Faced with the many difficulties impacting the supply chain, digital technology appears to be a solution to better control risks, gain efficiency and meet CSR challenges. But several obstacles still need to be overcome to gain maturity.
The consulting and auditing firm PwC France and Maghreb unveiled in early June the results of a study on the supply chain. Named Digital Supply Chain, it is the result of a survey conducted among 110 supply chain departments between December 2021 and February 2022, when companies were facing a post-Covid economic recovery, combined with high market volatility.
In this context, the improvement of visibility and traceability appears as the main concern of supply chain managers, whereas this criterion was placed second in the 2021 edition. "The succession of crises and sudden changes have made many managers aware that they do not have complete visibility of their supply chain. Some have been confronted with disruptions at the 2nd, 3rd or 4th level of the supply chain, which they were not able to control," explains Michel Lachkar, partner in charge of supply chain activities at PwC France and Maghreb.
In addition, last year was also complicated from a customer service point of view, which deteriorated overall due to shortages and high volatility, which led to longer supply times. According to the PwC study, improving customer service is the second most important challenge for supply chain managers.
Digital spearheading
To better control these risks, digital technology appears to be an essential solution. 87% of respondents say that new technologies should have a major impact on their business by 2025, 11 points more than in 2021. "Digital technology allows us to solve increasingly complex situations by analyzing a large amount of data from the supply chain," says Michel Lachkar.
In addition, new technologies are also used on logistics platforms to automate certain processes and to overcome the shortage of manpower. The digital transformation of the supply chain also offers the possibility of responding to CSR issues via the measurement and management of performance, particularly in terms of CO2 emissions, waste management, health and safety and training.
Obstacles to be removed
Despite this growing awareness of the value added by digital technology, two thirds of the supply chain directors questioned consider themselves to be immature or not very mature when it comes to digital issues. Several obstacles still need to be overcome in this area, such as not having a robust information system and quality data. Change management also appears to be an area for improvement.
"When implementing new digital tools and processes, it is essential to develop internal skills and to have more qualified profiles in terms of data analysis," says David Rigault, director of supply chain consulting at PwC France and Maghreb.
In addition, the crisis has highlighted the difficulties of adapting digital processes and tools to sudden changes. In this uncertain environment, supply chain departments that are able to adjust their processes and tools in an agile way should have a competitive advantage.Faced with the many difficulties impacting the supply chain, digital technology appears to be a solution to better control risks, gain efficiency and meet CSR challenges. But several obstacles still need to be overcome to gain maturity.
The consulting and auditing firm PwC France and Maghreb unveiled in early June the results of a study on the supply chain. Named Digital Supply Chain, it is the result of a survey conducted among 110 supply chain departments between December 2021 and February 2022, when companies were facing a post-Covid economic recovery, combined with high market volatility.
In this context, the improvement of visibility and traceability appears as the main concern of supply chain managers, whereas this criterion was placed second in the 2021 edition. "The succession of crises and sudden changes have made many managers aware that they do not have complete visibility of their supply chain. Some have been confronted with disruptions at the 2nd, 3rd or 4th level of the supply chain, which they were not able to control," explains Michel Lachkar, partner in charge of supply chain activities at PwC France and Maghreb.
In addition, last year was also complicated from a customer service point of view, which deteriorated overall due to shortages and high volatility, which led to longer supply times. According to the PwC study, improving customer service is the second most important challenge for supply chain managers.
Digital spearheading
To better control these risks, digital technology appears to be an essential solution. 87% of respondents say that new technologies should have a major impact on their business by 2025, 11 points more than in 2021. "Digital technology allows us to solve increasingly complex situations by analyzing a large amount of data from the supply chain," says Michel Lachkar.
In addition, new technologies are also used on logistics platforms to automate certain processes and to overcome the shortage of manpower. The digital transformation of the supply chain also offers the possibility of responding to CSR issues via the measurement and management of performance, particularly in terms of CO2 emissions, waste management, health and safety and training.
Obstacles to be removed
Despite this growing awareness of the value added by digital technology, two thirds of the supply chain directors questioned consider themselves to be immature or not very mature when it comes to digital issues. Several obstacles still need to be overcome in this area, such as not having a robust information system and quality data. Change management also appears to be an area for improvement.
"When implementing new digital tools and processes, it is essential to develop internal skills and to have more qualified profiles in terms of data analysis," says David Rigault, director of supply chain consulting at PwC France and Maghreb.
In addition, the crisis has highlighted the difficulties of adapting digital processes and tools to sudden changes. In this uncertain environment, supply chain departments that are able to adjust their processes and tools in an agile way should have a competitive advantage.
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