MOST Analysis

Mission Statement

Technology helps an organization with enabling and sustaining new processes and capabilities necessary to execute the global supply chain strategy. Reviewing existing supply chain technologies and technology trends may trigger ideas about how to connect new technology capabilities with identified Customer requirements. Just keep in mind that the Customer requirements, not the technology, should drive the development of new supply chain capabilities. How effectively some of these technologies improve or even transform an organization’s supply chain greatly depends on how successful the organization is in hiring and retaining people who can understand and use them. Training and talent planning need to be therefore part of any technology strategy.

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Objectives

01. Drivers of Technology in Supply Chain: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
02. IT Implementation in Global SCM: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
03. Key Drivers of digital supply chain: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
04. Critical Analysis of Technology in Supply Chain; departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
05. The Role of Technology in Supply Chain; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
06. Technology Benchmarking: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
07. Implementation of Technology in Supply Chain: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. 1 Month
08. Technology and Green Supply Chain Management: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
09. Industry 4.0 and Global Supply Chain: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
10. Linking Supply Chain Management and Blockchain Technology: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
11. Information Technology in Business Process Reengineering: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
12. Achieving Competitive Advantage Through Technology Enabled SCM Processes: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month

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Strategies

01. Drivers of Technology in Supply Chain: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
02. IT Implementation in Global SCM: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
03. Key Drivers of digital supply chain; : Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
04. Critical Analysis of Technology in Supply Chain: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
05. The Role of Technology in Supply Chain: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
06. Technology Benchmarking: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
07. Implementation of Technology in Supply Chain: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
08. Technology and Green Supply Chain Management: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
09. Industry 4.0 and Global Supply Chain: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
10. Linking Supply Chain Management and Blockchain Technology: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
11. Information Technology in Business Process Reengineering: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
12. Achieving Competitive Advantage Through Technology Enabled SCM Processes: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.

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Tasks

01. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyse Drivers of Technology in Supply Chain.
02. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyse IT Implementation in Global SCM.
03. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyse Key Drivers of digital supply chain.
04. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyse Critical Analysis of Technology in Supply Chain.
05. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyse The Role of Technology in Supply Chain.
06. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyse Technology Benchmarking.
07. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyse Implementation of Technology in Supply Chain.
08. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyse Technology and Green Supply Chain Management.
09. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyse Industry 4.0 and Global Supply Chain.
10. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyse Linking Supply Chain Management and Blockchain Technology.
11. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyse Information Technology in Business Process Reengineering.
12. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyse Achieving Competitive Advantage Through Technology Enabled SCM Processes.

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Workshop Introduction

Introduction to Technology Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management is the department or division inside an organization tasked with managing processes and supplies through all stages of a business deliverable, product or project. Business manufactured goods follow a defined path through which they move from one stage to the next until they are ready to be delivered to the end customer. The logistics of supply chain deals with handing over finished goods to the customer and taking them from one place to another. Getting through these numerous stages of the delivery process requires expertise of the highest order, which is where supply chain management and solutions come into play. Every aspect of business today is managed to ensure the delivery of goods to the required stakeholders and customers in a manner that does not include any obstacles or hindrances in the way.

What Is Supply Chain Management?

Supply chain management can be described as the approaches used by managements to tackle a number of different and complicated approaches used to integrate the flow of finances, information and materials efficiently across the supply chain. These items are outsourced from a number of places across the chain and require coordination from manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, retailers and wholesalers. Items usually pass through a number of different hands, before they get to the final customer.

Supply chain management is hence tasked with integrating and coordinating the back and forth process that ensues due to the supply chain processes. The ultimate objective behind the management process is to improve the service standard for the customers, without increasing costs by many times. There are many pit stops made by organizations during the supply chain process. These stops start with the design and planning process, which needs to be monitored and executed in a controlled manner. Any issues that might arise in the project are identified in the design and planning process. This process significantly reduces problems and ensures an optimal service standard. Like many other operations and activities undertaken by businesses today, the supply chain didn’t fully form by itself but was influenced by other disciplines around the work culture. The supply chain management process is made of bits and pieces of systems engineering, industrial engineering, operations management, logistics management, marketing, information technology and procurement.

