“We are a unique consulting group with extensive hands-on experience in high-tech manufacturing in combination with broad consulting experience in Supply Chain management”: ChainSequence, Inc.

“Our mission is to develop and implement forward looking, effective supply chain solutions that help our clients excel and achieve long-term success in the high-tech industry.”

Throughout the explosive growth of Global Supply Chains over the past 15 years, the firm has engaged with leading corporations around the world to help them enhance business processes, expand the reach of their supply chains, and improve the effective use of their worldwide assets. 

ChainSequence’s approach is to quickly assimilate into your environment, listen to your goals, and build consensus among divergent groups to define a supply chain planning process that is right for you.

The company does not adhere to textbooks, system manuals, or one-size-fits-all products that can limit a client’s options. Instead, it offers a fresh perspective toward re-engineering outdated supply chain methodologies and resolving persistent challenges. Its progressive approach provides custom solutions based on your unique needs.

Why was the company set up? How did you select the vertical and decide to be a part of the global platform?

Many generalist business consultants only focus on the broader aspects of the Supply Chain process. Our intent, in launching ChainSequence, was to concentrate in our expertise area and do it better than anyone else. Particularly within larger or global organizations, improving business processes to support the integral relationship between Supply Chain and Sales & Operations (S&OP) Planning is an incredibly complex undertaking. 

Our evolution strategy has always involved expanding our expertise into other industries, while keeping our emphasis true to Supply Chain/S&OP. Beyond the high-tech/electronics sector, our solution frameworks have been transformational for consumer products, retail, and service-oriented enterprises, such as higher education.

Tell us about your first product that was launched?

Twenty years ago, clients had a bigger appetite (and budget) for complete re-engineering projects involving Supply Chain planning processes. Development alone could take eighteen months or longer—prevailing methodology dictated we consider every function/scenario in granular detail. Today, competitive organizations simply can’t wait that long to realize improvement. Clients benefit more from our ‘work smarter not harder’ approach to realize incremental gains faster through ChainSequence’s more agile, cost-effective strategies. 

Our S&OP service component is a full-cycle, best-practice business process/sales solution designed to forecast and align supply with demand, facilitate on-time delivery, and improve customer satisfaction rates. ChainSequence’s top-level S&OP planning process framework helps organizations quickly identify, diagnose and resolve ongoing issues, adding an educational module as needed. Because effective S&OP processes are only as good as the Supply Chain foundation on which they rest, we use our client’s business case to teach the fundamentals, concepts, and expectations around creating a robust process to achieve better visibility across the entire organization.

What challenges did you face in your initial years? What can your peers learn from it?

Managing customer demands, which can be challenging, is not always an easy task. There are costs associated with accommodating special requirements, and system development is one of them. Technology can support many conditions, but when one-off requests occur, these require customization of a stock software suite. These issues come with both a financial and time-delay price tag. Having a customer and product segmentation methodology in place helps organizations make appropriate strategic decisions through careful consideration of ROI against supporting a customer-requested requirement.

If you have to list five factors that have been/are the biggest asset to your organization, what would they be and why?

Experience, Tenacity, Problem Solving, Collaboration, Optimism. Our approachability, tenacity and commitment to our clients’ goals have fostered rewarding relationships that continue to this day.

How do you and your company contribute to the global IT platform and society at large?

Our mission is to continually improve and refine our business models and deployment strategies on behalf of our clients. ChainSequence maintains an extensive partnership network with other service providers and thought leaders in two areas: business process development and technology solution deployment. Our global consortium shares invaluable insights with each other to create a better understanding of market conditions, tech advancements, and customer nuances from one region to the next, allowing us to better serve our global clients.

Do you have any new products ready to be/getting ready to be rolled out into the market? 

We’ve seen many similar issues from one organization to the next, but it doesn’t mean we’ve seen everything. Changing customer demand combined with the introduction of new products will drive new requirements and scenarios that previously didn’t exist. ChainSequence is continually monitoring new advancements in the analytics field, for example, to incorporate them into our business process models. We continue to expand our presence in the consumer products, retail, and service-oriented industry sectors, expanding our customer base overseas.

Let us greet the luminary

Bill Mrzlak is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of ChainSequence, Inc. and is an expert authority on the development and optimization of best-in-class Supply Chain planning and Sales & Operations Planning processes. Working within a wide range of industries, Mrzlak is integrally involved in the deployment of numerous enterprise-wide initiatives in the U.S., Europe and Asia. A recognized thought leader in business process re-engineering, he also provides facilitated educational sessions to guide organizations in achieving a best-practice approach—managing systems development and project deployments—to better compete in today’s marketplace.

"We help enterprises identify challenges, create innovative solutions, and implement lasting change to better manage supply and demand.”