How Data Mesh Technology is Unlocking Supply Chain Value

Data mesh is to eliminate the challenges of data availability and accessibility at scale.

Global supply chain disruption costs the average large business $189m a year – which suggests the Internet of Things (IoT) is failing to live up to the hype when it comes to revolutionising supply chain logistics and management.

More than 10 billion IoT devices around the world are constantly adding data to already overflowing data stores. Yet global supply chain disruption persists because it is not caused by a lack of data – which is why more IoT is not the answer.

The solution lies in creating effective connections between numerous stakeholders performing a range of functions, across multiple enterprise platforms, and in different jurisdictions. Until now, that has been easier said than done.

It is comparatively simple to digitize a factory – with everything under one roof and controlled by one organization. But an entire global supply chain is a very different matter. Mobile devices enable single stakeholders to track and monitor outside their respective domains.  However, the cost of such devices is prohibitive, and they present operational challenges, such as maintenance and retrieval.

The data to achieve the granular visibility required is present across the supply chain today. However, data is fragmented across many siloed systems, each owned, operated, and controlled by many independent organizations. The real challenge is twofold – how can this data be captured and combined while maintaining privacy between the respective organizations; and how can very different data be brought together in a way that can deliver the coherent visibility required?

New 'data mesh' technology is now providing a breakthrough – making it possible to harness data across the supply chain for true cross-stakeholder visibility to unlock valuable benefits.

Data mesh is based on distributed architecture for analytical data management. It enables end users to easily access and query data where it lives – without first transporting it to a data lake or data warehouse. Data ownership is distributed to domain-specific teams that manage, own, and serve the data as a product.

The aim of data mesh is to eliminate the challenges of data availability and accessibility at scale. It allows business users and data scientists to access, analyze, and use business insights from virtually any data source, in any location. Data becomes accessible, available, discoverable, secure, and interoperable.

Using the distributed architecture approach of data mesh, data from multiple supply chain systems can be captured and combined to create a 'digital twin' of a consignment – providing a single data product from which all stakeholders can get the visibility they need.

Intelligent data orchestration is then the secret of success for the supply chain. Just like in a traditional orchestra, a 'conductor' takes centre stage and synchronises all the various data inputs, applying analytics to enable end-to-end visibility and automation as goods move between stakeholders.

Each separate system communicates directly and only to the conductor platform – removing the need for numerous discrete connections and maintaining data integrity. The conductor ensures only relevant data is captured from connected domains – maintaining privacy across the various organizations. The platform can handle inputs from multiple sources and is scalable, secure, and robust.

The digital twins within the platform combine data from systems such as order management, warehouse management, transport management and telematics systems to deliver rich data products that include consignment data, inventory, value, documentation, allocated transport, and even the scheduled route.

Data from GPS trackers in delivery vehicles is then dynamically added to provide real-time location updates for each consignment. These updates can be distributed to key stakeholders across the network and, when recorded, build a lifecycle record for each consignment. Over time, these records also highlight any bottlenecks in the system so that remedial action can be taken.

Research suggests that businesses with optimal supply chains can halve their inventory holdings, reduce their supply chain costs by 15% and triple the speed of their cash-to-cash cycle. Data mesh and intelligent data orchestration are now offering a new route to unlock supply chain value and deliver competitive advantage.

Author:

Toby Mills, CEO of supply chain visibility pioneer Entopy