Page 5 - Logistics News May 2016

manufacturing

Manufacturing supply chain
is transforming

The next two years will bring radical changes in manufacturers’ supply chain strategies and
operations, according to industry commentators. The drivers: technologies such as cloud-
based commerce networks, demand-sensing technology, and 3-D printing.

Acknowledgement to IDC Group

The way the commentators see it, manufacturing is on the and indirect materials for more than 15 years.
brink of a digital transformation. The industry’s processes, Over this time, commerce networks have progressed
business models, and human resource needs are set to be
radically changed by a host of still-developing technologies from largely EDI-based, point-to-point data transmission
and technology-driven trends. to richly interactive hubs, where a manufacturer and
its suppliers and partners can share structured and
While many of these technologies, such as e-commerce unstructured data. Today, commerce networks support
and 3-D printing, have been around for a while, they near-real-time communication and drive efficiency gains
seem to be converging to create a scenario of radical throughout manufacturing supply chains.
changes in the manufacturing supply chain over the next
24 months. Industry watchdogs have come up with some • Micrologistics.
bold predictions for how this digital transformation will By the end of 2018, at least a quarter of all manufacturers
change the manufacturing supply chain. will have implemented a ‘micrologistics’ network that
involves multiple, localised nodes, such as smaller
• Cloud-based commerce networks. regional distribution centres. This distribution strategy
By the end of 2016, the majority of manufacturers will be is being driven by the need to support retailers’ omni-
actively employing commerce networks in their supply channel efforts, according to the analysts. To enact these
chains to facilitate demand awareness, supply visibility, strategies, it is anticipated that many manufacturers will
or the development of new products. Commerce networks need to rely on outside partners, such as third-party
have already assisted manufacturers in procuring direct logistics providers.

6 May 2016 • Logistics News