• Digital transformation creates new challenges and opportunities across the supply chain
• EY is delivering value-creating innovation in supply chain management

By examining successful case studies, methodologies and smart technologies, the Summit highlighted ways by which a company’s flow of operations, including distribution, promotion and support of a product, infrastructures and quality assurance, can increase its intrinsic value and support its growth. The exhibition held along with the Summit, attracted some of the biggest companies, suppliers and distributors in Cyprus.

Distinguished local and international speakers covered subjects such as, innovative strategies in supply chain management, digital transformation of supply chain operations, "Smart Factories", supply chain operations and the value chain.

The Summit was attended by over 400 professionals and other executives from Cyprus’ commercial companies, including General Managers, Supply Chain and Logistics Managers, Operations Managers, Technical, Commercial and Financial Managers as well as Sales, Marketing and Production Managers.

In his short welcome at the Summit, Charalambos Constantinou, Partner and Head of Advisory Services of EY Cyprus, noted: “Digital transformation and the rapid changes in the global economic environment are presenting companies with enormous challenges. As a world leader in supply chain management consulting, EY seeks to share its insights and expertise with the Cypriot business community. To that end, together with IMH, we have organized this Summit to support businesses in their efforts to adapt, compete and thrive.”

The Summit’s Chairman, Thanos Mavros, Advisory Partner at ΕΥ Greece and CSE Head of Supply Chain & Operations, gave the event’s opening remarks. In his presentation, titled “Supply Chain Reinvention: Is It a Nice or Must-Have Item?”, Mr. Mavros focused on the transformation taking place in the supply chain and argued that this transformation is not a mere option for businesses but a major imperative. He argued that Businesses and organizations have for years been looking at the supply chain mainly as a cost that needs to be rationalized. The current ever-changing needs of consumers make the supply chain an important point of differentiation. Today, by achieving excellence in your supply chain, you can drastically improve the level of service to your customers.

Georgios Kolomvos, Manager, Performance Improvement, EY Greece, spoke on Supply Chain Network Optimization. He presented a network optimization tool built by a team of EY scientists and consultants that uses mathematical programming models to present solutions that can deliver significant cost savings in seconds. The speaker noted that the (re)design of supply chain or retail stores is a strategic decision affecting the level of service and the service model itself, as well as relationships with suppliers and customers. It engages businesses in long-term investment, which they must seek to recover in less than three years.

Nikos Mouzouras, IT Consultant in Cybersecurity Issues with EY Cyprus, addressed the issue of the Impact of Social Engineering on the Supply Chain. Mr. Mouzouras outlined how, in Cyprus as in other countries, companies and public organizations have lately been deceived through social engineering scams into losing their data or paying money. He concluded that social engineering is nothing more than the psychological manipulation of people to commit acts or to disseminate confidential information. Whatever technology we use to protect our systems, humans will remain an organization’s key vulnerability.

Panagiotis Gkantiragas, Manager, Supply Chain Operations, EY Greece, spoke on Achieving Operational Excellence with Manufacturing Transformation. Mr. Gkantiragas argued that, in today's digital world, operational excellence is more critical than ever before for businesses to achieve their goals of growth and profitability. Referring to EY's Smart Factory solution, he explained that the solution creates a new organizational model that helps companies achieve significant business performance improvements by transforming manufacturing processes, reducing losses and increasing productivity across the value chain.

EY is a world leader in supply chain services and operations and is among the most capable organizations at delivering value-creating innovation in supply chain management consulting. It has one of the most extensive networks with over 280,000 people globally in more than 150 countries, with a consulting network of over 35,000 professionals worldwide, of which 5,000 are specialized in supply chain services and operations. Our EY Cyprus supply chain team has more than 15 years of experience providing solutions to organization’s supply chains.