Streamlining Operations: How Bayer and DHL are Reducing Complexity

In this episode, join Michael Sullivan, Senior Vice President, Product Supply Chain NA, Bayer and James Hoskins, Vice President, Operations, Life Sciences and Healthcare, DHL Supply Chain, as they explore our 25-year partnership, organizational strategy and successful collaborations. 

Transcript

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Welcome to All Business.

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No Boundaries., a collection of
supply chain stories by DHL Supply Chain,

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the North American leader
in contract logistics.

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I'm your host, Will Heywood.

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This is a place for in-depth discussions
on the supply chain challenges

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keeping you up at night.

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We're breaking beyond the boundaries
that are limiting your supply chain.

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Today's episode is: Streamlining Operations:

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How Bayer and DHL
are Reducing Complexity.

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Our guests are Michael Sullivan,
Senior Vice President,

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Product Supply Chain, North America
Bayer and James Hoskins,

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Vice President, Operations, Life
Science and Healthcare, DHL Supply Chain.

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Let's dive in.

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Welcome, both of you.

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I'm really happy to have you here today.

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I appreciate you taking the time
to come on to the podcast.

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I will start like we always do.

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I'll ask you both to introduce yourselves.

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So if Michael, you could go first.

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Tell us your name.

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Who you work for
and what your role is there, and maybe

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how long you've been, at that company.

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Sure.

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So, Michael Sullivan, I'm
the Senior Vice President

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of Product
Supply at Bayer Consumer Health.

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Based in New Jersey.

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I've been here for about six years
of my 30 plus year career.

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And, I've had a really good time
here, with the Bayer Corporation.

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Okay, terrific.

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James, you're not
a stranger to the podcast.

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But please, if you can introduce yourself
to the audience again.

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Yeah. No problem.

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James Hoskins, I'm the VP of Operations
for Life Science Healthcare.

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I'm the executive sponsor
for the Bayer account.

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I've been with DHL for about 28 years,
and my background is majority

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in operations, packaging,
warehouse management systems, and quality.

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Michael, you said Bayer Consumer Health.

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Tell us.

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I think a lot of our audience
knows the brand name.

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But tell us more about the organization.

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What is it?

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I think there's a broader Bayer Company.

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So if you could just for a walk us
through, who Bayer is, who Bayer Consumer

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Health is and where we may run into it,
as, you know, consumers.

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So, you know, Bayer is,
a big multinational conglomerate

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where we're operating in most countries
around the world.

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And, we we really have three divisions.

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We have a consumer health
division, of which I'm part.

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So I think, consumer health being,
products, you can buy over the counter,

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at your pharmacy,
at your local store, online,

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to meet your various, self health, needs.

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Now we can talk
more about the brands later.

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We then have a division
which is our pharmaceutical division,

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which produces,
of course, prescription medications.

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Large focus on oncology,

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biologics, women's health,

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and a lot of core,
a core, needs for, people, individuals.

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And then we have our division,
which is, what we call crop science.

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And so they're making,
the growing seeds, for farmers to plant,

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herbicide treatments.

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And so, you know, very much,
for the agricultural space,

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we got three divisions.

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But we're all we're all helping consumers.

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We're here to help everyone,
every everyday life in different ways.

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Health for all, hunger
for none is our mantra.

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And, our three divisions are
they're working together, to achieve that.

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Just a general scale, you know,

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what's the overall annual revenues
of the company.

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North of 50 billion?

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Yeah. Billion dollars.

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And, you know, like,
sort operating in most countries,

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that the consumer

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health division is the
smaller of the three divisions.

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But it's got a fantastic
worldwide footprint.

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Okay.

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And you share something in common with us,
which I think you're a

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you're a German, multinational,
like DHL is.

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So we've got that in common.

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We are, you know, our heritage.

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You know, we started,
as the Bayer brand with the Bayer aspirin.

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In Europe
to call a Bayer, German-founded company.

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We've been a business
for more than 150 years.

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Each one of our divisions
has a headquarters, somewhere,

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in either Europe or the US.

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And, we run the consumer health division
for North America.

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Other out of New Jersey. Okay, terrific.

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So, James, catch us up here on the
relationship that DHL has had with Bayer.

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What's the history?

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Yeah. So we go back about 25 plus years.

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Global account.

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We, in 2019, we started up
a 1,000,000 square foot

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build to suit, CRT facility
with cold chain for Bayer

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that's in our Manchester,
Pennsylvania area.

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Bayer operating in
about 800,000ft² of this,

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which includes about 150,000
in secondary packaging.

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And then Bayer being the anchor client.

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We support the consumer pharma packaging
and a little bit of plant support.

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This was by design to have flexibility
and scalability.

