Critical Infrastructure Planning Guidelines for Supply Chain!

Over the years, digital disruption has become a norm for all industries, and supply chain businesses are not an exception. Technology has changed the entire structure, right from internal communications to physical operations to infrastructure planning.

Things are only going to get bigger and better in the future, with digital innovation poised to take over the sector. Right now, it is important to have the right technology infrastructure for your supply chain business so that you can make it future-ready.

Whether you are planning to start from scratch or looking to revamp the existing infrastructure for your business, here are some guidelines to help with your infrastructure planning.

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Digital Procurement Improves Supply Chain!

The Hackett Group has recently released their analysis of their procurement benchmarking database. It demonstrates the advantages of working with a digital procurement strategy. 

Some of the most notable areas where world-class procurement organizations outperformed the “peer group” were increased operating efficiency and how more effective they were at delivering their services to both, internal and external customers.

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Defining the New Normal in Supply Chain! What’s Normal Anyways?

The Coronavirus pandemic has upended almost every aspect of our personal and business lives. And now we hear talk about this “new normal”.

The economic and personal turmoil has been unprecedented. But with uncertainty around the future spread of the Covid-19 virus and uncertainty about the arrival of some kind of vaccine there is increasingly talk of a new normal.

A new normal implies a significant change from our ways of living and doing business as compared to how we lived and worked before we heard of the Coronavirus.

What is this ‘new normal’ state?

And what is the new normal in Supply Chain?

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A Cognitive Control Tower Will Enable Actionable Visibility!

 In my last article, I spoke about the hesitancy standing in the way of multi-tier visibility. But once you have that visibility the journey has only just begun. The end result will require you to have a Cognitive Control Tower.

The next immediate question becomes: what will you do with what is revealed to you? How will you act on what you see? From a solution perspective, you can think of the need as “actionable visibility” – often referred to as a Control Tower.

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What is the Digital Supply Chain?

All of the technologies that we hear about every day, from Blockchain to Virtual Reality, have many areas of applicability in both our personal and business lives.

But in the area of Supply Chain, which truly spans the entire operations of most any company, these technologies provide the platform to totally redefine how the work of Supply Chain is conducted every minute of every day.

In the simplest terms we are entering the age of the Digital Supply Chain!

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How a Collaborative Network Will Change the Construction World!

A Digital Collaboration Platform built specifically for the Heavy Construction industry will change the world by helping companies save thousands to millions of dollars on their construction projects, along with reducing the carbon impact, eliminating waste, and saving lives.  

Using supply chain collaboration technology, construction firms will see meaningful productivity gains. As construction in the US is a $1.27 trillion annual business, a very modest 3% productivity gain would translate into an industry created $40B stimulus package.

These unlocked resources, for example, could build over 2,500 new elementary schools each year or be invested in other US infrastructure projects like thousands of miles of new 4-lane highway or tens of thousands of Interstate roads being resurfaced.

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Supply Chain and Procurement in the Digital Age!

If your supply chain is more visible, you can halt minor issues like order mistakes or project delays and react to problems more quickly. If you want to increase the efficiency, reliability, and robustness of your firm’s whole supply chain, having rapid and easy accessibility to that sort of knowledge is essential.

This is the future as Supply Chain and Procurement enter the Digital Age.

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The Digital Supply Chain Journey: Step 3 – Electronic Connectivity!

The Digital Supply Chain is the future. The Digital Supply Chain involves the real time awareness of everything going in throughout the end-to-end Supply Chain, enabled by electronic connectivity and the automated presentation of information and analytics to inform and make the best possible decisions.

The real time awareness and linkage that enables the Digital Supply Chain journey is based upon the electronic connectivity of every node, every process, every entity, every movement and every aspect of that end-to-end Supply Chain.

Electronic connectivity is THE backbone that makes the Digital Supply Chain a reality. It is the next step on this incredible journey.

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How COOs are Achieving Results with Supply Chain Software!

As a former COO, overseeing Kaizen events, value-stream mapping analysis, upgrading ERP systems, and implementing customer success programs, I recall how easy it was for functional leaders to get bogged down in their own imperatives and lose sight of the big picture. 

Individual silo objectives can inadvertently be at cross purposes with others – most commonly between sales and operations.

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B2B Connectivity Leading The Way For Digital Supply Chains!


There is an abundance of chatter in shipping and freight about digitizing supply chains, with reports that more spending than ever before is being poured into developing software and platforms. The consensus across industries is that improving supply chain visibility and B2B connectivity is a primary challenge, and that digitizing the supply chain is a way to enhance managing all the data. 

In a recent JOC.com article, it was commented that progressive supply chain innovation lies in “cleaning up data, creating data standards, connecting siloed data sets through APIs, and facilitating collaborative workflows”.

We at FreightPOP strongly share this point of view. 

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Obstacles to Multi-Tier Supply Chain Visibility!

A recent Deloitte survey estimated only 15% of CPO’s have visibility beyond their tier one suppliers. I found this striking that there is so little multi-tier Supply Chain visibility.

With so many companies feeling the urgency to build resilience and better manage risk, with all the growing pressure to operate sustainability and with greater transparency on how and where products are manufactured and sourced, and with today’s ease and ubiquity for connectivity and information at one’s fingertips, what is preventing supply chain visibility?

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The Metaverse and the Digital Supply Chain!

One of the terms that has entered the zeitgeist, holding the promise of providing some exciting new future state, is the “Metaverse”.

For some time we have also been describing a future that will define much of how businesses and economies and institutions will run in the future. We call this the “Digital Supply Chain”

What exactly is the Metaverse and how does it compare, contrast or align to our vision of the Digital Supply Chain? And what are some possible applications of these 2 intersecting technological paradigms?

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What are the Key Digital Strategies in Logistics?

Supply chain software is a game-changing tool that offers immense opportunities for growth and success in the transportation services market.

Nevertheless, the supply chain industry faces various challenges that can be effectively addressed through the utilization of high-performing software solutions. Below are some common problems in supply chain management and how they can be mitigated with the assistance of software solutions and digital strategies in logistics.

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What is a Digital Transformation?

Unchaining Change Leadership

For some time, I’ve been reading, watching and following the white papers, case studies, and countless webinars put on by keen minds about digital transformation. I must say, the topic doesn’t feel any clearer. Many would have us believe the elements of a digital transformation should include the likes of IoT, AI, RPA (Robotic Process Automation), ML, Digital Twins, Digital Threads, and 3D Printing.

In some applications, these transformations are life changing. IoT temperature sensors are enabling the new cold chains for COVID-19 vaccine distribution, and the use of a digital twin is facilitating the faithful reconstruction of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Such innovation and advancement are truly a marvel; but, for the average business, the expectation feels daunting, expensive, and drawn out.

For most companies, a digital transformation involves a more practical approach. 

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Intelligent Supply Chain Technologies for the Future!

Unchaining Change Leadership

Amid the thick covid-clouds, organizations are preparing to make their way back to regular business to maximize profitability and make up for the lost time.

Considering the exposed vulnerabilities of the supply chain strategies during the pandemic, the logical progression for these companies is to take advantage of digitization with intelligent Supply Chain technologies to a greater extent in the post-coronavirus-world.

In that effort, enterprises should seek innovative technologies with the potential to disrupt and transform the current supply chain operating models and bring in a more competitive edge. 

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