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COVID-19 Supply Chain Resources & Strategies

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COVID-19 Supply Chain Resources & Strategies

The COVID-19 pandemic is distressing millions of people worldwide while also stamping severe economic consequences to dwell for months to come. The lockdowns and closed airspace and borders had put a significant burden on the world’s supply chains as existing stocks were depleted. This pandemic is a caution light for executives to work on their supply chain resiliency.

The global supply chain disruption illuminates the significance of risk management. Businesses need to strive to minimize, mitigate, and manage the supply chain disruption and to adjust quickly to the shifting landscape.

Supply Chain Digitization

The digitalization of the supply chain is how companies can start to strategize and attain business resilience. Fortunately, new supply chain technologies are emerging, and more are being developed; the traditional linear supply chain model is evolving into digital supply networks (DSNs). Functional silos are deconstructed, and organizations communicate and connect to their supply network to enable end-to-end visibility, collaboration, agility, and optimization using digital technologies.  Big data analytics from these technologies can also help firms streamline their logistics and shipping processes as they are significantly improved through automation and the internet. The automation and the use of robotics can also mitigate the disruptive impact of the COVID-19 crisis through the restriction of people’s movement.

Focusing On Short-term Strategic Planning

Shippers, forwarders, and carriers should concentrate their efforts on short-term solutions to alleviate the direct impact of the COVID-19 crisis. They have to accept and take the challenge of the new reality emerging from the crisis- digital selling.

Supply chain companies shall equip themselves with tools improving communication, allowing them to assess, analyze and draw actionable insights from customer and market data as they work in real-time, while also maintaining smooth transactions and business continuity in general.

With severe instability in supply and demand, companies must make strategic device pricing. Companies must regularly tailor offers at the right and profitable price as they engage with their customers through digital channels. They must focus on sensibly optimizing the costs of their products and services while managing their payables.

Securing the Supply Base

Supply chain companies must forecast demand for supplies in familiar and unprecedented crises and the severe volatility in demand internationally, regionally, and locally.  They must have the ability to work closely with all sizes of suppliers to recognize and comprehend the actual risks to supply and the ripple effect on quality, timeliness, service delivery, local ecosystems, and regulatory compliance. Open and just-in-time exchange of information must be ensured.

To secure supply base capabilities, organizations must mobilize the response team and create cross-functional contact points for responding to immediate internal and external intervention needs and business continuity. Organizations must unceasingly assess supply chain disruption on products, services, and supply chains using advanced analytics. Sense and prioritize risks and identify blind spots. Shortlist the small, medium, and large suppliers to monitor, support, and reposition the supply chain from a risk generator to a customer-centered growth engine.

Responding to the COVID-19 crisis can seem overwhelming as everyone was struck by surprise. But this is the time for companies to learn from the ordeal and ensure their supply chains become more resilient and responsible than before.

 

 

The Future of Headhunting in Supply-Chain Management

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The Future of Headhunting in Supply-Chain Management

The industrial revolution was a major revelation to the whole world back in the 19th century. It changed people’s perspectives of the working industry holistically. The fast-paced revolution was sort of like an eye-opener to the public. It was a race to the future, and no one saw it passing so fast.

In 2019, the game is different in all aspects. Machines and modern equipment are not new. Technology, with a brisk run, has caught up with the lives of all the people, and they are dependent on it. There are tribal hamlets without big changes in villages and forests still, but technology is surely catching up. It won’t be long before you get mobile signals inside all dense forests.

Where is business heading then? The global research and advisory firm Gartner predict that within a year, at least 50% of major business systems will have IoT in it, in one way or the other. IoT is the internet connectivity extended into physical devices and everyday objects, and we would already know how big a role IoT plays already in our daily lives. To see a person not using Google maps for navigation in a major city would indeed be a sight of rarity.

If you think this is the pinnacle of technological advancement, then count it only as the beginning.  We are about to witness some more action. Gartner also predicts that up to 36 million inter-connected smart devices will be installed in a decade and that it would generate over $300 million in revenue. This means IoT will have a huge role to play in how the supply chain operates for business enterprises.

SCM Revolution

Supply-chain management is the effective management of the flow of goods and services, involving movement, storage and delivery of finished goods and services from the point of origin to the point of consumption.  SCM calls for an integrated approach in design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply-chain activities. IoT has a big role to play here.

Many global firms recognize the transformation role played by the IoT in the manufacturing, retail, and service sectors. Most of the organizations depend on IoT solutions for locating objects, containers, and personnel. Smart mailboxes are used by postal services in some remote areas to find out if the boxes are empty. This saves unwanted journeys. Some pharmaceutical companies use sensors to monitor their temperature-sensitive products. When you order a product online, you get an online tracker to monitor its delivery. All these setups increase the productivity of the organizations. This is business intelligence in its higher echelons.

The IoT devices have revolutionized the supply-chain systems.  It is much easier to know the whereabouts of the products/goods in storage or movement. It also helps the companies to stay competitive in the market. Let’s talk about some of the major operational efficiencies of IoT, and you will know about the main advantages in the field because of it.

 

 

 

Asset Tracking: Bar codes and tracking numbers were usually used to manage the goods in the supply chain.  However, IoT has changed the entire game plan. The old methods are no longer the best. There are plenty of methods using which the whole process can be expedited.  RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is used nowadays as the main method of communication.  RFID and GPS sensors can be used to track the products. It’s not just a matter of simple tracking here. These sensors can be used to calculate and arrange a wide array of data. Fetching granular data like the temperature of storage is an example. The amount of time spent by cargo and the exact location of the goods and products is priceless information. This way, the companies can use the data as leverage to minimize the flaws next time. The labor and time can be easily managed. In business, excessive time and headcount mean money lost, and through IoT, the companies get to save a lot of it.  In a nutshell, the organizations have a wide array of data that they can use to improve and take their business to the next level. Quality control, on-time deliveries and product forecast – It all becomes easier and much better.

Vendor Relations: When we talk about healthy relations with vendors, it doesn’t mean a friendly handshake or how good you are in talking them into a good deal. It is much bigger than that. Data shows that over 60% of the value of a company is derived from its suppliers. It’s a huge share and that is exactly why it is important to have healthy vendor relationships. The information available through IoT plays a crucial role here. When asset tracking improves, the companies get a good chance to tweak their production schedules and charts to improve their overall productivity. This way, it’s easy to zero in on poor vendor relationships that cost the company money. How are the vendors handling the supplies they are sending you? How are they handling them once the product is made? The quality of products is important, and it reciprocates as good relationships with customers, helping in customer retention as well.

Forecast and inventory: When data gets messier, the whole system crumbles. When there is an expert way to handle data, then there is more clarity. The accuracy of IoT in handling inventories is commendable. The speed and accuracy of the operations are better than any human who can do the same tasks at his prime. Instead of a human, when there is a robot to scan the QR codes or handle the data, then the speed increases manifold. This is already a custom in most of the multi-national companies like Amazon who are experts in Supply Chain Management. The inventory can be tracked easily, and the supplies for stock and future can be managed much more productively. Who wouldn’t want error-free efficiency and preciseness in handling data?

Connected Fleets: People used to wait for ages for a mail to come and fall on their doorsteps. But gone are those days. It’s faster, and forget predictions and hope, you can easily pinpoint the exact time of delivery and location of a product. It is imperative in supply chain management to have a connected network of containers, trucks, vans, or any vehicle in that case used for the transportation of goods. Nothing is lost and all information is just within the reach of your fingertip. Where are the containers? How long will it take to reach the destination? What are the possible contingencies and how can it be handled without losing time and manpower? There are questions aplenty, but a connected fleet with IoT is the answer to most of these questions. Data is the key, and there is an improvement in every step forward. Manufacturers, vendors, retailers, customers and all elements in the operational structure can reap benefits using IoT.

Maintenance: A faulty system or machine costs a lot for companies when it’s supply chain they are dealing with. For this reason, it is important for the companies/manufacturers to constantly keep an eye on maintenance. Smart sensors through IoT have the power to keep everything inter-connected and intact. This prevents downtimes and blackouts. Prevention is better than cure, and that’s exactly what scheduled maintenance through IoT can do to your network.

Why is IoT a Game-Changer? Let’s Summarise

  • It’s reassuring that goods can be precisely located, both in rest and motion
  • Problems with the goods lost, or delay in delivery can be easily identified and rectified
  • Stakeholders get to know when they can expect to receive and process goods
  • Real-time shipment and tracking
  • Visibility and transparency of stock/inventory
  • Quality management and optimization
  • Efficiency in storage and distribution of goods and products
  • Time-management
  • Healthy vendor-relationships

Impact on Recruitment

All these developments act as a precursor to a new generation where all the activities and operations will be aligned using a technological handle that’s both easier to manage and good for business. The future is coming quicker than we can anticipate. An inventory on a ruled A4-sized notebook – those days are history. We need more skills and in another decade the market will be filled with millions of jobs that we have absolutely no clue about. It is kind of scary, but it can also be exciting if you are ready to adapt and change according to the evolving environments all around you.

