It can be tricky to pinpoint exactly the metaverse as the term is still under development, but some key features can be used to understand its benefits.
Ultimately, a metaverse is designed to seamlessly integrate virtual content with physical reality in an immersive experience and often involves communicating with other people through virtual or augmented reality (VR/AR) technology.
In addition, users are represented by customizable avatars, and the environment and the objects within it remain consistent throughout their interactions.
A metaverse also allows users to own, borrow, buy, sell, and trade, and this will only continue to evolve as technology does, allowing for an infinite number of metaverses.
While it may not seem like there are clear connections between the metaverse and the physical world, there are many ways it can be used to influence and shape the future of the supply chain.
On top of that, running a business in a metaverse environment will soon become commonplace, and leading the way now will save you a lot of hassle later.
According to Accenture’s Technology Vision 2022 report, 78% of supply chain executives plan to collaborate with others in the next three years, and 57% plan to invest in technology or startups.
Accenture’s survey also found that 64% of supply chain executives believe the metaverse will positively impact their businesses.
The biggest benefits the metaverse will bring to the supply chain include the following:
Significant changes in the way organizations balance supply
The immersive nature of the metaverse will promote a better understanding of the demand for an organization’s supply. It will interact more with customers and have greater visibility of them during the purchasing process.
This gives supply chains the means to replace instances of poorly forecasted demand with highly accurate data that can be used to create stronger customer experiences and generate new opportunities to delight customers and forms of customer value.
When it comes to sourcing, combining AR and VR with real-time, multi-source data can provide a more robust understanding of supply chain processes, facilities, and attributes such as inventory and capacity.
Moreover, through the metaverse, being in another room, building, or country doesn’t matter. It will make it easier for everyone involved in the supply chain to collaborate and make faster, stronger decisions.
Accurate data for planning and insights
As the metaverse fosters a more customized and automated world, people will gain the reins to more easily and richly dictate what they see, interact with, and experience.
As a result, organizations can also build and offer these experiences. And it all starts with products.
Physical products will evolve beyond their passive role in the supply chains,s where they are planned, produced, and shipped to actively influence how they are made, delivered, and enjoyed beyond their sale to a customer by learning, observing, and working autonomously.
The ability to efficiently solve complex supply chain challenges
Using the metaverse solves supply chain problems that previously consumed valuable time and resources or were even completely unsolvable.
Supply chains have traditionally been forced to use historical data that cannot be used for anything else because it is so specific to the environment and events that generated it.
This has led to problems during planning, forecasting, staffing, and many other important activities because the data used differs from the original context in which it was collected.
The metaverse will provide new levels of supply chain data as it will empower organizations to use synthetic data for modeling and scenario planning, making plans and forecasting more accurate.
Products evolve drastically
Unprecedented computing power is required to create a metaverse, and it is this power that will solve the biggest supply chain problems yet.
For example, supply chains usually approach inventory optimization or S&OP by breaking down the processes into smaller components, partly to reflect organizational structures and make it easier for a computer to deal with.
The computing power designed to create the metaverse will solve these problems without separating the processes, instead using a previously non-existent capacity to let companies remove the separation between planning and execution.
In addition, it allows users to see the entire supply chain from suppliers to end customers, consistently balancing supply and demand in real-time.
By overcoming the limitations of today’s computing power, supply chains can operate more cost-effectively, always meeting customer demands and enabling greater resiliency and sustainability.