The upstream supply chain disruption seen over the past four years challenges a long-held assumption that the supply chain begins with sourcing. Manufacturers are now wondering whether it really should begin with the product design and production planning phases, which actually provide a blueprint for logistics through the bill of materials (BOM), production schedule and product delivery KPIs. 

Modern supply chains are tasked with an expanding set of responsibilities well beyond speedy, cost-efficient delivery of industrial freight to distribution centers. Omnichannel, time-definite, direct-to-consumer e-commerce has added cost and complexity, as have geopolitical and trade sanctions and carbon emissions reporting. Retail customers are exacting about on-time, in-full delivery; businesses need real-time information on shipment location and status for their inbound materials and outbound finished goods. Time-to-market and schedule reliability are critical for new product rollouts. 

A new way of looking at future supply chains is through the lens of ‘shift-left’ logistics. The central idea is that product design and production planning ultimately drive logistics, and failure to integrate the three prior to shipment or even sourcing — invites adverse, unintended consequences later on. 

Product design decisions such as dimensions, shape, packaging, sourcing availability and locations, routing and product lifecycles for parts and assemblies all have potential logistics implications, yet functional data silos and incompatible data systems constrain information sharing. 

Find out how common data elements, when standardized, can begin to connect design, production and logistics, and how modular digital twin “avatars” can apply an entire organization’s institutional knowledge and data in seconds to predict disruption, sense market opportunities and solve complex queries.

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