest change or the biggest aha moment
and the client was just blown, away super. Excited tell
us about.
Speaker 2 (43:43):
THAT i think the first one that comes to, mind
and this will be a little, general but it gets
to that theme around change. Management this was a customer
who had in the very early. Days there's still a
customer so they've been with us for many. Years and
so this is when we were very. Small we didn't
even have a fully formed product at the. Time we
were still figuring it. Out and, uh it was a
(44:07):
it was a smaller company actually mostly in, apparel so
AND i think they were just kind of confused by
what we were. DOING i think a lot of it was, Like,
okay this sounds kind of. Neat you, know they had
they'd had a lot of. Success it had kind of
been a company that had just taken off and you,
(44:31):
know mid size company they, were they were a huge.
Company but, uh but they were willing to take a
bet on. Us and so this is probably why it
kind of feels close to my heart BECAUSE i was,
like they bet on me when we didn't have. Much
but if you want to talk about a company that,
changed you, know and again it started at the. Top
(44:53):
it was like their leadership, saying we need to become
a data driven organization and we. Don't we don't want
to be that kind of traditional. Company AND i, Again
i've seen it now for, years And i've seen how
they today in many ways are more sophisticated than companies
(45:14):
that are, many many times their, size just because it's
been a part of THEIR dna and it's it's just
like not even a question of is this data that
you look? AT i, mean they live and they breathe
it every single, day and when when new employees, join
it's just, like this is what you. Do this is
how you do your. Job if you're a salesperson and
(45:34):
you don't intimately understand you know what is happening and
are super. Honest one of the other Things i'm good
friends with THE, ceo and he'll talk about it's like
you've got to you've got to be honest when you're
dealing these are relationships and saying this is, working this
isn't even when the things that aren't working aren't to
your own personal. Advantage you, know that's what really build that.
(45:57):
Trust SO i think again that's a very general. ONE
i think there's lots of other examples that have, that
Like War. Concrete, hey they came in and they immediately
were able to turn it. Around they had this problem
with overstocks and they were able to figure it. Out
but this is one THAT i guess is just kind
of close to my heart because, Again i've just seen
(46:18):
that over the years and it's just been so cool
to say this is a very different organization than the
one THAT i met. You that's.
Speaker 3 (46:24):
Awesome, no and that's exactly what you set out to
do was to change these organizations and the way that
they approached this problem and help them through. That so
that's got to be incredibly. Gratifying SO i would, say
from my last, question what do you see next For? Alloy,
(46:46):
like what are you guys working? On what are you
trying to?
Speaker 2 (46:49):
Do? Extra, yeah, well is this going to shock? You
it's not going to shock you at, all because it's
what everybody's talking about so IF i look at what
do we have that's, Unique we've got a very unique
data set that we collect on behalf of our. Customers
(47:10):
we have a very deep understanding of the types of
problems that our customers are, solving right because we see
it across hundreds and hundreds of different. Companies we have
a new technology out there WITH. Lllms, okay RIGHT, Ai
and you, KNOW i, think to, me what gets me
(47:33):
the most exciting or excited is there are so many
of these use cases WHERE i, say we can really
train you, know AN ai to do these M AND
i know that seems kind of scary to some people
because they're, like wait a, minute or we just training
away our. Jobs and the short answer, is in some, ways,
(47:53):
YES i mean all of our jobs are but we're
not going. Anywhere we're, Gonna we're, Gonna we're we're pretty.
Adaptive but that to me is. Fascinating and as we've
started to play with you know, again we've also got
all the, tools, Right we've got all the models and
(48:15):
all the, analytics and you, know instead of training an,
analyst you train AN ai to be, like, well how
do you do this? Job what tools can you? Request
what data do you ask? For and it's it's fascinating
seeing if if you follow kind of the chain of
thought of these lms as you train, them you can
be like, hey at each step like ask for data
(48:36):
or ask to use this, tool and then you, know
our platform will give them that response and they have
to kind of digest the information that's provided and decide
the next step of what they want to. Do it's.
INCREDIBLE i mean they're in the speed at which they're getting.
BETTER i mean it's just looking this. MORNING i mean
it's like they get, better you, know every three, months
they like double and. Capabilities it seems. Like SO i
(49:00):
think that to me is going to be a fascinating.
Change is how do you, know get to a world
THAT i don't think that's is that far away where
we're essentially all going to have our own team of
analysts of these agents that are, out you, know operating relatively. Autonomously,
again they're not going to be doing everything on their,
own but they go out and do, things they come back, Report,
(49:22):
hey this is WHAT i. Found you give them some,
direction they go off and do that. Again so that's you,
know we as a company are really. Focused we don't
we try to avoid getting into the MARKETING ai hype
because it's. Insane i'm sure you, see it is. Insane,
yeah we just had our team came back from you,
(49:44):
know one of the big supply chain, conferences and they're
like every single company that's all it, was you, know
and then you go talk to companies like who's using?
WHAT i, mean almost everybody's using almost nothing at this.
POINT i think it's it's a lot of. Dabbling so you,
know we're we're taking maybe the slower, approach but one
of saying we want to put something out there that
(50:05):
really works and has a CLEAR roi and all. That
but i'd say the things that we're working on right,
now you certainly AGAIN i don't know are they going
to be ready three months from? Now is it a
year from? Now but you can see the promise and
that's pretty darn. Exciting that is.
Speaker 3 (50:20):
Exciting SO i think that brings us to the end
of our. Episode to our, listeners if you found today's episode,
valuable be sure to follow speaking of supply chain on
wherever you get your. Podcasts we are On, Spotify Google,
podcasts and, YouTube and share it with someone else who's
shaping the future of.
Speaker 1 (50:40):
Operations you've been listening To speaking Of Supply, chain a meboch.
Podcast keep connected with us by subscribing to the show
in your favorite podcast. Player if you like what you've,
heard please rate the show that helps us to keep
delivering the latest in supply chain. Information thanks for, Listening
(51:01):
until next.
Speaker 2 (51:01):
Time
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.