• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile

  • CORONAVIRUS
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • REGIONS
    • Asia Pacific
    • Canada
    • China
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East/Africa
    • North America
  • THINK TANK
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » A Look at the Digital Supply Chain

A Look at the Digital Supply Chain

October 22, 2010
SupplyChainBrain

What is a digital supply chain? In many ways, it's similar to a traditional supply chain, says Pearlman. Purveyors of digital entertainment still must cope with issues related to order management, inventory control, manufacturing and distribution. The difference lies in a reliance on "virtual inventory" - music, books, movies and games that don't exist in a physical form that requires packaging and transportation. But don't be fooled into thinking that "digital" is another word for "unlimited inventory." Granted, there aren't warehouses filled with the computer files that constitute digital entertainment. But there are still major constraints to supply. It's expensive to keep digital files on line, so some are relegated to off- or near-line storage. "The ability to access that is still challenging," says Pearlman.

In addition to the problem of bandwidth, producers face the issue of product standardization - or lack of it. In the digital world, says Pearlman, "there's no such thing as a standard." Each title on DVD has its own Universal Product Code (UPC); no equivalent exists for movies transmitted over the internet, on airplanes, in hotels, or via cable systems. Each has a different format. "It's a really complex problem in general," he says, "and the lack of standardization makes it even more so."

Pearlman sees an eventual merging of standards as the industry matures. An "800-pound gorilla" like Apple Computer could play the same role on the digital side as Wal-Mart Stores has served for physical consumer goods. Still, there are major issues to be resolved around such elements as image quality and screen size. The emergence of the high-quality Blu-ray format for disks poses yet another challenge for digital content. "The manufacturing process itself remains complex and highly customized, while we work on one end of the problem," he says.

For the time being, key processes related to the digital supply chain remain extremely manual. "It's still pretty new and novel," says Pearlman, "but it is going to find its way."

To view this video interview in its entirety, click here.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Technology Forecasting & Demand Planning Inventory Planning/ Optimization Product Lifecycle Management Sales & Operations Planning SC Planning & Optimization Supply Chain Visibility Order Fulfillment High-Tech/Electronics
KEYWORDS Forecasting & Demand Planning High-Tech/Electronics Inventory Planning/ Optimization order fulfillment Product Lifecycle Management Sales & Operations Planning SC Planning & Optimization Supply Chain Visibility Technology
  • Related Articles

    A Look at the Digital Supply Chain

    Crunching the Numbers: A Look at Supply-Chain Analytics

    Crunching the Numbers: A Look at Supply-Chain Analytics

  • Related Events

    Building a hyperconnected supply chain: The three levers of transformation

    Optimized Supply Chain Planning with SAP IBP at Lennox International

SupplyChainBrain

100 Great Supply Chain Partners Issue 2009

More from this author

Wake up to Coronavirus Updates and the latest Supply Chain News!

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • Coronavirus-watch-Armada

    Virus Update: Cuomo Seeks to Buy Vaccines Directly; EU to Push for 70% Vaccination by Summer

    Coronavirus
  • U.S. and China Trade

    How China Won Trump’s Trade War and Got Americans to Foot the Bill

    Global Supply Chain Management
  • AT&T

    How the Pandemic Has Altered AT&T’s Global Sourcing Strategy

    Coronavirus
  • U.S. Vaccine Shift Stirs New Unease as 128 Million Join Line

    U.S. Vaccine Shift Stirs New Unease as 128 Million Join Line

    Coronavirus
  • container port

    New Global Visibility App Sees Delays Before They Happen

    Logistics

Digital Edition

Scb home issue 27

2020 Supply Chain Innovator of the Year

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • LSP Saves Customer $1.5 Million a Year With MPO Global Inbound Management

  • Auto Supplier Wows Key Client Using riskmethods Supply Chain Savvy

  • Integrating Shipping and Compliance Saves Conglomerate Millions

  • How a Consumer Goods Giant Upped Its On-Time Delivery Performance

  • LSP Wows Global Client, Quickly Advances to Become End-to-End Provider

Visit Our Sponsors

6 River Systems ArcBest Armada
aThingz BluJay Burris Logistics
DSC Logistics DCSA (Digital Container Shipping Association) DHL Resilience360
Genpact GEP Honeywell Intelligrated
Infor Logility Magnitude Software
MPO Old Dominion Oliver Wight
OpenSky Ports America Purolator
QAD Precision Red Classic Riskmethods
TGW Systems Transportation Insights Watson Land Company
Westfalia Technologies Workjam Yang Ming
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright © 2016 - 2018 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing