Birmingham, Alabama (December 5, 2018)—Command Alkon, provider of integrated supply chain technology solutions for the heavy building materials (HBM) industry, and Adelante SCM, a peer-to-peer learning and research community for supply chain professionals, have released findings from a recent study exploring the benefits of digital transformation and why this initiative is imperative for the HBM industry. 

The research provides insights into the challenges associated with transforming to the digital age, strategies for successful process changes, and recommendations for companies in the HBM domain who want to move up the digital transformation maturity curve.

“The HBM industry has unique challenges for contractors, departments of transportation, haulers and material suppliers, with added complexities ranging from new tariffs on building materials to higher customer expectations and increased regulations and compliance,” said Craig Tate, chief revenue officer at Command Alkon. “Paper-based processes can slow the job cycle, leading to missed deliveries and untimely payments. We are in an age where processes involving ordering, delivery and payment of materials need to be automated to drive efficiencies and provide visibility to all stakeholders.”

Considering that the HBM industry is currently at the low end of the maturity curve when it comes to the digital transformation, the study covers five principles that stakeholders should follow to establish a strong foundation in the journey to digitalization:

  • Eliminate waste from the value chain
  • Break down the silos between functional groups and IT systems
  • Integrate electronically with all trading partners
  • Treat data as an asset
  • Leverage network-based business intelligence, optimization and analytics tools to convert data into actionable intelligence

"Virtually all industries today are undergoing digital transformation, and the opportunity for cost savings, productivity, and customer service improvements are arguably greatest in the Heavy Building Materials industry when you consider all the manual and paper-based processing that’s taking place in the industry today,” said Adrian Gonzalez, President of Adelante SCM. “It’s important for trading partners to integrate electronically to provide a shared, common platform to digitally capture information that can be analyzed for what is happening to make continual improvements across the HBM supply chain.”

For more information and the complete white paper, visit mastery.commandalkon.com.