The supply chain industry is rapidly changing and will continue to do so as big data continues to grow. Supply-chain managers can expect a number of government supply chain challenges over the coming years. When looking at some of the change drivers in the government supply chain industry, it’s easy to see why change could be on its way.
Data Continues To Grow
The biggest reason for changes in the supply chain industry over the past couple years has been because of big data, analytics, and automation. Supply chain methods are increasingly relying on artificial intelligence and sophisticated data analytics to drive decisions. Some have predicted that a majority of the manual processes that currently exist in supply chain logistics could be automated within the next five years. This will certainly impact how federal supply chain officials act moving forward.
Focusing On Inefficiencies
The government is expected to use big data to help make the supply chain process more efficient. The Department of Defense, for example, is already examining how missions are impacted by poor shipping practices. Additionally, the Marine Corps has set a goal to have aircraft readiness at 75%. Currently, according to the Armed Forces
Communications and Electronics Association, aircraft readiness is only at 45%.
Currently, there is a major problem in supply chain management because of a lack of visibility and transparency. It’s reasonable to believe that government supply chain officials will continue to work on improving deficiencies in the industry so that they can focus on eliminating costly losses and delays.
Avoiding Pharmaceutical Fraud
Government supply chain officials have identified pharmaceutical fraud as a major problem. Fraud can be considered
• Unauthorized access to supplies
• Theft of pharmaceuticals
• Sale of pharmaceuticals on the black market
As pharmaceutical fraud continues to contribute to the national opioid crisis, federal officials will need to improve supply chain methods. Agents have already begun working with sensor technology that can be placed on shipments. This technology will provide sensors that have anti-tamper functionality and will send alerts whenever tampering occurs.
This technology will have to also coexist with the technology used within the pharmaceutical industry to maintain cold chain processes throughout the duration of the shipment process. Those collaborating on sensor technology projects will have to consider first-hand methods, such as refrigerated packing, and second-hand methods, such as SureTemp pallet covers.
Protecting Risky Assets
As big data grows, government supply chain methods must protect high-risk assets whose security is of the utmost importance. Predictive analytics will rise, making it easier to share information. While this increased access to intelligence will serve to benefit federal supply chain processes, it cannot be done so at the expense of security.
Government officials have already taken begun analyzing how high-risk assets, such as weaponry and chemicals, can be protected throughout the supply chain process. Federal officials are expected to emphasize security in supply chain data. Some have speculated that federal agencies could move to a role-based data sharing model to mitigate risk.
