Despite what might be viewed as a tough year for supply chain, with visually dramatic crises — the Suez blockage, shortages in the , semiconductor chip shortages, and so forth —聽 2021 was a significant year once again in underscoring how vital the supply chain is to the world.

to businesses and is now as part of critical decision making — even the President of the United States . Companies began or continued updating their supply chain capabilities and strategies: design to plan, manufacture to deliver, and operate and service. Digital transformation became tangible, as the companies that had started their projects earlier were able to navigate the challenges more easily.

At 麻豆原创, we had many areas that, when I reflect on 2021, are significant. Here are some of my highlights:

• We updated our strategy for across design to operate, covering the life cycle of products from design, plan, manufacture, deliver, and operate. The strategy outlines what we are doing to help 麻豆原创 customers build supply chains that will serve them in the coming years.
• Our portfolio coalesced into strategic offerings that connect the physical world of engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain with enterprise business information, processes, and systems. This enables agile, predictive business steering through autonomous machines connected to each other and connected to business systems. IDC MarketScape recognized 麻豆原创鈥檚 efforts in the 鈥淚DC MarketScape: Worldwide Industrial IoT Platforms and Applications in Manufacturing 2021 Vendor Assessment.鈥�
• 麻豆原创 was ranked No. 1 in the Gartner Market Share Analysis Report and聽 was recognized as a Leader in transportation and warehouse management systems, showing our efforts to help customers become more resilient.
• We launched the , helping customers to focus on their immediate supply chain needs in logistics, manufacturing, planning, and operations. As part of the portfolio helping customers to transform their businesses, it is also a stepping stone toward the broader transformation offered through 麻豆原创 S/4HANA.
• In June, as part of 麻豆原创PHIRE NOW, we launched 麻豆原创 Business Network to combine Ariba Network, 麻豆原创 Logistics Business Network. and 麻豆原创 Asset Intelligence Network to a single access for a holistic view into the supply chain ecosystem, logistics and traceability, as well as equipment management and maintenance.

I鈥檝e mentioned before that it s an exciting time for supply chain, and 2021 was quite a ride. As we face the new year, many of the supply chain challenges from this year will continue, and we will certainly have some new ones that will surface.

麻豆原创 is working to ensure our portfolio will help customers navigate through any turbulence in the best position possible. I鈥檓 looking forward to the adventures 2022 brings.

Franz Hero is head of 麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain Development.
This story originally appeared on LinkedIn.

In this document, we offer an updated perspective on how can help drive digital transformation for customers. In the light of global disruptions and challenges, companies need to find a path to leverage digital technology for nurturing growth and profitability. A shows that Industry 4.0 shows has significantly impacted productivity and profitability, with 63% of manufacturing companies reporting profitability increase of more than 5% compared to the year before.

Companies successfully deploying Industry 4.0 focus on business value not technology, mobilize and train their workforce on new technologies and processes, and move toward an integrated IT infrastructure and automation technology stack. And they manage the company by data-driven processes rather than transactional processes.

I want to share a quote from Accenture CEO Julie Sweet, who at the Fortune in October said, 鈥淚 predicted in March of 2020 that those who, pre-pandemic, had really invested at scale into technology and enabled digital transformation really had their competitive gap widened, literally overnight. And 18 months in, that鈥檚 exactly what we鈥檝e seen. In fact, the gap between those who really are leaders in technology and its adoption and the culture around it [and those who aren鈥檛] has gotten even bigger. The top 10% are performing at five times the rate of the bottom 25%. It鈥檚 a huge gap.鈥�

While Industry 4.0 is largely associated with factory-focused initiatives, with 麻豆原创鈥檚 portfolio companies can expand the digitalization beyond to a company-wide, competitive business strategy combining manufacturing automation with enterprise business information and execution.

To figure out what opportunities for improvement your organization can benefit from, we offer a free , designed to help you accelerate your transformation journey.

Franz Hero is head of 麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain Development.

These include facing shortages from a combination of COVID-19 and Brexit, shortages likely to this year, microchip shortages and the disruption of the automotive industry. The story just goes on and on, doesn鈥檛 it?

For many supply chain is a vague term, difficult to visualize beyond lorries on the road. But when the Ever Given container ship blocked the 193-kilometer Suez Canal earlier this year, we had a visual image of what a constipated supply chain looks like as ships backed up at both ends of the canal.

