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Azure-powered Inventory Control Tower: Revolutionizing supply chain management
A major technology provider overcame the challenges of inaccurate inventory levels throughout its supply chain by modernizing its data estate using Generative AI capabilities to build an intelligent Inventory Control Tower. The company’s supply chain planning organization was facing high inventory costs, missing revenue opportunities, and experiencing increased operating costs due to the lack of visibility and control over its inventory across multiple suppliers and logistics providers. The company needed a solution that would enable near–real–time delivery of data, empowering data-driven decision making in order to optimize its inventory levels amidst rapidly changing supply and demand fluctuations.
Summary
The Blueprint team helped design, build, and implement an inventory control tower built within a modern data estate on Microsoft Azure. The solution integrated data from various sources such as component suppliers, distributors, system integrators, and logistics service providers, and provided a unified and scalable platform for data ingestion, transformation, storage, and analysis. The solution enabled the technology provider to create interactive dashboards and reports as well as data observability that provided insights into inventory levels, performance, and trends across the supply chain
The solution helped the manufacturer to achieve the following benefits:
Reduced inventory levels
by over 15%
Lowered cost of operations
by over $100 million per year
Improved planning and forecasting accuracy by over 20%
Enhanced collaboration and communication with suppliers and customers significantly
Managed changes and disruptions more effectively and proactively
Increased value-added services and products improving market share
The challenge
For a major technology provider, the lack of inventory visibility within its infrastructure supply chain has triggered a cascade of operational and financial hurdles. Specializing in cutting-edge technology products and services for large enterprises, the company faced rising costs from surplus inventory and emergency procurement, alongside delays in delivering new products to customers. Surplus inventory was tying up capital, while emergency purchases eroded profit margins. Moreover, inaccurate inventory forecasting led to supply chain disruptions, impacting delivery timelines and client relationships.
Resource allocation and productivity were suffering significantly. Planning teams operated reactively, relying on assumptions rather than data-driven insights. Employees spent excessive time locating inventory or waiting for essential supplies, affecting project timelines and inflating labor costs. The lack of precise inventory data also hindered strategic decision-making, challenging procurement efficiency, infrastructure scheduling, and resource optimization. This dearth of inventory insight began affecting the company’s reputation as project delays and potential safety lapses emerged, jeopardizing timely product and service delivery to customers. Addressing these challenges through advanced tracking technologies and strategic planning became essential to restore operational efficiency, safeguard the company’s reputation, and ensure financial stability.
The solution
The client wanted an architecture primarily centered on Microsoft products and services, aligning with their existing cloud provider relationship. Blueprint’s solution harnessed Azure services to deliver real-time visibility, analytics, and optimization for the supply chain. Core components included Azure Data Factory for seamless data integration, Azure Synapse Analytics for advanced big data analytics, and Azure Cosmos DB for globally distributed database services.
This integrated solution facilitated automated data movement and transformation via Azure Data Factory, while Azure Synapse Analytics provided insights into inventory levels and demand forecasting. Real-time inventory tracking and management were ensured through Azure Cosmos DB’s highly responsive, globally distributed database service. Additionally, the Inventory Control Tower incorporated Azure Machine Learning for predictive analytics and AI-driven insights, alongside Azure IoT Hub for real-time tracking leveraging IoT devices. Furthermore, blockchain technology enhanced supply chain transparency and traceability, safeguarding data integrity and mitigating risks.
Results
Blueprint’s Inventory Control Tower solution delivered remarkable outcomes by leveraging integrated cloud technologies and advanced analytics. Through predictive analytics for demand forecasting, the team achieved a significant reduction of inventory levels by over 15%, leading to savings of hundreds of millions of dollars on the company’s balance sheet. By accurately predicting demand, the Blueprint team optimized inventory levels, leading to a substantial reduction in excess inventory and its associated carrying costs. This optimization streamlined the entire supply chain operation, resulting in over $100 million in savings on supply chain operating costs by minimizing waste and inefficiencies from procurement to distribution.
The integration and analysis of vast data sets, combined with complex business logic, improved planning and forecasting accuracy by over 20%. This deep analysis provided more accurate insights into supply chain dynamics, enhancing forecasting models and planning capabilities. Real-time data sharing and visualization capabilities facilitated enhanced collaboration with suppliers and customers, enabling effective management of changes and disruptions. Leveraging the Azure-based solution also enabled the introduction of value-added services and products, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty while driving revenue growth and increasing market share. This comprehensive approach not only addressed immediate operational efficiencies but also strategically positioned the company for long-term success and growth.
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