Reveel's Gabrielle Murabito Talks Connecting Data Across the Supply Chain: Women in Supply Chain Forum™ Award

Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive: Women in Supply Chain Forum™ Award
Gabrielle Murabito, Senior Account Manager, Reveel
Category: Rising Stars

Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive: Hello! My name is Marina Mayer, Editor-in-Chief of Food Logistics and Supply and Demand Chain Executive, and I am here with Gabrielle Murabito, Senior Account Manager for Reveel. Gabrielle is a recipient of this year's Women in Supply Chain Forum Award in the Rising Stars category. Thank you so much for joining me today!

On a day-to-day basis, your job is to ensure that identified opportunities are implemented effectively. Walk us through how this works, and what are some of the top themes and trends you're seeing in the industry.

Gabrielle Murabito: My day-to-day focus is really on turning identified opportunities into action. So, through quarterly business reviews, we'll review and prioritize opportunities with the customer and develop a game plan for moving them forward.

Outside of quarterly business reviews (QBRs), customers will also bring opportunities or challenges directly to me. And my role is really to connect them with the right internal subject matter experts, help facilitate the work, and make sure we're bringing the right insights back to the customer.

And when I look at the broader industry, one of the biggest things that I'm seeing is rising surcharges and continued carrier pricing pressure. Customers are being hit with increases and new surcharges left and right. And sometimes there's very little warning with these, which is leading to more conversations around how do we mitigate that.

We're also seeing customers look at carrier diversification and ways to become more operationally lean. There's this shift from being solely focused on negotiating rates to looking more holistically at the operation where they can optimize, where they can eliminate unnecessary costs, and ultimately get more out of their existing network. And really, that's where I come in as their CXM, helping drive the process.

Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive: You also help enterprise shippers uncover hidden inefficiencies in parcel shipping. What are some of the main inefficiencies you're seeing, and what advice do you have for these parcel shippers?

Murabito: Some of the biggest inefficiencies that I see are really around a lack of visibility.

If organizations don't have the right analytics reporting or a partner helping them analyze their parcel data, it can be really difficult to get a clear picture of where their spend is going and what's really driving changes in their day-to-day cost.

I think another big one is accessorials, avoidable accessorials. Things like address correction fees, late payment fees, and other charges that really add up.

I also see opportunities around service selection, different service downgrades and opportunities there, packaging opportunities, and dimensional weight, where customers may be paying for things that they don't necessarily need.

I would say that my biggest piece of advice is to have analytics and reporting in place that provide you with ongoing visibility and anomaly detection. You really want to establish a baseline, track trends so you can quickly identify when something is off, whether that accessorial spend is increasing, there's a shift in service mix.

Or your cost per package is moving in the wrong direction. And that gives the organizations the ability to really identify issues early on and then take action before they start impacting cost.

Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive: Over the next 12 months, your goal is to deepen how organizations leverage this data to drive end-to-end supply chain optimization. What is the first step to leveraging that data?

Murabito: The first step to leveraging the data is to really understand your data. And what I mean by that is, before you can use data to make decisions, you have to understand what it is that you actually have, where it's coming from, how accurate it is, and what it's actually telling you.

I also think that you have to start with the business question. Ask yourself upfront, what are we actually trying to solve here? And then, what data do we need to answer that question? And then from there, I'd look at what different data sources we have access to and how we can bring those together.

A lot of times, the real opportunity isn't in looking at that one dataset by itself, it's really connecting the different pieces of data and seeing what they tell you together.

And I think that's really where you can start uncovering trends or these opportunities that you might not have seen otherwise.

And then, going back to what I said before, you can establish a baseline. You can identify those opportunities and actually turn those insights into action.

At the end of the day, the data itself isn't the value. The value is really what you do with that data, and I think the goal is for organizations to move from just reporting on what happened, and using data to predict what's actually happening, identifying the opportunities, and then proactively optimize their supply chain from there.

Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive: If you could share an example of a difficult supply chain disruption that you managed, and then explain how you turned that challenge into an opportunity.

Murabito: I'm going back to my previous role, at a retail company. One of the biggest supply chain disruptions I managed was during COVID.

At a retail company, online shopping skyrocketed, which just put a tremendous amount of pressure on our parcel network and dramatically increased our volume.

At the same time, we were dealing and got hit with carrier capacity constraints, volume caps, additional surcharges, and increasing costs from all different directions. And we really needed to figure out how to manage the increased volume without just simply adding more carriers to the network. We wanted to avoid oversaturating the network and just creating unnecessary complexity for everyone involved.

