GS1 US® has published a new Implementation Guideline titled Applying the GS1 Lightweight Messaging Standard for DSCSA Verification of Returned Product Identifiers to help the pharmaceutical industry address impending requirements of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) for verification of saleable returns.

Commencing November 27, 2019, the DSCSA requires pharmaceutical wholesale distributors to verify the serialized product identifiers with the manufacturer or repackager before the product can be placed into inventory for resale. Verification consists of determining whether the product identifier on a package or case—specifically, the National Drug Code (NDC), serial number, batch/lot number, and expiry date—corresponds to the product identifier assigned by the manufacturer or the repackager. A manufacturer that receives a verification request from a “requestor” must respond to that request within 24 hours. The Act requires that each pharmaceutical product has a unique identifier, which the U.S. pharmaceutical industry has determined to be the GS1 Global Trade Item Number® (GTIN®) with an embedded NDC.

The new Implementation Guideline provides best practices for implementing the recently ratified GS1 Lightweight Messaging Standard for Verification of Product Identifiers. It was developed as a collaborative effort between pharmaceutical supply chain stakeholders and GS1 US as part of the GS1 Healthcare US® Rx Secure Supply Chain Workgroup. The Implementation Guideline includes technical details such as localization query parameters and settings, as well as configurations for verification requests and responses. The GS1 Lightweight Messaging Standard is designed to enable system interoperability and prevent the proliferation of multiple messaging formats. It also provides a simple, standardized lightweight messaging framework for asking verification questions and receiving information based on a check of the DSCSA Product Identifier and associated data—enabling the requestor to quickly determine whether to accept, reject, or quarantine the product in question.

“Improved assurance of pharmaceutical products’ authenticity is crucial to protecting patient safety,” said Angela Fernandez, vice president of community engagement, GS1 US. “By following standardized messaging formats and product identifiers, stakeholders can simplify the process of verifying returned pharmaceutical products before they are placed back into commerce, as required by the DSCSA. The result will be a far more efficient system for managing inventories, returns, and resale, as well as a more accurate means for identifying and removing illegitimate, expired, or recalled products from the supply chain. In this time of drug supply shortages and industry-wide cost containment efforts, optimizing inventory utilization is more important than ever.”

For more information about GS1 US, visit www.gs1us.org.

Companies eager to have robot warehouse workers, but unable to afford the cost may now get their robots as a service, reports Supply Chain Dive. 

While warehouse managers and supply chain leaders may be eager to acquire robots and automated technologies, the large capital investments and expertise required can often be a barrier to adoption.

Read the article on Supply Chain Dive

Agriculture tech firm EWR is working with John Deere to find additional applications for the information it collects from its RFID equipped machinery, reports Cotton Grower.

RFID technology is making a huge impact on the cotton supply chain, and gins and growers have been seeking a way to use the information embedded in the tags of round modules (rounds). 

Read the article on Cotton Grower

According to Logistics Management, the new electronic logging device mandate that will go into effect soon could have an impact on supply chains. 

The final electronic logging device (ELD) mandate is looming. E-commerce sales are on a tear. The truck driver shortage persists. 

Read the article on Cotton Grower

On July 6, 2018 after months of threats, the United States began to collect a 25% tariff on $34 billion worth of imported Chinese goods. Today, that number has reached $250 billion with the US-China Trade War showing no sign of being resolved in the near future.

When the tariffs were announced, American businesses didn’t race to pull their sourced imports from China opting instead to see if a resolution would be quickly reached. With so many corporations deeply routed in China it would cost them millions of dollars to move their production elsewhere, essentially destroying the Chinese business relationships that they’ve built up over the years.

Over a year later – it’s become a different story as both American and foreign-based companies are pulling their production teams out of China and moving them elsewhere. “People are not waiting, companies are not waiting to see what the outcome is,” Larry Fink, BlackRock Chairman and CEO discussed on CNBC’s Squawk Box.  Nintendo, Apple, and Dell have already made the decision to move a percentage of their production out of China with many other business following suite.

