Despite the gradual settling down of pandemic-related disruptions, supply chain issues continue to be a top challenge for organisations across Australasia. Some of the reasons for these supply chain-related issues range from geopolitical factors to climate events. As a result, businesses must rethink their supply chain models to bolster resilience of their operations. Brett Newstead, Director of Sales, Zebra Technologies Australia explores these current challenges and what they present organisations to find innovative solutions and accelerate their digital transformation journeys. In fact, around 40% of Asian-based supply chain organisations will have rebalanced resilience efforts by 2040 with the help of technology, according to research conducted by the International Data Corporation (IDC). While there is already a rich list of technologies helping supply chain leaders transform their operations in 2023 and beyond, decision-makers must navigate challenges in relation to the identification and implementation of these solutions.
The challenges faced by Australasia enterprises in the journey to modernisation
Today, around 70% of global digital transformation projects fail to meet their goals, according to a McKinsey research. The reasons may vary from failing to set fact-based aspirations to not being able to provide employees with a compelling reason for why they should move away from existing systems. The second reason really resonates with many supply chain organisations.
When it comes to supply chains, many enterprises are still reliant on legacy systems. As these operations and technologies are already entrenched in the system and teams are largely familiar with them, there is a palpable resistance to move away from them and adopt new options.
But it is important to remember that while most of the traditional hardware and software platforms might have worked for these organisations yesterday, many are not capable of scaling to meet tomorrow’s demands – for example, complex order management.
Another aspect to consider is that, in the Asia Pacific region, the level of technological maturity varies depending on each country’s infrastructure, which can impact a company’s digital transformation project. For instance, if a country is currently unable to provide widespread 5G connectivity, it may not make sense to introduce 5G-enabled solutions now.
Decision-makers must, therefore, consider the technological environment in which they are working to build a plan that is future-forward and actionable.
Considering these challenges, it is important that supply chain organisations focus on developing their infrastructure maturity to support their technological transformation with minimal disruption.
There are five key steps that can help guide organisations in evolving in their warehouse maturity:
The first phase on the path to warehouse maturity is matching the technology solutions to the warehouse challenges. Some of the most common warehouse challenges are:
- siloed workers and workflows, which hinder productivity,
- slow, error-prone processes that might lead to missing deadlines and KPIs, and
- inconsistent or faulty barcode scanning, resulting in inaccuracy and loss of productivity.
For siloed workers and workflows, for example, many decision-makers can find answers to their needs in mobile communication and collaboration tools. When it comes to inconsistent or faulty barcode scanning, switching to scanners that can read 1D and 2D barcodes on the first trigger pull is recommended.
Each of these challenges will demand different technological solutions, there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach. As a first step, all stakeholders should collaborate to define and implement the tools that IT will need to support operational demands.
The second step is optimising the use of mobility for greater team productivity and workflow conformity. Mobile computers, printers, scanners, tablets, wearables, and sensors – all of which are seemingly commonplace technologies in today’s digitally-driven society – are not always common sights in warehouses that were built years ago. Yet, these are the foundational elements that give a modern warehouse the “good bones” it needs to continue to grow and flourish in the future.
Unlike paper-based systems and fixed computer terminals, mobile and wearable technologies give multiple supply chain stakeholders real-time visibility into their inventory, assets, and people, making it easy to capture and share data efficiently and accurately.
This naturally progresses into the third and fourth phases, which involve integrating real-time asset visibility into warehouse operations and orchestrating widespread use of this visibility. As warehousing processes are highly interdependent on one another, just one “small” issue could have quite a significant ripple effect in picking, sorting, packing, shipping, and delivery actions. Simply migrating from Windows® to Android™ handheld mobile computers or from 2G to 3G/4G/5G networks may be all a company needs to instantly expand operational visibility and increase operational intelligence.
And finally, once a company has already built a mobility strategy for front-line workers and deployed best-in-class tools to collect data and generate operational insights, it reaches the last phase, when its predictive and adaptive operations model improves performance and eliminates disruptive waste, errors, and congestion.
These predictive and adaptive operations will be supported by:
- fusing multiple external and internal data sources,
- implementing real-time sensing pervasively throughout operations,
- continuing to extend visibility to people, assets, and materials, and
- leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to remove as much human-initiated decision- making as possible and allow for more real-time prescriptive analysis and business adaptation.
Having a predictive and adaptive model helps business leaders improve many chain processes, including procurement. With the right data in their hands, they will make better-informed decisions when it comes to logistics, purchasing, and distribution of goods.
How supply chain companies are successfully improving their operations
When it comes to supply chains, approximately 85% of leaders expect digital to be the predominant model over the next five years, according to the Material Handling Institute’s (MHI) Annual Industry Report. As part of that, 74% of them are increasing their supply chain investments on innovation, combining traditional and cutting-edge technologies to create seamless omnichannel experiences across their ecosystem.
For example, mobile devices with push-to-talk capabilities facilitate fast voice communication and collaboration among team members. Heads-up displays that provide real-time guidance via augmented reality (AR) applications are being used to improve manufacturing processes across the plant floor, warehouse, and field by delivering hands-free instructions, visual diagrams, and reference materials directly to the workers’ line-of-sight.
Organisations are also leveraging AR and virtual reality (VR) technologies to provide new or less-experienced workers with easy access to remote experts and immersive, hands-on training.
Building a thriving supply chain model in the short and long term
Increasingly, there is a need to reorganise the supply chains – design and planning, production, distribution, consumption, and reverse logistics – through advanced technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IOT), big data analytics, and autonomous robotics.
But while advanced Industry 4.0 technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), drones, machine learning, and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) are still evolving and might be several years away for some organisations, mobile computers, barcode scanners, and wearable devices remain an easy and cost-effective way for supply chains to quickly accelerate digitisation efforts.
Transforming supply chain management today is critical for companies wishing to successfully navigate disruptions in 2023, but its impact will go way beyond that by helping them build a more resilient model for the years to come. And technology will be their greatest ally in building solutions for the long term.
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