When there is a technological improvement or new methodologies of actions in place in a company, it will surely call for a better scale of operation and the employees should be well aware of it. The skills required and key roles will change invariably.

Cyber Security is one such area that will play a huge role in the effective handling of all these companies. With most of the data and information controlled and managed through the inter-connected IoT, it is easy for a rival to use the same as a scourge to create a huge ruckus. As technology finds its way higher up the ladder, there will be hackers aiming to bring it down as well. Security is a big issue, and all data should be safe. Count this as a synonymous industry that’s growing with IoT.

 

When it comes to supply chain management, most of the transactions happen online nowadays. Social Selling isn’t new, but it is really important for recruiters. Sales professionals will have to research their leads and candidates to build a good rapport with the system.  Like social selling, there are many foreseeable changes and things that can never be predicted galloping towards us.

 

The Future of Jobs in SCM

IoT, 3D printing and big analytics are already playing a key role in changing the dynamics of the Supply Chain Market. In the wake of ever-changing patterns in the market, what jobs can we expect?

The future of demand planning: It could be all about cloud-based planning systems. The real-time drill could be different from how they are before. Online transactions and algorithms will change the entire mechanics of demand planning. The demand planner can become a business creator.  At the transaction level, the executive will be able to prioritize, analyze and solve supply-demand balancing problems. The commercial impact will play a huge role.

Production Planning: A production planner of the yesteryear will have to collaborate with robots than be programmed in the wink of an eye. Thousand of working pathways can be simulated and all the permutations and combinations can be tested within seconds. The IoT equipped machinery is from the future and just being able to push a button or turn the handle or knob on time, are the skills that wouldn’t matter to anyone.  The production planner has to be an expert craftsman. There is no need to manufacture long runs of low unit costs, and it can effectively improve business and increase the company’s profit.

Logistics Management: To a large extent, it will all be about dealing with customer satisfaction. The options for planning on building a load, making a route map and checking customer’s availability will be quite easy. There will be plenty of options available, and analytics and automation will ensure that it happens on time. Logistics could become the next uber-cool thing of the future. Custom-packing, drones, and pods will change the entire landscape of the delivery of the goods. Customer satisfaction and directing these automated machines in the right course will be the future of logistics management. Numbers and combinations won’t be a problem. It’s all about becoming a Logistics director.

Resource utilization: It’s all about sustainability. Optimal consumption of the resources and sustainability are the marks of the future. The executives will require machine learning for optimal resource utilization. The Supply Chain leaders of the future will have to reinvent themselves.

All the Skills Needed:

  • Strategic Planning and Big Thinking incorporating IoT and AI
  • Technological expertise and ability to adapt and apply Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and the IoT in the supply chain
  • Collaboration, networking and relationship management
  • Control Tower leadership and single-point management skills
  • Ability to learn, adapt and use technological resources
  • Risk management and mitigation
  • Data analytics and high-level decision making
  • The ability to work seamlessly across all boundaries of culture, geography, and trends
  • Ability to quickly improvise and read the current trends
  • Lean and business process re-engineering
  • Machine-learning

Role of Headhunters

Due to the tectonic shift in the market, there is an increased need to educate and constantly be aware of the technological advancements. Big Data, Telematics, Warehouse and Workforce Management, IoT, AI, and Robotics – there is quite a lot that’s happening and changing in the supply chain industry. To effectively be able to select candidates who are aware and knowledgeable of these changes can be a daunting task.

Specialist recruitment services can make a big difference here. For functions like IoT, IIOT 4.0, Connected Devices, Telematics, Warehouse Management Software, and Workforce Management Software, there are headhunters who can get the right manpower with adequate knowledge.

Role of Headhunters for Supply Chain

  • To find the right candidates who are aware of the growing changes in the market
  • To find manpower who are adept and equipped with machine learning
  • To spot the right talent according to the changing environments in the industry
  • Hire the right candidates according to varying requirements
  • Educating the candidates about the requirements of the company
  • Assess, monitor and prepare a talent pool
  • Increase in productivity for the company by right placement
  • Act as a resourceful bridge for the candidate and client

It can be a daunting task to have a set of people working and get them to learn the alphabets from A to Z. Instead of that, the headhunters help in readying the right talent for all jobs in the chain. No second thoughts whatsoever! Headhunters play the role of talent agents for corporate companies.

The changing Course

It is always about adapting to the conditions that keep on changing all around us. Someone with decades of experience won’t be able to survive if he is unaware of the technological shifts around him. Someone good at his job will not survive if he is not ready to learn. IoT and AI are going to take over the operational cycles, and as much as it is good for profit-making and error-free operations, it also calls for high levels of flexibility and adaptive approach from the employees. The world is changing fast and it is imperative to keep on running.

Headhunters play a major role without any doubt. It helps the candidates and employees get what they deserve, and act as a mediator. It directs both the parties in the right direction. For corporate clients, it’s about a painless selection process. For candidates, it’s about the right job! They act as a bridge. In a way, you can call them game-changers.

 

The Future of Headhunting in Supply-Chain Management

HR Consulting in Industry 4.0

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HR Consulting in Industry 4.0

 

 INTRODUCTION

 

The industry is an integral part of any economy.  The mechanization of industry started with the First Industrial Revolution. The Second and the Third Industrial Revolution actually introduced the use of electrical energy, along with electronics and automation. However, driven by social, economic, political and technological changes, today’s economy is said to be facing the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This type of industrial revolution is known as Industry 4.0, which is credited to have brought a wide range of digital transformations in every existing industry or business. This has also brought important changes in the current processes replacing the manual business operations by digital computer structures.

The concept of Industry 4.0 was first introduced in 2011 at the Hannover Fair. Originally, it was a proposal for the growth of a new idea of German economic policy based on high-tech manufacturing plans. Many industries have since embraced the concepts Industry 4.0 and have extended these smart changes into diverse areas such as logistics, smart buildings, oil and gas, smart healthcare and even to smart cities.

The main concept of Industry 4.0 is that the industrial business will be built by global networks in the future which will connect their machinery, manufactures and warehousing facilities as cyber-physical systems and will also control each other intelligently by giving out information and data processing that will head suitable actions. These cyber-physical systems will take the shape of four smart changes which is smart factories, smart machines, smart storage facilities and smart supply chains.

 

 

  1. Significance of Industry 4.0

 

The major significance of Industry 4.0 lies in the creation of a communication pipeline for the constant and real time informational exchange with retailers, manufacturers, health care workers, co-workers, customers themselves etc. Its main mechanism is the dependence on machines that will stream data via wireless sensors and then sending these data to smart services or product providers and decentralized multiple small centers, where large amounts of data are analyzed. The benefit of such automation is the individual customer-oriented transformation of products and services that increases the value for both the concerned organizations and customers. With the use of electronics and information technologies in manufacturing and services, all processes have become fully atomized and digitalized during the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Small and medium industries have been significantly transformed by new age technologies such as 3D printing and new sales online services. But if we look through the customer point of view, the main benefit is personalized service or product in real time, which leads to satisfaction and loyalty benefit in case of provider companies. On the other hand, companies have to understand how associated consumer products and services can perform as a critical basement in their decision-making process.

There is a common misunderstanding that Industry 4.0 benefits only the manufacturing industries but it will also benefit the manufactures. Manufacturers are the prime focus of Industry 4.0’s but it will also influence its other contiguous areas. It not only has an impact on the local cyber-physical systems and local industrial processes but also on the entire value chain, including the producers and manufacturers, suppliers, and workers.

Two of the main tools that accompany the Industry 4.0 revolution are the smart factory and smart manufacturing, which is also known as intelligent factory or factory of the future. In this field, the manufacturers are well equipped with sensors, actors, and autonomous systems. The introduction of new technologies, machines and equipment will improve all the technological processes autonomously through self-decision making and optimization. This will result in self-organization of the manufacturing process which will change the logistics and production chains.

Another important idea of Industry 4.0 is the smart city concept. A smart city is also known as the city of the future which consists of six components such as the smart economy, smart living, smart people, smart governance, smart mobility and smart environment. It should be an outcome of seemingly faster development of the ‘next-Gen’ IT and traditional economy. It will be related to the effective assimilation of the Internet, broadcast network, telecommunication network, wireless broadband and other sensor networks with the Internet of Things (IoT) technology at the center.

In addition, Industry 4.0 involves the attainment process of materials and describes as to how a product moves through the production and delivery process to the customer. Deep analyses of the current execution of new technologies were made in the production sector to comprehend the evolution of the industrial workforce with that of Industry 4.0.  Nowadays the main focus of the future industry is on the interaction of its constituent elements in production and the final products are created with as much automation as possible, to go with the present technological progress. New technologies are an integral part of our daily life. It is also important for expanding more with further development of the Internet and technologies such as 3D printing, customized products, greater online sales services etc.