The field of SCM isn’t static at all, with recent updates and upgrades helping organizations grow and develop their operations by great extents. The recent incorporation of technology in supply chain has revolutionized the way organizations approach the management process, and how the supply chain is managed across the ranks.

The addition of technology to SCM processes can help companies distinguish their presence from that of their competitors. From our reasoning in the previous chapter, we do understand that organizations employing technology are more efficient and responsive than those that don’t.

Many Small and Medium Enterprises and other players in the global supply chain, however, find differences between the requirements of the customer supply chain and the tech capabilities they have. This inherent gap can lead to a drop in qualities, efficiencies and a lot more. While there are multiple levels of communication in a supply chain network, organizations should consider the integration of technology across all levels. All levels require the use of additional semantics and a common syntax so that data is interpreted ideally by all stakeholders.

The implementation of these IT systems may require heavy investments in data modeling, data protocols, knowledge base systems and data warehousing. Besides just the investment through money, organizations also need to be prepared for cultural changes that might occur as a result of these changes.

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Use Case of Technology in Global SCM

The addition of technology in the global supply chain management process has brought about a number of changes to the process. These changes ultimately help businesses achieve substantial growth across SCM processes. Organizations today can practice more control over their supply chain processes than before. This control allows them to consistently improve their supply chain performance and keep performing for as long as they can.

These new technologies have opened the avenues for new opportunities, and the supply chain industry couldn’t be in a better place. We now have a number of exciting technologies around us, all with a number of proven benefits and advantages.

Data Collection and Information Management
It is clear now that Big Data and the advanced analytics involved in Industry 4.0 are capable of transforming a number of industries and their day-to-day functions. From entertainment to healthcare and manufacturing, data collection and information management practices can help improve a number of processes.

Companies are also gradually adopting big data practices and techniques in supply chain management. The use of information systems can help create a more seamless and flawless flow of operations when it comes to supply chain management specifically. Information is crucial to the performance of a supply chain as it gives managers and stakeholders the basis to make decisions. Information technology or IT consists of actionable tools used to gain awareness of surroundings. Information can assist in the following core functions of a supply chain:

Real-Time Data Sharing and Processing
One of the major challenges of a supply chain network is the ability to integrate information from multiple platforms into a data channel. Real-time sharing of important and strategic information is necessary for the growth and sustainability of a supply chain model. It is also vital to ensure the seamless flow of operations across the supply chain.

The sharing and processing of supply chain data is directly related to various environmental factors, customer demand, partner strategies and even the supply levels coming your way. Transparency is a major point of contention in a supply chain. There are numerous factors you need to analyze and agree on before approving or recommending them. For instance, when optimizing or implementing a new delivery route, you have to consider the time it will take to travel to and from each destination, the starting point of the route, the drop-off point where the route concludes, the timeline for certain events and even external factors such as traffic and weather.

It is necessary for businesses to use information in order to retain control over not just processes, but the goods themselves as well. Having transparency and full knowledge over the sourcing and transportation of goods can come in handy during all future events. Supply chain management data sharing and modeling can help you pull out defective items and track defect rates. This can save a number of headaches and improve your understanding of the situation.

Managing External Factors with Data
Continuing from where we left off in the previous section, seamless logistics can be achieved by dealing with all kinds of circumstances and situations that happen as a result of external factors that are outside your realm of control. For instance, the socio-cultural changes in a supplier’s country can not only destroy performance, but can also hinder your timelines. Furthermore, massive shifts in consumer demand for totally unrelated reasons can put your supply chain in a spot of bother, especially if you haven’t prepared for the negative demand curve.

