Arrive at the Right Decisions Systematically with Digital Supply Chain Technology

Digital supply chain is built completely on the smart systems that help the organizations save time, money and resources. It is supported by an array of disruptive technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain, Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Industry 4.9 among others. 

The digital supply chain is complex because of the number of components that make it up.  Companies that are focusing on effective digital supply chain management need an infrastructure, software systems and components that are both scalable and sustainable.   

Digital supply chain technology

Digital supply chain technology is experiencing a high rate of change as new systems are created, updated and integrated. The challenge for supply chain and digital technology professionals is how to choose and implement the right set of technologies for their company’s strategic needs. It is necessary to develop a building block approach that is designed to scale with the company’s growth and be flexible enough to easily accept new systems and technology as they present themselves.  

Elements of a digital supply chain

·         Core business support servicing the company’s basic business needs

·         Production/Services management focused on the key products and services the company offers to its customers

·         Customer focused service systems that are required in today’s marketplace

·         Supply Demand Management providing the marketplace with products and services close to demand

·         Inter-Organizational Collaboration are the systems that collect and access data for decision making, provenance, chain of custody, etc.

It takes significant amounts of time and investment to do a complete implementation and most companies don’t need the entire structure at the outset, but as they grow, more of these components are needed.

Group50, a leading supply chain consulting firm have supply chain and digital technology subject matter experts who focus on leveraging digital supply chain assets at the intersection of people, process and technology. They take a holistic approach to optimizing digital supply chains which includes the integration of systems that are operated by customers, consumers, the company, logistics companies and suppliers as well as the strategic needs of the business.    

Benefits of a digitized supply chain

Creates a connection between multiple data sources

With digital technologies such as IoT and Blockchain becoming so prevalent it has become an essential aspect of modern and successful supply chain. It enables to connect the devices that are used to deliver data across various processes and channels within an organization. Such connected system helps in improving processes and helps in improving the overall product quality.

Makes your organization more agile and future driven

Digitalization in supply chain is cross functional, which helps in predicting the customers demand, planning priorities and then executing the processes to meet the customers’ demand. Also, it enables in achieving the strategic objectives of the company such as new markets, development of new products and acquisitions and much more.

Cost management and cash flow

Digitalization of supply chain leaves a major impact on the cost management and improved cash flow. This is all possible because the faster the supply chain and its operations moves; the less capital gets tied up in the supply chain which further results to better cost management. 

For the digitalization of your supply chain and leveraging all these benefits, consult a renowned supply chain consulting company like Group50.  Their digital technology assessments and workshops help you systematically arrive at the right decisions and implementation roadmaps. They put together the right mix of seasoned IT professionals, business process owners and vendors to understand the current state, develop a roadmap to the future state and support its’ implementation.    

Supply Chain Effectiveness Assessment to Determine the Performance Requirements of Your Supply Chain

Supply chain management

Supply chain management deals with all the activities that are involved starting from sourcing the raw materials till the final product gets manufactured and reaches the end user. An effective management leads organizations to have proper coordination with all the stake holders of the supply chain such as suppliers, third-party service providers and customers etc. With properly managing the supply chain, companies can provide the right value to the customer at the right cost.

Group50, a well-known supply chain consulting firm has managed supply chain of all sizes from $20M to $4B. They understand that the companies needs to be effective at designing products, defining services, forecasting, acquiring materials and resources, purchasing and delivering those products and services to their customers. And, they need to do it with lower cost year in and year out. When all the elements involved in supply chain are optimized, they can result to increased profits, minimal working capital and shorter lead times.

Supply chain is the backbone of organizations and till the time it is running well it isn’t noticed, but when it goes awry, the whole business suffers.  

To have a clear idea about how your company’s supply chain is running, you need to measure its effectiveness from time to time.

Supply chain effectiveness assessment

The effectiveness assessment examines how effective your company’s supply chain is in acquiring materials, moving them through your required value added processes and delivering them to your customers. It looks at the ability of the current systems and organization to deliver required business results. It also provides a gap analysis of the supply chain with a perspective to responsiveness, best practices, scalability and sustainability. 

Both qualitative and quantitative measures can determine the effectiveness of your supply chain. Qualitative measures determine the quality of product and customer satisfaction whereas quantitative measures help determining the factors such as utilization of resources, response time, lead time, delivery time etc.

The most in-depth way to look at the effectiveness of business, manufacturing and distribution processes is through a Value Stream Mapping. VSM provides a clear view of how various business processes are related to each other, assesses the need for those processes and how efficient they really are. During Value Steam Mapping, a model is created which shows how much time, effort and cost is required for a specific process. It is applicable to small functional processes, manufacturing processes such as building a product and complex horizontal processes such as order entry to cash or understanding the interdependencies of a global supply chain.

Objectives of supply chain effectiveness assessment

·         Identify all components of the supply chain from raw material providers to the end user and determine how they align with your company’s strategy

·         Assess the performance requirements of your supply chain to meet your products and services need in the marketplace

·         Determine the gaps between existing processes, organizational structure and skills, systems and those required to deliver the company’s strategic objectives

·         Review the effectiveness of supply chain accountability measures and compensation

·         Complete a gap analysis of your supply chain accountability vs. best in class organizations

·         Deliver a final report that identifies the key opportunities and the expected ROI’s

In order to carry out effectiveness assessment of your supply chain, you can contact a leading supply chain consulting company like Group50. Their supply chain subject matter experts can provide an assessment of what is working and what requires attention within your supply chain. This assessment will also provide a set of short-medium-long term recommendations on where to focus your attention for optimized performance from the perspective of cost and responsiveness.