454: Uncover Hidden Inefficiencies and Reveal Your True Cost-To-Serve, with 910 Advisors

910 Advisors talk about cost-to-serve - the challenges, its impact on supply chain efficiency & profitability; & transforming inefficiencies into opportunities.   IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: [06.03] Introductions to Greg, Janet, and Robert, and why Greg and Robert co-founded 910 Advisors. "So many consultancies are focused on these long-term, big-dollar transformational programs... Everyone wants to hit you with the strategy book, but no ones there to help guide you there… We make sure we have a lens towards the long-term, but also in helping companies understand what to do in three, six, nine and twelve months, in support of that three-year plan." "So many people hire technologies to solve commercial and supply chain problems." [13.48] An overview of 910 Advisors – who they are, what they do, and how they help their customers. [16.40] The ideal client for 910 Advisors. [19.54] 'Cost-to-serve': What it means, why it's so often overlooked, and why teams have a handle on their customer acquisition costs, but not ongoing ones. "Most organizations are commercially-focused first, they're all about the customer – and rightfully so! That's who pays the bills, and you need that focus. But, a lot of times, the back end tends to get overlooked." "Some customers may be costing you money and you don't necessarily realize it... What really improves your business is when you start to understand, and make decisions around, that total cost-to-serve." [25.25] From lack of data to disparate systems, the biggest challenges in understanding up-front cost-to-serve. [26.36] The impact of that lack of understanding on a company's supply chain efficiency. [29.17] The cost of not understanding cost-to-serve, and its impact on profitability. "It's direct – it's coming straight from the bottom." [33.18] What organizations can do to better understand cost-to-serve earlier in the journey, and how they can start to build processes and workflows to manage both efficiency and cost. "You can make an improvement in one area, and it may impact another one negatively. You have to have a holistic view. Take that journey yourself – what does a day in the life of that order look like?" [35.43] The role of 910 Advisor's tech implementations and consulting in helping customers tackle challenges and transform inefficiencies into opportunities. "We're the master mediators!... We're really good at taking symptoms, getting to the root cause, and applying it across the process. Most consultancies you hire to fix one thing, and they'll fix the symptom, but they cause something else up or downstream…. We own outcomes." "Everybody wants to talk about their technology problems. But we try to re-focus that conversation around process-first, and that will lead us to if we need to address technology issues – you may not have to if you fix the process!" [41.14] What organizations can achieve if they better understand efficiency and cost. [42.45] A case study illustrating how 910 Advisors helped a client understand their cost-to-serve, prioritize, refine their process and structure, and save money. [47.24] 910 Advisor's special offers for Let's Talk Supply Chain listeners.   RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED:   Head over to 910 Advisor's website now to find out more and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with 910 Advisors and keep up to date with the latest over   on LinkedIn, or you can connect with Greg, Robert and Janet on LinkedIn.