Thank you to all of our guests at our client alumni event for making it such a success.
Speakers: Catherine McDermott and Andy Banks
Discussion: Big Data – Big Hype
Location: Browns Hotel, London
Crimson & Co held its Spring Client Alumni dinner at Brown’s Hotel on Thursday 14th May. Clients from a range of industries attended including; drinks, FMCG, retail, healthcare and industrial.
Our pre-dinner session was a debate on the subject of Big Data – Big Hype, led by Client Alumni members Catherine McDermott, Supply chain Director at Amazon and Andy Banks, Supply Chain Vision & Planning at Waitrose. Catherine took the view that growth in the criticality of big data was inevitable with the supply chain manager’s key skill changing from managing operational issues to managing data. Andy stressed that the biggest weakness in most operations was not being able to manipulate the data already available, so the main priority should be using existing information to enhance current performance. A lively debate ensued, with many inputs from the floor. In a closely fought vote, Catherine came out just ahead, though all agreed the depth and quantity of data could only grow; but the capability to use it is struggling to keep up.
Thank you to Catherine and Andy for this interactive and entertaining debate and to our members for taking part. We look forward to seeing you at our Autumn dinner in November 2015!