Identifying the causes of supply chain problems and being able to forecast supply chain performance help consistently and cost effectively achieve KPI targets. But how to get this decision support?
ITC Infotech’s answer was to develop a supply chain digital twin. This tool helps inform decision making by taking live supply chain data and combining it with simulation modeling to provide insights into the sources of potential problems and to forecast supply chain behavior.
ITC Infotech is a technology solutions provider for international enterprises in sectors that include Banking & Financial Services, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Consumer Goods, Travel, and Hospitality. As a fully owned subsidiary of ITC Ltd., they leverage the group’s deep expertise in multiple industries.
The initial challenge of the project came from managers of a fast-moving consumer goods supply chain. They needed decision making support for a large and complex supply chain that was subject to rapid changes, such as demand variations and supplier delays, and frequently suffered disruptive events, such as bad weather and political crises. The supply chain comprised factories, warehouses, hubs, and distribution centers across the whole of India.
The scale and the complexity of the supply chain and the decision support requirements of the supply chain managers lead ITC Infotech to develop a supply chain digital twin. This solution captures the dynamics of the supply chain and returns insights and forecasts based on data from live operations. (To learn more about supply chain digital twins, download our supply chain digital twin white paper)
The supply chain digital twin was created using anyLogistix Studio Edition which allowed the system designers to use the software's built-in simulation engine. The simulation modeling capabilities of the software make possible the capture of granular supply chain network details. For example, modeling inside the four walls of facilities means that simulations can reflect reality and, in this project, customized factory components were created.
The project answered the requests of the supply chain managers and provided a decision support tool that can identify the root causes of problems and forecast supply chain performance. With these objectives complete, the project has continued to a new phase and the long-term vision for the tool is for it to counter disruption by acting automatically.
To learn more about the ITC Infotech project, read the case study and see the presentation video.
