Currently, the economic reactivation of companies is closely linked to their technological inclusion and the drive and investment they are making in digital tools to improve their operation, reduce costs and meet new market demands; However, the challenge is greater when it comes to their supply chains.
To understand this situation, let us remember that 2020 was the year in which electronic commerce was accentuated and accelerated. In fact, in the midst of a pandemic, some online sales sites experienced so many orders that they thought they were victims of a cyberattack; Even in Mexico, according to the Mexican Packaging and Packaging Association (AMEE), the substantial increase in e-commerce, added to the low global production of cardboard, made the price of this material more expensive, between 10 and 15 percent.
These are just some data that show the magnitude of how the world adapted its need to acquire products, to do so through a digital scheme that guarantees health security, speed and reliability to receive it at a certain address. That is precisely the enormous task that supply chains currently have: guarantee the supply and distribution of items, in shorter periods and with the confidence that they will arrive on time.
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On this, according to our recent study “Global Tech Outlook”, which refers to the technology plans of 1470 IT leaders in global companies, we found that 36% pointed to the strategy of Digital transformation as your top priority this year; In addition, the respondents defined innovation (23%), security (19%) and user experience (13%) as their main objectives with this change.
However, paradoxically, despite all this evolution and the technological inclusion In supply chains, there are still companies that follow several of their logistics processes (planning, storage, distribution and delivery) like 50 years ago; The worrying thing about this is that if they don’t move to a digital level in the short term, they run the risk of collapse.
And it is that, although the contingency accelerated the Digital transformation of organizations, this does not mean that change is easy. According to another study, now from the Accenture consultancy, 81% of international supply chain leaders say that the pandemic has been the most difficult test for their companies.
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But that is not all; Furthermore, in this same document, in which 1,100 executives from 11 countries and 13 industries participated, the companies were classified by their level of operational maturity, as “stable”, “efficient”, “predictive” and “prepared for the future. ”. It is striking that although only 4% of supply chain leaders entered the latter category, another 34% said they expect to reach this point by 2023.
This shows that the digital inclusion in this area it is progressing, but still slowly. Operations such as the management of delivery routes (particularly the last mile), the management of distribution centers or cross docking logistics are tasks that all companies must modernize through more affordable, modern and open technology, focused on making them more efficient and profitable, ready for the new market conditions.
It is a fact that much of the momentum that the national economy has, for the coming months, will have to do with how we will be able to understand and adapt this change.
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Javier Cordero, CEO of Red Hat Mexico. *
The opinions expressed are solely the responsibility of their authors and are completely independent of the position and editorial line of Forbes Mexico.