(US & Canada) VIDEO | Combine Data With Business Experience to Progress — U.S. Venture VP Data and Analytics

Sangeeta Edwin, VP Data and Analytics at U.S. Venture, speaks with Mike Woods, VP Sales at Denodo in a video interview about U.S. Venture as a business, the impact of supply-chain disruption on business, strategies to overcome challenges, and how data analytics helps in making the right decision.

Edwin introduces U.S. Venture as a family-owned business, headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin. The business envisions being the best provider of transportation products, sustainability solutions, and insights that drive the world forward, she adds.

Delving further, Edwin shares about her previous professional engagement with Rockwell, Johnson Controls, and GE. Being familiar with the landscape, she asserts that U.S. Venture is solid at moving products from point A to B.

The business has a multi-industry flavor, adds Edwin, wherein one division is U.S. Energy and the other is Auto Force. While the energy sector involves moving oil, renewable products, and natural gas, the Auto Force concentrates on distributing tires within the U.S. market.

Adding further, Edwin notes that the business is looking into international opportunities. The other breakthrough division of the business is its data analytics functionality in the form of a product that helps companies like Walmart and Amazon plan their shipments.

Commenting on the impact of supply-chain disruption on business, Edwin stresses the impact on the renewable fuel side induced by the lack of spare parts while building products. Thereafter, the parts became expensive and could not be acquired.

Edwin maintains that the business has learned from experience and is getting better at supply-chain management. On the Auto Force side, she continues, a different strategy was followed. When COVID hit and everything was shutting down, the Auto Force leadership decided to stock up on every tire brand in the warehouses and increase the safety stock.

Delving further, Edwin notes that the strategy paid off and once the situation normalized, U.S. Venture had a full stack of tires to distribute and the business boosted. She adds that other than the supply chain, even tariff issues impact bringing in tires.

The business has helped international suppliers looking for alternate options like if the supplier has a manufacturing facility in the U.S., says Edwin. This minimizes the impact in case some mishap happens in another part of the world.

From the transportation standpoint, redundancy has been built in different ports, which has benefited from reduced trade costs, as the business can now cater to service providers in the region. Apart from that, the business gets data from the manufacturers to assess the dependency on raw materials and monitor commodity pricing. She adds that there is a six-month outlook even for manufacturers, raw materials, and commodities to proactively forecast disruptions.

When asked how data analytics help in making the right decisions, Edwin mentions that while building an application data helps the team to track competition and markets. She asserts that the business is running strong in the Midwest and is trying to grow in the East and West Coast.

Furthermore, Edwin maintains that combining the data aspect with the experience of senior business leaders is critical to progress and create demand. Then, she reiterates the importance of safety stocks and having strong cash flow in the company.

In conclusion, Edwin states that finance is included in the analytics to assess the necessity of investment. She says that it is the amalgamation of financial analysis, market analysis, and product availability where data and analytics come together.

CDO Magazine appreciates Sangeeta Edwin for sharing her data and business insights with our global community.