How can retail organizations scale their supply chain initiatives?

The digitization of the supply chain is one of the most important aspects of overall growth strategy of the business. To address the issue, Capgemini is come up with a report titled The Digital Supply Chain’s Missing Link: Focus. In this report the company has surveyed supply chain executives at more than 1,000 organizations across consumer products, manufacturing, and retail.

The main objective is here to understand digital initiatives followed by the key organizations, the benefits they are deriving, and the ways in which they are transforming their supply chains.

Strategize and plan for the digitization of your supply chain

Involvement from top management As per the Capgemini report, 57% of executives who participated in the report felt that lack of commitment from leadership is a key challenge since it is lengthy process and requires multiple functions such as planning, procurement, IT, and HR, among others.

Underlining the importance of top management Bastiaan Westhoff, global RCS & Wayside supply chain director at Bombardier, an aerospace and Transportation Company stated (also mentioned in the report) “The most difficult part in such a program is the change management. We needed to get buy-in from the regions. To get the buy-in, you need to reach out to the people directly impacted and you need to ensure you have the full commitment from top management. Without the buy-in you should not even start.” Senior leadership should also guide the program leaders on what is critical by setting goals for the digitization. If a supply chain needs to be more consumers centric, the objective and the drive to deliver will need to come from the senior leadership.