Ongoing disruption requires companies to make a fundamental shift in their supply chain strategy. What makes this transformation so difficult is that the scope of change required is extensive, involving many internal (and external) stakeholders, data and technology.  

What recent disruption has shown is that the root cause of supply chain issues often lie in disconnected processes with Product Manufacturing and Engineering. In other words, integrating business planning across these different divisions should be a priority for companies in order to help them truly transform.

• Evaluating engineering decisions rapidly against supplier capabilities could achieve faster time to market at lower cost or could mitigate potential lost revenue and customer service levels by being able to determine whether alternate components in the design are possible. 

• When developing innovative new products, manufacturing simulation shows how to scale production to meet aggressive forecasts for orders. In addition, experimenting with new technologies in the virtual world (such as additive manufacturing) can help mitigate constrained supply in times of disruption.

How can companies evolve to achieve this transformation and what are the capabilities they must adopt to drive value?