Until recently, supply chains were mainly evaluated by efficiency indices (KPIs), while they were considered by many as a cost collector. The challenges of today’s world, however, have put the supply chain at the heart of corporate strategy and is now considered a point of differentiation or even a comparative advantage. In recent years we have seen companies we work with increase their market share, gain new customers, change their business model and evolve rapidly thanks to the fully digitized and “highly durable” supply chain they have built.

The most important trends that we see and believe will continue in the coming years focus on the following 3 main pillars:

 

• Fully automated robotic warehouses

Research has shown that the younger generations value more how easily and quickly they can acquire something despite the quality features of the product they are buying. This, combined with the power that giants like Amazon have gained, is forcing more and more companies to be able to deliver their products in the same day. The only way to achieve “Same Day Delivery” is through intelligent logistics systems such as SAP Extended Warehouse Management which guides the robots inside the warehouse and ultimately allows the immediate delivery of products to the end customer.

• Investing in Supply Chain Planning Tools

We see that companies we have been working with for years are looking for “smart” programming tools, as they now realize the benefits of a good plan that they may have neglected in previous years. The sharp fluctuations of prices in combination with the lack of important raw materials require the detailed planning of final products and raw materials until the availability of machinery and human resources. All of the above should be “translated” into a projected P&L that shows the financial image of the company.

• Experimenting with innovative technologies such as Robotic Process Automation και Machine Learning

Finally, we see a tendency especially by larger organizations to automate tasks that require a significant number of human resources. Examples of this could be requesting to purchase a spare part using a photograph to identify the item code or even predicting when a machine will break down in order to generate a maintenance order in a timely manner.

For us at Step One, our goal is to lead the digital transformation of our partners and improve their efficiency based on global pioneers such as SAP and Microsoft. This is our message to every business – to build a digital and “highly durable” supply chain that will be the backbone of the “Smart Business”.