{"id":564782,"date":"2023-01-04T06:15:37","date_gmt":"2023-01-04T14:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=wherenext&p=564782"},"modified":"2023-01-10T05:09:26","modified_gmt":"2023-01-10T13:09:26","slug":"cisco-service-supply-chain-digital-twin","status":"publish","type":"wherenext","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/cisco-service-supply-chain-digital-twin","title":{"rendered":"How Cisco Created a GIS-Based Digital Twin of Its Service Supply Chain"},"author":501,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[483712,21622,281,483722,1331],"department":[476792],"wherenext-category":[],"industry":[],"class_list":["post-564782","wherenext","type-wherenext","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-cisco","tag-digital-twin","tag-location-intelligence","tag-service-logistics","tag-supply-chain","department-cxo-priorities"],"acf":{"short_description":"Cisco honors customer commitments by consulting a digital twin of its service supply chain, powered by GIS technology.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Imagine a supply chain delivering parts and service to millions of customer sites in more than 130 countries\u2014often within two hours of a customer\u2019s request. That\u2019s a challenge we take seriously at Cisco, where every minute of downtime can cost our customers revenue."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Left","content":"Article summary:<\/strong> To deliver parts and service to millions of customers around the globe, tech heavyweight Cisco enlists automation, location intelligence, and continuous innovation.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"As a large IT company, Cisco knows how to be in many places at once and still provide service that feels personal. That gives Cisco an edge in the hypercompetitive market for networking and security technology.\r\n\r\nTo deliver fast and effective technical support, the company relies in part on a digital twin powered by geographic information system (GIS) technology. The location intelligence<\/a> we derive from this digital twin helps us manage a service supply chain of global complexity\u2014while maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction.\r\n

A Digital Twin for the Service Supply Chain <\/strong><\/h3>\r\nCisco\u2019s service supply chain repairs and replaces products ranging from servers in data centers and networking switches to video conferencing systems in offices and executive boardrooms.\r\n\r\nAt the heart of our service network are the global and local vendors who fulfill a wide range of service-level commitments for Cisco customers.\u00a0Collectively, these vendors manage more than 1,300 warehouses for spare part positioning and allow us to leverage a global field services force of thousands of engineers.\r\n\r\nTo ensure that the service supply chain runs efficiently, we created a digital twin called the Service Delivery Insights Platform (SDIP), a central nervous system connecting logistics, field services, planning, order management, and sales support. Fueled by a set of business rules and GIS-based location intelligence, the SDIP provides near-real-time awareness, allowing us to dispatch spare parts and technicians from the most appropriate warehouse and engineer base. This has improved spare-part inventory planning and field service team availability.\r\n\r\nWith GIS as its core, the SDIP acts as an intelligent mapping platform, displaying vendors\u2019 service capabilities and response areas. The SDIP also displays a digital twin of the road network, automatically calculates how far vendors can travel to deliver service in a region, and assesses shipping methods for spare-parts delivery.\r\n\r\nTo optimize service delivery, the SDIP matches the right talent and depot location to the customer\u2019s need by assessing engineers\u2019 technical skills and warehouse processing times. In doing so, it helps us meet service delivery deadlines and customer expectations.\r\n\r\nThis innovative system takes automation to a new level, enabling Cisco\u2019s service supply chain to adapt quickly to the realities of each customer and region."},{"acf_fc_layout":"quote","image":564762,"text":"For any business that relies on delivering services or parts to customers effectively, location intelligence is a must-have capability. ","author_name":"Warner de Gooijer, Cisco","author_profession_organization":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Investing in Location Intelligence Improves Outcomes <\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThe transformation of Cisco\u2019s service supply chain from a spreadsheet-based process to a near real-time digital twin represents an investment in reliable data, intelligent systems, and\u2014most of all\u2014our customers. The SDIP thrives on geographic data, and ensuring the precision of this data is an ongoing process of simplification. We recently transitioned from maintaining millions of destination addresses to only maintaining our dispatch locations, letting the system calculate the service coverage area for each. This has led to a near elimination of data maintenance, and has fueled many of our service improvements."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Left","content":"Future Considerations<\/strong>\r\n\r\nAs Cisco continues to evolve its service supply chain, the company plans to extend location intelligence capabilities in a number of areas, including:\r\n