Mastering the Future of Supply Chain: AI, Adaptability & Communication

In this captivating episode of the Digital Supply Chain podcast, I had the incredible opportunity to chat with Miquel Serracanta, International Chair of the CSCMP Board of Directors. We delved into the crucial topics of adaptability, communication, and continuous learning in supply chain management while also exploring the potential impact of technology, such as AI, on the future of the industry.

Miquel shared his valuable insights on the importance of human connection and collaboration in successful supply chain management, as well as the need to keep up with the fast-paced world of technological advancements. As we discussed the future of supply chains, Miquel emphasized the importance of professionals staying informed and being prepared to adapt to the ever-changing landscape.

We also talked about the upcoming CSCMP European conference in Barcelona, taking place next month (June 8-9). I'm thrilled to share that I've been asked to present the Opening Keynote at this fantastic event! The conference will provide a unique opportunity for supply chain professionals to network, learn, and exchange ideas with industry experts from around the globe.

Don't miss this insightful conversation with Miquel Serracanta as we dive into the future of supply chain management and the role technology will play in shaping it. Listen now, and be sure to join us at the CSCMP Europe conference in Barcelona next month. If you see me there, say "Hi!" - I'll be the one with the hat!

And/or check out the video version of this podcast on YouTube https://youtu.be/teYmWkCyBUM

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Transcript

Miquel Serracanta: 0:03

So, 44% of the production is, today based in five countries in Asia. So between Japan, China, South Korea, Indonesia, and India. These five countries. All of them, produce 44% of the whole production of the world, which is a lot, which is almost half of it. So that's located in Asia

Tom Raftery: 0:21

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, wherever you are in the world. This is the Digital Supply Chain podcast, the number one podcast focusing on the digitization of supply chain, and I'm your host, Tom Raftery. Hi everyone. And welcome to episode 316 of the digital supply chain podcast. My name is Tom Raftery and I'm delighted to be here with you today sharing the latest insights in supply chain. Before we kick off today's show. I want to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude to all of this podcast's, amazing supporters whose support has been instrumental in keeping this podcast going. And I'm really grateful for each and every one of you. If you're not already a supporter, I'd like to encourage you to consider joining our community of like-minded individuals who are passionate about supply chain. Supporting the podcast is easy and affordable with options starting as low as just three euros or dollars a month, which is less than the cost of a cup of coffee. And your support will make a huge difference in keeping the show going strong. To become a supporter, simply click on the support link in the show notes of this or any episode. Or go to tiny url.com/dsc pod. Now without further ado, I'd like to introduce my special guest for today's podcast Miquel. Miquel, welcome to the podcast. Would you like to introduce yourself?

Miquel Serracanta: 1:36

Good morning, Tom. Good morning everyone. Yeah, I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Miquel Serracanta. I'm based in Barcelona. I am part of CSCMP Board of Directors as International chair. I've been volunteering the organization for 12 years, and apart from that I have my own company Solution Traditions. We do some consulting and also recruiting for supply chain professionals. I'm also a director of the Masters at EAE Business School in Barcelona

Tom Raftery: 2:00

Fantastic Miquel. And we should say at the outset that one of the reasons we're having this conversation is that the CSCMP Europe Conference is on in Barcelona next month, and you've invited me to come and speak at the event. And do you wanna speak to the audience and the listeners about that conference and reasons why they might want to attend apart from wanting to come and see me, which I, I'm hardly the big draw, but you know, there, there's lots of things happening at that event. It, it looks from the, event page. It looks like a fascinating event, and I'll put a link in the notes to the event page, so if people want to check it out, you know, but from your own words, tell me a little bit about the event.

