Technology for Today’s Remote Revolution

Balancing in-person and remote activities is the new normal. Every day, our tasks and interactions with others flow fluidly between the digital and physical realms, whether we are making new products or selling them, training or learning, dining in or delivering, and the list goes on.

Left at the wayside are pre-pandemic assumptions about what activities should “go online” and which demand in-person encounters. This applies to practically every aspect of the consumer goods and fashion supply chain. It’s also relevant for implementing, learning and using technology.

Are You Remote Optimized?

The convergence of the digital and physical worlds is a hallmark of today’s Industry 4.0 era. The Covid-19 pandemic forced quick adoption of virtual processes. However, many businesses still have far more experience with in-person processes than remote ones. Digitalization is a work in progress.

While getting together in person has benefits, businesses have come to see many advantages of remote and hybrid work and commerce capabilities. They are achieving improved flexibility, speed, productivity and cost savings for employees, customers and suppliers.

The IT solutions to support blended remote and in-person business can be implemented through 100 percent remote technology rollouts, including user training. CGS has a strong track record of cloud-based installations. It honed virtual implementation capabilities throughout 2021, when all of its new customers chose the cloud-hosted business model.

One More Perfect Storm

Technologies such as PLM, ERP, e-commerce and shop-floor control (SFC) are crucial to enable the transition to truly digitalized operations. If you are like many business leaders, you are eager to adopt processes optimized for in-person and remote commerce. However, you also face a challenging skilled IT labor market and have to do more with less IT people in-house.

This situation poses one more perfect storm to navigate on top of others the pandemic, wars and their aftershocks have stirred up. How do you take on major IT upgrades to support important business priorities with a maxed-out internal IT team and a competitive market for hiring IT talent?

Businesses simply do not have the internal IT staff to assign to new initiatives. Technology professionals are stretched thin. What they need are IT partners to provide options for them to leverage technology without overloading their staff and budget.

Seizing Efficiencies from Remote Commerce

Selling online and in-store: Cultivated by necessity during the pandemic, seeds of omnichannel commerce ripened and bloomed at an accelerated pace. Shopping on mobile devices “skyrocketed” 44.1 percent year-over-year in Q4 2021, according to Comscore research cited in this CGS blog. Businesses pivoted quickly to adopt virtual processes. Now they have an opportunity to expand and streamline those processes to meet demand more efficiently across channels. With the right technology partner, companies can implement the solutions they need to support growth with remote, cloud-based solutions and services.

Supply chain visibility: With customers’ heightened focus on delivery timelines and sustainability, it’s essential to have insights, answers and transparency throughout the supply chain. Technologies such as SFC and PLM deliver a clearer view to processes and operations. For example, PLM integration with supply chain partners yields visibility to raw material supply, digital sampling and design iteration. Remote access to SFC data offers transparency to order progression through the factory. What percentage has cleared cutting? How many units are sewn? These solutions, too, can be successfully leveraged, even on a global scale, through remote, secure, cloud-based installations.

How is your business balancing remote and in-person commerce and supply chain processes? Looking for more information on how to digitize your supply chain? Visit our BlueCherry Suite page to learn more about how technology can help.