Digitization in Supply Chain Management: Trends, Challenges and Solutions

Every industry has faced the tidal wave of ’digital’ that has either re-shaped or dramatically altered their modus operandi. Supporting technologies in the management information systems arena have given rise to increased end to end visibility, real time access to information, and tightly controlled monitoring of deployed assets. In many industries it is straightforward to see the impact that digital technologies have had. Finance is a great example, with cash payments becoming increasingly less and less common, and digital currencies increasing in prominence. Yet how has this impacted supply chain management? In a discipline that spans multiple industries, continents, and companies, are there examples that we can point to that explain how digital supply chains have become? Which aspects of supply chain management were transformed by the digital tidal wave, and which functions are lagging behind? This is what this volume seeks to address.Trends: what are the current trends in digital (or digitalization) supply chain management? Ideally, these trends will include all aspects of the supply chain. That is, how has the digital revolution impacted sourcing? What are the digital trends in the logistics, warehousing, and distribution industry? How has ’digital’ impacted the operations and manufacturing industry? Challenges: where are the diminishing returns to digital and its inclusion in the supply chain? Are there problems related to procurement and sourcing as the digital revolution takes hold? Are logistics challenges compounded in a digital world? Is manufacturing more streamlined or are there additional complexities that need to be addressed?Solutions: Are the challenges all too overwhelming, or are there remedies that we can advance to cope with an ever increasingly digital world?