Supply chain is an activity which isn’t exactly new. It’s been around from the time that humans accepted community living which meant we remain inter-dependent. With one’s activity, needs and products dove-tailing into raw-material/ finished goods for others, there formed a supply chain. With need, it’s size increased. Today, much of what we need has nothing to do with what we do which makes the work of supply chain complex with each passing day. This mirrors in the complexities of the supply chain.
And now, we are in the midst of the revolution brought by machines which communicate among themselves. Controlling them, as also the rest of the activity is the supply chain software also known as the SCM software. As has happened in the past, the future remains open to endless possibilities with supply chain too having a lot of changes in future! The SCM software of tomorrow shall thus have among others, the following features!
- More visibility with IoT devices & digitization
Nothing can henceforth be hidden in the supply chain! Bring that about is a clutch of features including IoT and RFID! IoT is the software which provides each part of the supply chain to communicate with its designated counterparts such that essential information is passed on without the need for a human interface. With less of intervening humans, chances of discruption/ collusion/ obfuscation etc reduces drastically. It is replaced seamlessly by 24 x 7 x 365 days of visibility! Doing part of the IoT’s job are technologies including RFID tags. With set sensors, there’s no part of the SCM chain which can lie or hide information. - Higher speeds of operations
With increasingly lesser human interventions at every stage, SCM software’s working shall be much, much faster than today. The concept of sharing files, updating etc is all being automated which means we shall see less of human being trying their tricks within the system. Beside speeds, accuracy would also be higher. - AI and the use of robots which use simple gestures to do the job
Supply chains use a lot of machines, more so in warehousing and distribution work. It is in these places that SCM software with robotics abilities shall be used extensively backed by AI and robotics. AI has revolutionized the way machines process commands and turn out the right responses. In SCM software, the greatest visibility shall be in robots and machines which shall follows commands other than thru keyboards, like gestures, whistles, facial expression etc - Stronger bonding both upwards and downwards
With so much of robotization and newer and better SCM software, it can be expected that the same shall result in giving newer and better services to both the clients as also the service providers being used by the SCM chain. SCM software handle both inbounds ie raw materials and outbounds ie finished goods. With so much mechanization being put in, both these arms will be solidly tied down such that bonding between the system and needs shall be very strong and stable. - AI and analytics all over the world
Analysing SCM Software isn’t something that needs to be done where the action is. This means if the activity of supply chain management is being done somewhere in India, it’s quite possible that managing it’s software needs could take place on the other side of the world. SCM Software of tomorrow shall invariably be cloud-based which increases their footprint when it comes to its maintenance. - Lower cost with SAAS
Software-as-a-service is a unique example of commoditizing a flow product. By commoditising, SCM software needn’t be bought or used as a whole software. Instead, it can be seen more like a service which can be procured as per need, be it in terms of its scope, time or depth. By doing so, costs can be lowered drastically, both as an investment & for its upkeep.