Cloud ERP nowadays is helping businesses from retail to manufacturing in developing more complex, agile supply chains that will be able to share information across suppliers and dynamically adjust when manufacturing, shipping or other logistical challenges arise. Cloud-based ERP is making it easier for all parties within the supply chain to get more visibility. It also helps in quality control and traceability. Read more at: : http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/inside-erp/how-cloud-erp-is-improving-supply-chain-management-78881

Few challenges being faced in translating the lessons of predicting analytics from other verticals in manufacturing. The objective of this predictive analytics is to get the correct business decisions and it will impact the design and service of the product. The data is being updated continuously through their supply chain. The predictive models are used to connect the real world data to digital twin models of the virtual world. This helps in better understanding and working of their business plus with the on the factory work. Predictive analytics help to find the issues related with the product quality, performance and its features. These helps in better designing the product features and make it to optimum use of it. The predictive model is quite accurate in giving information about the risk failure, improving the machines to put in a better use as well as it gives the best correlation between job characteristics and job failure. Models are being trained through environmental data and IoT data and few factors which affect such data too such as environmental hazards, weather and many more. Its benefit for the business to take predictive analytics into consideration. https://www.ngdata.com/ways-to-improve-customer-experience/

The logistics industry in India is growing rapidly because of the growth in retail, e-commerce and manufacturing sectors. Though it has been underperforming over the years, it has received importance recently and is expected to reach a worth of $2 billion by 2019. Lack of facilities, technology and manpower have been reasons for the loss in the perishables sector. Better infrastructure, better storage, better network and warehouse facilities are the way forward. The sector is currently using IT solutions and the hub-and-spoke model for freight movement. It provides end-to-end supply chains to the consumers and being a key player in the economy, it is expected to grow by 10-15% annually in years to come.Read more at: http://www.iamwire.com/2017/04/indian-logistics-industry-scenario/151331  

To gain the edge in competing business world, one requires operation efficiency and it can be achieved by improving each step of supply chain. To do so following pointers can be used:

·         Cloud Based System

·         Communication

·         Dashboard Reporting 

·         Automate Purchasing

·         Vendor Performance

·         Cost Awareness 

·         Checkweigher

·         Transparency

Read the complete article here: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/understanding-crm/ways-to-improve-each-step-of-the-supply-chain-73297

The dilemma of supply chain exists in every sector; even in the pharmaceutical industry. Availability of medicine is an issue because of uncertainty and at the same time one can’t stock the shelves unnecessarily. Analytics tool plays a big role here in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. Analytics had been used for a very long time in this sector but today's analytical tools are quicker, collaborative (to suppliers and customers), advance and give visual effects to the users. FusionOps is a new analytical tool which lets pharmaceuticals analyze the data at one place which was difficult earlier. It also gives users an opportunity to see different scenarios and then take final decision. This tool lets the user anticipate demands, sectors the data and meet the targets on time.

To read more, please visit the following link: http://www.cio.com/article/3063513/heres-why-analytics-is-eating-the-supply-chain.html

This paper gives us a holistic understanding of two main topics – big data analytic & supply chain management. In this highly competitive world, every organization is looking forward to a competitive advantage in the form either cost effectiveness or better utilization of resources. To achieve this goal organizations are using a data driven supply chain to integrate the entire processes. This enables organization to stream line supply chain while mitigating the risk in an uncertain business environment. Big data analytic also helps an organization to extract important trends & information that can be used to make the systems more efficient & robust.

To read the full article click:- http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2755828

It is found that more efficient your supply, the more profitable is your business and ERP plays a vital role in keeping your supply chain running at the top. Nowadays, many ERP systems come with built-in supply chain modules. The supply chain begins when the customer decides to purchase and ends when the customer is satisfied with the purchase. ERP system can give an insight into all the things that happen in the supply chain and helps to manage the process better by giving you better information. The information obtained is invaluable only if you can integrate it into your supply chain management. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/inside-erp/tuning-your-supply-chain-with-erp-70287

Businesses should always keep invoking new technology in their systems to keep themselves updated. A recent study has revealed that innovation occurs when business models can be matched with one or more of the six patterns where technological advances and market needs overlap, thus leading to growth and transformation. These six points of overlap are named as Six Degrees of Innovation which are as follows:

(i) Meeting customers’ individual needs with tailor-made products and services.

(ii) Achieving sustainability by minimizing waste and managing resource cost.

(iii) Possessing jointly owned assets to boost efficiency and minimize cost.

(iv) Saving money whenever possible by paying only for the services that are used.

(v) Monitoring supply chains effectively by using tracking systems.

(vi) Using data and analytics to gauge customer needs and easily adapting it. Read more at:      http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/8199-innovation-technology-adoption.html

Organizations along with their partners needs to participate in the supply chain - from suppliers to customers in order to fully exploit their business relationships. The route for management of supply chains is high speed communication and cooperation. The digital supply chain helps to build trust and improves transparency and efficiency. The Internet of Things (IOT) is crucial for facilitating supply chains in future. It uses sensor-embedded equipment in order to convey data about the parameters and this boosts performance and safety. Predictive analytics is also a blessing for the supply chains. However the most significant aspect of a digital supply chain is social media. Some businesses integrate social technology with business transactions thereby leading to an increase in transparency.

