COVID-19 spurs a leap to digital supply chains

Manufacturers and suppliers are taking a second look at digital transformation as they strive to operate in the new uncertainty of COVID-19. While they previously looked to technologies such as data, IoT, robotics and analytics to drive efficiency, they’re now viewing them as a means to increase resiliency in disruptive times. "COVID-19 is vastly accelerating digital transformation," Mary Long, director of the Supply Chain Forum at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, told Supply Chain Dive. As the pandemic has thrown the world into economic upheaval, manufacturers and supply chain leaders are reconsidering digital initiatives that previously sat on the back burner, Long said. "We just took a huge leap forward. Companies that have always taken the safe, always-as-it-was approach are suddenly looking at anything that takes touches out of the system," she said. Manufacturers have strong interest in digital transformation but have often been held back by a lack of funding, strategy or governance. Three-quarters of supply chain leaders said developing digital and analytics capabilities were very important in their overall supply chain strategy, according to a 2019 survey by Deloitte. Yet many said they lacked funding, ownership of the investment, and the talent to drive many digital initiatives.