Which applications to use for support of your SCCT?
IT platform design of a Supply Chain Control Tower
The core SC Control Tower system needs to support the basic orchestration services/processes in a certain area like transport management, order management, inventory management or will have an end-to-end set-up. Making the right choice for the core system depends first of all on Control Tower characteristics like this SC scope, but also the specific industry, Control Tower services/processes and organisation set-up.
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From solution perspective, the current application landscape and core capabilities of the system play an important role. Core capabilities are related to the level of visibility that is needed, varying from real-time visibility, forecasting, scenario analysis up till decision making support.
Based on these considerations a decision can be made whether to use functionality from the current or a new RTTV platform, TMS, OMS, Business Network, Sourcing, Planning and/or BI tool or to select and implement a dedicated CT system.
Probably the outcome of the evaluation of the core SC Control Tower system is that as part of a best-of-breed set-up dedicated tools are needed in one or more of the following areas:
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Network design and Digital Twins: tools to analyze, evaluate and optimize different network scenarios from providers like AIMMS, 4flow, Blue Yonder, Coupa and Oracle
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Procurement: package-based tools and platforms to support the preparation, exchange and evaluation of tenders or spot quotes
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Purchase Order Management: package-based, more often tailor-made solutions for exchange of purchase order and shipment info with material suppliers
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Web portals: solutions for order entry, capturing and providing status info, document exchange and/or performance dashboards
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Middleware: solutions provided by various vendors to support integration with other internal systems and direct connections with SC partners and customers
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Workflow and document management: package-based tools from various providers to streamline communication between internal and external stakeholders
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Business intelligence: package-based tools to store, analyse and present data from the core SC Control Tower system and other sources
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Risk management: tools to provide visibility into the structure of an organisation’s end-to-end supply chain and support the process of identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks
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ESG reporting: tools to measure, track, and report ESG metrics across the supply chain
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AI/RPA/ML: use of Artificial Intelligence, Robotic Process Automation and Machine Learning technology to improve efficiency and data quality
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​See the overview of core systems being used to support SC Control Towers in the figure above and the main characteristics of the providers of these systems and their solutions in the research & insights section (only available for members)