The new norm: how technology is transforming supply chains

Duncan Grewcock, CEO EV Cargo Technology

The pandemic has now changed the way all of us look at supply chains. Traditionally a function which hummed away in the background almost unnoticed, supply chains are now constantly in the media spotlight, with disruption affecting the everyday lives of people in a tangible way.

Businesses worldwide have refocused their attention on tackling the seemingly unprecedented challenges that supply chain disruptions have caused.

But were these challenges a one-off, and is the current scrutiny on supply chains only fleeting? The short answer is no. Experts say the pandemic has magnified challenges which preceded it, and the current level of fast-paced and ever-changing disruption is here to stay.

Some of these challenges include lead-time unreliability, raw material scarcity, increases on transportation costs, shortages in labour and highly fluctuating consumer demand. Supply chain leaders have had a hard time finding solutions to these challenges while trying to run efficient operations in a landscape where disruption has become the norm and not the exception.

So, which solutions are organisations implementing to navigate the new norm? Multiple industry surveys and reports show that companies are investing heavily in supply chain technology as their response to the problem, with the focus on increased visibility becoming their top priority. Industry statistics show that not only was there significant investment triggered at the beginning of the pandemic, but there is also sustained investment in supply chain technology planned for years to come.

But in which supply chain technology areas are companies investing? Supply chain leaders are focusing on three key areas to future proof their businesses and achieve competitive advantage.

Firstly, they are seeking to enable flexibility and resilience through end-to-end, real-time supply chain visibility. This is what some refer to as dynamic visibility, which centres around the proactive management of live shipments, and having the right visibility toolkit to support the best possible decision-making throughout a shipment lifecycle.

Secondly, companies are looking to review and reset their networks from a strategic perspective: an exercise now supported by scenario modelling technology. This means taking a step back from the day to day to get a holistic view and re-designing the optimal flow of goods based on their different priority areas. In some sectors, for example, digital twins are being used to stress test scenarios in a virtual “copy” of their supply chain.

And thirdly, supply chain leaders are relying on new technology to achieve their ever more important sustainability goals. There is a plethora of opportunities where supply chain technology can drive ESG gains, with examples including ethical sourcing, packaging compliance or carbon emission tracking software.

At EV Cargo, we have 30 years of experience developing leading supply chain management software and are driving digital transformation through our vision to transform logistics into a technology industry. As part of this journey, we are committed to partner with our clients to help them navigate the new norm supported by our technology. To realise our vision, we are developing a series of new to market supply chain products that will be an integral part of our software offering.

There are several key pillars underlying the vision behind our new product offering. We believe that for organisations to achieve true end to end visibility, there is a need to extend supply chain visibility further upstream beyond traditional purchase order management.

This means that sourcing and shipment management processes should no longer be managed separately in silos as this leads to a well-known problem in the industry: fragmented visibility across the supply chain. Upstream and downstream visibility should be easily accessible and manageable through one seamless platform to deliver a unique ‘Source to Consumer’ solution.

At EV Cargo, we are uniquely positioned to close this gap thanks to the scope of our existing software offering focusing on both upstream and downstream processes and our experience managing supply chains for the world’s leading brands.

Another main pillar behind our product vision is the continuous evaluation of key milestone dates through data enrichment and intelligence. Traditional supply chain visibility is centred around the management of fixed dates which rely on a limited number of data sources. By enriching data with external variable sources and by applying data-driven intelligent insights, customers are equipped with the right tools to support optimal decision making for their business.

EV Cargo’s ambition is to always ensure we put our customers in control, and we want to take that a step further by providing the next level of data intelligence that will support supply chain leaders to develop and maintain a lean, profitable and agile supply chain.

As the world continues to navigate the New Norm, EV Cargo’s new technology offering will transform our clients’ supply chains, helping them to become flexible, resilient and adaptive to a fast-changing landscape – whatever the future holds.

This is a sponsored post, authored by Duncan Grewcock, CEO EV Cargo Technology