According to the American Journal of Transportation, Turvo and Lineage Logistics have formed a partnership to provide a unified and fully integrated supply-chain technology solution.

Lineage Logistics, LLC (“Lineage” or the “Company”), the world’s largest and most innovative temperature-controlled industrial REIT and logistics solutions provider, announced the launch of Lineage Link through a partnership with Turvo, a leading provider of collaborative logistics software designed for global supply chains. 

Read the article on American Journal of Transportation

2021 could see several new supply chain technologies come into wide use, reports Strategic Sourceror.

The new year is well underway and many businesses within the supply chain are trying to set themselves up for success in the months ahead. After a 2020 that was filled with ups and downs, to say the least, some firms may now feel as though they're in a better position to make strategic investments in technology that allow them to take an all-important next step.

Read the article on Strategic Sourceror

According to Chain Store Age, a new survey reveals that a majority of retailers have yet to implement technology solutions to improve their supply chain. 

New data indicates most retailers have not yet implemented solutions and processes to maximize their usage of supply chain data.

Read the article on Chain Store Age

According to Yahoo Finance, HashCash is starting its own global diamond supply chain. 

HashCash Consultants collaborates with a renowned global US-based diamond supply chain company to help them launch their ICO. The company aims to reshape the global diamond supply chain with consortium lending and traceability.

Read the article on Yahoo Finance

Supply chains are a lifeline to your businesses. Therefore, just like any other thing that people depend on, they are prone to changes. In supply chain, technological integration and digitization are some of the aspects that have been acquired substantially, leading to notable changes. More and more competitors benefit from the ever-increasing efficiencies that are enabled by the processes of automation. Since March, we have seen the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and how it has impacted the supply chain. As people started buying and hoarding essential goods in bulk, supply chains struggled to keep up with rapid changes. The pandemic is expected to change the supply chain industry for good, and some of these changes might be irreversible. The question is, are you ready? Here are some of the supply chain trends that you should expect from now going forward.

• Analytics and analysis

 Big data and analytics has become one of the leading areas of interest for supply chain today, and it will continue being so. The data that businesses receive from the customers and from daily transactions provide you with the ability to improve on products and services. It also enhances operations, hiring practices, building better marketing campaigns, and others. As a company in the supply chain sector, analytics will help you streamline your operations from purchasing of raw materials to the delivery of the final products to the customer.

• Apps will transform supply chain

Applications have enhanced many industries and how they do their work. The same is expected to be the case for supply chain industry. The use of apps is transforming business practices by providing business owners and users with the ability to access real-time information to prevent delays and losses. It enables transparency by allowing customers to view products from every level of the supply chain with regard to the status of the products from origin to destination.

• Artificial intelligence (AI)

AI has become one of the leading technologies being adopted in supply chain today. This is expected to be the case for foreseeable future as companies seek ways of optimizing supply chain. AI will help supply chain reduce or eliminate human error, create efficiency and reduce the cost of operation by automating tasks. AI has the ability to notice patterns and use them to eliminate redundancies, predict customer demands and optimize inventory management.

• Blockchain will play a critical role in supply chain

Blockchain is a game-changer in supply chain today. It has become one of the best methods of protecting data and information from manipulation or editing. This technology is protecting data from hackers and malicious individuals who might want to carry out espionage activities. Blockchain allows only those permitted in a network to access information, therefore adding another layer of protection. The adoption of blockchain technology allows companies to securely manage invoices and payments in one platform and can also ensure safety of products in transit.

• Internet of Things (IoT)

When talking about blockchain technology and its use in supply chain, it is hard not to talk about the internet of things. IoT, just like blockchain is the future of information technology and supply chain in particular that cannot be ignored. This technology, altered it has not completely made its way in supply chain processes will be used in a variety of ways. Some of these ways include real-time tracking, demand management, and checking the state of products that are in transit. IoT can be used in manufacturing and logistics processes, managing demand, preventive maintenance and sourcing applications. This will minimize downtimes, ease management of customer behavior and managing demands of the customer.

