Literature review of Big Data technology applications to the Supply Chain

Digitizing the supply chain is a key step in order to gain a competitive advantage. To date, organizations are fully immersed in the information age, and for this they are forced to manage large amounts of data from both internal and external sources. In fact, technological advancements have increased and accelerated the spread of this phenomenon. For this reason, the complete digitization of the supply chain is increasingly considered a necessity rather than a mere desire to achieve a good level of competitiveness. The objective of this research thesis is to study the effects of applying digital technologies to the supply chain. In particular, the study focuses exclusively on one technology: Big Data. To achieve the objectives of the study, a literature review was conducted through a particular research method, called Snowballing. Articles that weren't rejected and were considered most interesting were later subjected to a critical analysis. The results show that the use of Big Data positively influences mainly three main activities, namely demand forecasting, customer relationship and procurement. However, in order to consider the application of Big Data as effective and efficient, it is necessary to provide integrated solutions. Nowadays, in fact, it is important to adopt solutions that can strengthen communication and interactive collaboration among the various supply chain players. Not surprisingly, data sharing raises the degree of supply chain transparency, facilitates the analysis of consumer preferences and consequently makes demand forecasting more accurate. Despite the great benefits experienced by supply chains, the use of Big Data is still not so widespread due to the need for high investment and structural changes.