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66 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2024 4.0, replacing spreadsheet- based and siloed supply- chain and logistics arrange- ments with a more holis- tic approach that leverages machine learning and AI's ability to optimize large numbers of variables simul- taneously. People need to stay in the loop, of course. Effective communication starts by ensuring the right people are talking to each other. On the customer side, the planning team, not pur- chasing, may have the clear- est understanding of forthcoming require- ments. Companies spent many years getting Lean manufacturing practices like just-in- time ( JIT) and vendor-managed inventory to work properly. Lean originated in the automo- tive industry and is well suited to that environ- ment, where demand patterns can be known in advance, and quality requirements and vol- ume are high. It works in other industries too, especially with a few tweaks to suit the differ- ent business models. We need to move away from efficiency-driven transactional approaches if supply chains of the future are to be resilient and agile enough to handle events outside our control. Focusing instead on meeting the needs of individual cus- tomers is a more effective approach, although discovering exactly what those needs are may not be easy. Even customers themselves some- times do not fully understand their own needs. Trust and close collaboration are critical, requiring each side in the relationship to study the requirements and capabilities of the other. Success can mean the supplier benefits from long-term revenue, which also should grow with the customer's business, while the cus- tomer benefits from being able to trust their supplier to deliver the right materials in the right place at the right time, avoiding mistakes dozen to just one. Re-estab- lishing local supply chains will take time. Ensuring the security and integrity of the supply chains we already have is vital. is includes increas- ing agility to work around external issues such as ship- ping difficulties and to han- dle customers' changing demands. e key to this is find- ing out as much as we can about our customers' man- ufacturing plans. Of course, some confidential informa- tion cannot be shared, so historical data could be used to drive predictive models. Overall, the clearer the knowledge and understand- ing between supplier and customer, the better each party can plan their activities to fulfill the needs of each. Companies can greatly improve on-time delivery performance in end-user markets by trusting each other enough to share ERP data that lets suppliers understand exactly where materials need to be at any time. Equipped with even basic information of this type, sup- pliers can position themselves to ensure the required components are delivered at the time they are needed, minimizing the potential for mistakes, and avoiding expensive emergency deliveries. As digitalization and big-data-driven deci- sion-making become the norm throughout industries, we can harness the tools that come with this transformation—particularly the powerful soware tools—to let the planning and purchasing systems on both sides of the customer-supplier relationship share the infor- mation they need automatically on a machine- to-machine basis. e customer's ERP informs the supplier's systems of upcoming orders and activities that will affect volume demand and delivery timing. It's all about Logistics Mark Goodwin