United States President Donald Trump had initially urged these companies to bring their production back to the United States - creating thousands of jobs for the American people. Instead, companies are looking elsewhere to countries like Vietnam, India, and Mexico to meet their production needs. “We have been shifting production to Vietnam very aggressively,” CEO of Lovesac Co. Shawn Nelson told The Wall Street Journal. He told the newspaper that by the end of next year he plans to have no production in China.

A recent poll conducted by law firm Baker McKenzie found that 82% of companies around the world say they are transforming their production and supply chain due to the trade war. Approximately 18% of these companies are moving their entire business away from China. Another 58% are moving a percentage elsewhere while keeping a majority of their production in China – a move that will essentially altering the supply chain industry.

Regardless of the outcome of the US-China Trade War, China is in a tight predicament that has already seen a steep decline in monetary growth. After announcing that China’s growth was down, spokesman Mao Shengyong from China’s National Bureau of Statistics stated, “Economic conditions are still severe both at home and abroad, the global economic growth is slowing down…” He goes on to say,  “…the economy is under new downward pressure.” As more companies exit the country that downward pressure is only set to increase.

As of June 29,^, 2019, trade negotiations were set to resume between both countries. At the time of publishing, the trade war is ongoing. Even if the war were to end tomorrow many companies have already begun moving their production out of China- a time consuming and costly endeavor. Chances are they would not spend additional money moving their production back to China once the two nations resolve the issue. China is not the only country to be effected by the war. China has hit the United States with tariffs of their own to the tune of $110 billion.

To progress in any industry, hands-on experience is vital; it’s not just about knowing the theory, it’s also about doing it in practice. The discussion of whether experience or a degree is more important has been ongoing for a number of years - and we often see experience coming out on top in terms of what employers are looking for.

In order to continuously keep learning, Debbie has placed an emphasis on networking throughout her career. She says: 

“Looking at the bigger picture is vital in order to keep on moving through the ranks in the supply chain sector. Not only does networking with other people in the industry open your eyes to other opportunities that are out there, it also helps you meet people who may currently - or soon will be - hiring for a new role and if they’re not - they could even introduce you to another employer that is.”

Keep an up to date calendar of upcoming conferences and events in the industry to attend and look for opportunities to speak at these events too. Not only will you be able to deepen your knowledge by hearing from other people, but people will also start to recognise you. 

 

“Don’t underestimate the power of networking online too. The internet is full of opportunities to deepen your experience without leaving your laptop; whether that’s creating a blog, interacting with other people in the supply chain sector on LinkedIn or contributing tips-led articles to industry publications. Better yet, if you know the area you want to hone in on in your career, keep this the focus of your online networking activity.”

How can you gain more responsibility?

In order to move up through the ranks, employees in every industry need to seek and gain more responsibility in their role - and the same goes for the supply chain sector. 

 

“As we all know, the supply chain is broad. From supply chain design and planning, to inventory management and control, what does the ‘top’ look like for you in the position you aspire to be in? Once you know this, and you’ve decided what your ‘dream role’ is, you can start to move towards translating this directly to your personal career path in order to get there.” 

 

“To get to the next step of my career, I knew I needed project management skills, so I worked out the next position I needed to be in so that I could get these skills under my belt - and I was open with my leadership team about my ambitions to get there. If the leaders within your company aren’t aware of your ambitions or where you want to grow your skills set, you can’t expect these responsibilities and opportunities to be handed to you.” 

Seeking responsibility and being open with your line manager does require confidence; for many of us, speaking up about not only our career goals but our personal goals too, is a big step outside of our comfort zones. Keep a lookout for confidence focussed workshops, or seek a mentor to support you through these difficult conversations so you’re able to aim high and achieve big. 

Is there non-linear career movements you could be going after?

Often, a step up in a career could start with a sideways move. Debbie explains:

“A sideways move could look like moving to a different position but staying in your current company, or moving to a new company but keeping a similar job title, salary or even responsibilities. What makes it a lateral move is that the new position could give you an array of new skills you need to make that step up, or the new organisation could be far more profitable or in line with your career aspirations.”

