重塑企业中心：通过人工智能、自动化和数据驱动的洞察力，将枢纽从运营中心转变为战略增长动力

Transforming hubs from operational centers tostrategic growth drivers through AI, automation,and data-driven insights The making ofan advancedintelligentsupply chain Call it a hub. Operations center. Centerof excellence. Or global businessservices. It goes by many names, butit has one goal: to unlock productivitygains and cost savings by simplifying,standardizing and centralizingprocesses across multiple markets orbusiness units. For years, enterprise organizationshave looked to hubs to streamlineadministrative and back-office tasks.While these first-gen capabilities offeredvaluable benefits, they remainedsomewhat siloed and fragmented intheir operation, with each hub providinglimited input into broader decision-making and organizational operations. Now, with the support of advancedtechnologies, including AI, generativeAI and agentic AI, as well as robust dataand analytics capabilities, hubs have thepotential to move beyond transactionalfunctions and take on a more strategicrole in the business. By identifyingchallenges in real-time, providingactionable insights, and executingproactive, data-driven actions, next-gen hubs are helping brands achieveoutcomes like never before. We call this new capability thehub ofthe future. Defining the hub of the future The hub of the future is a transformative concept and underlying ideology—not always aphysical entity. Unlike traditional hubs, which focus on bottom-line metrics,hubs of the future embrace advanced digital technologiesto influence both bottom-line metrics and top-line growththrough improved decision-making, enhanced agility, andinformed innovation. Next-gen hubs also have the abilityto integrate processes and data from different functions,including the supply chain, sales, marketing, finance andother supporting business units, driving seamless operations,data-driven decisions and business outcomes. processes across different geographies this virtual unit actsas both an accelerator and an amplifier, compounding thegains of their first-gen counterparts. For consumer brands, a hub of the future is one way tohelp manage the mounting pressure to reduce the cost ofgoods sold, improve margins, and differentiate in a hyper-competitive market. They enable rapid adaptation to marketvolatility, landscape dynamics, and shifting consumerbehaviors while also offering a vehicle for consistent, reliableexecution. A fully standardized hub of the future offers valuableopportunities for efficiency gains by enabling a “build once,deploy everywhere” approach. By centralizing through thehub, as opposed to individual markets, and standardizing If the mandate of a traditional hub was “Align, Unify andAdopt”, the motto of the future would be “Scale, Automateand Amplify.” Enabling the hub of the future:3 sequential pillars to activatean intelligent supply chain While hubs of the future leverage new practices and technologies to offer organizations moreadvanced capabilities, they build upon the foundation of their first-gen counterparts. At the coreof any hub are three sequential pillars: people, processes, and technology. For example, if a hub identifies a process improvementopportunity, whether through technology, redesign, orautomation, the system must enable swift action withoutbureaucratic processes. This applies to both captive hubs,which are those owned and operated by the brand, or apartner hub that is operated by a third-party on behalf ofthe brand. Regardless of the operating model, these hubsshould foster a culture of autonomy, where people feelempowered to make decisions based on insights providedby the hub. This approach ensures that companies maximizethe potential of their investment and create a foundation forcontinuous improvement. 1.People Traditionally, hubs have focused on back-office functions thatlack direct customer interaction. This might include ordermanagement, financial operations, expense approvals, orinvoice processing. While valuable, the modern landscape requires centralizationof more complex, value-driven processes. Advancedtechnologies, such as gen AI, are enabling this shift, allowingorganizations to automate many recurring tasks, even thosethat require advanced logic and reasoning. This evolutionenables hubs to address binary, back-office tasks as wellas more nuanced, intelligence-driven processes such asdemand planning, inventory management, and lead timeoptimization. 2.Processes The hub of the future draws much of its value from digitaltechnologies like gen AI and agentic AI. However, to makefull use of those technologies, organizations need to firststandardize processes so that they can be automated byintelligent solutions. The evolution of AI into agentic AI will only amplify the abilityof the hub to automate processes and decisions at scale. Itwill also enable digital components within the hub to managemore complex situations, autonomously, than ever before. Hubs of the future can serve as an effective way to unitecross-func