Today I’m joined by GAINS, a long-standing supply chain tech company that is on a mission to democratize supply chain planning, with a platform that helps businesses large and small to move forward faster with greater agility, resilience, confidence, and sustainability.
GAINS is the supply chain performance optimization company. Its platform drives faster, smarter decisions everywhere inventory matters. So, with GAINS, supply chain teams can make all the right decisions – at speed and scale – to right-size inventory, strengthen performance, and fulfill customer promises.
Today Bill Benton, Co-Founder at GAINS, joins me to talk all about GAINS, its evolution over the years and vision for the future; how supply chain decision-making has changed; the impact of machine learning and AI on the industry; and why GAINS is committed to democratizing supply chain.
Guest Bio:
Bill Benton is part of an innovative supply chain legacy dating back to his father, William Benton Sr., who founded the company that later became GAINS in 1971. In 2022, after previous roles in professional services, product/algorithm design, and as CEO, Bill took on the role of Co-Founder at GAINS, a position allowing him to focus more on product strategy, customer relationships, and global partnerships. Bill is widely recognized as a visionary in the supply chain industry. He is known for rolling up his sleeves and applying his talent for creatively solving complex supply chain challenges across hundreds of organizations. He is passionate about fostering teams as well as bringing practical supply chain innovation to the field of planning. Bill has received several awards for his professional achievements, including GAINS’ ongoing recognition in the Gartner Supply Chain Planning Magic Quadrant and Nucleus Research’s Supply Chain Planning Value Matrix.
IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:
[06.11] An overview of GAINS – who they are, what they do, and how they help their customers.
“We’re a four-decade old company… and we’re on our 6th generation of technology, where we’ve taken all of these battle-tested learnings from prior generations, and brought them forward with new tools and new ideas.”
[09.21] Bill’s father’s vision for GAINS, when he founded the organization in 1971, and the company’s evolution through to the present day.
“He wanted to bring analytical rigor, use models to do prediction and optimization, and do it at the maximum scale possible… We’re not accepting the status quo, we’re not getting business requirements and trying to automate existing procedures, we’re trying to innovate – but in a practical way.”
[12.11] Bill’s move from GAINS CEO to co-founder, and how industry changes are driving Bill’s vision for GAINS as an organization, but also for their clients and for the industry.
“There’s been increasing volatility across time, whether that’s socioeconomic, the pandemic or elongated supply chains, that are much more brittle.”
[17.12] The ideal client for GAINS.
“The G in GAINS is for general. We’ve resisted verticalization, because we think these problems are universal in the supply chain.”
[22.43] A deep dive into how GAINS helps customers and delivers up to 5x return on investment.
[26.41] How supply chain decision-making has changed, and the impact of machine learning and AI on the industry.
“It’s not a panacea. There are some things that machine learning does better, some things that it does faster, some things that it does that we couldn’t do before. And other problems that really have very little to do with machine learning.”
[29.01] GAINS’ mission to democratize supply chain – what it means, why it’s so important, and how that mission will change the industry.
“We don’t want to see a climate where four companies dominate every industry – innovation declines. Start-ups don’t have scale, but they need word-class capability to compete, and that’s what we’re trying to bring.”
[31.25] GAINS’ recent successful customer conference, and how it facilitates open two-way conversations that help GAINS build targeted, highly effective future solutions for clients.
[33.59] The future for GAINS.
RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED:
Head over to GAINS’ website now to find out more and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with GAINS and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn or X (Twitter) or you can connect with Bill on LinkedIn.
If you enjoyed this episode and want to explore some more great content, check out a recent blog post, Women in Supply Chain Award Winner on Mentorship and the Future, or podcast episode, 371: Going Beyond Visibility – From Risk to Resilience: How Technology Is Transforming Global Supply chains.
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