Key Takeaways
- Simplified network management, multienterprise applications, and the ability to gather valuable collective intelligence are some of the key capabilities to look for in a digital supply network.
- Collective intelligence enables demand-based resource planning and can help you predict and prevent disruptions.
Digital supply networks will have a major impact on all industries: Supply chain disruptions will be more easily predicted and prevented. Supplier networks will grow more efficient, agile, and resilient. And innovative operating models will emerge to deliver new sources of competitive advantage.
But how will you know when you’ve found the right digital supply network platform? Start by looking for these five key features and capabilities:
Simplified Network Management and Onboarding: It’s important to be able to quickly and cost-effectively get your supplier partners up and running on a digital supply network. The digital supply network platform should make it easy to establish unique network identifiers; verify certificates; vet users; align on format and data requirements; and conduct end-to-end system testing.
Multienterprise Applications: Look for a platform that offers collaborative, multienterprise applications that enable you to create your own digital supply networks, linking companies, people, processes, and systems around common business processes and objectives.
Process Networks and Process Teams: Look for the ability to create unique networks of suppliers and teams of experts from inside and outside of your company to collaborate, resolve issues, manage changes, and review documents. Process networks can be used to segment suppliers by category. Process teams can be assembled to resolve specific types of quality and business process defects.
Custom Solutions: The ability to customize existing multienterprise applications to fit your unique business processes is a critical success factor. You also need a low-code environment for building and customizing your own collaborative supply network applications. Seek out a platform that gives you the tools to design user experiences, workflows, and data models.
Collective Intelligence: The right data mesh architecture makes the gathering of collective intelligence across all networks and industries possible. Collective intelligence enables real-time, demand-based resource planning while helping you predict and prevent shortages and disruptions.
In the next Agile Supply Insights article, we’ll explore some of the current and soon-to-be-unveiled categories of multienterprise applications that will have a major impact on supplier networks in the future.
Download our new handbook for more information on supply chain issue management.
