Companies are quick to jump on the trend of digitizing their supply chain. Incorporating smart technology into your supply chain will provide you with greater transparency, efficiency, and resiliency, so there's no question why so many are implementing these smart solutions. But, while they can transform your operations, they can create some challenges as well. The data needed to drive these advanced real-time business processes are often spread across multiple siloed databases. Furthermore, many of their existing applications struggle to scale to address the increase in end-user demands for real-time engagement. To overcome these challenges, the supply chain industry is searching for a solution that can quickly and efficiently handle large volumes of data.
What Is It?
Fortunately, in-memory technology has entered the scene. In-memory computing works through the use of a middleware software that allows you to store data in RAM across a cluster of computers and process it in parallel. All information relevant to the supply chain planning process is stored “in memory.” Thanks to the low cost of RAM and the availability of open source solutions, in-memory computing has greatly advanced in recent years, allowing for enhanced data computing capabilities. This solution provides high-speed performance and scale of large volumes of data, enabling 
businesses to deliver immediate results and responses. For this reason, in-memory computing is ideal for implementation in transactional and analytical applications sharing the same data structure, which is particularly helpful in supply chain planning. This computing technology will be crucial in enabling data centers to accelerate the use of various new strategies for supporting real-time business processes and analytics. As we move into 2021, the demand for faster processing and analytics on big data is increasing, so in-memory technologies will only continue to grow in popularity and capacity.
Use Case
In-memory computing technologies are the key to maintaining a competitive advantage in supply chain planning. With enhanced data speed and computing efficiency, you will exceed today's demands for optimal customer experience and data processing. Companies making the transition to in-memory technologies are experiencing significantly improved operations compared to the traditional computing paradigm of moving data to a separate database, processing it, and saving it back to the data store. In the past, companies had to separate transactional databases from analytics databases, which often lead to bottlenecks and a much more time-consuming and strenuous data processing system.
One of the most significant benefits of in-memory computing is its high speed and scalability. Companies with this technology are seeing data processing and querying at more than 100 times faster than any other solutions, delivering optimal performance for every task. In addition to this revolutionary speed, the parallel processing feature offers a level of collaboration that could not be achieved prior. In allowing users to work simultaneously, the speed of processing is increased further. While speed is a tremendous competitive advantage, the real-time capabilities of in-memory are just as significant. In real-time data analysis, in-memory computing becomes a predictive tool for supply chain planning. This feature provides you with advanced real-time analytics and machine learning for instant insights.
While in-memory computing is largely beneficial in supply chain operations, the technology can be applied to other areas of business as well. Any department dealing with large volumes of data would benefit significantly from this solution, such as retail, financial services, transportation, and more. Automating data processing can be applied to nearly every aspect of business in any industry, and you can never have too much speed or efficiency. Now that you understand the concept behind in-memory technology and its benefits, we will discuss how flexis' in-memory solution, in particular, will take you one step further in optimizing your business.
Our Solutions
In-memory technology enables faster data access and rapid adaptation of data that undergoes frequent changes. Previously, all complex calculations run through traditional technology were tedious and computer-intensive. Now, these same calculations can be performed at significantly increased speeds. Users can run through various plans with near real-time view of all desired changes and their effects to ensure that decisions can be made as informed and accurately as possible. With flexis’ in-memory technology, you will see significant improvements in planning performance through features such as scenario validation and BOM explosions in real-time. This allows customers to make planning and SCM decisions faster than ever before, with more efficiency and flexibility – which are must-haves in the supply chain industry.
In order to achieve the benefits offered by in-memory technology, you need powerful technology in your possession. For many companies, this requires an expensive acquisition of equipment.Fortunately, flexis has that part covered. The flexis in-memory solution uses working memory to store data efficiently, enabling the required speed in data access and structure changes. This means a reliable basis for agile planning across departmental boundaries, allowing for a seamless joint decision-making process. Fast data access combined with the ability to make data changes in real-time is the recipe for optimizing your current and future planning processes.
For even more accessibility, the flexis in-memory offers a compact and mobile tool that meets all requirements for changes to data and data structures within operations. This solution is defined by its ability to continuously update data and calculate accurate results. Even better, the data push is performed by the system and does not require explicit human execution. The server sends information to all clients affected by data changes automatically. This is highly beneficial in getting data deployed instantly and without human error. Furthermore, users can keep track of changes at any time, which is especially important when several users act simultaneously in a shared system, and any action could affect other users' decisions.
Faster, Smarter, Better Data
There is a reason why in-memory technology is a buzzword in organizations today – it is the key to making well-founded business decisions. With all of the features that have been mentioned, it is clear that this technology has the ability to optimize your supply chain operations. It is well known that a successful supply chain drives visibility and efficiency, and in-memory technology will provide that – in addition to speed and real-time data. With flexis' solution, you will easily enhance how you process data across several platforms, equipping you with the tools to make better decisions for your business. Smarter decisions translate into smarter business, and in a world where smart technology is everywhere, the solution is clear.
Click below to download our guide to transformation of the manufacturing process.