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So for Bayer's needs to kind of grow
or shrink into that space as they needed.

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We currently house about 5,000 pallets of
raw material that supports that inbound to

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manufacturing in Myerstown.

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And then on the packaging side,
we do cartonization, blister packs, shrink

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wrap and display.

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So, this building is kind of also with,

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a facility that we have in Las Vegas
and then McDonough, Georgia as well.

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Okay.

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So it's a it's a network that you're
running.

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Three. Yes.
Three DC network with packaging.

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Okay.

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And so, Michael,

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I think it's safe to assume that fits
within your scope of responsibility.

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What else are you overseeing?

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And in your role
as, Senior Vice President?

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Yeah.

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So I have responsibility
for, manufacturing,

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both internally, at our own facility.

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And then externally with, our cmo
or contract manufacturing partners.

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In North America have responsibility

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for all of the supply chain functions,
project management,

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the distribution team, which
which James works with, in the, in the US

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and then, as well
as, a customer logistics team.

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So I have a part of my team

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is actually embedded with the sales
organization calling in customers.

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And then I've got a financial services
team,

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which also collects revenue
from all of our customers,

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both for the consumer business
and also for, the farmer division.

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You know, one of the things
that we talk about in this podcast is,

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you know, careers in supply
chain and, and how, broad they really are.

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What you just outlined there
certainly, supports that contention.

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You said that you've had a pretty long,
supply chain career prior

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to coming to Bayer.
What what were you up to?

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Yeah.

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You know, before Bayer,
I spent, 27 years at Proctor and Gamble.

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Started manufacturing management,
which is what I wanted to do

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coming out of out of school.

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So got right into operations.

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Spent a lot of my years in operations.

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But I've had the good fortune
of working in most disciplines

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in the operations
slash supply chain space.

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So, contracting factory
internal manufacturing,

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project management, supply chain,
some some procurement work along the way.

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Had a chance to work,
several years in Asia.

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About half my half my career has been
doing work internationally.

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Changed companies a couple of times.

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And then came to Bayer in 2019.

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So I think I've had the good fortune
of working almost every discipline,

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you can imagine up and
down the supply chain.

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And really enjoy operations.

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And it really inspires me to be able
to make a product, to go out the door.

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And, so you get into the hands of
a consumer, who's benefiting from it?

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Yeah.

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So you're at Bayer, and, I understand
you have a new global CEO,

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and there's a program, underway
that you're,

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taking part in or leading part of,
I suppose.

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Tell us what that is.

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And, and kind of how it breaks down
and what kinds of things

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you're, you're working on.

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You know, when I,

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when I first came to Bayer in 2019,

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very traditionally run company.

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You know, run a lot from the corporate
offices, a lot of run a lot from,

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the global headquarters, things deployed,

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to be done, things monitored.

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Very traditional, management approach.

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And, you know, we we wanted to do better.

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And, and the idea was much like

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we've been trying to do
in manufacturing for a long time.

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How do you get to run a business
more locally?

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How do you get to run a business?

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More from a bottom up.

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How do you get teams
to be more autonomous?

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How do you get more local decision making?

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How do you respond faster
and better to products and development?

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How do you respond faster
to customer needs and consumer needs?

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How do you

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take out bureaucracy, and create agility?

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How do you make teams

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more effective together,
how do you get teams to be inspired

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to drive as much efficiency at the,
you know, unit level as possible?

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And how do you get people who are doing
that work every day to create the insights

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and ideas,
and the creativity, for improvement.

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And so I like this idea of Dynamic

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Shared Ownership.

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You know, what do we
what would what do we change?

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Well, we've taken out a lot of bureaucracy
where we've taken out a lot of,

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kind of central organizations.

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We've taken out a lot of excessive
governance.

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We've created more autonomous teams.

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We've created, product teams
we didn't have before.

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And we were driving efficiency
this way, too.

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So it's a it's a journey.

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And like any other large culture
organization

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transformation, it takes
it takes some time.

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You know,
we're about Year 2 into this now.

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We're we're getting,
you know, deeper and deeper into it

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or we're starting
to see some benefits from it.

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But it takes time.

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And I think,

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well, that's one of the key things about
culture and organization transformation.

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It's not quick.

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You don't, you know, you just don't
send out the letter and get it done.

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You have to bring the organization along.

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You have to train it to bring
a lot of people along with you.

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You have to be willing to listen
to the issues and some of the change

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crates and and making sure
that you're going at a rapid pace,

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but bringing the organization
along for success.

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When I feel really good about

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and the transformation
we've made, the last kind of year, year

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and a half is while we've made this large
transformation,

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we've actually been improving
results at the same time.

