The supply chain process is constantly evolving from the first assembly lines to today’s advanced robotic solutions. The latest trends in supply chain and logistics focus on smart, tech-driven management to reduce operating expenses and increase efficiency. The logistics and supply chain aspect is vital for any business in terms of supply of quality raw materials, efficient manufacturing process, as well as tracking, transport and storage of the finished goods. Companies implementing well-designed supply chain practices are able to meet consumer needs in a more expeditious and timely manner. Gaea Global Technologies, founded in 2007 is an information technology services company that provides inventive technology solutions for the most challenging project management and supply chain problems with an intimate knowledge of the Oracle enterprise products with considerable expertise in all the industries the company serves. The company has helped clients successfully deploy enterprise applications all over the world. CIO Insider engages an exclusive interview with Amin, Co-Founder & President at Gaea

In conversation with Amin Sikander, Co-Founder & President - India Gaea

Where does Gaea stand as a technology providers in the current SCM industry?
The disruptions caused by COVID have reiterated the importance of Logistics. Supply chain breakdowns caused shortages the world over. As a long time leader in implementing Integrated Logistics Solutions, we are already helping our customers navigate the current crisis and plan for the future. Businesses are transitioning from the first phase of this crisis and reworking their supply chains for the new normal. Supply Chain network optimization, supplier diversification, third party risk screening and logistics optimization are all critical tools to ensure that

companies can survive and thrive. Oracle’s supply chain solutions provide some of the best tools to solve supply chain digitization and risk mitigation. Gaea intimately understands these domains and can articulate a compelling value proposition that helps our customer use these tools at its best.

How does your platform help in optimizing the business outcomes of an organization?
We were founded by some of the original architects of Oracle’s Supply Chain Products. This deep product expertise, combined with decades of domain knowledge, makes us uniquely positioned to help our clients get the maximum ROI from their ERP products. Our focus on all things Logistics has allowed us to build a world class team that has an appreciation of real world challenges and opportunities. We handle all aspects of a Logistics implementation such as hardware, implementation, training and support in addition to Blockchain and IoT technology. We provide cloud based micro services and analytics services to help clients turn their supply chain into a competitive edge.

the country. Bata RDC handles six different concepts with a constant flow of inbound and outbound inventory movement every day and needed a new warehouse management system (WMS) to be implemented without affecting these operations. The in-house legacy systems were built specifically to work with other Bata legacy systems and were unable to be easily changed. All of those system adjustments, particularly for Bata’s interfaces and labeling system, had to be performed outside of those systems. Also, the new WMS needed to be implemented in a few months and work immediately without any major hitches.

To reduce business disruptions, we planned a multiple-phase implementation of Oracle WMS Cloud. In order to overcome legacy system limitations, we created custom reports and leveraged handheld software scripting to enable Bata to continue using their existing multi-field barcodes. Since Bata could not change barcodes at their factories, any data modifications had to be made after scanning. We utilized WaveLink TelnetCE (Windows) and Velocity (Android) scripting capabilities to address this challenge. Prefixes and identifiers were added to scanned data, and we provided scan validation, visual feedback, and automated keystroke entries via these scripts. By using their existing multi-field barcodes, Bata increased operational efficiency by capturing multiple data points like batch, expiry, and serial number, in one scan. In addition, we replaced legacy-system manual processes with new system-driven processes. On the first day of picking with the new system, Bata picked more than 35,000 pairs of shoes. After a month of picking with the new system, Bata doubled their daily pick rate, picking more than 70,000 pairs of shoes per day.

What is the future roadmap set for Gaea?
We are helping our customers transform their supply chains to react to the demands of a post COVID world. Supply Chain network optimization, risk mitigation and digitization will be our key focus areas. We have already changed our implementation methodology to fit this new world, emphasizing a minimum touch, global approach leveraging our supply chain accelerators. We will be releasing a new Cloud based solution in Q1 of 2021 that will enable customers to build a digital twin of their warehouse and implement an AI based predictive slotting algorithm to better adapt to changing customer demand patterns and supply chain disruptions.