Within the supply chain sector, there’s no doubt that the more education and experience you have, as well as how up to date with industry changes and progression you are, the more you’ll be able to reap the rewards in the long run. 

For anyone at a crossroads in their career path in the supply chain sector, or wanting to achieve their long-standing ambitions and make the life and career they’ve always wanted, mapping out a clear career plan is a great place to start. Your career ladder can and will look different to other people’s, so don’t rule out lateral moves and the top could be closer than it appears. 

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Debbie Lentz joined Electrocomponents plc, a global multi-channel provider of industrial and electronic products and solutions, as the President of Global Supply Chain in 2017. Debbie is responsible for leading the further development of the Group’s supply chain capability to provide an innovative and sustainable market-leading service for customers and suppliers. 

RS Components is a trading brand of Electrocomponents plc,

With the rising globalization of different operations from manufacturing all the way to warehousing, having a network of procurement which is capable of supporting and reacting to the needs of the supply chain is a challenge. In fact, many procurement professionals believe that selecting a supplier who is capable of providing manufacturing locations consistently and offering a reliable service is a challenge. Effective management of the supply chain enables businesses to track products and raw materials required for the manufacture of their products. It also enhances optimization of inventory levels and reduces costs which in the process lead to synchronized supply and demand.  

Visibility is an important thing in the supply chain. A properly managed supply chain enables companies to maintain the highest possible visibility to ensure that materials are available and are delivered to the customers. An effective supply chain enhances efficiency and helps businesses eliminate halts in production as it identifies areas which an enterprise relies on a single supplier.

Effective supply chain management provides businesses especially the manufacturers of different products with a competitive edge. However, there are various issues and challenges in supply chain management mainly in today’s business landscape. Here are three issues to consider within your own supply chain.

1. Globalization

Globalization introduces various supply chain challenges to businesses and companies. First, as a way of seeking to reduce costs in the supply chain, companies are moving to nations which offer lower costs, taxes, and transportation of raw materials. Such outsourcing practices in some instances may involve more than one country in different regions. However having suppliers of different products or materials from different regions and geographic locations can also lead to complications in the supply chain. Companies have to deal with issues of collaboration and coordination across borders. Storage and logistics issues may also arise making the entire process even more painful. Furthermore, companies have to ensure and maintain fast delivery lead times to their customers who no matter the circumstances want to receive their products on time.

2. Fast changing markets

The changes in technology and globalization have affected personal, cultural, social and psychological factors of consumers. Changing consumer markets also have an impact on supply chain management as it introduces new customer dimensions. First, the product life cycle is reduced significantly due to changing customer demands. Businesses are forced to keep up with the new market trends and continuously innovate by introducing new products that meet the needs of consumers. Due to this, there is also a demand for flexible supply chain which can accommodate changes in the manufacturing of new products as required by the customers.

Changing markets also demand that the enterprises update features of their products constantly. Doing so requires them to redesign their supply chain to accommodate these changes. Such market changes also make forecasting of product demands difficult. However, the changing demands in the market make it necessary to continuously study the market and develop new products.

3. Quality and compliance

The rise of social media apart from the influence it has on consumer behavior also makes it compulsory for companies to develop high-quality products. Consequently, rising consumer expectations have increased the rates of product recalls. This means that the supply chain must be able to respond to these challenges accordingly. Companies are under pressure to create high-quality products consistently and this can only be achieved by addressing various aspects of the supply chain which include quality of supply of raw materials, procurement process of raw materials, manufacturing processes, packaging, and transport/logistics all the way to the handling of the product.

The quality of products also largely depends on the company’s compliance. As such, companies need to make sure that both local and international regulatory standards are met. Supply chain aspects such as product manufacture, packaging, and logistics should pass quality control and safety checks. All these aspects are not easy to conform to in most instances and some of them end up making supply chain management costly.

