What is SUPPLY CHAIN 4.0

  SUPPLY CHAIN 4.0

Digital Supply Chain

 

We all know  the applications of technology in our daily life. The Internet of things, artificial intelligence, technology is everywhere and impacting every aspect of our  personal and professional life. We are electronically connected o the social media and other application every moment of your life. The digital age is here. The phase industry 4.0 is going to characterize the fourth industrial revolution in the manufacturing industry. It represents the implementation of Industrial Automation, digitalization and analytics in manufacturing. Conjunction with industry 4.0, everything that is enabled by Technological advancement creates a platform for supply chain 4.0 that is the Digital supply chain revolution. Just as we are connected with internet connections each and every day,  the supply chain is also electronically connected to the enormous network which is known as supply chain 4.0. Here in this article, we will characterized 

1. The disruptive Technologies enabling supply chain 4.0

2.  Describe the potential elements of supply chain 4.0

3.  Skills needed by the supply chain professional in supply chain 4.0 for future.

The digitization in Supply Chain is required to mitigate the new requirements of the customers in a FASTER, More FLEXIBLE, ACCURATE, More Efficient way.

In the era of Industry 4.0, the organizations also need to change the micro functions to the 4.0 version and Supply chain is the most important domain which should move FAST to the 4.0 version. The trend of customer expectation and their viewpoint is the big game changer and therefore, there is a big opportunity for the Supply Chain to go to the next level.

Internet of things

Disruptive technology helps us to drive a change in the global manufacturing operations. Today we are seeing the convergence of a large number of Technologies that have their Foundation in the digital activity, the internet of things, the artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain, Big Data Analytics, virtual and  augmented reality, 3D printing technology, autonomous vehicles and drones, additive manufacturing, Cloud Computing, cyber security. The advancement of Technology impacts us everywhere, in your personal life as well as in the businesses. A quick scan of these technologies will provide us the ability to see how they can be used to improve supply chain 4.0. Disruptive technology is the backbone of creating the digital supply chain for the future. 

Internet

1. First of all a fully integrated supply chain 4.0 with end-to-end transparency & integration enabled by sensors, artificial intelligence which helps in tracking each and every activity and every action have full traceability.

2. A flexible, dynamically adjustable and  synchronised  supply chain network will help us to deal with multiple sources,  machines operating under a supply chain through cloud computing and networking. This will help us to operate digital inbound and outbound logistics with GPS systems with much more accuracy.

3. This will be complemented by blockchain technology which enables electronic and independent data purification and recording the next  level of supply chain.

4.  On top of that we will see Holistic, intelligent, electronic decision making Technology and supply chain optimization with real end to end data analytics and predictive analysis. The supplier connectivity through your supply chain  altogether to the customers directly with real-time data and no non value adding activity involved which in turn reduces the response time and lead time.

5. With real time performance and process management with full transparency and visibility, we will see automated not-touch supply chain management, order management, planning  and the movement of goods. 

6. Instantaneous supply and demand planning to qualitative and quantitative analysis and accurate demand management, smart warehouses in manufacturing with smart warehouse management  tools  like robots for picking packing,  drones delivering the products fast  with 100% accuracy.

Industry 4.0

All these will help to improve the efficiency and productivity  of the company by reducing the delivery Lead time, lower cost, better asset management and inventory control, better sales and overall better financial performance of the organisation through supply chain 4.0.

Industry 4.0

But to make all these a reality, the supply chain professionals, in addition to having the basic understanding of supply chain skills, will Need to enable supply chain 4.0  thinking inside the mind and be ready for a drastic change. Also the future supply chain professionals need to acquire new skills with respect to supply chain  planning and big thinking, full end to end supply chain expertise along with technological expertise. There is a Very big role of information technology and therefore, it must be a movement along with the IT professionals. The very important thing in this aspect is Change management. 

On top of that  supply chain professionals need to have a Data Analytics mindset. Supply chain 4.0 will provide us all the tools to do Big Data Analytics and help us to make a decision. There must be a risk management expertise to the management level because the decisions need to be taken instantaneously.