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Over the past two years, the supply chain has rocketed from relative unknown into the global spotlight. But Jen Upthegrove, director of global supply chain process & systems at Rockwell Automation, already knew firsthand the inherent challenges involved in global supply chain management. After more than 20 years at Rockwell, Upthegrove has seen innumerable supply chain disruptions and adeptly developed solutions to both proactively prepare for and agilely respond to such issues.
In the latest episode of the Thomas Industry Update Podcast, Cathy Ma, Thomas vice president of platform growth and engagement, sits down with Upthegrove to discuss the impact of Industry 4.0 on traceability in the global supply chain, the first steps to implementing a focus on data within your industrial business, and how to prepare for potential unexpected challenges in the coming year.
Below is an excerpt of their conversation. The interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Harnessing Technology to Improve Traceability in the Global Supply Chain
Cathy Ma (CM): How will the future of Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things improve traceability in the global supply chains?
Jen Upthegrove (JU): It’s been such a pleasure to be a part of watching Industry 4.0 move from aspiration into reality for us. The availability, the acquisition, and the ability to connect our information with people in our environment today has gone from something we thought about to reality. And it’s really driving us into a place where, in our supply chain, we can make better, faster decisions and achieve some of the advancements that– we’re achieving advancements thanks to the Internet of Things and the ability to connect that information to our people in a different way.
If I look at what we’ve been doing here at Rockwell, we’re seeing correlation in the ability to connect engineering data with our planning data to influence how we make decisions for our customers. It’s exciting to see how much better and more accurate our decisions have become because of that ability to connect that data and bring together those functions in a new way.
It’s been interesting to watch and to be a part of bringing that to reality for Rockwell, and I think there’s a lot more we can do. We can continue to apply that in not only the manufacturing environment but in the other functions of the supply chain, like transportation and global trade management. It’s been exciting!
CM: If you were advising small businesses — or even larger enterprises — who are just starting their traceability and data journeys, what would you want them to look into first?
JU: First, I’d say each company is going to have a unique journey. Every company will be a little different in the way their journey manifests itself. But right now in the supply chain, we’re all facing similar challenges.
I think the ability to manage the capacity of your supply chain, whether that be internal or external capacity, is important. If you think about a manufacturing or logistics or transportation environment, it’s going to be important that as a company, your journey starts with a unified strategy and vision.
At Rockwell, our leadership has really driven us to have a unified vision that’s led through capability. So, let’s not let technology lead us, but rather let’s focus on what capabilities we really want to acquire. And then, how are we going to use technology to help us solve for those or achieve those capabilities?
I think companies need to start with a shared vision and a shared strategy, alongside a strong understanding of what their pain points are and how they quantify their metrics and their transformational targets relative to that strategy. Focus on those metrics and let those guide you toward building out your journey relative to traceability and where it makes sense to start.
Building traceability is a huge digital transformation for any company. It’s going to require skills within your people, it’s going to require technology, and it’s going to require those two things to come together. I would say if you don’t want to start with technology, start with capability — and don’t forget about the people that have to come along on the journey with you as well.
CM: If you were to advise an industrial business as they look ahead to prepare for challenges that might arise in the next few months or within the next year, what’s the one thing you would tell them to look out and prepare for?
JU: Unfortunately, I think we need to be planning for the same [things we’ve been dealing with over the course of] the last two years.
At Rockwell, we’ve been thinking about the ability to manage and mitigate risk or points of failure throughout your supply chain. And I think we have all learned in the last two years where in the supply chain those points of failure are for us — the good, the bad, and the ugly of it, right? And where we’ve had pains in being able to recover from that and where those pains exist, which I think has been a good lesson for all of us. I think that we need to plan for more of the same in those same areas, but also look to be able to manage them concurrently.
We were set up to manage one or two disruptions at a time. We were never set up to manage this many disruptions concurrently at the same time.
Looking ahead, it’s really about investing in where you think more of that same thing is going to happen and then taking it to the next level so you are able to manage those things concurrently and mitigate those points of failure right within your supply chain. Contingency planning is huge. I think investing in and thinking about how you’re building contingency plans into your supply chain operating rhythm is important. It can’t just be about running your day-to-day; you need to be thinking about the scenarios that you need to watch out for.
Listen to the Full Podcast Episode
Hear more insights from the latest interview by listening to the full episode, now available to watch in full in the video player at the top of this article or on the streaming platforms below:
Image Credit: Thomas Industry Update Podcast
