How technology changed the supply chain world - what is the next "new" ?

Have you ever thought about where and how the supply chain term contributes to your life? In business or personal.. or perhaps both?

The current supply chain data is more than a “next” updated line of your following spreadsheet or presentation – now, more than ever, it is the top agenda topic of each organization.

We all see and perhaps still struggle to understand the changes that came into our daily work and private world in the last few years. The topic around new ways of thinking about the sustainability of products/resilience of orders/supplies have set a new landscape we never saw before.

It has shown to the world, built in the last decade on a predictable, scalable, no limitation to order or product supply, that the same predictions applied before can’t be used anymore and that there is a limit to everything.

It is the comfort zone we have embraced as a population in the last decade that everything is within a forecasted and planned arm reach. Is this still possible, what did change?

Most of us, in business or private, are planners and forecasters. This is good for a sustainable and predictable future. But the question is - do you act the same, and do you see the same patterns of predictability today as you did act or saw five years ago?

The ordering/product and service limitation first hit our private lives. You don’t have the luxury of planning and ordering the same products or services as you did couple of years ago. I am sure your planning/buying/forecasting of products did change, even in a household. Not because of a new technology and not because you wanted to have more sophisticated products… but simply because you wanted to have them.

And, in a best case scenario, to have those products in the same quality and in line with the price but definitely, to have them on time.

Naturally, it is a push trend from the environment rather than a pull process (i.e., why the market starts to be driven by the industry's strategy rather than customer needs).

As a consequence, in both business and private, this push-trend is to plan and forecast in an uncontrolled and fast pace changing world rather than in a stable, predictive, with repeatable patterns environment.

An easy example to understand where a change in the supply chain has been pushed rather than pulled is a supermarket. The exit door stores all its trolleys. When the customers have used those trolleys, they leave them at the outer cashiers or in the supermarket. A system is needed to bring them back to the entrance of the supermarket. Similar to what happened with shipping containers, too: they've been left in different locations worldwide. Companies were struggling to sort the containers in the correct order (i.e., refrigerated containers were a top agenda topic as the shortage of them was impactful for many industries).

Look at the storage or warehousing in your household. Some of the products you have bought or ordered are stocked by the door, and some of them are far behind a "simple reach."

The same with warehouses, which are filling up because their outflows have reduced. Ultimately this escalates to a situation where cargoes arrive at the port, warehouses can't take it because they're complete, so the ports fill up lots of containers in an uncontrolled way. This means cargo boats can’t unload, so these are sitting out in the ocean waiting to come in.

It’s an easy-to-understand yet a fast-building issue.

I believe this common risk escalated to an issue which has changed the local and global, within our closest environments (house, family) as in the business environment, the supply chain strategy, technology and forecasting in our businesses and mainly our day-to-day lives forever.

The supply chain world has adapted in its natural and limited boundaries to a slower or faster, better or worse, more predictable or less predictable way in your organization. If you are leading/supporting/contributing to your organization's supply chain strategy, you are a trendsetter. You have the burden and opportunity to shape the future of a sustainable and resilient world of ?supplies, create the logic behind the order fulfillment for your generation and probably the next ones too.

It’s a huge burden. Therefore, understanding the “next new” means simply setting the trend.

But, we need a medium to fulfill this need and something we have trusted for ages to support ourselves and our right decisions – technology.

Since we are using technology to control, predict and help to manage our household supplies - why not use it in your business environment?

As a starting point, it is paramount to understand that the beauty of technology is also their most significant disadvantage. It has a non-reversible, revolutionizing impact, no matter who will be using it.

We all can agree that the right technology in the right hands is the only way to set a predictable pace in an unpredictable future.

So, start with understanding what we want to achieve through a technology implementation, clearly visualize the desired outcome you want to have as supply chain heads to make your lives more accessible instead of complicating them. They are many ways to get to this understanding. Roadmaps, strategies, project plans, etc., but the main question you need to ask as an organization is: why do I need a new technology in the first place (or at all), and what type of technology do I have vs. I need?

Once we agree that we need a technology (or a technology change), we need the right pilot behind that technology. So what is the next “new”? Anyone (any pilot behind a technology) who says he knows what will happen on the flight and gives promises to predict the future is simply promising something that cannot be promised.

What if the pilot gives you all the available routes based on current facts and measures the most optimal way to get to the target? It's called autopilot.

Compare it to your business - what would you say to leave the promises to data based on facts and standards, algorithmic calculations, without judgments or opinions.

Let’s take an example of your household. List down everything you have in your storage and what you need next month. Now discuss this with your house members. Get all pro's and con's on what was good in quality and what not, and understand what everyone was using more often and less often (and even their favorite choice). Once you have the forecast, you go to the store, and… most of the products are not available anymore.

An AI-based technology tool is different – it calculates all the above data simultaneously and provides you with a digital version of the current situation. With that knowledge, you can steer, like a plane, on where, how long, and how fast you can fly. If you still doubt this is not possible or it sounds like science-fiction, ask yourself why this type of technology is being used in plains, cars (navigation), or social media portals.

In a business environment, before decisions of forecasting, planning, and storing are settled, there is a set of pre-question, strategies, meetings, and roadmap you build and gather as a group or organization. Now, let's transfer these data to AI, someone who does not need pre-questions, strategy, meetings, or gatherings, only facts. You will get the most predictable and sustainable version of your questions (if the questions are correct).

Essential here is data – the data you are using (in all scenarios) must be reliable, accurate and factual.

So what is in it for you? More work? More analysis? More questions to answer?

No, it is the execution of the scenarios given by AI. Similarly, the pilot chooses the optimal route to the destination based on given scenarios.

Undoubtedly, we can all benefit from AI technology, building on years of experience in leading industries.

Build your roadmap strategy today, set the right questions, analyze the past and current, and develop the plan for your organization's future. Do it once and right.

How can you prepare yourself and your organization in the best possible way for a technological change or upgrade?

Today on the market, we can find various technology solutions and providers. Build a strategy and use consulting industry knowledge to help you choose the right path tailored to your organizational digital needs.

A technological change is inevitable.

Stay ahead of the curve and prepare yourself and your organization for a sustainable, safer and better future.

#supplychain #digitalsupplychain #digitalization OptiBuy - a WNS company