You’re familiar with GPS as it is being used for different navigation purposes. It has made its place in many industrial sectors. Another revolution the GPS tracking system has brought is food safety. Food safety is a global concern. People across the world do care pretty much about whether the food they’re eating is healthy or not. But is it possible? With GPS attached to your poultry, you can find out about the production of the food presented to you. A complete historical record of the product can be available to you.

Hot it works

The idea may sound absurd to you, but it's not. For example, you can track the chicken you have on your plate through this technology to make sure it had been bred on organic feed. This way you can make sure you're eating a healthy product. The supply chain from the farm to your table is quite interesting. The tracker is attached when your food while it’s on the farm. Whether it's attached to the leg of a chicken or a berry plant, you will know the complete process it undergoes before reaching your table. You can know every step your chicken took and the food it ate. The process can provide a complete record of the product's past to you reducing the possibility of fraud and mishandling.

Why you want this

In addition to customer satisfaction, producers are looking at GPS tracking to minimize the chances of exploitation of a company’s reputation. GPS tracking can deliver the complete historical data of how the food got to the fork from the farm. It has revolutionized the way we look at food. It can work for your company's good in the following ways.

• GPS tracking can provide real-time data which is trustworthy. By providing the data, the supplier gains visibility and control, optimizing your supply chain.
• Enables traceability
• Increase trust among buyers and customers.
• It can help to reduce the chances of rumors because of the complete record

Many companies and restaurants have officially adopted GPS tracking for food production and to validate a trustworthy supply chain. It can pinpoint the farm in which the ingredients were produced and provide you the complete information and history to make sure accurate information is recorded. Companies embracing this technology created a buzz and attracted many customers.

Issues

Technology works to reduce the risks around us. The agricultural sector can reduce concerns about food safety through GPS tracking. With the reduced price of GPS tags more products are being tagged making traceability easier and improving supply chain visibility.

Supply chain and logistics industry is going through a tremendous transformation made possible by innovation and new technology. Such transformation is causing customers to increasingly demand more. Consequently, competition is heating up and logistics providers are doing everything within their power to stay in the market. Technological advancements are the leading differentiators that companies are exploiting in the industry.

Companies are using technology to ease communication between retailers and manufacturers. For instance, various software driven by advanced algorithms are being deployed to keep track of sales and also to make sure that manufacturers are aware of the needs of retailers and by extension their customers in real-time.

For example, when a customer orders something out of the norm, the manufacturer is alerted without going through a middleman. Therefore, thanks to technology, a middle step that existed  between the manufacturer and the consumer has been eliminated.

Through superior technologies, customers now have a partner able to deliver high-touch and custom transportation models. Clients are able to transfer information and data related to the products in the supply chain faster than before. Accordingly, visibility which is a key component of supply chain success is enabled by new technologies that are user-friendly, enabling customers to view their products from origin to destination. 

Effective integration between logistics companies and customer has been lacking. However, a robust software platform creates efficiency and improves response times, eliminating traditional challenges. Multiple platforms are available to integrate with their entire network and obtain real-time data regarding their cargo and shipments. This reduces slowdowns some of which are due to poor response times while also lowering inventory levels across the supply chain.

At the same time, quick response to customer needs reduces the inventory levels and increases client satisfaction and operational efficiency. A good service provider takes advantage of electronic data interchange (EDI) to share information. This technology does various things which include tracking invoicing, eliminating data entry time and errors and at the same time allow the supplier or manufacturer to offer real-time updates to their customers.

Better visibility of products as a result of technology improves customer loyalty. It also offers increased transparency and allows consumers to quickly access and manage purchase orders (PO’s). With the right technology in place, the end-user will get their new high-value product delivered to their doorstep on time and as ordered. It also eases access to product photos and other multi-media that provides integrity, a leading requirement by many clients in the logistics sector.

The elimination of manually edited forecasting models reduces forecasting errors, overstocking, backorders and in the end reverse logistics and enhances only the desired customer service levels. For purchased items, accessing acquisition transaction costs reduces average inventory and receiving labor while reducing average inventory as a result of shorter runs in manufactured products. Narrow aisle handling equipment and layouts, on the other hand, improves utilization of space in warehouses be it leased or public.

