Up Close is Sourcing Journal’s regular check-in with industry executives to get their take on topics ranging from their company’s latest moves to personal style. In this Q&A, Jacob Olson, senior director, solutions at supply chain and data integration software company Cleo, discusses why fashion should focus on agility and how technology can support better supply chain relationships.
Name:Jacob Olson
Title:Senior director, solutions
Company:Cleo
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Which other industry has the best handle on the supply chain? What can apparel learn?
Other industries have modernized their supply chain practices and B2B integration strategies in the last few years, especially in the manufacturing, logistics, transportation and retail spaces. Much of this modernization is in response to massive supply chain interruptions, especially due to effects of Covid, recent tariff changes and ongoing trade uncertainty. Most organizations have chosen to invest in technologies that enable them to be more agile as global supply chains continually shift. This includes modernizing their back-office systems such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and warehouse management systems (WMS), adopting and expanding electronic data interchange (EDI) and application programming interfaces (API) technologies to digitize their business processes and leveraging managed services from external vendors to complement—not replace—their people and processes.
What should be the apparel industry’s top priority right now?
The apparel industry’s top focus should be on supply chain agility. We have all experienced the impact of supply chain interruptions, and we can expect more disruptive events to occur in the coming years. The key to minimizing these impacts is to ensure an agile supply chain, especially the ability to quickly onboard suppliers and other trading partners. Companies who diversify their supply chains, digitize and automate core business processes and modernize both back-office and B2B integration technologies can turn volatility into opportunity.
Cleo’s recent Supply Chain Earnings Impact report included a few key takeaways.
Companies that prioritized agile supply chains and expanded their networks saw growth, with 51 percent of companies that experienced stock price increases specifically noting that having greater control over supplier onboarding was a critical success factor.
Forty-six percent of supply chain laggards cited supply chain disruptions on their earnings calls, while 37 percent reported delays as major contributors to underperformance.
Order backlogs were a defining factor between winners and losers. While 42 percent of companies with stock price declines cited backlogs as a challenge impacting earnings, 50 percent of supply chain winners leveraged backlogs as a strategic growth engine.
What innovation or development holds the greatest potential to improve operations in the apparel and textile industries?
Proactive, artificial intelligence-powered relationship management. Companies in the apparel and textile spaces are often required to implement and follow tight service level agreements (SLAs), especially related to response times, fulfillment performance and data accuracy requirements. Management of customer, supplier and 3PL or carrier commitments is critical to avoiding chargebacks and fines and is key to ensuring customer satisfaction and retention. A modern integration platform like Cleo’s includes tools to monitor and alert potential issues before they become problems. AI is rapidly enhancing these tools, allowing customers to identify trends, deviations and provide early warning signals to be truly proactive.
Tell us about your company’s latest product introduction:
Cleo is constantly adding new capabilities to help our customers get more value out of the platform. In the B2B integration space that’s rare, and we’re proud of our continued innovation! Aside from many smaller features, two recent major additions are No-Code Onboarding to set up partner profiles in a matter of minutes and Ecosystem Relationship Manager, which provides real-time visibility and alerting of critical business processes along with scorecards to track historical performance. We also introduced our Concierge-level Managed Service offering for exacting customers who need 24/7 proactive coverage regardless of the issue or request, industry-leading response times and dedicated contacts for any requests or inquiries.
How would you describe your corporate culture?
Cleo’s culture is incredible and built on behaviors that reward and foster customer appreciation. In fact, we call it “The Art of Appreciation.” For Cleo, our customers come first, and everyone is always willing to help with any request, regardless of role or title. We’ve assembled some of the most experienced, brightest people in the supply chain orchestration space. That expertise, professionalism and hard-working attitude helps us truly partner with customers. Our platform powers our customers’ core business processes, and across the board our people are focused on keeping that promise.
Where do you look for personal style inspiration?
Everywhere! Most often though online communities, in-person (both personal and professional) and from my favorite stores and brands.
What are the top three product attributes that you factor into your purchasing decisions?
Quality, style and comfort. With a small closet, I have to prioritize new purchases. Finding new products that will last, won’t be quickly outdated and that I love to wear is critical.
What keeps you up at night?
Global supply chain disruptions and geopolitical uncertainty. Regardless of preparedness, we can’t accurately predict the future. Unexpected events will occur, and they will cause heartburn and work for our customers. Thankfully, those customers have the right platform to handle these surprises to turn these disruptions into opportunity.
What makes you most optimistic?
I’m most optimistic about the interest and eagerness we’re seeing from customers. Organizations that have tackled modernization projects in earnest have seen massive success. However, companies need to be prepared and willing to invest the time and effort to enact change. More companies are completing the necessary strategy, planning and hiring and have put themselves in a position to accomplish real change. It’s incredibly exciting to see more companies ready to partner and looking to transform themselves!