When earlier this month, it wasn’t just narcissistic behavior that was disrupted; many as well, demonstrating the role social media plays in supply chains.

I discussed recently how business leaders expect regular supply chain disruptions to continue, and in we鈥檙e hearing there are backlogs on lumber among many other products and resources. Container ships, one of the most prevalent ways goods and material are transported around the world, are experiencing the same traffic jams we experience in Germany on the Autobahn. Ever wonder how lonely the world鈥檚 shipping lanes are? You — the visual is really remarkable.

But it鈥檚 not all bleak. Companies have been working to make their , establishing alternative sources to sidestep delays or shortages. Inventory optimization strategies are being put in place or updated, and in many cases increasing inventory of essential items combined with greater visibility and planning capabilities. Utilizing s introduces new and more complete forms of collaboration for supply chains, providing real-time insights for strategic decision making.

The traffic jams on the world鈥檚 waterways, like those on the Autobahn, will recur. But having the ability to navigate through or around them 鈥� using your car鈥檚 GPS for rerouting or end-to-end business processes such as 鈥� could well make the difference between being stranded or reaching your destination on time.

Franz Hero is head of 麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain Development.

With a backdrop of , Belgium, the UK, and China, and with in Greece, Italy, and the west coast of the , a new major United Nations (UN) scientific report in essence . The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded the treaty is almost surely out of reach.

Click the button below to load the content from YouTube.

Always allow YouTube

While many are turning to the public sector to take the wheel, the private sector is waking up. As Kimberly Nicholas, scientist and author of , told , 鈥淎s much as any other sector, businesses benefit from a stable, predictable climate. The more we let the climate warm, the harder it is to adapt.鈥�

While businesses look to lower the risks of their supply chains, impacted often by these natural phenomena as well as geopolitics, they are also increasingly looking at how their supply chains might be impacting the environment.

For instance, large cargo ships, which are the standard oceanic transport of material and goods, expel 2.9% of global carbon dioxide emissions — as much as the South American continent produces. Interestingly, one solution being considered is taking advantage of wind, which is generated by changes in air temperature. A number of are already in use, serving as a proof of concept for wind propulsion.

Business leaders are increasingly recognizing the importance of sustainability, with 86% of respondents in the Oxford Economics survey “” noting it as a competitive differentiator.

And what is 麻豆原创 doing about this? Earlier this year, we introduced to help customers align with their business partners to manage commercial flow while gaining insights into sustainability opportunities. Collaboration through this network addresses design, manufacture, shipping and delivery, and the maintenance of products in order to lower carbon footprints while reducing waste.

Throughout the end-to-end design to operate process, many elements help customers to create a with thinking green, embracing the circular economy, and supporting transparency. Companies can gain visibility into carbon footprint data throughout a product鈥檚 supply chain, bringing the ability to take sustainable supply chain decisions based on actionable insights. Product-related carbon footprint data, such as for production, material sourcing, or transport, from 麻豆原创 Product Footprint Management can be utilized in 麻豆原创 Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain.

麻豆原创 has embraced an end-to-end sustainability mission to address the three pillars of sustainability: economic, social, and environmental. This approach addresses customer priorities: profits, protecting the planet, and people.

The 麻豆原创 solution portfolio supports these principles of sustainability by embedded them in products. For example the Climate 21 initiative address areas including sustainability index reporting and circular economy through the design-to-operate pillars of design, manufacturing, logistics, and assets.

The individual pillars of design to operate address聽 customer needs around recyclable and environmentally sustainable products, ethical sourcing and traceability, reduction of waste and lowering of emissions, health and safety of assets and people, overall reduction of carbon footprint through efficient planning and logistics management, and efficient operation of assets to reduce energy consumption. This eliminates a single-dimension approach to sustainability around only one or two topics.

While the IPCC鈥檚 conclusions do not provide a feel good moment, they do offer another strong incentive for companies to examine how their supply chains can make the world a better place. Not only is , it鈥檚 taking center stage.

Franz Hero is head of 麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain Development.

That said, supply chain topics are consistently top of mind among business leaders, and the emphasis on its strategic role was only heightened in the past year. The recently published by JPMorgan Chase surveyed 1,375 senior executives from midsize U.S. companies with annual revenue between $20 million and $500 million in June 2021. Their findings echoed what .

