Industry Trends

January 15, 2022 - 4 minutes read

Top Digitalization Solutions for Global Supply Chains

Most business’ sectors are undergoing significant transformations as their operation  models attempt to adapt to an increasingly digital environment. Companies and entire industry sectors are reviewing their global supply chain approaches to identifythe  business changes needed to accommodate new global business needs.

The supply chain industry is among the front runners for digital transformation. Traditional linear supply chains are becoming obsolete as supply chains become to become more circular requiring evolving to utilize supply chain digitization. According to Gartner, at least half of all big worldwide organizations will use artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, and the internet of things (IoT) in supply-chain operations by 2023.

*Source: ResearchGate

Two important motivating factors that  lead firms to migrate to digital supply chains are the need to reduce costs and increase customer satisfaction. More than 80% of businesses aim to build the capabilities for a digital ecosystem to improve performance in these two areas alone over the next several years.

In the foreseeable future, digital infrastructure will continue to be a significant investment sector. The digital supply chain is one of the top three digital business investment categories, according to 45 percent of manufacturing organizations. 

Global Lleaders will have to maintain projected returns on existing enterprises while  simultaneously focusing on speeding up the development of creative solutions for in the future. With the stakes being so astronomical, Ccompanies must undertake comprehensive research on digital solutions and base future decisions based on reliable ROI estimations.

Despite the hurdles, many organizations have have invested demonstrably to maximize their supply chain capabilities and are ready to attack the new year with enthusiasm and confidence.

According to the Hackett Group report, 94% of supply chain leaders believe that digital transformation will dramatically alter supply networks, yet just 44% have defined a strategy for supply chain digitization.

Key Solutions for Supply Chain Digitization: Creating Capabilities & the Right Environment for Change 

Capabilities and a supportive environment are two essential enablers for the successful transformation into a digital supply chain. Organizations that develop their own capabilities for digitalization internally, often require targeted recruitment of expert personnel to complete this transformation.

The adoption of digital architecture is the next essential need. It must also be noted that while companies can develop their IT solutions internally, a shift in company culture also requires investment to support a truly innovative environment. This new business mindset must offer a high level of organizational freedom and flexibility, as well as cutting-edge IT systems to support solution creation, testing, and implementation cycles. 

Investing in Digital Infrastructure

So, what is the most effective method for digitizing a supply chain? The answer is data centralization. Using centralized digital infrastructure improves visibility at all stages of the global supply chain, reduces human operation touchpoints (and manual errors), and lowers risk.

Because of increased connection and variety, supply chain executives are prioritizing a clearly defined and well-developed data infrastructure. Comprehensive supply chain data management is no longer an option, thanks to a plethora of technology platforms, that enable stakeholders to effectively deal with massive volumes of data. The demand for data aggregation to allow for the pro-active  analysis of information is being driven by the desire for improved data visibility.

Digital supply chain visibility platforms, also called control towers, may enable end-to-end visibility as well as coordination and cooperation by integrating with a variety of corporate and legacy systems, both internal and external.

Companies will need to create new demand sensing models for global supply chain scenario planning that account for elements including distribution networks, partners, and consumers, as well as multi-enterprise scenario risk expectation. Intelligent supply chain analytics will enable corporations to reduce risks, increase procurement performance, and improve forecasts leading to improved customer satisfaction!.

Supply Chain Digitization – Agistix

Despite the growing use of modern technology, many supply chain tasks are still managed by hand, relying heavily on spreadsheet based processes.

All IoT, autonomous vehicle, and algorithm-based technological advancements are enthusiastically supported by Agistix.New technologies help improve data quality and timeliness, but there’s a catch: how to get all of these discordant  data sources to play nicely together.

Consolidating these disparate systems into a single integrated environment in order to meet today’s global supply chain expectations is a new challenge for businesses.
Learn more about how Agistix solves this challenge here.

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Trevor Read
Author
Trevor Read

President at Agistix based in San Francisco. I am an entrepreneur with a passion for data, and technology. I am results-oriented and committed to developing fast-deployment solutions to help customers seize the new opportunity coming from big data in the global supply chain.

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