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And I think that just proves that
that's a it's hard, but we get it.

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We've gotten that done.

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We've gotten that done.

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And I would
I would fully agree with you, Michael.

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We've seen the speed to implementation
improve our direct contacts at the plan

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and these teams have had direct ownership
in when it comes to our innovation

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that that speed implementation
is very important. Right.

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We're seeing a lot of that
and we're still new in this journey.

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But I have seen some great improvement
in this area.

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So good things to come.

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So good things to come.

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Yeah. So James, go a little deeper here.

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With some of the innovations.

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What what kinds of things have you been
working on with the Bayer team?

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So we just did a customer for life.

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So we are kind of
focusing on all the areas.

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I know we've got some areas
where we're doing a lot of data analytics

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on some of our OS&D and fines
through the end to end process.

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You know, we've got, some kind of,
the new gloves to help us pick faster.

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We're doing kind of like a visual voice
pick as well.

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So, we have, you know, electric
yard trucks, those sort of things.

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So all the normal stuff that you would see
in those implementations.

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But really getting into this new vision
of what Bayer wants to be

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and how we're going to end up
with in two years, especially since

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I think the biggest thing for Bayer
is you're going to your objective

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to to reduce inventory 25%
across your network by 2027.

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So using all of our data and our analytics
and our AI support to look at what

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that's going to be
and how we can meet there

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to make sure that we are funding
innovation responsibly.

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Right.

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We can't put in a lot of these,
you know, big robotics

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and those sort of things
until we know where we're going to be.

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So we're seeing a lot of stuff

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around data, data analytics,
AI and those sort of things and reporting.

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Michael, what are your thoughts on
some of those topics?

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Look, I think, you know, one space
we've made a lot of progress,

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in the last couple of years
is really about serving our customers.

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And, first of all, our service

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levels are near all time highs,
which is which is great to see.

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And that's that's a joint effort, between,
you know, our manufacturing sites

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and our supply chain team
and you as our distribution partner.

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So I really feel good about the progress
we've made on servicing our customers,

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but then how we service the customers.

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And, you know, what we're trying to do is,

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take empty miles off the road.

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How do we get more efficient
in a way that it's better for the customer

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from a receiving standpoint?

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How can we make the whole experience
better?

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How do we, you know, help
eliminate over shorts and damages

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and avoid fines and things
that come along with those, those topics.

00:13:26:20 - 00:13:29:23
So, you know, this
these are collaborative activities.

00:13:30:12 - 00:13:33:12
And one thing we've seen from the DSO
effort

00:13:33:16 - 00:13:37:18
is even within our own organization,
you know, getting the customer team,

00:13:38:03 - 00:13:41:22
collaborating with the distribution team,
collaborating with the financial services

00:13:41:22 - 00:13:46:14
team is really helped us think more end
to end on servicing the customer.

00:13:46:23 - 00:13:49:23
And I think in the end it's better for
for all the parties involved.

00:13:50:09 - 00:13:54:06
Michael, when you when you say customer,
are you thinking about,

00:13:55:06 - 00:13:56:20
consumers, are you thinking

00:13:56:20 - 00:13:59:19
about, other entities?

00:13:59:23 - 00:14:02:11
Our customers are the retailers.

00:14:02:11 - 00:14:06:10
We, we're not a direct
selling organization at all.

00:14:06:10 - 00:14:09:10
So everything we get to a consumer,

00:14:09:20 - 00:14:12:20
is getting to a consumer
through a retailer.

00:14:13:09 - 00:14:16:03
Those retailers may be brick and mortar.

00:14:16:03 - 00:14:18:12
They may be online.

00:14:18:12 - 00:14:20:02
Most are now a hybrid.

00:14:20:02 - 00:14:23:17
And, but in one form or another,
we're selling to a retailer.

00:14:24:11 - 00:14:27:04
Who is that getting to? A consumer.

00:14:27:04 - 00:14:28:17
Right. And I'm not sure.

00:14:28:17 - 00:14:29:19
Everybody unders,

00:14:29:19 - 00:14:32:14
you know, a lot of our listeners
understand some of the dynamics there.

00:14:32:14 - 00:14:36:09
So when you talk about service, you also
mentioned fines that can come into play.

00:14:37:15 - 00:14:39:15
You know what what are those dynamics?

00:14:39:15 - 00:14:43:12
And you know, how do the
how do you manage the,

00:14:43:12 - 00:14:46:12
the relationship
with your retailer partners?

00:14:46:17 - 00:14:48:13
To kind of
get them the service that they need?

00:14:48:13 - 00:14:51:21
How do they try to either
support or guide your,

00:14:52:06 - 00:14:55:12
your actions to, to,
to deliver service levels?

