| |June 20199tiate themselves, focusing less on competing on costs and looking beyond existing systems. Adopting an out-wardly focused approach to include flexibility, collabora-tion and an integrated solution are ways for supply chain leaders to continue to innovate.Looking further over the horizon, we expect the next wave of investment will be in mobile devices and apps, followed by control tower visibility and warehouse auto-mation and robots. These technologies are further along the maturity curve than emerging technologies like blockchain, drones and driverless cars, and have been proven to deliver benefits. Top barriers to innovation This sounds simple enough, but the reality is many organizations have become complacent with their present circumstances, or they view certain barriers to innovation as being too large or difficult to overcome. These barriers include: · Silos between systems and processes ­ Operating in silos is one of the biggest barriers to innovation, and by extension, a barrier to delivering an enhanced customer experience. Laggards can leapfrog ahead eliminating the silos that exist between their systems and processes.Outdated IT systems ­ Below average performers are relying on outdated IT systems, with some businesses still using Excel to manage their supply chain. While Excel remains a powerful tool for collecting and calculat-ing data, the reliance for supply chains can be a risk and susceptible to human error. · The sheer pace of disruption ­ Fear, uncertainty, doubt, constant updates on new technologies and trends can be disillusioning. Success with innovation doesn't have to be disrup-tive; instead it is the combination of new, proven tech-nologies and optimizing existing processes to achieve the desired result.Despite all the excitement surrounding blockchain, drones and driverless trucks, these emerging technolo-gies were found to deliver comparative lower innovative benefits to supply chain. There are straightforward steps organizations can take to modernize their operations--for example, upgrading from Excel--to optimize the supply chain, bring much-needed visibility, and be one step closer to being able to deliver what customers want. Companies should start putting proper systems and processes in place now. The key lesson learnt is the danger organizations face from becoming overly com-placent. Business leaders can be proactive by reviewing outdated systems and processes, and begin to optimize these. The people, processes and technologies that have made a business successful do not guarantee the com-pany's future success. It's about adopting a holistic ap-proach that considers the entire supply chain ecosystem and innovating with a clear objective to optimize the overall customer experience. Here, a customer-led busi-ness enabled with new technologies is the one to beat. Success with innovation doesn't have to be disruptive; instead it is the combination of new, proven technologies and optimizing existing processes to achieve the desired result
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