Along with all other paradigmatic shifts that are being witnessed all around the world, across all the financial sectors, one particular aspect that is being hailed as a ray of hope is that supply chain industry is vociferously considering digital transformation with an unprecedented seriousness. The concept of digitalization has long been lying on the tables of c-level management. It is, therefore, indeed a welcome scenario that the companies have finally taken cognizance of the benefits of digitalization and are lending sincere musings to it.
Owing to the major exodus of consumers on the digital space during the pandemic, e-commerce and online retail has got a massive impetus and earned dependability. It has opened the floodgates of ideas related to the pitfalls that this gigantic industry had entailed. It has blatantly delineated how consumer behaviour has evermore been subjected to volatility. The problems that may ensue due to inventory management and how they can impact business performance and customer satisfaction have also been laid bare. And it is precisely these reasons that have brought the virtues of resilience and agility to the daylight. Most of the companies are tirelessly working in order to help themselves grow strength-by-strength and stay afloat. And to attain what seemed unimaginable a few years ago, digital transformation has picked up its pace. Some of the companies with a better foresight have made themselves formidable enough to withstand vagaries in the future. Come what may but they would remain resolute.
Supply chain being an all-encompassing subject, holds within it organisations of myriad kinds. Ranging from e-retailers to third party service providers, from transporters to the consultancy agencies, all the stakeholders involved in bringing your product home are tirelessly in this process of optimising every possible sphere that can be brought under its ambit, namely warehousing, inventory control, transport planning, procuring. End-to-end visibility is the new norm and without achieving this, the industry may lose its sheen. Keeping pace with the changing customer behaviour, improve customer satisfaction, improving business performance and to make business resist unprecedented disruptions are the key factors that are at play in this never-seen-before digital drive.
However, it must also be acknowledged that apart from providing direction to the digitalization process by unearthing the loopholes, making business procedure unstable and overwhelming the demand-supply ratio, covid-19 has also changed the priorities of digitalization or has significantly delayed the plans or has stalled them permanently. But it can never be avoided that most of the companies that have gone the digital way are indeed getting positively benefitted. These companies set a benchmark for the others to follow, so that the ones who are apprehensive of taking the plunge may walk the talk after a careful and prolonged process of exploring, gauging, peer reviewing and even-handedly assessing the pros and cons. The biggest hindrance that has emerged in the ways of the digitalization process is perhaps the underlying fear. There is no scope of doubt that it takes a good amount of investment in revamping the business and there is a definitive economic slump that the world is going through. So the fear of not reaping a good ROI and incurring loss wrecks havoc on the minds of the executives of the organisations that have not gone the digital way. Though it must also be pointed out that deficit of skilled workforce, rigid ERP systems that do not blend well with modern solutions and lack of data due to previous inexperience at handling digital implementations may also appear to be major factors that hinder the enterprise and the noble aspirations. To overcome these troubles, companies have to be extremely judicious while selecting the workforce and the solutions that are easily adaptable. Rigorous training, previous thrust on modicums of technological expertise and sensible design of legacy systems are also imperative in reaping benefits of the money that is pumped in.
The digital renovation is majorly conducive in sensing, forecasting and planning consumer behaviour. Order, purchase, production, sales, transportation can also be planned ingeniously with the help of artificial intelligence, machine learning, simulation, digital twining and setting up watch towers. Swift and robust inventory control within the precincts of warehouse with smooth movement in picking, packing, putaway are also facets that are greatly benefitted. And eventually, when the operations are streamlined, there is dearth in errors and wastage, the cost optimisation and firm control over resource management leads to achieving business goals like consumer retaining/building, good will across stakeholders that makes one cut above the rest, happy employees and better profitability.