For years, companies have used digital supply chain technologies to improve service levels and reduce costs. But the inability to connect disparate systems, provide end-to-end visibility into the supply chain, and crunch massive amounts of data, among other issues, has prevented many companies from achieving the full potential of their supply chains. Now, thanks to the wide availability and adoption of much more powerful digital technologies, including advanced analytics and cloud-based solutions, companies are generating dramatically better returns on their investments.
Let's say you're about to design a brand new product. You have a lot of work ahead of you. You need to define the specs, create the design, source suppliers, check in with experts in legal and in safety, set up a testing procedure, do trial runs. Then the product will go into mass production, require a warranty, be put into actual use.
After a spike more than a decade ago catalyzed by a buying spree of ERP, supply chain, web front ends and so on, one would think that a market like integration would be a no-grow or go-away market. But quite to the contrary, the tool suites, the delivery options, and sales of even traditional elements continue to grow. Why is this?
Analyst Insight: In 2015, I predicted that the healthcare industry was finally sharpening its focus on profitability and efficiency. While I was writing this Walgreens moved on Rite-Aid and further consolidated the retail pharmacy market, but more importantly strengthened their negotiating leverage on price breaks. If the cost of the supply chain from sourcing to production to distribution was not a priority, it just became critical to profit margins and customer service. - Brian Hudock, Partner, Tompkins International
At a time when businesses continue to expand their use of data, fifty-three percent of so-called customer experience executives do not use big data to improve strategy, according to a new survey by Consero Group.
Early uses of big data were concentrated in two areas: customer segmentation/marketing effectiveness, and financial services, particularly in trading. Recently, supply chain has become the "next big thing."
In the manufacturing environment of today, robotics are now playing a significant role, taking on jobs beyond assembly and helping to drive efficiency, consistency, and productivity across the supply chain.
The rise of the social web provides an abundance of opportunities to reach and engage with potential customers, but these added touch points muddy the waters when it comes to effectively tracking and monitoring your company's interactions with individual prospects.
Today's supply chains form the arteries and veins that keep global trade alive, connecting a largely borderless, always-on world economy. New innovations offer disruptive possibilities for the future of global trade. It's easy to hypothesize that Star Trek-style teleportation, drones, 3-D printing, and space logistics, will change trading. But the biggest shift to the supply chain will see it digitally connected and becoming part of the Internet of Things.
Technological advances have driven dramatic increases in industrial productivity since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. The steam engine powered factories in the 19th Century, electrification led to mass production in the early part of the 20th Century, and industry became automated in the 1970s. In the decades that followed, however, industrial technological advancements were only incremental, especially compared with the breakthroughs that transformed IT, mobile communications, and e-commerce.