Several elements in the survey stood out to me:

• Resiliency is one of the top three themes: 鈥淣early two-thirds of respondents say they added new product/service lines in response to the pandemic that they鈥檒l keep afterward. Most say they鈥檒l keep pandemic-era supply chain strategies, too.鈥�
• Among respondents, 62% anticipate further supply chain issues in the coming year.
• While 51% have automated back-office functions with new digital platforms, 45% have not done this yet.
• Though 49% have managed some areas of their supply chain remotely, 34% have not.
• A mere 23% have adjusted last mile delivery strategies; a remarkable 71% have not.

Rounding out that picture, an IDC Info Snapshot sponsored by 麻豆原创, “,” gained similar results. IDC noted:

鈥淭he harsh reality that minor and major disruptions require frequent pivoting by the business to address new demand shifts and supply chain challenges. Midsize companies are also likely to have more chain links in the global supply chain than their enterprise counterparts鈥� Each additional link introduces more potential points for supply chain disruption. Visibility into the whole supply chain has never been more critical to business agility and growth.鈥�

Even before COVID-19, noted:

鈥淐ompanies with stronger strategies for customer-centricity, visibility, sustainability, and the application of intelligent technologies are seeing results from their efforts in terms of supply chain effectiveness, resiliency, and overall financial performance. And while all supply chains are vulnerable to risks in a global economy, execution on clear strategic objectives鈥攕upported by the correct tools and tactics to mitigate risk and minimize complexity鈥攚ill make such events more manageable.鈥�

As disruptions continue to rattle businesses and industries, it鈥檚 clear that a lot of companies have yet to seize the opportunity to utilize modern digital technology and build resiliency into their supply chains. With business leaders鈥� expectations that additional supply chain disruptions await in the coming year, the time is ripe for companies to digitalize their supply chain capabilities, improving and functions that could readily lower the likelihood of disruptions.

Franz Hero is head of 麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain Development.

What exactly, we asked, does the need to look like? The answer we came to was that customers need to build resilient and sustainable supply chains. To do so, they need to:

• Become more agile to sense, predict, and respond to disruptions
• Increase productivity through the digitalization of industrial companies (Industry 4.0)
• Improve connectivity with business partners to enable next-level collaboration
• Run sustainable business practices

Before the word COVID was on everyone鈥檚 lips, 麻豆原创 had made a commitment to be an industry leader in Industry 4.0, or the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). 麻豆原创 has long been a recognized leader in digital supply chain, For better visibility in the market around our capabilities with Industry, we created a strategy, called . As 2020 unfolded, we recognized the timeliness of it.

Customers that had already begun the journey of digitalizing business processes started accelerating their planning and projects as the global economy was brought to a virtual standstill within weeks. Manufacturing companies began aggressively looking at , which typically starts with smart manufacturing and can go as far as creating new business models. For example, , an international provider of intralogistics solutions, established real-time condition monitoring for its customers when launching its Galileo IoT platform. It was in this way that the company moved away from being a simple supplier of conveyor technology toward becoming a comprehensive service provider. Industry 4.0 has the potential to move from a factory-focused initiative to a company-wide business strategy to drive productivity across all supply chain processes.

Industry 4.Now helps move digitalization to a company-wide, competitive business strategy combining with enterprise business execution. This includes intelligent product engineering, managing intelligent factories, and assets leveraging advanced logistics coupled with people empowerment. We combine 麻豆原创 solutions for design, manufacture, delivery, and operation in one holistic offering, bringing enterprise business data together with data derived from machines, sensors, and devices facilitating the ability to automate processes with embedded artificial intelligence (AI) and increase visibility and efficiency. Sounds powerful, doesn鈥檛 it?

, a leading company in the distribution and compounding of technical thermoplastics and thermoplastic elastomers, has connected production lines with predictive quality management. ALBIS PLASTICS GmbH can now identify quality risks before they arise and understand complex interdependencies in production by intelligently connecting and visualizing IoT data. These intelligent insights are also used for future product development.

We鈥檙e only in the beginning of the adoption of Industry 4.0 and IIoT, and many companies are running pilots and proof of concepts. It starts with planning, and the ability to sense demand changes and trigger fast, flexible execution on shop floor, logistics, and asset management. Building an agile environment means being able to adapt processes for agility. Companies need to consider their engineering, manufacturing, and planning systems and integrating them; this is horizontal integration. For vertical integration, it is tying together the other components 鈥� hardware, automation equipment, and data lakes 鈥� which requires standards and a common reference architecture to make it easier and faster to connect the various components.