Miquel Serracanta: 2:46

Yeah. So, first of all, before I start talking about the conference, Tom, let me, uh, introduce, CSCMP, the Council of Supply, Chain Management Professionals. It's a global organization. It's a nonprofit organization based in Chicago, the US and it started, 60 years ago in 63, and it was based in logistic then it, it transform, uh, the organization to supply chain professionals. And it's based on connecting, developing and educating supply chain professionals all over the globe. We are, uh, in 70 countries, plus than 70 countries, around 10,000 members, both corporate members and individual members. With the idea of networking, between the members and making sure that you are up to date in terms of best practices, and benchmark to other professionals, that's the idea of, the council itself. And what we are doing in the European conference is, we are, bringing people to Barcelona this week, a special week in Barcelona also because there is the international SIL exhibition. At the same exhibition we are doing the European Conference organized co-organised with our nine round tables, which are the chapters that we have in Europe. And the idea is to bring, academics and professionals here altogether, to start, an educating and developing and networking ourself. By listening to potential speakers like you, and like other companies like Coca-Cola, Danone, and other companies that will be sharing their insights to the professionals, uh, who can learn from the professionals on the stage, that's the idea Tom.

Tom Raftery: 4:12

Okay. And when is it happening?

Miquel Serracanta: 4:15

Yeah. Okay. That will be happening on the eighth and 9th of June, Thursday and Friday in Barcelona near Plaza España, and that's a, a special place in the, in the city. So where we can bring together all the people.

Tom Raftery: 4:27

Okay, fantastic. And now in your intro, you mentioned that you have your own consulting company, apart from being on the CSCMP board and also that you teach in one of the local business schools. So you've got a broad experience in this space. You've been in the supply chain space for. You know, three or four years now, I want to say.

Miquel Serracanta: 4:46

Not yet. No. It's, uh, you can see that I have a, let's say, lost a part of my hair already. So, no, I have been in the industry in the function for more than 30 years already. So I started in 93, so this is my 30 anniversary in the function. So I have, let's say many experience, many different experiences in the industry. So I'm one of the, let's say, How do you senior about that? How can you say that? Experienced, you're experienced. Okay. Experience. That's a nice way of question. Yeah. Not junior. You got, yeah. Yeah. That's a nice word.

Tom Raftery: 5:15

Yeah. And, and so looking back over those 30 years and from your, your vast experience, tell me about the trends that you're seeing in the supply chain industry. In the last, when let, let's, let's not go back 30 years for this, but let's just say, talk about the trends that you're seeing the last five years and where you see things going.

Miquel Serracanta: 5:32

Okay. Yeah. The last five years for supply chains have been really amazing in terms of changes and, uh, let's say that the major, uh, changes have been, based on, let's say two or three, major, global, changes. One has been, uh, the covid pandemic. So that has happened uh, in the 20, in the 2020. So that's three years ago, and that's changed dramatically the majority of supply chains, all over the world. Because as you, as you may see, or I want to give the audience this, the, this data in terms of, numerics. So there are two big data that it's important to understand about the how is the globe right now. So, 44% of the production is, today based in five countries in Asia. So between Japan, China, South Korea, Indonesia, and India. These five countries. All of them, produce 44% of the whole production of the world, which is a lot, which is almost half of it. So that's located in Asia. That's one thing. The second thing is that, 95%, more than 90% of the materials and products in the world, at some point in their life, of the materials or products, are on a boat, on a ship. Because there is the, the, the shipping industry, the maritime industry, all, all, all over the world. So based on, on this Asia and where the goods are consumed, let's say that way, Tom. So at some point you need to put that in a ship, in a boat, which is the cheapest transportation, to any part of the world. It's much expensive, a plane, much expensive, a truck, which is much more reduced to the locality. But then let's see the, the ships. And that's why there we have more than 50,000 cargos all over the world moving. If you see the maps of the world, some point you can go to Google and see the, the, there is a lot of boats there and sometimes there is, some, uh, struggling in some of the ports anywhere in the, in the world. And that happened several years ago when a ship, crossed, the Canal de Suez in Egypt. You remember that was a big ship that crossed the Canal de Suez, and then that stopped the global trade and say, what's going on here? A ship, stops there. For some days, and then you stop the world because there was a line of boats there. So that's the second major change that, happened this, last three years. And the last one, but not least, is that we are because of e-commerce and what happened, people were staying at home and then there was a, a real increase of e-commerce because you can take your phone and with your phone, you can buy many things in through the internet. And that's not only Amazon, but all the marketplaces that you can go. And right now, I have to tell you another data, which is important for supply chain. So 20% of the retail consumption is made through e-commerce. That's the, the current data. Before covid, that was 14%, one four. Right now is 20. And the forecast is that in three years, we are going to reach 24, 25. So one of every $4, one of every four euros in three or four years will be spending instead of going to shops. People will be expecting at home to receive the material. So that's a huge change also for the transportation industry because instead of going to deliver to thousands of shops, you deliver to millions of households. That's a lot of change in the supply chain,

Tom Raftery: 8:36

And that's a huge hit as well for sustainability because obviously far, far more trips means far, far more emissions, right?

