Kearney teams with Aera Technology on supply chain
Consulting firm Kearney has partnered with Aera Technology, a Silicon Valley supply chain automation firm, to improve the supply chain agility of retail clients.
The Covid-19 pandemic has made resilience, the ability to adapt to change, and strong risk management the key priorities for supply chain leaders.
However, even leading firms still try to predict what will happen in their supply chain, and then optimize their performance against a plan. And though companies might digitize their supply chain to work more efficiently against that plan, the system will still lack flexibility.
Kearney’s approach is to build a supply chain that can continually "sense and pivot" in response to unforeseen changes. The firm’s consultants help clients identify the blind spots that prevent them from knowing when conditions and demands change, as well as transform inflexible processes and decision making to create agility.
Kearney has partnered with Aera to integrate the tech firm’s Cognitive Operating System into its “Sense and Pivot” supply chain offering. Aera’s cognitive automation platform allows companies to boost agility by turning vast amounts of transactional data into optimal business decisions that are implemented instantly and automatically. The firm’s automation solution helps companies improve forecasts, inventory management, orders, procurement, logistics, and promotions.
"When it comes to supply chain management, there are many variables to consider, but the key is to balance cost, service level, and resiliency," said Suketu Gandhi, partner in the digital transformation practice at Kearney. "Our partnership with Aera Technology will mean that companies can achieve this goal by anticipating disruptions more effectively and implementing contingency plans with ease."
Retail clients have already seen benefits from using Kearney and Aera’s solutions. A Kearney e-commerce client recently reported a 2-4% top-line cost saving using the Sense and Pivot system, while one client saw a $10 million reduction in working capital from Aera-generated recommendations.
"We've worked with the world's largest organizations to demonstrate the value of cognitive automation at scale," said Frederic Laluyaux, CEO of Aera Technology. "By integrating Kearney's supply chain capabilities with Aera's proven Cognitive Operating System, we are excited to extend this to an even wider range of companies with our strategic partnership with Kearney."