00:14:56:02 - 00:15:00:06
You know, the partnership with
the retailers is absolutely essential.

00:15:01:08 - 00:15:04:08
You know,
let's look at it from the retailer lens.

00:15:04:08 - 00:15:05:20
You're a consumer.

00:15:05:20 - 00:15:10:09
You go into a store, you have a shopping
list, you you have a product

00:15:10:09 - 00:15:14:16
you want to get, you want it there,
you know, you want it on the store shelf.

00:15:15:06 - 00:15:19:10
And, that store shelf
is, the retailer's real estate.

00:15:19:15 - 00:15:22:01
And, you know, they want to have it
stocked.

00:15:22:01 - 00:15:25:23
And so, our job, our job is to partner
on how to make that happen.

00:15:27:03 - 00:15:30:03
And obviously,
they have a very important piece to play.

00:15:30:03 - 00:15:31:04
They receive products.

00:15:31:04 - 00:15:35:12
They have their own networks to distribute
from large distribution facilities down

00:15:35:12 - 00:15:38:20
to their stores and from their stores,
maybe to a back room

00:15:39:07 - 00:15:42:07
and, you know, maybe from a back room,
then to a shelf.

00:15:42:07 - 00:15:45:09
So they have a series of steps
in this process as well.

00:15:45:22 - 00:15:46:21
But we have to help them.

00:15:46:21 - 00:15:51:06
And so we have to get things to
the warehouse, their distribution point,

00:15:51:14 - 00:15:54:08
when they need it,
we need to get it to them

00:15:54:08 - 00:15:57:08
in a way that's easier for them
to understand what they're getting.

00:15:57:13 - 00:16:00:18
So when they unload it, they,
you know, unloaded record for it properly.

00:16:01:21 - 00:16:05:01
And they have other complexities,
you know, they have,

00:16:05:14 - 00:16:09:06
they may only have so many truck slots
available per day, their warehouse.

00:16:09:06 - 00:16:12:06
So when it gets
there becomes very important.

00:16:12:10 - 00:16:15:01
We know the things to get
go into a drop lot.

00:16:15:01 - 00:16:16:19
You don't get a load for a couple days.

00:16:16:19 - 00:16:18:07
That's lost time.

00:16:18:07 - 00:16:19:21
Maybe you didn't get to the store on time.

00:16:19:21 - 00:16:20:05
So we want to work with the retailer
to make the flow of goods

00:16:20:05 - 00:16:23:00
So we want to work with the retailer
to make the flow of goods

00:16:23:13 - 00:16:25:01
as seamless as possible.

00:16:25:01 - 00:16:28:19
We want it to be on time
because we want to be on that store shelf

00:16:29:04 - 00:16:32:04
for when any,
any consumer goes to that retailer,

00:16:32:09 - 00:16:35:11
our product is available for them
to make that purchase selection.

00:16:36:01 - 00:16:36:02
And we're we're here to meet those needs.

00:16:36:02 - 00:16:39:12
It seems a bit like a paradox that you're

00:16:39:12 - 00:16:43:05
trying to take a lot of inventory
out of your, network.

00:16:43:05 - 00:16:46:23
So help us kind of hold
those two thoughts together where,

00:16:46:23 - 00:16:48:19
you know, you're taking supply down.

00:16:48:19 - 00:16:53:09
Basically, but wanting to improve
service levels or fulfillment levels.

00:16:53:22 - 00:16:56:11
Yeah, that's that's the art of supply
chain manager right there.

00:16:56:11 - 00:16:57:06
Yeah. Yeah.

00:16:57:06 - 00:17:00:18
So you know and what we want to do is,

00:17:01:14 - 00:17:04:22
over time
gradually reduce our inventory levels,

00:17:06:14 - 00:17:09:14
and, and optimize. Why?

00:17:09:14 - 00:17:10:22
For a variety of reasons.

00:17:10:22 - 00:17:14:14
You know, maybe over time,
we were more efficient at our factory.

00:17:14:14 - 00:17:19:04
Or maybe we have a product,
that's made in a different location.

00:17:19:04 - 00:17:21:19
We're able to make it closer.

00:17:21:19 - 00:17:25:08
But, you know, whatever we can do
to make the flow of goods more efficient,

00:17:25:21 - 00:17:30:00
we ought to be able to then have
some offset in in via inventory reduction.

00:17:30:13 - 00:17:33:22
It could be for our production cycles,
for our production plan,

00:17:34:17 - 00:17:37:23
product placement, in other words,
what warehouses we have it at and where

00:17:37:23 - 00:17:41:16
and where and why,
how we replenish those warehouses.

