Supply chain control towers are essential in helping businesses improve their decision-making capabilities. Learn how companies like Tredence use Supply Chain AI to leverage the power of data
What is a supply chain control tower?
Demand for supply chain control towers is at its peak. In a historical moment in which supply chain disruptions are on the rise, businesses around the globe view control towers as an essential technology to optimize their supply chain management.
A supply chain digital control tower can be seen as a platform bringing together real-time visibility, decision-making, and execution capabilities. It runs on real-time data from all available sources and can be accessed by all stakeholders, therefore improving accessibility at every node of the supply chain.
Control towers were born to improve visibility across the chain, but today, they have evolved to provide other valuable benefits: prescriptive analytics for advanced decision-making and supply chain planning.
The benefits of prescriptive analytics for the supply chain
Prescriptive analytics has been called the future of data analytics and for a good reason. This type of analysis uses historical data to recommend the best action: it goes beyond predictions and forecasting to provide actionable insights and operative suggestions.
The integration of prescriptive analytics in supply chain management has emerged as a transformative force in enhancing efficiency, decision-making, and overall performance. It helps executives answer tricky questions such as:
- What type of product would be received better?
- What is the ideal shipping strategy?
- How should suppliers perform?
- How much should we scale up the business?
Let’s see how it works.
Prescriptive analytics leverages Machine Learning algorithms to make predictions based on real-time and historical data, then uses the insights generated to recommend the best probable courses of action.
Here are 3 benefits of prescriptive analytics in supply chain management:
- It reveals hidden patterns and trends, enhancing scenario planning and forecasts;
- It improves managers decision-making capabilities by suggesting data-driven actions;
- It enables companies to anticipate potential challenges, shifting the supply chain from reactive to proactive.
How do you use a supply chain control tower for prescriptive analytics?
A supply chain control tower can significantly enhance operational efficiency and responsiveness when integrated with prescriptive analysis capabilities. Here’s how businesses can leverage an SCCT for this kind of data analysis:
- Data Integration and Centralization
The supply chain control tower integrates data from various sources, both internal and external, and receives real-time updates on the current state of the supply chain. This allows companies to break down data silos and truly leverage the power of their data, performing advanced analytics on a much bigger dataset.
- Automation
Companies can enable automated decision-making for routine tasks (for example, reordering inventory), saving time and effort for human employees. They can also set up alerts and notifications when unexpected events happen and automatically suggest solutions.
- Collaboration and Communication
The supply chain control tower is a collaborative platform where all stakeholders can communicate, share information, and make decisions. Each dashboard can be personalized depending on the stakeholders’ role, ensuring all relevant information is displayed correctly.
- Scenario Planning and Decision Support
Prescriptive analysis can support businesses in understanding the implications of various strategies before implementing them, using what-if analysis, and then providing recommendations on all aspects of supply chain management: inventory, routes optimization, demand planning, production schedules etc.
- Ongoing Improvement
Supply chain control towers can monitor the performance of the supply chain against KPIs and automatically adjust strategies if needed. Moreover, Supply Chain AI learns from past decisions and outcomes, continually improving algorithms’ accuracy to refine the prescriptive models.
Step up your supply chain management game with prescriptive analysis
A supply chain control tower is more than just a solution for end-to-end visibility: it is the game-changer to bring your supply chain to the next level. By automatically collecting and integrating structured and unstructured data from across the supply chain, they provide the perfect base for advanced data analytics.
Prescriptive analytics in particular, has the potential to be the discriminator factor in today’s market. By using prescriptive analytics, companies can optimize their supply chain operations, reduce costs, and make better decisions, ultimately enhancing their overall supply chain performance.
A supply chain control tower will open the doors of advanced supply chain analytics to your companies. Embrace the digital revolution and start your journey toward an intelligent, improved supply chain.
