Recently there was talk that shippers may soon be able to Google their way out of a supply chain crisis with a system like Google Cloud Supply Chain Twin. New York-listed business decisioning data and analytics provider, Dun & Bradstreet, and Google Cloud have announced a 10-year strategic agreement to co-develop software and services around supply chain visibility and other business issues. It needs to be made clear that a system like this, able to avoid future supply chain crises, is a pipe dream.
Google Cloud Supply Chain Twin doomed to fail at avoiding future supply chain crises
What is Google Cloud Supply Chain Twin
Dun & Bradstreet will become one of the founding data providers for Google Cloud’s Supply Chain Twin solution. Underpinned by BigQuery, Google Cloud’s serverless, multi-cloud data warehouse, this provides supply chain virtualisation for businesses. Dun & Bradstreet helps businesses understand their supplier relationships through its near real-time supplier data set. Dun & Bradstreet’s will integrate its supply chain data with Google Cloud Supply Chain Twin. The two companies will develop new solutions improving customers’ end-to-end supply chain visibility and help uncover hidden risks in global supply chains.
Collaboration with Dun & Bradstreet
This alliance will assist all companies make sound, data-based choices. Dun & Bradstreet is known for its business information and delivery of cutting-edge techniques. Google Cloud is known for leading data analysis, AI and robotics techniques. Thomas Kurian, Google Cloud CEO, said combining these two companies will provide their mutual customers with new opportunities.
This collaboration is potentially a universal, independent, fully-integrated solution, that shows all shipments, regardless of incoterm, shipper, air carrier and forwarding agent.
One can visualize a Google Maps-like service showing the existing routes between your suppliers. This would include all options, not just Tier 1, and would show your organization superimposed with possible alternative routes. Such optional routings would offer lower lead times, costs and complexities. The next possibility might be utilization of the Dun & Bradstreet information, then the Dun & Bradstreet knowledge base, covering distribution network funding and financial probity of vendors and purchasers.
How does Google Cloud Supply Chain Twin work?
Google Cloud commenced the Supply Chain Twin option in September 2021. It allows organizations to create a computerized picture, or virtual mirror, of their actual supply chain.
Hans Thalbauer (MD, Global Supply Chain, Logistics and Transportation, Google Cloud’s) commented on this subject. He said by organizing data from different origins, businesses can gain a wider perspective of providers and catalogs. They would also gain data on weather, possible threats, market attitudes, and collateral provider perception.
Utilizing Supply Chain Twin will provide contemporaneous data display, state-of-the-art analytics, warnings of major problems such as possible stoppages and partnering in Google Workspace.
Improving visibility
Thalbauer commented on compartmentalized and fragmented data limiting the visibility companies have into their supply chains. The Supply Chain Twin provides clients with greater understanding of their operations. Through this they can optimize supply chain functions, from sourcing and planning to distribution and logistics.
According to Google, the Supply Chain Resiliency Report released by BCI in 2017 states few companies have total oversight of their supply chains. The result of this is retail stockouts, aged manufacturing inventory, or weather-related stoppages. In 2020, the IHL Group reported the retail industry lost approximately $1.4 trillion solely through unobtainable stock. Similarly, over the last 18 months Covid has played havoc with global supply chains, and this situation is still ongoing.
Valuable features
The Google Cloud Supply Chain Twin system allows customers to:
- Drill down into key operational metrics using performance dashboards
- Set mobile alerts for key operational and performance metrics
- Trigger AI-driven recommendations such as:
- Responses to changing events
- Flag complex issues and send alerts
- Simulate the impact of hypothetical situations
Efficiency analysis
Supply Chain Twin allows companies to bring together data from multiple sources without traditional API-based integration. Google claims customers have experienced a 95% reduction in analytics processing time from 2.5 hours down to eight minutes.
There are several major data types supported by Google Cloud Supply Chain Twin. These include:
- Enterprise resource and business planning
- Partner and supplier systems
- Public sources including public datasets, such as:
- Spacial
- Risk
- Sustainability
- Weather
Industry deployments
Renault is innovating how they run supply chains more efficiently. The key to the initiative is improving visibility to inventory levels across their network. They expect to achieve a holistic view by using Google Supply Chain Twin cloud solution. It will organize and orchestrate data aggregated from supplier inventory data. Renault is working with Google tools to manage both stock, improve forecasting, and eventually optimize their fulfillment.
Any retailers or manufacturers that have a heavy logistics component can deploy Google’s Supply Chain Twin to provide customers:
- Better understanding of product life cycles
- Ability to track shipments across carriers
- Accurating predicting of product arrival times
Why Google Cloud Supply Chain is doomed to fail
Adam Excel, US Sales Manager for Freight Forwarder Quote Online, stated that Google Cloud Supply Chain Twin is doomed to fail in having any impact on reducing future supply chain crises. To say that shippers would be able to Google their way out of a supply crisis is just silly. Tools like this are good at collating and presenting visible data, such as inventory from suppliers and warehousing capacities, and reporting shipping requirements. To then project optimal shipping solutions through the globe freight system is, however, a pipe dream.
Global supply chains are vast and fragmented
The supply chain industry is too vast and fragmented to be pulled together so something like Google Cloud Supply Chain could reduce the impact of a supply chain crisis.
Even a collaboration as massive as Google and Dun & Bradstreet will be unable to:
- Integrate shipping terminals, port deposits and warehouses for ocean freight
- Effectively deal with the rapidly changing air freight information that abounds in airports
- Account for complex issues such as shipping container shortages
Global supply chains are vast and fragmented
Adam said it might be possible to extend a system such as Google Cloud Supply Chain to better integrate the trucking industry. Transport is a more contained section of the industry than air and sea freight.
A sustained drive from Google and Dun & Bradstreet, with its supply chain systems, could integrate with truckers and suppliers. This would provide predictive logistical reporting, plugging into:
- Transport companies with available data
- Warehousing and storage facilities with capacities data
- Road navigation systems with traffic volume data
A supply chain tool, such as that Google is developing, may potentially get to a level where it could project complete shipping solutions in a meaningful way. This may be when the global freight industry consolidates further. Big shippers are getting more profitable and bigger. It is likely this will lead to the consolidation of a few key players. With a more unified and less fragmented industry, open standards could be implemented, making possible the recording and sharing of shipping information as a common format. Once such a common standard comes about, supply chain systems such as that of which Google is dreaming would be realistic.
Need help and some expert advice with your supply chain
Our air and sea freight network to and from the US extends across 40,000 locations. We can help you organize your supply chain with our expert advice. We offer transparent freight forwarding quotes with no hidden costs. Feel free to contact us online and send a message, or message us on Facebook.
