After businesses were embroiled by operational disruptions throughout the height of the pandemic, Timo has now reflected on his observations and found that his mission to continue encouraging innovation has naturally become embedded in businesses future. “With unprecedented times came vastly accelerated innovation in order to survive.”

Speaking to �ٱ𳦲��ٳ���Dz�’s Chief Value Officer, “Nothing is impossible anymore” is simple the new business experience in light of the innovation that has become possible. The downside to this journey stemmed from the elevated pace that businesses were required to innovate, and in turn, ended up doing so in silos.

“I recently saw some data from International Data Corporation (IDC) that showed, a couple of years ago, 75% of organisations were innovating with a strategic approach, leaving the remaining 25% who were innovating in silos. Unfortunately, those numbers have changed. Organisations innovated in a silo because they didn’t have time to do it in a more strategic way, and now the number of organisations that have a strategic approach has dropped to 50%. So, unfortunately, there’s lots of innovation, but because of all these new silos, it’s actually harder to do even more innovation in the future.”

With these results in mind, analysts are in agreement that to innovate both at a faster pace and with strategic efficiency, there needs to be a solid information foundation coupled with a flexible set of building blocks. What the pandemic shone a light on was an atmosphere of uncertainty experienced by organisations which can be combated with flexibility, agility and the technology foundations to support it. Those organisations that weren’t able to adapt or differentiate themselves unfortunately were forced to fold.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STDFvPBYW74

“I think one of the key takeaways, I hope, is that some organisations were a little complacent about needing to innovate. Why innovate? My business is stable. I don’t need to do anything differently. Instead, that thinking is a little bit like standing on a down escalator. You’re slowly moving backwards compared to the rest of the environment. In order to stay still in modern business, you have to be walking up the down escalator. You have to put effort in because the environment around you is evolving. Customers have higher demands, your employees have new expectations, your competitors are upping their game, so you have to do a certain amount of innovation just to stay still.”

Asked on where organisations should begin their innovation efforts, Timo reminds us that because of a high investment in technology solutions that automate the time consuming parts of day to day operations, there’s a new wave of solutions such as a solutions. How do accelerate innovation this way? By letting business employees do more of the innovative work themselves in their area of expertise without IT and technology being a bottleneck.

Speaking to a customer, they explained to Timo that his ‘knowledge workers’ know exactly what’s going wrong in the business and they know what should be done to fix it, but they feel powerless. “They feel like they’re at the mercy of the machine because they can’t fix it themselves. All they can do is point it out to a technology team, but that team don’t have enough time, there’s never enough resources, there’s always a backlog. So, the answer is no, we can’t. Now, these new tools are becoming really powerful, where business people can create their entire applications, workflows, analytics and do it all themselves.”

There are always some dangers to be aware of with implementing solutions like these, where if you let anybody in your business become involved in the technology, the result is probably going to be chaos. “Not everybody’s ready to be enabled. Everybody’s gonna recreate the wheel and get calculations wrong.

So the right approach is not low-code or no-code or pro-code, but co-code where you have a combination of the technology teams putting in place the Lego bricks that reflects the different objects of the business like a customer or an invoice and so on. Employees can then take those blocks and use them, change the order and wire them up in different ways, and have different authorisations and so on in the knowledge that they’re going to do that in a way that isn’t gonna be damaging for the system it’s gonna be scalable, it’s gonna be compliant, follow all of the security laws and so on.”

To hear more from this discussion, dive deeper into business innovation projects and hear more from Tim about his technology predictions for the future, listen to the full episode of The Best Run Podcast .

