The Digital Supply Chain Challenge

Chapter 1 – Separating Hype from Reality

can be difficult to know how to approach the topic. It is likely that few supply chain managers are aware of the trends listed in the Gartner report, let alone able to sift through them and identify the best fit for their organization. It is essential to separate the hype from reality before a digitalization journey can begin. This means engaging critically with new revolutions, benchmarking against others, understanding the right fit and developing the internal business case. Looking at some pertinent contemporaneous and historical examples, there are lessons to be learned and warning signs to be heeded about the difference between hype and reality, or trend and profitability. CHAPTER OVERVIEW In this chapter there are five explorations of this theme, explorations that help set a reference framework and starting point for embarking on an SCD journey. The chapter begins with a helpful benchmark of the supply chain community, followed by a framework for starting to construct an SCD strategy that looks beyond the limited area of supply chain at the business as a whole. Then we look with a somewhat critical eye at two prominent SCD topics that perhaps warrant a more reality-based perspective that cuts through the hype. The chapter closes with a reflection on a notable supply chain hype of the past, where it is today and what it can teach us. Topic 1: The voice of the supply chain community The priorities of supply chain managers and the gaps they see in terms of achieving these priorities in their own organizations are revealed in the results of surveys undertaken in 2016 and 2019 by IMD business school in Lausanne. By looking at the evolution between the two surveys, we can see how perspectives towards SCD are changing and shaping the managerial vision of the supply chain community. This is true not only for ascendant SCD technologies but also for those on the wane. In the space of four years, some technologies are already showing wear and beginning to fade. This is explored in the first section – “The Evolving Views of the Supply Chain Community.” Topic 2: Three key questions for Industry 4.0 Depending on the counting method, over 400 technologies are associated with SCD, also referred to as Industry 4.0. This can make it difficult for supply chain managers to know where to start, how to prioritize and finally how to choose which technologies are the right fit for the commercial and financial success of their company.

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