Last week, I started my review and comment on the Annual Report from MHI and partner Deloitte, which is usually pretty good. (See It’s All about Supply Chain Orchestration, MHI Report for 2025 Says.)
The report’s theme is supply chain orchestration, and it even discusses an “orchestration imperative,” which begs the question: What is supply chain orchestration anyway?
The report goes at it a couple of different ways, including this: “End-to-end supply chain orchestration seamlessly connects every stage of the supply chain,” but I wasn’t completely satisfied with the report’s attempts at defining orchestration.
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There are two main types of orchestration, the higher type at a supply chain level, as defined by Gartner and Deloitte at the beginning of this report, and then micro-orchestration of order fulfillment activities on the DC floor.
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Then in preparing for part 2 of my review this week, it hit me: we’ve been here before. For a number of years, and maybe still, though much less promoted it seems to me, the analysts at Gartner also embraced orchestration as the pinnacle of supply chain excellence, with a supply chain maturity model that topped out at “Ecosystem Orchestrator.”
And somewhere along the way, it defined supply chain orchestration as follows: the integration and synchronization of all supply chain activities, from planning to execution, enabling businesses to improve visibility, agility, and responsiveness to changing conditions.
I suspect I am the only one who thought to connect the MHI/Deloitte and Gartner focuses on synchronization.
Moving back to the MHI report, as fitting the report’s sponsor Deloitte spends quite a bit of time on warehousing and distribution topics, including a mini-case study. It cited one sport apparel retailer who implemented both an automated goods-to-person order picking system and a warehouse execution system (WES) at a new facility. The automated picking system improved picking efficiency by decreasing the amount of time workers spent walking, and by improving order accuracy.
The company also applied automation to other operational areas, including automated box cutting, customized packaging, extended conveyors, and autobagging equipment.
This automation enabled a 25% increase in outbound load density thanks to right-sized boxes that decreased empty space. To implement its new automation technology, the company needed an interface between the automated systems, human operators, and that’s where the WES came into play.
The new system also reduced order fulfillment lead times from 8 days down to 2 days and increased picking rates. If only such improvements were consistently achieved, I will comment.
I will also note here that there are two main types of orchestration, the higher type at a supply chain level, as defined by Gartner and Deloitte at the beginning of this report, and then micro-orchestration of order fulfillment activities on the DC floor.
You can have either one without the other.
The report includes a large number of charts based on survey data. That includes the one below, which shows what strategies companies are taking to improve their performance. That list is topped by digital transformation and then talent management. (Note again as last week the fuzziness is in the original graphic.):
Source: MHI Report
In the report’s conclusion, Deloitte notes that “as AI technologies improve, seamless E2E orchestration could become a reality for leading supply chains. Given AI’s current capabilities and promising trajectory, it’s easy to imagine a not-too-distant future when AI agents can autonomously handle core E2E processes—from demand forecasting to carrier management—with humans only intervening to tackle critical exceptions or high-touch processes.”
For better or worse, that is almost certainly true.
The full report is available at the MHI.org web site.
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