Digitizing Supply Chain Management

61% of supply chain personnel feel that use of digital technologies in business provides them a competitive advantage, while 20% of the Gartner-surveyed respondents are already prioritizing investments in robotics. Technical capabilities, and the ecosystem where such tech innovations can thrive is the future of this key industry. When we speak of digital transformation in supply chain management, we must first define a vision.

Defining Vision

The companies which aim at digitizing supply chain management, must base their business objectives and vision on five key points, which include:

Data- The companies must gather and generate data based upon the vision. Also, this data must be stored securely.

Innovation & Automation- Key offerings of the supply chain management vendors as far as technology is concerned, would include advanced analytics, big data, artificial intelligence, and robotics.

Decision Making- Machine Learning plays a critical role to automate supply chain processes, and help with human decision making.

Talent- Finding people who can transform the supply chain in the vision tenure is essential. The business must encourage and adopt change management.

Software & Hardware- A business vision must be set in accordance with the systems which enable company requirements of analytic capabilities.

Set a clear strategy for digital transformation in supply chain

Setting clear strategy can help supply chain companies in implementing following suggestions:

· Supply-chain-management software (SCMS)

· Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

· Global Positioning System (GPS)

· Robotics and Automation

In a Nutshell

Setting a roadmap for digital transformation in the supply chain requires years of planning. A multi-year roadmap alongside organizational and operational changes can help in setting the right stage for complete digital overhauling.

Mahindra & Mahindra, for example, use Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence at the core of their digital strategy. This implementation allows the company to enhance its forecast accuracy and improve service levels by 10% each. The inventory investments have also reduced by 20%.

Long-term digital transformation in supply chain management planning, and disciplined assessment can help any company in improving performance of end-to-end processes at a modest cost.