Organizations are urgently reviewing how their businesses are run and how they can be scaled following disruptions caused by the global pandemic. And the question on everyone’s mind is, “What’s the best path forward?” For Sreekanth Patcha and Dharmenda Patwardhan of Capgemini, they see businesses seeking more intelligent forms of planning and operations as an opportunity to encourage the adoption of touchless planning processes. At Kinexions ’22, they shared their experiences working as strategic partners to companies embarking on supply chain digital transformation – their global team has worked with over 75% of Fortune 500 companies in the last five years. While the supply chain problems companies face may seem more challenging than ever, Sreekanth and Dharmendra say that transformation that encompasses people, processes, technology and data will ensure companies recognize long-term benefits and efficiencies.
What is touchless planning?
Touchless planning connects your teams and capabilities across the supply chain to remove frictions and increase agility. Characteristics of touchless planning include a short, daily planning cycle powered by concurrency; use of advanced analytics, digital twins and predictive intelligence; and end-to-end supply chain visibility for improved collaboration. These capabilities result in faster decision-making, higher customer satisfaction, fewer exceptions and improvements in revenues and sustainability through reductions in business waste and slow and obsolete moving stock. “We don’t do supply chain in a silo,” says Sreekanth. “We look at it from supply chain to marketing to sales.” As a result, concurrent planning is key.
Importance of change management for successful supply chain transformation
As companies embrace digital transformation, change management cannot be overlooked. Dharmendra says a common challenge is that companies focus only on improvements to technology and data while people and processes are overlooked. The risk in that scenario is that users will revert to what they know. “If you go back to the most commonly used planning tool in the world, which is Excel, then it kind of defeats the purpose of putting in whatever technology you put in,” he says. The Capgemini approach is to understand the outcomes companies are looking for and work towards achieving those. That starts with design and encompasses ways of working, process and technology. This ensures that everyone is aligned and working towards the same goals.
To learn more about Capgemini’s methods and the benefits of touchless supply chain planning, watch How to drive frictionless, AI-enabled, customer-centric operations.
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