How Neo Tangent is Revolutionising Supply Chain Services

Neo Tangent is a well-established professional services organisation, providing end-to-end supply chain services, finance and accounting, customer service and human resource services.

Over the past few years, the company – launched in 2004 as a business unit within Li & Fung – has undergone a significant transformation.

Neo Tangent’s focus is to make waves in the industry with its innovative approach to middle-office operations, covering supply chain services from procurement right the way through to the last-mile delivery of goods. 

Yash Chauhan, onboarded as the Global Head of Neo Tangent in early 2023, sheds light on the firm’s overarching goal: “Our core mission is to become our customers' most trusted partner, which we achieve through our pure commitment towards customers, by transforming the business mindset and evangelising business processes.”

The organisation Yash encountered when he joined looks very different from the Neo Tangent of today. 

“Earlier, the organisation was more of a global business services specialist and thus very inward-focused,” he says. “The output was brilliant, but the mindset was that we were working for our own internal stakeholders. The big transformation involved changing the mindset and the ways of working, hence bringing about a monumental shift in the way we think, act and achieve. 

“When preparing to serve the market, it's essential to consider several key factors: the technology at your disposal, the type of process documentation you utilise and the capability development for your team. By aligning these elements, you'll ensure a well-rounded approach that meets market demands effectively – because the market may not be as humble as our internal stakeholders. 

“Our teams were fully prepared to embark on this journey and, thanks to their efforts, the organisation has undergone a remarkable transformation rapidly. Our transformation has certainly not just been in name – it has been embedded into our DNA.”

Catering to the middle office

What truly distinguishes Neo Tangent in the industry is its focus on middle office operations.

"In our industry, most organisations are catering to back-office activities,” Yash explains. “However, only a select few organisations effectively manage the middle office, which encompasses the entire process from sourcing to delivery."

The middle office, as Yash describes it, is at the heart of any business, encompassing planning, sourcing, manufacturing and fulfilment. 

Traditionally, such activities have been handled internally by enterprises, with minimal or fragmented involvement from third-party experts.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed this landscape. 

“Before COVID, there existed a notion of 'this is our business and nobody else can do it'," Yash continues. “The pandemic has reshaped the landscape entirely; our perspective on middle-office activities has shifted dramatically, creating a greater need for expert involvement. Nowadays, businesses cannot navigate these complexities alone.”

He adds: “There are huge cost pressures and a need for visibility, resilience and instant agility. Employees in the middle office should be able to focus on their product, rather than worrying about logistical challenges pertaining to transportation, customs issues or regulatory pressures.

“I’m really proud to say Neo Tangent has been doing this for the last 20 years for its customers, but we’re expanding to the whole world and to five or six different industry segments.”

Yash references an HFS Research survey which highlights that about 60% of organisations are considering utilisation of third parties or centralisation of the middle office, thus creating new opportunities for firms like Neo Tangent. 

“We're already ahead of the game and we have the expertise to navigate the middle office landscape,” Yash proudly states. 

"Neo Tangent comes with a century-old domain knowledge and a two-decades-old operating knowledge in the middle-office. We’re able to expand it to any industry. That’s our core unique value proposition.”

The evolution of the middle office

The middle office is undergoing rapid evolution, with Neo Tangent at the forefront of this change. 

"The first thing to highlight is that this is not something being done in isolation," Yash emphasises.

"We've had back-office centralisation and transformation, resulting in exceptional practices, approaches and frameworks formed over the last three decades. We can effectively leverage these practices and approaches to shape the middle office.”

Technology intervention is, unsurprisingly, also playing an integral role in this evolution. 

"With the sudden emergence of generative AI, everything is changing," Yash continues. "Integrating the right technology stack is crucial."

However, Yash points out that domain expertise remains the most critical factor for success. 

"Without domain, you can't move forward as far as the middle office is concerned," he says. "It is imperative to integrate best practices, emerging technologies and domain expertise, because, at the intersectionality of these three, we will be able to create a professional middle office which is well integrated with the back office."

