Digital Supply Chain Management Transformation - A New Approach to Making Sense of Advanced Technologies to Improve Supply Chain Management

The challenges of supply chain management have been growing. The globalization of trade and advancements in technologies has enabled large-scale, multi-tiered supply chains that take advantage of a global network of highly specialized suppliers which enable focus on core competencies while partnering with those who have expertise in complementary activities. The access to greater capabilities at lower cost has increased complexity and manageability. This has led to greater calls for technologies to provide support. The assumption is that if we can use technology to better share information to coordinate and collaborate on aligning supply capabilities with customer demand. However, the challenge is sorting the 'ready to implement' from the 'not ready for primetime'. Additionally, for the 'ready to implement', the challenge is where and how to best implement these technologies so that they can make a difference. In this regard, there are two objectives of this paper. The first is to present the results of the work we have done in understanding the readiness of these technologies and presenting a framework for better assessing their readiness for deployment. The second objective is to present a supply chain framework that builds off of the work we have done at NYU to leverage the use of LSS and integrate TOC (the Theory of Constraints) and TCE (Transaction Cost Economics) to better understand how to apply these technologies to greater effect. We will use case studies to both illustrate how both these objectives can be met with the frameworks and methodologies presented.