Why Supply Chain Commerce Needs a new Operating System
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This is ViaLink Insights, a newsletter about how we’re changing the way supply chain commerce works.
The Post-COVID-19 world has not been kind to the global supply chain.
Three words capture the essence.
“Challenge, challenge, challenge”
Beyond the supply chain disruptions that made headlines, there are 3 phenomena that will also have a long lasting impact on virtually every business in the world.
Twin Economic Uncertainty — Aside from feeling the impact from one of the worst economic slumps since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, businesses are facing record-breaking levels of commodity and energy price volatility. Geopolitical tensions only add to the already unhealthy level of uncertainty. This means that revenues and costs can be taken hostage and become more difficult to control and project.
Omnichannel Complexity and Rising Expectations — Everyone talks omnichannel and “excellent” delivery service, but few can actually deliver. After COVID-19, the demand for omnichannel experience rose dramatically and so did customer expectations. According to a Shopify study, there are now over 90 million online buyers more than in 2020, 32% don’t order if delivery time is too long, and 70% stop coming back when there’s a delivery delay. Suddenly switching from a brick and mortar operational model to “same day delivery” or “ship to anywhere” while trying to maintain a high service level is almost a mission impossible.
All Eyes on Sustainability — With anti-green wash movements among consumers, tighter regulations, and commitments towards making sustainability a core part of business strategy (rather than just an ad-hoc CSR stunt), businesses are looking for ways live up to these ambitious goals while trying to stay alive. Likewise, governments are struggling to ensure evidence-based, effective, and scalable regulatory practices.
These 3 phenomena present a challenging landscape where most businesses need to learn how to adapt in order to survive and thrive.
The Bottleneck
So what’s blocking businesses, and more importantly the world, from doing commerce better?
After observing companies of various sizes for the past few years, our co-founders and team at ViaLink came to a conclusion that the bottleneck sits with being stuck in an old operational model unfit for the uncertain, fast-paced, and demanding new world.
By “old operational model” we mean a way of doing commerce that is:
Rigid — “we’ve been doing things this way for the past 30 years”
Siloed — “our company has 8 systems, they scatter across BUs, and none talks to one another”
No tech, no data — “In paper we trust”
This could be ok in a normal world. But we all know that that world is no longer with us.
The Solution
The solution is simple.
It’s “think outside the box.”
And the first step is to recognize that “commerce” is supposed to be straightforward.
If we strip everything down, commerce is a transfer of goods/services from point A to point B in exchange for money.
That’s it.
Commerce is definitely not this. 👇
So, the goal should be to get businesses out of that old black box and search for the absolute BEST pathway to get products from A to B.
Enter the AI-enabled OS for Supply Chain Commerce
Imagine how much smoother supply chain commerce would be if Bill Gates were to build an OS for on-the-ground operations back in 1985.
By OS, we mean a “smart” tech infrastructure layer that sits on top of supply chain operations. This layer orchestrates and automates supply chain activities so that objectives are met and KPIs are improved. It also connects and enables diverse groups of service providers from finance to insurance and from pick packers to 3PLs to offer more value to one another from start to finish.
At ViaLink, we’re building exactly that.
Our mission is to build an interoperable OS that fully utilizes Big Data and Artificial Intelligence to help businesses digitize, automate, optimize, and connect all activities that occur on the supply chain.
Changing the way things are done is hard. But the rewards are worthwhile.
Our flagship clients enjoyed immediate improvements in key scalability and cost areas.
Some are now better positioned to offer more competitive, aggressive campaigns than their competitors. And for cases where the switch was from paper-based to cloud-based, the differences can be night and day.
And we’re just scratching the surface here!
We are excited to share more insights and lessons from our journey to build the best OS for supply chain commerce here periodically.
When the path from A to B is simplified and optimized, everyone benefits, including the world.
🤝 Visit us here to learn more or schedule a demo.
🙌 Or apply to one of our positions (we’re always hiring).