Managing the Transformation to Supply Chain Digitalization
Regardless of your industry, you cannot avoid the shift to digitalize your supply chain processes. Implementing automation and digital solutions have become the surest ways to achieve the speed, agility and cost savings required to remain competitive in today’s tight labor market. But, like any technology deployed across your business, those results aren’t guaranteed. The process of introducing new technology into the supply chain must be carefully managed to minimize disruption and ensure objectives are realized.
Here are five practices we lean into at DHL Supply Chain as we work with our customers to advance digitalization that you may be able to adapt to your organization as you move forward with your initiatives.
Don’t Underestimate the Challenge
The new generation of supply chain technologies, such as indoor robotic transport, autonomous mobile robots and robotic arms have significant promise to reduce dependency on labor and improve throughput in a facility. They provide flexibility and are available with as-a-service financial models. But that doesn’t mean you can drop them into a warehouse and expect them to solely deliver results. Your warehouse configuration, the software systems you use, how you prioritize orders, and the physical characteristics of your inventory all need to be considered in the technology you choose and in how that technology is configured to your environment. There’s more front-end planning and post-installation optimization required than many organizations anticipate.
Leverage Your Full Capabilities
Your supply chain team needs to ‘own’ the implementation of the new technology deployments and get much needed support from across your organization. When we deploy a technology for the first time at DHL Supply Chain, we bring together a cross-functional team that includes operations, solutions design, engineering, IT and safety. All functions play a role in the successful planning and implementation of new technology. Your organization may not have the depth of expertise in each of these areas as a dedicated third-party logistics (3PL) provider, but every effort should be made to ensure there aren’t gaps in expertise as you plan and deploy new technology.
Benchmark Current Operating KPIs and Document Everything
One of the keys to having repeatable success in introducing new technology is to document the use case for the technology to be applied and the current operating environment, including key performance indicators. It is important to have a detailed implementation plan, customizations identified, and lessons learned, and there’s no better time to start doing that than with your first deployment. These technologies are new to the market and are not fully mature, so it is critical to have an iterative process to ensure implementation success.It will also save time in issue resolution and make every subsequent installation that much easier. At DHL, we create a “playbook” for new technology we work with that is expanded and evolved as our experience with that technology deepens.
Partner Strategically at Every Step
No matter how much experience you have introducing technology into the supply chain, it’s critical to partner closely with the companies that designed the system you are deploying and the software systems that will integrate with them. Successful deployments require both the operational expertise to configure and optimize a technology to a specific application and the detailed understanding of how systems are engineered and will respond based on the data they are provided. If either side of the equation is missing, the full capabilities of a particular technology can’t be exploited. Technology vendors today are jockeying for position in the growing supply chain market and are eager to work with their customers to ensure the success of their systems.
Plan for What’s Next
There are some exciting technologies available today and many more are in the pipeline. The new robotic arms that DHL is bringing to the warehouse through our collaboration with Boston Dynamics is just one example. This technology represents a major advance in warehouse operations by automating physically demanding and labor-intensive trailer unloading processes. So, whether you are new to supply chain technology or already using some of the newest technology, you must be prepared to continue to evolve as technology advances and more use cases are developed.
For many organizations, partnering with a logistics specialist such as DHL Supply Chain will be the most effective strategy for implementing new technology and staying current with technology advances. Our proprietary innovation funnel enables us to monitor emerging solutions across dozens of technology providers and fast-track the most promising ones, as we’ve done with Locus Robotics and Boston Dynamics, for example. By working closely with select partners through their product development cycles, we can even help ensure emerging solutions effectively address the challenges of today’s supply chains. And no organization has more experience implementing technology into the supply chain than DHL.
Learn more about how DHL Supply Chain can partner with you.
Author: Sally Miller, CIO, DHL Supply Chain North America
