IBM recently published a study on the Smarter Global Supply Chain of the Future, which outlines the top five challenges faced by supply chain managers and CSCOs (Chief Supply Chain Officers). The article also outlines the landscape for intelligent supply chain management.

Some takeaways: five key challenges that supply chain managers reported are cost containment, supply chain visibility, supply chain risk management, customer intimacy/requirements, and globalization.

Key characteristics of a smarter supply chain: Instrumented (sensors, process detectors, asset management), Interconnected (supplier networks, shared decision making with partners), and Intelligent (integrated demand and supply management, read-respond automation evolves into predict-and-act, sustainability models to address usage impact of carbon, energy, water, waste).  

These are the types of solutions that our alliance with Deloitte addresses - enabling companies to consolidate redundant processes and actively incorporate enterprise assets into their operations.

Joe Biron is a Senior Architect for Axeda