 

 

The added advantage will be seen more in the new products and new solutions in a foreseeable future. Each of the objects produced can be possibly connected and networked. As a result, different business will be designed that involves the use of the Internet and connectivity. Industry 4.0 manufactories will increase their productivity and competitiveness which in result will enlarge their industrial workforce. Many technological changes will occur which may include execution of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) for production, smart manufacturing, embedded actuators and sensors, augmented reality, networks of microcomputers, and linking the machines to the value chain and so on.

 

Once these changes are implemented into a business, manufacturers will be able to create new jobs with the adoption of Industry 4.0. Although the type of job and the required skills will vary depending on the manufacturing process and the use of new technologies, the demand for new skills (catalyzed by new technological changes) will help the emergence of new jobs. Apart from the manufacturing industry, Industry 4.0 has impacted the oil industries a big way of late.  Many giants in the energy sectors have also embraced the Industry 4.0 processes into their operations and they have found immediate results, particularly in the areas of energy storage and the deployment of renewable energy.

Thus, it is only sufficient to say that Industry 4.0 will definitely bring about significant transformations into the economic sector and also to the social and political landscape as a whole.

 

 

  1. Industry 4.0 and HR practices

 

Because of the benefits of globalization and increased collaboration between EU, US and Japan and other countries, the industries have changed a long way, with the global spread of Industry 4.0. The Fourth Industrial Revolution has been able to give a complex vision on future of the industry that includes the use of Big Data Analytics, interconnected machines, connected devices, cyber-physical systems, cloud computing, software and Industrial Internet of Things (IoT). The HR domain of organizations has not been resistant to this phenomenon either.  HR practices have also taken a leaf out of the global smart practices shown by Industry 4.0 and a new area called Smart HR 4.0 has got evolved. Smart HR 4.0 portrays a bright canvas for digital transformation in the HR functions of recruitment, learning and development, social sharing etc.

Smart Human Resources 4.0 is a new idea which is growing as a part of the overall 4th Industrial Revolution and is distinguished by the innovations in digital technologies such as Big Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence and fast networks such as 4G and 5G. With significant changes due to come into effect in the future, HR 4.0 will have its own set of execution challenges and sets of benefits. These benefits will, of course, depend on how the concerned organization adopts it.

The benefits of Smart Human Resources adoption are:

  • To attract, develop and employ new age talent.
  • Systematic and faster HR operations.
  • Slender HR departments.

The HR department of any organization is responsible for handling all the related aspects of the employee life cycle, from recruitment to exit. HR plays a key role the in organizational growth. However, most of the departments in HR across different organizations today are seen to be playing only an operational role. This resulted in highly inefficient processes which are further worsened by inadequate technology infrastructure. On the other hand, technology is experiencing rapid changes. The new age technology such as the Internet of Things is enabling the digital world to be connected to physical things. This resulted in the generation of a huge amount of real-time organizational data which is guided by massively scalable storage capacities simultaneously using cloud technology.

Not only technological innovations, but the industry is also witnessing vast changes in employee generations joining the organizations.

Smart human resources 4.0 is powered by the new generation employees and new technologies. The employees have the potential to transform all the HR processes taking into account the aspects of talent onboarding, talent development and talent off boarding.

 

Just like any other concept, the incorporation of Smart HR 4.0 practices is not without its fair share of challenges. Smart Human Resources execution challenges can be explained as follows:

  • Firstly, in selecting the correct set of new technological tools.
  • Dealing with the present organizational culture.
  • Handling employees’ expectations.

 

Another important point to consider here is the changing nature of HR practices due to the influence of Industry 4.0 processes. If we take the example of the industrial production sector, we will observe that significant changes have taken place in the industrial production processes during phases of industrial revolutions. Firstly, we saw the advent of steam power generation; then came the use of electricity and now is the time for automatization. However, we need to keep in mind that the technological waves did not decrease the overall employment rate at all, in spite of the widespread preference for automatization. Instead, it has experienced a gradual growth during this time. Although there has been a dramatic reduction in the number of manufacturing jobs, new jobs came into existence to suit the new skills demanded by the new processes attached to the Industry 4.0 practices. It is expected that HR practices in the manufacturing and industrial production ( along with all supported business) will see major changes with the advent of upcoming digital disruption. The production business will become increasingly capital intensive and the labor cost advantages attached earlier to the traditional pockets of low-cost areas will be reduced significantly. This is going to impact the HR consulting in this industry a big way.

Industry 4.0 has been able to bring in important changes into the industries, more particularly into the way jobs are executed by the industrial workers. As a result, scopes of certain jobs have got completely changed, while some kinds of jobs have totally disappeared. Some companies have also developed plans to replace some of the human workers totally with robots to assist the workforce. There will be a significant decrease in the number of routine or physically demanding jobs as well.

While there will be an increase in jobs that require problem-solving, flexible responses and customization-investments and constant change are the main challenge faced by industry HR 4.0 as there is a need to build a complex value network that produces and distribute quality HR products.

 

 

  1. Conclusion

An organization, on the other hand, requires a successful Smart Human Resources 4.0 strategy so that it can cope up with the Industry 4.0 transformation challenges. Big Data and AI are such emerging technologies that will automate most of the HR processes in an efficient and leaner HR team. The next generation talent will be attracted towards the organization through smart mobile apps along with AR/VR. This will also facilitate smart remote interactions between teams. The changes in both the organizational structure and leadership style would be required for efficient Smart Human Resources 4.0 implementation. This will also allow the HR departments to play a more planned role in the growth of the organization.

 

 

 

HR Consulting in Industry 4.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top 10 Future Trends in Supply Chain and Logistics

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Top 10 Future Trends in Supply Chain and Logistics

From the first wheel in the Neolithic age to the modern automated driver less automobiles, the logistics segment is ever evolving. Wheel was definitely one of the greatest invention made by men after the invention of fire.  The invention of the wheel evolved transportation and has given rise to the modern day logistics industries and to the ever growing dimension of the supply chain management. Advanced technologies, globalisationand digitalisation of processes has resulted in immense metamorphosis of the supply chain cycle. Today, we shall discuss 10 future trends that will definitely make an impact on the supply chain segment in the coming years.

  1. Customer segmentation:Logistics industries have shifted from the traditional approach of segmenting customers on the basis of age, gender and occupations. The trends predict that customers must be now segmented on the basis of their purchasing and delivery needs and requirements.
  2. Risk Management: Reduction and mitigation of risks will remain a top priority for Supply chain managers. Legal requirements, risk screening and elevated diligence by interested parties have created immense pressure on the supply chain industry to prioritize risk management.
  3. Digitalization: The application of digital gadgets to redesign the supply chain management operations will remain a popular trend in the logistics industry. Reliability on automated digital applications minimises human intervention and error.
  4. Robotics: Widespread adaptation of advanced technologies, artificial intelligence and robotics will increase across the supply chain cycle. Robotic process automation or Artificial Intelligence allows the logistics companies to cut down on costs, eliminate errors and relieve the workforce from strenuous and repetitive physical tasks.
  5. Reverse Logistics: The supply chain industry has shifted from a linear supply chain to a circular supply chain. Used products are now sent back to the supplier for re-use via reverse logistics. This has brought about higher sustainability and increased customer loyalty in the supply chain industry.
  6. Real time inventory management: Sensors and POS machines can capture inventory at real time. This streamlines the supply chain process and reduces inventory hold time. When everything is tracked through internet sensors, it also minimises loss of products.
  7. Visibility and transparency: Futuristic supply chain leaders can incorporate better visibility into their supply chain process and create transparency to enhance the customer delivery experience. Transparency provides strategic foresight to the business and allows innovation with the suppliers.
  8. Real time tracking: Real time tracking of the cargo and transportation enables the manufacturing plant, warehouse and supplier to work in collaboration and plan their business needs accordingly.
  9. Block chain technology: With the ever expanding global economy, there is bound to be a resource scarcity at many levels. Logistics companies will utilisedecentralised block chain technology as an advanced alternative to substitute for the same. Block chain technology can be used to store records, manage expense statements and verifycustomers at the receiving end by storing their IDs through block chain technology.
  10. Data driven approach: Demand anticipation is now done on the basis of data analysis and not just market prediction. Predictive analysis backed up with data captured from the current buying trends in the market will provide deeper insights into the market demand and supply ratio.

The supply chain industry is highly competitive and fast paced. The wheel has to keep moving forward. Business leaders must plan in advance and apply these trends to keep ahead in the global market.

Top 10 Future Trends in Supply Chain and Logistics

Lean logistics – Why is it important

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Lean logistics – Why is it important

 

Lean logistics- What is this?