Ultimately, Yash sees the integration of the middle and back office as being crucial to future success: “To me, combining the middle and back office is the real way to create value through transformation. That's the future I can foresee.”

Preparing clients for disruption

In today's volatile business environment, one of Neo Tangent’s top priorities is to prepare clients for disruption.

The business and its employees operate with a mindset that disruption is very much here to stay. 

“The world is not going to go back to the pre-COVID era,” says Yash. “There will be conflict between nations, geopolitical factors, regulatory pressures, so we need to work with those assumptions in mind and navigate amidst disruptions without getting disconnected.”

This mindset shapes Neo Tangent's approach to creating solutions for customers, with resilience “always built in”. 

Yash cites the Red Sea crisis – which has impacted countless customers and their shipments – as an example of how this approach can prove beneficial. 

"Because of our mindset, we had alternate solutions ready,” he explains. “We didn't have to spend time thinking and planning for decisions – the alternate solutions were ready, and we were agile enough to pivot and respond swiftly to customer needs."

Of course, the importance of domain expertise becomes evident in such situations: “We used to – and still have – world-class technologies, but we still faced numerous challenges during COVID. 

“The first area impacted was the supply chain, which means there is something that needs to be integrated with technology – and that is the domain expertise. Leveraging our domain expertise, we can deliver solutions which are resilient, responsive and agile.”

This focus on resilience and agility has become a standard expectation in the industry.

Pre-COVID, procurement and supply chain were seen as “operational and tactical topics”, but now they lie at the centre of boardroom discussions. 

“Customers expect almost-real-time visibility of their shipment,” Yash continues. “Sustainability is at the core of the supply chain at this moment. Resilience and agility are something they don't even demand; it's simply a given.”

Supply chain sustainability a 'must have'

Sustainability has become a central concern in supply chain management, with geopolitical and regulatory challenges making the prospect of achieving targets in this space even more complicated. 

For Neo Tangent, traceability in particular has become a dominant topic, as Yash explains: “It's not just a tick-box item these days – companies need to provide extensive evidence.”

He cites recent regulations in the US and Europe regarding child and forced labour protection as prime examples of the increasing importance of sustainability and traceability in supply chains.

"Sustainability is no longer a nice-to-have thing like it used to be," Yash asserts. "It used to be a matter of looking good or looking green on the annual report, but now sustainability and ESG initiatives are must-have elements at the core of the supply chain. 

“A business cannot move forward without prioritising sustainability."

Leveraging partnerships

Neo Tangent's success can partly be put down to its robust partner ecosystem, which Yash describes as a “core differentiator”. 

He says: “If we're talking about supply chain services, you simply cannot operate without partners. Our partner ecosystem consists of partners both internal and semi-internal.”

On the sourcing and procurement front, Neo Tangent partners with the aforementioned Li & Fung, leveraging its 117 years of knowledge. 

When it comes to sustainability and traceability, it works with and has access to experts from LF VOICES, a specialised group based in Paris and Hong Kong.

"Whenever sustainability is a concern, they support us, and we leverage that partnership effectively,” adds Yash. 

Another key partner is LFX Digital, which provides expertise in digital technologies related to supply chain services.

“These are just some of the key partners we leverage – I could keep going on,” Yash continues. 

“For every engagement, while we possess the knowledge, we leverage partners as needed, generating value through our ecosystem. This is how we differentiate ourselves and effectively serve our customers."

What next for Neo Tangent?

Looking ahead, Yash sees a bright future for Neo Tangent, with a larger customer base across multiple industries including retail, consumer packaged goods, high-tech, life sciences, pharma and healthcare.

The company is committed to being a trendsetter in middle-office transformation, integrating it with the back office to generate discernible value for clients.

Yash concludes: “Every business needs to transform its supply chain, which positions Neo Tangent to acquire more customers, develop more resilient solutions and become a true frontrunner in the industry.”

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