"Be sure to pick the best of the best"

Magnus Rodell at iCore is an expert in Supply Chain, i.e. warehouse and logistics chains, and has many years of experience in both operational and strategic work in logistics.

- The companies that have the best Supply Chain solutions will stand as winners in the future. Namely, they are the ones who can ensure that customers receive their goods on time at a price that is considered reasonable. This applies to both business-to-business and the consumer market.

Warehousing - a new success factor

Just in time, JIT, has been the prevailing planning philosophy for logistics and distribution for decades, but has been shown to have weaknesses, causing many companies to switch to a more traditional way of managing their inventory. At the same time, the distribution market has changed character in a very short time with many new players.

- Until recently, the focus within Supply Chain has been the inflow of goods, but has now turned to the outflow. This means that for the companies, it has become more important to ensure the delivery of the goods than to streamline the processes to get them in. This means that companies increasingly invest in maintaining storage capacity of input goods, and we even see how the largest industrial companies are now investing in building warehouse buildings.

However, not everyone builds new warehouses of their own, they instead look for other solutions, for example third-party logistics, which with their facilities can take care of the storage needs of several companies. In this way, rational warehousing is created with good quality in the supply of input goods.

New digitalized challengers

In a short time, there has been a marked change in the logistics chain. From an almost oligopoly-like relationship with a few players, a number of new ones have emerged that can provide customers with their ordered goods in different ways. It is boxes, bicycle couriers and other service companies that see niche opportunities. Their market has largely been created thanks to digitization by connecting different IT systems together.

- The key to the transformation is that it should be easy for ordering companies to plug in or out of new distribution channels. This is what we call integrating different IT systems. If it is to be made simple, an integration platform is needed which, instead of connecting "everything to everything" (also called point-to-point), makes the systems more structured, overviewable and documented. With an integration platform, even previous integrations can be recycled and used again, which creates efficiency and economy. It provides flexibility which means that it is possible to quickly add in or remove a new distributor/channel, says Magnus Rodell.

Stress-resistant distribution chains are needed

Distribution chains are very sensitive. If there is a breach on them, goods will not be able to be delivered. And it becomes extra sensitive when several actors' systems are to be tied together. Thanks to an integration platform, the entire system becomes more robust. Magnus Rodell remembers a situation where a customer's IT system was affected by a virus, a problem that threatened to bring down the entire company, but where iCore found a solution in a short time.

- Because iCore's integration platform is like a layer between different systems, it also detects where a possible error is and it is therefore easier to take measures.

Tip from Magnus

- Today and in the future, you have to pick the best of the best. There is no standard solution, but it is a matter of putting together different IT systems into a functioning whole. In other words, the integration between the systems plays a significant role. If you keep track of the situation and do the right thing from the beginning, then the rest will almost take care of itself.