Dr Imran Ali, Senior Lecturer of Logistics and Supply Chain Management at Huddersfield Business School, explores digital twin technology, which is driving sensor-enabled real-time data interaction and bringing the physical and digital worlds together.

When faced with processes whose consequences are extreme in breadth and depth, like the COVID-19 pandemic, it is no wonder that organisations - private and public, are left scrambling to catch up.

Disruptive technologies are a big challenge for all organisations. These technologies can turn industries, marketplaces and dominant business models upside down. The focus of this article is on digital transformation and how this will influence future business transactions, data management and how decisions are taken.

The need to embrace the digital transformation (DT) of supply chains remains critically important for companies, but as is the case in most areas of business, it is being shaped by the COVID-19 crisis.

COVID-19 will fundamentally change the manufacturing industry. Digitalisation will accelerate, business models change, and service-led growth intensify. While the effects on many firms are, and will be, severe, those who can seize the opportunities that digital servitization bring, will be better able to bounce back.

Samir Dani, Professor of Operations Management at Keele Business School, discusses the use of AI as a tool to solve supply chain challenges.

The adoption of Quality 4.0 helps organisations to automate and simplify traditionally time-consuming and error-prone business processes, resulting in superior product performance from operational, economic and environmental perspectives.

The professional discipline of Lean Six Sigma as a powerful Operational Excellence methodology has the potential to provide practitioners and academics with effective guidance to mitigate and manage COVID-19.

Guilherme F. Frederico, Associate Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at the Federal University of Paraná, Brazil, presents Supply Chain 4.0 as a Strategic Management System.

Professor Jiju Antony, Dr Michael Sony, Professor Vijaya Sunder M, and Professor Alex Douglas discuss the result of their global study on what qualifications and skills a modern-day quality professional should possess.

ManMohan Sodhi, Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at Cass Business School, discusses the possible benefits businesses seek from implementing blockchain, specifically for supply chain traceability, and the factors critical to the success of the implementation.

Jiju Antony, Professor of Quality Management and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt at Heriot-Watt University, proposes the key ingredients for effective implementation of Quality 4.0.

Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes, Professor of Operations Management and Head of the Centre for Supply Chain Improvement at the University of Derby, UK explores the future of Lean in a digital era.

John Robinson, Strategic Client Advisor Digital Supply Chain at SAP, analyses why most companies have not yet unlocked the full potential of industry 4.0.

John Robinson - Strategic Client Advisor, Digital Supply Chain at SAP explores how the adoption of Industry 4.0 for organisations is more than a strategic imperative, it is a necessity.

Brian Byrne, Futurist and professor at York Schulich International, explains how humans + machines can work better, together.

Jorge Calvo, Deputy Dean and Professor of Operations Strategy at Globis Business School describes the transformation that leaders must embrace in order to thrive in an era of digital disruption.

James Allen Regenor, founder and CEO of VeriTX, discusses the latest applications of blockchain to supply chain and manufacturing.

Dr. Samuel Roscoe, Senior Lecturer in Operations Management and research leader for the Supply Chain 4.0 Hub at the University of Sussex Business School, provides the latest industry applications of supply chain 4.0 .

Mischa Dohler, full Professor in Wireless Communications at King’s College London looks at the future of connectivity.