00:17:41:16 - 00:17:45:02
So so you basically have to look
at every flow step in the process

00:17:45:17 - 00:17:48:16
from materials through manufacturing

00:17:49:04 - 00:17:52:04
to warehousing and storage
and getting it to our customers.

00:17:52:19 - 00:17:58:07
And we know that the
best in class, if you look at the

00:17:58:16 - 00:18:02:16
Gartner analysis each year
where they, you know, they rank,

00:18:03:15 - 00:18:06:15
manufacturers, top 25 manufacturers,

00:18:06:16 - 00:18:10:04
and then they have a small cluster
they refer to as the masters.

00:18:10:21 - 00:18:15:12
You know, these companies have worked year
on year looking for ways to optimize

00:18:15:12 - 00:18:20:11
their flow of goods, materials, processes
and bring and free up cash,

00:18:21:12 - 00:18:23:09
And the best,

00:18:23:09 - 00:18:26:11
you know, are operating at 30, 40 or 50 days.

00:18:26:11 - 00:18:30:04
Well, our, our job is to continue to work
in that direction.

00:18:30:15 - 00:18:33:19
And, sometimes the,
the best in the industry,

00:18:34:09 - 00:18:37:11
from a supply chain
standpoint, is inspiration and,

00:18:37:22 - 00:18:40:22
we have some work to do to bring
the inventory level down, that's for sure.

00:18:41:05 - 00:18:41:10
Yeah.

00:18:41:10 - 00:18:44:10
We are very familiar
with the Magic Quadrant.

00:18:44:13 - 00:18:47:17
I was going to say DHL is up there
in that master class of Magic Quadrant,

00:18:47:17 - 00:18:50:05
 so I think we relate quite well to that.

00:18:50:05 - 00:18:54:14
But, you know, to, to Michael's point,
that speed to market is difficult

00:18:54:14 - 00:18:57:12
in life sciences, right?
There's a there's a lot of complexity.

00:18:57:12 - 00:18:59:01
And I know we might
get into that a little bit,

00:18:59:01 - 00:19:01:22
but there's a lot of things that happened
that need to be checked

00:19:01:22 - 00:19:03:18
box you in your quality hold

00:19:03:18 - 00:19:07:07
I believe Michael if I'm not certain,
but do your Myerstown release

00:19:07:07 - 00:19:10:23
quality holds within 4.5 days,
which is incredible like that.

00:19:10:23 - 00:19:13:05
But that is first in class.

00:19:13:05 - 00:19:14:07
Thanks for that. Point.

00:19:14:07 - 00:19:17:17
We we worked really hard on that
when I, took over the factory,

00:19:18:05 - 00:19:20:20
our production to release record
from a quality

00:19:20:20 - 00:19:23:19
standpoint was closer to to eight,
nine days.

00:19:24:08 - 00:19:26:11
We've we've cut that in half.

00:19:26:11 - 00:19:29:04
It really helps with our flow of goods.

00:19:29:04 - 00:19:32:04
I will tell you that, you know,
we have a number of,

00:19:32:15 - 00:19:34:23
CMO partners where that that time

00:19:34:23 - 00:19:37:23
clock is more like 25, 30 days sometimes.

00:19:38:03 - 00:19:40:21
So, that's really helped us tremendously.

00:19:40:21 - 00:19:43:02
It's coming through a lot of hard work.

00:19:43:02 - 00:19:46:17
We've done some things
optimizing processes in our laboratory.

00:19:46:17 - 00:19:50:07
We've done some laboratory
automation, upskilling.

00:19:50:07 - 00:19:53:04
It's it's a number of factors that all
come together.

00:19:53:04 - 00:19:57:21
But what helps it the most make a quality
product the first time, every time.

00:19:58:12 - 00:20:02:08
And it makes all of your quality
release cycle time, much more effective.

00:20:03:07 - 00:20:06:03
While you're transforming
the organization.

00:20:06:03 - 00:20:10:09
Michael, there's a lot going on in the
supply chain industry around, innovation

00:20:10:09 - 00:20:13:17
with data analytics, which James talked
a little bit about earlier.

00:20:14:13 - 00:20:18:10
There's, interesting automation
technologies coming into market.

00:20:19:16 - 00:20:20:17
Two questions.

00:20:20:17 - 00:20:25:03
How do you sort of weave those
into the overall transformational journey?

00:20:25:14 - 00:20:29:02
And, and how do you find the talent
to support

00:20:29:06 - 00:20:32:19
some of these emerging areas that are,
that are new or,

00:20:33:09 - 00:20:36:09
well, let's just say new, in the supply
chain industry.