Big data solutions can come in handy here, as they organize and prepare data related to all external factors as well. You can use the actionable insights generated by these systems to determine just how they impact your productivity and performance. Imagine a system here that can help the processing and building of predictive models for better supply chain management. Using this system, you can better manage social events of the future and reveal the outcomes they carry.

Inventory Planning and Optimization
Perhaps the biggest use case of big data and information sharing comes in the realm of order optimization and inventory planning. Across the supply chain, information sharing systems can propel you into planning, optimizing and forecasting your stock levels to meet the changing demands around you.

This process is more about maintaining automation than running manual checks on deliveries. Big data solutions can significantly enhance information sharing to help and facilitate the process of inventory information. This can help while ordering new items when and where they are needed, shipping out orders and dealing with supply processes.

Let us imagine a manufacturer who develops a product that takes more than five months to manufacture. A big data system will take everything from product manufacturing and demand into consideration before suggesting an appropriate timeline for next order placement. This allows processes and things to run optimally without any flaws or impediments.

Through the use of technology, organizations can initiate an order optimization process without any extensive delays. As soon as one batch of manufacturing is complete, materials for the next batch are to be made readily available. Limiting and completely eradicating the downtime between organizations ensures efficiency of the highest levels.

Enhanced Customer Satisfaction
The presence of real time information systems can also lead to more nuanced advancements in the way things operate within an organization and in a typical supply chain. While information sharing systems improve the efficiency of the supply chain in general, they also help improve customer experience as a whole. Customers feel more satisfaction and are able to perform better over time. Regardless of whether you are delivering orders to retailers or to the direct customer, the sharing of efficient information across your supply chain gives you the leverage to minimize any flaws and ensure the proper provision of services across the chain.

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Supply Chain Integrated Software

Supply chain integration software is an interactive and expanded version of a traditional MRP or logistics system that enables the communication and collaboration between organizations and their supply chain stakeholders. An integrated software connection helps improve collaboration standards between suppliers and businesses, forecasts future trends with better precision and accuracy, reduces inventory wastages and shortens the product development cycle.

Integrated software operations are more often tailored to the specific needs of organizations operating in different industries. These organizations can use the tools within this network to run electronic data interchange and modules that can control and run numerous functions. The functions overseen by integrated software include warehousing, inventory control, purchasing and transportation/route setting.

While the customized settings do differ from industry to industry, the operation shares many similarities across the board. These similarities include:

• All integrated networks carry a supplier module that integrates and lists down the different layers.
• All integrated networks carry an operations module, which consists of inbound logistics, purchasing and manufacturing of goods.
• All integrated software operations carry a customer module, which includes the distribution of goods and services across multiple tiers of customers.
• Every integrated software operation carries a return channel for optimization in the handling and delivery of warranty, obsolete, trade-in and defective goods.

These systems are integrated on a function-by-function basis, enabling the optimization of results achieved by each process across the supply chain. Integrated software processes allow for better communication and optimization on a wider scale.

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Product Design and Modeling Technologies

The design world is rapidly adapting to the intensifying time to market rates and the reduced times to start a product cycle. Industries are moving forward faster than ever, and organizations can suffer greatly due to the downtime it takes for them to introduce and model products.

Technological advancements such as CAD, CAM, computer-aided engineering, design for manufacturing, design for assembling, simulation systems and modeling systems have all significantly reduced the time it takes for product launch and introduction in a number of developed industries.

Computer integrated manufacturing systems take the vision and capabilities of CAD systems and use them in a CAM environment. This integration can now help businesses unify all the processes involved in manufacturing and generate positive results from them.

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Modeling and Simulation

While CAD and CAM systems have been around for quite some time now, modeling and simulation systems are rather new and take the teachings and lessons of these systems forward to incorporate better design and processing. Led by innovation across the defense and aerospace industries and defined by almost 2 decades of manufacturing through CAD and CAM system, highly complex simulation and modeling capabilities are the need of the hour in manufacturing. The United States defense system has heavily invested in a new manufacturing system known as SBA or simulation-based acquisition. As per the system and its objective, all major weapons and arsenal would first be