As a supply chain manager, you understand the importance of reliability. Your clients need to know that when they enlist your organization’s services, they’re partnering with a business that will offer transparency about order status, deliver consistently on its promises, and leverage best-in-class practices to ensure smooth operations.
You also know that delivering on those expectations has been harder than ever in the last few years. Rising raw materials prices, persistent talent gaps, and global disruption have all thrown wrenches into supply chain organizations’ operations; and as customer demand for personalized experiences, digital integration, and sustainable practices continues to rise, supply chain managers like you might wonder how best to adapt to continue being reliable.
The name of the game is resilience; future-proofing your operations by enlisting new, digital tools to upgrade your analytics, tracking, and response capabilities. In this article, we’ll dive deep into how you can reinforce your processes through digital transformation, explore the role of artificial intelligence (AI), and show you how to embrace sustainability throughout your operations.
Digital Transformation and the Supply Chain
So what exactly is digital transformation? Digital transformation is a process that starts with self-evaluation, identifying chinks in your chain and where operations are likely to fragment, as well as where your practices may not align with customer expectations. The digitalization process involves using technological solutions to resolve those gaps over time, implementing and thoroughly testing the new tools to hand-craft a unique, digitally enhanced brand experience.
Digital transformation is something any successful business knows to do: change with the times. For example, e-commerce businesses are using AI to offer personalized product recommendations, facilitate better remote customer experiences, and optimize dynamic pricing. Technology provides additional functionality, customers grow used to and ask to elevate that functionality further, and businesses rise to meet the new benchmark; it’s a cycle that never fully stops, and businesses that don’t hop on board and contribute get left behind.
To start a supply-chain-focused transformation process, we recommend going through these steps:
- Identify prominent pain points: What issues have your customers submitted regarding your operations? Are there areas where you know your chain falls apart, or where inefficiencies may be hindering your ability to deliver?
- Analyze your competitors’ practices: Are your competitors using digital tools to enhance their operations or customer experiences? Can you use tools in a similar way, or perhaps even a better tool to provide a better experience?
- Look into technological solutions: No solution on the market is one-size-fits-all. Which tools will repair chinks in your particular chain, or administer to your customers’ needs for transparency and order customization?
Transformation may take time, especially if you’re investing in and implementing a variety of tools; but to build resilience in your practices and meet customer demand, it’s a necessary step.
Leveraging AI and Predictive Analytics
Let’s take a moment and circle back to AI, as out of all the technologies you may come to integrate, it’s one of the most crucial for instilling supply chain resilience. Analytical capability, or the ability to derive actionable insights from data, is the factor that makes or breaks supply chain operations, allowing you to identify the optimal transportation and logistics paths to deliver orders efficiently.
AI can be used throughout your supply chain to enhance your analytical capabilities, delivering error-free forecasting and keeping you cognizant of changing market conditions. Its predictive analytics capabilities allow you to more accurately select optimal transportation routes and avoid disruptions. Moreover, AI can also be used to build relationships with your customers, providing real-time updates on orders, knowledgeably addressing customer concerns, and using their history to personalize interactions.
The more data your AI is fed, the more accurate its output will be. Cleaning rough data and organizing it within an organization-wide single source of truth can be a boon to getting your AI up and running quickly.
Embracing Sustainable Practices
Finally, we come to sustainability. B2B customers like yours are looking to partner with supply chain logistics providers who share their dedication to sustainability, as such mutually beneficial relationships can be used to market an environmentally cognizant image to their customers. For example, ALDI, a multinational supermarket retailer, is already using AI to streamline its supply chains, while also integrating sustainability measures for maximum value.
To embrace sustainability throughout your operations, proceed through this short list of processes:
- Identify your organization’s current greenhouse gas output, and isolate particularly resource-expensive processes for re-evaluation. Use this as a benchmark, and publicly record your organization’s progress year-by-year.
- Explore ways to cut shipping distance, as transportation will likely be one of your biggest carbon emitters. AI and other technological tools can help with this, charting optimal paths and saving you resources.
- Invest in sustainable materials and cut waste where possible. Sustainable shipping materials, reduction of single-use plastics, and other packaging-related measures are highly marketable methods of cutting down on waste.
Embracing modern supply chain practices that are sustainable, digitally reinforced, and on the cutting edge of the industry will help you build new relationships – and strengthen current ones.
About the author
Indiana Lee is a freelance writer from the Pacific Northwest, specializing in business operations, leadership, and marketing insights. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
