Although not always among the hottest topics in consulting, a company's supply chain has always been a hugely critical part of its business infrastructure. Emerging technologies, along with new ways of looking at how the supply chain functions have moved it from a behind the scenes consideration to a real driver of value and differentiation. This is a big part of the evolution of the supply chain EY describes as the networked value chain. Consulting caught up with Glenn Steinberg, EY's Global and Americas Supply Chain Leader, to talk about the business and consulting opportunities around the supply chain, and why he says the future belongs to the connected.
Consulting: What is the overall state of the supply chain consulting market?
Steinberg: It's an amazing time to be a supply chain professional. We're in nirvana. It's always been about visibility end to end, making faster and better business decisions with data, maximizing customer service levels at the optimal cost, reducing inventories and flexibility to respond. What's really great is that the technology is finally here to pull it off. Supply chains are no longer linear, but they're complex ecosystems and that requires a fundamental reinvention of the supply chain and operations of a company. Companies have been selling products and services through linear value chains, and companies owned dedicated parts of that value chain. So traditionally you have supplier, manufacturer, distributor, customer, and all systems were internally focused, on-prem. With digital technologies we're disrupting the entire linear model and we're creating networked value chains that can respond simultaneously rather than serially. Near real-time information across the value chain accessible to all. All the data is in the cloud. I would say the future belongs to the connected in this world, powered by IoT and fueled by data in a fully interconnected society. That's what's going on in supply chains that move from a linear to networked value chain. Couple this move with the convergence of events that we're seeing right now and you'll understand why my phone is ringing off the hook right now.
