Jimmy Anklesaria: Fostering Relationships for Supply Chain Success
Collaboration over Confrontation
The field of Supply Chain has never been more talked about, as the pandemic strains the availability of goods and services & the ability of companies to secure raw materials and components.
Today we have Jimmy Anklesaria, Supply Chain Pioneer, Tech Founder, Professor, Author and Philanthropist, joining us on Things Have Changed, and we dive into his beginnings in the field, his varied larger than life consulting experiences during the heydays at HP, IBM and others, as well as his passion for giving back be it through teaching or through philanthropy.
In the earlier years of developing the supply chain discipline and procurement operations in Corporate America, Jimmy played an important role in creating better relationships between companies and their suppliers.
“Treat your critical suppliers as well, if not better, than you treat your best customer.. Collaboration is the name of the game!”
The Anklesaria Group champions the idea of Supplier Relationship Management (SRM), a systematic approach to manage and develop relationships with suppliers.
In the episode, we also dive into what the future of supply chains would look like, with trends such as Big Data & De-globalization gathering steam, as multi-national corporations aim to provide greater visibility as well as de-risk their supply lines. Companies wanting to survive in a rapidly changing business environment need to foster qualities of adaptability as well as resiliency. And one cannot do so without data.. Lots of it.
One of the biggest trends in the field has been Big Data, with Jimmy highlighting an incredible example of how Flex, is able to manage its supply chain using a sophisticated in-house intelligence platform, Pulse which provides deep insight and visibility into its supplier operations. This data allows the company to track site locations and the parts manufactured at each facility, as well as monitor any disruptive events that may occur there.
That very disruptive event took place in August 2015, when the Chinese port city of Tianjin was rocked by a series of explosions. Flex, through its innovative platform Pulse, was able to identify the impact and maneuver with great velocity to control the situation.
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About
Jimmy Anklesaria, is the Founder & Chairman of the Anklesaria Group, a Cost Management and Supply Chain Consulting firm which for over 30 years has consulted with & guided some of the biggest companies in the world such as HP, IBM, Deere, Chevron & Shell to name a few.
Jimmy has also authored books such as "Supply Chain Cost Management: The AIM & DRIVE Process for Achieving Extraordinary Results" & "Zero Base Pricing: Achieving World-Class Competitiveness Through Reduced All-In-Costs."
Over the past three decades, as an Adjunct Professor, Jimmy Anklesaria has taught graduate and undergraduate level courses in strategic cost management, finance, investments and supply chain management at UC San Diego & University of San Diego.