*I would like to thank Eric Jensen for his contribution, participation and guidance in creating this blog post.

Recently, Arkieva has been labeled as a Challenger by a third party organization. When I hear the word “Challenger” it conjures up what I believe to be the most famous challenger in all of history, David versus Goliath.

For any not familiar, the story begins with King Saul and his army who were in the midst of a battle with the Philistines, one of which was a 9-foot giant named Goliath. Naturally, everyone feared him. However, David, a shepherd and the youngest of eight sons, was willing to take on the challenge of defeating this giant. As the story goes, David was able to defeat Goliath with just a sling and one stone. Although this is just a brief summary, you have to admit that David was definitely the challenger in this example.

Now, what does this have to do with Arkieva you ask? Well, in many ways Arkieva has a similar challenger spirit and here is how:

  • Challengers are not held back by “traditional methods” but are more creative in their solutions.
    David was encouraged by fellow soldiers to wear the traditional armor and use a sword while fighting Goliath, however he chose a weapon that best fit him; a sling and stone.  At Arkieva, we understand that each clients’ supply chain and business requirements are unique. As a result, we do not force an out of the box solution. We choose to honor the uniqueness and complexity embedded in a client’s supply chain and work hard to fine tune the business advantage that results from them.
  • Challengers are motivated by something outside of themselves.
    For David, it was about defending what he loved. Arkieva too is driven by one core purpose: Enabling clients to succeed through better supply chain planning, one link at a time. Every day we come into work and do our best to not only develop better supply chain planning tools but to ensure that each client is understanding their data, making supply chain decisions faster and reaching their full potential. For us, this goes beyond the end of the quarter or implementing software. It is about enabling supply chain success for those with whom we engage.
  • Challengers are the ones you least expect.
    David was the youngest of eight and a shepherd, hardly an obvious choice for going to a war, let alone slay a giant many times his size. At Arkieva, we have run into similar objections, however, our industry expertise is vast and our tools are proven. We relish the underdog status and enjoy proving the detractors wrong by delivering business value again and again, client after client.

Curious? Give us a call or check out our website! Here at Arkieva, we are more than ready to take on the challenge of enabling YOUR supply chain planning success.

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