Peter Jones will be speaking on the convergence of supply chain enablers. This convergence includes all of the traditional supply chain verticals from software to automation through to building design, energy production and storage along with manufacturing, imports, trucks, fuel and transport strategies. Whilst each of these elements is on its own evolutionary path, there is another underlying evolution happening, leading to integration possibilities previously not considered.

For businesses looking at a new building, automation investment and supply chain execution software, understanding this new evolution is important to understand, least a business design correctly for today, but lock themselves out of emerging opportunities because not enough consideration was given to the medium and longer-term future. These large investments are planned to have long life cycles, 10 years plus, but our supply chain ‘tool kit’ is evolving constantly with some elements progressing 2-3 generations in the same 10-year cycle.

Supply chain integration is the domain of the world’s leading supply chain specialists today. In the next decade highly integrated supply chains will be normative to those still in play, while not keeping up will produce even greater cost and capability gaps between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’. Peter will unpack this story as well as provide some suggestions as to how to stay near the front of the field without over investing too early, while ensuring your ‘tool kit’ is malleable enough to evolve with the ever-improving opportunities.