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SYDNEY –��November��3��2021��–����(NYSE: SAP) today announced��that��early education provider����has��implemented����vaccination portlet��to achieve compliance with mandatory state-based COVID-19 vaccination requirements��and to offer reassurance and support to its network of��childcare workers, parents��and families.��

As a business��operating in the childcare sector,��Affinity��Education��understands the importance��of��helping employees��follow legal requirements around the COVID-19 vaccination.��Having implemented��human experience management solution,����in 2013, and the employee self-service modules in 2017, adding the vaccination portlet was a seamless next step.����

With the majority of employees using the 51����SuccessFactors mobile app to add their vaccination certificates, uptake of the vaccine portlet was fast and straightforward. In just a couple of weeks, Affinity Education achieved 100��per cent��compliance with vaccination requirements in��NSW’s��‘LGAs of concern’.����

Use of the portlet��was��also��rapid among Affinity Education’s Victorian employees. Seven in ten (70 per cent) workers across the state uploaded their vaccination certificates within two weeks of the portlet being made available. Affinity Education has��been able to achieve 100��per cent��compliance by each Public Health Directive due date.����

“With fast access to real-time vaccine tracking information,��we have peace of mind��that we’re compliant with legislation,��and that we’re doing all we can to provide our community of educators, workers, parents and families with as much support as possible during what can be quite��a��stressful��time,” said Linda Carroll, Chief People Officer, Affinity Education.������

“When we moved our HR system to 51����SuccessFactors��several years ago, we immediately experienced��the��benefits��of��an��automated system freeing up staff to spend more time with children.��As a result, everyone from��the CEO to our educators are very comfortable with the 51����SuccessFactors platform��and implementing the vaccination portlet��was��an��easy��way��to help employees manage their��health��information.”����

Tailoring the 51����SuccessFactors vaccine portlet to the needs of individual employees was another key benefit. For example, Affinity��Education��added each type of vaccine to the ‘pick list’ option ahead of going live. This��enabled each employee to add their��respective vaccine to their profile��– AstraZeneca, Pfizer��or��Moderna.��The organisation��also added an attachment field to the portlet so employees could easily upload their vaccine certificates to comply with public health orders.����

Damien Bueno, President and Managing Director, 51����Australia and New Zealand said:��“At a human level, providing Affinity Education with a��connected HR��platform means that we’re supporting a safe��transition back to��individuals place of work,��and��making it as seamless for employees as possible. At the same time,��we’re��helping��Affinity Education��manage��government vaccination requirements,��which is especially important in the childcare sector, and critical in building confidence among��the communities in which it operates.”����

Affinity Education’s partner Deloitte was instrumental in configuring and enabling the vaccination portlet alongside the Affinity team, allowing a prompt response to the early education provider’s business needs.

“Partnering for success has been critical to our business outcomes, and at Affinity Education we’ve enjoyed a long-standing relationship with Deloitte. Deloitte are fundamental to supporting us with our initiatives such as the vaccinations portlet and also for our broader use of SuccessFactors”, said Linda Carroll.

The rollout of 51����SuccessFactors��Employee Central vaccine portlet��has enabled Affinity��Education��to achieve compliance with government��vaccine mandates and ensure a safe return to the workplace. Affinity Education is planning to add the��Onboarding��and��Recruiting��modules to its SuccessFactors platform to ensure consistency from hiring to onboarding and lighten the load on the HR team.������

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But are hesitant to make the shift to more flexible working conditions, and their workers are thinking about looking elsewhere. This isn’t just anecdotal. A recent global survey conducted by EY found that over half of surveyed employees worldwide would consider leaving their job post-COVID-19 pandemic if they were not afforded some form of flexibility in where and when they work.

Several organisations have posted similar stories with equally disturbing numbers, predicting about half of workers across all sectors will exit their current employment in search of more flexible, accommodating positions over the next year. , , and many other large and reputable organisations are publishing articles saying the same thing.

