Many business executives in Vietnam already have plans to adopt more digital technologies and tools (Photo courtesy TM Insight) ‘SupplyChain Digitisation: A Shift from Driving Efficiency to Building Resilience’,done by TM Insight, an Asia Pacific consulting company, foundthat digitisation of supply chains has emerged as one of the keypriorities to not only achieve operational efficiencies and meetrising demand, but also to future-proof businesses.
Vietnamesebusinesses that had not adopted any form of digitisation in theirsupply chains prior to COVID-19 were now considering options to improveproductivity and also cope with the upswing in consumer demand and reducedmanpower due to distancing measures.
Morethan 82 percent of business leaders in Southeast Asia wereplanning to adopt more forms of digitisation in their supply chains.
Thiswas to enable them to better overcome challenges and changingconsumer trends brought also by other significant events in 2020.
Theyalso acknowledged the impact digitisation could have on the long-termresilience of their supply chains.
JamesChristopher, president, TM Insight Asia, said the insightsconfirm the increasing importanceof an agile and digitally equippedsupply chain to weather unprecedented crises.
“Supplychains in Southeast Asia are critical to the movement of goods globally and theindustry landscape has undergone seismic shifts this year, mainly becauseof COVID-19. While e-commerce was already on the rise pre-pandemic, changing consumerdemands and trends, coupled with added pressures from health andsafe distancing measures, have pushed supply chains to newlimits.
“Asa result, business leaders are now looking at different options tofuture-proof their supply chains against potential risks for thelong-term,” Christopher said.
Referringto insights from the report, he said businesses recognise that goingdigital could enable a more holistic view of what is happening withinsupply chains, thus providing the ability to better anticipate challengesand periods of change and weather future shocks.
Leaders are anticipating notonly a general increase in digitisation within supply chains, but alsogreater adoption of omnichannel models, investment in dark stores and use ofautomation, data analytics and telematics, he said.
“Inparticular, industry leaders have observed that businesses thatinvested in an omnichannel model early have come out of the pandemicsituation relatively unscathed.
“Thesebusinesses were able to get ahead of big increases in demand, drive moresales and enhance customers’ experiences. Through our own work, weare seeing increased adoption of these models and expect it to accelerate inthe near future.
“Understandingthese insights, the team at TM Insight Asia is looking forward toworking with businesses across the region to further optimise theirsupply chains as the world steps into a new normal.”
The report analysedcurrent sentiments among industry experts and over 250 businessdecision makers in the fast-moving consumer goods, logistics, ecommerce,retail, and manufacturing sectors in Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia,and Thailand./.
VNA
