Internet of Things, 3D Printing To Disrupt Supply Chains in Coming Years
Internet-connected devices will increase 30-fold by 2020, allowing supply chains to assemble and communicate in new ways, significantly changing supply chain managers’ information access and networks’ cyber-risk exposure, research firm Gartner Inc. forecasts.
Gartner projects the Internet of Things (IoT) will reach 26 billion installed units by 2020, exponential growth from the 0.9 billion of five years ago.
“It’s important to put IoT maturity into perspective, because of the fast pace at which it is emerging, so supply chain strategists need to be looking at its potential now,” Gartner Managing Vice President Michael Burkett said in a recent press release.
“Some IoT devices are more mature, such as commercial telematics now used in trucking fleets to improve logistics efficiency. Some, such as smart fabrics that use sensors within clothing and industrial fabrics to monitor human health or manufacturing processes, are just emerging.”
As more devices are communicating to a “networked ecosystem” that formulates an intelligent response, they will allow supply chains to more efficiently provide differentiated services to customers, according to Gartner.
The firm says a rapid move to digital marketing will affect supply chains, especially for consumer product industries. Digital marketing budgets are expected to keep growing this year, Gartner says.
The firm predicts growing fragmentation of consumer demand as digital marketers target finer market segments.
“Supply chain leaders must design their processes to operate in this digital business world,” Burkett said. “This includes fulfilling the new expectations of customers and the volatile demands that digital marketing will create. A future supply chain will meet those expectations by converging people, business and things in a digital value network, and incorporating fast-emerging capabilities such as IoT and smart machines into this design strategy.”
Gartner also predicts that digital business, including digital product models for 3D printing, will disrupt product design and manufacturing in the next five years. 3D printing promises “supply chain bliss” by delaying manufacture until the latest point in the supply chain, the firm says.
If this promise becomes reality, 3D printing will disrupt supply chains by responding only to demand, eliminating excess inventory, the firm says. The technology, however, is in its early stages and can be used with only limited materials and manufacturing processes now, Gartner notes.
More information is available in Gartner’s report, “Digital Marketing, Internet of Things and 3D Printing Are Digital-Business-Driven Disruptions for Supply Chains.”