Generally, there are various ways in which using modern technology in the supply chain helps lower inventory levels. Consequently, taking control of inventory with technology goes further into reducing inventory cost and enhances efficiency. Proper management of inventory levels increases performance and efficiency and customer satisfaction due to highly streamlined operations.

We’re a little over halfway through 2019 —a good time to look back at my predictions for the supply chain industry, including where we are in artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, the need for better data to drive predictability, and the uberization of freight. Earlier in the year discussions and reports indicated that a responsive, real-time supply chain would be the key differentiator among businesses as the year progresses. However, this isn’t a particularly new prediction — we’ve been heralding such an arrival for at least a decade — and Gartner noted that despite their broad industry impact, such technologies have yet to be widely adopted. Slow adoption could be due to significant business and technological changes or limitations around its own capabilities, but it begs the question, how will these trends become reality if organizations can’t implement the advancements necessary to create a more efficient and effective supply chain?

Heading into 2019, I had predicted that we were really going to hit our stride in supply chain adoption of AI, and while we are close to greater adoption, there is really no question about its great potential. The challenge is making AI domain specific to the supply chain and using it to drive real value across the entire business. To succeed, let’s take another look at this prediction and a few others to determine how organizations can truly implement the advanced technology we predicted would take over just six months back.

Better Data, Better Predictions

As discussed early on in 2019, predictive analytics will still prove to be very useful to optimize resources within the supply chain. Combined with AI and machine learning, data is the driver for predictive capabilities. With more informed predictions, future performances can be optimized based on historical results along with known and unknown data points that technology can provide in real-time. Pulling this information together to create a collaborative external view of the supply chain will positively impact every aspect of the supply chain, from sourcing and compliance, to production and quality control. Data is just information. It is what is done with the data that makes an impact.

 In order to fully embrace the value of predictive analytics as the year progresses, it will be essential for an organization to establish a strong foundation upon which to build a digital supply chain. It will also be necessary for companies to develop a strategy of execution to properly take advantage of these advancements. They must identify a vision, assess the supply chain’s current state, and develop a transformation road map to ensure success.

AI’s Supply Chain Moment

We still expect AI and machine learning to become more integrated with every aspect of the supply chain. Adoption is slow but we know anecdotally that it is growing. AI integration will enable the automation of repetitive tasks and bring intelligence to supply chain networks and systems. AI and machine learning are both required to get the most out of Natural Language Processing. NLP provides many benefits to the supply chain including understanding and mitigating potential risks with supply chain stakeholders, ensuring compliance, monitoring reputations of supply chain organizations, and reducing language barriers.

With that said, the complexity of human language requires smart algorithms and self-teaching systems to parse and understand language, and provide appropriate responses and actions. For organizations to implement successfully in 2019, they should consider the following:

• Provide information in a consistent way.
• Where possible, supply chain software should integrate with supplier and manufacturer systems to automatically collect and process data.
• Check and audit supply chain information periodically to ensure quality.

Uberization of Freight

This year, new platforms are still expected to power increasingly-connected truckers and LTL providers into the gig economy. As technology evolves and becomes more widely adopted, we expect business models to evolve as well, which has the potential to drastically disrupt the trucking industry. Technology will help reduce the amount of empty miles driven, and with that the number of drivers needed. Fewer trucks on the road lead to less of an impact on the environment. In addition, the movement of freight becomes more like a marketplace, a real-time part of the supply chain much like Uber has become for consumers by providing real-time inventory orchestration and allocation for inventory in motion and at rest.

To prepare and actually take advantage of these new platforms in 2019, organizations should work to drive information transparency, tracking of goods and optimization. When properly analyzed, this data is helpful for identifying patterns and areas for optimization, to fuel better planning and resource utilization.

As the supply chain becomes more fragmented, digital transformation and bringing stakeholders onto a common platform will provide significant benefits - but this won’t necessarily be easy to accomplish. If organizations want to continue to transform their supply chains, it’s not too late to implement the top strategic supply chain technologies of 2019.

