The supply chain landscape is changing faster than ever before. It is a landscape that no longer plays by familiar rules. World economies appear to be in an on again, off-again tailspin. The race for customers is on. Markets are becoming more global, and competition is fierce than ever before.
Customer expectations are through the roof. Consumer demands continue to shift at the speed of light. The global economy continues to lurch from one supply chain disruption to the next. Operational costs continue to remain painfully high while business activity stubbornly remains too depressed. But amid all this chaos, one thing remains constant — the need for supply chain professionals to brace for more curveballs.
While the supply chain sector continues to push through the storm, all indications point to more waves ahead. It would appear procurement professionals are being advised to tighten their belts, but evidence on the ground seems to indicate that there are not many notches left to make the belt tighter.
At the core of every organisation lies its supply chain — a delicate ecosystem where even the slightest mistakes can trigger substantial repercussions to organisational performance. In the day-to-day running of business organisations, it is often the case that procurement leaders may fail to see the forest for the trees.
Supply chains have therefore realised the need to evolve from a knowing organisation to a learning organisation. If there is one consistent thing about supply chain — it is that change comes fast and furious. The clock speed of supply chain information is now very important. The need for real time information for effective and relevant decision-making should now be a corporate staple.
Organisations are now required to make impactful supply chain decisions based on data rather than on human instinct. Gone are the days when business leaders could make big dollar decisions based on gut feelings.
In modern businesses, gut feelings are now relics of the past. In an era where technology has reached the pinnacle of its use, big data has become true capital. It has become a core competence and foundational skill for supply chain organisations.
Big data analytics is a process which is relied upon to extract meaningful insights such as hidden patterns, unknown correlations, market trends and customer preferences. By analysing customer data, supply chains can understand their business interests, purchase history and future preferences. The analysis will focus on customer preferences and market trends with a view to identify unmet customer needs and untapped opportunities.
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Through the application of big data analytics, suppliers will be able to achieve contextual intelligence across the supply chain network. Providing accurate information in real time can give organisations a leg up on competition.
Big data analytics will provide unparalleled market intelligence with greater precision and insights. There is a need to look and relook at economic variables such as macro-economic trends, historical pricing trends, global market conditions, category specific market drivers and cost structure drivers. By conducting an in-depth analysis, there is plenty to discover. As is often said, nothing was ever discovered by following the highway.
Reliance on big data analytics is like being able to peer into the past and present, with a singular view to better understand what is going on and make better supply chain decisions for the future. Big data analytics is all about digging into vast amounts of data, including the good, the bad and the ugly, to uncover hidden insights and patterns.
Procurement must monitor trends and use trends as a mechanism to anticipate uncertainty. This will assist supply chain professionals to connect the dots and arrive at conclusions faster. With big data analytics, correlations are waiting to be spotted, outliers are waiting to be detected, and valuable information is waiting to be discovered.
Across industries, leaders and managers are probably missing a critical piece of the bigger picture. Procurement should underscore the need to champion and lead in their own crusade when it comes to the use of modern technology.
The adoption of big data analytics serves as a strategic imperative that sets the tone for long-term development, operational efficiency and a competitive advantage in an ever evolving data centric world. It uses past incidents and market trends to uncover different patterns and then make use of these patterns to forecast future demands and trends.
Big data analytics will assist organisations to deal with business problems that couldn’t be solved with the help of traditional approaches and tools. Data-driven analytics will unlock a treasure trove of valuable insights from the vast sea of information at our fingertips. Organisations can pinpoint wasteful expenditures, streamline operations and enhance productivity by analysing large datasets.
The smart world of today demands the heavy use of big data analytics which is better suited to today’s realities. Data analytics is becoming more accessible and faster to produce with the latest analytical tools. It will facilitate supply chains to know their customers better than they know themselves.
It will offer crucial insights on consumer behaviour which will enable supply chain professionals to leverage big data for faster and better decision-making. Diagnostic analytics can be useful where supply chain professionals are searching the reasons leading to churn among loyal customers. Diagnostic analytics will strive to determine why it happened. This form of analytics will help in explaining why certain trends or patterns occurred, helping to find solutions to problems.