For further details on this study, please follow the link: https://channels.theinnovationenterprise.com/articles/the-development-of-the-digital-supply-chain

Supply chains help in harmonizing and maintaining the balance between the production and delivery of those goods to the customers. The Internet of Things (IoT) helps in optimizing the supply chains for better profits in a faster and more efficient manner. The IoT provides companies with improved market opportunities. With the help of IoT the usage of the products by the customer can be tracked and accordingly the supply chains can be used to deliver the supplies on time rather than when requested. Change in the market can be observed very quickly and thus they can respond much faster and gain benefits.
Read more at: http://www.industryweek.com/supply-chain/internet-things-iot-opportunities-smarter-supply-chains

Location analysis is a very important part of Big Data classification in automobile segment. Big data analysis is used in every stage of production and marketing of automobile industry.
Product Design – Data is collected from customers who would help them to make newer improved models.
Supply Chain – With the help of Big data analysis manufacturers can now analyze different suppliers based on various aspects and reach a decision.
Marketing – Helps in identification of the right kind of customers.
Aftermarket – Helps In improving logistic and sourcing processes.
Financing – It enhances the understanding regarding the market of each model.
Read more at: http://www.smartdatacollective.com/anandsmartdata/325598/big-data-automobiles-use-cases-today-and-opportunities-future

Internet of Things has taken the world with a storm. It has delivered opportunities to almost every industry and function. Supply chain is not an exception to this. With the increasing number of online businesses, the importance of this function of management has increased multifold. Combining internet of things with this has introduced us to a vast expanse of opportunities and made the supply chain smarter.

Maha Muzumdar, in his article at Industry Week has shared a list of supply chain opportunities that companies can exploit by leveraging IoT technology. They are:

• Better Predictability of Demand & Inventory Visibility
• Better Tracking & Efficiency
• Accelerated Innovation & Product Support
• Improved Alignment & Collaboration
• Sustainability & Quality

He has also stressed upon the fact that supply chain executives must adapt IoT in their processes as soon as possible to gain its maximum benefits.

To know more, please visit the following link:

http://www.industryweek.com/supply-chain/internet-things-iot-opportunities-smarter-supply-chains?page=1

“Analyzing and streamlining the supply chain is one way to help companies respond more quickly to the fast pace of business today while boosting operational efficiency.”

- Glenn Johnson

Efficiency in supply chain management provides an extra edge to any organization as it helps in reducing costs, speeding time to market, better customer experiences as well as flexible operations. Glenn Johnson, in his article at smartdatacollective.com has shared 5 tips for streamlining supply chain that will result in more profitable operations. They are:

1. Review and optimize supply chain processes
2. Integrate your supply chain
3. Leverage existing systems
4. Abolish duplicate data
5. Understand the big picture

To understand them in detail, please visit the following link:

http://smartdatacollective.com/magicsoftware/312051/5-tips-streamlining-supply-chain

Over the past few years, the impact of globalization, amongst other things, has also been seen on Supply Chain. It’s not restricted to one place or country, rather, Supply Chain function has also spread its wings across countries. This change has affected the entire working of businesses. The change in supply chain has also affected the finance department of the firms. It has to adopt its practices to comply with these changes.

Now, a new era of supply chain is on its rise i.e. Digital Supply Networks. Be it the use of robots or 3-D printing, ‘digital’ is the key word.  Once again, its impact on the finance team is huge. This impact has been discussed by David Axson and Gary Hanifan in their article on IndustryWeek. They state the following 3 major effects:

• Release of working capital
• Improved forecasting
• New control philosophy

But the big question is- Are the CFOs and their finance teams ready for this?

To know more, please visit the following link:

http://www.industryweek.com/finance/finance-ready-demands-digital-supply-chains

Agile practices can help companies navigate in this dynamic global economic environment. However, only a few companies are adopting these practices to improve their supply-chain performance and their results show the benefits that they achieve from them.

According to a research conducted by McKinsey of over 250 global companies, across 5 industries, Companies with more agile supply-chain practices had service levels that were seven percentage points higher and inventory levels that were 23 days lower than their less agile peers did.  Those companies did well in areas such as demand forecasting, labor flexibility, and the optimal placement of inventory across distribution networks also.

An example of application of these agile practices is Amazon, which adjusts prices and inventory levels in real time in response to competitors’ moves, among other things.