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Pervinder Johar, CEO of Blume Global joined Blume Global with a deep and diverse background in supply chain management and technology. He has led top software companies providing innovative solutions to the global supply chain industry as well as managed global supply chain systems for companies such as HP. Leveraging his expertise in AI, Robotics Process Automation, Machine Learning and Blockchain, Pervinder is guiding Blume’s next wave of transformative solutions for the Supply Chain Marketplace.

Warehousing is witnessing a dramatic shift from traditional human labor to an army of robots. For example, Amazon has been adding robots to its warehouse workforce since 2012 for moving items and assisting human workers. These robots have helped reduce operating costs at each warehouse by 20%, which translates to almost $22 million. The cost savings are mainly derived by improving warehouse efficiency. According to one report, after deploying the robots, cycle times were reduced by 15 minutes from 75 minutes to 60 minutes. Inventory space has also grown by 50% due to smarter use of space.

This is one of the many success stories of technologies like RFID, robotics, and Internet of Things (IoT) which are transforming the logistics sector and making warehouses smarter than ever.

According to a Warehouse Robotics market report, some of the key factors driving the growth of warehouse automation are the burgeoning e-commerce industry, increased reliability on warehouse operations, and funding from venture capitalists.

As warehouse automation takes root, business-critical functions that were once done by humans are now being done by robots. These high-end technologies work without constant human intervention and give alerts before breakdowns happen, making warehouse operations safer and more efficient.

The fundamental goal of a smart warehouse is to create an intelligent system that thinks and performs tasks like a human, only in much less time than a human. For instance, the robots deployed at Amazon’s warehouses pick up shelves of products and drop inventory to respective packing stations across the warehouse. In-built sensors in the bots can be used to determine picking and dropping decisions, prevent collisions and ensure faster movement around the warehouse.

Potential Benefits of a Smart Warehouse

The first significant benefit of smart warehouses is inventory management. Bluetooth trackers, route planning apps or RFID technology can track the movement of the inventory in real time from storage to shipping. If an item is running low, the IoT system can alert management or, in some cases, place an order from a supplier on its own.

IoT is also proving useful in enhancing the customer experience. Because the warehouse managers have an eagle-eye view of their inventory, they can integrate the information with their website. For instance, if a customer wants to order a phone, they will be more likely to have a pleasant experience with your website if they can check the status of the product in real time, rather than placing the order and then receiving a “your product is out of stock” email.

Efficiency is another significant benefit of IoT in warehouses. Mobile computers that are connected to the warehouse management system allow managers to do their jobs from anywhere, without returning to a stationary computer.

By providing the location of goods, IoT can also help reduce picking and packaging mistakes and cut theft-related losses.

RFID can monitor expiration dates of the items in a warehouse and alert managers to take action. This helps to reduce waste and spoilage and enables companies to provide higher quality products to their customers.

Warehousing drones can also perform cycle counts at night and have the data ready for the managers to review in the morning. This helps prevent operational downtime and reduces the costs associated with labor and electricity.

Conclusion

Warehouse automation will continue to replace some of the labor-intensive roles and tedious tasks, freeing up workers to focus on more value-adding activities. Intelligent robots, interactive technology, big data analytics, and RFID will have a more significant role to play.

Warehouse automation is a reality with which the industry must come to terms to grow and sustain among the cutthroat competition and increasing market pressure. The smart warehouses, which appear as a disruptive force today, will become a necessity within the next few years.

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Dan Khasis is the founder of Route4Me, a unique route optimization software platform.

5G technology is here with us and is already causing a lot of discussions and eliciting reactions from different industries. 5G wireless connectivity is expected to bring benefits to the supply chain through many fronts that will make processes and operations faster, easier, and more efficient. To begin with, the Fifth Generation Wireless System (5G) is a successor of 4G and will employ signal wavelengths in ranges between 30 to 300 GHz to enhance the speed of data transfer and reduce the levels of interference and interruption.

With such high speeds and performance, the 5G networks will see improved speeds, reduced latency and at the same time allow a massive adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) in digital infrastructure. About a million sensors can be accommodated by 5G wireless networks within a square kilometer with speeds greater than any other wireless network.