Organizations these days make concerted efforts towards improving their inherent business processes as they have realized that it gives them that all-important competitive advantage in an otherwise ‘cut-throat’ supply chain market. Reduction in inventory, time and cost are important ingredients of this improvement process and lean logistics is used to ensure the same in a faster way.

Simply speaking, lean logistics is the method of recognizing and removing wasteful or redundant activities from the existing supply chain in an organization, in order to enhance the delivery of products and services.

Lean logistics – why is it important

Before comprehending the importance of lean logistics, we need to know about the concept of ‘lean thinking’. This concept has its roots in the widely-acclaimed manufacturing methods applied by Japanese automakers. Lean thinking thrives on the idea of eliminating inventory in any form, from all organizational processes. It regards any inventory, which is not in accordance with the customer/organizational needs, as waste and tries to minimize it.

Toyota used this concept in its manufacturing process successfully to counter a shortage of resource. Soon other companies followed suit and started employing lean thinking in diverse areas such as product development and supply chain management, in addition to manufacturing.

Lean thinking is beneficial for customers too. As it always looks for maximizing the value of products/services and perfection by eliminating waste, it ensures that customers do not need to pay for the lack of organizational efficiency and organizational waste, if any.

Lean thinking has its utmost impact on the field of logistics. If an organization incorporates this useful concept into its SCM operations, it can experience immediate benefits from improved customer service, reduced environmental impact, in addition to other associated benefits of waste minimizations the elimination of waste from organizational processes reduces inventories, process time and cycle time get reduced significantly. This also helps to increase the overall flow and velocity of the supply chain.

By focusing on the value of “total cost”, lean thinking makes a big cultural impact on the entire logistics and SCM operations of a company. What separates the lean thinking is that it focuses more on the complete ownership cost, instead of emphasizing on individual cost components such as transportation or warehousing. Making important cost decisions based on total ownership provides important logistical advantages for an organization. This is so because carrying of inventory usually constitutes about 25 to 40 % of the total logistics cost and the company can make significant savings through lean logistics applications. Without this approach, organizations are forced to keep more emphasize on individual cost factors such as transportation, warehousing and obsolete sourcing practices.

Why is acquiring talents in logistics becoming a challenge?

The logistics and manufacturing fields find their place among the oldest in the world but it has been a heck of a challenge to recruit quality personnel in these fields. Many logistics giants have revealed that it has become increasingly difficult for them to recruit and maintain top-tier talents in critical lean logistics jobs as well. There is a ‘un-announced’ war for quality talents in this industry which has defined and reshaped organizational strategies for recruiting and maintaining logistics personnel. The higher demand and expected turnover of quality lean logistics employees are also contributing to this problem.

The dynamics of the SCM industry is fast changing. A lot of accompanying factors such as a narrow labor market, Baby Boomer attrition, implementation of modern technology, e-com revolution and so on are pushing the logistics operations beyond boundaries and the management are forced to redesign the way they recruit and retain their valued employees. Supply chain leaders are now thinking in terms of hiring personnel within the organization itself and preparing them for critical logistics roles through adequate training and mentoring procedures. Many logistics companies have started investing in these programs and have also started to look for other futuristic avenues to counter this problem.

The great news for new graduates is that they can look into the logistics and supply chain as a more rewarding career option. Though it was thought to be a manual labor job traditionally, the perceptions have changed entirely of late and it is widely seen as more of a white-collar job these days. Gone are those days where the bulk of the work in logistics operations consisted of heavy and manual work. These days, these have been replaced by highly automated technology which has made distribution and manufacturing environments much better places to work in.

As per a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the logistics jobs in the U.S. will grow by 26 % in this decade, by the end of 2020. Unlike other markets, the impact of unemployment in logistics is significantly low. Rather, there is still a dearth of quality workers in this market and this is contributing to a huge demand for logistics/supply chain professionals and the industry is yet to come to terms with this demand. The existing logistics/supply chain workforce is also finding it difficult to keep pace with increasing customer expectations for faster delivery, fuelled by the far-reaching impact of modern technology and a stronger focus on speed. All these factors combined, specialized and quality workers have been kept on high demand and employers are left with no option but to recruit and retain the best of the talents, even with a more inflated HR budget than ever before.

 

Here, we will discuss what top companies can do to encourage people to work in logistics-

Attract new working professionals through adequate training

Recruiters should first conceptualize the characteristics, traits and behaviors of a new working professional/employee and should figure out whether he/she is the best fit for a critical logistics role or not. Then informative and engaging training programs should be formulated to attract the attention of such professionals. The field of logistics is an evolving one and new technologies, business models and improved processes keep coming into the systems every now and then. Therefore, professionals need to possess the necessary expertise/knowledge accordingly. An adequate training program can satisfy this need of professionals and such a prospect can attract the best logistics professionals towards an organization.

Training can play a major part in an existing employee-management set up in any supply chain organization as well. Finding quality talents in SCM operations is a challenge faced by most organizations these days and hence, nurturing talent development is critical for companies. It is quite hard to get and train replacements for critical SCM positions which require specific skill sets including knowledge of technology and business process.  An efficient and well-planned cross-functional training can be a good ‘antidote’ to such issues and will go a long way towards improving organizational resiliency. Training programs will also help in accurate skill assessment of individual employees and possible skill gaps can be identified with ease. Training programs can be designed according to meet the personal objectives, timelines, learning pace and style of individual participants – in order to maximize the outcome.

 

Establish relationships with schools/institutions

Forging tie-ups with adult education centers, schools and vocational institutions can be another way to bring and encourage young or entry-level workers to the field of logistics. Supply chain companies often look for fresh college graduates for entry-level positions and can recruit such graduates through campus interviews.

Relationships can be developed with business schools (that impart education/programs in supply chain management) to provide quality manpower for managerial positions. Organizations can provide apprenticeships or paid internships to students specializing in supply chain management so that young people can look at logistics as a viable and rewarding career option. This can also promote scholastic achievements which may prove to be beneficial for both students and organizations in the long run.

 

Enhance benefits for logistics employees

As a general practice, organizations mostly provide competitive salaries to woo high-quality workers in any field. But, more should be done on this front to improve the standard of living /quality of life for employees in the field of logistics and, thus, to keep them motivated.

Most millennials these days are worried about their financial security in the future as most of them are riddled with one or more sources of long-term debt. An effective retirement benefit program can be provided by organizations to motivate them and drive away insecurities from their minds. This way, new talents can be attracted easily as today’s generations look to have a proper work/life balance and lucrative/unique perks can work perfectly towards keeping the best young talents with an organization for long.

A combination of a well-developed compensation plan and incentive schemes should be a critical component of any employee retention strategy. Recognition plays a very important part of making the employees feel valued. When employees feel a sense of being valued/appreciated, it boosts their job satisfaction which, in turn, triggers loyalty and creates harmony in a work environment.  Therefore, in addition to recruiting and training SCM talents, organizations should invest in employee retention and creating a culture of value, respect and mutual appreciation. This will ensure success to follow.

Develop a dynamic yet strong corporate culture

Salary has ceased to become the sole important criteria for younger generations to decide about a job opportunity these days. Companies these days thrive in developing a fun-filled, dynamic and social working culture so that the best of the employees can be retained with minimum effort. The new generation workers these days look for purpose and meaning in their assigned works. Treating them as important individuals and providing them with an environment full of opportunities go a long way towards securing the best of their services.

Innovation is the key

Young and quality workers are always attracted to a working environment that encourages innovation. The organization should implement the modern logistics tools and industry best-practices to attract millennials who were born in an era marked by technological disruption. They would not like to work for a company that uses obsolete processes to carry out routine tasks.

 

Make Investments towards the future of supply chain

Supply chain companies may invest now for ensuring the future flow of quality SCM personnel to the organization and the industry as a whole. For example, they may organize programs in college/university campuses where guest speakers can explain to the students the benefits of being in the logistics and supply chain industry or about the future career prospects in this industry. This will foster excitement and interest in students to look for a possible career in the supply chain.

Supply chain organizations may also work in collaboration with reputed universities and help them to devise courses/programs related to specific SCM job skills and make necessary changes in the curriculum accordingly. This will help the organizations to get ‘ready for work’ university graduates in the future.

The road ahead:

A marked generation shift is observed in today’s workforce and more so in the supply chain and logistics industry. The inevitable retirement of Baby Boomers and the steady assimilation of Gen Z (workers born during the period from the mid-‘90s up to the year 2000) into the industry has changed the entire perception of the recruiters. Now the recruiters are forced to devise their recruitment strategies in order to woo professionals with innovative benefit packages. Every company in the market offers competitive salaries these days but they constantly evaluate their benefits packages while recruiting as this is an important criterion for the GEN Z workers.

Companies are updating their retention strategies to become a ‘standout recruiter’ and stay ahead of competitors when it comes to wooing quality talents. Such strategies include investing a significant amount of the HR budget on the professional development of the supply chain employees. Many organizations are also using extensive mentorship programs to reinforce employee engagement.