So instead, we've really looked strategically at specific pockets of volume where we could plug in regional carriers, where they could complement our existing network. We were really intentional about where we brought in these additional carriers rather than just diversifying for the sake of having more carriers. And that is what gave us that additional capacity, took the pressure off our larger carrier network, and really helped manage cost.

And, going from here, I think what's interesting is that the lesson from COVID has really stuck with me because carrier diversification has just continued to become more important, even years later. We see this as a big trend today.

And so, what started as a necessity during a major disruption has really evolved into a strategic opportunity for shippers today with these carrier pricing changes and surcharges and changing dynamics.

Having that diversified carrier network or that strategy in play can really give companies more flexibility and leverage. So, I think the opportunity really came from taking that disruption that forced us to think differently, and turning it into a more strategic way of managing our network. And, it really taught me, and something that I like to talk about with my customers, is that sometimes the best response to a disruption isn't just getting back to the way that things were operating, it's really using that disruption as an opportunity to build out a more resilient and optimized network going forward.

Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive: What supply chain trend do you think will have the biggest impact over the next 5 years?

Murabito: Can you guess? The biggest topic right now, AI.

We've always had a tremendous amount of data, there's tons of data in the supply chain, and going back to that challenge, that it's really been able to try to make sense of all of it, understanding your data, and then being able to actually use it quickly enough to make better decisions, and I think that's where AI is really going to make a big difference, and already has. So, instead of teams spending hours pulling reports, looking for trends, and trying to figure out what's changing, AI can really help identify those things much faster. It can help you understand not just what happened, but why it happened, which is really important, and really what you should be looking at next.

I also think the bigger opportunity is connecting data across the supply chain. Looking at that bigger picture, you just don't want to look at transportation, inventory fulfillment, product placement, or customer demand separately. Really, when you can connect those pieces, you just get a better picture of what's actually happening across the entire business. 

And, I don't think, everyone's always worried about AI replacing the person making the decision. I think that actually AI is giving that person better information to make the decision. And really, the companies that will benefit the most will be the ones that have good data and processes in place, and then they use AI to make that information easier to understand and act on.

So, ultimately, I think we're going to see supply chains become much more predictive, and instead of waiting for something to go wrong, and then figuring out why, companies will just have a much better idea of what's coming, and then can make adjustments much earlier on.

Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive: What can organizations do to attract, retain, and develop women in supply chain roles?

Murabito: I think it starts with making sure that women have a real seat at the table, not just a seat in the room.

Organizations need to create opportunities for women to take on challenging projects, have their voices heard and be visible in important conversations and decision making.

I also think that mentorship and sponsorship are really important as well. Having people who are willing to advocate for you, expose you to different opportunities, and help you navigate your career can make a huge difference.

And really, at the end of the day, organizations need to create an environment where people are recognized for their contributions and have a clear path for people to grow. And if you give women opportunities, if you support them, make sure their voices are valued, you are going to be much more successful in retaining and developing them.

Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive: If you could go back in time and talk to your younger self, what would you say to her?

Murabito: For starters, I would tell her to believe in herself.

And know her worth, and not rely on someone else to tell her that she's capable.

You have to believe in yourself first, and be willing to pave your own way.

I also would tell myself to not be afraid of failure, that it is okay to fail. Every failure is a lesson, and those lessons ultimately make you better and more prepared for whatever comes next.

And lastly, I would tell her to set goals for herself, and be really intentional about where she wants to go.

Your career is ultimately yours to own, and there will be people who help you along the way, but it's your determination, your work ethic, and the effort that you put in that will ultimately move you forward.

Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive: If you could leave the audience with just one piece of advice about being a woman in the supply chain, what would it be?

Murabito: I think it would be to make sure that your seat at the table is known.

Supply chain has historically been a predominantly male environment, and it can be easy to look at that as a disadvantage, but I actually think that you can use that to your advantage.

Don't try to shrink yourself or blend in. Stand out. Know what you're bringing to the table, speak with confidence, and share your perspective. You don't need to wait for someone to give you permission to take up space. Believe in yourself, know your worth, and own the value that you are bringing.

Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive: To learn more about Gabrielle and our other Women in Supply Chain Forum award winners, CLICK HERE.

Register for this year's Women in Supply Chain Forum™ at http://www.womeninsupplychainforum.com.