The Key Capabilities of a Digital Supply Chain Network

Providing the right product at the right time with the highest level of customer service and least landed cost has become much more than a planning problem. A unified planning and execution platform running a single version of the truth (SVOT) across a multi-party, multi-tier digital supply chain network powered by advanced, prescriptive analytics is now required. The existing hub and spoke style of today’s “enterprise centric” systems is no longer sufficient.

The increased supply variability and disruption companies are experiencing today, along with higher demand forecast error given an expanded omnichannel world, will be systemic moving forward. Material Handling and Logistics reports that supply chain disruptions are up 67% over the past year — not including the effects of COVID-19. Problems that affect companies today are external to any one enterprise, and thus a network-based solution and technology approach is warranted.

Corporations have moved from being vertically integrated to incorporating a horizontal network of global trading partners. This trading partner ecosystem typically represents more than 80% of the manufacturing, distribution and logistics capacity related to the products being produced for the end consumer. This means that 80% of the data and upstream supply chain improvement potential resides outside the enterprise in the form of contract manufacturers, subsystem suppliers, tier 1, 2 and 3 supplier factories, distribution centers, warehousing and logistics.

Capabilities around supply chain visibility and improvement are limited by current enterprise systems due to their hub-and-spoke style “enterprise centric” design.  Major corporations will continue to struggle with visibility and targeted improvements given that, as the demand generator in the network, they only have the ability to report and improve upon 20% or less of the related variables, while 80% or more remains with their trading partners who are running on completely different systems and system architectures.

Improvement moving forward requires a hub-to-hub style digitized supply chain network that includes all trading partners and runs based on a single version of the truth (SVOT). The network itself must be able to provide visibility to all state changes across demand, supply and logistics. Capabilities that are core to the network include:

• A dynamic and real-time SVOT. Generating value across the supply chain network requires that technologies solve for today’s increasing demand and supply variations, which have exposed critical supply chain weaknesses, particularly among manufacturers and suppliers. The platform must enable a global demand-supply match with unified planning and execution, as well as incremental and continuous planning and execution across the trading partner ecosystem. 
• Risk management. The ability to better identify and manage potential risks across the trading partner ecosystem, along with full supplier collaboration, is critical.
• Resiliency, continuity and operational readiness. These capabilities further reduce disruption, anticipate risk and mitigate that risk. Enabling an end-to-end digitized supply chain network for planning and execution provides risk reducing capabilities such as diversifying the supply base geographically or multi-sourcing key commodities.

Outlook:
Corporations, customers, governments and investors are all calling for systemic changes in supply chain management to prevent future disruptions. Evolving consumer demands for transparency, along with increased stakeholder attention on performance of a company’s suppliers, will continue to up the pressure on companies to optimize their supply chain capabilities through advanced software systems.

Joe Bellini is executive vice president of product management and marketing at One Network Enterprises.