Many brands seriously affected by the global pandemic have chosen to change their product and service offerings and transform business models in the name of helping the frontline response. They’ve coped well with the disruption and made a positive contribution, all while keeping the bottom line stable.

However, even as we slowly ease back into business as usual practices, it’s clear supply chain operations have changed for good. While the initial impacts of COVID-19 have been gradually easing, it will take time for the long-term repercussions of the pandemic to emerge. Judging by the last few years of disruptive and unforeseen events, the new normal will be defined by the unexpected.

Going forward, businesses won’t be able to predict everything that will happen. However, they can introduce agile processes and technologies into their supply chain to ensure they have ample time to prepare.

Time for a rethink

A macro-economic change of this magnitude is  difficult to predict and it has moved businesses into uncharted territory. Whilst a business might have risk management processes in place to deal with controllable and expected challenges, such as compliance and capacity issues, few have contingency plans for a global pandemic of the like we are experiencing.  Even as lockdown measures are eased, local COVID-19 flareups could mean that businesses suddenly need to cope with less staff, falls in productivity, material shortages and changes in consumer spending behaviour.

What’s more, COVID-19 has highlighted the connection between supply chains and business success. To illustrate, 200 of the Fortune Global 500 companies have an element of their supply chain in Wuhan. When a lockdown was declared in that one city, it disrupted the supply chains of 40% of the world’s biggest businesses. To stop this happening again, organisations need to know where their vulnerabilities lie and have visibility over them at all times.

Going forward, supply chains need to be more robust and resilient to change. Many businesses – particularly in the manufacturing space – are dealing with significant cost pressures and tight margins. They need the ability to forecast conditions accurately and deal with unexpected changes in demand, before customers and the bottom line feel the impact.

Resilience starts with data

Even as stores begin to reopen, businesses are likely to stay digital-first or even digital-only in the foreseeable future. Retail e-commerce site visits grew to almost 22 billion unique visits at the height of the pandemic, with no lull in sight. The dominance of e-commerce and the growing need to move products around a complex network of warehouses, only strengthens the need for a more transparent and intensively-monitored supply chain model.

To achieve this, it’s crucial organisations utilise the vast amounts of data generated by daily operations and turn it into actionable insight. A sudden drop in demand for certain products could speak to a wider trend, or a fall in output could indicate faults on the production line before they become full-blown malfunctions.

Decisions made on the basis of accurate, real-time data improve plant efficiency, customer service and innovation. Since they can use data more effectively, businesses can make better decisions and have increased agility when managing operations. This allows them to keep delivering even when disruption hits. That’s why 40% of businesses consider data analytics to be one of the most important technologies for supply chain management.

However, a siloed data infrastructure can easily get in the way of a joined-up response to disruption. Supply chains are complex networks comprised of many individual sites. Warning signs and issues are easily missed when this site data isn’t integrated or when local decision-makers fail to share insight. 

Businesses should look to enterprise systems which can help them integrate, manage and analyse huge amounts of complex product and operational data. Supported by the right technology, businesses can forecast and report production, consumption and fulfilment. This enables them to reduce spoilage and costs by improving efficiency. Analytics, meanwhile, provides intelligence for when a problem might occur and direction on how to resolve that issue.

An integrated, cloud-based data infrastructure gives frontline staff the ability to connect their day-to-day operations with overall business goals. Increased stock visibility and improved data-sharing ensures items are available whenever and wherever they are needed. With this insight, operational managers can monitor the real-time status of stock levels and locations, adapting product levels as needed to head off disruption.

Don’t respond; take the initiative

Supply chains differ in size and complexity, but all are inextricably linked to the success of their business. With the precedent set by the global pandemic, we may be within reach of a new supply chain model. One where businesses can be agile and responsive to changing policies, regulations and the unexpected.

When collating and analysing data from across the entire supply chain, businesses have an advantage. They can plan purchasing, delivery and maintenance more efficiently, and they have the foresight and agility to resolve supply chain challenges before they occur. Resilience in the new normal means getting ahead of change, not following it.