Predictive analytics, on the other hand, will assist in tracking past trends and predicting what must be done next. It will be useful to predict what will happen next. It focuses on the future to create informed forecasts.
Predictive analytics can foresee potential dangers before they materialise, allowing supply chains to devise pre-emptive strategies. Prescriptive analysis on the other hand, will be useful to explore several possible suggestions or actions, but much will depend on the results of the descriptive and predictive analytics.
Prescriptive analytics will seek to find out the next best action to take. It is therefore generally regarded as the peak of data driven decision-making, offering actionable recommendations to attain the desired outcomes to minimise risks.
Big data analytics presents supply chains with a plethora of benefits. Cost savings can be achieved through big data analytics. The analysis of operational data will identify inefficiencies. The business will be able to streamline their processes and reduce wastage. It helps to cultivate a culture of continuous improvement and agility, propelling business to stay ahead of the competition and deliver cutting edge offerings.
Supply chains can use big data analytics to understand the market, customers and competitors. It can be used to identify emerging trends and anticipate customer needs. Big data analytics will help to predict customer needs enabling companies to anticipate and address concerns before they arise.
It will enhance customer experience, leading to happy and loyal customers which results in higher retention rates. Understanding consumer behaviour and preferences enables businesses to provide more tailored experiences, increasing customer happiness and loyalty.
Big data analytics insights collected are key to innovations. It enables organisations to unlock valuable insights, anticipate trends and make informed decisions. Big data analytics operates in real time to analyse, process and interpret data to drive innovative business solutions. The value that big data analytics bring to innovation underscores the significance of turning raw data into actionable knowledge. It is akin to a detective sifting through clues to identify the cause of a crime event. It is like a GPS for decision-making, providing directions on how to reach the desired destination.
Big data analytics will therefore assist supply chains in the process of ideation, prototyping and testing of new products or services ensuring they resonate with the target audience. It is also of beneficial use in customer service. It will assist in analysing customer data which will help organisations to gain a deep understanding of individual preferences, behaviours and pain points.
It could also be very useful for predictive maintenance where data analysis will help procurement personnel to prevent costly breakdowns and unplanned downtime of production equipment. By collecting and analysing machine sensor data, algorithms can detect patterns indicative of potential failures, enabling proactive maintenance of equipment and helping to reduce downtime.
Too many businesses are reactive when it comes to fraudulent activities, and they deal with the impact rather than proactively preventing it. Big data analytics will assist supply chains in identifying, assessing and mitigating potential risks proactively.
With unparalleled speed and efficiency, it will help organisations turn risks into possibilities of opportunities. It can be useful in the identification of suspicious patterns and anomalies that may indicate fraud attempts. It will be useful in the identification of risks such as fraudulent activities and cybersecurity threats, allowing for a swift response before reaching slippery slopes. Risk management strategies will be backed by solid evidence, leading to better outcomes and improved business performance.
In conclusion, it is important to point out that in an age of data abundance, those who seek to profit from its sights are almost certain to gain a powerful operational advantage. The ability to harness the power of massive datasets has become table stakes. Big data is big. It must be put to good use. It will shape a new era of success in supply chains.
The uncertainty of the past years continues its stubborn hold. Organisations must be prepared for anything and everything by capturing the endless new possibilities that exist today and beyond. It will assist supply chains to build a better world. Though seemingly obvious, next to cash, information is king.
Big data analytics now enjoys a lot of hype for good reason. It is the latest offering on the menu. It is a powerful and stable tool of trade that promises a better and more efficient future for everyone. It is an unspoken truth that access to accurate, consistent data and visibility into enterprise — wide spending patterns becomes the real end game for procurement. It must be pursued in a manner that goes beyond the minimum effort.
Supply chain professionals who have put big data analytics at the forefront of their procurement vocabulary can sit back and watch the results roll in. They can’t help but roll their eyes in pure admiration as real time data allows them to optimise workflows and allocate resources with surgical precision.
Nyika is a supply chain practitioner based in Harare. — [email protected].
