Last week, Blue Yonder attended one of the year’s biggest events: ProMat. Along with the impressive robotics, incredible conversations and inspiring keynotes, attendees heard the Vice President of Product Management for Blue Yonder, Logan Kluth, host a session on what it will take to revolutionize the supply chain.  

Conferences like ProMat offer plenty of big ideas to work towards, which Kluth’s talk also provided. But more importantly, there were action items for companies wanting to change right now. At a time when a new disruption is just around the corner, building an agile supply chain that is ready to adapt to anything is critical.  

For those who couldn’t attend and would still like the insights from Kluth and the entire Blue Yonder team, here are the three steps necessary to revolutionize your supply chain:  

1. Improve transparency across the supply chain 

Data is at the heart of modern supply chain operations. But not all data is equally valuable. The kind of data companies need in today’s world is not only accurate and organized, but it also needs to be applicable throughout the supply chain.  

In the past, each stage in the supply chain purchased solutions that worked for their specific needs. Few put thought into how their technology choices would impact other stages. As Kluth warned, “When you deploy automation correctly, it is a force multiplier. But automation can only solve yesterday’s problems if you don’t have agile data throughout your supply chain.”  

With 84% of companies reporting experiencing disruptions last year, data integrity and transparency need to be at the top of all organization’s minds. That means building systems with end-to-end visibility. Creating playbooks and strategies to collaborate across silos and give each team as many options as early as possible, to recover from disruptions quickly.  

2. Execute with flexibility in mind 

While discussing options, Kluth also stressed the need for flexibility as companies update their legacy systems to more modern technology. Change management is complex under any circumstances, but as companies report smaller profit margins, all changes must be executed flawlessly. 

Kluth encouraged the audience to make this step in the process unique to their company’s needs. Revolutionizing the supply chain doesn’t have to happen overnight. In fact, it shouldn’t. As Kluth put it, “Focus on composable microservices. Ask what you can implement today that will help you tomorrow. What technology can be plugged into what you have today?”   

Even if that plan is slow, companies that commit to a plan for updating their technology will be much better prepared for today and tomorrow.  

3. Remember resilience  

The third step in revolutionizing the supply chain, as outlined by Kluth, was building with resilience in mind. A supply chain built on end-to-end interoperability empowers companies to make strategic business decisions, instead of immediate, pragmatic choices. As Kluth said, “If you’re always fighting fires, you’ll never get to adding value.”  

With end-to-end collaboration, teams can anticipate what might be headed their way. Often, the information teams need to make the most resilient choices is found outside of their focus. For example, an issue with a supplier can mean a different production schedule, which can impact the truck loading schedule.  A resilient supply chain flags the supplier issue so that the transport team can model out a few different scenarios that may happen as a result. Now, the whole supply chain is prepared for whatever happens. The fewer surprises, the better. 

Build your supply chain your way 

In technology, there will always be something new to get excited about. And powerful technology matters when a business is competing on the global market. But, as Kluth showed, the best technology is the kind that you can use now that will set you up for the best future —  whatever that future looks like.  

To learn more about how you can revolutionize your supply chain with end-to-end systems that provide intelligent, agile solutions, read about our Composable Journey offering.