Understanding global supply chains has never been more important than over the past 18 months as the COVID-19 pandemic upends every facet of the international economy. There have been labor shortages, material shortages, factory delays, gnarled shipping networks, and stops and starts as different countries quarantine. With demand still high from consumers, companies have been forced to bend over backwards to do their best to keep commerce flowing without charging exorbitant prices, but it’s clear that many are beginning to reach their breaking point with no end to the supply chain turmoil in sight.
Google Cloud is hoping to bring some relief to stressed-out companies, suppliers and manufacturers across the globe with the launch of Supply Chain Twin. Digital twins have been widely embraced in the construction and property management industries, and this product is Google’s offering for supply chain management. Supply Chain Twin allows companies to build a fully virtual model of their supply chain by pulling in data from their suppliers and inventories.
Lack of insight into the state of their supply chains costs companies trillions of dollars per year, especially during the pandemic where disruptions were inevitable and consumer demand shifted without much predictability from month to month. Last year, out-of-stock items cost retailers an estimated $1.14 trillion, and there’s not much relief in sight in 2021.
“Siloed and incomplete data is limiting the visibility companies have into their supply chains,” said Hans Thalbauer, Managing Director, Supply Chain & Logistics Solutions, Google Cloud. “The Supply Chain Twin enables customers to gain deeper insights into their operations, helping them optimize supply chain functions—from sourcing and planning, to distribution and logistics.”
A separate module called Supply Chain Pulse is built into the platform, and features real-time dashboards and data that allow users to run advanced analytical models on their data, receive alerts of potential disruptions to the supply chain and collaborate with the rest of their staff. Supply Chain Pulse makes it possible to quickly run simulations and gain even more visibility into the state of the supply chain.
Working in the Google Cloud, manufactures and retailers using Supply Chain Twin give themselves the power to unlock the full potential of three data segments—their own internal organizational and enterprise data focused on their own operations, products, orders and inventories; supplier and partner data focused on stock and inventory levels; and public data like weather and other external risk factors that are powered by Google.
“End-to-end visibility across the entire supply chain is a top priority for supply chain professionals to optimize planning, real-time decision making and monitoring,” said Simon Ellis, Program Vice President at IDC. “Google Cloud's approach to a digital twin of the supply chain spans internal, external, and partner data networks without complex integrations. This approach can help organizations to better plan, monitor, collaborate and respond at scale.”
Digital twins and real-time models that constantly update in the cloud are the future of managing assets like buildings and major construction projects, and the global supply chain is not far behind. Digital twins make it possible to have 24/7 access and visibility to assets, be it a building or a stockpile of raw materials in a factory that was shuttered to an outbreak of COVID. Google’s expansion into this space will benefit suppliers, retailers, manufacturers and consumers alike. Efficiency is everything as the global supply chain is pushed to its breaking point, and digital twins make it possible to dial in and deal with the challenges of managing the flow of products around the globe.