McKinsey, Cap Gemini and the Boston Consulting Group all suggest Supply Chain 4.0, digital transformation, is about applying digital technologies– Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), the Internet of Things (IoT) and Blockchain– to operational processes and creating improvements.
If digital transformation is to “transform” SCM, then it must as efficiently as possible match supply to real demand, writes IndustryWeek (Nov. 2, 2018). In SCM, there are 3 key factors that impact the ability to match supply to demand: (1) Demand uncertainty and the inability to accurately forecast demand; (2) Production uncertainties leading to changes in supply; and (3) Lack of synchronization among supply chain partners.
(1) Traditional forecasting methods can be impacted by one-time events (such as economic changes, special promotions, fashion trends, or a spike in social chatter) that affect the stability of historical sales patterns. Digital transformation can improve traditional forecasting methods in 2 ways. The first is to gather new data, such as sentiment information from social channels, weather inputs, economic performance or information from new IoT or Fog Computing sensors that can provide insights into customer demand. The second is to use ML to continuously “learn” from this data to determine the contributions of these factors in predicting demand.
(2) Digital transformation can use IoT to continuously monitor machines on the shop floor, track key performance metrics and then use predictive analytics to understand what these performance metrics mean for yield, quality or the likelihood of machine failure.
(3) At one end of the supply chain, a retailer may determine a particular demand based on what end consumers are buying. This demand signals the next tier in the supply chain, which sends its own demand signal to the next tier and so on. The end result is a view of demand a few tiers into the supply chain that is very different from the original demand requirement from the retailer. The supply chain, in effect, becomes unsynchronized. Blockchain is a distributed ledger, with information instantly visible to all parties of the blockchain and ensures a single version of the truth – such as a single understanding of true end-customer demand – in the supply chain. This is what synchronizes all supply chain partners.
Classroom discussion questions:
- How does digital transformation differ from traditional forecasting?
- What is IoT? Give an example.
- What is blockchain and how can it help SCM?