As per a new study by ToolsGroup and Spinnaker, only 7% of enterprises today are realizing the benefits of the supply chain digitalization. The study surveyed a lot of different industrial domains such as manufacturing, distribution/ wholesale food and beverage, and retail as well as consumer good companies. The results reveal that 58% of the respondents are evaluating what steps they need to embark on a digital transformation journey. During the course of this process, they will be choosing to rely on technologies that empower their supply chains to succeed, be more optimized, and function better to support business goals.
An organizational performance is contingent on its supply chain. The survey’s respondents conceived that supply chain digitalization would have a colossal impact on companies’ operational efficiencies, customer service levels, customer expectations, and order fill rates. Not to mention, this helps to drive business performance towards improved revenue and profit. Even though supply chains have a huge impact, the fear of change management and risk of implementation have been compelling enterprises from transforming their supply chains.
Nevertheless, supply chain integration technology can change the way organizations do business with their partner network, transforming operations and processes in toto. Ergo, companies need to decide their ways of how data can be leveraged to drive quality outcomes.
Understanding the Role of Supply Chain Integration in Supply Chain Digitalization
With rise of transformative technologies and consumer demands, supply chains have transformed into a complex ecosystem. The number of stakeholders, systems, and applications have increased. To handle such complex supply chains, business users must become more data-driven and digital. Plus, systems and applications should be integrated for process automation.
However, this is not as easy as it may sound. If the systems and applications are legacy ones or cloud-based ones, there are myriad data standards and formats, and the foundational business logic can be complex.
The value of data in logistics and supply chain operations is huge. What’s concerning is that data arrives from many sources, and it is presented in multiple formats. To make the most use, data integration is essential for businesses.
Discover why employing data integration is important for improving supply chain performance.
1. Gain access to data by breaking down data silos
Data can be located anywhere – for example, various systems, applications, etc. Now, users must make sure that they have access to all data. In this regard, data integration can prove extremely useful as it combines all data into a unified database, where it can be stored, accessed, and analyzed.
2. Harmonize data formats
Obviously, organizations need to work around different data formats during the course of their supply chain operations. These formats include, EDIFACT, ANSI X12, JSON, XML, etc. Now, these data formats must be standardized with data translation and data mapping. And, here the role of a data integration solution comes into play. Modern data integration solutions can help users automatically map data in different formats using machine learning, transform it, and integrate it into a unified database.
3. Improve data quality
Data integration solutions can leverage logic to monitor all the incoming data to ensure that the messages contain all the valuable information. Users must only define their business rules so that logic can validate messages.
4. Automate business processes
Organizations need to integrate their applications and systems to transfer data between them. They must also focus on business process integration. By connecting the processes through automation, companies can make their supply chain more optimized and give you a competitive advantage in the long run.
5. Facilitate collaboration across supply chains
When users can connect applications and automate their business processes, they are likely to create collaboration among stakeholders. The improved collaboration across the supply chain ecosystem can help businesses become easier to do business with.