In the near future, refrigerators will be able to identify products that are about to run out. They will also select items straight from your favorite supermarket. And all that in an automated way, through a mobile app. For corporations that always follow trends, digitization and process automation are a reality already. For the others, there’s still a long way to go, before they can become competitive for the new consumption pattern.

In Supply Chain, the demands of Industry 4.0 require from shopkeepers, retailers, carriers, buyers and suppliers a 360˚ real-time monitoring of all stages of the supply chain, so businesses can keep their stocks properly supplied, without lack or excess of products.

In today’s text, we will share with you 5 trends for Supply Chain 4.0.

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Intelligence is the key word in the supply chain of the future

To handle so many transformations, Supply Chain 4.0, (or simply “supply chain of the future”) establishes a network of intelligent connections using Internet of Things (IoT), advanced robotics resources and big data analytics. These connections will optimize all stages of production, storage and marketing of products.

This step forward is helping to ensure the competitiveness of businesses. In a market identified by constant transformations, more than ever, it will be indispensable that supply chain professionals act with strategy and productivity in mind.

See below the key trends in Supply Chain 4.0:

1. Agility

Speed is one of the determining factors for customer satisfaction. In Supply Chain 4.0, this speed is achieved through strategies to handle the different factors that affect the supply chain of businesses. Managers make decisions based on various internal and external data, such as supply and demand, or even market trends, climate, supply of raw materials and maintenance of suppliers’ machinery.

2. Flexibility

The agility to make decisions that affect the production and distribution of products directly makes the supply chain very flexible to changes in market demand or partner supply. It’s then possible to foresee potential problems and make decisions to minimize the impacts of unpredictable events, as well as make adjustments to the process.

3. Customization

With the ability to manage the whole supply chain in real time, managers can meet the customized demands of each customer and adapt both logistics and production to the needs of deliveries. The use of different delivery systems, such as drones, will be essential to meet the most urgent requirements.

4. Accuracy

By having a 360˚ management of the whole supply chain, connected around the clock, managers of each company and each department involved in processes will have more visibility and transparency of all data involved in the supply chain. With quick access to information, each leader will be able to make key strategic decisions.

5. Efficiency

Digitizing all supply chain processes makes all its tasks more efficient. This both from the viewpoint of production, aligned to the company’s needs, and of operation, which will be less prone to errors.

Supply chain setups can also be updated periodically, based on data that will be collected on a daily basis, along with the incorporation of new technologies, in order to increase productivity and offer increasingly better products.

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