Miquel Serracanta: 8:49

Yes. Yeah, you, you are absolutely right on that. So that's, that's one of the biggest challenge we, we are facing right now, sustainability. How do we make this sustainable for the future generations, how we make the planet that stays and, and we are not killing ourselves on the atmosphere. So, we need to figure out, and that, that's, always about, KPIs and measuring so many companies right now, they are measuring their emissions, which is good. So when you see a factory, you see a warehouse, you see a company, and they are measuring as a KPI for the management, top management. They're measuring the emissions. And one of the goals every year is reducing the emissions or going to what they call zero emissions. That's good on a company perspective of also good to the individual perspective. So how many emissions does most family, how many emissions do we put in the atmosphere? So try to reduce that. That's going to help, us in the future. And then there is the other, the back trend of people that says, okay, let's challenge that because it's true that when they come to your home and they bring a van to your home and they deliver something, it's true that they deliver something and they are, let's say increasing the, emissions. But it's also true that you are not driving to the consumption, to the place, to the store. So then you are reducing your emissions because you're staying home and you are not driving. So obviously we need to compare that. Maybe it's because that's depending on how many times do they come home to deliver something. If they come to your home 10 times a week, it's different that you go to the supermarket once with your car. So then we need go to compare again. But really, sustainability is a big chance. That will be also one of the big topics in our conference in Barcelona. For sure.

Tom Raftery: 10:24

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And a, apart from the sustainability impacts the whole shift to e-commerce, what other impact is that having on supply chain?

Miquel Serracanta: 10:34

So it, the other impact that we, that, that we are facing is that, supply chain right now is not about, so let, so let's say the other way in which teachers and people in business, school, university, teach supply chain, this was about, making the execution of the supply chain excellent. Meaning that, when you have the, let's say the production side, the materials, and so try to do all the processes in a way, synchronized way that the execution, was excellent and you give the, the best product with the best value, the best service at the lowest cost. That was the original idea of of operations and supply chain. Right now, this changes a lot because it's not a matter to make sure that you have the excellent execution. You need to have something previous, which is the planning, and then the planning means that you cannot execute without planning. Why is that Tom? And, and all the people listening to us, because then right now it's very difficult. The demand and supply are, so in turbulent times are very difficult to forecast and to see what's going on and what's coming to be, that companies need to anticipate that and need to say, okay, which is my demand going to be next week, next month, next quarter? Because depending on that, I need to plan all my capacities, not only production, but logistics, but people, technology, blah, blah, blah, everything to make sure that the execution will be excellent. So right now one of the biggest challenge of companies is how do they plan? And then right now, also, I'm recruiting, as I told you. So the current, one of the current top jobs in the industry in supply chain, the planning. So planners, demand planners, supply planners, inventory plannings, transport planners, anything related to planner. Sounds right now very sexy because all the companies need planners.

Tom Raftery: 12:13

Right, right now. Yeah, that's true. Interesting. And what about the triangle processes that you mentioned in the intro call?

Miquel Serracanta: 12:21

Okay. The triangle processes. Yeah. so companies, usually they are based or they, they manage the business in terms of, understanding how a process or processes is the way you create the business and, and the, the several steps you do to transform, anything into a product that you may sell to your consumers, to your clients. That's, that's the how any company stands, the processes then to make that happen companies are based or are, let's say are having, tools and technology that support those processes. And then the third part of the triangle is the people, as I called them, the organization, the driver of the tools to make the process. It's not that you can have a car. You need, let's say a highway, a car, and a driver. That's the triangle. So the triangle means that the, the, their business should make supply chain, stable and efficient in all the three verticals of the triangle. So how is that doing? So that right, right now what's happening is that, Companies are basing their, evolution and their, maturity status, development. They need to evolve not only in one of the triangles, but in the three of them. So it's not about that you improve your processes. It's not about that you invest in technology. It's about the, that you do the three things altogether. Meaning that you need to invest in technology, make sure that you have the right processes, but also have the right talent and right people, organization to make this happen together. The idea.

