Jamie Bennet
An Accenture study shows that defense supply chain resilience can significantly improve through the use of digital twins in the technological structure of defense agencies.
The report, which sought input from global defense supply chain experts, highlights four barriers to implementing digital twins for increased military readiness.
Digital twin technology has become a critical tool in addressing supply chain challenges in military operations. One of the main hindrances to its adoption is the misconception that virtual copies and simulations need little human intervention.
Accenture emphasized that senior agency leaders, and not IT divisions, should be at the helm of digital twin adoption and investment. They should be educated about the technology’s benefits to logistics, and use their acquired knowledge to forge strategic partnership with vendors, academia, and research institutions.
The study also found that defense logistics experts thought using DTs will require massive and complex data management. Accenture advised that they can use existing data to build DTs, and gradually incorporate new software such as analytics and business intelligence platforms to help them filter and prioritize data.
To prevent supply chain officials’ feared security and compliance violations, defense agencies should prioritize the adoption of cloud environments for DTs. They should also update their data sharing and security policies as well as their compliance accreditation standards.
Accenture recommended additional digitalization and information literacy criteria in defense agencies’ selection of suppliers. The company suggested information ownership and sharing agreements to provide armed forces with intellectual property protection, end-to-end visibility and competitive market positioning.
