Recent technological breakthroughs have set new trends in 2022, enabled businesses to streamline their supply chain management processes. Large-scale migration from legacy systems has optimized supply chain management, paving way for innovative trends and strategies.
Evolving customer demands and the ever-growing competition has also pushed supply chain management (SCM) systems to the cusp of transition. Spurning this shift, is the global impact of the pandemic that has thrown the onus on seamless, technology-driven, end-to-end supply chain management processes.
Here are 10 supply chain trends which will shape the year 2022
- Circular Supply Chain: The conventional understanding of a supply chain is linear, starting with raw materials through production and ending in the finished product. But with increased onus on recycling, intermediary scraps are re-inducted into the production process, making the supply chain management circular. Such micro economies link manufacturers and sellers to facilitate the usage of discarded materials, recycle them and reduce environmental impact.
- Green supply chain management: Integrating environmental sustainability into supply chain practices has become imperative for businesses with rising green consumerism. According to the Neilson survey, 91% of consumers in the 21-34 years age-group are willing to pay more for sustainable products.
- Supply chain management as a service: Supply chain as a service (SCaaS) is a growing trend where businesses partner with exclusive supply chain service providers for support for the whole process or a part as in: procurement, production, manufacturing, quality control, warehousing and logistics. This innovative approach helps businesses to optimize on each component of the supply chain management and thereby maximize productivity.
- Internet of Things: Playing a crucial role in supply chain management, the Internet of Things will help integrate physical entities with the digital world. With sensors attached to physical objects, the IoT can convert each of your supply chain components into a “smart entity”. Fleet tracking, warehouse management, inventory control and maintenance can be integrated with IoT devices to provide real-time data and predict flows.
- Digitization: Transitioning your information to the digital medium will keep your supply chain mobile and dynamic. Effective digitization will imply seamless integration of your organization’s needs. With the right technology tool, you can make your supply chain management future-secure, while delivering richer customer experiences.
- Automation and AI: With speed and accuracy driving today’s competitive scenario, automation is instrumental in streamlining repetitive supply chain tasks; whereas the ambit of AI would cover exhaustive, time-consuming, high-precision processes mirroring human capabilities while ensuring mechanical precision.
- Elastic supply chain management models: One of the most visible supply chain trends is the elastic supply chain model that caters to the volatile market and the fluctuating consumer dynamics. Elastic supply chain strategies can be scaled up or down to deliver to the customer demand.
- End-to-end visibility: Greater transparency at every link in the supply chain system not only lessens the scope for errors but also provides the right channel for optimization – be it the whole or the sub-process. Increased visibility facilitates quicker access to the system, greater responsiveness, and quicker solutions.
- Customization: Customers today seek a personalized experience from a product or a service that even exceeds expectation. While riding the supply chain customization, it may be easier to manage personalized customer orders seperatly if you can automate your order processing system.
- Risk Management: The uncertainty factor looms large over the market, exacting preparedness from the supply chain process. The system in place should not only respond well to market threats but also preempt any risks in the future.
These evolving trends in supply chain management point to an ever-changing market. The key to remain at the top of the game would be to adapt and anticipate the changes to help your organization succeed and keep it poised for the future.
