The concept of supply chain orchestration is not new but has been gaining traction as AI adoption in supply chains continues to expand. And no wonder. The aspirations behind supply chain orchestration—better alignment across the end-to-end supply chain network leading to reduced risks, optimized costs and service levels, and higher business growth—are appealing, and the demonstrated power of generative and agentic AI tools in the market makes the grand vision of achieving largely autonomous operations seem attainable.
However, the reality for most businesses is more complex than appears on the surface. While the general focus tends to be on the advanced AI tools that seem ready to achieve anything, these are not the limiting factor at play. Before organizations can extract the full power of AI to optimize decision-making and drive autonomous process execution, they need to have a solid digital foundation in place.
Address key gaps in your current supply chain
The job of this digital foundation is to address key gaps that remain in supply chains today, particularly around data availability, data quality and process compliance. Advanced analytics and AI capabilities work at scale only when processes are digitized, the data about them is trusted, and the various network participants are consistently behaving as agreed.
Approach supply chain orchestration methodically
Despite the challenge ahead, you can make progress today. It just means that organizations must approach supply chain orchestration holistically and methodically, understanding where digital maturity is sufficient for deploying advanced capabilities and where focus needs to be first turned to fixing the fundamentals. Instead of focusing solely on AI, they must treat AI as one of the several enabling technologies in a strategic technology stack that drives value for the business.
Map your digital maturity
In assessing the maturity of your supply chain’s current digital capabilities, a good place to start might be to look at the traditional organizational silos, meaning the different functional areas of your supply chain, the finance department, and the supporting IT organization. Your current processes and technology platforms are likely heavily impacted by the history of organizational alignment, and maturity may vary accordingly.
For example, you might have highly advanced digital capabilities in your manufacturing operations, but your logistics processes may still extensively rely on paper and there may be severe issues with master data quality. Mapping out the digital maturity across the entire organization helps prioritize action on your journey towards supply chain orchestration.
Continue to evaluate
Finally, technology is only a catalyst for transformation. At some point on your journey towards supply chain orchestration, you will face questions around adjusting your operating model and organizational alignment. As advancements in technical capabilities remove barriers, you must continuously evaluate the optimal way to operate today–don’t be constrained by yesterday’s thinking.
For more insight around building the digital foundation for supply chain orchestration, watch the recording of the OpenText presentation at SCL Hub’s 11th Annual Supply Chain Conference.
Watch the session now! Beyond the hype: Building the foundation for true supply chain orchestration.
Learn more
Visit our supply chain solutions page or contact us to discuss your specific challenges and roadmap.