00:20:36:15 - 00:20:40:10
Look, the, digitization, AI,

00:20:41:07 - 00:20:44:18
systems, your tech stack, these are all,

00:20:45:10 - 00:20:48:10
essential now, in these industries

00:20:48:12 - 00:20:51:03
and every segment

00:20:51:03 - 00:20:55:17
of our supply chain for materials
all the way through, our customer,

00:20:56:11 - 00:20:59:08
has a digital aspect to it, whether it's

00:20:59:08 - 00:21:02:08
how we communicate
with our raw material suppliers,

00:21:02:08 - 00:21:05:12
whether it's our manufacturing execution
system.

00:21:06:06 - 00:21:08:21
Well, we're
we're we've taken paper records,

00:21:08:21 - 00:21:11:21
and now we're doing everything
electronically,

00:21:11:21 - 00:21:15:00
whether it's, you know, tracking
and tracing of our,

00:21:15:02 - 00:21:19:20
our transportation activities,
the all these things have been,

00:21:19:20 - 00:21:22:20
you know, digitized
and there's much more to do.

00:21:22:20 - 00:21:26:14
I think we are in the very early innings
of, you know,

00:21:26:14 - 00:21:29:21
getting deeper understanding of AI
and how to apply it.

00:21:29:21 - 00:21:35:02
And, there's gonna be more great tools
developed for us to consider and access,

00:21:36:04 - 00:21:39:04
as we continue to evolve our tech stack.

00:21:39:07 - 00:21:41:02
But these are, these are, these are

00:21:41:02 - 00:21:45:17
these are essential tools
now for, for any, manufacturer

00:21:46:15 - 00:21:49:12
and, from a, from a skill standpoint,

00:21:49:12 - 00:21:52:10
we really have two challenges.

00:21:52:10 - 00:21:55:05
One, you know,
we have an existing workforce

00:21:55:05 - 00:21:59:16
and technology is changing rapidly,
which have with AI in the last 24 months.

00:22:00:08 - 00:22:04:05
And so, you know,
we have an an obligation to train

00:22:04:05 - 00:22:09:12
and upskill our organization, help them
develop new skills, along the way.

00:22:10:01 - 00:22:13:07
And we also, hiring talent
just like DHL does.

00:22:13:07 - 00:22:16:15
We, we bring in number of college
recruits,

00:22:17:09 - 00:22:21:01
to come with more of a digital native,
but beginning

00:22:21:14 - 00:22:24:18
and so they've been great assets
and additions to our organization.

00:22:24:18 - 00:22:27:18
So it's a it's
a both we'll bring in talent,

00:22:27:23 - 00:22:29:07
but we also have to upskill.

00:22:29:07 - 00:22:32:07
And I think that's the magic
for any company right now.

00:22:32:14 - 00:22:34:08
Is we need to do both.

00:22:34:08 - 00:22:38:16
But while it's, it's a evolving, rapidly
evolving environment

00:22:39:05 - 00:22:42:01
and, AI is added complexity in some ways

00:22:42:01 - 00:22:45:06
and it's going to make some things easier,
but we we all have a lot more to learn.

00:22:46:07 - 00:22:49:03
The biggest obstacle
was that your companies to invest, right.

00:22:49:03 - 00:22:51:15
So we invest in those people
as well, like you did.

00:22:51:15 - 00:22:53:14
And we actually have programs, right.

00:22:53:14 - 00:22:56:04
Because, you know,
they're self-funding at this point.

00:22:56:04 - 00:22:56:11
Right?

00:22:56:11 - 00:23:01:06
So, we have our own
AI platform that we kind of keep together.

00:23:01:06 - 00:23:03:23
It's got a lot of,
you know, cybersecurity and things on it.

00:23:03:23 - 00:23:05:11
So the outside world can't get in there.

00:23:05:11 - 00:23:06:20
But we use all the data from,

00:23:06:20 - 00:23:09:03
you know, different customers
to kind of look at some things.

00:23:09:03 - 00:23:10:10
So it's in its infancy.

00:23:10:10 - 00:23:14:01
But we do have a great staff that's
working on it, in our innovation as well.

00:23:14:01 - 00:23:14:07
Right?

00:23:14:07 - 00:23:17:21
We have an entire staff that comes in
and looks at all the different things.

00:23:17:21 - 00:23:19:18
You know,
they look at hundreds of different,

00:23:19:18 - 00:23:23:09
you know, specs that we could look at that
may fit into Bayer or may not.

00:23:23:09 - 00:23:25:05
So I think that the, the biggest thing for
us is just that collaboration that we do

00:23:25:05 - 00:23:28:03
So I think that the, the biggest thing for
us is just that collaboration that we do

00:23:28:03 - 00:23:32:02
especially, you know, you see that
in your QBR on a daily, weekly basis

00:23:32:02 - 00:23:35:05
where our two teams are
kind of really kind of looking at it

00:23:35:05 - 00:23:36:01
where our two teams are
kind of really kind of looking at it

00:23:36:01 - 00:23:39:04
and say, hey, you have a gap here,
we can fill that, and then we have a gap.