How to weather employee resignations

Voluntary turnover can be an expensive and productivity sapping process, even under the best of conditions. If a tsunami of resignations hits the global marketplace, the impact could have devastating consequences for even large established organisations. Clearly, new thinking and strategies are in order. The way I see it, either HR teams can try and stem the tide by offering flexible working conditions, or they can take a different angle, perhaps concentrating on offering employees new career directions, or mentoring and training programs to enhance their skills beyond what they would get doing their day job. By offering a clear career direction or opportunities people wouldn’t normally have, employers might entice employees to stay, even if flexible working conditions are not on the table.

What flexible working conditions actually mean

The defines flexible work as the ability to decide, within certain conditions, where and when work will be done. In Australia, workers employed at the same company for at least 12 months can apply to adjust their hours, patterns, and most important, their location if their employer is amenable to the changes.

During the COVID lockdowns, workers appreciated from working from home or other non-office locations. These included better work/life balance, less commuting stress, money savings, and location independence, especially for people who lived in rural or very remote locations. What’s more, employer diversity got an uplift where people with socioeconomic challenges like affordable transportation or food were equalised with other workers because they could work from home.

In many cases, workers have received subsidy payments from their local governments to compensate for the economic impact of COVID. For the first time in a long time, people have some savings to ‘bridge the gap’ from one employer to another. This freedom allows them to think more holistically about their happiness and wellbeing, in other words – does their job allow for quality of life, and if not, can they obtain work/life balance elsewhere

Entice with career opportunities

In , I described the emergence of Opportunity Marketplaces. These software solutions match skills, competencies, and employee desires with existing opportunities including jobs, learning and mentoring options, external training, skill-building seminars and workshops, and more. With a service like this, employers are telling employees ’we value your skills and want to leverage them in the best way possible.’

Diversity can head off mass worker exodus

Diversity programs are another way to keep top talent. Diversity programs help organisations find rare skills more easily by widening the pool of candidates. Once onboard, a strong diversity commitment encourages workers to stay.

Richard Howell, tribal leader for diversity at ANZ Banking Group, recently spoke at SAP’s event about his company’s program for employees that uses skill matching technology. Like , ANZ Banking Group is acting on a variety of workplace diversity commitments for business results. Racially diverse teams perform better by 35 percent. Better performance translates to higher job satisfaction and reduced turnover. Companies that practice diversity produce .

Real or not, employee resignations are a business opportunity

If the wave of resignations does happen, the good news is that there are tools, programs, and philosophies that can help. The flip side to this apocalypse story is that if there are mass resignations, the labour market will be flooded with talent. The strategy for capturing all that talent to perhaps – fill some recent vacancies…well that is a topic for another blog

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The COVID-19 pandemic has totally transformed the employee/business relationship over the past year, as a more remote workforce adopted digital platforms as their primary mode of engagement. While this was initially thought to be fleeting, it’s now becoming more obvious that many of these fundamental changes are set to stay.

Although as businesses start to adopt a more��, Australian HR leaders might be underestimating some of the challenges of the post-pandemic ‘new-normal’. According to an����of HR leaders across the globe (commissioned by 51����SuccessFactors) around 47 per cent of Australian leaders see increased employee demand for remote work as one of the top long-term impacts. 64 per cent also indicated flexible work policies to be more important in their ability to attract and retain talent moving forward.

Despite this, though, only 23 per cent agreed that the majority of their workforce can work remotely and have the necessary technology environment to do so effectively. This discrepancy is alarming and indicates that employers need to make more investments in return-to-work technologies, such as test and trace mechanisms and remote worker management systems.

Australian businesses also have some work to do when it comes to issues of maintaining an engaged workforce, reskilling and upskilling, and talent acquisition, which have all changed immensely since the start of the pandemic.

The changing nature of employee engagement

Mass movements of employees into home offices and more remote locations has triggered a paradigm shift when it comes to how organisations maintain employee engagement and morale. It’s easy for employee bases that are more distributed and isolated to become disengaged and unenthusiastic, with productivity slipping as a result.

It’s never been more important to check-in on employees, not only to make sure they’re still engaged but also to touch base on their wellbeing. Despite this, Australian leaders are significantly less likely than other countries to be conducting regular pulse surveys to gather employee feedback (25 per cent).

