Skip to main content
  • login
  • contact
  • language
    • English
    • Français
    • Español
    • Português
    • Deutsch
    • Italia
    • 简体中文
    • 日本語
  • search
X
GEP Logo GEP Logo
  • Company
    • About Us
    • Leadership
    • Customers
    • Partners
    • AI-First at GEP
    • Sustainability at GEP
    • News
    • Events
    • Culture
    • Mission & Vision
    • Awards & Recognition
  • Solutions
    • Software
      • GEP SMART  
        • AI-First Source-to-Pay
        • Procurement Software
        • Product Accessibility
        • Direct Procurement Software
        • Indirect Procurement Software
        • Intelligent Category Management
        • Digital Procurement Transformation
        • Master Data Management
        • AP Automation
        • Spend Management
        • GEP COSTDRIVERS
      • Midsize & High Growth Enterprises  
      • GEP NEXXE  
        • AI-First Supply Chain Management
        • Supply Chain Visibility and Execution
        • Supply Chain Planning
        • Supply Chain Collaboration
        • Supply Chain Control Tower
        • Should-Cost Modeling
        • Inventory and Warehouse Management
        • Direct Material Sourcing
        • GEP Multienterprise Collaboration Network
      • GEP CLICK  
      • GEP MINERVA  
      • GEP BUILD  
      • GEP ASSIST  
      • GEP SPECTRUM XA  
      • GEP GREEN  
      Strategy
      • Procurement Consulting  
        • Procurement Transformation
        • Digital Procurement Transformation
        • Opportunity Assessment
        • M & A Services
        • Strategic Cost Management
        • Supply Risk Management
      • Supply Chain Consulting  
        • Environmental, Social and Governance
        • Socially Responsible Sourcing
        • Supply Chain Strategy
        • Supply Chain Diagnostics
        • Inventory Optimization
        • Network Optimization
        • GEP Total Inventory Management Solution
      Managed Services
      • Procurement Outsourcing  
        • Source-to-Contract
          • Spend Analysis
          • Strategic Sourcing
          • Category Management
          • Supply Market Intelligence
          • Tail-Spend Management
          • Procurement Support Services
        • Procure-to-Pay
          • Cost Recovery & Invoice Auditing
          • Accounts Payable
      • Supply Chain Outsourcing  
        • Planning & Forecasting
        • Inventory Management
        • Logistics Management
        • Supply Chain Data Management
        • Supply Chain Risk Management
  • Industries
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • Energy & Utilities
    • Financial Services
    • Government & Nonprofit
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Life Sciences
    • Oil & Gas
    • Private Equity
    • Retail
    • Telecommunications, Media & Technology
    • High-Tech
    • Media & Entertainment
    • Software, Social & Platforms
    • Telecom
    • Travel & Hospitality
  • Knowledge Bank
    • Explore by Topic
      • Artificial Intelligence  
      • Digital Transformation  
      • Software & Technology  
      • Strategy & Planning  
      • Operations  
      • Procurement  
      • Sustainability  
      • Inflation Strategies  
      Explore by Type
      • White Papers  
      • Research Reports  
      • Bulletin  
      • Case Studies  
      • Webcasts  
      • Blogs  
      • Podcasts  
      • Insights From the Top  
      • Glossary  
      Global Supply Chain Volatility Index

      Latest Insight

      Navigating shifts Read More  

      Rethinking Supply Chains for Greater Efficiency, Resiliency, and Sustainability Read More  

