Summary

MHI and Deloitte developed the Supply Chain Digital Consciousness framework to help organizations assess their digital mindset and gauge their progress on the journey to becoming more digital.

You can also download the 2021 MHI Annual Industry Report: Innovation Driven Resilience here.

Directions

Each statement finishes the sentence “is/has your company...”

For each assessment category, read the attributes and select which awareness level most closely reflects your current environment under the "CURRENT" section. Then, under the "DESIRED" section, select the level that you would like to move your company to.

At the end, your Supply Chain DCI will be calculated. Each level is scored as follows:

Dormant Immature state with little to no digital capability. Waiting to adopt foundational digital innovation. No automation or digital connectivity. 1 point
Developing Early stages of digital adoption, with low levels of connectivity and automation.2 points
HeightenedModerate maturity of digital innovations, including collection of information from sensors, as well as automation to collect and analyze digital information. 3 points
ElevatedFull maturity with connected systems and automated processes that harness the value of digital data and support proactive decision making through advanced analytics and artificial intelligence. 4 points

Industry and Company

Please select your industry and company sales below and click the Next button.

What is your company's primary business?

Please select at least (1) Industry

Over the next 18 months what does your company plan to spend on material handling & logistics

Please select your company's planned spending

What are your company's approximate annual sales?

Please select your company's annual sales

 

Leadership

Company leaders are focused on aligning the company’s strategy, workforce, culture and technology to meet the digital expectations of customers, employees and trading partners.

DORMANT

Disconnected from customers, employees and stakeholders; unaware of market dynamics or competitive threats

Lacking clarity on how technology can support its business strategy

Discouraging of creativity; dismissive of ideas

Lacking awareness and understanding of emerging innovation

DEVELOPING

Beginning to connect with customers, employees and stakeholders; listening to feedback and ideas

Becoming aware of emerging innovations; open-minded to technology investment

Starting to encourage change and adoption of new technologies

Developing an understanding of how emerging technology can support its business strategy

HEIGHTENED

Consistently connecting with employees, customers and stakeholders, and acting on feedback and ideas

Regularly communicating its strategy and articulating the role of innovation in supporting the strategy

Made analytics an integral part of the decision-making process

Developed a clear understanding of emerging innovations and technologies; developed a technology roadmap

ELEVATED

Looking at the business through a digital lens to identify areas where technology could make a major impact

Developed a comprehensive, long-term digital innovation strategy, clearly aligned to achievement of business goals

Created executive-level inclusion for innovation in the form of C-Suite innovation/digital officer(s)

Taking strategic risks to invest in emerging innovations and technologies

Current


Dormant
Please provide your current level

Developing

Heightened

Elevated

Desired


Dormant
Please provide your desired level

Developing

Heightened

Elevated

Innovation/Technology

A culture of experimentation and innovation is in place that drives digital advancement. Technology strategies are also in place that explore the art-of-the possible through a digital lens — pairing technology with core business capabilities to enable a company to keep pace while adapting to the rapidly changing digital landscape.

DORMANT

Using little or no existing or emerging innovative technology

Heavily constrained by legacy systems as compared to competitors

Risk-averse toward innovation and technology

DEVELOPING

Beginning to use connected or automated innovations

Beginning to explore ways to leverage data and analytics for corrective actions based on historical negative trends

Beginning to take small risks to adopt innovation

HEIGHTENED

Using connected and automated innovations based on their business impact

Collecting and leveraging data and analytics for forward planning

Developing concrete plans for adoption of additional technology; taking calculated risks for innovation

ELEVATED

Using or adopting connected and automated and advanced analytics and artificial intelligence innovations based on their business impact

Assembling and leveraging data and analytics for predictive and prescriptive insights

Defining innovation as a core focus and competency; technology roadmap in place and regularly updated

Taking creative risks for innovation; fail-fast approach

Current


Dormant
Please provide your current level

Developing

Heightened

Elevated

Desired


Dormant
Please provide your desired level

Developing

Heightened

Elevated

Customer Engagement

A customer-first mindset that seeks to connect with customers and effectively anticipate and influence their needs.

DORMANT

Not connected to customers, with limited awareness of shifts in requirements

Lacking insights into customer preferences or value triggers

Satisfied with the status quo in terms of customer service

Experiencing a declining customer base

DEVELOPING

Making insights from customers a priority and attempting to maintain their engagement

Establishing a feedback loop for capturing customer feedback and profile data

Making adjustments to service and product offerings based on customer feedback

HEIGHTENED

Conducted "day in the life" exercises for new and existing customers

Prioritizing relationship building with customers through multiple channels

Proactively sensing and anticipating customer needs and developing keen insight into customer value levers

ELEVATED

Making customer experience a strategic focus; connected to customers through multiple channels

Leveraging technology to give each customer a personalized experience based on digital information collected through interactions with them

Proactively sensing and anticipating customer needs and developing keen insight into customer value levers

Creating programs to stimulate and predict customer and market demand

Current


Dormant
Please provide your current level

Developing

Heightened

Elevated

Desired


Dormant
Please provide your desired level

Developing

Heightened

Elevated

Talent

Digital talent and skills are present throughout the organization, with clear strategies for attracting, retaining and growing the digital talent of the future.

