Enhance visibility with Dynamics 365 Digital Supply Chain Solutions

Posted on: January 26, 2022 | By: Guy Logan | Microsoft Dynamics AX/365, Microsoft Dynamics Manufacturing

It is imperative for organizations today to enhance visibility in their supply chain networks. Businesses must predict and proactively mitigate risks from disruptions due to unprecedented events so that they can compete effectively and meet their customer demand on time. Microsoft Dynamics 365 helps with planning and execution so that organizations can respond better and in near real-time. Dynamics 365 provides enhanced visibility of demand, supply, capacity, and inventory across the supply chain network. Read this blog to learn how you can enhance visibility with the use of Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management.

In this blog, we will first be talking a little bit about the supply chain control tower. A supply chain control tower is traditionally defined as a connected, personalized dashboard of data, key business metrics, and events across the supply chain. A supply chain control tower enables organizations to more fully understand, prioritize and resolve critical issues in real-time. The concept of the control tower first appeared on the radar of supply chain leaders around 15 years ago. As more and more companies pursued end-to-end visibility for increasingly globalized supply chains, the idea quickly gained momentum.

Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management is helping companies overcome challenges by equipping them with the tools necessary to create digital supply chains that are highly collaborative, coordinated, agile, and demand-driven.

Supply chain control towers

It has quickly become essential for businesses to invest in technology that can help them sense and predict supply chain constraints, disruptions, and changes in demand. Supply chains control towers help by delivering end-to-end operational visibility, from planning all the way to delivery.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 has recently developed new software that can respond intelligently to dynamic shifts in supply and demand with prescriptive analytics using unified real-time data from data providers, partners, customers, and suppliers.

By utilizing Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Insights to create a digital representation of the physical supply chain, whether called a control tower, digital twin, or supply chain nerve center, businesses can reach new levels of agility­ and gain the ability to sense and proactively mitigate disruptions before they occur. And to respond faster when the inevitable happens, such as an unpredictable or unforeseen event.

Building blocks

Agility

Companies must be agile in order to effectively respond to changing customer demands. Supply chain solutions must deliver improvements so that companies not only have capabilities beyond the ability to immediately grasp what is happening but also the ability to make predictions of what is likely to happen next. This way, business leaders can adapt and overcome challenges as they are identified in real-time.

Visibility

The control tower must deliver end-to-end visibility across all supply chain nodes in order to be successful. This visibility should penetrate beyond tier 1 and tier 2 partners.

Automation

Businesses also need supply chain solutions that automate responses to fulfillment constraints. With automation, organizations can proactively address issues that will allow them to adapt faster to disruptions and constraints.

Unified data

The value that a supply chain control tower can deliver is proportional to the organizations’ ability to unify data from contrasting sources. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, legacy business applications, supplier systems of records, siloed hard drives, PLCs, and even IoT data streams­ all must be incorporated and unified.

Vision

Supply chain control towers are a shared service process that can be brought together from a mix of supply chain solutions. For example, a control tower can be assembled using Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management and Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Insights together with Microsoft Power Platform and other digital supply chain applications.

A supply chain control tower enabled by Dynamics 365 positions organizations to respond faster and more intelligently to disruptions and opportunities. With seamless integration to many market-leading API-enabled applications, businesses can convert the action signals from what-if analysis into directives sent to the applications that guide day-to-day operational execution.

Organizational benefits

There are benefits of using a single platform such as a supply chain control tower. It brings together internal and external stakeholders to visualize constraints and disruptions. Then, they can work together to analyze impacts and collaborate in near real-time to formulate and enact optimal responses—all from one location.

In this way, a supply chain control tower created with Dynamics 365 enables organizations to adapt quickly to demand shifts by blurring the lines between planning and execution and effectively creating a continuous digital feedback loop across entities and distinct business processes.

Looking forward

Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management provides manufacturers, distributors, and retailers with real-time visibility and intelligence. It unifies data and uses predictive insights—across order fulfillment, planning, procurement, production, inventory, warehousing, and transportation—to maximize operational efficiency, product quality, and profitability. And, with innovative technologies, such as AI and machine learning integrated into the solution, it helps organizations accelerate performance even further.

Next Steps

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