Control Towers offer many benefits to companies managing complex supply chains. They can provide the basics like visibility across suppliers, contract manufacturers, carriers and 3PLs. They can provide advanced functionality such as predictive and prescriptive analytics, and autonomous agents that can optimize and help manage many processes. There is a range of functionality you can get from a control tower, and you can implement it in phases, or go from zero to advanced.
The Control Tower Value Journey
Level 1 – Visibility – you have visibility to events and milestones across the entire network
Level 2 – Alerts – You receive alerts based on service level agreements and lead times to all events and milestones, and resolve them in real time.
Level 3 – Decision Support – You execute transactions and users make decisions based on the recommendations of intelligent agents.
Level 4 – Autonomous – Intelligent agents run the supply network with minimal human intervention.
When considering a control tower solution, it’s a good idea to identify where you are in this journey, and what the next step is. The Supply Chain Control Tower Quiz below is only four questions, but it will tell you where you are in your journey, and offer guidance in your next steps.
Recommended Resources on Control Towers
- SupplyChainBrain: How to Avoid Control Tower Failures – Srinivas Guddati explains the pitfalls of many control tower solutions, and what you should look for to maximize your results from a control tower implementation.
- Control Tower Quiz – where are you in your journey? What are your next steps?
- Control Tower tech brief – What is a control tower? And how do you choose one to meet your current and future needs?
- Prescriptive Analytics: A Conversation with Joe Bellini - October 16, 2020
- Control Towers: A Conversation with Joe Bellini - October 9, 2020
- Supply Chain Resilience and the Power of Business Networks - September 30, 2020
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