Tom Raftery: 13:48

How easy is that?

Miquel Serracanta: 13:50

Oh, that, that's really, really very complicated. So it's, it's not, I'm not, I, I'm not willing to say that this is complicated. What I, I would say that we would say this is complex. It's different than complicated. So complex means that you need to understand how the relation of the three axis are, the three vertex bars, and make sure that you invest in the right moment in technology. I always said that. It's not okay if, if you want me to drive fast, so you don't need to give me a Ferrari or an excellent car. You need to give me three things. Look at this. You need to give me, first of all, a circuit when I can put my Ferrari on fast speed. So I need the, the road with no people, a circuit that's, safe. Good. Then the Ferrari itself, because I don't have Ferrari. So you need to give a Ferrari to me or to you Tom, so we can ride it. And the third thing is that Miquel is not ready to drive. I can drive my car, which is a small car, but I cannot drive a Ferrari. So if you want me to drive a Ferrari at 300 kilometers per hour, you need to make sure that you train me for that for a while. So that's the three things. And usually, because of let's say files, selling, proposals that companies have, been, uh, let's say listening to the last years. Some companies believe that if you invest in technology, That's it. That company improve the processes and company improve the business, and that's not true. So companies today understand that. It's not that you simply buy the Ferrari or buy the tool. No. You need to improve your processes and you need to invest in your people and your talent. That's, that's the other, the other part, and here is where, what I see. Let's say the power of an organization like the Council, which makes you be able to understand what's going on in the development of, uh, let's say the, the brains and the kind of the people all over the globe. It's not about technology, it's about the people. This is still about the people.

Tom Raftery: 15:43

Okay. And you mentioned that you are recruiting at the moment for, planning people. So how hard or easy is it at the moment to recruit people in the supply chain industry? Because, uh, I, I gotta think there's a lot of competition out there for talent.

Miquel Serracanta: 15:59

Yeah, there is. There is a, there is a real war for talent right now, a real competition. So right now, companies are struggling with two things, though they are struggling to attract new professionals and also, retain the current professionals they have because other companies try to get them and, and move them to a different company so that, that's what's going on. So what companies are doing right now in the past or at least 30 years ago when I started my career. So you, take positions as a candidate based on, okay, this is an important company. I like the product. Let's say the style is good. I think that the boss will be, okay, so yeah, let's go for that company. Right now, the candidates are much more willing to have other things. So they are considering things like, for example, one thing that is on the table right now is how much time I will be working from home. Where, where can I, so if I want to live in wherever, so can I live wherever and then go for to the office twice every week? And I know I don't want to commute every day because my life is important and, and I don't want to spend one hour in the morning, one hour in the evening returning home. I, I don't want to do that. So people is asking that. When you start interviewing candidates, they say, okay, Miquel, how many days at home? And you say, maybe one day, two days. Some companies say, no, no, no, no working at home. You need to come to the office every day. So that's, that's something that the criteria of candidates to take or not take a job to be interested or not, it's depending on not only the money, but also the number of days at home, but also the values of the company. So, for example, one question that some candidates ask us is, Okay, what is this company doing in terms of supply chain sustainability? What they, they are doing, which are, are they truly thinking on doing things to improve, global sustainability or they are doing nothing? So tell me about initiatives that they are doing. So when, wow, that's impressive because you say, wow, the candidate is really interested in that because on the decision, they will take on the job will be based on the values of the companies, which is something that is really creating this competition because the companies that are able to attract good candidates or retain the ones that they have, will be able to have better people in the future that they had in the past. So that's something that's changing Tom.

Tom Raftery: 18:09

Okay. Well, given I'm on the lookout for a job myself at the moment, it's good to hear that there's a war for talent. So that's, yeah, that's heartening.

