Logistics and supply strategies will change with the Metaverse

The metaverse is set to significantly change the way we live and work, so what problems can it solve in supply chain management?

Defining exactly what the metaverse is can be tricky as the term continues to evolve, but a few key features can be used to understand its benefits.

Ultimately, a metaverse is designed to seamlessly integrate virtual content with physical reality in an immersive experience and often involves communicating with others through virtual or augmented reality (VR/AR) technology.

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Additionally, users are represented by customizable avatars, and the environment and objects within it also remain constant during their interactions.

A metaverse also allows users to own, borrow, buy, sell, and trade, and this will only continue to evolve as technology does, allowing for an infinite number of metaverses.

But if it’s virtual, how will it help supply chain management?

Although it may seem like there is no apparent connection between the metaverse and the physical world, there are many ways it can be used to affect and shape the future of the supply chain.

Also, running a business in a metaverse environment will soon become commonplace, and getting ahead of the curve now will save you a lot of trouble later.

In fact, according to Accenture’s Technology Vision 2022 report, 78% of supply chain executives report that they plan to partner with others in the next three years and 57% plan to invest in technology or startups.

Accenture research also found that 64% of supply chain executives believe the metaverse will positively affect their companies.

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The biggest benefits that the metaverse will offer to the supply chain are:

• Significant changes in the way organizations balance demand and supply.

The immersive nature of the metaverse will foster a greater understanding of the demand for an organization’s offerings, because they will interact more with customers and have more visibility of them during the purchase process.

This will provide supply chains with the means to replace instances where demand is poorly predicted with highly accurate data that can be used to create stronger customer experiences and generate new opportunities to delight customers as well as ways to add value. for the customer.

When it comes to supply, combining AR and VR with real-time, multi-source data can provide stronger visibility into supply chain processes and facilities and attributes such as inventory and capacity.

What’s more, across the metaverse, being in a different room, building, or country won’t matter, as it will make it easier for everyone in the supply chain to collaborate and make faster, more robust decisions.

• Precise data for planning and insight

With the metaverse fostering a more personalized and automated world, humans will be empowered to more easily and richly dictate what they see, interact with, and experience.

As a result, organizations will also be able to build and provide these experiences. And it all starts with the products.

Physical products will evolve beyond their passive role in supply chains, where they are planned, produced and shipped, to become actively involved in influencing how they are made, delivered and enjoyed beyond their sale to a customer, learning , observing and operating autonomously.

• The ability to effectively solve complex supply chain challenges

Using the metaverse will solve supply chain problems that were previously consuming valuable time and resources or even totally unsolvable.

Traditionally, supply chains have been forced to use historical data that cannot be used for anything else, as it is so specific to the environment and events that generated it.

This has led to problems during planning, forecasting, staffing, and a host of other important activities, because the way the data is used is different from the original context in which it was collected.

The metaverse will offer new levels of supply chain data because it will give organizations the means to use synthetic data to model and plan scenarios, providing greater accuracy in plans and forecasts.

• Drastically evolve products

Unprecedented computing power is needed to create a metaverse, and it is this power that will solve the biggest supply chain problems to date.

For example, supply chains often approach inventory optimization or S&OP by separating processes into smaller components, partly to reflect organizational structures, but also to make it easier on a computer.

The computing power designed to create the metaverse will solve these problems without separating processes, but instead will use previously non-existent capacity so that companies can eliminate the line between planning and execution.

Additionally, this will allow users to view the entire supply chain, from suppliers to end customers, systematically balancing supply and demand in real time.

By overcoming the limitations of today’s computing power, supply chains will be able to operate more profitably, allowing customer demands to always be met and enabling greater resiliency and sustainability.