To get more insights in this subject, read the following article by Raoul Dubeauclard, Kerstin Kubik, and Venu Nagali at mckinsey.com:

http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/operations/how_agile_is_your_supply_chain

In this customer focused world, supply chain is no longer an internally visible process. The focus has now shifted to knowing where the supply chain needs to be. Predictive Analytics helps answer this question. According to Bill Abernathy, head of North America product supply logistics excellence, Bayer CropScience, “Predictive analytics are changing consumer buying behavior and supply chain professionals need to be able to satisfy the increasing demands of consumers who expect products delivered exactly when promised.” With the help of predictive analytics, manufactures are now able to make better decisions that are based on anticipating present and future customer preferences. Dave Blanchard, Senior Editor, IndustryWeek, has written in his article link about how predictive analytics is becoming a necessity for manufacturers. 

Read more at: http://www.industryweek.com/supply-chain/predictive-analytics-let-manufacturers-see-more-clearly-their-supply-chains 

Big data has the automobile in its sights and the results will be good for both the vehicle and its owner. In the coming years we can expect to see both safer vehicles and car-to-car communications. You'll be advised of a needed repair before a problem and recall notices will be delivered through the car. Ford gathers data from over four million cars with in-car sensors and remote application management software. All data is analyzed in real-time giving engineers valuable information to notice and solve issues in real-time, know how the car responds in different road and weather conditions and any other forces that could affect the car. Ford is also installing numerous sensors in their cars to monitor behavior. They install over 74 sensors in cars including sonar, cameras, radar, accelerometers, temperature sensors and rain sensors. As a result, their Energi line of plug-in hybrid cars generate over 25 gigabytes of data every hour. This data is returned back to the factory for real-time analysis and returned to the driver via a mobile app. The cars in its testing facility even generate up to 250 gigabytes of data per hour from smart cameras and sensors. 

Big data is also used to find out how people wanted their cars to be improved. Nowadays, Ford listens carefully to what their customers are saying online, on social networks or in the blogosphere, and performs sentiment analysis on all sort of content online and uses Google Trends to predict future sales.

Internally, Ford uses big data to optimize its supply chain and to increase its operational efficiency. From the parts before they reach the Ford factory, to the car waiting in the dealer for a customer, big data has infiltrated every part of the supply chain, creating large amounts of data. With so many different parts coming from so many different suppliers, it is vital for Ford to get a complete and detailed overview of all parts within the supply chain at any moment in time. To read more visit: http://www.bigdata-startups.com/BigData-startup/ford-drives-direction-big-data/

Over the past two years, one of the seminal issues regarding Big Data was storage, especially with respect to the exponential growth and size of unstructured data that did not fit into databases. Today, however, the competitive landscape is very different. Proper storage is merely a pre-condition to finding the real jewels in Big Data-turning data from massive streams into knowledge, and thereby actionable intelligence in real time as events unfold. The following five steps are imperative to master Big Data and drive business growth:

1. Infer, Infer, Infer- Inferences transform data into knowledge, which results in greater process transparency and improvements.

2. Empower a C-Level Data and Predictive Analytics Champion. - With big data analytics changing rapidly and straining information structures, corporations and governments need “executive horsepower” behind its data initiatives.

3. Assess And Modify Your Supply Chain In A Multidimensional Global Context. - Analysis of supply chain will ultimately include relationships with parties such as customers, manufacturer, etc. 

4. Give Your Data Time-Critical Situational Awareness. - Analytics help a business line identify potential points of improvement.

5.   Rely On a Core Platform That Creates Derivative Intelligence and Knowledge in Real Time -statistical inferences can turn data into actionable intelligence that supports reasoned decisions. Read more at: 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/benkerschberg/2014/01/03/five-steps-to-master-big-data-and-predictive-analytics-in-2014/

A Geographic Information System (GIS) integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. GIS allows us to view, understand, question, interpret, and visualize data in many ways that reveal relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts. It helps you answer questions and solve problems by looking at your data in a way that is quickly understood and easily shared. There are a lot of advantages of using GIS technology. It makes data handling easier, covers large area, used for monitoring various things because of repetitive coverage, it is fast, can be used in inaccessible areas, unbiased, more accurate, reliable and economical. Data could be collected in several bands/ colors so it could be used for micro level analysis. GIS will help in decision making by government officials and in increasing transparency and accountability for good governance. It will help in management of natural resources, improved allocation of resources and planning, improved communication during crisis, cost savings by improved decision makings etc.

The effective use and implementation of Radio-frequency identification (RFID), GPS & data mining techniques in Public Distribution System (PDS) can facilitate PDS supply chain and promise eradicating mismanagement, corruption, trafficking, theft and anti-social elements. RFID provides highly accurate and detailed information by capturing the data and information at each stage of the supply chain, automatically. It also improves the safety and efficiency of the food supply chain. Location technology GPS can also be combined with RFID technology to automatically track and record the information regarding the field where the produce was picked, when and where it was transported and the current location of the produce. This also helps in reducing theft and trafficking. Data mining techniques based on the rule base classification model is used to identify the suspicious moving behavior of the objects. To read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/information-technology-articles/control-of-public-distribution-system-using-gps-gis-remote-sensing-with-data-mining-rfid-3393327.html