Innovation is not a competitive advantage anymore; it is a necessity. With technological advancements and diversity of the tools available, whoever does not take advantage of this moment will be surpassed by their competitors.
Technological trends for supply chain
Because Madiff believes technology is the enabler for future innovation, here we will share 5 technological advancements for supply chain, that will shape the industry on the following years.
Artificial Intelligence
For all logistical operations, Artificial Intelligence may help in process automation, for example in demand forecasting, production planning or predictive maintenance. In addition to process acceleration thanks to automation, there is another win: important decision making happens faster, as humans will base their decision in AI generated insights.
AI for supply chain consists in technologies that imitate human performance and knowledge, as well as improve order delivery and service levels. By applying AI resources, companies can determine the best routes to accelerate delivery time or optimize restitution. Additionally, artificial intelligence will notify users of a potential flaw before it even occurs.
Advanced Analytics
When it comes to intralogistics management, the impact of an advanced analysis in operations is meaningful. More and more, companies have adopted tools that allow real time advanced analysis.
Data from Internet of Things (IoT), dynamic sales charts and climatic patterns allow the extrapolation of the current environment to understand the future and make profitable recommendations.
With the help of instant information, the distribution centre manager has more conditions to make rightful decisions for their business. In addition, access to real time data of their operations guarantee prior identification of flaws and their correction before further problems take place.
Internet of Things (IoT)
The adoption of IoT has grown exponentially in some specific areas of Supply chain, but it is rarely part of the complete process. Some industries are evaluating the commercial value of IoT’s expansion beyond the usage in operational technology. For example, logistic groups are using sensors to track actives and containers.
For international organizations, IoT could have a broad, deep impact on supply chain if used to achieve more availability and usage of actives, customer support qualification, better performance of end-to-end supply chain or better supply availability, operation visibility and reliability.
RPA (Robotic Process Automation)
RPA or process automation with the use of robots reduce costs, eliminates errors, accelerate processes and binds operations. RPA has proven to be quite effective for simple uses, specially when some agent in the supply chain does not have an API or other automatized data integration mode.
However, the potential to obtain a high return over investment (ROI) depends totally on the applicability of RPA for each specific organization.
Autonomous Devices
The rapid explosion of connection and smart devices has boosted this trend. Robots, drones and autonomous vehicles make new business scenarios come true and optimize existing ones. Robots working co-ordinately to create continuous processes and connected manufacturing installations, or drones that guarantee inventory quality by capturing images with a camera; these are some examples of these devices.
Business leaders in supply chain must access the use of autonomous devices as substitutes and complements to human work force. Labor reduction seem to be the most likely factors, but improvements in general results and productivity will be the primary value, whether the workforce is decreased or not.
Investing in technology is essential not only to optimize production but to remain competitive in this market. The secret to success is choosing a supplier that is constantly looking for innovative solutions. Talk to our consultants about how we can build the future of supply chain together!