  • Careers
    • Join Us
    • GEP Per Se
    • Campus Connect
  • Partners
   
  • GEP Software ›
    • GEP Software
    • ‹ Back
      • GEP SMART ›
        • GEP SMART
        • ‹ Back
          • AI-First Source-to-Pay
          • Procurement Software
          • Direct Procurement Software ›
            • Direct Procurement Software
            • ‹ Back
              • Bill of Materials Management
              • Data Analytics & Reporting
              • Inventory Management
              • Master Data Management
              • Quality Management
              • Supplier Collaboration Portal
              • Supply Chain Operations
          • Indirect Procurement Software ›
            • Indirect Procurement Software
            • ‹ Back
              • Source-to-Contract
              • Spend Analysis
              • Savings Project Management
              • Category Management
              • Contract Management
              • Savings Tracking
              • Sourcing
              • Supplier Management
              • Procure-to-Pay
              • Guided Buying
              • Procurement Portal
              • Catalog Management
              • Order Processing
              • Invoice Management
          • Intelligent Category Management
          • Digital Procurement Transformation
          • Spend Management
          • Master Data Management
          • AP Automation
          • Product Accessibility
          • GEP COSTDRIVERS
          • Midsize & High Growth Enterprises
      • GEP NEXXE ›
        • GEP NEXXE
        • ‹ Back
          • AI-First Supply Chain Management
          • Supply Chain Visibility and Execution ›
            • Supply Chain Visibility and Execution
            • ‹ Back
              • Inventory and Warehouse Management
              • Logistics Visibility
              • Control Tower
          • Supply Chain Planning ›
            • Supply Chain Planning
            • ‹ Back
              • Supply Chain Control Tower
              • Should-Cost Modeling
              • Demand Planning
              • Supply Chain Bill of Materials
              • Supply Chain Direct Sourcing
              • Supply Planning
          • Supply Chain Collaboration ›
            • Supply Chain Collaboration
            • ‹ Back
              • Forecast Collaboration
              • Purchase Order Collaboration
              • Quality Collaboration
              • Capacity Collaboration
              • Quality Management Software
          • Supply Chain Control Tower
          • Should-Cost Modeling
          • Inventory and Warehouse Management
          • GEP Multienterprise Collaboration Network
      • GEP CLICK
      • GEP MINERVA
      • GEP BUILD
      • GEP ASSIST
      • GEP SPECTRUM XA
      • GEP GREEN
      • Innovation ›
        • Innovation
        • ‹ Back
          • Emerging Technologies
          • Native to Cloud
          • Native to Mobile
          • One Unified Platform
          • Security
          • User-Centric Design
  • GEP Strategy ›
    • GEP Strategy
    • ‹ Back
      • Procurement Consulting ›
        • Procurement Consulting
        • ‹ Back
          • Procurement Transformation ›
            • Procurement Transformation
            • ‹ Back
              • Procurement Strategy
              • Org. Design & Implementation
              • Capability Building
              • Change Management
              • Governance & Performance
              • Processes & Policies
              • S2P Operations
              • Sourcing & Category Management
              • Technology
          • Digital Procurement Transformation
          • Opportunity Assessment
          • M&A Services ›
            • M&A Services
            • ‹ Back
              • M&A Clean Room
          • Strategic Cost Management ›
            • Strategic Cost Management
            • ‹ Back
              • Zero-Based Budgeting
          • Supply Chain Risk Management
      • Supply Chain Consulting ›
        • Supply Chain Consulting
        • ‹ Back
          • SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENCE
          • Environmental, Social and Governance
          • Socially Responsible Sourcing
          • Scope 3
          • PLAN
