Introducing the AWS Well-Architected Supply Chain Lens: Accelerating Digital Supply Chain Transformation

We are excited to introduce the AWS Well-Architected Supply Chain Lens, a new addition to the AWS Well-Architected Framework. The Supply Chain Lens includes a whitepaper and a Lens JSON document now available in the Lens Catalog of the AWS Well-Architected Tool.

The AWS Well-Architected Framework provides a consistent approach for customers and partners to evaluate architectures and implement scalable designs. While the framework is available to all customers, Business Support subscribers unlock access to additional resources and expert guidance to maximize its benefits.

The Six Pillars of AWS Well-Architected

Operational excellence: focus on running and monitoring systems to deliver business value and continually improve processes and procedures.

Security: protect information, systems, and assets while delivering business value through risk assessments and mitigation strategies.

Reliability: ensure a workload performs its intended function correctly and consistently when it’s expected to.

Performance efficiency: use computing resources efficiently to meet system requirements and maintain that efficiency as demand changes and technologies evolve.

Cost optimization: run systems to deliver business value at the lowest price point.

Sustainability: minimize the environmental impacts of running cloud workloads.

The Supply Chain Lens extends the AWS Well-Architected Framework to provide targeted architectural guidance for customers building and operating supply chain workloads on AWS. Built on the six pillars, the Supply Chain Lens empowers organizations to measure and improve their architectures based on industry best practices.

What’s in the Supply Chain Lens?

The Supply Chain Lens provides architectural tools and practical strategies to help leaders and architects identify risks, improve resiliency, and unlock operational efficiencies across every node of the value chain, from procurement and manufacturing to distribution and delivery. Here’s what you’ll find:

1. Supply chain use cases and reference architectures

The Supply Chain Lens covers common use cases such as planning and operations, procurement automation, supply chain command center, warehouse automation and optimization, and transportation visibility and fleet tracking. Each scenario includes design considerations and reference architectures grounded in real-world implementations.

2. Cloud-native design principles tailored for supply chains

You’ll find guidance to implement cloud-native solutions that align with supply chain demands. Topics include
event-driven architectures, data lake integration, zero trust security models, and machine learning-based demand sensing. We also highlight Security by Design (SbD) principles to enforce compliance and governance across global operations.

3. Cost and sustainability optimization strategies

As supply chains evolve under pressure from market volatility and ESG commitments, the Supply Chain Lens helps you optimize your workloads for both cost and sustainability. It offers techniques to reduce compute overhead, align data storage with access patterns, and integrate sustainability KPIs into workload design.

4. Expertise from the field

The Supply Chain Lens was developed with direct input from AWS experts and leading enterprises operating global supply chains. It reflects years of experience supporting customers with digital supply chain transformations across industries such as retail, manufacturing, automotive, healthcare, and logistics.

Available in the Lens Catalog

The Supply Chain Lens is now available in the AWS Well-Architected Tool, enabling you to perform a Well-Architected Review for your supply chain workloads. The tool provides a risk report and improvement plan to help enhance performance, reduce costs, and strengthen operational resilience.

Who Should Use the Supply Chain Lens?

The Supply Chain Lens serves organizations across different stages of their digital transformation journey:

New to Supply Chain Management or Modernizing Legacy Systems: Organizations beginning their digital supply chain transformation or replacing legacy systems benefit from the Lens’s comprehensive guidance and proven architectural patterns. The framework provides step-by-step design considerations, implementation roadmaps, and risk mitigation strategies to accelerate time-to-value while avoiding common pitfalls. These customers gain confidence through prescriptive guidance that reduces complexity and uncertainty in their modernization efforts.

Mature and Experienced Supply Chain Operations: Organizations with established supply chain systems leverage the Lens to optimize performance, identify improvement opportunities, and adopt emerging technologies. The framework helps experienced teams benchmark their architectures against industry best practices, discover cost optimization opportunities, and implement advanced capabilities like AI/ML-driven demand sensing and real-time analytics to maintain competitive advantage.

Technical Decision-Makers benefit from the detailed architectural guidance, implementation procedures, and technical best practices. This includes:

• Supply Chain Architects who design scalable, secure solutions using AWS services
• Data Engineers and Scientists implementing forecasting and analytics solutions powered by AWS AI/ML
• Operations and Logistics Teams building real-time visibility dashboards and intelligent orchestration platforms
• Compliance and Risk Teams ensuring secure and auditable supply chain operations

Business Decision-Makers leverage the strategic planning insights, cost optimization strategies, and business value frameworks. This includes:

• Chief Supply Chain Officers (CSCOs) understanding how AWS architecture supports resilient and agile supply chains
• CIOs and CTOs aligning cloud investments with supply chain goals and innovation priorities
• Finance and Procurement Leaders evaluating cost-effective solutions and ROI optimization strategies

Conclusion

With the release of the AWS Well-Architected Supply Chain Lens, we encourage you to download the whitepaper, explore the Lens in the AWS Well-Architected Tool, and conduct a review of your supply chain workloads.

You can also check out the AWS Well-Architected Framework whitepaper for foundational guidance and visit the AWS Architecture Center for more reference architectures and best practices.
We welcome your feedback as we continue to evolve the Supply Chain Lens. Click “Provide Feedback” on the Lens introduction page to share your thoughts.

Special thanks to our AWS Solutions Architecture, Supply Chain, and Professional Services teams—as well as our customers—for their insights and contributions to the Supply Chain Lens.