Digitalize or perish — a new norm in supply chains, Retail News, ET Retail

​Digitalization is a buzzword today, and the supply chain is not an exception this. But digitalization of supply chains is not something new. Around 25 years ago, Dell revolutionized the entire computer industry by digitalizing the supply chain. The consumer could specify his desired features and the laptop would be configured according to the requirements. Similarly, Zara, a fashion industry firm that is known for its responsiveness, revolutionized the fashion industry around fifteen years ago, promising 2-3 weeks of lead time to the retailer on the make-to-design products. It could achieve this by limiting its manufacturing in Spain unlike most of the contemporary fashion industry players that were outsourcing to China, which used to take 3-4 months for supply.

The modern supply chains in a world of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA) need to be highly agile, nimble, versatile, and efficient. In the age where every player is trying to maximize the annual inventory turns, the collaboration between supply planning and demand planning in the backdrop of business uncertainties, macroeconomic ambiguity, and contemporary geo-political chaos is of paramount importance. To enable this, the supply chain processes have to be quick, intelligent, and reliable, which requires them to be integrated with the smooth flow of transparent and timely information. Therefore, information is the backbone of smart supply chains. Only digital technologies can enable such supply chains that are not only enabled but also driven by information.