The Global Pandemic - A Disruptor or the Greatest Global Opportunity for Human Ingenuity towards creating a Resilience-Driven, Digitally Hyperconnected Human-Centric Organization

Amlan Bose, VP, Global Business Application & Digital Transformation, Lead Logistics Division at DSV, is a global leader with 20+ years of rich experience and has been spearheading Technology-driven Disruptive/Transformative change across Enterprise-wide Logistics & SCM operations. He was earlier VP- Global Centre of Excellence - Logistics & Supply Chain Strategic Digitization & Industry 4.0, APAC & South America for Ford Motor Company.

By all accounts our lives have tumbled upside-down and by a microbe.! We are witnessing a global disruption which is not in anyone’s living experience so far. Bewildered as we all may be at its shear global scale and impact, history reminds of a Pandemic of this scale repeating every 100 years meaning whatever we learn from it now, god forbid, might find its use 100 years thence. Given its significance in the present and future, it begs a deeper reflection on what if we are at an inflection point of a larger leap into the hitherto unknown ‘Future of Things’ and if so, are we playing our roles appropriately, lest we end up being its only resistance.

Quick transition from New Normal to Routines: The world is going digital in smaller ways in our daily chores. This day 80 years old family grandma is ordering online fruits/vegetables and enjoying home deliveries. Our offices packed-off, WFH became the global norm, so did the global schools/ colleges going Online – Now that’s Big one, with no past parallel and the magic lies not in its newness but how rapidly the world adapted to the New Normal. Remote launches of critical Projects/ Systems/ ERPs without onsite presence suddenly became feasible, the routine - Video/audio conference calls have replaced hitherto critical F2F meetings, even the all critical company board meetings too have gone cyber.

The Epiphany of The Big Digital-Leap: It would be a colossal lost-opportunity if we collectively fail to envision the larger compulsive message of a critical need for a ‘Transformative change, Now’ germinating from this global disruption. And if COVID19 has done anything, it has only hastened the inevitable global Industry-wide transformation.

1. Brutal shifts in Customer Demands/ Delivery methods & expectations- The case for a Digital Organization: Post COVID19 experience globally, industries are witnessing an all new challenge, from instantly evolving customers with their rapidly changing demands and uniquely evolving ways/channels/methods of demand fulfilments. This is compelling companies to Re-Imagine their Business Models/ Approachand design, develop, roll-out an apt Delivery Method rapidly. So far, the world was used to 24-48-72 hours delivery promises through giant global retail fulfilment centres and retaining happy customers…But overnight, as if, the expectation has changed to an online order delivery of say 1 kg salt packet or fresh apples within 30 Minutes of order placement. With such an instant shift of customer wants towards ‘Micro Demands’, our established giant Macro-delivery eco-systems will fail to deliver. This is mandating organizations to Re-Wire & Hard-Wire towards an All New Thinking, a whole new set of Business Processes & behaviors, driven primarily by end-to-end Digitization.
2. Transforming an efficiency driven Organization to a Resilience Driven one: As the global organizations are literally changing & Learning on-the-Go, so are the established organizational success measures too. This rapidly changing ‘new age’ customer expectations are testing the limits of organizational Resilience in terms of Demand Forecast, rapidly changing usage Trends, new customer behaviors (Ex: more of health & safety conscious product/delivery choices), complex & concurrent multi-channel fulfilment networks, a logistics network that delivers to the expected lead times etc. With COVID19 still around and the effects of disruption still afresh, the transformative change is expected to deliver much better in similar such major disruptions (God forbid, if any) and hence Resilience is the buzz-word doing the global rounds these days. However notably, this Resilience is not to be achieved by throwing crazy levels of Inventory or pipeline stocks or protecting higher supply chain lead times, blowing-out demand forecasting etc. - instead Resilience need to be achieved thru smarter end-to-end Digitization, AI & ML enabled Autonomous Forecasting tools, Digitizing the complex Multi-channel demands & micro-fulfilment centers, Digitizing the entire supply side eco-system connecting the entire Tier-1 to Tier-x, thereby creating ‘One Source of Digital Truth’ for The entire Enterprise.
3. Expediting steps towards Industry 4.0 Eco-system: The 'Hyperconnected' world of Industry 4.0 which essentially involves an evolutionary journey of establishing a 'Smart Factory' with Intelligent, extensively networked, connected and highly Autonomous Machines, which are Cognitive, capable of Digital Supervision - i.e. essentially Putting Human Intelligence, Skills and Expectations into the Machines. These Inter-Connected and Integrated Machines are further connected with Material Replenishment systems, Orders/ Demand & Forecast Tools, Autonomous Production plan generator across all its product portfolios and Channels, Predictive Maintenance alerts, Network of Multi-mode/Multi-channel Transportation and Autonomous Optimization of Distribution plan to Maximize Customer Reach & Fulfilment – and all of the at Real – Time, high flexibility while yet offering a customized/ individualized tailor-made solutions/ products to the customers of the future, at the same cost as that of a mass-produced product of today.
4. Digital Control Towers driven by AI/ML capable TMS are turning out to be key enablers towards creating a congruence of Global Track & Trace of Transportation & Logistics operations, thereby enabling Autonomous Decision making and ultimately leading the way towards a 'Human-Touchless' Supply Chain. Millions of Moving Trucks/Trailers carrying parts/ components/ raw material & finished products can be accessed on a Global Common Network/ Grid connected to each Truck’s Onboard Cloud-Connected computer, allowing Value-add even while on the move by continuously suggesting AI-enabled Alternate Routes/ Destinations or latest critical supply chain updates/information or an imminent change in business dynamics or Acts of God etc. This would help in Maximizing the value proposition of the goods-in-Transit, converting the In-Transit Inventory from being a mere Overheads to an Asset available as immediate Value to customers, creating the Global In-Transit Trucks/Inventory pool into a huge potential ‘Warehouse/Assets on Wheels' to be Monetized on-the-go.
5. Creating a Human-Centric Organization, putting People First: All these Tectonic shifts in our business models & processes are happening at break-neck pace and at its very center lies the most valued commodity of today- The Human ingenuity, health & safety and long-term sustainability. Businesses are rapidly transitioning to becoming more and more 'Human-customer-people Centric’. Putting-People-First is the Mantra, be it in our office spaces, or in receiving visitors in our showrooms, receiving customers in shops/malls or even in parking lots, elevators or public-walkways – Top priority remains on People’s Health and providing a sense of secure, safe and healthy environment. While I draft this article, a Global MNC is distributing ergonomically designed office furniture to its staffs, at their homes, to ensure their health is safeguarded after long hours of audios and online meetings during WFH. Needless to say, this change in our paradigm would demand a complete overhauling of an organization’s intrinsic culture, behavior and its core value systems. The new global yardstick of customer loyalty & retention would be based upon 'Human Centricity' and a new philosophy of ‘Humane-ness’. Upon that promise would rest the product’s Brand Loyalty, Customer Retention, Global Brand-Equity and its ultimate Business growth aspirations.

At the end given these challenging times, an organizational Leadership must stay heavily Solutions Focused and not problem focused. It’s about time we realize that the microbe (The COVID19 virus) is here to as if bring back our “Humane-touch”. And going end-to end Digital just became a ‘Critical Must'.

As J Krishnamurti (Thinker, Philosopher, Teacher: 1895-1986) aptly puts it “One is never afraid of the Unknown; One is afraid of the Known coming to an End”.

So simply put, the Challenge the virus has thrown at us today, is just this - “Are we ready to Let-go, un-learn, re-learn, embrace and thereby Transform?”

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