Digital Transformation of the Supply Chain Planning Function

ALM Intelligence, a division of ALM Media LLC, supports legal, consulting, and benefits decision-makers seeking guidance on critical business challenges.

"Supply Chain 4.0 is providing new opportunities to improve supply chain planning and execution," said Naima Hoque Essing, Senior Research Analyst at ALM Intelligence.

NEW YORK (PRWEB)

New research from ALM’s Consulting Intelligence division, formerly known as Kennedy Consulting, reports on companies across all sectors seeking guidance on ways to use data made available from an increasingly digital supply chain to improve planning performance.

“Supply Chain 4.0 is providing new opportunities to improve supply chain planning and execution,” said Naima Hoque Essing, Senior Research Analyst at ALM Intelligence. “By providing greater system connectivity and value chain visibility, digitization enables once-isolated functional planning activities to align and synchronize decision-making around a single source of truth.”

ALM Intelligence goes on to explore how consultants are helping clients overlay and embed powerful big data and analytical techniques to streamline and improve planning processes, including:

  • Using cloud-based applications to extract data from existing ERP systems and shape it to meet actual planning requirements.
  • Incorporating a wider variety of data sources, such as social media, demographics, weather, geospatial data, as inputs into demand forecasting.
  • Employing advanced predictive analytical methods and machine learning algorithms to generate more accurate and forward-looking demand forecasts.
  • Embedding scenario and simulation tools to evaluate alternative options in balancing desired service levels with production efficiency.

Since planning is inherently a data-driven process, the availability of new, enabling digital technologies is dramatically influencing both firm and client supply chain planning organizations. As a result, change in the Vanguard reflects firms either deepening digital and data analytics capabilities through focused hires, acquisitions, thought leadership and solution development or broadening services to support implementation throughout the project lifecycle through partners and alliances.

Providers covered in the report include A.T. Kearney, Accenture, Alix Partners, Argon, Bain & Company, Barkawi, BearingPoint, Boston Consulting Group, Camelot Management Consultants, Capgemini, Chainalytics, Crimson & Co., Deloitte, EFESO, EY, Hitachi Consulting, IBM, KPMG, McKinsey & Company, Oliver Wight, Oliver Wyman, PA Consulting, PwC, and Roland Berger.

We continue to see movement among the Vanguard leaders with larger firms building upon core strengths in developing S&OP into a more extensive business planning process using digital connectivity to strengthen cross-functional collaboration and synchronization. In contrast, some of the strategy and niche firms distinguish themselves in their ability to harness big data techniques and deliver analytically-driven planning processes that are capable of transforming supply chains into a source of competitive advantage. The best firms excel in both capabilities and can tailor their services depending on client maturity and specific needs.

ALM’s Vanguard research series assesses firms in terms of their relative ability to create impact for their clients. In addition to its overall rating assessments of consulting providers’ depth and breadth of capabilities and best-in-class provider designations, this series includes detailed capability evaluations for each covered provider as well as a qualitative analysis of their consulting organization, approach, and service delivery model.

For more information or to obtain the full version of The ALM Vanguard: Supply Chain Planning Consulting 2019, visit the ALM Intelligence website: http://www.alm.com/intelligence/consulting-industry