Digital Supply Chain
Integrated Decision-Making for McDonalds' Supply Chain Platform Users
Supply Chain networks are becoming complex due to the scale of operations, emerging technologies and unforeseen events related to weather, interdependencies within organizations, geo-political factors and more. The Efficient Digital Supply Chain (EDSC) platform will be designed to establish trust, responsiveness and user-centricity for McDonald’s supply chain network ensuring hyper-personalization for each persona keeping in mind their role-specific information and data analysis needs.
Collaborators
IBM: Chief Design Officer Engineers, Multi-disciplinary Designers, Supply Chain Team, Marketing Associates
Methods
Market & User Research, Data Analysis, UX Design
Tools
Figma, Excel, Power BI, SQL, Illustrator, XD
Duration
12 weeks
Aim
Streamlining McDonald's Digital Supply Chain at Every Stage
The mission of this platform is not only to unlock the full potential of its supply chain network, but also to cultivate a ‘system first’ environment that encourages the entire McDonald’s supply chain system partners to be more collaborative, innovate beyond four walls, infuse insights and creativity into decisions with greater speed and while doing so, orchestrate a self-sustaining loop of enhancing supply chain agility and adaptability, wherein the environment enables and propagates innovation that increases the ability to be more iterative and adaptable; this in turn, leads to more innovation.
Pain Points
Scope
An enablement platform that integrates with numerous existing legacy systems, built-in data governance, IoT devices and immutability and data products
The technical architecture that will support six key scope areas (Cold Chain Compliance, Planning and Order Optimization, Credit Processes, Rotation Compliance, Safety Stock Optimization, and Stock Recovery) of McDonald's Supply Chain. EDSC will include a enablement platform; the ability to integrate with numerous existing legacy systems in the supply chain; Internet of Things (IoT) devices; built-in data governance and immutability; and data products like dashboards, reports, and alerts.
We recognized the central theme across 72 use cases is McDonald’s desire to make a cultural shift from KPI-based backward-looking supply chain to real-time intelligent orchestrated workflow to enable forward-looking supply chain, which further enables time-to-value. The EDSC data platform, along with the embedded AI/ML driven advisors, will create end-to-end visibility and intelligence for timely data-driven decision making. The intelligent workflows will facilitate collaboration and execution of business actions to respond effectively and in a timely manner to short and long term changes in the supply-chain. The specific capabilities that we have architected for this platform are designed to scale easily.
Cold Chain Compliance
Ensure that all products stay within an acceptable temperature range throughout their journey across the supply chain
Rotation Compliance
Ensure that products are used within their expiration dates by following a “first in, first out,” or “first expired, first out” procedure
Planning and Ordering
Orchestrate the processes of planning for and ordering products at every level (supplier to restaurant) in the supply chain
Safety Stock
Track and accumulate additional product restaurants, distribution centers, Hubs, and suppliers keep on hand as a “buffer” for instances of increased demand
Credit Processes
Take the necessary steps and actions to give restaurants system credits for products that arrive damaged, expired, or just unusable
Stock Recovery
Take necessary steps and actions to replenish products at a distribution centre or restaurant after a product is recalled, expired, or is otherwise unusable
Our Proposition
Macro 360°
Network View
Track and Trace
Authenticity and traceability throughout supply chain with the assurance of capturing deviations and auto-resolve discrepancies between partners and enable resolution through collaboration, as per business rules.
Robust Data Pipe
Enables data ingestion from different sources and at different frequencies - orders, forecasts, and shipments are ingested for consumption from across the shipping network through RFID, IoT, Enterprise Applications, and Partner Applications.
Observability Framework
Construction of a consistent and orchestrated framework of services, providing an end-to-end view capable of identifying issues and mitigating issues quickly.
Predictive and Contextual Anomaly Detection
Contextual exceptions in existing data and predicting anomalies based on the historical trends along with recommended solutions will enable users to act with confidence and speed.
Drill Downs at Every Level
Intuitive drill-downs at all levels in the network will enable users to instantly shift between overview and granular view of the dataset.
Advanced and Smarter Data Analysis
By using smart tables, the users will be able to customize and tailor the complex data sets to suit their analysis needs, gain clarity and maximise the data’s potential without having to jump between other data analytics tools.
Micro Real-Time
Insights
Relevant Actions at the Right Time
Automated Next Best Actions for Known Issues
Existing business rules combined with machine learning will activate automated best action to help each persona with process orchestration. For new business situations, the system will learn the recurring patterns and add to the list of rules to inform the future best actions.
Recommended Actions for Critical Decisions
Critical decisions that need human interventions will be notified to the users in the order of priority they need to be addressed in without overwhelming them thereby simplifying their everyday workflows.
High Fidelity Wireframes
Domains
1 / Enablement Platform Provider
Cloud services vendor and partner SaaS vendors that enable the solution. Includes the selection of services/SaaS partners to store, process, serve, and visualize data. For example, AWS/RedShift/Tableau or Azure/Synapse/PowerBI
2 / IoT Technology Provider
Vendor and installer of IoT devices to detect product cases across the supply chain and measurement devices across the supply chain. For example, RFID readers, barcode scanners, thermometers, cameras.
3 / Technology Implementation Provider
Service provider that will develop the solution that addresses use cases and requirements. For example, responsible for software development, data integration, and report development.
Future State of the EDSC
1. Near real-time status update on delivery ETA
2. Targeted notifications on any delays or changes to delivery timeline
3. Upon reaching the restaurant, pallets and/or cases can be rolled directly into the appropriate location
4. Restaurant crew sign-off can be limited to just visual inspection for physical damages to cases
5. Receipt of inventory will be automatically counted and validated using IoT
People are at the heart of these complex operations, making critical decisions and navigating these uncertainties every day.