With high speeds that allow IoT to thrive, the supply chain will be among the leading beneficiaries of the new wireless technology. The adoption of this technology will enable supply chain companies to develop enhanced competency in operations therefore improving their services. With IoT technologies, supply chain management will be enhanced using identity chips, sensors, data analytics, cloud computing, and other communication devices all working together to realize automation, better decision making, and improved feedback.

5G allows millions of IoT devices to be connected in a global network which increases communication. 5G offers greater bandwidth with low latency and increased performance. This could offer a solution to problems experienced in 4G networks and Wi-Fi networks used in warehouses. It promises to provide universal coverage for large warehouses as opposed to dealing with several short-range wireless networks. With 5G, a very large warehouse area can be covered with a single wireless medium. It provides a secure environment and tackles privacy concerns.

The supply chain is known for its disparate systems which often cause issues. However, with the entry of 5G, the gap that exists between systems can be closed, leading to the real-time supply chain with complete visibility from manufacturing all the way to store shelves.

Reduced complexity is also expected to cut costs as it reduces complexities and hardwiring making installations easy and fast. It will increase workflows among the warehouse operators and shipping centers.

Futureproofing

Apart from bridging the connectivity gap, 5G will also support future computing platforms. With  advanced computing, warehouses and supply chain companies will use 5G signals to develop networks that are centrally-controlled and can move data faster, enabling warehouses to reduce complexity and connectivity cost. Also with 5G, new video analytics capabilities will be spurred,  including real-time video capture of products shipped. Generally, 5G will act as an enabler of advanced warehousing as it eliminates old approaches and introduce new ones which in the end will be beneficial.

Warehouses are characterized by robots that can carry out various repetitive tasks augmenting work by humans.  With the addition of 5G into the equation, connectivity of these robots will be enhanced and so will their performance in the warehouse. Intelligent robots will easily communicate with each other due to the enhanced transmission of information which not only makes work fast but also safer. Technically, 5G will act as an enabler of communication and will link various warehousing and by extension supply chain architecture and resources.

The supply chain should prepare to embrace 5G rollout because it brings more goodies, especially those that will take advantage of IoT to improve on workflows and visibility in the supply chain. This technology will not only act as an enabler but will also increase potential in multiple aspects of the supply chain.

Transacting business in the supply chain generally means communicating orders via EDI formatted files or some other equally rigid set of rules. The reasons are easy to understand; order times are critical and specifications for orders are complex so their formats need to adhere to formats that can be instantly read by computerized systems.

EDI requirements may be rigid but they change frequently so there’s some reason to believe that there is in fact, flexibility within the order process. But getting the details wrong causes errors and costs money. How will this tight connection fare in the age of what’s called ‘Industry 4.0’ as new technologies are brought into the mix? Is it possible that the long-standing EDI format will be replaced by directly connected machines (IoT) that avoid the details of creating and processing orders? Or will the deeply embedded format keep business at a slower pace than might be possible if things changed?

Industry 4.0

Internet of Things (IoT) is impacting manufacturing, shipping, warehousing, delivery, and even customer support by adding smart devices to things that have traditionally been, well… dumb. Dumb in the sense that they don’t communicate or have any way to sense their surroundings. That’s changing rapidly as we approach the widely touted 50 billion IoT devices expected to populate the earth by 2020. Whether any particular company wants to move toward these automated pipelines is as moot as those who declared they were not abiding by Walmart’s demand to implement EDI years ago.

Manufacturing facilities around the globe are adding smarts to their machinery or replacing old machines with newer and smarter ones that can go beyond the basics of their intended functions. They are attached wirelessly directly to their company’s management and ERP systems and communicate their current status. They take instructions about manufacturing conditions to adjust their speed and can even sense variations in the materials they work with and adjust their actions to create products that meet required specifications.

