eBook
Smart Supply Chain Decisions in the New Normal
Pro Tips From Industry Experts
The new normal demands for not just survival, but smart supply chain technology, that only companies that digitize smartly can achieve.
Supply chain operators will face new and far-reaching decision-making challenges. Those who are unprepared to make these decisions based on data will be challenged to even survive; those armed with smart supply chains that enables critical visibility and insight to make fact-based real-time decisions will thrive in this new environment. In context of this smart supply chain transformation in the new normal, the five ‘pro tips’ in this handbook from industry experts can aid your supply chain transition into a smart supply chain and enable you to make prompt, yet productive decisions.
What's Inside
Introduction
Supply chain technology practitioners are always looking to rationalize on top of reducing risks. The Covid-19 outbreak has exposed this idea to new challenges, and this is not temporary as disruptions are increasing in frequency and magnitude.
The new normal is disruptive (not in a good way). The smart supply chain to tackle this will be digital-driven.
The year 2020 has had unprecedented challenges. Covid-19 threatens to wipe out the result of years of hard work put into supply chain planning. This pandemic has taught us a hard lesson: keeping our supply chain safe is as important as keeping it lean.
Supply chain processes that were running smoothly and effectively just months ago, now require reengineering.
Companies with digitized/smart supply chains have navigated the disruptions better than those that were not equipped with digital tools in the past few months.
The biggest challenge during a crisis is the high level of uncertainty. Although we don’t have a precise idea as to what is in store for us, we do know that this uncertainty may last for some time, and we will have to learn to thrive with it beyond survival.
If “surviving” was successfully achieved during the Covid-19 crisis, success in the new normal for that company will be about “thriving.”
“Advanced analytics can improve supply forecast accuracy by 20% to 60%,” write Bain & Company consultants Olaf Schatteman, Drew Woodhouse and Joe Terino.
Supply chain operators will face new and far-reaching decision-making challenges.
Those who are unprepared to make these decisions based on data will be challenged to even survive; those armed with critical visibility and insight to make fact-based real-time decisions will thrive in this new environment.
In context of this digital-led supply chain transformation in the new normal, the five ‘pro tips’ in this handbook from industry experts can aid your supply chain transition into a smart supply chain and enable you to make prompt, yet productive decisions.
The Supply Chain Context
The Covid-19 outbreak has exposed supply chains to a new reality which many expect to acknowledge – at least to a certain extent – into a new normal. Hence, overcoming the pandemic-caused challenges is probably not the end. Uncertainty and change will prevail. The impact of the Covid-19 situation can be seen in multiple areas.
- Demand will remain highly volatile. People have been stockpiling essentials, like sanitizers, soap and toilet paper, creating a mismatch in demand and supply. This will cause a ripple effect on the way toward equilibrium. As many of the products in question have a long life with expiry dates months or years ahead, we can expect a steep fall after the short-term sharp increase in demand, causing supply challenges and surplus storage needs. If nothing else, this has taught us a lot about the possibility of disruptive consumer behavior which we now need to factor into the planning.
- The supply chain partner landscape is…Read more
How to Successfully Navigate to a Smart Supply Chain in the New Normal
Today’s decisions will have long-term ramifications on the performance of your supply chain, and, thereby the success of your business.
Reducing risk, ensuring quality requirements, and minimizing logistics costs, is the day-to-day balancing act for most supply chain practitioners.
A supply chain that is too resilient leads to prohibitive cost levels, while one that is too lean adds a high level of vulnerability.
A resilient supply chain is one that has the ability to resist disruptions as well as recover from the operational anomalies that the disruptions generate — such as not just supply shocks and demand shocks, but also, aftershocks. Covid-19 has provided supply and demand shocks simultaneously and its consequences will linger for some time
Two capabilities can be considered foundational to resiliency…Read More
5 Pro Tips to Navigate Your Supply Chain
This comprehensive handbook is based on true industry experiences and addresses some of the potential challenges your supply chain may face today, soon, or a bit farther down the road in the new normal.
The economic implications of the Covid-19 pandemic are probably going to linger around for months, and some may even stay with us forever. But if addressed thoughtfully, we can overcome many of the new challenges, maybe even easier than we expect. Considering the high level of uncertainty, we also believe that timely reengineering of the chains is paramount.
These five tips will help you successfully navigate in the short and the long run by making the timely, accurate decisions. Read more
In Summary
Supply chains have always been uncertain. The impact of administrative decisions following the COVID-19 outbreak have unveiled limitations and increased risk along the supply chains, as most of these decisions pertain to the unknown.
If you have survived the pandemic however, your supply chain is resilient, and the opportunity to thrive is now to make the best of the new normal through smart decisions.
These five pro-tips collected from our experience are compiled as the priority areas to enable you to better navigate a supply chain in the new normal, make the right decision, and position you for success.
If these tips are implemented with the assistance of accurate, actionable data, you will notice success just like supply chain professionals from global companies like Mondelez and Lenovo are experiencing. Read more
Authors
Wolfgang is a global supply chain and technology strategist. He is a Roambee board member, Operating Partner at Anchor Group and has held senior leadership roles at the World Economic Forum, Corporate Value Associates, La Poste and TNT. Wolfgang is an author, futurist and a member of the Logistikweisen, an expert committee under the patronage of the German Federal Ministry BMVI, and the World Economic Forum global expert network.
Sanjay is a strategic thought leader with 17+ years of entrepreneurial experience. He’s a renowned speaker and a featured author on supply chain, disruptive technologies, and digitization. He has delivered engaging talks around the world at prestigious platforms like Mobile World Congress, TiE, Global Digital Forum, Logipharma, Red Hat Summit, and DHL IoT Day. He’s been an innovator through his technology careers at NASA, EMC, and Schlumberger and has published papers in journals like IEEE & ISCA