Organizations have realized that chalking out a clear career path and providing diverse development opportunities for employees can help a great deal in the retention of quality employees in today’s competitive environment. This helps the employees too as they get a clear idea of where they will be after, say, five years from now.

Lean Specialized Personnel Consulting

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Lean Specialized Personnel Consulting

 

The trend of lean specialized personnel consulting is growing rapidly in today’s commercial world. Typically, in lean specialized personnel consulting, the task or specializations accomplished the consultants need to execute various responsibilities associated with the lean management of commercial setups.

In the lean specialized personnel consulting, the consultants ensure that the client cut down on the wasters and makes sure that the existing process can be made more efficient. While doing it, the organizations also look at increasing its profit margins along with the expansions of business horizons.

Lean Specialized Personnel Consulting: An Efficient Team Work

The lean specialized personnel consulting is basically teamwork, where each team members is assigned with certain specific duties. The overall and prime objective of lean specialized consulting is to achieve various specific goals of projects.

While offering lean specialized personnel consulting, the consultants or the consulting agencies are guided by a specific set of effective and time-bound guidelines.

Hence, in the process of lean specialized personnel consulting, the consultants and the consulting agencies should be shortlisted based on the fulfilment of the below three prime requirements.

  • The consultants must have requisite training and certification for the role
  • Requisite experience and successful track record
  • Have an efficient and qualified team

Prime Responsibilities of Lean Consultants

One of the prime responsibilities of lean personnel consulting is extending personal specializations. Further, lean consultants are also responsible for identifying the various best practices in the industry and implement them efficiently in a time-bound manner. The lean consultants are also responsible for access to the requirements of clients correctly and take the required necessary steps to address the issues and the challenges involved.

The primary goal of the lean management consultants is to eliminate the no value activities from the system and assist businesses towards the implementation of methodologies which can largely streamline the presently followed processes that do not result oriented and profitable.

In short, the basic role of the lean consultants is to reduce the wastage of time, effort and money which will, in turn, ensure that the activities undertaken are time as well as cost-efficient. Further, lean consultants also need to ensure that the outcomes meet the required industry standards and qualities.

Lean Specialized Personnel Consulting: Experience and Expertise

For the organizations, figuring out the needed expertise and experience among the available lean consultants is a key challenge. The professionals offering specialized lean consulting services need to have the requisites experience and skills to drive the task entrusted. In such a scenario, the skill set of the lean consultants needs to be highly specialized for streamlining of the process towards driving improvements. Generic experience and skill set will not be enough for such a task.

Key is Providing Effective Guidance

Learn specialized personnel consulting always involves offering effective guidance. Such guidance is always based on the technical knowledge and expertise of the consultant. Such directions must be able to break down the complex tasks to simpler ones.

Thus, the accomplishment of the task involves a clear road map of pre-work and event planning; although the task accomplishment does not end here. The lean consultants further need to offer support and drive continuous improvement activities for the enterprise and their activities. All such activities must lead to the desired goal of cost economy in projected lesser efforts.

It is to be noted that there is a fundamental difference between coaches who imparts training on lean management and lean consultants. The roles of coaches are only to impart training whereas the lean consultants are like a friend, philosopher and guide to the enterprises and the executives; they lead them on a right path towards greater success and profitability.

List of Expectations for the Lean Specialized Personnel Consultants (Example: For the Industries Like Manufacturing)

If one is looking out for hiring lean specialized personnel consultants for a manufacturing enterprise; they should look out for the below points prior to making the hiring decision.

  • Do not always focus on the price point. Review the skill sets and experiences carefully
  • Prefer consultant who loves to discuss wrenches and drills instead of only pie and bar charts
  • Always try to treat consultants like a god. Ensure to follow their recommendations rigorously without challenging them. It is to be noted that defensiveness is self-defeating. If you are finding it difficult to trust your consultant, it is always good to opt for a right replacement
  • Remember that consults should not execute anything. To ensure that the new set of skills to take root in the enterprise, the in-house workforce must execute the responsibilities in the close supervision of the consultants. The goal of the organization should be the permanent implementation of lean skills within its system
  • Ensure to pull out everything from the consultants in terms of recommendations and ideas

Lean Specialized Personnel Consulting: Rising Demand in Finance Domain

The role of financial executives continues to expand. There has been an increasing trend that is echoed on how enterprises work with lean consultants. Today, enterprises are increasingly looking at specialized assistance from the lean consultants from ERP upgrades to navigating period of accelerated growth. Further, firms are also seeking experienced project professionals for various broad ranges of activities.

Learn specialized personnel consulting becoming an area of growing emphasis is business systems. According to a recent study conducted by Robert Half Management had reported that more than 61 per cent of chief financial officers work with lean consultants. These consultants are primarily engaged with performance improvement initiatives of the enterprises.

The study has further excerpts that more than 55 per cent of chief financial officers expect these consultants to work for finance and accounting projects. In addition, more than 25 per cent of them wants to engage them in finance, governance, risk and compliance works. The study has also reported that the demand for consultant assistance for finance optimization project has been experiencing steady growth.

Today, organizations rely on lean financial consultants to lead key projects and senior level roles on an interim basis. Increasingly, consulting is becoming an attractive career option among experienced professionals, who loves to enjoy greater time flexibility and increased exposure to diverse challenges.

How an organization find or understand that they need specialized expertise from lean financial consultants. Answers to the below five questions will help in finding out the same.

Is there any high-level initiative that is of a finite duration or a onetime need for the organization?

Across small as well as large-scale initiatives organizations can collaborate with skilled and experienced professionals who have the requisite expertise to focus on the specific challenge in hand. For example, organizations can hire consultants both on an individual or team level to streamline various requirements such as business process improvement, financial systems upgrade and activities such as merger and acquisitions.

Is there an upcoming initiative in the organization, for which the required set of skills not available in-house?

For certain initiatives, the in-house staff may not possess the requisite skills and full-time hire may not also is the requirement for a shorter duration. In such a scenario, organizations always look out for short time consultant who has the requisite knowledge and skill set to fulfil the need. Further, organizations can direct such consultants to nurture the requisite skills and industry best practices among the in-house staffs and across various levels of the organization.

Is there any senior-level position vacant in the organization or there is a requirement of changing skill set?

There may be a time when senior level financial roles can be vacant in an organization which need to be staffed by a financially skilled professional. In some cases, the employer or an organization may not be ready to hire a fulltime replacement immediately.

In such a context, some organizations may have immediate short-time demands during various business stages, such as during their high growth cycles or during the stages of pre-IPO.

In such scenarios, organizations may need assistance from experienced executives to hold the post, until a full-time executive is confirmed or finalized. Financial consultants with specialized skills as required by a specific organization can fill such positions for an interim basis meanwhile the organization determine its long-term goals.

Are there any additional projects within the organization which need special attention and the internal staffs do not have requisite skills and capacity to handle it?

In certain cases, the workload of an organization can spike exponentially where the limited internal workforce is not sufficient to handle that. In such a scenario, the specialized lean consultants can step in immediately to address the rising business demand of the organization. This will allow the needed space for the full-time workforce to focus on the core competencies of the organization.

Are There Any Cyclical Demands Which Requires Any Additional Consulting Support?

Most of the financial and accounting activities are cyclical and they come with monthly, quarterly and annual deadlines. In such scenarios, external financial consultants can be hired to handle the additional cyclical pressure and responsibilities. Across such cases, the organizations usually look at various seasonal supports externally.

Hiring A Lean Specialized Personnel Consultant: What are the Pros & Cons?

It has been observed that organizations follow two types of growth models. A set of organizations highly relies on its internal workforce drive business performance to chase growth. On the other hand, a certain set of organizations plays lean and hires specialized consultants towards maximizing their business performance.

These specialized consultants are primarily the third-party entities who collaborate with the organizations when needed. As part of their collaboration, these entities understand the business operational flow of an organization, offer growth strategies and take it forward from what already achieved.

Instead of assigning a set of employees with the task of streamlining existing operations, the lean consultants work towards offering specialized assistance to optimize various business processes of the organization.

If an organization’s area of operation is manufacturing, hiring a consultant could be the move that the organization is looking at transforming its business and operation processes to achieve greater efficiency.

What do Consultants do?

Offer Growth Strategies: Growth is the prime goal for every organization or businesses regardless of the industry it’s operating into. For the various industries such as manufacturing, following sustained growth is highly difficult. Sustained business growth in the manufacturing industry highly depends on several factors such as in certain cases the innovations can be slow as well as risky.

In such scenarios, the hiring of growth consultants rightly pays off. In the cases, where an organization is aware of the limitations and has goals, but do not aware of the process of implementing a winning strategy to promote the growth, a consult can be handy with sound solutions.

In such organizations, the lean consultants can use multiple tactics to assist the manufacturers to innovate the new products faster while limiting the risk, effort involved and production costs.

