How real-time and cloud technologies can fix your supply chain

upply chain is at a turning point. And professionals now know that challenges such as sustainability, transparency or traceability can only be tackled using digital technologies. That’s the reason why more and more organizations have decided 2022 will be their transformative year. Supply chain is fairly late in the digital game compared to other industries such as banking. If this delayed transition could be seen as worrisome, it actually is an opportunity to onboard proven technologies that have been used and improved massively over the last years, allowing our industry to jump on that train with minimum risk.

Real-time and cloud technologies are now absolutely part of our daily life and happen to be just the perfect and most natural solutions to tackle the issues of this century.

1) Covid-19, sustainability and transparency, supply chain’s challenges
2) How technologies solve modern supply chain problems
3) How to select the right solution to transition your supply chain and make it digital
4) Conclusion

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Covid-19, sustainability and transparency, supply chain’s new challenges

The past couple years have been challenging for sureCovid-19 completely disrupted our supply chain and made us make the sad realization most of us were not prepared for it, and frankly not prepared for any surprise disruptions all together.

Covid-19 highlighted weaknesses in our supply chain and it gave an opportunity to professionals to start re-shaping and rethinking it. But it is now time to finish the job as the next challenges are already piling up. Time to come up with a newer, stronger, more agile and resilient supply network.

Among the topics we need to embrace, knowing we haven’t putCovid-19 to bed yet, are the need for sustainability, increased transparency, and traceability. The public pressure on those is a real drive for supply chain professionals to tackle them.

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How technologies solve modern supply chain problems

We indeed have to deal with a fair amount of challenges. From no travel allowed, to working from home, the new normal might be normal, it still requires to find proper solutions. Remote working for example was a necessity, and the right answer to the pandemic, but was it implemented and executed properly?

According to a McKinsey survey, 42 percent of respondents told that remote working had led to delays in supply-chain decision making. That can’t be sustainable. And that is where the need for industry specific digital solutions become so relevant. And in this case real-time and cloud technologies are the most relevant digital solutions to help various partners connect on a unique platform, seeing progress in real-time and discussing instantly issues and performances at hand. The simple fact to be able to look at updated information at all time allows stakeholders to increase their visibility over production even from afar.

Real-time and cloud technologies can have a fast and immense impact on our supply chains. A proper connection of all parties involved in production allows us to visualize (or “map”) our supply chains, understand the connection between all parties, check the status of production instantly and overall create a living ecosystem where all parts are moving transparently, allowing us to identify problems at the root cause, reduce delays in lead-time and loss of information due to silos.

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How to select the right solution to transition your supply chain and make it digital

Well, this is where you need to get pragmatic. First identify your pain points and keep in mind to try to find a solution to that problem. End-to-end solutions can be a blessing like they can easily become a curse. If the comfort of using only one single solution is definitely a strong argument when choosing a digital tool, don’t forget that specific problems might require specific solutions.

ERP have been around for a while, yet it seems organizations who use them are still facing today’s challenges and feel stuck with heavy, and expensive solutions that most of the time are not liked by employees. Prioritize solutions that don’t require systemic changes in your organization. Start small and trial desired solutions on one or two orders before scaling up.

Do not get caught in trying to implement the latest sexiest technologies, and certainly make sure whatever you choose helps you solve daily issues.

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Conclusion

Finally keep in mind that your supply chain is made of a variety of different stakeholders, and you will have to make sure everybody uses the tools you select. So, make sure you choose a solution that can easily be adopted by all your partners. Regardless of how good a digital solution can be, it’s only a success if people use it. Expect a learning curve and choose digital solutions that come with a strong human service and assistance from your provider.

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