00:23:39:04 - 00:23:40:03
So we ask you, right.

00:23:40:03 - 00:23:42:07
So it's a it's
just really a good team effort.

00:23:42:07 - 00:23:44:21
And I think that the fact
that both companies understand

00:23:44:21 - 00:23:47:10
that this is a necessary
it's not going away.

00:23:47:10 - 00:23:49:00
There's great advantages to it.

00:23:49:00 - 00:23:50:09
We both invest on it.

00:23:50:09 - 00:23:52:21
So I think that, you know,
with that relationship

00:23:52:21 - 00:23:55:06
moving forward, we'll have,
you know, more opportunities to come.

00:23:55:06 - 00:23:56:04
On the innovation side.

00:23:57:04 - 00:23:58:07
We, we

00:23:58:07 - 00:24:02:01
built a, our own large language platform.

00:24:02:01 - 00:24:05:02
which is given our internal employees,

00:24:06:00 - 00:24:09:00
you know, like a safe,
protected environment,

00:24:09:13 - 00:24:13:13
in which to utilize AI tools, which,
which is, which is really fantastic.

00:24:13:13 - 00:24:15:21
It's helping us, a lot.

00:24:15:21 - 00:24:19:01
And, you know, I think where we start

00:24:19:01 - 00:24:22:00
some interesting challenge ahead is data,

00:24:22:11 - 00:24:25:00
because not all the data we want
is in the right place.

00:24:25:00 - 00:24:29:04
You know, for example,
sometimes it's hard to marry together

00:24:29:04 - 00:24:34:11
if we have a delivery issue,
how do we marry that together was why.

00:24:34:11 - 00:24:36:23
And where's the data around the,
you know, the defects.

00:24:36:23 - 00:24:39:23
And how do you trace that
back to actionability?

00:24:40:04 - 00:24:42:23
Or if we have a issue with a delivery

00:24:42:23 - 00:24:46:21
and we get some feedback on that or,
an over or shorter or damage.

00:24:47:05 - 00:24:49:14
Well,
how do we trace that back to the order?

00:24:49:14 - 00:24:52:14
So I think we still have some interesting
challenges ahead,

00:24:53:06 - 00:24:56:20
with getting the data, because not
all the data is, is in

00:24:57:02 - 00:25:02:09
is in any one party in some cases, other
cases, it's hard to mesh it together.

00:25:02:17 - 00:25:06:10
All the way back to, for example,
maybe an original order,

00:25:06:19 - 00:25:09:03
and then it makes it
a little more difficult to research.

00:25:09:03 - 00:25:10:16
So I think we've got some

00:25:10:16 - 00:25:14:11
interesting spaces we can get into as we
as we keep working forward.

00:25:15:14 - 00:25:16:23
So, both of you have

00:25:16:23 - 00:25:18:16
long, long careers and supply chains,

00:25:18:16 - 00:25:20:05
and you just went through
some really exciting

00:25:20:05 - 00:25:22:18
things that are happening in the industry
overall.

00:25:22:18 - 00:25:26:06
As you look ahead,
where do you think things will be

00:25:26:16 - 00:25:29:16
in the next fiveish or so years?

00:25:29:22 - 00:25:34:01
Or, you know, what kinds of developments
or, are you most excited about?

00:25:34:15 - 00:25:37:16
Well, I'll tell you, five years
is now a long time frame.

00:25:37:16 - 00:25:38:22
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:25:38:22 - 00:25:41:23
You know,
I think about five years in reverse.

00:25:43:00 - 00:25:46:03
You know,
we went through pre Covid, Covid,

00:25:47:00 - 00:25:51:05
I, so much, so much has happened
as five years now become a long window.

00:25:52:04 - 00:25:55:16
But I think clearly, acceleration

00:25:55:16 - 00:26:00:13
of digitization,
acceleration of AI, is here to stay.

00:26:00:13 - 00:26:03:06
You know,
I heard this in comparison the other day.

00:26:03:06 - 00:26:06:06
If you look at how long it took
to build out the internet,

00:26:07:01 - 00:26:12:06
15, 20 years, maybe maybe it
now it's maybe a hit its peak or peaking.

00:26:13:14 - 00:26:13:18
We're

00:26:13:18 - 00:26:16:18
just at the early, early innings of AI,

00:26:16:21 - 00:26:19:10
and so that's got a lot of legs.