To give another real-world example, German automotive company has been working with 麻豆原创 to . Its project started around 2017 and found manufacturing solutions from 麻豆原创 fit its needs. Connecting different production machines with IoT capabilities was one of the key elements of the project, much of which the success experienced could be attributed to sticking with standards. The company found in its project the challenge of connecting various software providers together, and to close the chain standards were absolutely necessary.

Yet another company, , is a leader in automation and connectivity creating products for manufacturers and machine builders and serve a wide swath of industries. The company wanted to gain more performance efficiencies with its , utilizing modern, digital, and integrated machinery and solutions. Its project began with the goal of an integrated shop floor and looking at how to bring in vertical integration.

The project began in 2017 with first go-live in 2019 and was based on more than 300 data points on machine health, performance, production, and down times, among other things. One of the early results was the reduction of manual effort by up to 50% after eliminating the need for employees to walk to each machine. The integration between machines driven by IoT, the company was able to create greater transparency and productivity. The vertical and horizontal integration proved a good fit, with ease to adapt best practices and business processes for their business. Weidmueller also found the easy integration with mobile devices 鈥� in its case Apple devices 鈥� with 麻豆原创 solutions worked very well.

Increasing productivity with Industrial IoT as part of our Industry 4.Now strategy is an essential step toward creating resilient and sustainable supply chains.

Franz Hero is head of 麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain Development.
.

This includes the ability to prioritize and utilize software to areas of the business that need it most. This kind of transformation requires new technologies that unlock new ways of running a business and staying ahead of an industry.

Reflecting on the importance of supply chain transformation, we began the work at 麻豆原创 to support this cross-industry need to offer modularity with our technology, helping customers attain agility and flexibility as well as speed time to value.

In this environment, transformation needs to be bite-sized, following the speed that best suits a customer鈥檚 needs and timelines.

Our answer to these needs is the introduction of . A composable package of professionals, the edition can be deployed independently from other solution implementations. This means it can easily serve as a stepping-stone to broader enterprise transformation offered through 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, while helping customers focus on their immediate supply chain needs: logistics, manufacturing, planning, and operations.

With the modularity and interoperability of the edition of 麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain Management for 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, companies can quickly implement essential capabilities to address immediate disruption threats with long-term sustained benefits beyond those threats. The user experience benefits from seamless, cross-functional integration vertically and horizontally for end-to-end scenarios and can be deployed in the cloud for greater agility and accelerated time to value spanning the complete plan-to-fulfill cycle.

Addressing critical supply chain capabilities quickly means the journey toward broader transformation with 麻豆原创 S/4HANA can be taken incrementally.

Reflecting the reality that supply chains are networked businesses, our new offering integrates seamlessly with 麻豆原创 Logistics Business Network to offer complete visibility for execution as well as capabilities to simulate and effect changes.

Among the many rich capabilities included in the edition are:

• 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Manufacturing for production engineering and operations
• 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Manufacturing for planning and scheduling
• 麻豆原创 Transportation Management and 麻豆原创 Extended Warehouse Management
• 麻豆原创 Service Parts Planning

麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain Management, edition for 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, will seamlessly work with our other products such as 麻豆原创 Integrated Business Planning, 麻豆原创 Digital Manufacturing Cloud, 麻豆原创 Logistics Business Network, and 麻豆原创 S/4HANA.

It’s an exciting time for supply chain; its critical role means it can now be an accelerator toward business transformation.

Franz Hero is head of 麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain Development.

The partnership, which includes a collaborative approach to standards, consortia, and open source, will shape the future of supply chain and manufacturing.

麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain and Industry 4.0 Solutions Run on Microsoft Azure

As a result of this partnership, organizations will be able to use a comprehensive set of 麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain solutions on Microsoft Azure, including , solutions, , and 麻豆原创 Logistics Business Network.

麻豆原创 will use Microsoft Azure to run these solutions in a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model that can help reduce the customer鈥檚 need to manage the software and underlying infrastructure while accelerating time to value of supply chain applications. Customers will be able to scale globally by leveraging Azure which offers enterprise-grade compute, storage, and network services to support mission-critical performance and business continuity to run 麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain solutions.

