From stolen art to Covid-19: interview with David Shillingford
Over the course of his career, Resilience360’s David Shillingford has used the power of data and analytics to track down stolen art and help prepare companies for pandemics.
Susan Lacefield has been working for supply chain publications since 1999. Before joining DC VELOCITY, she was an associate editor for Supply Chain Management Review and wrote for Logistics Management magazine. She holds a master's degree in English.
Chasing down stolen art would seem to have little to do with helping companies anticipate and mitigate the effects of a pandemic on their supply chain operations. Yet it was while working for a New York startup that helps owners recover pilfered artwork that David Shillingford first became aware of the power of data and analytics—the same tools he would later use to guide companies through the Covid-19 crisis.
From that introduction to data analytics as a loss-prevention and recovery tool, Shillingford moved on to other startups that applied similar techniques to risk management and mitigation, gradually working his way into the retail and logistics sectors. Indeed, as a senior vice president at Verisk Analytics, he was responsible for the data analytics and risk assessment firm’s entry into supply chain analytics.
Today, he serves as chairman of supply chain risk-management company Resilience360 and CEO of its parent company, Rising Tide Digital, a holding company formed by Columbia Capital to invest in and develop disruptive supply chain analytics companies. Resilience360 was originally created by transportation and logistics giant DHL in response to customers’ needs for better supply chain visibility following the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami. It has since become an independently operated company under the management of Rising Tide Digital.
Since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak in January, Resilience360’s risk analysts have been tracking and assessing the pandemic’s impact on global supply chains, including quarantines, company shutdowns, border closures, and other disruptions. On Feb. 27, the company started issuing daily updates on the outbreak. It has also produced 12 special reports, five webinars, and one podcast on the topic.
Shillingford recently took some time away from the crisis to talk to DC Velocity’s Susan Lacefield on the lessons we can learn from the pandemic and what to expect in the coming months.
Q: How is the Covid-19 pandemic different from other risk events global supply chains have recently faced?
A: There are two main differences. One is the geographic spread and impact of the outbreak. The speed, extent, and unpredictability are unprecedented and have resulted in simultaneous, global supply disruptions and demand shocks. The other difference is the human component of the pandemic—the loss of lives is, first and foremost, a human tragedy. Unlike most supply chain disruptions, the supply chain infrastructure is intact; it is the workforce that is unable to work and the consumer that is unable or unwilling to consume.
It is also noteworthy that the tragedy and disruption would be much worse without the dedication and bravery of frontline workers in health care and in retail stores, and those making the deliveries.
Q: Has there been anything about the recent crisis that took you by surprise or caught you off guard?
A: [We’ve been struck by the lack of preparedness among the] companies that have been contacting Resilience360 lately to understand how we can help them manage their supply chain risk. The lack of visibility to upstream supply and logistics networks, the risks they face, and the financial impact of these risks is surprising. Some companies have made efforts to risk-adjust their decision-making, but most are just about to start this journey.
Q: What are some lessons that can be learned from the pandemic from a supply chain perspective?
A: Companies need to have better visibility into their extended network and the risks that are most likely to have an impact on their ability to source, make, and deliver their products on time. The move toward digitalization needs to accelerate, and risk needs to be embedded in supply chain decision-making at the strategic and tactical level. Visibility and monitoring have become critical competencies and best practices, and will be even more so moving forward.
Q: What companies do you feel have handled the pandemic well, and what can others learn from their example?
A: At an individual company level, the ones that have responded well are those that already had a cross-functional crisis-management framework that includes supply chain risk monitoring—companies that have invested in tools that enable end-to-end network mapping and risk assessment. We also found that the industries that were hardest hit in past disruptions were the best prepared, including automotive and high-tech companies that have been impacted by various natural disasters over the last decade. The same applies across countries and regions—areas that are historically more prone to disruptions tend to be better prepared.
Q: What long-term advice would you give companies on how they can recover from the pandemic?
A: The speed and shape of each company’s recovery will depend on its size, industry, and location, but all companies need to accelerate their progress toward digitalization, and risk [management and analysis must] be a component of that [digital] transformation. Companies can no longer afford to think about risk management as a separate process; it must be embedded within their strategic and tactical decision-making.
Q: What advice would you give national governments on how they can help supply chains in the post-crisis period?
A: Private industry will always have more resources than the government, but these resources can either be hamstrung or multiplied depending upon how the government partners with industry. These types of partnerships can only be achieved with the right interface. A good example of this is the American Logistics Aid Network, which launched the Supply Chain Intelligence Center to help businesses quickly see government-imposed restrictions or waivers that impact supply chains.
Q: What industry sectors do you expect to be most changed by the pandemic and why?
A: Retail’s move to e-commerce will be accelerated, and obviously the hospitality industry will change in many ways, as trends toward eating in restaurants will reverse and [the demand for] food delivery will grow. Pharma companies will come under pressure to source from lower-risk countries and onshore more production. Companies with very lean supply chains will be under pressure to increase safety stock. Consumers will not demand the [same variety of choices they previously did], which will allow companies to reduce SKU [stock-keeping unit] proliferation and the resulting supply chain complexity.
Q: What effects do you expect to see in freight transportation for the next year? How will the pandemic affect freight rates and capacity?
A: The biggest challenge for freight transportation will be volatility. Supply and demand will come back online at different times in different parts of the world, and the likelihood of secondary outbreaks will create further supply disruptions and demand shocks. [Regions] where demand does return will see capacity challenges due to imbalances in transportation assets as well as the insolvency of many carriers over the next six to 12 months.
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
Serious inland flooding and widespread power outages are likely to sweep across Florida and other Southeast states in coming days with the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is now predicted to make landfall Thursday evening along Florida’s northwest coast as a major hurricane, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
While the most catastrophic landfall impact is expected in the sparsely-population Big Bend area of Florida, it’s not only sea-front cities that are at risk. Since Helene is an “unusually large storm,” its flooding, rainfall, and high winds won’t be limited only to the Gulf Coast, but are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland, the weather service said. Heavy rainfall is expected to begin in the region even before the storm comes ashore, and the wet conditions will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians region through Friday, dumping storm total rainfall amounts of up to 18 inches. Specifically, the major flood risk includes the urban areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina.
In addition to its human toll, the storm could exert serious business impacts, according to the supply chain mapping and monitoring firm Resilinc. Those will be largely triggered by significant flooding, which could halt oil operations, force mandatory evacuations, restrict ports, and disrupt air traffic.
While the storm’s track is currently forecast to miss the critical ports of Miami and New Orleans, it could still hurt operations throughout the Southeast agricultural belt, which produces products like soybeans, cotton, peanuts, corn, and tobacco, according to Everstream Analytics.
That widespread footprint could also hinder supply chain and logistics flows along stretches of interstate highways I-10 and I-75 and on regional rail lines operated by Norfolk Southern and CSX. And Hurricane Helene could also likely impact business operations by unleashing power outages, deep flooding, and wind damage in northern Florida portions of Georgia, Everstream Analytics said.
Before the storm had even touched Florida soil, recovery efforts were already being launched by humanitarian aid group the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). In a statement on Wednesday, the group said it is urging residents in the storm's path across the Southeast to heed evacuation notices and safety advisories, and reminding members of the logistics community that their post-storm help could be needed soon. The group will continue to update its Disaster Micro-Site with Hurricane Helene resources and with requests for donated logistics assistance, most of which will start arriving within 24 to 72 hours after the storm’s initial landfall, ALAN said.