The Digital Supply Chain

Book excerpt: The Digital Supply Chain is a thorough investigation of the underpinning technologies, systems, platforms and models that enable the design, management, and control of digitally connected supply chains. The book examines the origin, emergence and building blocks of the Digital Supply Chain, showing how and where the virtual and physical supply chain worlds interact. It reviews the enabling technologies that underpin digitally controlled supply chains and examines how the discipline of supply chain management is affected by enhanced digital connectivity, discussing purchasing and procurement, supply chain traceability, performance management, and supply chain cyber security. The book provides a rich set of cases on current digital practices and challenges across a range of industrial and business sectors including the retail, textiles and clothing, the automotive industry, food, shipping and international logistics, and SMEs. It concludes with research frontiers, discussing network science for supply chain analysis, challenges in Blockchain applications and in digital supply chain surveillance, as well as the need to re-conceptualize supply chain strategies for digitally transformed supply chains.