Supply Chain Control Tower

Proof of value

Experience the benefits of the Supply Chain Control Tower

Are you interested in the Supply Chain Control Tower, but you don’t yet know whether it is the right tool for your company and your supply chain? Are you still unsure whether the investment would pay off in the long term? Then it is advisable to specifically and realistically examine the feasibility and benefits for your company. The best way to do this is to carry out a practical test with a defined prototype.

Our Proof of Value offer is designed to test the feasibility of a supply chain control tower in a practical way and make the benefits tangible. Within a manageable project framework, we work with you to select a specific use case and implement it as a prototype on a flexible and powerful technology platform. Only if you are convinced by the results will we further develop your Supply Chain Control Tower on this basis and transfer it to live operation.

Our service packages:

• Select a suitable use case
• Implementing a prototype supply chain control tower

Your benefit:

1. You can evaluate the benefits of a Supply Chain Control Tower in a practical way
2. You minimize your initial risk
3. You receive concrete arguments for an investment decision

Readiness Assessment

Discover the potential of your data.

A supply chain control tower can only be successful if it has a good database and efficient interfaces to internal and external systems. The data quality in your own systems must allow you to describe your key business figures and all relevant processes in sufficient detail; external interdependencies can only be recorded if additional data from third-party systems is added, e.g. from suppliers, transport service providers and customers.

In the Readiness Assessment, we check whether these requirements are met and prepare your company to successfully implement the Supply Chain Control Tower. To do this, we assess whether the necessary data is available in adequate quality and which possible technology platforms allow the use of suitable interfaces. This also includes analyzing existing data sets, identifying potential gaps and developing action plans to improve data quality.

We will show you what you can do to make the added value of a supply chain control tower available to your company.

Our service packages:

• Evaluate and compare data quality
• Develop action plans to optimize data quality
• Evaluate interface capability

Your benefit:

1. You can improve data availability and quality in a targeted manner
2. You reduce implementation effort and duration
3. You are ready for the introduction of the Supply Chain Control Tower

Technology selection

Choose the technology platform with the maximum benefit.

In principle, the technical implementation of a supply chain control tower is possible on very different platforms, e.g. within the ERP system, the BI system or with new, specialized software. The choice of technology should be adapted to the IT infrastructure that you already use in the company and also take into account that the solutions are scalable and can be flexibly adapted to changes. This will enable you to meet future requirements and changes in your supply chain and IT landscape in the best possible way.

Together with your experts, we examine various options and select the appropriate technology platform that suits your needs and your technical and organizational framework conditions. In order to be able to do this easily, we define the desired functionalities together with you beforehand and derive the technical requirements. We then compare both with the technologies available on the market and develop an implementation roadmap.

Our service packages:

• Define functional scope and technical requirements
• Selecting the most suitable technology platform
• Developing a roadmap for implementing the Supply Chain Control Tower

Your benefit:

1. You define the functions based on your requirements
2. You will get to know the various technology platforms
3. You carry out a stringent selection process
4. You decide on the optimum technology platform
5. You receive a clear roadmap for further development

Development and introduction

Value engineering for your supply chain.

As part of the development of the supply chain control tower, the required interfaces and the data model must be created, as well as the algorithms that process the data for the desired use cases. In this context, we recommend selecting the technology platform in such a way that no additional development costs are incurred for basic functionalities such as user management and the graphical display of data.

We are happy to support your company in the development and introduction of the Supply Chain Control Tower. Depending on your requirements, our involvement ranges from conceptual support to the complete development of the solution for selected technology platforms. We are also happy to provide your employees with training and shadowing to enable them to use the Supply Chain Control Tower effectively in their day-to-day work.

Our service packages:

• Configuring interfaces and connectors
• Program data model and processing
• Perform integration and system tests
• Train employees

Your benefit:

1. You receive a Supply Chain Control Tower customized to your needs
2. The knowledge is deeply anchored in your employees

Integration of artificial intelligence

Use the power of AI for your supply chain.

Algorithms based on artificial intelligence will play a key role in shaping the industrial future. In the supply chain, they can help you to understand interdependencies, anticipate critical situations and prepare well-founded decisions or even execute them automatically. When used correctly, artificial intelligence makes your supply chain more resilient and efficient.

Our digital operations experts deal extensively with the possible applications of artificial intelligence. They will help you to assess the possibilities and limitations of the technology and thus successfully use AI to further develop and improve your supply chain control tower. In a first step, we analyze which AI application options exist within your supply chain and determine the benefits and costs. In the second step, you then decide which of the possible solutions will be implemented by our experts.

Our service packages:

• Identifying suitable fields of application for AI
• Develop data models and algorithms
• Test and implement solutions
• Ongoing service and control

Your benefit:

1. They recognize interdependencies and anticipate critical situations
2. You receive well-founded decision proposals for confirmation
3. You define the situations in which the system decides and acts independently

Further development

Increase the benefits of your supply chain control tower.

Would you like to integrate new functionalities into the Supply Chain Control Tower? Have there been changes in your supply chain or in the environment so that processes and structures have been adapted? Are your employees finding it difficult to make the right decisions quickly despite support? In these cases, it may make sense to revise and further develop your existing Supply Chain Control Tower.

Our experts turn your supply chain control tower into a powerful tool for real-time analysis and data-based decision-making throughout the entire supply chain. To do this, we analyze the existing functions and compare them in a plan/actual comparison with the scope of services you require for existing and new use cases. By implementing advanced analysis technologies, it is then possible to create transparency and identify optimization potential. In this way, the Control Tower enables your employees to react proactively to changes in the future.

Our service packages:

• Analyze status quo and compare with target status
• Further develop data model, algorithms and analyses
• Change technology platform (if necessary)
• Train employees

Your benefit:

1. You expand the functional scope of your Supply Chain Control Tower for new use cases
2. You increase the benefits of your existing supply chain control tower
3. You increase acceptance among employees and management

What is a Supply Chain Control Tower?

A supply chain control tower is a modern software technology that enables companies to monitor, analyze and control their supply chains in real time. To do this, important key figures, data and events from the entire supply chain are collected from various sources and systems. The real-time analysis of this information makes it possible to recognize deviations from the usual process, critical situations and decision points at an early stage and to react promptly.

This enables companies to increase the performance of their supply chain and, above all, their resilience to internal and external disruptions. By using artificial intelligence, the effectiveness and efficiency of a supply chain control tower can be significantly increased even further, as patterns and situations become foreseeable that would not be reliably recognized with simple analyses.

What software and platforms are available for a Supply Chain Control Tower?

There are various software and platform providers that offer solutions for implementing a supply chain control tower. In many cases, it makes sense to use systems that are based on existing systems such as ERP or BI software; a cloud solution makes it possible for you and your employees to access the information from anywhere.

Some BI platforms (e.g. PowerBI or Tableau) have already created options for mapping simple supply chain control tower functions in their system. Above all, however, well-known ERP providers such as SAP and Oracle have already developed platforms for a supply chain control tower in their systems. Recently, EMS providers such as Celonis have also launched corresponding functions for supply chain control towers on the market. In addition, some system houses offer self-developed, independent supply chain control towers; examples include IBM Sterling Supply Chain Intelligence Suite or Kinaxis.