Miquel Serracanta: 18:17

Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Right

Tom Raftery: 18:20

In. In terms of supply chain understanding within organizations, I mean, supply chain is just one part of an organization, typically, how well is it understood outside of the supply chain organization, let's talk about the, the c-level, for example, suite. You know, do they know what's going on in supply chain?

Miquel Serracanta: 18:39

They, they, they should. And then sometimes, uh, some of them they do and some of them they may not do. So what, what is my understanding of a general manager, a CEO of a company or C level, is that they are usually able to understand. So, uh, sales impact, marketing impacts, finance impacts. They are usually these, these areas are really very well known among the c level organization. Supply chain at some point in operations, it's something that, some of them may consider like the black box, something that say, okay, we know that we have like a supply chain, we have like a warehouse. I've never been there. I have a production site. Never been there because it's some somebody, wow. Production site. The warehouse is somebody, okay, I'm in the office. So going there, it's like the black box. So you, you truly rely on the people in operations and supply chain to make that happen. And you only call them or ask them when something is wrong. I always saying that supply chain people, I've been a supply chain executive myself because be before becoming a consultant. And in the past my boss only called me when something was wrong, when everything was doing very well and you were doing a nice job and everything was smooth and, and very good for the customers nothing happened. Nothing was saying only they call you when there is a urgency, whether it is a problem, there is an issue, you are in trouble. Then they call operations, supply chain. So what's going on here? So my point right now is that. The CEOs and general managers and C-level organization that better understands the supply chain fundamentals and the drivers of supply chain, and understand that if even if you launch a new product, even if you decide to move to another country, to another geography, to launch a new line of products or material, whatever you need to consider the supply chain impacts on that because that will affect your business success. If you don't consider that and you don't have, let's say, a clear idea of how is that impacting the business, not only in economics, but in terms of service and in terms of cost to your customers, then you are more likely to have failures and, and, and pitfalls. So it's better that you understand that. So my recommendation to all of the c level suite in, in any organization will be try to understand what's going on in supply chain, what's this supply chain about, and what are the real challenges that we have in supply chain as professionals.

Tom Raftery: 20:57

Sure. Sure. And do you think that the, the last, you know, three, four years, the whole pandemic, do you think that brought home to boards and c-levels, the importance of supply chain? And do you think as a consequence it has now become potentially a strategic differentiator for organizations?

Miquel Serracanta: 21:18

Yes, I'm sure that, that that happened the last three years. Tom, really, many organizations, right now understood, understand much better the supply chain. That's why, many organizations have, are upgrading the level, the talent that they have in supply chain. That's because they understood, and right now they understand the importance of the supply chain and operations, to make them, uh, successful as a company. And this is what has been changing in the last year. So yes, I, I, I, I would say that this is a clear, yes.

Tom Raftery: 21:46

Okay. And what about things like teamwork and collaboration within organizations in supply chain? How's that going?

Miquel Serracanta: 21:54

Yeah, so teamwork and something, it's, the supply chain is, really about making functions work together in a synchronized way. So it's not about working by your own, but you need to work together with finance, with sales, with human resources, with IT, with all the other functions. So teamwork for a supply chain professional is absolutely critical. And then how do you make teamwork happen? So, First of all, it's communication. So open communication, active listening, and make sure that people, uh, you understand what's going on and what, your suppliers are saying to you. Your customers are asking, you are demanding your partners. So communication for supply chain professional is something that you need to be excellent in that. That's first thing. And then second thing, and related to that is how do you collaborate with customers, with suppliers? How do you coordinate with them and how do you make sure that this collaboration and coordination, makes the supply chain excellent, end-to-end? This is why I would say that we have increased a lot. The, the power of, teamwork and collaboration and, and communication between all, all participants in the supply chain because the organizations realize that this is exactly about that. So if you have that information and you don't share that information with any other of the functions involved, even if you know that, but that's a problem for the organization because I know that, but maybe Tom is working on another department and I'm not giving Tom that information, then Tom will take decisions without knowing that, that this may affect the decision that he or she may take depending on that information. So you need to share, and this sharing and this visibility of the supply chain is really very important right now.

Tom Raftery: 24:11

Okay. And apart from communications, are there other new skills that people in supply chain need to be equipping themselves with?