The data passed between those machines and the systems that control them amount to magnitudes of data that never existed meaning that traditional manufacturing facilities that operated manually and on a completely analog basis are becoming digital factories. The data itself presents both issues and opportunities for every point along the supply chain because it’s now possible for the end customer to be aware of the status of the product they expect to purchase, and for the manufacturing machine to know how many units it needs to build to meet demand.

Flexibility stretched

Every participant in the supply chain is being armed with more data than they have ever encountered. Their first challenge is to collect and store it; in itself a mundane IT task of managing storage and connectivity. But what is done with that accumulated data as it passes along the chain is what will define the next generation manufacturer, transport company, retailer, and even the end customer. Those that devote the time and resources to understanding, then imagining how Supply Chain 4.0 will look.

It’s been a while since Walmart first insisted that its suppliers moved to its digital order process. Back then the prospect of using EDI rather than fax or phone to place orders seemed like a technological hurdle. And in fact it was a significant hurdle that plenty of suppliers bucked against. But today Walmart’s tactics have become accepted and electronic order processing is no longer the pariah it once was. Now the retailer is making another mandate to its suppliers. But this time it’s not about what but where.

Amazon’s Web Services (AWS) has been the go-to supplier of cloud based software deployments and an overwhelming number of companies have put their online software there. It’s easy, reliable, and competitively priced. But now that Amazon is competing directly with Walmart for retail business Walmart doesn’t want the digital guts of its business hosted on a competitor’s site. That’s understandable, and in fact in 2014 the company moved its entire ecommerce presence to the cloud - and not Amazon’s cloud.

Our colleague Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols explains the move and strategy here. 

So where’s the mandate?

It isn’t enough that Walmart hosts its own data away from AWS. The retailer doesn’t want its suppliers hosting its data and the transactions they process on its competitor’s cloud either. The most recent mandate instructs suppliers to move their systems off AWS. They’re apparently fine with alternate cloud vendors like Microsoft Azure who are not direct competitors, but Amazon is a no-no. 

To be clear, the mandate (for now) is directed at tech providers. So product suppliers who host their own systems on AWS may not be affected. But the move may turn out to indirectly impact product suppliers if their EDI service providers host their applications and data on AWS.

The ripple effect

Amazon has done a great job of delivering cloud computing facilities that make it easy for companies to deploy their software services. In fact it may be the default choice for smaller EDI service providers because they can concentrate on developing their systems and delivering high quality customer support while leaving the heavy lifting of server farms and data centers to Amazon.

If your EDI provider has received a mandate letter from Walmart to shift its cloud hosting services you can bet they are scrambling to meet whatever deadlines are being required. Their revenue is reliant on delivering their customers’ transactions (your transactions) to and from Walmart and every other trading partner you deal with. And because of the depth and breadth of Walmart’s vendor base nearly every EDI service provider has connections to Walmart.

Be proactive

Don’t know if you will be affected? Ask your EDI service provider where their applications are hosted and how they are responding to Walmart’s mandate. Either your provider will need to change or you will need to change your provider if you want to keep your business relationship with Walmart.

 

Moving EDI data around the globe is old hat to most of the folks reading this ec-bp newsletter. Managing the connections and translations can get complex and picky when it comes to the details of the files and the changes that need to be incorporated into translators to make processes flow properly. For most EDI practitioners, their roles are fairly well defined and fit well with established concepts. But as mobile devices take over I think the line between what is EDI and what is associated with end user interaction is changing.

 

EDI is a significant source of big data. Of course that's no shock to anyone dealing with data storage or a VAN bill, but when you consider the volume of transactions and the number or companies involved, it would seem that there is a wealth of data in those transactions. The data now covers (depending on the trading partners) every aspect of the order process, from initial P.O. to final payment, with plenty of status updates along the way. So, what can be learned from all the data? It turns out that when looked at as an aggregate and put through the right analytical processes, there's plenty to be learned - and predicted.

Being able to use the data created by both the supplier and customer to understand the sales cycle can be a great advantage to both companies who are looking to make the most of their resources in an increasingly competitive environment. The addition of CPFR (Cooperative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment) can go a long way to maximizing margins and minimizing mistakes.