How do you stay ahead as an organization? Get ahead of the constantly changing demands of your customers. Get ahead of your competitors, who also keep evolving and getting smarter. How do you ensure that your organization continues to make a difference in the marketplace? And that you have the flexibility to deal with everything changing such as COVID-19? Questions that are high on the agenda within the manufacturing and wholesale industries. Industries we have worked with for over 10 years. We are happy to share our accumulated experience and knowledge with you. To help your organization remain or become that forerunner!
Leading the way by digitizing
The need to change does not always come from within, but is often prompted by external factors. External factors over which you as an organization have little or no control. But whose effect you can influence. External factors include customers who suddenly have different demands, competitors with unexpected innovations, or labor shortages. Do you recognize them What about COVID-19? This presented enormous limitations and required a great deal of flexibility.
You cannot influence these external factors. What you can influence, however, is how you handle it as an organization. One such way is to digitize the supply chain within your organization. A digital supply chain helps gain greater visibility into the supply chain, make better and accurate forecasts, automate processes and increase customer satisfaction. Moreover, it enables an organization to adapt quickly to changing circumstances.
Digitizing the supply chain: why now or not?
One organization has already made great strides and is at the stage of optimizing processes and automating. The other organization is on the eve of digitization. And there are organizations hoping to keep it off their agenda for the next 5 years. What are the reasons why organizations are or are not choosing digitization now?
Niek Geene, Business Consultant at Quinso: ‘There are several reasons why organizations digitize their supply chain. But perhaps even more interesting: also reasons why they haven’t started yet.’
A major reason why organizations do start digitizing is the desire to be prepared for changing customer demand. Customers know that much is possible and therefore increasingly demand more from organizations. Think personalization, smaller batches and knowing where their order is 24/7. Increasingly, the customer determines, not the manufacturer or wholesaler. Organizations that digitize their supply chain choose not to be surprised by their customers, but are ready before customer demand arises. In other words, they surprise their customers themselves! A forward-looking view for the survival and growth of their organization.
Another important reason to digitize is having visibility into the supply chain to be prepared for unforeseen events such as COVID-19 or the Suez Canal blockade. During the session Walk ahead! Digitize the supply chain we explored these and other reasons why organizations are choosing to digitize now.
As mentioned above, there are also organizations that consciously choose not to digitize now. For example, organizations that are highly profitable and therefore do not feel the need to change, with all the risks involved. Questions they ask themselves are: ‘Now is not the time, but when is? And when it is, how do we approach it in a way that has the least negative impact on the organization’s bottom line?’
Discovering: discovering together what is the best route for you
To this Rick Konings, also Business Consultant at Quinso, is happy to answer: ‘The moment, the pace and especially the route are different for each organization. The strategy of the organization is leading in this. Where do you want to be in five years? What are your objectives? And what contribution can digitalization make to that?’
At Quinso, we don’t think in IT solutions, but in business benefits. That’s also why we always start with understanding the organization’s strategy, goals and pain points. Followed by an analysis in which we arrive at a recommendation using various tools and methods developed by ourselves. An advice on what is the best route for your organization in the digitization journey. It is a phase of discovering together: the Discovering Phase!
A surprising opinion for CoreDux
An example that this approach can lead to an unexpected and better outcome is the project we did for CoreDux, designer and manufacturer of layout systems for gas and liquid transport. They envisioned starting their digitization effort with the implementation of SAP S/4HANA. However, our analysis showed that this did not solve their biggest challenges. Our advice was to start digitizing the shopfloor. Because of our clear analysis, the choice for that step was quickly made by them.
Sometimes problems lie in other processes than organizations think. With our business experience and knowledge, process thinking and also the fresh outsider’s view, we can make the difference in the right digitization route. You can read more about this project here: Coredux moves toward a fully transparent production process with Quinso
The business expert for Yanmar
Also organization Yanmar Marine International, producer of engines for pleasure and commercial shipping, have
and we guided in digitizing their supply chain. About Quinso’s role in this, says Daisuke Suzuki, project leader from Yanmar: ‘Quinso consultants knew in no time how our business works in detail, sometimes better than ourselves. They took us step by step in the development of our business processes which really helped us grow as a company.
You choose to lead the way!
Leading the way by digitizing the supply chain. That’s easier said than done. We organized an interactive session on digitizing the supply chain for an enthusiastic group of managers in supply chain, IT and logistics. A group with the same ambition: to become or remain leaders in their industry!
Niek Geene told them about what are the reasons for organizations not to digitize. But also, of course, why organizations do choose it. What it gives them. Rick Konings took them through the methodology we at Quinso have developed to help organizations determine their own route in the digitalization journey.
Michiel van Montfort inspired the participants from his daily practice as innovation manager at MCB. A story that led to much recognition.
Watch the session back to gain new insights around digitalization in your organization’s supply chain.
Do you choose to lead the way?
About Niek Geene
Niek Geene has been a Business Consultant at Quinso for over 11 years with an integral business focus on supply chain in the manufacturing industry.
About Rick Konings
Rick Konings is a Senior Consultant with extensive expertise in Intelligent Enterprise, digital transformation, Industry 4.0 and driving process improvement with SAP S/4HANA Cloud.