Create a Covid-19 vaccine. Check. Get FDA Emergency approval. Check. Set up priority guidelines Check. Deliver vaccines to healthcare institutions across the country. Houston…we have a problem.

 

Pfizer recently announced a major supply chain blunder, admitting they would only be able to ship half of the 100 million dosages they had originally promised countries around the world by the end of the year.  Anyone who works within the supply chain industry realized delivering a potential vaccine would be an issue months before Pfizer and Moderna announced that they had successfully created a Covid-19 vaccine. Prior to the pandemic, the supply chain industry was considered fragile- already suffering due to lack of truck drivers and skilled workers within the field;  unsteady last mile deliveries, and arctic delivery methods that lack visibility and control. Add in a pandemic and you have empty shelves in grocery stores and a mad rush for toilet paper.

Back in November Pfizer filled for an emergency authorization for their vaccine in countries around the world including the United States and the UK estimating that they could deliver 100 million dosages globally. Now, Pfizer is walking back on their original target, estimating that they can deliver only half the amount of vaccines, inoculating just 25 million people or 0.3% of the population.

“Scale-up of the raw material supply chain took longer than expected,” explained Pfizer’s spokeswoman Amy Rose in a statement last week referring to the time it took to source the raw materials that were needed to create each shot. A silver lining in the supply chain disruption is that Pfizer now has the vaccine production under control. “We have made significant progress as we have moved forward in the unknown,” Rose claimed.

The supply chain disturbance is not expected to affect the 2021 roll out of the vaccine. Pfizer is still on par to produce 1.3 billion dosages by the end of next year immunizing close to 17% of the world’s population. Moderna is set to add between 100- 125 million dosages in the first quarter of 2021.

Both Pfizer and Moderna announced their vaccines within days of each other earlier this quarter- each claiming over 90% effective rates. Each company explained the vaccine would require two dosages ad could have less than ideal side-effects including fatigue, headache, and fever.

While the end goal of both vaccines are the same, storage and delivery of each vaccine is a bit different. Moderna has a stable shelf life of seven days in -20 Celsius degrees (-4 degrees Fahrenheit) while Pfizer announced their vaccines need to be stored in extreme cold in -70 degrees Celsius (-94 Fahrenheit). In context, Moderna could be stored in a regular-grade freezer, while Pfizer’s vaccines need to be stored in ultra-cold conditions – think Winter in Antarctica.

Should this be cause for concern? Debra Kristensen, a 30-year veteran of vaccine innovation and supply chains at PATH, an international nonprofit focused on public health explained that this was do-able, but “it's definitely going to be much more expensive and more difficult.” The combat the problematic challenge, Pfizer announced they had designed their own packaging that would be able to store the vaccine in for two weeks without a specialized ultra-cold freezer.

As of now the FDA has not approved Pfizer’s or Moderna’s Covid vaccines. According to Alex Azar, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary the FDA authorization could come “within days.” Once they do they can begin to ship doses of the vaccine to the United States, putting in motions step to contain the virus.

 New Year is the time when business owners are feeling inspired to start strong and have a successful and profitable year. Every New Year comes with the desire to succeed, and it begins by setting up goals and enthusiasm. In supply chain management, business owners and management have the same amount of enthusiasm and setting of goals that needs to be attained. Here are some of the supply chain management goals and how you can achieve them as you head to a new year:

• Add value to your clients

Cheap and cost-efficient fulfillment of products is crucial. However, supply chain managers must try to ensure the creation of value for their clients. Understand that customers are the lifeblood of your business. Therefore, the primary objective of supply chain management should be, to meet or even exceed the requirements of the customer consistently. Start this by ensuring that you offer market-driven customer service strategy based on the demands and requirements of the customer.

• Achieve efficient order fulfillment

The basic role of supply chain management is to make inventory readily available to the customer. As an organization, always plan to match supply with customer needs. You can achieve this by efficiently using the resources at your disposal. Look for supply chain partners to cooperate with in ensuring maximization of productivity, developing standardized processes and eliminating duplicate efforts. Such initiatives will help in the reduction of waste, reducing costs and achieving efficiencies.