This leaves many organisations in the dark about employee sentiment, as the workplace continues to evolve. We’re in a situation where everyone is adapting to a new mode of working, so employees are still figuring out what’s important to them. Organisations need to understand where they could be more effective and productive and one of the best ways to establish this is through setting up an employee listening strategy and conducting regular pulse surveys.

Rethinking talent acquisition policies

COVID-19 has pushed workers out of central offices and into homes or more remote working spaces. Employers need to consider this in their talent acquisition strategies and processes, as not only is there a wider pool of available and suitable talent but the environment is also far more competitive. It’s now possible for candidates to pick up positions in entirely different cities or even countries, so organisations need to do a lot more to stand out.

There are three important steps employers need to take when crafting new talent acquisition policies for a hybrid working environment, which are:

1. Identify skills gaps��– employers need to take stock of the available skills across the entire organisation to identify weak points and assess what’s needed
2. Increase internal mobility –��this goes back to reskilling and considering where training opportunities could be used to fill talent requirements
3. Use technology to scale up hiring and on-boarding –��this is an important step as it will allow organisations to more effectively define their purpose and differentiating aspects to candidates and new employees.

Organisations need to put themselves in candidates’ shoes if they are going to compete for top talent post-pandemic. In our findings, 64 per cent of respondents believed that COVID-19 will make flexible work more important to attracting and retaining talent, with financial stability of the organisation (62 per cent) and work/life balance (59 per cent) also top of mind.

However, many employers may be underestimating the importance of compensation – which takes precedence for responders in other countries – with only 43 per cent of Aussie employers flagging that as a major focus.

Australians lagging on reskilling and upskilling initiatives

There is often a misconception that, during tough times, businesses need to focus on utilising and maintaining their existing talents and skillsets. However, the coronavirus pandemic has taught us that reskilling & upskilling employees can be a huge differentiator, especially in terms of a businesses’ ability to pivot and adapt.

Take NAB, who used the pandemic as an opportunity to convert thousands of training programs to��run online, supporting the upskilling and reskilling of its 40,000-strong workforce. Emphasising digital and data skills, the bank found a range of synergies across the organisation and permanently improved its overall workplace training and delivery.

A����report found that at least half of all employees will require reskilling and upskilling by 2025, with the potential to boost GDP by $6.5 trillion. Furthermore,�� report called out workforce talent and skills development as one of the key trends for businesses that were maintaining agility and continuing to thrive.

This imperative has not been reflected in our study, as only 34 per cent of Australian employers expect to invest in learning programs for reskilling and upskilling (compared to 38 per cent of global respondents). Australian’s are also significantly less likely to make major operational or strategic changes over the next year, and – as a result – may be overlooking the necessity for expanding employee skill sets.

Australia’s global position as having handled the virus extremely well may be playing a role in spurring employer complacency on training initiatives, with a belief that a return to normality may be on the horizon. Although considering the permanent effects on the economy and new hybrid ways of working, faith in a return to ‘business-as-usual’ is misplaced. This will only be exacerbated next month, as the JobKeeper initiative��.

Overall, businesses need to recognise that the pandemic is more than just a blip in history, it will have a lasting impact that must be catered for in the long-term. With the right technology, employers can ensure that workforces remain engaged and the right talent is always at their fingertips.

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In the early stages of lockdown, Christian shared how 51����was instrumental alongside a group of partners in helping Woolworths Group overhaul its online delivery service within days to prioritise and protect the health and well-being of at-risk customers for home deliveries.

“We definitely have more products which are about increasing resiliency, so there the spend is definitely not decreasing … the question is whether CEOs are seeing that business transformation has to happen… At 51����we talked before the pandemic about the intelligent enterprise, higher automation and higher productivity, and now in the crisis, it has actually become even more relevant with so many people working from home,” said Christian.

