The Influence of Analytics in Supply Chain Management

According to a presentation at the Gartner Data and Analytics Summit in Sydney, business analytics is one of the top leading data and analytics technology trends with the potential to significantly transform business operations in the next three to five years.

In today’s era, Business Analytics governs the data processing and operational values of various sectors including Supply Chain Management, Advertising, Hospitality, Legal, Education, Retail, Entertainment, Manufacturing, and many more. In 2016, Business analytics was estimated to be an industry worth the US $ 50 billion. Gartner estimates that the amount of corporate data will grow forty-four fold in the period between 2008 and 2020 with the amount of data in the order of 35 zettabytes by 2020.

Business Analytics and intelligence have improved significantly in the last decade, resulting in a dependable system that can help solve the issues of the supply chain industry with meaningful insights, analysis, and predictions.

Sanjay Agarwal, principal of Deloitte Consulting LLP says, “Supply chain analysis is an unexplored opportunity for many organizations that have data at their disposal but lack either the tools or the knowledge to exploit its potential.”

Their experiences prove that manufacturing companies can improve the profit margin from 2% to 4% by applying greater use of business analytics related to predicting commodities volatility, parametric pricing, and to mediate any issues that arise from merger and acquisition integration. Along with this, supply chain managers can rely on these analytics to cut operating costs, improvise asset use, and increase the versatility and reliability of their operations.

Business analytics refers to the process of collating, cataloging, processing, and analyzing business information and relevant data by using statistical models and frequent methodologies to transform into useful business insights.

Mainly, Business Analytics are classified into three types, namely descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive.

• Descriptive Analytics aims at deriving insights from historical data using reporting techniques, balanced scorecards, etc.
• Predictive analytics tries to derive insights using statistical and machine learning techniques.
• Prescriptive analytics tries to derive insights using optimization and simulation techniques.

A good Supply Chain Management system can ensure a competitive advantage and a better performance than its competitors. It is evident by the impact on the performance of the Toyota brand, which has achieved the 1st position in the car manufacturing sector, credited to the excellent supply chain management system engaging the famous TPS (Toyota Production System).

A few of the benefits companies experience by employing business analytics for their manufacturing processes are:-

• Forecasting:- Business Analytics will help in defining the future demand of the market, thereby ensuring lesser storage costs or scarcity of raw materials to fulfill the demand. This accurate balance between supply and demand will ensure that clients are satisfied and goodwill is maintained in the market for the prompt delivery of services with a short lead time.
• Raw Materials:- As a result of the easy availability of data, you can ensure to access information at your fingertips, which makes the ordering process quite smooth. It makes sure that the material ordered is just-in-time and other materials can be held as per the demand.
• Logistics:- By alleviating the tracking and material handling processes, supply chain managers can monitor the movement of inventory and find areas of concern effortlessly.

Considering the exceptional scenarios of the present, forty-nine percent of the conducted surveys claim that business analytics is much more relevant now than before COVID-19. Professionals nowadays are always on the lookout for growth opportunities in their careers, for which they are training to attain different skill sets. Being certified in a Business Analytics course not only provides you an advantage in a competitive job market but also helps you demand a better salary and work profile.

Today, anyone can gain the knowledge of iBusiness Analytics with the help of Executive program in Business Analytics offered by IIM Calcutta. The 12 months long program emphasizes on building competence in analytics. It is mainly about quantitative analysis and predictive modeling for data-driven competitive strategies. The course will train the managers to identify their best customers, offer the right price, obtain supply chain efficiency, and identify the core drivers of financial performance. The program also involves a highly competent team of program directors, each from a vital business area to build in more rigor & quality into the program.

Almost every company is focusing on business analytics to improve its market footprint. Supply chain enterprises perceive Business Analysts as valuable assets. This not only means that you have more opportunities to streamline your industrial operations but also predict future happenings based on various sources of information, e.g., social media, news outlets, and other platforms. It will allow you to be better prepared in case of any unforeseen situations.

Apart from the Supply Chain businesses, Healthcare and Finance sectors are also exploring and utilizing the realms of business analytics with such robustness that you can always choose to work in an organization and industry with tons of opportunities.