• Build contingencies

If there is a year that we have learned about the importance of building contingencies, then 2021 has been like no other. The coronavirus pandemic has taught us that a disaster can strike at any time and businesses need to have a plan to respond in kind. The pandemic caught businesses off-guard and most of them made significant losses while some have ceased their operations altogether. Companies that were affected the most are those in the supply chain industry. While it may not be feasible to prepare for all eventualities, using data that you have at your disposal to come up with possible scenarios can be a perfect starting point for proper contingencies. Identify potential weaknesses and come up with plans for response. You can obtain this data through SCM software that automates the process of gathering data.  

• Sort out little problems

Issues that may look small can lead to a disaster in supply chain. Such issues can accumulate slowly if no due diligence is carried out and within no time, you may end up with a huge problem. Things such as missed delivery dates, miscommunication, inefficiency in logistics and incorrect designs can dissuade your customers, and you must therefore be addressed accordingly. While such things can appear small, they can lead to massive losses in the long-term as customers look for other alternatives.

• Make supply chain agile

In an environment where there are changing opportunities and challenges, it pays to be adaptable to every event that emerges. Understanding the capabilities of your supply chain will allow you to have a complete picture of what you can do and what you cannot. You will also understand the capabilities of your current partners and what you need to change. Never leave your business vulnerable to slightest changes as this can also lead to a disaster. Always keep fewer stocks and switch to fewer deliveries because this will allow you to deliver the customer demands. Adaptation demands that you look for ways to evolve and become innovative. Doing so will ensure that you are never left behind by the changing business landscape.

The United States Department of Transportation recently issued two new rules regarding drones, aimed at keeping the public safe. The Federal Aviation Administration released a press release on December 28^th  that outlined the newest rules regarding Unmanned Aircraft (UA) or drones.

Under the new rules, all drones must have remote identification ensuring that law enforcement and national security the ability to identify the drone. The remote identification will act as a type of “digital license plate.” The guidelines state that operators are expected to carry their remote pilot certificate and identification when deploying their drone ready to present it if asked.

The second rule would allow small drones to fly over people and moving vehicles as well as at night under certain circumstances. 

"These final rules carefully address safety, security, and privacy concerns while advancing opportunities for innovation and utilization of drone technology," Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao stated.

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International applauded the FAA’s new rules and regulations. The President and CEO Brian Wynne explained that the new regulations “will have additional untold benefits for American society."

Those who use drones recreational are not too keen on the new FAA guidelines. Some called them confusing while others complained that the cost would prohibit some people to fly drones recreationally. “This was done to benefit companies like Amazon while making it harder for small operators,” complained @AltFawkes on Twitter.

According to the press release, unarmed aircrafts are becoming the “fastest-growing segment in the entire transportation sector.” With 1.7 million registered drones and 203,000 FAA-certified remote pilots,  these rules offer drone operators flexibility that has been sorely needed. 

If the end goal is to use drones to solve the “last-mile delivery” problem – the FAA guidelines are one step closer. FAA Administrator Steve Dickson explained, “The new rules make way for the further integration of drones into our airspace by addressing safety and security concerns.” He added the rules, “…get us closer to the day when we will more routinely see drone operations such as the delivery of packages.”

Drone technology has been lucrative as it’s seen as the future of the supply chain industry. Supply chain giants like Amazon, UPS and Walmart have been scrambling to test the latest technology so they are ready when drones become widely used.

In November of 2019, UPS Flight Forward successfully delivered their first prescription delivery from a CVS pharmacy in North Carolina to a patient’s home nearby. “This drone delivery, the first of its kind in the industry, demonstrates what’s possible for our customers who can’t easily make it into our stores,” former CVS president Kevin Hourican said at the time.

The new FAA drone regulations will take effect 60 days after they are published in the Federal Register next month. From there, manufacturers will have 18 months to start producing drones with remote identification. Operators, have an additional year after publication to start using these drones with remote identification.

