Analyst Insight: Many supply chains experience inefficiencies in receiving materials, and the construction sector is no exception. By optimizing demand forecasting, inventory management, and the setting of order cycles and quantities, and by increasing the level of automation in routine areas of replenishment, teams can focus their expertise on areas that require closer attention.
Analyst Insight: The construction industry is one of the least-digitized industries in the world, but times are changing. Leading firms are adding cloud-based technologies to improve collaboration between suppliers, haulers, and contractors, and to increase visibility within supply-chain processes, gaining greater efficiencies and productivity.
Analyst Insight: Eighty-three percent of participants in APQC’s quick poll research report that their supply chains are undergoing digital transformation. Yet despite the widespread embrace of this major organizational change, digital transformation in many supply chains suffers from the lack of a consistent definition and overarching strategy. As a result, rather than realizing the strategic integration of multiple technologies, too many organizations are solving discrete business problems with one-off digital solutions.
While the debate rages over whether the loss of industrial jobs is caused by offshoring, immigration or automation, the revolutionizing power of robots in the supply chain is becoming undeniable.
With each passing year, the use of technology in manufacturing continues to grow, and blue-collar job requirements become more sophisticated, further widening the skills gap.
Despite the super-hype around technologies like artificial intelligence and the internet of things, many companies still rely on paper and spreadsheets to complete critical tasks.