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Today, top management teams are talking about the digitalization of supply chains end-to-end, using old as well as new technology and methodology like Internet of Things (IoT), big data technology and industry/process standardization and automation. It’s to a large extent about a skill shift, again, and this time from innovation economy to digitalization. The ongoing re-conceptualization of supply chains will open up for concepts like Industry 4.0 and Seamless Supply Chains.

Today, one of the most exciting topics in the supply chain debate is IoT (Internet of Things), in connection with for example “supply chain visibility end-to-end” and “Industry  4.0”,where industrial robots and other automation systems are connected and capable of reacting to market demand and responding accordingly.

Several supply chain trends that have been mentioned during the past years are now becoming a reality. Companies are starting to think and act outside the four walls. It’s clear that more and more supply chain projects cover an end-to-end perspective, including both customers and suppliers globally. These projects’ focus are on improved supply chain collaboration, covering the full processes order-to-cash and purchase-to-pay.

The biggest problem in supply chains is still ‘silo thinking’, that is, that everyone thinks only of his own situation and acts accordingly. Thus, today’s supply chains are always less than optimal.