As supply chain and logistics managers, we all know planning. We live and breathe the coordination of transportation, goods, demand and supply on a daily basis. This kind of planning is the lifeblood of what we do.
But when it comes to making changes in how we manage the planning, how good are we at that larger organization process? Do we know how to look far into the future, to predict where our business needs will be a year or more down the road?
This kind of planning can be a bit more complex and is a critical element in ensuring our business stays competitive over the long term. As digital solutions become an increasingly important part of operations, understanding how to integrate them is a new skill that supply chain and operations managers need to learn.
Digitization is the way forward for many companies. It is a means to unlock operational savings while increasing revenue. A couple concrete research findings illustrate the importance of digitization: The average annual cost of manual data entry into an ERP and other back-end systems was over US$1 million for companies with $150 million in revenue. Manual invoice entry represents an additional cost of over $600,000.
And that’s just two examples of the many benefits that digitization brings. We know at C3 Solutions that digitizing your dock operation, with C3 Reservations, and yard management, using C3 Yard, are two other proven digitization projects that save labour, time and costs.
So, what are the steps needed to create a plan for digitizing? Gartner has recently come out with a guide that can help create the plan you need to succeed over a multi-year digitization timeline. Their “Guide to Create an Effective Digital Supply Chain Roadmap” outlines five broad steps that will direct the process.
These are:
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Identifying supply chain’s objectives for supporting digital optimization and transformation. This includes getting an sense of the digital goals for the business as well as understanding expectations.
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Determining changes in supply chain’s capabilities and processes. This encompasses getting to know existing capabilities and their effectiveness.
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Prioritizing investments in technology. Here you look at existing technologies and emerging technologies to see which ones can meet your requirements. Then you make a budget.
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Creating a plan to address the supply chain organization’s digital talent gaps. This entails identifying the skills required to implement and manage the tech you identified, then make a plan for acquiring that talent.
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Creating a governance system and finalize the overall roadmap. The governance structure is the decision-making framework and responsibilities. Finalizing the roadmap means securing C-Suite or executive board approval and then communicating the plan to the relevant parties in the organization.
Gartner also makes suggestions on how to avoid common pitfalls in the digitization process. First, a focus on quick wins, pursued in isolation, may net short-term gains, but will not help to achieve a fully digitized operation. Success here will require sticking to the overall blueprint, and proceeding strategically, not tactically.
Second, a focus purely on acquiring the technology may result in a lack of preparation, and a shortage of the talent needed to keep the technology running. The solution here, Gartner says, is to ensure the initial assessment of a technology’s impact includes the talent requirements that come with it.
C3 is here to help
Solutions like our yard management and dock scheduling can be key parts of your digital transformation. And they can help avoid these common errors in implementation.
First, both C3 Reservations and C3 Yard can be fully integrated with your existing suite of digital solutions. Our team will ensure that they seamlessly share data with your systems, to boost cost savings and productivity. Whether its ERP, WMS, WCS or other systems, we link up to manage inventory effectively. Knowing what’s coming and going, and when, along with keeping tabs on what’s in your yard and where, means you have control over the goods that bring in the profit.
Further, our systems are straightforward to operate, and don’t require management on site. We look after updates and customization remotely in the cloud, so your operations people can focus on what’s important – keeping your products flowing smoothly.
We would love to be part of your planning process and discussions about digitizing your operation. Now is the time to take advantage of these remarkable technologies that will modernize your business and make your operations even more profitable.
Call us today for a demo.