Miquel Serracanta: 24:20

Okay. That's a good so what, what I have been, uh, seeing in the market is that, right now the market, when you are talking to a candidate and you are asking the company saying, okay, the customer says, you, okay, Miquel and team, this is the requirements we have from candidates. Usually they ask for, hard skills and soft skills. The hard skills are usually the technical skills you need to, to do a job. If you need to me need to be an engineer, you need to be an engineer. If you need to speak English or speak another language or, or work with an Excel spreadsheet, you need to know that that's more technical side, but that's not, that's something that can eliminate you from the initial field to become a candidate, but that's not what it's going to give you the job. What's going to give you the job is soft skills. And soft skills right now, apart from what we have said, communication, this ability of teamwork. I see two major ones. One is the resilience, which is something that you need to cope with everything stressed in the world at these urgencies and have the ability of recover yourself from a difficult time. So this resilience, for candidate, that's super important. And the second, and, and I think that this is also very important for candidates, is that they call learnability, which the ability to get new skills quickly. Why is that? Because technology is really going on a fast way that I cannot even myself imagine. I don't know about you, but imagining technology, if I have to say to guess which technology is going to be, let's say, main mainstream in five, seven years, I don't have the answer at all. I don't know, because this is going so fast that in technology, I only have the answer that me Miquel Serracanta myself. I need to be able to cope with what's going on. I'll learn fast. So being a fast learner, a fast skill, skill learner, and being able to adapt to that, that's super important. And companies are looking for that. So for candidates that are able to cope with new technology and improving themselves in skills quick, that's what's something that is, let's say very valued in the market right now.

Tom Raftery: 26:21

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I, I think one of the technologies that's going to really disrupt supply chain in the coming years is going to be AI. I mean, we we're starting just to see the way it's being rolled out now. You know, since ChatGPT launched last November, we've seen a huge increase in its utility and we've seen even things like in, Microsoft are starting to roll out they're generative AI products in their Teams, in their, Office suite, in their Dynamics, you know, and that's going to have huge implications as well. So, and that's just, that's just the start. I, in terms, in, in the way I, I like to phrase this for people, to give them a kind of an analogy is we are in 2007 with respect to smartphones. Smartphones. The iPhone was announced in 2007. That's where we are right now, you know, so, uh, in, in terms of AI at least, and in terms of supply chain, there's so much data. Organizations have so much data, and that's what AI thrives on. It can look through enormous amounts of data and find trends that it would be really, really hard for you and I to see. Uh, so I think, yeah. And you, you mentioned the, the ability for people to learn. And I think this is going to be crucial because recruits talent, the ability to learn and the, to be able to work with AI is going to be hugely beneficial for people in the next five years and and beyond. So we're gonna see major, major changes there. I think it's, it's gotta be a fascinating space to watch. Absolutely. Yeah. What about things like networking?

Miquel Serracanta: 28:06

That's something that happen in my mind every, every single day. So I, I have a, let's say, uh, one of my, my top priorities during the week of really is, let's say, to meet new people and to learn from other people. So how I, how do I do that or how do I recommend my network to do that is, you need to be able to, to share and be open to, to learn from others and that that ways you always. So this morning I have, before this, this call, I have, interview with someone that was, connected by another person and say, okay, you need to talk to Miquel. And this morning we have a brief chat, 20 minutes on the video. And the first initial, starting from his point was say, okay, we don't know each other, but between you and me, we have like 50 contacts, 50 common contacts that you know that through LinkedIn. With the social media platform, it's easy to understand how many people do you have in contact with another person. So the wall is really small, so you are not far away of connecting to everybody. So everybody knew someone that, so if you investigate that, it's really fascinating. So networking abilities and the capabilities of being connected to others and know, because what I know for myself, even after this 30 years of experience is that I don't have all the answers. So, why is my networking helping me in that is when some customers, some friends, some professionals say, Miquel, do you have this answer? Okay, I don't, I may don't know the answer at that moment, but I know who to ask. So yeah, knowing the person that you need to ask to get that answer, that's the power of network. That's the real value of you as a connection, not your only, let's say brain and yourself. It's the capacity that you have to connect to others because that multiplies per thousands, your capabilities and your abilities. So, I, I would, let's say push. And that's why an, an organization like, CSCMP, that I have been a member for the last 12 years, has been a real change in my professional, uh, capacities in supply chain because this connection that I have all over the globe, means that when I need some, someone I adjust, let's say make an email some quick connection, and I have the answer I, and I know who to I can connect with. That's absolutely important, Tom.

