Technology

Technology (130)

Why Would Your Want to Migrate Your Supply Chain to the Cloud?

 As the coronavirus pandemic has proven, a good supply chain is critical for operations in various industries. It helps companies achieve efficiency in things such as customer centricity, operational efficiency and compliance, all of which are necessary for success. If properly handled, the reputation of your company can significantly improve. With the changing business landscape, what worked yesteryears are no longer effective. Some of the things that have changed include increased customer expectations, fluctuating demands, increased competition and globalization, all of which have tested the players in the supply chain industry to their limits. The simple solution to this challenge is the adoption new strategies, one of which include cloud computing. Here are the reasons why you should migrate your supply chain to the cloud.

  • It has become hard for the on-premise supply chains to cope with today’s needs

The increased competition in business has accelerated the need for the adoption of new strategies to cope with the emerging customer needs. Some of the demands include faster delivery of goods, transparency in the supply chain and the challenge of new entrants. With so many things to consider in the market, lack of agility and scalability can only make things worse. With the on-premise supply chain management, you can incur unnecessary expenses not to mention lack of flexibility that is necessary to respond to customer needs appropriately. With cloud computing, the supply chain rigidity, that is known to hinder growth, will be avoided while visibility will be ensured. You will also run away from the costs of maintenance and upgrades while focusing on innovation.

  • Integration

Unlike on-site supply chains, cloud computing enables integration. It is allows sharing, input and output of data and lets teams and individuals to work on projects across the organizations. Accordingly, cloud computing solutions enable data to be sourced from one cloud to the other. This gives supply chain professionals the opportunity to work with robust platforms that have advanced capabilities. Through various standardized protocols, multiple platforms can work together. These platforms also build higher trust and transparency among those who use the cloud.

  • Scalability

For supply chains that operate at a global stage and need to ensure communication channels are open and collaboration is enhanced, accessibility of datasets requires unmatched scalability. Cloud computing allows these companies to keep multiple networks of individuals and organizations under one cloud defying geographical boundaries. With just an internet connection, storage, communication and sharing of files can be done fast and efficiently. You may need such scalability for enhanced operational procurement and purchasing teams. Within a short time, supply chain managers can extend their services to a global marketplace. As such, there is room for growth and more advanced capabilities. With cloud-based analytics, your business can isolate their main inefficiencies in the order fulfillment process, that will boost your growth. 

  • Enhanced security

The importance of data in supply chain data cannot be matched. Therefore, when your data is hosted in the cloud, you must be confident that it will remain secure. This can only be achieved by investing heavily in security features such as regular updates, encryption and scanning. Unlike the on-site storage, cloud service providers have advanced logical and physical security features that are good for your business.

  • Ease of use

The cloud-based supply chain can be deployed fast and allows you to outsource many activities such as management, maintenance and purchase of necessities. This means that the time that you could have spent in managing different aspects of the on-site storage can be used in innovation. Moreover, there are other benefits of adopting the cloud such as simplification of user activities, fast and quick access and the possibility of using it in collaboration with other tools.

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Your Competitive Advantage May Lie in These Technologies

With the mounting challenges brought about by the rising customer demands and complexity of the work environment, companies are always looking for ways to improve their operations and deliver the best service. Technology is one thing that promises to transform different industries and facilitate innovation. Supply chain is one of the industries that have benefited immensely from technology. Here are some of the technologies that you can make use of if you are to be competitive:

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These Trends Are Leading the Supply Chain in Analytics

Supply chain management is becoming complex each year. The main influences that are occasioning evolution in this industry are the rapid globalization of supply chains. The globalization of supply chain networks often faces challenges associated with the risk of delays and confusion. As such, managers are doing their best by putting more attention to planning and coming up with contingency planning and management strategies that will address these challenges and increase customer satisfaction and performance in general. As procurement and supply chain operations increasingly adopt digitization, which is proving to be strategically necessary in the era of intense competition and increased customer demands, professionals in these areas must find ways of staying on top of things and getting data that they need in order to make the right decisions.

