Supply chain agility in the direct-to-consumer era

Manufacturers of consumer products have been impacted heavily during the past two years. Business models are now being shifted from purely retail channels towards direct-to-consumer (D2C) channels.

D2C minimises the need for manufacturers to use retailers, marketplaces, or distributors, instead shaping a direct relationship between the manufacturer and the consumer. In fact, a recent survey by Deloitte shows that over 90% of consumer goods manufacturers will see moderate or significant changes in go-to-market channels.

This change increases the need for agile supply chains. Manufacturers need to be able to flex and scale to meet the needs of many more direct customers, instead of a smaller set of retail or distribution customers. Supply chains will need to ensure order accuracy is near perfect, adjusting demand forecasting methodologies and manufacturing scenarios to build an intelligent supply chain that is resilient against fast moving market dynamics.

The easiest – and arguably best – way to create agile supply chains is through modernising supply chain planning. This means integrating AI and intelligent automation into the production planning process to redefine supply chain planning; essentially intelligent production planning.

Such technology can bring tremendous benefits in terms of operational efficiency. For example, using an anomaly detection algorithm to identify early changes in buying trends will provide supply chains with additional time to meet the new demands. Intelligent production planning can also optimise supply chain scheduling to better align finished goods production to balance inventory carrying costs, services levels while delivering to demand plans.

However, integrating new technologies into a complex supply chain and existing ecosystem can be a challenge. AI and automation technologies are typically layered on top of common supply chain systems from SAP, Oracle, Kinaxis or o9. However, modern intelligent production planning solutions will should only require data integration via an API to feed the solution with relevant transactional or master data. The result will be a more streamlined supply chain that creates additional flexibility, resilience and agility to address a rapidly changing market landscape.

To further explore how intelligent production planning solutions like Replan can help make your supply chain more resilient and intelligent, schedule a call with us below or reach out to us at [insert new email]. We can quickly provide you with ideas on how to enhance current supply chain planning solutions and processes with intelligent automation.