THOUGHT Leaders S P O N S O R E D C O N T E N T
Is the Dynamic Uni ed Logical Data Model the Silver Bullet for Disruptions?
Q Enterprises that are transforming their supply chain are slow to change. What roadblocks are impeding their efforts? A Our supply chains of today were designed decades ago to achieve data uniformity across the supply chain ecosystems and not to deal with unwarranted supply chain disruptions. All SCM apps are designed for specific business functions withmodules to perform “predetermined” operations with known variables and implicit assumptions. Even exceptions are predetermined with a static outcome. The speed of innovation is curbed by legacy black boxes reliant on reports and ETLs; siloed vendor and custom systems bound by rigid integration layers; and sophis- ticated systems aimed for functional modules wrapped with APIs andmicroservices. Q What are the practical challenges businesses face while rolling out any new supply chain use cases? A Salvaging the real-time data from operational systems is the first step of the hurdle, as we need specialized knowledge to understand each vendor’s system flows and architecture. Consolidating the data, then assuring the quality, accuracy of data, and then finally interpretation of the data remains the major challenge. Incorporating new business flows within the existing operational systems and bridging data back into upstreamand downstream systems is another struggle as the original implementationmay not have kept that in scope. It is often classified as change request leads to additional budget and time.
Q Does building a data lake solve some of the real-world SCMchallenges? A It does but it won’t solve the core issue. Let’s take a standard supply chain operation: If clearing a glitch with a container from the port, the ripple effect is felt through the entire supply chain. Deploying alternative business actions that don’t compromise cost or customer satisfac- tion is the intended outcome. Data lake cannot deliver that as it has limitations around data latency, rigid schema, restricted insights, and bi-directional orchestration. We need an adaptive unified logical datamodel augmented with semantics that creates a real- time database with a deep business context. It allows businesses to gain real-time supply chain insights from customers, markets, part- ners, production, distribution, logistics, and environments. A unified datamodel converges the data points across the ecosystems beyond IT standardiza- tions, functional modules, systems, and data types and presents the current state of a cus- tomer order, manufacturing schedule, truck stop, inventory positions, etc. Q What opportunities abound when there is free interchange of data? A Without data insights, no business decision is accurate. Solutions that address the need for a flexible unified logical datamodel enable businesses with a 360-degree view of their supply chain ecosystem, the ability to run what-if analysis, and be ready for these unknown factors.
Jay Ganapathy Chief Commercial Officer UCBOS jay.ganapathy@ucbos.com
www.ucbos.com 866-818-2267
Learn more about how you can enable a dynamic, unified logical data model within weeks. www.ucbos.com
24 Inbound Logistics • February 2022
Powered by FlippingBook