Alan Bolduc

In July, what is being called the “largest IT outage in history” grounded air cargo and travel and caused “substantial disruptions” to the networks of such supply chain giants as FedEx and UPS. While cybersecurity company CrowdStrike blamed the worldwide outage on a “software update” and not a cyberattack, the event illustrates the importance of taking measures to safeguard the supply chain systems we all rely on for the movement of goods and people. Cybersecurity is Paramount in Digital Supply Chain A Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report published in October 2023 said that “bad actors are using more sophisticated tools and techniques to exploit vulnerabilities in digital networks, and weak points can be difficult to detect. Companies with established cybersecurity capabilities are being compromised through less sophisticated third parties that are connected to their network.” Today’s Supply Chain Remains Vulnerable to Cyberattacks According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, the number of organizations targeted by supply chain cyberattacks skyrocketed by 2,600% between 2018 and 2023. Verizon’s 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report said there was a 68% year-over-year leap in the amount of “supply chain interconnection” involved in cyber breaches. Among high-profile cyberattacks affecting the supply chain: In December 2020, Forward…

Supply chains are more volatile and interconnected than ever, but many planning processes still rely on disconnected systems, manual analysis, and spreadsheet-based interventions. This white paper explores how network optimization, supported by advances in optimization technology, workflow design, cloud computing, and AI, can help planning teams evaluate cross-functional trade-offs, respond faster to change, and move from static plans to continuous, decision-driven supply chain planning. Inside the White Paper: – Why traditional planning systems and network optimization evolved separately, and why that separation limits decision quality in today’s supply chains. – How network optimization helps evaluate cross-functional trade-offs across sourcing, production, inventory, transportation, fulfillment, service, cost, and capacity. – Why continuous network optimization is different from one-time strategic modeling, and how it can support recurring tactical and operational planning decisions. – How AI and configurable workflows can make optimization more usable for planners without requiring them to become modeling experts. – How planning systems and network optimization can work together in a feedback loop that improves decisions over time. Click here to download