 

 

Nurture the Workforce: As the experienced and older employees continue to retire, the younger workforce can become confused as they may not have an understanding of what the industry has to offer. Due to which attrition can become a challenge for the organizations. In such a context, the lean consultants become the key towards bringing organizational transformation by imparting customized training to the workforce on the new technologies and industry best practices.

To attract the younger generations in the traditional industries such as manufacturing, lean consultants streamline their efforts to recruit millennials by showcasing their industry. For example, some enterprises organize open events at their facilities and invite students and younger generations. Such efforts help in showcasing internal processes of a manufacturing-based organization and potential career opportunities for the future.

Implementation of Lean Operations: In manufacturing, the concept of continuous improvement is at its core. At a small or a mid-sized level, continuous streamlining of the operational process is usually simpler and easier. But, when an organization grows exponentially with offerings of multiple products and multiple production processes, it becomes difficult for an organization to streamline its various efforts.

In such contexts, the lean consultants can become very helpful in streamlining multiple operation processes towards continuous performance improvements. Specialized consultants work towards the implementation of lean operation by eliminating the waste across several areas starting from front office to distribution.

Optimization of Supply Chain: Constant optimization of the supply chain is the winning strategy for sustained business growth of the manufacturing-based enterprises. An experienced and highly skilled supply chain consultant strategically helps toward the improvement of product distribution at a better and lower price point.

Advantages of Consulting

Offers Assistance from a Specialist: An external consultant most likely to have experience from the exact field that you are into and also have past experience that may too mirror your current situation. Collaboration with such a consultant offer you peace of mind by knowing that the business is in the right hand who has been in a similar situation before.

Get an External View on Your Operations: Sometimes, there is a need for a neutral external perspective to understand the scope of improvements. In certain cases, it helps in operational improvements, instead of a known internal approach. With an outsider view, the current business challenges can get cleared up towards the achievement of desired goals and the improvement of overall efficiency.

The hiring of Consultants is Affordable than Hiring a New Employee: It is to be noted that hiring an employee usually cost more than hiring a specialized consultant. The hiring of a new comes along with the added cost such as the requirement of workspace, technology, benefits and more. On the other hand, consultants are hired specifically hired for a specific time-bound project. Thus, consultants come much cheaper than hiring a full-time employee. However, it’s too depends on the scale and magnitude of the project.

Disadvantages of Consulting

One has to note that hiring and steering an external consultant towards right direction does not come without any challenges. One should ensure that the role of consultants needs to be well defined and their prime role needs to revolve around the elimination of inferior practices which is slowing down the organizational growth but not to insult the organizational intelligence.

The working relationship between organization and consultant should be collaborative, friendly and professional. Else, in some scenario, a piece of advice may look like criticism.

The business collaboration should always remind the common goals, i.e. improvement of operational efficiency of the organization.

Final Thoughts

While the lean specialized personnel consultants are usually hired to focus on one project; but based on the success ratio in such assignments, organizations may like to extend their services for longer periods towards getting assistance in various other specialized areas. Such collaborations are always mutually beneficial.

Organizations should always evaluate the advantages and disadvantages linked with hiring a potential consultant such as specialization, skill and experiences before making a hiring decision.

Lean Specialized Personnel Consulting

MAKE WAY FOR INDUSTRY 4.0

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MAKE WAY FOR INDUSTRY 4.0

In a fast-moving generation, where new technological advancements happen in the wink of an eye, there is only one constant – change. We have to learn the art of walking hand in hand with everything new and adapt to the ever-changing environments to draw a progressive trajectory in our careers and personal lives. Everything around is changing, and there is nothing that’s permanent. ‘Improvement & growth’ are the two key words that drive people towards innovative ideas and solutions and Industry 4.0 is a testimony to change on a gargantuan scale.

 

Miracle on the move

 

New discoveries are made daily, and it’s certain that there won’t be any dearth of it in the days to come as well. But things around us are rapidly changing. The IoT (Internet of things) is ever expanding and it has started to play a major role in the field of production. The manufacturing industry is taken over by machines and the awe-factor here is that these machines have an internal intelligence and advanced interfaces that allow them to communicate with other machines. Sounds interesting, isn’t it?

 

It’s surprising, but it will not be new anymore considering the pace at which the industries are moving forward. You won’t be wrong if you can call it the future!

 

Industry 4.0 is a title for the current trend of automation and data exchange that’s taking the world of technology by storm. Cyber-physical systems, cloud computing, the IoT, and cognitive computing – it’s a ‘smart factory’ where the cyber-physical systems have the ability to take decentralised decisions. Over the IoT, these cyber-physical systems effectively operate and communicate with each other, and with humans. It sounds like a miracle, and you don’t have to doubt – it is indeed one!

 

Pillars of strength

 

It is like watching those Hollywood movies where it’s all about saving the world and future. Among the design principles of Industry 4.0, is interconnectivity.  Here, unlike the working patterns of the generations that passed by, the machines, devices, sensors, and people have the ability to connect and communicate with each other. This is achieved through the IoT (Internet of Things), or IoP (Internet of People). This brings forth transparency in the way it’s operated. The operators are loaded with useful information, and this makes it easier for them to take further steps and decisions.

 

Here the focus is on the establishment of intelligent products and production values. The system of interconnected network helps factories to cope up with rapid product development in complex environments. Within a smart factory, the products can communicate with their environment and influence the arrangement patterns through RMS (Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems). There are configuration rules from which case-specific topologies can be derived. This enables the manufacturing companies to adapt quickly to various requirements in the market. The flexibility is increased, while the task of co-ordination becomes much easier.

 

The functionality of the whole system is increased manifold and this helps in identifying and improving the areas that need further innovation and improvement. Major decisions are made by humans of experience. This will soon be replaced with high-end solutions which will not be prone to error.  The decision-making process will be assisted by self-optimised and knowledgeable manufacturing systems. This means there will be stronger technical assistance to people operating the system. These systems are capable of assistance & support by aggregating and visualizing information comprehensively to make better decisions and solve urgent problems on short notice. Cyber-physical systems have the capacity to support humans by conducting a wide range of operations that are either risky or too unpleasant to handle.

When the real and virtual world joins hands as one, innovation will begin to help the economy scale better heights. The convergence of affordable technology and exponentially growing data has the power to transform the entire economy. IoT plays a vital role in this transformation.  This provides sustainable mobility and enhanced services in all sectors alike.

 

Expected developments and labour

 

The manufacturing pieces of equipment in the industrial revolution will be something out of the ordinary. Highly automated machines, tools, and robots will enter the scene and precision will be a guarantee. There will be flexibility and as the requirements change, and it is much easier to switch. Robots will be seen working together with workers on joint tasks. There will be a radical shift in the labour market as well. Skilled workers in demand for their experience will be eliminated and for them, it will call for serious change to adapt and move with the trend. This brings forth some new opportunities for the working class to change their routine and smartly adapt to the new requirements in demand. The requirement profile in the industry is expected to shift from a normal production employee to someone with high levels of profound competence. The probability of the number of workers decreasing is high. The rest of the manufacturing jobs will contain more knowledgeable work which will be short-term and hard-to-plan. The workers will be required to monitor the automated systems which will be integrated into decentralised decision-making platforms.

 

When it comes to the structure of the organisation and the way it operates, the manufacturing systems cannot be henceforth operated from a nodal point. Instead of that, decentralised instances will autonomously use local information for decision-making. The decision will be taken by workers or types of equipment using AI methods.

 

Talk about the value creation, we are about to witness a whole lot of 3D printing. The costs of additive manufacturing have dropped rapidly and this calls for an increase in speed and precision. Geometries that are far more complex and strong will be designed at ease. This enables the industry to visualise and execute the ideas in a better way. When there are provisions to manufacture the product in batch size according to the requirements of the customer, the mass customisation integrates the customer easily into the value chain.

MAKE WAY FOR INDUSTRY 4.0

Business models and value creation

 

Most of the business models will use smart data for rendering new services. The new developments will be used for floating sustainable models that are unlike the ones in the past. These sustainable business models can create positive or negative impacts on the environment or society. But on the other hand, they can also contribute to solving an environmental or social problem as well. These models will have the power to stay, which means you won’t see them going obsolete in the near future. They will be competitive on the long-run. This will be technique and here, the functionalities and accessibilities will be sold instead of just focussing on the tangible products.

 

In a nutshell, through such advanced value creation networks, we can witness ‘Industrial symbiosis’. The cross-linking of value creation networks offers new opportunities for realising closed-loop product cycles. The product, material, energy, and the flow of water throughout the product life-cycles will be efficiently coordinated. This coordination can be achieved between different factories as well. Closed-loop product life-cycles as such can work on recycling too.