For general inquiries on these new regulations and other UAS inquiries, please call 844-FLY-MY-UA or email the FAA.

Supply chains make up an important part of businesses today. According to industry professionals, supply chain and logistics were key to better customer service in 2020. As the new year begins, there are exciting trends that will shape the logistics sector and supply chain in general. For this reason, this article highlights changes that are expected in 2021 in the retail sector and their potential impacts.

1. Logistics will be driven by e-commerce.

Industrial logistics has been one of the most resilient sectors amid the coronavirus pandemic, that led to the rise in eCommerce demand. With the pandemic, the eCommerce grew to 44% in Q2 of 2020 from just 14% in Q1. With this rising demand, pressure has been on the retailers, wholesalers, and logistics companies to find ways to fulfill the customers' demand while ensuring the cost of operations is as low as possible. Heading toward 2021, this will continue being the trend because many transactions are going online. According to CBRE Research, there will be a high demand for warehouse space in the next year, something that is already at record levels. 

• Inventory control to be a major concern

As the demand increase, inventory control will be the main focus for logistics companies as it would be for store owners, wholesalers, and retailers. The inventories will be increased from the current 15 days to as high as 60 days to avoid disruption similar to those experienced this year. Companies might be forced to have stores near the customers to make fulfillment faster as they will be under pressure from the consumers to deliver items as fast as possible. The competition will also be increasing, and demand will mainly be based on the delivery of items. 

• Blockchain will be a game-changer

Security and transparency in logistics have always been the areas of concern for many organizations and customers. This is where blockchain comes into play. This decentralized technology eases the supply chain management by cutting out intermediaries, allowing the logistics companies to reach customers directly without using a third party. Blockchain also helps in the distribution of digital data with the utmost transparency. With this technology, vendors, shipping companies, logistics operators, and customers can collaborate using one platform. All data or information that they exchange is stored in one location in the form of blocks. The data is kept secure with encryption and timestamps, that link new information to the existing ones in an existing chain. Besides the security offered and reduction of fraud, blockchain also offers speed of transactions and transparency. It also reduces paperwork, that is a characteristic of logistics currently. From now on, the supply chain will be based on modern tech platforms such as blockchain to enhance transparency, cost, security, and speed of transactions. 

• AI and Machine learning will be critical.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning have brought various new processes to the supply chain and logistics. For instance, large scale automation is becoming implemented more than before in many areas to enhance efficiency and reduce operations costs. With machine learning, things such as reading, identifying, and replicating complex content that emerge in daily operations can be automated. Rather than having hundreds of employees doing repetitive tasks, automation will be embraced by supply chain and logistics companies to minimize time spent, enhance efficiency, and cut the general cost of operations. By using AI, there is the likelihood of increased productivity, easy supplier selection process, and improved customer experience. With 2021 coming, businesses will require AI and machine learning platforms to automate processes such as customer support through things such as chatbots and assistants.

On Tuesday November 3^rd, all eyes will be on the United States as millions of citizens cast their vote for the future president. With the pandemic spiking in 47 out of 50 states many citizens have opted to mail their votes in as opposed to voting in person. But with a series of delays, backlogs, and crime – many are left wondering if their votes will be delivered on time.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has been losing money consistently for decades. Without funding from the Federal Government, the postal service may go bankrupt. In order to stem the loss of capital, Postmaster general Louis DeJoy has slashed overtime and approved a hiring freeze which ultimately led to delays in many states around the country. As the country is still reeling from these changes citizens wonder if the USPS will be able to deliver their ballots on time.

"No. 1 priority between now and the November election is the secure, timely delivery of the nation's Election Mail," spokeswoman Martha Johnson said in an email to CBS MoneyWatch. The postal service recommended that citizens wishing to mail in their ballot send it at least a week ahead of time (October 27^th) noting that if mailed afterwards it may not arrive in time to be counted. While many states require the ballot be postmarked by November 3^rd, other states like Arizona require that the ballot is received by November 3rd to be tallied. “We are actively engaging with our management teams and union leadership to ensure we have the right level of staffing and oversight given the increased impacts of COVID-19, and our unwavering commitment to keeping employees and customers safe,” added Kristin Seaver, Chief Retail and Delivery Officer of the Postal Service.

