The New Automation Mindset

CHAPTER 13Supplier Operations

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

—Helen Keller

The global supply chain has experienced some of the most painful system shocks in recent business history. We all remember seeing empty department store shelves as the COVID‐19 pandemic set in. And the supply chain seems to have struggled to recover ever since. Workers have been demanding higher wages and better working conditions. Overwhelmed ports, labor shortages, factory shutdowns, and empty retail shelves are all common challenges.

As consumers, the empty shelves are only the tip of the iceberg of a complex, difficult‐to‐manage supply chain. Nearly every company has to work with suppliers. Companies may be sourcing raw materials for manufacturing, leveraging external service providers, or relying on partners to support other parts of their business. The interactions between a company and its suppliers/partners are ripe opportunities for automation.

The supplier and operations efficiency tower encompasses procurement, logistics, material management, and manufacturing. What these processes look like varies greatly from industry to industry. However, in most organizations the key functional areas can be grouped as follows:

• Supplier management information;
• Procurement and payments;
• Manufacturing, inventory, and material management;
• Returns management;
• Supply chain and logistics.

The pandemic drove large swaths of the supply chain to modernize and digitize. We are seeing ...