Technicolor's Kevin Sullivan Describes How Globalization, Complexity, and Ecommerce Spur New Business Models in Supply Chain and Logistics

CAMARILLO, Calif. - Sept. 12, 2017 - PRLog -- In the massive, trillion-dollar logistics and supply chain sector, requirements for end-to-end management and visibility are forging business-to-business and direct-to-consumer models that support integrated omni-channel strategies. So says Kevin Sullivan, Vice President of Strategy and Development for the Home Entertainment Services division of Technicolor, in a podcast for journalists.

"Supply chains are increasingly multinational. It is not uncommon for products to be manufactured in Asia, assembled in Mexico and distributed in the United States," says Sullivan. "When you imagine the supply chains involved in managing all of that product moving across the globe, it is quite complex and growing more so."

Add in the continued rise of ecommerce -- with companies like Amazon reshaping both traditional business-to-business and direct-to-consumer models -- and the complexities and challenges grow even bigger.

Third-party logistics (3PL) and supply chain management services are evolving to help companies better navigate these market forces. According to Sullivan, effective management of dynamic and complex information is core to delivering an effective 3PL service. This typically includes the integration of next-generation technology solutions that normalize, aggregate and analyze data across multiple systems using relatively simple application program interfaces (API).

"In the old world, EDI or electronic data interchange, was the de facto standard. It works but takes a long time to set up. Now, more modern software is using API interfaces which are a lot more flexible a lot more dynamic," explains Sullivan.

As business-to-business and direct-to-consumer models converge, Sullivan believes the future of supply chain is omni-channel.  This sets the stage for goods to be drawn from one common inventory and to be represented in one common system that can be shared throughout the supply chain.

To listen in on the entire podcast interview with Kevin Sullivan, visit:

http://thefuturetrust.technicolor.com/article/the-future-...

Journalists and analysts are free to pull quotes from this Q&A feature with attribution in media and market reports. For more details and context, contact:

Lane Cooper
323 817 7547
Lane.cooper@technicolor.com

Photo:
https://www.prlog.org/12664113/1