          • Digital Planning, S&OP, S&OE
          • Collaborative Planning
          • PROCURE
          • Source To Contract
          • Procure To Pay
          • MAKE
          • Inventory Strategy & Management
          • Operations & Manufacturing Excellence
          • GEP Total Inventory Management Solution
          • DELIVER
          • Network Strategy & Optimization
          • Warehousing & Transportation Management
  • GEP Managed Services ›
    • GEP Managed Services
    • ‹ Back
      • Procurement Outsourcing ›
        • Procurement Outsourcing
        • ‹ Back
          • Source-to-Contract
          • Spend Analysis
          • Strategic Sourcing ›
            • Strategic Sourcing
            • ‹ Back
              • MRO
              • CAPEX
              • Logistics
              • Packaging
              • IT & Telecom
              • Energy
              • Direct Materials
          • Category Management ›
            • Category Management
            • ‹ Back
              • Contract Management
              • Supplier Performance Management
              • Savings & Compliance Tracking
          • Supply Market Intelligence
          • Tail-Spend Management
          • Procurement Support Services ›
            • Procurement Support Services
            • ‹ Back
              • eSourcing
              • Supplier Performance Management
              • Savings & Compliance Tracking
              • Sourcing Support
          • Procure-to-Pay
          • Cost Recovery & Invoice Auditing
          • Accounts Payable
      • Supply Chain Outsourcing ›
        • Supply Chain Outsourcing
        • ‹ Back
          • Planning & Forecasting
          • Inventory Management
          • Logistics Management
          • Supply Chain Data Management
          • Supply Risk Management
  • Industries ›
    • Industries
    • ‹ Back
      • Automotive
      • Chemicals
      • Consumer Packaged Goods
      • Energy & Utilities
      • Financial Services
      • Government & Nonprofit
      • Industrial Manufacturing
      • Life Sciences
      • Oil & Gas
      • Private Equity
      • Retail
      • Telecommunications, Media & Technology
      • High-Tech
      • Media & Entertainment
      • Software, Social & Platforms
      • Telecom
      • Travel & Hospitality
  • Knowledge Bank ›
    • Knowledge Bank
    • ‹ Back
      • Explore by Topic ›
        • Explore by Topic
        • ‹ Back
          • Artificial Intelligence
          • Digital Transformation
          • Operations
          • Procurement
          • Software & Technology
          • Strategy & Planning
          • Sustainability
          • Inflation Strategies
      • Explore by Type ›
        • Explore by Type
        • ‹ Back
          • Insights From the Top
          • White Papers
          • Research Reports
          • Bulletins
          • Case Studies
          • Webcasts
          • Blogs
          • Podcasts
          • Glossary
      • Global Supply Chain Volatility Index
  • Company ›
    • Company
    • ‹ Back
      • About Us
      • Leadership
      • Customers
      • Partners
      • AI-First at GEP
      • Sustainability at GEP
      • News
      • Events
      • Culture ›
        • Culture
        • ‹ Back
          • GEP Core Values
          • Women@GEP
          • Diversity
          • GEP Cares
      • Mission & Vision
      • Awards & Recognition
      • Contact Us
  • Global Presence ›
    • Global Presence
    • ‹ Back
      • Americas ›
        • Americas
        • ‹ Back
          • English
          • Español
          • Portugués
      • Europe ›
        • Europe
        • ‹ Back
          • English
          • Deutsch
      • Asia-Pacific ›
        • Asia-Pacific
        • ‹ Back
          • English
          • 中文
      • Middle East ›
        • Middle East
        • ‹ Back
          • English
          • العربية
  • Contact Us
  • Careers ›
    • Careers
    • ‹ Back
      • GEP Per Se
      • Campus Connect
  • Language ›
    • Language
    • ‹ Back
      • English
      • Français
      • Español
      • Deutsch
      • Italia
      • Português
      • 简体中文
      • 日本語
  • BLOGS
  • Strategy
  • Technology
  • MIND
Contact Us
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