The USPS has promised to take "extraordinary measures" to ensure that every US citizens’ votes are counted.  These procedures include; collecting mail on Sunday, November 1st, and setting up special lanes in post offices for people to drop off their ballots.  “USPS personnel are instructed to perform late and extra trips to the maximum extent necessary to increase on-time mail deliveries, particularly for Election Mail,” stated Robert Cintron, vice president of logistics for the Postal Service.

Still many worry that the ballots will not arrive on time as many areas report a lag in delivery. According to the United States Postal Service, 97.5% of First-Class Mail delivery (which includes ballots) took between 2.5 days and 5 days to get across the country. But in places like Northern New England, 76% of ballots were processed by the USPS on time.  Statistics in Colorado and Wyoming were worse with 80% of arrived three days after they were supposed to.

While many people may presume this is political and an effort by Republicans to thwart mail-in-votes - A study gathered from Professor Michael McDonald of the United States Elections Project stated that over 66 million voters requested a mail-in-ballot while other studies predict over 80 million citizens will cast their vote by mailing in their ballot – over a 50% jump from 2016.

Politics aside, this is a huge increase in mail-in-ballots especially during a pandemic. For most of the year the pandemic has been a major hurdle to the supply chain industry - it only makes sense that the USPS may struggle too – unfortunately that could mean that many people’s votes aren’t counted. Seaver wanted to make it clear, “In the final push through the election, our entire team remains laser focused on advancing ballots to local boards and election officials as quickly as possible.”

If there’s one lesson that organizations can take away from the challenges brought on by COVID-19 it is the invaluable benefit of digital transformation for business longevity. Digital innovation is not a novel endeavor, however, the pandemic has brought the importance of going digital into focus for many industries.

Illinois-based manufacturer Trim-Tex knows a thing or two about digital transformation. The specialist in drywall products and accessories has put cloud-based technologies at the core of its operations for the last two decades. But four years ago, the leadership team decided to go all in with a data-driven approach to running its business.

As part of my role as an IT analyst for Trim-Tex, we needed to align all of our business processes if we were to be able to focus all of our efforts into managing our company growth effectively. Some of the initial challenges we faced included our production, maintenance and front office operations, all working in silos, which meant that the data we generated from these departments were, more often than not, very segmented. This meant that our leadership team lacked the insight they required to help and manage growth.

Power of Information

Sage100cloud became a common fixture across our operations as it provided the necessary integration and data workflow that our organization required to be successful. From our finance to operations, our teams were able to tear down any departmental silos by reducing errors and decreasing the amount of time financial team members were spending on time intensive processes. The transition to a single, wholistic platform provider allowed us to manage all of our business in one place with readily available data across the entire business.

With access to such data intelligence, our finance team could analyze budgeting and inventory data which delivered instant insight on our highest selling product on any given day, our capital expenditure and expected future revenue. These equipped our leaders with the type of information they were looking for so they could spend more time on growth.

Digital Transformation Opens New Opportunities 

By going all in on this digital journey, we became a more nimble organization. Embracing cloud technology allowed us to bring more customization to our technology, especially within the customer relationship management (CRM) side of our business. We were able to increase our team productivity and foster collaboration. Additionally, with access to a comprehensive and detailed view of our customers and their needs, we are able to empower our staff with complete customer information from both the front and back end office systems, enabling them to make the right informed decisions to resolve any issues, resulting in improved customer satisfaction.

The hallmark of a successful digital transformation is an ability to instil a cultural change designed to align employees and departments towards a common vision that will set them up for continued growth. The technology changes we’ve made at Trim-Tex had significant impact on allowing us to take full advantage of information enabling us to make critical decisions and pivot when we need to. For many other businesses, their digital transformation mileage will vary, however, my view is that the key to success is to continue to experiment and innovate with digital solutions in order to come out a stronger and more agile market disruptor.

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.