ao link
Business Reporter
Business Reporter
Business Reporter
Search Business Report
My Account
Remember Login
My Account
Remember Login

SupplyChainTalk: Are your supply chains ready for AI?

Linked InTwitterFacebook
close

On 21 June 2023, Supply Chain Talk host Alastair Charatan was joined by Pranav Bhardwaj, Senior Manager- Management Consulting (AI, Strategy, Supply Chain), Deloitte; Jose Saiz de Omeñaca Monzón, Expert - Procurement / Supply Chain / Sustainability / E-commerce /AI United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Freelance; Emmanuel Langlois, Vice President Global Alliances and Partners, Generix Group; Jonathan Cyr, Delivery Program Manager, Generix Group.

Views on news


The benefits of AI in supply chain management include increased operational efficiency, cost saving, more accurate demand forecasting and inventory management. AI is of great use in cleaning and connecting data. But AI-driven forecasting has its challenges too. When predicting what new products should be like, there is no available data for machine learning models, so they have to make predictions based on older and similar products.

 

Efficient inventory management istands at the heart of well-functioning supply chains, and, with the help of AI, stock optimisation can be done in a more streamlined manner. Based on historic data of decisions and measures taken by humans, machine learning can then make good decisions by itself. However, to avoid overstocking and other anomalies, data must be fairly accurate.

 

In warehouse management, AI and autonomous robots working alongside humans are bound to be game changers. Fear of robots replacing humans is unfounded, as currently, warehouses are struggling with labour shortages, and new, higher-skilled jobs will also be created for those who are managing these robots. 

 

Handling perishables and recyclables in the supply chain

 


A company has invested in AI to automate order entry that they received in different formats. They use AI to improve, reconcile and validate incoming data, so by the time it enters the ERP system, it’s clean. As a result, in a couple of years the same job that’s done today by 22 people can be done by 2 as ML models improve. What businesses might find a challenge is finding the right data analysts and experts to do the job. Bridging the gap between skills shortages and redundancies is key to success.

 

Although the data economy is a relatively new phenomenon, there are available experts to do these jobs. The job title and skills of a web designer were scarce in the 1990s when the web started, and now they are part and parcel of the digital economy. The supply of data analysts will show a similar curve. We also depend on AI for crunching the huge amount of data that we capture. Data and analytics will be instrumental to compliance with emissions reporting too, as well as fraud detection.

 

AI can detect fraud and fake provenance data by analysing the products’ microscopic structure with image scanning tools, while the blockchain can crosscheck whether the country of origin matches with the transportation system through which the product entered the supply chain. Applying AI to unstructured data such as social media feeds to gauge emerging trends and harness them can give businesses competitive advantage,  especially in industries such as fashion. On the other hand, conversational robots with real time data fed into them can tell where trucks currently are or take and cancel orders. 


The panel’s advice


AI will not only change job titles, but also workflows and processes. 

 

JDS Software/Blue Yonder, a company that Branav worked for, as well as its off-shoots are market leaders in supply chain software. Deloitte also develops custom supply chain AI software.


Developers of bespoke software allow you to take the ownership of that software going forward and the ability to change the software if and when required. 

 

AI is not a project but a journey and a mindset, where you always assess what resources you need and whether you can supply them inside the business or source it from outside. 

 

 

 

Linked InTwitterFacebook
Business Reporter

Winston House, 3rd Floor, Units 306-309, 2-4 Dollis Park, London, N3 1HF

23-29 Hendon Lane, London, N3 1RT

020 8349 4363

© 2024, Lyonsdown Limited. Business Reporter® is a registered trademark of Lyonsdown Ltd. VAT registration number: 830519543