As a result of the pandemic, 51����also worked with Australia’s largest pharmacy wholesaler and retail network, Sigma Healthcare, to help meet demand following a near doubling of orders.

“We are running large multinational companies, we have customers in Australia, we’re doing business in the US and in China and despite the increasing complexity and the higher degree of protection, we of course still want to provide the infrastructure to make those companies run,” said Christian.

SAP’s youngest ever CEO also talked about the future of work, returning to the office, the birth of his new child, and the impacts of easing restrictions too early. Christian also shared how he’s been using time that he would otherwise have been ��travelling, and ��less in the future and how he enjoys the convenience of working from home.

Read the AFR’s full interview with Christian Klein

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COVID-19 accelerated digitalisation across public and private sectors. We saw spikes in demands for specific goods and resources, thereby testing the resilience and adaptability of supply networks. Social cohesion and trust were challenged, communication channels were flooded with new users and increased traffic as people were stuck in isolation and becoming increasing reliant on digital technology to work and communicate.

The Australian Information Industry Association recently put together a whitepaper, , which outlined four key areas from which the AIIA presented its recommendations:

1. Building a National Digital Backbone supported by data intelligence and analytics to highlight deficiencies and areas for improvement across industries.

2. Building a Digital Australia that is Secure and Resilient based on policy reform and investment to attract global cybersecurity talent and developing intelligent technologies.

3. Building Digital Skills for the future by promoting, investing in, and supporting the retraining and upskilling critical technical skills in Australian workers

4. Tax, Incentive, and Government procurement reform that incentivises businesses to collaborate with research institutions and non-R&D-based innovation.

The team I work with are about helping people understand the digitalisation of supply chain management and how intelligent technologies can create greater interconnectivity across supply networks and country borders. Today, more than ever, supply chains need to continue building resilience and responsiveness to support economic and social recovery worldwide.

Intelligent technology solutions play a critical role in not only creating efficiencies, but interconnecting systems and processes to operate with greater insights. This helps businesses and governments plan and forecast with accurate and comprehensive data. To help businesses be more responsive and resilient to future shock events, intelligent enterprise systems are vital to businesses and governments alike.

The ability to connect different supply chains, business structures, workforce dynamics, and financial systems onto a single platform provides any organisation with the visibility to manage with intelligence, with the data insights necessary to adapt and anticipate change. As outlined in What Resilient Companies Do Before, During, and After Turbulent Times by David Sweetman, 51����Senior Director of Global Marketing:

“As change becomes more intense and disruptive, intelligent ERP enables businesses to listen intently, operate more intelligently, and stay connected to suppliers, customers, and employees. Doing so safeguards the business from missing out on unexpected demand spikes, much-needed investments, and evolving buying habits and preferences.”

“But resilient companies go a step further with this technology. They use this information – often captured, processes, and analysed in intelligent ERP such as 51����S/4HANA – to focus on their core competencies and make investments that strengthen it.”

Intelligent ERP systems lay the foundation for building intelligent networks of digitally enabled enterprises all operating optimally and with shared insights. Connecting these different functions and organisations help manufacturers manage and coordinate the entire product lifecycle while minimising waste and optimising processes.

This challenging time has demonstrated the importance of interconnectivity both in how we communicate and operate across industries and geographies. Within manufacturing, it’s about being responsive to spike demands, adapting to the new policies determining work environments and safety while safeguarding resources (human and material).

David Sweetman’s follow-up blog, Guide to Supply Chain Resilience in Changing Times, outlined the importance of intelligent enterprise networks in managing highly volatile demands and high volumes of business-critical data. These data insights are paramount to mitigating risk, diversifying resources, and providing avenues for automation.

With intelligent technology platforms like 51����S4/HANA, businesses have a single source of truth and control across diverse and disparate systems to run more efficiently. As cumbersome and often manual processes are eliminated and other vital functions streamlined, businesses can focus on core competencies and value-adding tasks.

