Wondering what is a supply chain control tower and its importance in the logistics industry? Well, you have come to the right place. This article discusses everything you need to know, so read it through. Now, without further ado, let’s begin!Â
A supply chain is a network of multiple companies and parties with their suppliers. The system aims to find the quickest way to deliver products to its customers. A supply chain consists of a vast network that has multiple parties involved. All of them share each other’s resources to minimize the downtime and produce as well as deliver products at a faster rate. It is a complete process, from the collection of raw material to the final delivery, and all the procedures in between are a part of the supply chain.
What is a supply chain control tower?
A Supply chain tower is a cloud-based platform where all the imperative data, vital connections, business modules, and networks related to supply chains are stored. It allows the organization to function correctly by prioritizing tasks, understanding its limitations and output, and resolving significant issues in real-time, which builds a strong customer connection.
People working in the supply chain know the pressure companies put on managers to provide customers with the fastest and most accurate services. Along with these heavy responsibilities, the demand for keeping and the prices as low as possible proves to be a quite tough challenge for supply chain managers. It is impossible to create a system with no loopholes, because of the uneven nature of all the units involved in the chain.
The essential job of a smart control tower is to offer prominence to each part of the supply chain. What matters the most in supply chain towers is their ability to forecast and evaluate events affecting them from the outside. Technological advancements such as Artificial Intelligence and specifically its sub-part machine learning helps in calculating data, and providing vital information, along with that, it helps in minimizing the workforce through robots and other automated machines and networks, as well as providing real-time insights that assists in margining operations and making changes a lot better.    Â
These advancements and adjustments help in enhancing collaboration and communication between departments and teams, resulting in better decision-making and improved productivity.
Types of control tower
There are multiple types of supply chain towers. Below we are going to discuss a few of them;
Transportation towers
Transportation towers are used to manage the advanced level of shipping and logistics operations. It is best for tracking orders, estimating delivery times, and calculating data to determine the cost, time, and resources for future operations.
Cost-reduction control towers
Cost-reduction or fulfillment control towers focus on accelerating the order time and decreasing downtime. They offer assistance in operations such as organizing and packaging shipments, reducing costs and increasing customer satisfaction.
Inventory-management control towers
Inventory management control towers provide real-time insights and changes in the system. Updating the track of orders helps maintain the inventory, which means fewer mishaps in the orders and stock is never short or more than required.
End-to-end transparency control towers
End-to-end visibility towers provide transparency to the system. They are programmed to vigilantly oversee the entire supply chain, especially factors outside the system that are negatively affecting efficiency. With better monitoring and visibility, you can resolve issues that are hindering your output, hence increasing the overall productivity.
Advantages of supply chain towers
Forecasting and decision making
When you’re calculating data rapidly, you can process the information and utilize it when making important decisions and creating future strategies. Getting to know your customer behavior and the pattern is a powerful tool, that can boost your business exponentially.
Real-tome changes and transparency
Supply Chain towers provide transparency across the entire system. The real-time data and insights help you make adjustments on the go! It reduces the possibility of errors in the chain and detects the errors and loopholes much faster than traditional methods. Â
Data-sharing is made easy!
Information-sharing has made it easy for multiple departments and teams to collaborate simultaneously and share data faster than ever before. The use of AI technology helps in organizing data and keeping the record of strategies. Data-sharing also helps in evaluating performances with preciseness and in real-time.
