Fast Track Digital Twins In Military Supply Chains.

• Author: Ott, Paul

Now more than ever, digital transformation presents tremendous opportunities to improve U.S. military supply chains.

Digital twins have been part of the technology landscape for years. Starting out as virtual replicas of physical objects, digital twins have now expanded to include end-toend supply chain networks as well as digitally mapping and simulating internal processes and policies.

What makes the current generation of digital twins more than a modern buzzword for "simulation?" It is the ability to incorporate operational reality from the physical world--manufacturing, warehousing and transportation--with business planning, monitoring and reporting. And the enablers bringing all this together are the confluence of technology acceleration, affordability and widespread awareness and adoption throughout the workforce.

Defense organizations recognize they have an abundance of data, of varying levels of quality, that exist in modern enterprise systems, platforms and legacy applications. Industrial infrastructure and technology, which is at the heart of maintaining military readiness, is generations old and in need of investment and recapitalization. Challenges with recruiting and retention drive a shortage of material handlers in Defense Department distribution centers and artisans in organic repair depots.

While not a panacea, digital twins realistically offer the opportunity to leapfrog ahead in an accelerated manner that coordinates previously disparate segments of the supply chain. The challenge is getting started. Creating a digital representation of the current supply chain network is foundational for the application of digital twins. While this sounds simple, there are few defense organizations with a comprehensive understanding of inventory positioning, replenishment flows, infrastructure, labor and storage, repair and processing capacities.

At this point, they can delineate what data is systemically available and of good quality, what data doesn't exist anywhere and all points in between. This is critical to target technology application at segments of the business to fill these gaps or elevate data quality to where it is acceptable.

Generally speaking, supply chain planning, procurement and fulfillment data is systemically available, but admittedly with some data quality issues where standard commercial and military processes diverge. However, data-driven visibility into maintenance, warehousing and transportation is often...