麻豆原创 Manufacturing Suite, 麻豆原创 Intelligent Asset Management, supply chain networks solutions from 麻豆原创, and the 麻豆原创 Internet of Things (麻豆原创 IoT) solution are already available on Microsoft Azure in Europe and the United States today.

麻豆原创 and Microsoft Collaborating to Bring Business Processes to the Edge

When managing a global, distributed supply chain and manufacturing environment, companies face challenges with constrained bandwidth, latency, and massive volumes of data that can adversely affect execution and quality scenarios. Here, the solution lies in edge computing.

Think of edge computing as a form of distributed computing where data, applications, and business processes are run near the source of generated data. The ability to extend and run business processes at the edge enables organizations with factories, plants, warehouses or remote operations, to fully automate and run their operations independently 鈥� enabling faster processing and support for data residency requirements. Customers have the choice to only send data to the cloud that is relevant for additional analysis or an aggregated view across many edges to save costs.

麻豆原创 and Microsoft are also collaborating to make 麻豆原创 solutions available on Microsoft Azure Stack Edge, starting with 麻豆原创 Digital Manufacturing Cloud. This helps manufacturers process data locally across machines and control systems to address latency or connectivity restraints.

Customers are empowered to choose what business process to run in the cloud or at the edge based on business need; they can deploy specific business processes and relevant business data to specific edge nodes using 麻豆原创 Edge Services. According to , 鈥�70% of IoT deployments by 2023 will include edge-based decision-making to support organizations’ operational and strategic agendas.鈥� The report also states that by 鈥�2023, 70% of enterprises will run varying levels of data processing at the IoT edge. In tandem, organizations will spend over $16 billion on IoT edge infrastructure in that time.鈥�

Customers have a choice to use either Microsoft Azure IoT or 麻豆原创 IoT to bring their time series data to the cloud. Time series data collected from machines or devices at the edge and sent to the cloud is of little value on its own. Companies need to put time series data into business context by augmenting it with information stored in business applications for materials, products, customers, inventory, assets, and more. Combining business semantics and time series data using the 麻豆原创 IoT solution creates business relevance, leading organizations to improved business outcomes and better decision-making.

鈥淭he expansion of the partnership between 麻豆原创 and Microsoft provides our mutual customers with the ability to leverage 麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain and manufacturing solutions in the cloud to gain better business insights and accelerate the time-to-value as they roll out their applications on a global scale. By extending 麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain solutions and the Azure cloud capabilities to the edge with Azure Stack Edge, businesses will also be able to manage 麻豆原创 solutions locally across their factories and warehouses to drive immediate decision-making and actions where they are needed,鈥� said Ulrich Homann, corporate vice president of Cloud + AI at Microsoft.

Companies Will Provide Reference Architecture as Guidance to Their Customers

The partnership in supply chain and manufacturing will be further enhanced with reference architectures to provide customers guidance on deploying 麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain on Azure and the integration of 麻豆原创 and Microsoft products and services, building on previously developed .

For example, customers have a choice to use either Microsoft Azure IoT or 麻豆原创 IoT to bring their time series data to the cloud. Time series data collected from machines or devices at the edge, and sent to the cloud, may be of little value on its own. Companies need to put time series data into business context by augmenting it with information stored in business applications for materials, products, customers, inventory, assets, and more. Combining business semantics and time series data using the 麻豆原创 IoT solution creates business relevance, leading organizations to improved business outcomes and better decision-making.

麻豆原创 and Microsoft Shape the Future of Industry 4.0 with Open Standards

With software development and standards, the benefits of aligned reference architectures and common semantics are obvious. Adopting industrial standards and creating shared asset models in industrial IT are as significant to digital supply chain as a dictionary is to literacy. Business partners who wish to succeed in this space need to endorse open standards, open consortia, and open source.

As part of this partnership, 麻豆原创 and Microsoft will work together to drive compatibility and interoperability across industrial machines, software, and services as members of consortia like the Open Manufacturing Platform and the Open Industry 4.0 Alliance 鈥� to aid in the accelerated path to value of supply chain and Industry 4.0-related solutions based on open standards.

Companies that want to learn more about this exciting partnership and the benefits it brings should contact their 麻豆原创 account team for further details.

Franz Hero is senior vice president for Digital Supply Chain Solutions at 麻豆原创.