Breadcrumb

  1. HOME
  2. BLOG
  3. TECHNOLOGY
  4. A UNIFIED SUPPLY CHAIN SOFTWARE PLATFORM AS THE FOUNDATION TO ENABLE DIGITAL SUPPLY CHAIN TWINS
Blog Image

A Unified Supply Chain Software Platform as the Foundation to Enable Digital Supply Chain Twins

December 01, 2020 | Supply Chain Software

Supply chains have been tackling uncertainties such as trade wars, natural disasters, cyberattacks, wars, and environmental regulations long before COVID-19. That’s why modern supply chains, increasingly powered by supply chain software, are more resilient, decentralized, and globally distributed with several trading partners and suppliers. They also produce massive amounts of stock-keeping units, product lines, and cater to more markets.

Yet, few supply chain were prepared for the domino effect of widespread lockdowns due to COVID-19. Everything — from demand signals and sales forecasts to the unavailability of production and transportation resources — was impacted.

In such volatile times, having complete visibility of supply chain operations, inventory and raw materials, and product flows can go a long way. That, in turn, requires adopting a digital-first mindset and laying the groundwork for a digital supply chain.

A key lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic

One of the biggest lessons from COVID-19 was to prioritize digitization for agility and resistance against future disruptions.

Enterprises already use many systems that generate huge volumes of data for actionable insights.

However, most decision-making using conventional supply chain management software is based on past data. Whereas, events like COVID-19 require enterprises to understand real-time data, predict potential risks using "what-if" analysis, develop appropriate risk mitigation plans, and spot opportunistic trends faster than the competition.

That’s a tall order, and precisely where digital supply chain twins — a market valued at 3.1 billion USD in 2020 and projected to reach 48.2 billion USD in 2026 — can be of assistance.

What are digital supply chain twins?

According to Gartner, the digital supply chain twin is a digital representation of the physical supply chain. The digital replica is like a parallel universe that mirrors everything from the physical supply chain — its assets, inventories and warehouses, logistics flows, transactions, and third-party relationships, to name a few.

With advanced analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML), they simulate a supply chain’s real-time performance, complexities, and risks. Equipped with such accurate, real-time data, enterprises can achieve full control and visibility of all assets and interconnections in their supply chains, spot risks, and derive forward-looking insights as per business needs.

The concept of a digital twin isn't new and has been used in product engineering and flight simulations. The novelty lies in integrating real-time data, which is now more effective thanks to IoT, digitization, and robust data-driven simulation and modeling.

Why do digital supply chain twins matter in a post-pandemic world?

Two excellent examples of companies reaping the benefits of digital supply chains are DHL, a global logistics company, and Unilever, the consumer goods giant.

DHL built a digital twin warehouse for Tetra Pak (a food packaging company) in Singapore to receive real-time updates from the physical warehouse. As a result, DHL continuously tracks its performance and identifies better storage solutions.

Similarly, Unilever built a virtual factory in Valinhos, Brazil, and has already saved USD 2.8 million. It used IoT sensors to feed real-time information on temperature, motor speed, and other production variables on the cloud. Unilever simulated "what-if" scenarios with advanced analytics and machine learning to map the best operational conditions, allowing it to perform predictive maintenance and reduce wastage.

What do enterprises need to make digital supply chain twins a reality?

The first step is to support agile decision-making and adapt to changes in the market, consumer behavior, demands, or global disruptions.

The next step is moving to the cloud and choosing an IT infrastructure that supports digitization on the cloud. Several enterprises have already invested in digital transformation and cloud architectures, but they struggle to generate meaningful insights.

To take full advantage of the data captured and build a true end-to-end digital twin, enterprises must have the means to bring all data together in one place and analyze it to offer insights that support decision-making across the organization. It also means stitching together complicated and siloed supply chains.

How can a unified, cloud-native, AI-powered supply chain software platform help build digital twins?

A unified, cloud-based, AI-enabled supply chain management platform brings everything from warehouse and logistics management to data processing under one roof. This facilitates end-to-end supply chain planning, management, visibility, and monitoring.

Such platforms offer complete visibility with control towers that let enterprises manage the entire supply chain from one place. By combining people, process, data, and technologies, control towers enable greater transparency and collaboration.

As AI powers digital supply chain twins, they can automatically process oceans of data with fewer errors and greater efficiency, drastically increasing productivity and reducing operational costs. Thanks to ML algorithms, such systems can identify potential roadblocks in the supply chain by simulating scenarios and prompting preemptive measures.

Since digital twins integrate with legacy operational and planning systems (ERP, TMS, and WMS), external data, and IoT devices, they make real-time data acquisition and supply chain monitoring a breeze.

Finally, they enable businesses to set up predictive altering and action status trackers that detect patterns. This helps businesses stay on top of upcoming complications and fluctuations in markets.

