Transportation. Inventory management – and more. The process begins by listening to the market to discover what customers want – when they want it, and how much of it. The journey progresses through all the steps, from sourcing to production to logistics. For this incredibly complex undertaking to be as efficient as possible, each partner – or “link” – in the chain must be integrated into a tightly coordinated and responsive system.
In 2020, the entire world woke up to the critical importance of supply chains. When supplies failed to arrive – or when manufacturers were unable to source essential materials – both companies and consumers understood the value of supply chains that are resilient and scalable. Companies everywhere are now taking a closer look at their global supply chains and the technologies that run them – and asking themselves what they can do to future-proof their businesses.
Look around you. Nothing in your home or workplace would be there without supply chains. Hundreds of millions of jobs around the world are linked to these activities. From inexpensive consumer goods to surgical equipment and vital resources, everything comes through a supply chain. Even though SCM is at the heart of global economies, many businesses continue to run their supply chains using the same processes and machines they have for the past 50 years.
Improved SCM practices can transform businesses. Companies can become more competitive by minimizing waste and surplus while lowering costs and increasing efficiency. They can boost customer loyalty by offering personalized logistics that meet individual preferences. And they can automate their processes to be faster, smarter, and more productive.
GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT – YESTERDAY AND TODAY
In the past decades, global supply chains were created to take advantage of the lower wages and cheaper raw materials to be found in some countries. The world has changed in many important ways. Trade and tariff policies are shifting, often unpredictably. Political prospects are bleak. Customers want to be better informed about the provenance and sustainability of their products, from raw materials all the way to packaging and the fuels used to bring the delivery truck to their front door. Fortunately, technology has been changing, too. Modern supply chains use the big data generated across all the links in the chain to streamline production and manufacturing – and at the same time, they’re developing more home-grown supply chain solutions.
For many decades, the customer’s involvement in the supply chain came only at the very end. Where products came from, what they were made of, and how they arrived in the store were not the subject of much consideration. Today, supply chain transparency and sustainability are of vital concern to consumers. As is the ability to have total control over how and where they shop and the options they expect to have along the fulfillment journey.
To grow and compete in today’s market, modern SCM software must be able to gather and interpret all the data generated and captured across the entire supply chain. New technologies are needed to fully leverage this data – turning it into real-time insights and using it to automate SCM processes and workflows in a smart and agile way. While we can’t predict the future, we can be certain that there will be economic shifts, unexpected events, and rapidly evolving customer demands. We can transform supply chain management and build the new, responsive types of supply chains we need to get us through the 2020s and beyond by leveraging data and technology driven SCM systems.