Amid ongoing global economic volatility, enterprises up and down the high-tech supply chain are adopting a range of data management tools and processes in order to more efficiently navigate frequent and dramatic fluctuations in both supply and demand. Supplementing existing lean and Six-Sigma operational excellence methodologies with RPA, advanced big data analytics, execution management and data process mining systems can dramatically improve a supply chain organization’s ability to quickly turn data into insights; and more cost-effectively turn these insights into actions that mitigate risk, reduce/control costs, promote sustainability and improve both working capital and labor productivity.
Yet, there is a significant disconnect between the tremendous potential for various data management implementations and the disappointing reality that many enterprises report. According to Gartner’s 2024 CEO and Senior Business Executive Survey, only one third of respondents indicated that their investments in digital technologies have produced a useful return, while nearly 70% of executives felt their investments in digital were “wasted.” Gartner has also observed that working capital, asset and worker productivity ratios have stagnated since 2015.
In managing various data management tool deployments to enhance vital supply chain processes across our organization, there are three fundamental requirements for capturing the game-changing potential of advanced digital technologies such as process mining and execution management solutions: the right organization, the right use cases and the right team.
The Right Organization
Many companies initiate the implementation of data mining tools within the IT organization. Too often, however, the nuances of the business requirements get lost in translation leading to adoption resistance. For example, at Avnet, these implementations are driven through an enterprise effectiveness [EE] team that combines both the business perspective and the IT expertise. As a result, users are more engaged in the process improvement, allowing the organization to scale implementations more efficiently and effectively across the enterprise.
The Right Use Cases
To deliver optimal results, any digital supply chain transformation effort must focus on the process improvements that will yield the most impactful results. Consulting with each of the functional organizations that might be impacted by the new tools and processes is, therefore, a critical first step. Time spent understanding users’ pain points and gathering user suggestions/ideas for improvements ensures that the deployment team has a clear understanding of current business needs, and ideally what the users expect future requirements to be as well. With this foundation, the deployment team can choose a platform that will enable and empower users to execute day-to-day improvements that generate direct and indirect value for all stakeholders.
Implementing process data mining and execution management technology can enable personnel across departments including purchasing, sales and finance to visualize and quantify process flows. With this unequivocal “digital truth,” users will more readily trust the data and have greater confidence that they are prioritizing and making the best decisions for your organization and your partners. As a result, the business and stakeholders will enthusiastically adopt the technology and are more apt to bringing forward new project ideas.
The Right Team
It’s important to recognize that no software/technology implementation can be successful without broad user acceptance. Data management deployments should include thorough organizational change management efforts.
A thoughtful change management focus not only provides the tools and organizational structure that allow process management SMEs to successfully execute their responsibilities, but also builds on their professional skills and knowledge base.
The Bottomline
Measuring the results delivered by digital transformation programs should also be an inherent element of the project methodology. Focusing on the right organization, the right use cases and the right team creates a recipe for digital transformation success in my experience and can hopefully guide other supply chain organizations to achieve equally positive outcomes.
