Real-time
data is one of the most significant assets in a company’s supply chain
management toolkit. Visibility of real-time data is key to ensuring efficiency
and reliability in your supply chain and is also essential to protecting the
supply chain against unanticipated disruption. Having visibility of all your
shipments at all times, and having an awareness of delays and risks, enables
proactive action to be taken instead of the need for a reactive response after
those delays have already impacted the delivery of your goods.
While
supply chain professionals understand the value of visibility and the necessity
of making proactive decisions, the majority of retailers still lack the
required level of visibility to enable those decisions to get made. Only 14% of
retailers have completed supply chain digitization projects, according to Gravity Supply Chain’s
latest research. It’s surprising that such a significant proportion of
companies still rely on legacy systems and slow manual supply chain processes
in today’s digital era.
Legacy
systems lack a real-time view of data and typically get segmented into
different silos. This segmentation results in lengthy manual data management
processes getting relied upon to provide an understanding of what is taking
place throughout the supply chain.
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The
lack of visibility inhibits decision making which often impacts delivery
fulfillment, and can lead to poor service that fails to satisfy customer
expectations, significantly impinging the bottom line. Fortunately, retailers
can access supply chain visibility by implementing a digitized platform.
Digitization Is
An Essential Component Of Delivering On Consumer Expectations
Customer
loyalty is dependent on how effectively retailers can meet the expectations of
consumers. Up to 34% of consumers say having the right product in stock is
critical, and 29% say the variety of products available is most important to
them, according to JDA’s 2018 Global Consumer Survey. It’s unequivocal that
getting the right products to the right places in the shortest possible time
frame is vital to delivering on consumer expectations.
Research by NRF and IBM suggests the
stakes are even higher when it comes to the expectations of younger
generations, with 68% of Gen Z consumers stating that a wide choice of products
is the most important factor when choosing where to shop. Undoubtedly,
investment in supply chain digitization will pay off by enabling businesses to
deliver on those expectations, and it seems that despite the low uptake in
digitization, businesses generally agree. More than half (53%) of supply chain
executives see the supply chain as a growth enabler, according to one Accenture
study.
Further
research performed by McKinsey suggests that on average, companies that
aggressively digitize their supply chains can expect to boost annual growth of
earnings before interest and taxes by 3.2% — the most significant increase from
digitizing any business area — and annual revenue growth by 2.3%. To remain
competitive, retailers should be investing in supply chain digitization
projects that will provide them with the visibility they currently lack.
Real-Time Visibility Delivers Real-World
Benefits
By
breaking down rigid data silos, a digitized supply chain platform allows data
from various touch points within the supply chain network to flow freely,
providing complete visibility. Valuable insights can be shared and digested
throughout the business, and are available not only to individuals but also to multiple
users including stakeholders, sales and marketing, along with the board, at
every stage of the supply chain.
By
using live data feeds from land, sea and air shipments, the right platform can
provide visual updates of cargo moving in real time, enabling businesses to
track cargo from origin through to destination throughout the entire journey.
The chosen solution should also include the functionality to notify the
business of shipment delays ahead of time, allowing for timely decisions to get
made, and averting potential disruptions.
The
right platform will further feature powerful search and filtering options that allow
users to access specific insights from the data provided in real time. This
tool will support informed decision making, while an inbuilt message and chat
functionality will promote discussion around insights and events occurring
within the supply chain. The provision of a forum for discussion within the
platform enables business-wide decisions to become aligned more quickly, overcoming
supply chain challenges more efficiently. These conversations can also get held
with external stakeholders across the supply chain network.
Gravity
Supply Chain’s research found cost to be one of the most
significant barriers for retailers that have not completed supply chain
digitization projects. However, the initial investment in supply chain
digitization will rapidly pay for itself — provided the chosen solution provides
the necessary functionalities as mentioned earlier — through enabling increased
speed-to-market and on time, in full deliveries. By delivering on consumer
demands, and having the right products in the right place at the right time,
retailers can benefit from stronger sales and increased profits.
Gravity Supply Chain Solutions CEO
Graham Parker commands more than three decades of experience from working in
the supply chain industry, learning first-hand how the traditional linear
supply chain model has grown obsolete. His impressive career history
encompasses having worked at a global 3PL and a leading UK retailer,
managing both domestic and international supply chains across multi-channel
routes to market. He also spent a considerable period within buying and
sourcing operations and found this incredibly useful when evolving process and
logistics changes to meet ever-changing consumer demands.