00:26:19:10 - 00:26:23:14
And that could take us a lot of places,
to help us going forward.

00:26:23:14 - 00:26:26:09
And I hope it helps us to optimize.

00:26:26:09 - 00:26:30:06
I hope that helps us find spaces
to take cost out.

00:26:30:06 - 00:26:33:06
I hope it helps us discover new products.

00:26:33:21 - 00:26:38:00
So I think the spaces we can get into with
AI will be just really exciting.

00:26:39:00 - 00:26:40:08
I don't think it's just a buzzword.

00:26:40:08 - 00:26:43:08
I think it's been proven
it's not just a buzzword anymore.

00:26:43:17 - 00:26:45:20
But at the end of the day,
I think we have to.

00:26:45:20 - 00:26:48:09
We have to keep in mind is that

00:26:48:09 - 00:26:50:11
products, manufacturing,

00:26:50:11 - 00:26:53:14
supply chains,
they all operate with people.

00:26:54:07 - 00:26:58:02
And, we have a very important
human component to all of this.

00:26:58:14 - 00:27:02:10
And so we have to continue to develop
people, develop culture,

00:27:02:22 - 00:27:06:07
strive to make the best product
every single day,

00:27:07:00 - 00:27:09:08
and realize that the employees are
why we're here.

00:27:09:08 - 00:27:11:20
The consumers are why we're here.

00:27:11:20 - 00:27:14:09
At the end of the day,
if we serve them all well,

00:27:14:09 - 00:27:17:19
we'll have long term businesses,
not five years, but 100 years from now.

00:27:18:07 - 00:27:19:08
Right, right.

00:27:19:08 - 00:27:22:00
Great answer.
Thank you. James, what do you think.

00:27:22:00 - 00:27:25:17
I would say we look at Bayer's
having a little bit of a renaissance,

00:27:25:17 - 00:27:29:03
right, with their DSO strategy
and really kind of streamlining.

00:27:29:11 - 00:27:31:16
So we want to be the provider
that helps do that, right?

00:27:31:16 - 00:27:34:02
That'll be a long partnership.

00:27:34:02 - 00:27:37:19
You know, not every company is
is expanding and growing as fast.

00:27:37:19 - 00:27:41:13
Some are kind of, you know, settling
back in and getting ready to move.

00:27:41:13 - 00:27:41:21
Right.

00:27:41:21 - 00:27:44:22
So, so this transition with Bayer
is exciting.

00:27:44:22 - 00:27:46:19
You know,
we want to see what, you know, costs

00:27:46:19 - 00:27:48:14
we can take out and how we can,

00:27:48:14 - 00:27:51:06
you know, improve that customer,
end customer feeling.

00:27:51:06 - 00:27:51:12
Right.

00:27:51:12 - 00:27:54:19
So, we just want to align
and with with Bayer's

00:27:54:19 - 00:27:58:04
objectives, we want to make sure
we streamline what you're looking at.

00:27:58:04 - 00:27:58:10
Right.

00:27:58:10 - 00:28:00:16
We want to look at our cost
to serve and drive

00:28:00:16 - 00:28:03:08
all those things out
that they don't need today.

00:28:03:08 - 00:28:04:06
And then move forward.

00:28:04:06 - 00:28:04:14
Right.

00:28:04:14 - 00:28:08:20
So, you know, hopefully we have another
25 year plus relationship after this.

00:28:09:12 - 00:28:10:22
Terrific. That's great.

00:28:10:22 - 00:28:11:12
Well, thanks.

00:28:11:12 - 00:28:13:19
Thanks both of you for joining me today.

00:28:13:19 - 00:28:18:00
And telling us a lot about where
Bayer is headed and how DHL is supporting.

00:28:18:19 - 00:28:23:02
And Michael, thanks for the the insights
into, you know, supply chain career.

00:28:23:17 - 00:28:25:15
You certainly have a an interesting one.

00:28:25:15 - 00:28:28:15
It doesn't sound like it's
coming to an end anytime soon.

00:28:28:18 - 00:28:32:05
So, look forward to catching up
with you, in the future

00:28:32:05 - 00:28:36:00
and seeing how,
your transformation journey

00:28:37:11 - 00:28:39:01
goes in time.

00:28:39:01 - 00:28:40:15
Very good. Thank you very much.

00:28:40:15 - 00:28:42:12
Yeah, thanks Will. Well, thank you, James.
Thank you.

00:28:42:12 - 00:28:46:06
Michael, have a great, rest of the week
and look forward to crossing paths soon.

00:28:49:02 - 00:28:52:11
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00:28:52:11 - 00:28:56:05
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00:28:56:05 - 00:29:01:11
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00:29:04:13 - 00:29:06:04
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