"The Future is Now: The Power of Automation in Revolutionizing the Supply Chain
Emerging and maturing supply chain technology is a major source of competitive advantage. By 2026, more than 75% of commercial supply chain management application vendors will deliver embedded advanced analytics (AA), artificial intelligence (AI) and data science.
In today's fast-paced world, businesses must adapt quickly to stay ahead of the competition. One key area that can make or break an organization today is its supply chain. It is very important to carefully design the right supply chain strategy for the company to run successfully in this highly competitive and unpredictable business environment that exists during this post covid era.
"Supply chain strategies can either streamline or even slow down the entire process of bringing goods or services to market. "
It can also cause havoc in the key service-level deliverables which can make or break any important business deals. This was one of the key lessons we learned from the pandemic. The pandemic taught us the hard way that Agility & resilience shall be the key drivers of accelerating supply chain efficiencies in any organization today. Each firm may have to develop a strategy that is well-knitted into the core competencies of the company and can be different from any other competitor which exists in the same industry.
Supply chain automation is a powerful tool for businesses to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve the customer experience. By automating repetitive, manual tasks, companies can eliminate errors, reduce lead times, and optimize their operations.
The world of supply chain management is evolving rapidly, and one of the most significant changes taking place is the widespread adoption of automation. Automation is transforming the way supply chains operate, enabling businesses to optimize their operations and achieve new levels of efficiency, accuracy, and speed.
This video on Supply Chain automation & Next Level SC Robotics can give a good insight into what the future looks like:
As per a latest Garner Report -
Supply Chain Technologies & Digital Transformation
"Digital is a key priority for functional leaders, particularly those in the supply chain": - A Gartner survey revealed that 82% of CEOs in supply-chain-intensive industries plan to increase investments in digital capabilities across their enterprise. This puts chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) under tremendous pressure to digitalize the supply chain. Many supply chains have been too slow to react and are still developing the foundational physical capabilities required to compete today, let alone develop, test, deploy and scale digital innovation effectively. Supply chain digital transformation is proven to mitigate supply chain risk and optimize supply chain cost, but it requires strong alignment between business and supply chain strategy to succeed.
Credits: https://www.gartner.com/en/supply-chain/topics/supply-chain-digital-transformation
All Top Tier Fortune 500 companies have realised the importance of digitizing their supply chains and automation plays a very crucial role in this digital transformation.
Benefits of Automating the Supply Chains
- Increase Efficiency - One of the key benefits of supply chain automation is increased efficiency. By automating processes such as order fulfillment and inventory management, businesses can reduce the time and labor required to complete these tasks. Automation also helps to minimize errors, as machines are less likely to make mistakes than human workers. Hence, various tedious and repetitive processes in supply chain functions like procurement, warehousing, and delivery can be automated today using various technologies.
- Improve Process Accuracy - In addition to improving efficiency, supply chain automation can also enhance accuracy. Machines can analyze vast amounts of data quickly and accurately, providing businesses with insights that can help them make better decisions. This can lead to improved inventory management, reduced waste, and better forecasting.
- Increased Operational Speed - Another benefit of supply chain automation is increased speed. Automated processes can work much faster than human workers, enabling businesses to process orders more quickly and get products to customers faster. This can be especially important in industries such as e-commerce, where customers expect fast delivery times.
Challenges
Automating the supply chains seems to be the buzz of the town lately, especially in 2020 when supply chains all over the world were highly disrupted and businesses had gone haywire. This might get our thoughts aligned to the obsession of incorporating these technologies into our business processes and we might well think that it's a doodle to adopt these new technologies into our business processes. Well, that's where we might jump to indecisive conclusions without doing a cost-benefit analysis.
I would like to emphasize here that supply chain automation is not without its baggage of challenges. One of the biggest challenges is the cost of implementing automation technologies. Businesses must invest in hardware, software, and training to ensure that their systems are properly configured and maintained. Moreover, in today's fast paced world of quick gratification, we cannot expect an automation solution to be incorporated into an organization's IT OT system as a plug and play solution and instatly start generating results to the top order profitability. Rather, the implementation shall be executed on a PHASE WISE manner and it will take more than 2-3 years to break even and start generating noticeable results.
Despite these challenges, the benefits of supply chain automation are clear. As businesses look for ways to improve their operations and stay competitive in a rapidly changing marketplace, automation will continue to play an increasingly important role. By embracing automation technologies, SUPPLY CHAINS can unlock new levels of efficiency, accuracy, and speed and position themselves for success in the years to come.
There is also a Myth surrounding the industry that automating supply chain processes with Robotics Process Automation (RPA), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML) has an immediate risk of job displacement since automation technologies can replace human workers. But I would never advocate in favor of strengthening this belief system. In contrast, Automation shall only supplement the existing workforce with new and efficient ways of doing time-consuming and repetitive jobs, thus enhancing the work quality and job satisfaction levels. We can instead utilize human capital in more innovative and productive work and hence improve total supply chain efficiencies.
In conclusion, the future of supply chain management is here, and it is powered by automation. Businesses that embrace these technologies and adapt to the changing landscape of the supply chain will be well-positioned to thrive in the years ahead. Whether you are a small business or a large enterprise, now is the time to start exploring the power of automation in revolutionizing your supply chain.
Here's an interesting video on The Future Of Supply Chain from KPMG. Let's get excited for a roller coaster yet nerve enthralling ride to the Future.
Video Credits: KPMG USA Youtube ▶ channel
Exclusive interview by Bold Business EVP & Associate Publisher John Miles and Project Bold Life President Dawna Stone with:
Dr. Byron Clayton, Chief Executive Officer Advanced Robotics
for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute
Dr. Jean-Pierre Bardet, College of Engineering Dean at the
University of Miami
Scott Gebicke, Vice President and Global Head of Energy,
Industrial and Building Sectors for Jabil
Hi Nikhil,
ReplyDeleteGood work and I could see the efforts you have put in gathering the information and articulating very well for the readers to follow and understand it better. The supporting videos are the icing on the cake...Good job keep it up!
Related to your blog, yes SCM automation is going to be tough and challenging. But as rightly pointed, pandemic has taught us Agile and Resilience are the mantras to move forward.Future is visible, working towards it and bringing it out from paper to reality is the job of all of us.
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