Pros to Know: Stay True to Your Younger Self

Erhan Musaoglu, CEO and co-founder of Logiwa and one of the winners of this year’s Pros to Know award, advises supply chain professionals to stay true to your younger selves and surround yourself with smart, passionate people.

CLICK HERE to view the full list of winners.

Supply & Demand Chain Executive: Let’s first talk about you. Tell me a little bit about yourself and your journey to get to this current stage in your career?

Erhan Musaoglu: I’ve always had an entrepreneurial drive and I started what is today known as Logiwa years ago in my native country of Turkey. At that time, we supplied an on-premises WMS. However, I knew that the rise of e-commerce and the direct-to-consumer (DTC) business model would create a seismic shift in the retail industry, requiring a vastly different kind of WMS and order fulfillment solution. The demands of this new retail world meant high-velocity fulfillment and software designed for flexibility, ease-of-use and scalability. So, leveraging the computing power of the cloud, I developed a modern, cloud-native WMS designed to help companies compete in high-volume e-commerce business models. Just as the industry was transforming, so too was Logiwa by launching our SaaS-based modern WMS and DTC fulfillment system and relocating the company to Chicago, where we have been headquartered since 2017.

Supply & Demand Chain Executive: Most supply chains have struggled over the past couple of years. What are you and your team/company doing to help heal logistics?

Musaoglu: At Logiwa, we are committed to being a product-led company. We continually listen to our customers; evaluate the capabilities they need to grow their operations and incorporate functionality to our product that is going to help our customers get their products to customers as quickly and efficiently as possible. And because we are a SaaS company, our product innovation can be shared simultaneously with all our customers, allowing them to use and configure these new capabilities in a way that best fits their business without additional services fees.

We recently added a powerful analytics function to our solution that enables our customers to better harness the value of their operational data and more closely monitor the health of their warehouse operations. In real time, our customers can quickly make adjustments and stay ahead of potential setbacks. It also allows management to find opportunities to optimize their order fulfillment process to increase productivity. 

In the aftermath of the pandemic and the continuing escalation of consumer expectations for same day or next day order delivery, fulfillment is becoming an even more critically important aspect of the overall customer experience. Those high-volume ecommerce and DTC businesses will rely on the efficiency and scalability that intelligent technology provides in order to stay competitive.

Supply & Demand Chain Executive: What advice do you have for the youth of today looking to get into the supply chain industry?

Musaoglu: From my perspective, logistics is at the core of all commerce and it is fascinating, complex and ever-changing. For young people looking to get into this industry, they will find endless opportunities by embracing this perspective and staying curious.

Aside from that, I can sum up my advice in three words: perseverance, data and system-driven. Perseverance, because this industry has crises – we just went through one during the pandemic – and it takes hard work, determination and strategy to get through the rough times. Data, because data is the new currency of business. The more companies leverage the business, operational and customer insights in their data, the more they can compete and win. Last, system driven, because this is what can drive efficiencies and growth in business.

Supply & Demand Chain Executive: What would you tell your younger self?

Musaoglu: Stay true to your vision and surround yourself with smart, equally passionate people.

Supply & Demand Chain Executive: Now for the lightning round…. Dogs or cats?

Musaoglu: Dogs

Supply & Demand Chain Executive: Breakfast or dinner?

Musaoglu: Dinner

Supply & Demand Chain Executive: Shopping in person or online?

Musaoglu: In person

Supply & Demand Chain Executive: What are your Top 3 predictions/trends for the supply chain space in 2023?

Musaoglu:
Humanoid robots in warehouses. Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have paved the way for robotics technology to expand in scope and complexity to better support warehouse operations. Robotics is becoming an indispensable tool for managing the growing challenges of modern ecommerce and supply chain logistics.

Micro-fulfillment. Growth in micro fulfillment strategies will continue as consumer expectations continue to put pressure on faster delivery times.

Collaboration for wider fulfillment networks. The ecosystem of partners, vendors and suppliers that make up the purchase-to-delivery continuum will become increasingly interconnected, creating wider yet more nimble logistics networks.

Supply & Demand Chain Executive: You’re named a Pros to Know. What’s next? What’s on the horizon/in the works for you?

Musaoglu: As the supply chain industry continues to undergo massive digital transformation, my team and I will continue to stay laser focused on helping our customers provide their customers best-in-class experiences. I built Logiwa to address three top needs of modern fulfillment: high-volume order shipping, system flexibility and rapid time-to-value.

And we’ll stay committed to our SaaS model, continuing to deploy our ongoing product innovation in a one-to-many fashion, so that our customers gain the capabilities and configurability they need to control their inventory flow and deliver a superior customer experience.

CLICK HERE to view the full list of winners.