Digitalization is accelerating the pace of business and transforming global supply chains. In a freewheeling discussion at the ARC Industry Forum in Orlando, I spoke with Richard Howells, Vice President Marketing Digital Supply Chain at SAP about the trends, customer…
The core idea behind digital agriculture is that a farmer should not uniformly apply seeds, fertilizer and other inputs to their field. The farmer’s smart machinery applies seeds and fertilizer at variable rates based on the soil characteristics – nitrogen levels, organic matter content, moisture, etc. - at different points in the field. This is a digital revolution in agriculture.
There has been an explosion of new sensor data available to be used to create digital supply chains. While we use the term "digitization", Bill Gates had a better label close to 20 years ago, "the digital nervous system."
For 3M, a digital supply chain is about reducing friction, both internally and with partners and customers. And according to their Sr. VP of SCM, “Friction occurs at the connection points.” Digitization provides the information that allows different parties to get to a point where they can more efficiently work with each other.