DORMANT

Continuing to focus only on recruiting new workers with existing skill sets

Providing minimal training or information about specific emerging innovations and technologies to learn about

Investing minimally in people or technology

DEVELOPING

Beginning to focus on retention as well as recruitment of workers with skillsets that include digital capabilities

Beginning to expand training courses to cover new innovations and technologies

Beginning to allow workers to form communities to learn about innovation and technology advancements

Open to investing in people and technology

HEIGHTENED

Offering consistent training courses for new and emerging innovations and technologies

Allowing workers to participate in platforms and communities to share ideas and learn new skills from experts in other organizations

Developing comprehensive talent recruiting, retention and development programs

Investing in people as well as technology

ELEVATED

Attracting resources with business insight as well as technical skills ("Purple People")

Encouraging workers to meet regularly and participate in platforms and communities to share ideas and learn new skills from experts in other organizations

Cultivating a diverse workforce (age, gender, race, etc.)

Providing professional growth and learning plans for employees

Current


Dormant
Please provide your current level

Developing

Heightened

Elevated

Desired


Dormant
Please provide your desired level

Developing

Heightened

Elevated

Workplace Environment

Embracing and using digital technology to create an attractive and compelling work environment and culture that help attract and retain talent.

DORMANT

Utilizing little to no innovative technology in the workplace

Offering minimal opportunities for personal or professional growth

Providing a workplace where workers do not like to spend their time

DEVELOPING

Beginning to experiment with new technologies in the workplace

Exploring workspace concepts to encourage communication, collaboration and sharing of ideas

Encouraging and supporting formation of worker communities focused on innovation and technology

HEIGHTENED

Encouraging an open/sharing culture through employee-led Initiatives

Open to new tools and flexible working schedules

Encouraging corporate, social and personal responsibility across the company and individually

Creating a work environment where workers enjoy spending their time

ELEVATED

Encouraging and supporting continuous learning, particularly about digital innovations and technologies

Using adaptive training programs tailored to each workforce segment

Providing opportunities for workers to grow personally as well as professionally; becoming a talent magnate

Incorporating flexible work arrangements supported by technology that enables work to be mobile

Current


Dormant
Please provide your current level

Developing

Heightened

Elevated

Desired


Dormant
Please provide your desired level

Developing

Heightened

Elevated

Results

Supply Chain Digital Consciousness Index (DCI)

3

Total Current Score / 5
Level of Progress

30%

Total Current Score / Total Desired Score
    Current       Desired    
Leadership   Dormant 3 points   Dormant 3 points
Innovation/Technology   Dormant 3 points   Dormant 3 points
Customer Engagement   Dormant 3 points   Dormant 3 points
Talent   Dormant 3 points   Dormant 3 points
Workplace Environment   Dormant 3 points   Dormant 3 points
        15 points       15 points

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Next Steps

Building a digital, always-on supply chain is a difficult and complex challenge. Now that you’ve assessed your Supply Chain DCI, here are some key actions to take to elevate consciousness within each of the five categories of the Supply Chain Digital Consciousness framework.

Leadership

Share the MHI Annual Industry Report and the DCI assessment tool at mhi.org/dci with your team

Measure your Supply Chain Digital Consciousness Index (DCI) annually and use it to determine and prioritize gaps and measure progress

Define a comprehensive strategy for digital supply chain, including digital initiatives that are core to achieving the overall business strategy

Increase investments in supply chain innovation. Focus on an overall program for digital transformation, not just individual investments and initiatives

Look to the future by appointing/supporting a strategic team to develop scenarios of future business conditions and how your supply chain will need to adapt

Innovation/Technology

Foster a culture of experimentation and innovation

Establish an innovation think tank within your organization to keep employees up-to-date on new technologies and to encourage employee engagement

Develop technology strategies that explore the art-of-the-possible through a digital lens

Focus on pairing technology with core business capabilities

Utilize the MODEX and ProMat events as inspiration for your team on the latest equipment, digital technologies and trends

Customer Engagement

Develop a customer-first mindset that seeks to connect with customers in order to anticipate and shape their needs

Involve customers and suppliers when assessing the value of digital investments and defining business case parameters

Talent

Appoint a C-suite champion for talent and create a new, forward-looking supply chain talent model

Invest in continuous learning and development focused on digital education

Implement a reverse or dual mentoring program to pair younger, digital native talent with seasoned leadership to bolster the digital knowledge and comfort of the seasoned talent and pollinate leadership traits to the younger talent

Assemble a cross-functional, digital native advisory panel to vet ideas and opportunities to improve the company’s digital posture and trajectory

Partner with MHI and regional STEM, career and technical education and university programs to develop connections to future supply chain talent pools

Workplace Environment

Create opportunities in the workplace to develop digital skills

Provide a compelling environment for achieving career growth ambitions while acquiring digital skills and experience (which makes employees want to stay in both the short and long term)

Allow freedom to fail on the path to success

Create a socially responsible brand to attract your future workforce

Annual Industry Report

This year’s survey report provides insight into the technology innovation taking place across the supply chain industry—and the associated workforce challenges. The 2021 report finds that the adoption of supply chain is increasing dramatically due to the impacts of COVID-19 disruption with 49% of supply chain leaders have accelerated spending in digital technologies to make their operations more responsive and forward-looking during the pandemic. This report compiles the survey results from over 1,000 manufacturing and supply chain professionals.

Download the 2021 Annual Industry Report