Sourcing, logistics, warehousing, distribution, workforces, and resource management connect and communicate intelligently. When manufacturers adopt Industry 4.0 and incorporate digital technology into every business facet, they can dedicate more resources towards customer service, growth, diversification, and sustainability.

Manufacturers are realising just how important consistency can – through intelligent technology – be automated and ensured throughout the product lifecycle. This doesn’t just provide businesses with ongoing quality and delivery assurances, but platforms like 51����S4/HANA offer inbuilt localisations to ensure regulatory needs are analysed, controlled, and data supported for decision making.

Intelligent technology platforms create end-to end functionality and collaboration, from sourcing, to workflow, logistics, customer service, and financials. By integrating these functions into 51����S4/HANA, manufacturers can adopt Industry 4.0 more easily, operate more efficiently, and ensure business continuity while focusing on the processes that matter. Explore how is

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To are regarding as a ‘new normal’ means being able to adapt rapidly and anticipate change. Digitalisation plays a key role in helping organisations operate more flexibly and forecast more accurately, even during times of uncertainty.

While COVID-19 has had and continues to have devastating effects on economies and societies globally, both public and private sectors should use the momentum of this event to further accelerate digitalisation plans. Digital transformation has helped supply chains operate more responsively during this crisis, adapting to demand spikes and legislative restrictions that continue to develop quickly.

We saw these sentiments echoed during where Geoff Scott, CEO of ASUG said, “If you’re an 51����customer who wants to grow and accelerate your business, remove inefficiencies, reduce technical debt, and take advantage of the latest capabilities of 51����software then you .”

Geoff noted that those in the final stages of implementation projects would be doing whatever they can to see completion, but those in early stages may consider pausing to ensure timing and resources align with expectations.

“With the extension [of standard support for Business Suite 7 apps until 2027] now in place, we still believe 51����customers should move forward as far in advance of any deadline as possible,” Geoff explained.

“The decision about a company’s ‘ERP of the future’ should not come from an 51����‘pressure point’ or be based solely on the merits of a technical upgrade to S/4HANA. It should be about how best to prepare a company’s business for the future.”

but also highlighted the need for connection both operationally and communicatively. 51����S 4/HANA integrates different systems, processes, and organisations onto a single platform, sharing practices and insights to create a data-supported ecosystem, which improves and evolves with people’s needs while adapting to industry changes.

Unifying these data sets and processes onto a single system ensures consistency in quality and provides complete oversight across organisational structures and business departments. With this comprehensive and holistic control backed by intelligent technologies, businesses can be more flexible, responsive, and forward thinking.

make intelligence more agile compared to on-premises IT infrastructure, helping businesses be more adaptable, cost effective, and efficient. At a time when news changes rapidly and economies face uncertainty, the ability to make decisions quickly and supported by business-data insights is critical. Technology is becoming more intelligent so we can focus on our core competencies and value-adding roles.

With cloud-based ERP, businesses can implement mobile-enabled systems and applications to facilitate more remote workforces – an especially important need during this global pandemic. The digitalisation of business functions has also promoted mobility, which helps staff and management remain safe, productive, and connected.

Frontline workers can ensure business continuity while management can continue making important decisions on-the-go with the insights they need. 51����S/4HANA provides added functionality with dashboards and data visualisation, which makes important business information easier to access, read, and action.

Intelligent technologies can support and monitor IoT [internet of things] sensors, which embeds data collection and analytics throughout a product lifecycle, linking all operational and customer touchpoints to unlock best practice, automating processes, and generating insights for future planning.

This level of efficiency has a flow-on effect to customer service, allowing businesses to provide personalisation in products and services. Intelligent technologies can link supply chains with marketing and customer-service channels to improve the connection between brands and consumers. This ensures consistency in delivery, responsive communications, and foresight into market changes.

