Introduction to Supply Chain Analytics
It is the use of data and analytics techniques to improve the performance of the supply chain. This can involve analyzing data from various sources, such as sales data, production data, and transportation data, to gain insights into the performance of the industry.
Some potential applications of supply chain analytics include demand forecasting, inventory management, and network optimization. By analyzing data and identifying patterns and trends, organizations can make more informed decisions about how to manage their industry, leading to improved efficiency and cost savings.
It can also be used to improve the sustainability of it. By analyzing data on the environmental impact of different activities, organizations can identify opportunities to reduce their carbon footprint and improve their environmental performance.
Overall, the use of it can help organizations to better understand their operations and make data-driven decisions that drive performance improvements.
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What are the types of Supply Chain Analytics?
There are basically five fundamental types of Supply Chain Analytics:-
Descriptive Analytics
It can be seen as the baseline of the industry, which basically assesses past and current data for more meaningful insights and delivers it to the people to use their own intelligence and knowledge to make decisions.
Predictive Analytics
A slightly different version of it that analyzes historical data and identifies future events to synthesize information for actionable insights and ensure better decision-making with increased efficiency and lower cost
Prescriptive Analytics
Prescriptive Analytics builds on Predictive Analytics and dives deeper into predicting future insights on what next can be done. With the Sophisticated ML Model, deeper insights can be delivered to the managers to see how different scenarios align and what the results could be when going with one of them.
Cognitive Analytics
With the use of AI in the industry, answering complex questions and drawing out contextual conclusions on how humans would have interacted with the situation. It helps with more meaningful data and scale experience and knowledge with better decisions.
Diagnostics Analytics
Analyzing overall performance and figuring out why errors, mistakes, and delays occur. It lets the manager know the delays, breakdowns, and disruptions in the demand and supply processes and the reasons behind them.
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Why is it important?
It packs a lot of benefits to help a business grow with endless opportunities. Let’s review some of them:-
Predict Future Demand
Forecasting Future prediction by analyzing historical data and providing insights to understand processes and activities for a given period of time.
Identifying Risks
Analyzing data and providing future insights to forecast risks and steps to avoid them as efficiently as possible.
Increase Planning Accuracy
Analyzing customer data and providing better business insights to take initiatives and let the managers know the factors that increase and decrease the demands.
Streamlining Procurement
Analyzing spending across the departments or organizations to set up better contract negotiations and better acquisition of goods and services.
Reduced Inventory Costs
Collecting past orders and analyzing market trends can provide dynamic demand forecasting to ensure a better prediction of changes than any human approach.
Efficient Transport and Logistics
With Advanced Analytics predicting the transport networks and routes could be easier and managing the demands from forecasting and planning in advance.
How does Supply Chain Analytics Work?
Data is stored in operational sources and can include transportation, inventory, procurement, orders, etc. It can also include Suppliers, Carriers, and Receivers.
This Data is then extracted, transformed, and combined into a repository such as a data warehouse or data lake. This data provides a holistic view of the logistics network.
The analysis is done while applying different aspects and predicting future outcomes with AI-Models. The Models will then provide insights to take action on and showcase the KPIs in a visual format. Allowing the use of Visualization tools can help interpret the KPIs by developing deeper insights and identifying patterns.
These insights then work as a trigger or action for another system.
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Elements for effective Supply Chain Analytics
It is basically the face of every business for their customer. The better the supply chain is, the better trust and confidence the customer will have with the Suppliers or business. Here are key factors that define effective analytics.
The IDC Research group has identified the 5Cs of it:-
Connected
Effective analytics should have access to various data sources to gather information, whether it is structured, unstructured, or from a traditional ERP system.
Collaborative
Collaboration is important among Businesses and customers to complete the chain. The fact of not losing sight of each other should keep you in the process.
Cyber-aware
Cloud Security from cyberattacks and protecting your data for continuous going analytics.
Cognitively Enabled
Handing over the command to an AI control tower and relying upon decisions and actions all across the chain.
Comprehensive
The insights or reports should provide extensive information to enable the manager to keep track of the process and increase scalability to provide immediate results.
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Supply Chain Analytics Use-Cases
The Specific Requirements and Solutions Supply Chain Analytics provides every Logistics element to increase the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the whole process. Here are some Use Cases:-
Planning
Incorporating the Predictive Analytics and Machine Learning models to support the Planning process. Forecasting Customer Demands based on the current organizational scenario, past data, predicting future aspects of success, and figuring out the worth of service and product for the customers.
Procurement
Analyzing the need to purchase and determining whom, where and how much to buy is the purpose of Procurement analytics. This incorporates some points to keep in mind:
- Assessing the reliability and credibility of the partner.
- Analyzing the current partner for accountability, customer service, and performance.
Logistics
There are generally a lot of advantages of industry Analytics in Transport and Logistics. Fuel Management, Route optimization, Shipment Tracking, Vehicle Maintenance, and Return management are some of the best-managed factors.
Conclusion
Supply Chain Analytics holds a lot of importance for business as it represents the brand in front of the customers and makes them look credible and trustworthy. With various uses in the Logistics Industry to keep track of the processes with insight into every single element at every single stage of the operations, analyzing the data always seems to be favorable before carrying out any processes. Gathering future insight is what keeps the industry Running.
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