Supply chains serve as the backbone of the economy and play a pivotal role in the success and failure of any organization. The global supply grid is highly interconnected and any kind of disruption at one touchpoint has the potential to derail the entire supply chain and its operations.
Global supply chains have always been grappling with various challenges and have remained vulnerable to disruptions, demand-supply imbalances, and ever-evolving customer expectations. The scourge of Covid-19 has brutally exposed this fragility and left enterprises with no option but to step into overdrive mode, and introspect their existing supply chain models.
Clearly, there is a pressing need for enterprises to build an agile, robust and resilient supply chain. A resilient supply chain will enable enterprises to weather the prevailing market challenges and thrive in the future. This brings into focus the strong need for enterprises to ride the digital transformation wave in their pursuit of staying relevant and competitive.
According to a study conducted by Gartner, only 21% of global CXOs believe that they have a resilient supply chain while 55% are still in the planning phase of building supply chain resiliency.
Enterprises need to accord high priority to risk management - they must focus on identifying risks and threats in their existing systems and put in place risk management tools and frameworks to avert any untoward situation. Further, organizations will be better served with developing a risk-awareness culture as well as a prompt and effective contingency plans.
Enterprises would also do well to assess the risk profile of their suppliers and should chalk out adequate contingency plans for its high-risk suppliers. After all, a smart supplier management process shall stand businesses in good stead for the future.
Leveraging digital technologies is no more business differentiator but a business imperative for businesses to foster their future growth. Organizations can bank on advanced data analytics as the latter can provide real-time visibility into your supply chain activities. Enterprises by leveraging data analytics can anticipate future demand and can scale up or scale down their production accordingly.
Organizations can use IoT to avail real-time shipment tracking and storage condition monitoring that improves the forecast accuracy of shipment delivery, resulting in increased customer satisfaction, better warehouse planning and risk mitigation.
Blockchain can also help business add value to their supply chains, in terms of driving real-time load traceability, smart contracts, fraud detection, etc that can drive more trust, transparency and efficiency in the overall supply chain. Businesses can count on robotics and automation tools which can help streamline and accelerate tasks and processes that were once performed manually. This can significantly reduce worker fatigue, increasing efficiency and driving economic benefits.
There is an increasing focus among solution providers to build a reliable data pipeline for analysis instead of just focusing on new data gathering. These solution providers leverage analytical and statistical models to derive business insights and generate measurable benefits.
Businesses can make their supply chains more resilient by applying technology accelerators such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Artificial Intelligence & Advanced Analytics, Robotic Process Automation, Distributed Ledgers, and Augmented & Virtual Reality. All these technology accelerators help organizations in attaining better demand forecasting, inventory management, capacity planning, and dispatch optimization.
Businesses are having to cope with ever-evolving customer expectations, the rapid pace of innovation, and cut-throat competition in pursuit of shaping up a resilient supply chain.
Clearly, supply chains have moved away from the long-held perception of being a back-office support function. It is no more about delivering a wow product or service but more about delivering a great customer experience that is more personalized and engaging.
Digitizing supply chains is no more an option for organizations. It is a must-have for organizations to stay relevant and competitive in a fiercely competitive marketplace.
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