What’s the way forward?

The pandemic has underlined the importance of transforming supply chains and empowering them with next-gen technologies to quickly adapt to disruptions like pandemics (where changes occur at breakneck speeds) while mitigating risks.

An AI-powered digital supply chain management platform like GEP NEXXE™ can help enterprises set up a virtual replica of their supply chains for complete visibility, intelligence, agility, and resilience — crucial to keep up with rapidly changing market dynamics.

Powered by GEP MINERVA™, GEP’s proprietary AI technology, GEP NEXXE supports demand forecasting and big data analytics — critical components of an effective digital supply chain twin.

Schedule a demo today and find out how GEP can help future-proof your supply chain in an increasingly uncertain world.

 

Tags: supply chain , Supply Chain Risk Management

Add Comment +

FEATURED POST

...
Inventory Management Software

Achieving Supply Chain Resilience With Total Inventory Management Solution

...
Supply Chain Strategy

Sodium-ion vs. Lithium-ion Battery: Which is a Better Alternative?

...
Supply Chain Strategy

3 Best Practices to Tackle Inflation in Supply Chain Network Design

    BLOG CATEGORIES

  • Procurement Software
  • Supply Chain Software
  • Inventory Management Software
  • Accounts Payable
  • Source to Pay
  • Contract Management
  • Mobile and Cloud
  • Operations
  • Spend Management
  • Spend Analysis
  • Supplier Management Technology
  • Purchasing
  • Sourcing Technology
  • Procure to Pay

TAGS

sustainability
Procurement Software
supply chain strategy
Inflation
Russia-Ukraine War

By checking the box below, you consent to GEP using your personal information to send you thought leadership content – such as white papers, research reports, case studies – and other communications. GEP representatives may contact you to provide additional information or answer questions.

If at any point in time you decide to withdraw your consent, you may unsubscribe by emailing your request to us at privacy@gep.com.

Please refer to the GEP Privacy Statement to understand how we manage and protect your personal information.

Terms of Use | Privacy Statement

Contact Us

Ask Us

Send us your question(s)

RFP

Request for a business proposal

Feedback

Share your thoughts, comments and suggestions

Demo

Schedule a live demo of our software

Discover
STRATEGY
Strategy
  •   Procurement Consulting
  •   Digital Procurement Transformation
  •   Strategic Cost Management
  •   Opportunity Assessment
  •   Supply Chain Risk Management
  •   Supply Chain Consulting
  •   Supply Chain Strategy
  •   Supply Chain Diagnostics
  •   Inventory Optimization
  •   Procurement Transformation
  •   Sustainability and ESG Consulting
SOFTWARE
Software
  •   Procurement Software
  •   Supply Chain Software
  •   Source-to-Contract
  •   Procure-to-Pay
  •   Supply Chain Planning
  •   Supply Chain Collaboration
  •   Supply Chain Visibility & Execution
  •   Supply Chain Control Tower
  •   Should-Cost Modeling
  •   Inventory & Warehouse Management Software
  •   Source-To-Pay Software
  •   Midsize & High Growth Enterprises
MANAGED SERVICES
Managed Services
  •   Procurement Outsourcing
  •   Strategic Sourcing
  •   Tail-Spend Management
  •   Category Management
  •   Procurement Support Services
  •   Supply Chain Outsourcing
  •   Supply Chain Planning & Forecasting
  •   Inventory Management
  •   Logistics Management
COMPANY
Company
  •   About Us
  •   Leadership
  •   Customers
  •   Sustainability at GEP
  •   Careers
  •   News
  •   Awards
  •   Partners
  •   Contact Us

Fresh Insights, Now on Your Phone

  • GoGEP app on Apple App Store
  • GoGEP app on Google Play Store
Stay Connected
  •  
  •  
  •  

Latest Tweets

© Copyright GEP 2023. All rights reserved. Terms of Use | Privacy Statement | Cookie Policy |   | Quality Policy | GEP Logo