Essay Sample on Explanation on How Big Data Works in Digital Supply Chain

Introduction

Big data which refers to extensive data that is analyzed to reveals trends, patterns, and associations mainly associated with the behaviors and interactions of people is used in decision making by companies. Big data has become one of the essential resources in the current business environment. A digital supply chain is a kind of a supply chain with Internet-enabled operation, and it is one of the businesses that significantly rely on big data. The collection and analysis of big data play a significant in the digital supply chain businesses. As seen in the discussion of this essay, big data work in various ways in the digital supply chain; therefore, companies ought to establish interventions for maximum utilization of big data collection and analysis for effective supplier networks.

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One way in which big data works in digital supply chain management is laying a foundation for gaining a competitive advantage. Companies engaged in the digital supply chain rely on big data to obtain elements that contribute to value addition for increased customer coverage in the market place (Ittmann 165). The information gained from big data utilization in aspects such as expenditure visibility, trends in performance and prices, inventory tracking, process improvement, as well as manufacturing optimization leads to having a competitive advantage. A high capability of big data uses lead to decisions that are customer-oriented for higher client coverage. For instance, Amazon has gained a competitive advantage against its competitors like Alibaba and eBay because of its intensive utilization of big data analytics (Martins 62). Therefore, organizations involved in the digital supply chain need to experience the effectiveness of big data use in obtaining a competitive advantage.

The other way in which big data works in the digital supply chain is the provision of real-time monitoring. The collection and analysis of big data lead to having real-time information that helps to run appropriate actions in the supply chain (Dubey et al. 11). Through big data analytics, the digital-based supply chain businesses access information for the establishment of benchmarks, processes optimization, opportunities utilization, and risks management. The outcome is lower losses due to the adequate information for real-time monitoring. For example, Wal-Mart utilizes big data collection and analysis to obtain real-time information for use in timely supply of products to different markets, a situation that leads to a low cost in the supply chain management (Martins 63). Consequently, organizations need to understand how big data works to cause real-time monitoring for a reduced cost of supply operations.

Apart from gaining a competitive advantage and real-time monitoring, big data also works in the digital supply chain by offering improved visibility in the supply chain. Accessing information from various sources such as company's websites, social media, and mobile Apps provide information about products and services in the market (Ittmann 165).Visibility across the supply chain provide strategic planning and scheduling approaches that create situations like accurate demand forecasting, effective manufacturing efficiencies, efficient inventories, and suitable distribution network. Companies like DHL use big data collection and analysis to have improved visibility of the trends in the market place which leads to appropriate planning and scheduling, a situation which contributes to having more distribution services than its competitors like FedEx (Martins 62). As a result, companies engaging in digital supply chain require optimizing big data to have a visibility of the trends in the market for increased sales.

Conclusion

Conclusively, the collection and analysis of big data play a significant in the digital supply chain businesses. One way in which big data works in digital supply chain management is laying a foundation for gaining a competitive advantage. The other way in which big data works in the digital supply chain is the provision of real-time monitoring. Apart from having a competitive advantage and real-time monitoring, big data also works in the digital supply chain by offering improved visibility in the supply chain. As a result, companies involved in the digital supply chain ought to optimize the use of big data analytics for successful business operations.

Works Cited

Dubey, Rameshwar et al. "Big Data Analytics Capability in Digital Supply Chain Agility". Management Decision, 2018. Emerald, doi:10.1108/md-01-2018-0119.

Ittmann, Hans W. "The Impact Of Big Data And Business Analytics On Supply Chain Management". Journal Of Transport And Supply Chain Management, vol 9, no. 1, 2015. AOSIS, doi:10.4102/jtscm.v9i1.165.

Martins, Lucky. "How Big Data And Analytics Are Transforming Supply Chain Management". Forbes.Com, 2019, https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2016/04/22/how-big-data-and-analytics-are-transforming-supply-chain-management/.