Leadership

Leaders are central to digital supply chain readiness.

They are responsible for allocating resources and budget.

They can set the tone and create a culture to encourage the whole team to get excited about the potential benefits from using data and digital technologies.

Business change is not always easy and leaders can play a pivotal role to guide their teams into new ways of working.

In the context of digital supply chains there is also a need to engage with customers, suppliers and service providers.

Often, these relationships are managed by leaders within the business so it is important that they are fully supportive of new initiatives.

This module will show you how you can create a shared vision for digitalising your supply chain and cultivating a culture of innovation in your business.

Vision and culture are important enablers of strong leadership for the adoption of digital technologies. An effective vision sets out priorities for how digital technologies can deliver benefits in specific roles and departments and across the whole business. A roadmap and project plans will ensure full use of digital technologies and data over different time horizons. Through openness to new technologies, your business can access improvements to productivity, reduce costs, improve working conditions and retain and win new customers. However, only through a culture of collaboration, innovation and experimentation can these benefits be fully realised.

Strategies can vary from using existing technology more effectively, which can be cost effective, through to wholesale transformation and investment in new technologies. Effective leaders remove barriers to experimentation, encourage regular communication, collaborate with colleagues throughout the business and prioritise learning and development of new skills.

Pause and reflect on following questions:

Who is responsible for leadership of business and digital transformation?

Have you developed and communicated a shared vision for digital supply chain?

Have you allocated resources and budgets for digital supply chain innovation?

Why does this matter?

Digital technologies are helping businesses improve productivity, reduce costs, improve working conditions, and to win and retain customers. Curiosity and investment in digital can help your business access these benefits and develop new capabilities. Workforce experimentation can make it easier to introduce new processes and technologies. Collaboration is vital to ensure that everyone's perspectives have been taken into account in designing new solutions.

What does good look like?

Clear plan and roadmap in place
Clear roles and responsibilities for digital transformation
Digital champions / advocates identified across the business
Risk-taking culture in the team with appropriate support and incentives
Culture of continuous improvement

How can we improve?

Creating a digital roadmap is one of the first and most important planning activities for any business investing in digital technologies. Roadmaps help a business to navigate complex requirements and make good decisions about technologies, processes, people and investments. Through collaboration on a roadmap you can engage with partners, create momentum and maximise value.

Gather insight on your current digital maturity and relevance to your market. Understand the challenges you face and the opportunities ahead. Collaborate with leaders across your business and with partners to build a joint plan for new technologies. Take advantage of the Digital Supply Chain Readiness diagnostic tool available through the Digital Supply Chain Hub.

Think broadly about where digital technologies could make a difference in your business and supply chain. Seek feedback from subject matter experts in your business, customers, suppliers and service providers about what is working well and what needs to change. Look for examples of where challenges and opportunities have arisen before, how they have been dealt with and the lessons learned.

Now consider potential solutions to your challenges and opportunities. Seek perspectives from people across the business, drawing on operational as well as digital expertise where you have it. Consider potential benefits – will it reduce costs, enhance customer service or reduce working capital held in inventory?

Your digital roadmap is a joined-up plan for action across the vital aspects of your business value chain. This is your pathway to making a strong return on investment and it can help you avoid setting off in the wrong direction and making expensive mistakes.

Prioritise actions and set out a progressive, learning approach to rolling out digital projects over the short-, medium- and long-term. Be clear how you will work collaboratively with your customers, suppliers and service providers.

With your digital roadmap agreed you can move forward with confidence. Your objective is to manage risks and maximise long term value. Track progress overall and in project sprints using your digital readiness diagnostic tool and other key performance indicators.

Explore Further

Are you considering how your business could benefit from smarter supply chains, but you don’t know where to start?

Hear from Ubloquity about the importance of leaders being willing to fix problems and drive change.

Take a deeper dive into your digital readiness with DSCH's free, in-depth digital readiness diagnostic to start your roadmapping journey or gain ideas to progress your existing plans.

Interactive Exercise

Consider the current supply chain challenges and priorities for improvement in your business. Work through the exercise template, ideally with your team, and this will lead you to some actions to continue your journey towards a digital supply chain.

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