 

Traditional versus 4.0

 

If you look at the current market, providing the best of services and product quality at the least price is the key to success. There is no denying that. Unless you look at the brand value of things, this is the formula that works for the common man. The industrial factories are trying to achieve just that – they are trying to increase their performance and profit. There are plenty of data sources available for the factories to avail information about the various aspects of profit making. The data has to be used to understand current operating conditions, and detecting faults and failures of the existing system. This is an important topic to research and there are plenty of commercial tools available to provide overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) values to the factory management. This will help in hogging the spotlight on the root causes of problems and possible faults in the system.  Moreover, the added advantage here is that the components and systems in Industry 4.0 will have self-awareness, which will effectively improve the efficiency of the factory.  Through peer-to-peer comparison and fusion of health comparison, a precise health prediction is attained and this enables the factory management to maintain the systems intact. This sort of stability was missing in the traditional factories.

 

Logistics and supply chain

 

Innovation in logistics is not entirely associated with modern IT solutions. But there are things that can change. There are some innovative solutions that can manifest through this industrial revolution.

 

There is room for continuous improvement. Whatever work happens around, it will be continuously verified and the team will have huge benefits out of it.  The latest advancements also help to keep vigil over all the activities and its quality. Team-work can be effectively coordinated like never before. The entire focus will be on implemented practices and shared values. Through Industry 4.0, there will be continuous activities running round the clock to constantly search and come up with better ideas to increase productivity.  There is no dearth of communication, plus work-satisfaction and elimination of old habits – there are changes aplenty when the entire system is improved.

 

There are some other factors as well that showcases the kind of change that’s about to hit the field of logistics. There will be a big change in the structure of regional networks, flexibility and risk management. When it comes to the lead time delivery services, customer satisfaction is guaranteed. The system is more reliable and updated. As the services are rendered according to the needs of the customers, the rapid approach and problem-solving techniques will increase reliability and trust-factor to the next level. The segmentation of the supply chain will be focussed on demand and specific needs of the customers. This will help in great reduction of the volume of stocks, and bring forth cost-effective remedies. Safety requirements and potential hazards in the supply chain can easily be spotted. Combine all these factors and you can guess how a factory or a set of factories will benefit from these changes.

 

The Internet of Things

 

The idea of the Internet of Things was formulated by British entrepreneur Kevin Ashton in 1999 to describe a system in which the material world communicates with the computer. Two decades later, it stands in front of us in the form of reality.   Today, there are areas where IoT solutions can potentially revolutionise the entire industrial standards.

 

The IoT focuses on Smart environment where the entire anthropogenic emissions will be monitored and cut down to produce eco-friendly solutions. Smart water management is an area where this can be achieved. The impacts of water resources on the environment, their regulation and protection against floods, waterways, and hydropower is a key area of study using IoT that can change the entire game plan. In a way that supports the economy, soon there will be smart and better ways of transport, production and energy resources. Smart cities are another such wonder where IoT can play an important role. Traffic congestion can be monitored and regulated, parking spaces, intelligent roads, weather-monitoring and much more – the IoT can work magic. Smart health will cover a wide range of physical activities and monitor them to tune us into perfect health conditions. Health-centric homes are becoming a reality.

 

The future

 

Industry 4.0 has the potential to make an impact on a lot of areas around the world. Talk about better services and business models, it will be served. When we deal with productivity, it’s about to become more reliable and competent. Machine safety, risk management, better communication, product lifecycles, transport and logistics, and more – everything will be improved using cutting-edge technology.

 

If you consider a machine, with time it will be affected by wear and tear. When networking becomes confusing cobwebs, there is a loss of time and productivity. Industry 4.0 will address all the issues and bring out the best in everything. The vast majority of businesses are determined with the implementation of product, technical, technological, and organisational innovation.  The focus is on creating value for the customer who is aware of everything happening around. Solutions such as the Internet of Things, Big Data and Industry 4.0 create more opportunities to meet such customer requirements. Logistics is better, and supply chain management is stronger than usual. Business is better, and work is much easier. Welcome to the revolution.

MAKE WAY FOR INDUSTRY 4.0

 

References

 

[1] Persaga

https://www.persaga.ch/stellenwandel-dank-industrie-4-0/

[2] Science direct, T. Stock, G Seliger. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877705817313346

[3] Science direct, Krzysztof Witkowski; Internet of Things, Big Data, Industry 4.0 – Innovative Solutions in Logistics and Supply Chains Management

[3] BGH Consulting. https://www.bgh-consulting.de/de/lp/industrie4.0-personalberatung/

[4] Wikipedia. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industry_4.0

[5] Waset. http://waset.org/publications/9997144

[6] Springer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-658-05014-6_2

 

 

Understanding the Relationship between Human Resource Management (HRM) on Supply Chain Management (SCM)

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Understanding the Relationship between Human Resource Management (HRM) on Supply Chain Management (SCM)

While supply chains have been playing a crucial role in several industries for many years, it is only in the past few years that supply chain management (SCM) has been treated as a separate strategic branch which can be improved to benefit businesses.

As soon as SCM started receiving its due importance, there began a search for the factors that affect supply chain and its functioning. While factors like inventory control, product design, industry standards, procedure costs, and distribution strategies were some of the few that were initially discovered to abundantly impact SCM, human resource management (HRM) is the latest to join the list.

While there have been a few studies done in the past to understand the impact of HRM on SCM, the research by the Department of Business Administration of University of Barcelona, Spain, clearly pointed out the relationship between the two.

The purpose of the study was to understand the impact of HRM on SCM which in turn also impacts organizational performance (OP) and customer satisfaction (CS), factors which play an important role between SCM outcomes (SCMO) and HRM.

The study used the previously validated structural equation model (SEM) which is based on five attributes including SCM implementation (SCMI), HRM, organizational performance, customer satisfaction, and SCMO. A survey was conducted on the basis of this model and 231 responses were recorded.

The study confirmed the significant impact that HRM, directly and indirectly, has on the SCMI and SCMO. Overall, the study suggests that successful implementation of SCM can not only help improve SCMO directly but it indirectly also increases OP and CS.

These findings make a very strong case for organizations to apply proven HRM practices to their supply chains to improve SCM to an extent where it starts functioning as a competitive edge. While businesses never thought of SCM as something that could be impacted by HRM, understanding the relationship between the two is simpler than it looks.

Working of a Supply Chain

If the complicated terminologies are sidestepped for a minute, supply chains are nothing but people. The entire chain is a group of organizations which work in downstream or upstream flows of services and products to deliver the final product to the customers.

This ‘group’ of organizations can be within a single company where delivery or supplies and production of products occur or can also be a very complex network of 3rd party suppliers, distributors, sales outlets and service providers. SCM aims to enhance the overall performance of the supply chain along with that of individual firms.

While several organizations have now started recognizing how important SCM is, most of them are yet to understand the fact that successful SCM relies on the people who are part of the supply chain. It is on the basis of the efficiency of the members of the supply chain that the supply chain would function.

There are already several studies that have confirmed that impact of HRM on the performance of the employees. The same practices can be adopted by the human resource department for the people who are part of the supply chain to improve their efficiency and performance.

From recruiting and selection, training and development, to compensation and incentive there are several practices in HRM that can be successfully used to improve the overall SCM.

If all of this is to be said in simple words, it basically means that the performance of the supply chain relies in the hands of people who are part of the chain and HRM is an efficient tool to improve the efficiency of the supply chain members and ultimately improve the supply chain and overall functioning of the organization.

 

Understanding the Relationship between Human Resource Management (HRM) on Supply Chain Management (SCM)

 

Improving Customer Satisfaction with HRM

While the positive impact on SCM through successful HRM practices is clear now, how the same can also help in improving customer satisfaction as the University of Barcelona study suggests?

This relationship too if pretty straightforward. Supply chains are only as strong as their weakest link. For instance, let us assume that you run a business in the USA and import products from China. You’ve selected an exporter and have successfully moved the products through customs and then to the distribution center sooner than expected.

But what if the distribution center delays the delivery to the customers? Your customers would surely be unhappy and this means that the supply chain of your company has failed. It is not difficult to understand that the retail industry relies mostly on customer satisfaction. In other words, the success of your supply chain has a deep relation with how happy your customers are.

So, you see there is an indirect relationship between HRM and CS too. With the help of successful HRM practices, you can improve your supply chain which in turn will help you improve customer satisfaction. There are a few time-proven ways in which supply chain can be improved for better CS. Some of them are-

  • Selecting the right transportation partners
  • Improving logistics planning
  • End-to-end supply chain analysis
  • Using technology for improving visibility and tracking inventory
  • Linking back-end and front-end deliveries
  • Measuring supply chain performance on a consistent basis

While all of these steps revolve around SCM, HRM is indirectly involved in implementing them and making sure that they deliver the expected results.

Conclusion

HRM was always considered a strategy of managing the workplace culture and environment. It is with the help of studies that its impact on other crucial business processes has come to light. With businesses now focusing on SCM to gain a competitive edge, improvements to HRM seems to be an efficient way to directly improve the supply chain and gain added benefits with respect to organizational performance and customer satisfaction.