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Gartner Names University of Arkansas as the #1 Undergraduate Program for Supply Chain Management

University of Arkansas was recently ranked the best undergraduate program in the supply chain industry according to Gartner’s Supply Chain University Top 25 for 2020. The state university beat out over 59 other programs for the prestigious spot atop Gartner’s list. This is quite the feat for the university who didn’t clear the Top 10 in Gartner’s 2018’s ranking. Rounding out the top three are Rutgers University and Pennsylvania State University who garnered the #1 position as the best graduate program in the supply chain industry. “Gartner provides an unbiased report, and this No. 1 ranking recognizes the outstanding work and excellence of our faculty, staff and students,” said Matt Waller, dean of the Sam M. Walton School of Business at the University of Arkansas. “The ranking also is highly respected throughout industry, which helps our students as they look for internships and move into careers.”

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Supply Chain is Turning to AI Amid Covid-19

Manufacturers are turning towards artificial intelligence (AI) to fill in the gaps of an industry on the cusp of collapse. All eyes are on the supply chain industry during the pandemic as they struggle to find enough employees to produce, assemble, and deliver finished products.  The answer may lie in AI as they can pick up the slack in industries where workers are few and far between.

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Cheaper Sensors Expand IoT in Manufacturing

Internet of Things (IoT) is a technology that needs no introduction. It has become a leading topic of conversation in the world of technology and is slowly making way into almost every aspect of our lives. The manufacture of IoT devices has been growing significantly mainly in areas such as manufacturing and supply chain management. Research by Forrester Research in 2018 indicated that the largest spending on IoT would be experienced between 2017 and 2023. This spending will be focused on enabling new business models which include software and software-as-a-service (SaaS).

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Financing the Supply Chain is Up Next on UPS' Agenda

Transporting goods from one point to another is now cheaper than ever before due to the advancements that have been in supply chain technology. The innovations in areas such as the Internet of Things and mobile telephony, big data, and weather forecasting tools that are useful in the shipping of goods have enhanced reliability of trade despite many challenges and risks that the industry continues to experience. While technology has significantly advanced, supply chain financing remains stuck in the past as a new decade of maturity beckons. Although buyer-centered plans still dominate, the focus has turned to the need to finance even the lower tiers of suppliers.

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US Feds Want Supply Chain Infrastructure Security

In the current connected world, the supply chain faces a wide range of threats, both physical and cyber. The two have different implications for organizations. While physical threats can be more obvious and blatant in supply chains, cybersecurity threats are less noticeable and highly unpredictable and as such, they can cause massive damage to an organization. Think of terrorists attacking oil infrastructure and interfering with the supply chain. This is supply chain terrorism that is now one of the worst crimes. For this reason, the Federal Communications Commission has come up with new rules that regulate telecommunications devices that are used in the US. The recent action included the reduction of telecom infrastructure from China. This move is geared towards identifying, evaluating and addressing transactions that involve these hardware devices.

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Supply Chain Start-Up Shipium's Software Enables Retailers to Offer Fast and Reliable Shipping

According to a Retail Touch Point survey, ““Two of the top three concerns among retailers are related to customers: expectations around delivery times at 49%, and expectations of free/low-cost shipping at 44%.” Demand for fast and affordable shipping has continued to grow. A decade ago it was normal for consumers to pay extra in order to receive their purchases within 2-3 days. Today Amazon and Walmart’s free two-day shipping has started the precedent that swift, reliable shipping shouldn’t cost extra. 

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Declining Prices of IoT Sensors Is Extending Penetration Farther into Manufacturing Processes

The rise of IoT will significantly change many industries. However, companies that use IoT devices have faced various challenges mainly due to high cost of these devices. Companies in inventory and supply chain management have in the past experienced increased spending, and this is likely to go on between now and 2023. The increase in spending will result from new models of business that include software and products-as-a-service. The reduced cost of IoT sensors, increased connectivity and emerging software will be the leading areas that manufacturers will take advantage of going forward.

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