Traditionally, supply chain management focused on speeding
up delivery while containing cost. But the COVID-19 pandemic shifted the focus
to resilience — the ability of supply chains to spring back to normalcy each
time they were disrupted by factory shutdowns and stuck shipments. Accordingly,
manufacturers, who were ordering inventory just-in-time, are now stockpiling
critical parts, shifting to a make-to-order business, and diversifying and
localizing their supply base. A digital supply chain will play a key role in
ensuring the success of these initiatives.
Digital Supply Chain Management (DSCM) leverages
appropriate technologies, backed by analytics, simulation, and automation at
every stage — which the SCOR (Supply Chain Operations Reference) model defines
as Plan, Source, Make, Deliver, and Return — to enable dynamic, fact-based
decision making and thereby improve its resilience. The wave of digitization
forced by the pandemic has fueled the global market for supply chain
management, tipped to grow at a CAGR of 10.3% from about US $23 billion in 2020
to almost US $42 billion in 2026.
Post-Pandemic Challenges
Unprecedented uncertainty in the global environment has
made it extremely challenging for manufacturers to plan supply chain
operations. Enterprises can stay on top of dynamic supply conditions by
using current, real-time data to anticipate major events with accuracy. DSCM
improves their chances by providing real-time visibility into supply chains. It
enables a closed-loop system for timely action, what-if analyses to predict
future scenarios, and provides tools for proactive planning. With increasing
digital maturity, organizations transform into “Live Enterprises” —
enterprises that are sentient, always tuned into internal and external signals,
and able to take — or even automate — appropriate and timely supply chain
decisions. They use artificial intelligence and machine learning to
reinforce learning from each opportunity to evolve into self-curating entities.
Digitizing Supply Chain Operations
The following are concepts of a digital supply chain at
each stage in the SCOR model, with examples:
Plan: Traditionally, planning which products
to make in what quantity, and where and when to manufacture them, was carried
out using historical data-based forecasting methods. But planning in the
backdrop of changing customer preferences and new business models, such as
pay-per-use, requires a high degree of agility. Organizations need to listen to
the voice of the customer and adjust manufacturing plans accordingly, in (near)
real-time, which is possible only with a digital solution. For example, a
manufacturer of air conditioning equipment with a global footprint developed an
AI/ML based demand forecasting solution to achieve substantial reduction in the
mean absolute percentage error in both make to order (11%) and make to stock
(44%) scenarios compared to existing forecasts. The estimated financial benefit
was US $4.2 million.
Source: When manufacturers source components from suppliers, they
need supply chain visibility to track the status of shipments and take
preemptive measures in case of delay. A tier-1 supplier of aerospace structures
implemented an end-to-end contract management solution that monitors supplier
quality and schedule, identifies expiring contracts, and helps to define the
requirements for new contracts. Benefits include timely supply of parts, a new
process for calculating the impact of supplier delinquencies, and a system for
recovering the cost of such impact from the concerned suppliers.
Make: This stage leverages a diverse set of digital
technologies to implement a smart, connected factory. For example, Honda Cars
India established such a setup with real-time visibility across the plant. IoT-enabled part traceability system for
the ferrous shop floor helped Honda achieve end-to-end part traceability thus
reducing the manual efforts significantly. A quality control information system
was designed and implemented with the objective to identify defects on a real
time basis and ensure quality delivery of vehicles.
Deliver: Manufacturers seek to optimize delivery
routes across multiple modes of transportation to minimize both cost and carbon
footprint. Once optimized, location tracking provides feedback to fine-tune the
route based on actual conditions. A demand optimization engine for a leading
distributor of electronic components and computer products increased On-Time
Delivery from 65% to 95%+ across 11 million Stock Keeping Units.
Return: Products at the end of their life must be disposed
of responsibly, with least damage to the environment. A reverse supply chain
also needs to be optimized much like the delivery process. As product makers
focus on increasing reuse, the need is for visibility as well as accountability
of reverse supply chain processes and shipments, especially those dealing with
valuable and rare materials. A blockchain-based supply chain solution is
helpful here as it provides an immutable record of a component’s genealogy and
constituent materials.
Supply chain management is among the functions suffering
the most disruption from the pandemic. Resilience, agility, and predictive
accuracy are the new imperatives for success. Digital supply chain solutions
provide all these features to enable manufacturers to meet challenges across
the supply chain lifecycle, from planning, sourcing, and making to managing
deliveries and returns.
Source link
