On the one hand, technology has undeniably helped the supply chain industry solve a multitude of previously intractable problems, making supply chains significantly less fragile in the process.
On the other hand, the proliferation of so many new supply chain solutions over the past decade or so has further pushed the industry toward siloed ways of thinking and working. If we can break down those silos (spoiler alert: we can!), we will enable huge new leaps in supply chain orchestration and automation, saving time and money and driving greater customer loyalty in the process.
Here’s his real-world template for going about it.
As companies deployed new technology systems and solutions, data wound up getting siloed. Warehouse management systems didn’t share data with the transportation management systems, which in turn didn’t share data with the yard management systems. The YMS didn’t talk to the appointment manager or order manager. And none of them shared data with the legacy ERP system.
This is much easier than it used to be, provided companies take an API-first approach to their data strategies and insist that their technology partners do the same.
Many digital transformation projects fail because organizations try to boil the ocean. Rob prioritized his use cases based on what could drive the greatest efficiencies and savings.
Up first, reducing the OTIF fines that retailers levy when shipments arrive late, or with less than the full quantity of goods the retailer ordered. OTIF fines can run into millions of dollars on an annual basis for F&B and CPG companies.
Rob’s second priority: reducing dwell times for the drivers picking up and dropping off those millions of shipments. Getting them in and out of facilities smoothly and on schedule would slash detention fees and give the drivers a much better work experience.
Control towers have failed the supply chain industry. They are all trying to boil the ocean and have a dismal track record of driving better outcomes. Similarly, there’s a common misconception in the industry that you can aggregate all of your data in a data lake, apply a visualization layer such as Power BI or Tableau, and presto, all of your problems are solved. While analytics and visualization have their place, they can’t help you execute, in real-time, on a supply chain issue.
The answer is a real-time supply chain command center that provides a single user interface into all of your data and applications, and that can execute actions in every system. Let’s look at how this works with Rob’s use cases.
In the case of OTIF, for the vast majority of shippers and their customers today, the actual quantity of goods shipped is a mystery until the truck shows up at a facility and gets unloaded. Why? Because the transportation system, order system and fulfillment system are disconnected. But if the data is portable, and everything is viewable in the command center, the discrepancy between the order and the actual quantity of goods shipped gets flagged before the truck leaves. Now, the shipper can source additional product from an alternate distribution center and take any other real-time actions necessary to make the delivery — on time, and in full.
When it comes to dwell time at facilities, there are four different systems in play: yard, appointment, transportation and warehouse. If those systems aren’t talking to each other, the driver might arrive on time but wait for hours if the product hasn’t been picked or staged. The command center sees the big picture and connects the dots. If the crew isn’t ready to unload, the appointment can be rescheduled in real time.
Rob rightly emphasized that all of this requires a fair share of organizational alignment and change management around priority use cases and new ways of working together. But it’s worth the effort, as the power of real-time execution — underpinned by real-time visibility data and data from every other key system — represents the next leap forward in proactive supply chain management.
The post Building on the Real-Time Visibility Foundation to Eliminate Silos and Achieve Huge Leaps in Efficiency – Use Case by Use Case appeared first on Logistics Viewpoints.