As a small-to-midsize fabricated metals manufacturer serving large customers within complex global supply chains, how do you maintain preferred vendor status? The whole world is your competition so you need to step up to meet increasingly demanding customer expectations. Your customers will expect mass personalization with shorter lead times whether the order is large or small—without sacrificing compliance with their industry’s quality requirements. To meet these demands—despite a skills shortage and volatile material costs and availability—you’ve got to put digital transformation at the top of your agenda.

Industrial enterprises around the world are retooling their factories with advanced technologies to boost manufacturing flexibility and speed, achieving new levels of overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), supply chain responsiveness, and customer satisfaction in the process. This renaissance reflects very real pressures industry players face today. For years, traditional factories have been operating at a disadvantage, impeded by production environments that are “disconnected”—at the very least strictly gated—to corporate business systems, to supply chains, and to customers and partners.

Impact that situation awareness can have on extended supply chain operations w/focus on logistics companies

Focus on creating consistent terminology in order to generate insights from the digital data encircling employees, partners, processes and customers.

Discussion of four key stages that drive supply chain operations.

Impact of using a blockchain approach on manufacturing systems/contracts

Blockchain and smart contracts

Five business imperatives that manufacturers need to focus on to drive growth

Charting a course to becoming best-in-class

Understanding the four stages of supply chain maturity

Additional insight on Forbes Research that ends with four “How To Get Started” steps.

Impact of using a blockchain approach to establish trust in global supply chains

Impact of using a blockchain approach to drive business model innovation.

Digital’s impact on transportation, cities and logistics systems.

The impact that state-of-the-art simulation and modeling techniques can have on supply chain operations.

The consumer durables sector continues to evolve. Consumer demand for connected, energy-efficient appliances is driving investment in R&D – even as profitability pressures necessitate new cost-cutting measures. And intensifying vertical and virtual integration means manufacturers need stronger relationships with extended supply chains. Supply chain and sourcing professionals are leading the charge. Learn how a digital strategy enables the transformation needed to excel today.

The chemicals industry is undergoing a major transformation brought about by mergers and divestitures, shifting market dynamics, and nonlinear supply chains. Industry leaders are responding by harmonizing their supplier management, sourcing, and supply chain processes using a digital strategy that enables them to extend business processes beyond the four walls of the enterprise. Along the way, they are realizing new efficiencies and cost savings needed to compete in today’s complex marketplace.

The chemicals industry is undergoing a major transformation brought about by mergers and divestitures, shifting market dynamics, and nonlinear supply chains. Industry leaders are responding by harmonizing their supplier management, sourcing, and supply chain processes using a digital strategy that enables them to extend business processes beyond the four walls of the enterprise. Along the way, they are realizing new efficiencies and cost savings needed to compete in today’s complex marketplace.

The consumer durables sector continues to evolve. Consumer demand for connected, energy-efficient appliances is driving investment in R&D – even as profitability pressures necessitate new cost-cutting measures. And intensifying vertical and virtual integration means manufacturers need stronger relationships with extended supply chains. Supply chain and sourcing professionals are leading the charge. Learn how a digital strategy enables the transformation needed to excel today.

Today's supply chains typically include multiple partners, with services and sourcing managed across several organizations and across the world. Companies are increasing their use of third-party suppliers in the execution of key strategic imperatives. This leads to complexity in the supply chain and increased scale and intensity of operations, all of which contribute to global warming.

Last week, SAP Ariba held a human trafficking roundtable event at its SAP Hudson Yards New York City offices. The roundtable focused on the United Nations Global Compact that adopted 17 sustainable development goals for its 2030 agenda two years ago. While most individuals and businesses believe slavery was abolished years ago, there are currently over 40 million forced laborers worldwide. The United Nations Global Compact initiative is assisting in highlighting the problem of modern slavery, forced labor, and noncompliance with human rights. And this initiative lines up quite well with procurement and global supply chains.

Bimodal capabilities, customer intimacy and advanced analytics can all be enabled by digital technologies, allowing supply chains to be both cost-effective and innovation-driven. This research explores the implications of these leading trends for chief supply chain officers.

Supply chains have always been complex, requiring the integration of multiple processes, applications, technologies, and organizational components.

How companies are using data and analytics to make their supply chains more connected and agile

How companies are using data and analytics to make their supply chains more connected and agile