Supply Chain Control Towers: Achieving End-to-End Visibility and Resilience Across Industries

In today’s volatile and interconnected world, supply chain resilience and agility are not just competitive advantages—they are business imperatives. Disruptions, from global pandemics to shifting consumer expectations, have exposed the limitations of traditional, siloed supply chain models. Organizations across retail, consumer packaged goods (CPG), and healthcare are seeking new ways to gain real-time, actionable visibility and predictive insights across their entire supply chain ecosystem. This is where Supply Chain Control Towers, powered by Publicis Sapient and IBM, are transforming the landscape.

A Supply Chain Control Tower is a digital command center that provides a 360-degree, real-time view of the entire supply chain—from suppliers and logistics to distribution centers, stores, and customers. More than just a dashboard, a modern control tower leverages advanced analytics, AI, and machine learning to deliver predictive insights, automate decision-making, and enable self-healing capabilities. The result: organizations can anticipate disruptions, optimize operations, and drive measurable business outcomes.

Recent years have underscored the need for supply chains to be both visible and predictable. Without timely, end-to-end visibility, organizations are left firefighting day-to-day issues, unable to anticipate or prevent disruptions. Control towers break down functional silos, providing:

• Real-time inventory and order visibility across all channels and nodes
• Predictive analytics to forecast demand, identify risks, and recommend actions
• Collaboration tools to connect stakeholders and accelerate resolution
• Self-healing capabilities that automate routine interventions and course corrections

Publicis Sapient and IBM have partnered to deliver a robust, scalable control tower solution that integrates seamlessly with your existing systems. Our architecture combines IBM’s Sterling Supply Chain Insights platform with Publicis Sapient’s accelerators and AI/ML tools, creating a unified data and intelligence layer across the ecosystem.

Solution Architecture Overview:

• Data Ingestion: Cloud storage and transactional systems feed historical and real-time data via IBM AppConnect and GraphQL APIs.
• AI/ML Engine: Data is processed by Sterling Supply Chain Insights and enhanced by Publicis Sapient’s AI/ML tools for prediction and optimization.
• Visualization & Action: Insights are delivered through intuitive dashboards and resolution rooms, enabling both high-level and granular operational views.
• Closed-Loop Feedback: Actions and outcomes are tracked, creating a learning system that continuously improves over time.

Our approach is grounded in the Publicis Sapient Algorithmic Supply Chain Framework, which guides organizations through three key stages:

1. Operational Excellence: Achieve unified, real-time visibility and remove silos with cloud-based planning and analytics.
2. Algorithmic Optimization: Use AI and machine learning to drive data-driven decisions, optimize inventory, and automate fulfillment.
3. Cognitive Supply Chain: Enable self-correcting, intelligent supply chains that predict and resolve issues with minimal human intervention.

This framework ensures organizations move from reactive, fragmented operations to proactive, intelligent, and resilient supply chains.

Our Supply Chain Control Tower solution delivers tangible business value across three dimensions:

1. Fulfillment Network

• Increased conversion and reduced lost sales
• Lower markdowns and fulfillment costs
• Improved inventory productivity and reduced appeasement costs

2. Returns

• Reduced returns and markdowns
• Lower returns processing costs
• Enhanced cross-sell and exchange opportunities

3. Customer

• Higher conversion rates and customer satisfaction
• Increased cross-sell/upsell
• Reduced returns and improved inventory productivity

• Retail: A leading British multinational retailer leveraged our returns optimization solution to identify likely returns with 80% accuracy, saving millions by avoiding unnecessary discounts and unprofitable customers.
• Consumer Packaged Goods: A major American CPG company gained real-time global inventory visibility across 4,000+ sites, enhancing e-commerce, improving customer service, and reducing store call volumes.
• Healthcare Manufacturing: A healthcare products manufacturer implemented a machine learning-based demand forecasting solution, improving forecast accuracy by 83% and saving millions in the first year.
• Latin American Retail: A top retailer used our control tower to gain visibility into fulfillment and reverse logistics costs, unlocking $145 million in estimated savings and immediate route optimization benefits.
• Luxury Retail: A Canadian luxury goods retailer improved order management and fulfillment options, achieving up to 48% fulfillment from stores and higher customer conversion through accurate delivery promises.

Our control tower solutions are proven across retail, CPG, healthcare, and beyond. Whether you’re seeking to optimize omnichannel fulfillment, reduce costs, or build resilience against future disruptions, our approach is tailored to your industry’s unique challenges and opportunities.

Wherever you are on your journey—whether building foundational visibility or advancing toward a self-correcting, cognitive supply chain—Publicis Sapient and IBM can help you take the next step. Use our benefit framework to assess your current state:

• Do you have real-time, end-to-end visibility?
• Are you leveraging predictive analytics and AI for decision-making?
• Is your supply chain capable of self-healing and automated interventions?

• End-to-end expertise: From strategy and design to implementation and ongoing optimization
• Data-driven and AI-powered: Real-time insights and predictive analytics at every level
• Platform-agnostic: Seamless integration with your existing technology stack
• Outcome-focused: Measurable improvements in service, cost, and agility

Discover how our Supply Chain Control Tower solutions can transform your operations into a resilient, value-generating engine for growth. Let’s start the conversation.

For more information or to connect with our experts, visit publicissapient.com.

Relevant Links

• Accelerating Omni-Channel Inventory Visibility with Publicis Sapient's IBM Sterling IV Accelerator
• Omnichannel Fulfillment Optimization for Retail & Apparel: From Inventory Visibility to Customer Experience
• Supply Chain Control Towers: Achieving End-to-End Visibility and Resilience Across Industries
• Industry Spotlight: Inventory Visibility and Optimization in Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) and Retail
• Visibilité et optimisation des stocks : un impératif pour la distribution européenne (Europe)
• Accelerating Omni-Channel Inventory Visibility with Publicis Sapient's IBM Sterling IV Accelerator
• Visibilidad y Optimización de Inventarios: Clave para la Rentabilidad Omnicanal en el Retail Latinoamericano (LATAM)
• Visibilidad y Optimización de Inventarios: Clave para la Rentabilidad y Resiliencia del Retail en América Latina (LATAM)
• Visibilidad y Optimización de Inventarios: Clave para la Rentabilidad Omnicanal en el Retail Latinoamericano (LATAM)
• Visibilité et Prévisibilité : Les Clés pour des Chaînes d’Approvisionnement Résilientes en Europe (Europe)