TD SYNNEX CEO Hume: Process redesign, transformation an end-to-end journey

TD SYNNEX CEO Richard Hume said integration and digital transformation plans are on track as the company aims to consolidate IT systems' infrastructure, retool processes and implement new enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

Tech Data merged with SYNNEX in September 2021 to become TD SYNNEX, now the largest IT distributor in the world, with $60 billion in combined revenue and 150,000+ customers.

Hume outlined how the merged company is looking to gain efficiencies to compete in the fiercely competitive technology distribution business.

Celonis recently outlined how Tech Data was approaching its transformation and how it was pursuing operational excellence to leverage new technologies and consumption models. Tech Data used Celonis for Procure-to-Pay, Order-to-Cash and After Sales Management. Tech Data, which was running 40 million transactions through Celonis, saw a 57% reduction in Procure-to-Pay total cycle time and achieved 95% automated invoice processing.

On a conference call with analysts following TD SYNNEX's fourth quarter earnings, Hume outlined the process and digital transformation journey. He said:

If I were to prioritize to you our focus, it first is to make sure that we are making the investments both in core systems, platforms as well as edge tools to continually improve customer and vendor experience.

We live on a bit of a thinner margin profile, but it always requires more and more productivity, which lends well to automation and process redesign. A lot of that has been done, but a lot more to come; this whole transition to a new standard of ERP in the Americas, in particular, gives us a chance to revisit our entire edge tool inventory to make sure that we have state-of-the-art capabilities.

Then of course, it makes its way through the entire organization through our logistics centers all the way through our financial and accounting processes to legal processes to HR processes. It’s sort of an end-to-end journey. The top priority is having excellent experiences for our primary stakeholders.

Hume also noted that TD SYNNEX, like other enterprises, was navigating supply chain turbulence, inflation and shipping costs and forecasting uncertainty amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Larry Dignan

Editor in Chief (former)

Larry Dignan is the former Editor in Chief of Celonis Media. Before joining Celonis, he was Editor in Chief of ZDNet and has covered the technology industry and transformation trends for more than two decades, publishing articles in WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning magazine.