COVID-19 has accelerated the need for digital preparedness, having more digitally literate workforces and communities while building digital connections across operations and communications to create more intelligent enterprises.

This ongoing pandemic has highlighted the importance of staying informed, connected, and adaptive. The digital technology we’ve been using to communicate is just the tip of a deep digital iceberg that connects across business silos, industries, and country borders to create an intelligent interconnected system that operates seamlessly and evolves with changing needs.

It’s the responsibility of businesses like 51����to help organisations – both public and private – understand we currently have and plan for an ever-changing future.

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Technology to support the supply chain is generating renewed interest as organisations work out how to get their goods to market during a global pandemic. Two of New Zealand’s largest organisations—Fonterra and Foodstuffs—continue to evolve their technology roadmaps to stay on track for their customers.

Fonterra’s supply chain tech priorities

As one of New Zealand’s largest companies, Fonterra is experiencing its fair share of disruption to its supply chain during the global pandemic, as it looks to boost its technical capability.

Fonterra National Logistics Manager Brent Fiecken says its priorities are automatic generation of delivery and enhanced value visibility reporting and tracking. These will help his team to “drive efficiencies and performance.”

He is also investing in interleaving, which is enabled by 51����Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) software. “Interleaving is the system of prioritising warehouse tasks to reduce travel time in distribution centres. When a pallet is picked up, the next closest timed task is ‘putaway’ or replenishment. This means the task is based on location and workflow priority. The usual process is to do all the putaway or picking activity irrespective of whether it is the most effective travel path for the machine, thereby being efficient in the total time taken to complete all tasks,” Fiecken says.

Of eight technology trends in supply chain technology����this month, Fiecken identified two as being a focus for Fonterra: supply chain governance and security, and artificial intelligence.

Fiecken says governance and security “is a critical element for us with both supply chain integrity and security post-COVID. This is constantly being reviewed and verified against processes.”

His view chimes with Gartner analyst Christian Titze, who notes this is an increasingly important macro trend now that “global risk events” are on the rise. “Gartner anticipates a wave of new solutions to emerge for supply chain security and governance, especially in the fields of privacy as well as cyber and data security. Think advanced track-and-trace solutions, smart packaging and next-gen RFID and NFC capabilities,” Titze says.

With regards to artificial intelligence, Fiecken says this is actively being used by Fonterra. “Artificial intelligence and robotic processing technology are now being deployed across a number of areas in the group,” he says.

The other six supply chain technologies identified by Gartner are hyperautomation, digital supply chain twin (DSCT), continuous intelligence, edge computing and analytics, 5G networks, and immersive experience (virtual, augmented, and mixed reality).

Flexibility and visibility key to supply chain operations

To understand the scale of Fonterra’s operation, Fiecken told the virtual����recently that last year the organisation produced enough consumer-packed butter to put on 7.8 billion slices of bread.

The lockdown created peaks and troughs of activity so Fonterra needed to respond to customer demand when it surged and then pivot quickly in quiet periods by having staff involved in tasks such as maintenance.

Often, the volume of product requiring delivery remained the same, but the destination changed. Fiecken says in the case of fresh white milk, the journey from manufacture to distribution is less than 12 hours, and during the lockdown demand didn’t alter but where it was delivered to did, as people stayed at home and cafés were closed.

Meanwhile, Foodstuffs South Island, Supply Chain Development Manager Kris Lancaster told the 51����panel that as it caters to changing patterns of consumer behaviour, technology which enables better visibility of the supply chain has become even more critical.

Foodstuffs South Island has 240 retail stores in its network and data has become increasingly critical in the supply chain. Specifically, real-time data that provides them with the ability to react to quickly, when there are no predictable patterns of behaviour. “The key for us is to take control and plan forward, have visibility about what’s coming, not what’s just happened today,” he says.

