34 DC VELOCITY JULY 2015 www.dcvelocity.com
t
h
ou
g
ht
l
e
a
de
rs
the hard trade-offs between options. Those with a more
managerial or business background tend to look at the
relationships and how companies interact. These are both
valid approaches to the same core problems. In fact, you
are starting to see more overlap between the two camps as
the discipline matures. So, I think they are complementary
rather than competitive.
Q How does your research translate into information that transportation and logistics managers can apply
in the real world?
A I’m proud of a couple of things that I have been a part of over the last 20 years, mainly because they have such
direct applicability to practitioners. The first is combinato-
rial auctions for better transportation procurement, which
came out of my Ph.D. dissertation. This was controversial
in the mid-1990s, but today it is a standard feature in prac-
tically all transportation management systems. The second
is the Freight Market Intelligence Consortium (FMIC) that
I am part of at Chainalytics. The FMIC models capture not
only the transportation rates across North America, but
also the impact that different business practices and poli-
cies have on carriers and their rates. Both of these models
were designed as communication tools to improve the
relationship between shippers and carriers. In both cases,
the underlying mathematical model supports the practical
decision-making.
Q What do you think will be the most important trend in supply chain education in the next decade, and why?
A I think we are learning how to better use the complete portfolio of education options. Face-to-face discussions and lectures are great when everyone can gather at
a common location. However, in many cases, students
learn certain concepts better at their own pace and speed.
In the fall of 2014, CTL launched CTL.SC1x Supply Chain
and Logistics Fundamentals, its first online supply chain
course—and over 30,000 students from 184 countries registered! We ended up awarding 2,200 certificates of completion—equivalent to 28 years of residence teaching at MIT
in my typical course. So, I believe that online education will
play a big role in education. But the biggest trend will be
the customization and blending of these different ways of
teaching (and learning) for individual students.
Art Mesher was a 22-year-old college student
working as a lumper—unloading trucks at
the loading dock—when he read a book by
pioneering supply chain author John Coyle.
The book suggested that logistics would be
a good job for someone without a college
degree, and Mesher jumped into the industry with both feet.
That turned out to be a smart decision,
as Mesher went on to build a stellar career
in the field that included stints as an all-star
analyst and turnaround specialist before
retiring in 2013 as CEO of Descartes Systems Group Inc.,
where he is credited with helping found SaaS (software as
a service) networks and cloud computing. Before joining
Descartes in 1998, he worked as an analyst, launching
Gartner Group’s Integrated Logistics Strategies Services
group. Prior to that, he was president of Advanced Logistics
Research, a firm that helped companies develop supply
chain strategies, and founder of Vocam Systems, a logistics network software company. Today, Mesher invests
and consults with startup companies, including Nulogy,
Versapay, and Logistical Labs.
“I got started in this business when nobody thought it
was important,” Mesher recalls. “But I dropped out of
school and started building computer systems to do EDI
(electronic data interchange) and I’ve had a great career.
It’s been an amazing ride.”
Q You’re known for launching startups and turning companies around. How
do you come up with new ideas and fresh
approaches?
A I’m very formalized in how I work; I have an analytic approach called the
Clean SL8 Framework. What if you could
take everything you know and everything
you’ve done and wipe it clean and start all
over? What would you do differently and
what would you change?
Q But it must be hard to convince your consulting clients to let go of their own ideas?
A Yes, it’s like the U2 song, “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of.” Sometimes, you have to push them
to change, but pressure makes diamonds, and that’s why
they call me “High-pressure Mesher.” Great CEOs embrace
change. You can’t manage in denial.
Q What are the biggest challenges facing supply chain professionals today?
A The pace of change. It’s a dinosaur industry that’s about to get flipped on its head. This industry is full of
50- and 60-year-olds, and they’re all about to get replaced
by a generation of people who take “selfies” of themselves.
The way they use data and apply it to their work is completely different.
Art Mesher
