The recent geopolitical tensions, economic turmoil, and global pandemic have exposed several vulnerabilities in the global supply chain. They have contributed to our recognition of the importance in building resilient supply chains for a sustainable and equitable future.

To help companies increase resilience and manage their carbon footprint to build a smart supply chain, advanced digital technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), smart sensors, and blockchain are needed to generate real-time data and business intelligence - to achieve global supply chain sustainability.

Supply chains are the backbone of the global economy. Therefore, to enable sustainable supply chain management practices, companies must have clear visibility into their supply chains. A lack of transparency can leave companies vulnerable to risks.

Hitachi has partnered with Circulor, a leading provider of industrial, complex supply chain traceability solutions so that businesses can visualize and track their entire supply chain on a single dashboard to gain detailed insights which help them to make informed decisions while ensuring regulatory compliance and promoting a circular economy.

Our environmental footprint is a measure of our demand on the Earth's ecosystems. By 2030 we will be extracting twice as many natural resources annually compared to what our planet can supply. To eradicate the exploitation of resources, manufacturing must shift from linear to circular. By reusing, repurposing, recycling, and remanufacturing raw materials and finished goods, companies can significantly reduce waste and advance sustainable outcomes. 

While a circular economy represents environmental and socially responsible practice, it also introduces complexities to supply chain management like the financial impact of decisions and more.

New digital capabilities offer organizations unprecedented functionality for monitoring and managing an organization’s sustainable supply chains. A transparent platform:

    

i. Helps companies gain insight into supply and demand so they can take the right decisions and increase efficiency.

ii. Integrates AI in supply chain and sensors into their processes to facilitate intelligent operations.

iii. Leverages supply chain optimization tools to improve traceability.

iv. Quantifies the value of transitioning to a circular model.

Organizations can build a robust foundation and begin contributing to a circular economy by leveraging data.  Companies like Hitachi are creating ways to extract and analyze data to yield actionable insights. Innovations like digital contracts and blockchain for supply chains can help companies trace transactions across the entire supply chain. Modern supply chain traceability solutions pull it all together by integrating and analyzing  data in a trusted digital platform.

By building a smarter, more sustainable supply chain, the associated physical, economic, political, and social risks can be avoided. The digital transformation in a supply chain can usher in greater transparency into how goods are sourced and produced, regionally or globally – so that organizations can make faster decisions while reducing waste, improving efficiency, and fostering innovation - thereby reducing carbon emissions and creating a sustainable society.