Sketches from the Future
Supply Chain in 2032
Although multifunctional displays will have long since replaced wallpaper and the low level of heat they produce will be used to regulate the temperature of residences and offices, it will still not be possible – even in 2032 – to beam material from one place to another. So what ways and means will be available to ICT to support efficiently the supply chain and purchasing?
Real-time network speeds in conjunction with unlimited information accessible anytime will be the foundation of future supply chain management in a society which is completely transparent with respect to information. Only concrete, tangible objects will be transported physically. Each and every single product worldwide will bear a unique label. Radio chips will automatically transmit the content of a consignment at national borders or toll stations. The supply chain for products critical to the climate will be subject to constant monitoring and reported to a central office, incoming goods inspections will be conducted at a central location.
Complete and total transparency concerning price and availability will enable purchasing departments and the optimized search engines they employ to find procurement sources on demand. General agreements will decline in importance. Companies planning to purchase materials will turn to the worldwide master material data provided by manufacturers at a central site. Trading companies will amend their terms and conditions. Maintaining master data for procured products will become superfluous. Expenditures of time and money for proprietary IT developments will be reduced significantly by smart business networks. The procurement chain will be fully automated and available in the form of procure-to-pay as a service. The ICT providers will be the most important business partners.
Logistics train
The rail transport from China to Europe via Russia, Belarus, and Poland, already possible today, which takes 15 days will be accelerated by expansion work on the rail lines, reducing the required time to under ten days. The utilization of the trans-Eurasian logistics train and the reduction of this transport time by one-third will cause the costs of capital tie-ups with respect to container shipping to fall. Moreover, CO2 emissions will be cut by 75% with respect to the very expensive air freight, making a valuable contribution to environmental sustainability. A visionary logistics train comprising a series of railway cars featuring unrestricted passage along the length of the train can be arranged in such an order that final production processes can be carried out on the train itself. As a result, the lead-in time for the implementation of customer-specific requests in consumer goods can be reduced to only a few days before delivery to the customer despite off-shore production; warehouse stocks can be reduced. Quality inspections of technical products could also be carried out during transport. Thanks to mobile information technology, all of the necessary information can be obtained online. Purchasing, scheduling, and quality managers will not only be able to access information in real time, but can influence the process until shortly before arrival of the train.
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