With the rising competition across every industrial sector, businesses are now searching for innovative ways to improve their performance. Working on SCM is a new and effective way to not just bring more transparency to the business practices but also improve your reach through better customer satisfaction.

Even the traditional HR practices like recruitment and planning, training, and performance appraisal can be applied to the supply chain in order to attain larger benefits which would help organizations gain significant benefits over time.

 

 

 

The Similarities between Human Resource Management and Supply Chain Management

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The Similarities between Human Resource Management and Supply Chain Management

Human resource management is an effective management of the workforce in an organisation. This is the backbone of any business that gives it a competitive edge over others. The quality and productivity of the workforce determines the progress and sustainability of the business. A human resource management system is very similar to a supply chain management system because human resource management handles a chain of inter related departments with diverse job responsibilities working with an aim to achieve a common objective.

Recent times have noticed great developments in the supply chain industry in terms of automation, cost cutting, software aided operations, automated vehicles, etc. The introduction of these new concepts can be beneficial for the Human Resource department too. There is a lot that the human resource management system can imbibe from the supply chain management system.

Supply chain management system works on modularization. This means that the links within a supply chain management are commutable, interchangeable, compatible and exchangeable. The supply chain management system cannot allow any breakdown in the movement of goods and services. Similarly, the human resource management system must also incorporate the concept of modularization in their workforce. This will enable the human resource management system to ensure a continuous flow of workforce and prevent scarcity of manpower. Just as the demand for products is a regular affair so is the demand for talented manpower.

It has to be kept in mind though, that no matter what, humans and products cannot be equated in the same manner and so, the principles and metrics of supply chain management may not necessarily fit in to the human resource management system. The human resource management system will definitely hold its own defined techniques, procedure and practices. The modus operandi is bound to be different for both the systems. However there are certain common modularization practices that the human resource management system can incorporate in its operations:

  1. Outsourcing: Supply chain management involves a lot of channel or outsourced partners. Many HR functions can be outsourced too. Third party deployment can be done for security services, housekeeping, web development, etc. Even a part or all of the hiring requirements can be outsourced to job consultancies.

 

  1. Automation:

    Video Interviews or Interactive Voice Questionnaire can be used to select and filter candidates in the first round. This increases the efficiency of the operations, minimises biasness and saves time on the part of the recruiter. Automated mails can be used to notify candidates about job openings and also to share feedback of the interview to the candidates.

 

  1. Creating Human Inventory:

    Most job openings witness a large number of applicants compared to the number of vacancies. As a result, many good candidates are waitlisted for the next opening. These waitlisted candidates can be kept as reservoir or human inventory. A human inventory will consist of a pool of shortlisted applicants who are qualified and suitable for future openings. This minimises time and effort of the selection process.

The Similarities between Human Resource Management and Supply Chain Management

Every process is unique in its own way. We can derive many useful concepts for every process, be it supply chain or manufacturing. These concepts can be further modified and modulated into process specific approaches and used for overall growth of the business.

Supply Chain Gets Smart with Artificial Intelligence

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Supply Chain Gets Smart with Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence is truly revolutionizing every aspect of the world, from public institutions to private, affecting each and every industry. Logistics is no exception to the universal reach of AI. Therefore,  supply chain can overcome many of its risks and gaps by the applications of AI.

Artificial Intelligence is simply intelligence that is displayed by machines. The machines’ learning and action-based potential copies the autonomy unlike conventional process-oriented intelligence. In other words, AI is the simulation of human intelligence by computers. The 3Vs of big data or the core of AI is the ability to recognize volume, velocity, and variety. This in turn is used to find correlation among massive data.

Most experts categorise AI into two blocks-Augmentation and Automation. The former assists and aids human beings with their routine tasks while the later operates independently without having to rely on human intervention.

Supply Chain Adapting to AI

Back in 2010, a research predicted that supply chain management would gain immensely from the applications of artificial intelligence. The research suggested various ways in which this could happen-setting inventory safety levels, transportation network design, purchasing and supply management, etc. Thanks to the exponential growth of AI over the last decade, these things have been made possible.

The tools that AI offers in the sphere of logistics have been deemed to have huge potential for augmenting the top-line and bottom-line value. There are the 6 applications of artificial intelligence that supply chain management can foster:

  • Forecasts and Analysis

Any industry is highly dependent on the supply chain planning which forms an important part of the respective business’s supply chain strategy. Artificial intelligence steps in when it can enable forecasting within the inventory, or demand and supply. Additionally, machine learning can boost the agility and optimization of the decision-making involved in supply chain management.

With artificial intelligence, the SCM industry can come up with the best possible plan of action which is determined out of algorithm and machine-based analysis.

If a business sells sanitary equipment, it can use an AI based tool to predict the demand of each of their products on a daily basis. AI does so by analyzing the historical sales data of all the models and the data so delved into includes date and time of purchase, number of items purchased, and other information.

The machine learning tools can learn the peculiar trends in terms of seasonality, or type of product and it also considers factors like weather data and news events that might have affected the sales of a particular period.

  • Warehouse Execution System

A reliable warehouse and inventory management is one of the most significant aspects of supply chain planning. An industry-specific yet universal challenge that businesses incur is either overestimating or underestimating the required stock.

Artificial intelligence based algorithms and data have such a streamlined predictive capacity, that it can forecast supply and demand as mentioned before. This feature of AI can be applied to supply chain management for overcoming issues that lead to shortage or excess of inventory.

Another way in which AI can be used for this industry lies in using the tools of localization and mapping. Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) in warehouse management have had issues in the past but with a machine vision, AGVs can operate automated material handling in a traditional space like buildings.

In fact, Warehouse Execution System (WES) utilizes AI to make the supply chain systems more efficient.

  • Logistics and Shipping

In today’s day and age, customers and clients expect accurate and timely delivery. But that has pressurized the companies to the extent that they now look to better their shipping and logistics facilities. Companies indeed prefer to mark an improvement here because they benefit while making customers satisfied at the same time.

Artificial intelligence enables faster and more accurate shipping which lowers the transportation expenses. In the present context, AI has also allowed companies to turn to environmental friendly operations and reduce labour costs. The best examples have been set by Amazon and pizza delivery chains which have turned to AI based drones to deliver their products to their customers.

  • Choosing Suppliers

Profitable supplier selection and maintenance of a sound professional relationship with suppliers is yet another important work for businesses. With the advent of certain factors like sustainability, CSR and supply chain ethics playing a role in the decision making of supply chains, businesses have to choose the perfect supplier.

Even a slight complacent decision can snowball to reduction in goodwill and bad PR. Thankfully, AI and its almost magical use of intelligent algorithms has enabled firms to have access to supplier-related data. The companies can now check real-time data about their suppliers like history of operations, location, previous clients, etc.

  • Chatbots for Customer Satisfaction

Companies are always in dire need of a reliable but foolproof system of customer communication and correspondence, which can at times determine their reputation and rapport with their past, present and future clients. Customers often face forced waiting time for answering their queries or have to converse with people multiple times.

 

AI gives a solution to this problem by providing conversational interfaces (or chatbots) which could provide multiple advantages to businesses. To name a few, chatbots can reduce the cost of transactions, sales cycle time, as well as enhance customer loyalty. The chatbot response machine powered by AI has a multi-dimensional interface in which it considers factors like the context of the issue, the history, and customer response management.

 

  • Decipher Untapped Information

AI and Machine Learning have a versatile set of elements and one of them is used to convert foreign data in a standardized format. This element is called Natural Language Processing (NLP).

NLP is an immensely resourceful application for logistics. NLP navigates through data of customers, competitors, regulators and suppliers to find compelling answers for business needs. In fact NLP is versatile in itself as it can be utilized for speech recognition, question answering, reputation monitoring, ad placements, market intelligence, and regulatory compliance.

 

In the supply chain management sector, NLP is most useful in deciphering data that is in a different language, thus enabling companies to understand more about a foreign subject like a supplier.

Supply Chain Gets Smart with Artificial Intelligence

Evolving SCM with Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence has made its presence felt in a positive way across every sector and industry. The challenges faced by supply chain management strategies and operations are now dissolvable with the help of artificial intelligence and machine learning. The system and algorithms put forth by AI grows and evolves with every unit of data, making it more and more independent of human intervention whilst being as close to human behavior as possible. The future is right in the hands of those who utilise the wonders of artificial intelligence, and supply chain management can bag this opportunity.               

 

Reference Link Provided: https://medium.com/@KodiakRating/6-applications-of-artificial-intelligence-for-your-supply-chain-b82e1e7400c8

 

Reference Link Used:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247523024_Artificial_intelligence_in_supply_chain_management_Theory_and_applications

https://www.spendedge.com/blogs/5-ways-ai-can-enhance-supply-chain

https://www.techemergence.com/natural-language-processing-business-applications/