Tom Raftery: 30:15

Sure, sure, sure. Yeah. Makes, makes a lot of sense. where to from here for supply chains? I mean, we've talked about how much they've been disrupted in the last few years, and we've mentioned a bit about how AI is going to be massively disruptive as well. What else are you seeing that's, that's coming down the line that's going to change supply chains?

Miquel Serracanta: 30:35

So in the future, in the coming years, I, I, I know, I don't know what's going to happen in technology, but I know that technology is going to be there. So things like, for example, a as you say, AI. Obviously, but also, things like driverless vehicles, trucks, more, more physical, potential drones for this sustainability topic that you see. A lot of vans, what about delivering with some drones may happen? Yes, it may happen. I dunno how, how. Then people are starting to think, but then, then it's, this is a bit worse than you say, wow, this cannot happen. But maybe I'm not saying impossible, I'm saying. How are they planning or how is the society and the everything in the world, how do, how are they going to be able to connect at some point our brains with intelligence. So because we cannot live without this right now, you go with this. Mm-hmm. are you going to be able to be connected at some point with a computer? Is that really something that It's weird. No, no, no. We cannot be like a cyborg that's not possible. That's too far away. It's like a red line or is this something that will be regulated and will happen in the future? That may be many years ago. But will my grandkids have that or, or not? So will, will this happen? So technology is something that we need to be ready that it will, as you say, oh seven initial, iPhones initial, let's say smartphones. And right now you cannot live with, with an, with, with, with that. It's impossible. You need that tool. Yeah. Everybody need that tool. So, be ready to what's going on. And then I want to, let's say, close this, this part of the future, saying that you need to be able, seeing, that the speed of change in the, in the outside is a lot. So Jack Welsch said that in the past, former CEO of General Electric, he say that if the rate of change in the outside exceed the rate of change in the inside, meaning inside you as a professional or you as a company, then you will be in trouble in the future. So you need to make sure that anything happening in the outside technology, blah, blah, blah, what's going on in the world? You need to be at speed on that because if not, it's like the Darwin evolution theory. You will be out of the market soon. Yeah. So be ready for this speeding, uh, technology and changes and make sure that you have good connections and you have your own ability to continuous learning. So it's that, that would what will be my, my recommendation on this Tom.

Tom Raftery: 32:59

Cool. Miquel, we're coming towards the end of the podcast now. Is there any question that I haven't asked Miquel, that you think I should have or any topic we've not talked about that you think it's important for people to be aware of?

Miquel Serracanta: 33:11

No, I have, uh, I think that I have touch whenever I, I, we have a good vision of, the supply chain and where we are Tom. So I, I wasn't expecting any other different question from you, but it has been a nice conversation. Thank you very much.

Tom Raftery: 33:24

Okay. So if people would like to know more about yourself, Miquel, or about any of the topics we discussed in the podcast today, where would you have me direct them?

Miquel Serracanta: 33:33

yeah, I can, I can give you my details and afterwards to this podcast. you can send to them, no problem. Sure.

Tom Raftery: 33:39

Great. I'll, I'll put those links in the show notes and that way everyone will have access to 'em. Great. Super Miquel, that's been fascinating. Thanks a million for coming on the podcast today.

Miquel Serracanta: 33:47

Thank you very much, Tom, for the opportunity. Thank you.

Tom Raftery: 33:51

Okay, we've come to the end of the show. Thanks everyone for listening. If you'd like to know more about digital supply chains, simply drop me an email to TomRaftery@outlook.com If you like the show, please don't forget to click Follow on it in your podcast application of choice to be sure to get new episodes as soon as they're published Also, please don't forget to rate and review the podcast. It really does help new people to find a show. Thanks, catch you all next time.