Digitization’s Advantage: Speed, Cost, and end-to-end Process Optimization

Digitization can deliver overall cost and resource efficiency by optimizing sourcing processes and the related product development functions. For example 3D design can shorten product design, reduce the number of sampling, support cost optimization through design to value and reduce the environmental footprint of production.

It is also expected digitization will improve on time in full delivery and demand planning accuracy.

Digitization can unlock progress go beyond replacing manuel processes, for example advanced analytics will help achieve the right balance between speed, agility and cost.

For compliance environmental and social sustainability, digitization can enable increased transparency directly from the factory floor.

The three biggest digitization opportunities are:

End to end process management: centralizing information and processes in one cloud based system, which promises several key benefits, including real time information visibility, reduction of errors, clarification of roles and responsibilities

Capacity planing: Allocation decisions can be accelerated and based on a holistic set of data and decision criteria.

Business and supplier collaboration portals : Digital platforms that foster exchange, transparency, and interaction can facilitate that collaboration, and thereby enable internal and external partners to jointly challenge demand forecasts, design specifications, and legacy processes.

Driving Digitization of the full product development process:

Companies aiming to successed in the digitization of sourcing will need to drive end-toend process efficiency, cross functional and cross company collaboration and deeper immersion in the manufacturing process.

Predictive analytics: Beyond assortment planning or allocation, predictive analytics can leverage machine learning to strengthen trend forecasting, optimize decision making in the creative processes and improve design performance.

3D design and virtual prototyping: Virtual sampling, cuts out significant time in the product development process. Players that have implemented 3D design and virtual sampling report reductions of two weeks or more in the sampling process and often a 50 percent reduction in the number of samples needed and the cost involved. Together with integrated fabric or ingredients libraries, companies can also integrate real life costing into the process.

Automated inbound planning: Automated order processing and real-time replanning can lower costs in logistics through automation of manual tasks, higher reliability. Real-time replanning enables order date confirmations through instantaneous replanning of the production Schedule and replenishment.