Hybrid cloud, AI, process mining and management execution they are critical in helping supply chain managers (CSCOs) weather the disruptions of the past two years.
In fact, the 72% of CSCOs surveyed expect their processes and workflows to be automated in the next three to five yearsand 69% plan to accelerate cloud adoption to improve real-time data access.
The study, The resilient digital supply chain: How intelligent workflows balance efficiency and sustainability, Conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) in collaboration with Celonis and Oxford Economics, it surveyed nearly 500 CSCOs from 10 sectors, including banking, consumer products, manufacturing and automotive. The results indicate that organizations are looking for ways to modernize their supply chains, adopting hybrid cloud and data strategies, as well as prioritizing sustainability.
«The confluence of post-Covid challenges, inflation, and issues of supply, security, and sustainability has created the most complex operating environment of the modern enterprise. This has forced organizations to rethink and rebuild their supply chains to be more agile, efficient and sustainable.said Jonathan Wright, managing partner of finance and supply chain transformation at IBM Consulting. «Technology and data-driven automation and intelligence are key to not only assessing current workflows and inefficiencies, but also identifying new opportunities«, he assures.
Hybrid cloud and automation
Survey results demonstrate that supply chain managers are pursuing data-backed strategies to build smarter and more agile chains that improve resilience and sustainability. In fact, nearly nine in ten (87%) CSCOs are implementing execution management and 77% are implementing process and task mining to modernize their operations.
Additionally, 74% of CSCOs say hybrid cloud integration is crucial to accelerating and enabling the digital transformation of supply chains and 81% are looking for AI-enabled processes and workflows for demand sensing. in real time.
Looking ahead, 72% expect most of their processes and workflows to be automated in the next three to five years, while 27% expect their workflows to be AI-enabled in the same time frame , which will increase to 33% in 2030.
Sustainability, above profits
For his part, the 66% of CSCOs surveyed said sustainability is a core element of the overall value of the business. More than half (51%) of CSCOs said they would be willing to sacrifice benefits -5% on average- to improve sustainability results, which is equivalent to 22,000 million dollars for the American companies of the Fortune 500 list in a year.
The three main benefits expected from sustainability initiatives are: compliance with environmental regulations, reputational risk reduction and the promotion of new areas of innovation. These benefits cannot be achieved without a meticulous process of tracking a different set of sustainability goals. About 55% of CSCOs said they expect to incorporate real-time monitoring and reporting on environmental and social sustainability in the next three years. In fact, the SEC recently proposed a change of regulations that would require public companies to disclose climate change risks to their business, which, if passed, could accelerate the need for operational data on climate change.
«Removing inefficiencies from key supply chain processes represents a huge opportunity to reduce carbon emissions on a large scale.said Janina Nakladal, Global Director of Sustainability at Celonis. «Supply chain managers know they have to adapt, and in many cases they are, but they often don’t have the vision they need to truly understand where changes need to be made, and they lack the toolset to drive change . Our research shows that the technology available today – process mining and hybrid clouds – can give CSCOs this vision to totally transform their supply chains..»
