{"id":29272,"date":"2019-10-02T12:10:15","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T11:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/?p=29272"},"modified":"2019-10-02T12:10:18","modified_gmt":"2019-10-02T11:10:18","slug":"smart-centralised-insights-shape-a-modern-global-supply-chain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/2019\/10\/02\/smart-centralised-insights-shape-a-modern-global-supply-chain\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Smart, centralised insights shape a modern global supply chain’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Gerhard Dinhof, Blockchain Lead at IBM South Africa, looks at how companies can embrace Blockchain technology and how it can enhance customer satisfaction.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The modern global supply chain can be the source of endless insight into the production, sourcing, procurement, purchasing, inventory and delivery of goods and services. But data must flow smoothly between B2B networks in a supply chain so that invested parties can quickly act on information that will improve the quality, cost or delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organisations have long\nrelied on the electronic data interchange (EDI) standard to swap critical\nsupply chain documents \u2014 and they\u2019ll continue to rely on it, because the\ntechnology is mature and low-cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But to effectively\nmanage an increasingly complex multiparty supply chain ecosystem that connects\ndisparate systems, processes and tools, companies should embrace the future and\nturn to Blockchain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harnessing the many bits\nof supply chain information to create a cohesive, transparent flow of data, Blockchain\nenhances collaboration between the many partners of a supply chain and\nultimately increases customer satisfaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organisations that go a\nstep further and integrate AI into their supply chains will also benefit\nfrom insights that proactively spot potential manufacturing disruptions, inventory\nshortages and other problems. Cohesion and insight are just what organisations\nneed if they want to easily navigate the known and unknown complications of a\nglobal supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A fruitful tech\nmerger<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other systems have come\nalong since its creation nearly five decades ago, but EDI still has tremendous\nvalue to companies that want to have frictionless communications with supply\nchain partners. Half of all respondents in a Computer-Generated Solutions survey\nsaid they considered EDI critical to their omnichannel operations, while the\nother half classified it as at least \u2018somewhat important\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EDI remains a go-to\nresource for peer-to-peer supply chain connections, but it can do only so much.\nIt can\u2019t handle advanced digital input, such as data from IoT sensors or\nnotifications about a change in the delivery of parts. While the data exchanged\nwithin an EDI is a critical part of the supply chain, it\u2019s not the only element\nin it. The modern global supply chain needs to reflect the totality and\ncontinuity of every digital business process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next step in supply chain evolution integrates the many workflows that touch the process, merging EDI data in addition to the gargantuan amount of information from technologies such as IoT sensors and application programming interfaces (APIs). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That next step is Blockchain.\nWith Blockchain, a supply chain can move beyond the limitations of a\npeer-to-peer network, or even a one-source-to-many network and transform into a\ntransparent network that effortlessly connects many to many. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blockchain creates a\nlevel of visibility between every partner on a supply chain and effectively\nholds them all accountable for their end of a production bargain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EDI can still serve as\nthe core medium for document exchange, but the data from that trusted\ntechnology can offer more value when it\u2019s fed into a Blockchain-powered B2B\nnetwork. There, a shared version of true data \u2014 collected from EDI, IoT and\nAPIs \u2014 builds upon the limited exchange found on EDI and enables every partner\nto collaborate on production and delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, data from\nIoT sensors can help companies gauge the creation and delivery of parts across\nthe entire supply chain. And data from APIs that record sales and other\nprocesses can support decisions, such as one to quickly scale up or back\nproduction because the data reveals accurate in-the-moment customer demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All this data can be run\nthrough an automated AI-powered tool to add predictions and recommendations\nthat enhance how companies interact with their supply chain partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A smart, connected\nsupply chain<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connectivity \u2014 a\nsingular view of data and AI \u2014 will be critical for retailers, manufacturers\nand other global companies that need knowledge and flexibility as they aim to\nseamlessly deliver products and services. It\u2019s no longer enough to know when\nmaterials will arrive from a supplier. Companies want insight into their\nsuppliers\u2019 manufacturing processes and inventories to ensure the timely\ndelivery of their products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IoT tracking, for\ninstance, lets companies see a manufacturing vendor\u2019s chain of creation and\ndelivery so they can plan their own manufacturing accordingly. This visibility\nenables a manufacturer to turn to its backup plan when it recognises a vendor\nneeds too much time to create and ship a critical part, and to ramp up its\nprocesses to acquire a part that will arrive in time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As another example, if a\npartner can\u2019t deliver a component because of noncompliance, an AI-driven\nrecommendation engine can find a replacement source somewhere else along the\nsupply chain. Whether partially or fully automated, companies now expect this\nlevel of insight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An automated, AI-driven\nand Blockchain-supported supply chain doesn\u2019t help just the primary\nstakeholder; the entire ecosystem benefits from the shared pool of insights.\nGuided by data, stakeholders are incentivised to collaborate to improve processes\nand satisfy consumers\u2019 high expectations. Retailers can identify the origins of\nits foodstuffs and demonstrate that they are produced following\nenvironmentally sound practices and manufacturers can prove its products\nwere made under fair labour practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supply chains are built\non stacked networks, and the sprawl of data from those networks inform the many\nprocesses behind each step in the supply chain. Sprawl can be disruptive when\nsources can\u2019t connect. When data is centralised, automated and enhanced,\npartners in the supply chain smartly create together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gerhard Dinhof, Blockchain Lead at IBM South Africa, looks at how companies can embrace Blockchain technology and how it can enhance customer satisfaction. The modern global supply chain can be the source of endless insight into the production, sourcing, procurement, purchasing, inventory and delivery of goods and services. But data must flow smoothly between B2B […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":29273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4950,328,136,399,10675],"tags":[496,8625,5379,676,11261,8636,8635,11260,6612,390,3601],"class_list":["post-29272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","category-features","category-industry-expert","category-more-news","category-thought-leadership","tag-ai","tag-apis","tag-application-programming-interfaces","tag-blockchain","tag-computer-generated-solutions","tag-edi","tag-electronic-data-interchange","tag-gerhard-dinhof","tag-ibm-south-africa","tag-iot","tag-omnichannel"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29272"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29275,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29272\/revisions\/29275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}