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This rapid and unprecedented impact of the virus demonstrated how critical supply chain transparency is to maintaining business continuity, managing spikes in demand, and adapting to the economic and social changes – such as the increased demand for PPE (personal protect equipment) and responding to fear-driven buying habits.

With the very stark reality of an infectious second wave, it’s paramount that we use the momentum and lessons gained for the initial outbreak to continue accelerating digitalisation plans. While COVID-19 has driven many organisations towards digital transformation and intelligent technologies, there are many that still don’t realise its value in maintaining service while ensuring people’s safety of staff and mitigating the risks of future shock events.

One real-world example that helps highlight the need for digitalisation emerged early during COVID-19. , providing vital support and resources for building a temporary hospital outside New York City. Searching on 51����Ariba Discovery helped the client connect with a healthcare provider able to fulfill the order expeditiously.

At a time when supply chains were vulnerable in dealing with shutdowns, legislative changes, and increased demands, this 51����client had the cloud-based technologies and subsequent supply-chain visibility to pivot quickly and assist in crisis-recovery efforts.

This virus has shown us firsthand how important it is staying connected to one another, being available to provide the right information and resources as news continues developing rapidly. Real-time data ensures businesses and governments can make decisions when it matters and with the insights to move forward intelligently.

A recent survey of 1,000 supply chain executives stated 49% of supply-chain leaders (the top 12% of respondents) can capture real-time data insights and act on them immediately. The survey also noted 51% use artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to capture insights, which allows supply-chain leader to react in real time to changing conditions—from widescale disruptions to individual customer complaints.

Considering the scale and complexity of transnational supply chains, it can be challenging finding network visibility and control. This global pandemic has stressed the importance of supply chain flexibility, resilience, and oversight, particularly as we navigate through ever-changing policies, market demands, and social restrictions all impacting on supply chains.

The key challenges and benefits of real-time insights embedded into supply chains were , listing the following: “Increased resilience; Greater visibility of actual customer demand (customer centricity); Increased operational efficiency; Superior visibility into the entire supply chain; and Seamless collaboration with other functions, partners, and suppliers”

Focusing on that final point, the Oxford Economics and 51����survey also noted 84% of supply-chain leaders said they’ve successfully broken down organisational siloes across the complete product value chain, particularly within the manufacturing sector, .

With improved levels of visibility and interconnectivity across supply chains, businesses can minimise exposure to risks, build resilience, and forecast with greater accuracy. The ability to connect disparate systems and processes brings forward best practices and next-level efficiencies. Real-time data supports all business decision making, streamlining functionalities while highlighting areas to improve or automate.

Intelligent technologies feeding data insights into a business IT infrastructure also improves a business’ sustainability practices, providing accountability and transparency throughout the supply chain to help reduce waste and improve production processes. 51����S/4HANA integrates different processes and systems onto a single solution, going beyond ERP to embed data analytics throughout a product lifecycle to create efficiencies across supply networks.

IoT (internet of things) sensors make data collection more comprehensive and valuable, providing insights across equipment usage and utilising intelligent technologies to trigger critical events such as maintenance and service. The data from these operational touchpoints help inform future planning by improving business visibility into every facet of the supply chain.

Hosting these data insights on a cloud-based solution not only helps digitally transform a business into an intelligent enterprise but sets the foundation for further automation and newfound efficiencies. As organisations continue digitalising and using data insights to make business decisions, they contribute to the development of a more intelligent ecosystem that connects different organisations, industries, and nations together.

COVID-19 has driven us into isolation, but has also amplified our need to connect, to share, and to respond quickly to changes. The importance of interconnectedness only increases with the capabilities of intelligent digital technology, especially during these times of uncertainty.

While this virus was and remains a challenge to economies globally, we should use this critical junction to adapt, improve, and build resilience to potential disruptions. It’s much more than just being able to respond and recover – we need to utilise the right technologies to help organisations, public and private, ensure people’s safety, maintain service continuity, and excel beyond our current crisis.

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