You’ve seen how artificial intelligence is being applied to many facets of our everyday lives. The fact is, digital transformation is also well underway in supply chain management—and it is transforming the way companies do business.
Since I started at C.H. Robinson 27 years ago, digitalization of the supply chain has become more and more important. Automation, combined with GPS and other technologies, has increased cost efficiencies for companies and enabled greater visualization of data. Web technologies have grown more stable. All this allows for companies to share information beyond their four walls, creating a whole ecosystem of integration with their trading partners and to managing by exception.
How AI and IoT are being used in supply chains
Adrian Gonzalez and I sat down recently in a Talking Logistics episode to talk about how AI and IoT are being employed in supply chains now, and what companies can do to prepare for what’s next, Below you can listen to the key points we discussed.
3 ways AI and machine learning will help supply chain management
How supply chains are moving from being reactive to predictive
How AI and IoT will change our jobs and the skills that supply chain professionals will need in the future
The hurdles that prevent companies from taking advantage of digital transformation
How Prepared is Your Supply Chain for Digital Transformation?
Supply chain executives should ask these questions to assess how prepared their companies are to take advantage of digital transformation in supply chain management:
- Can you see exactly where your shipments are at any given moment?
- Can you see the details to know what’s on those shipments?
- Do you actively manage only the shipments that actually require your attention?
- Are you able to analyze your network for the total landed cost of each product—not just the transportation piece, but for the costs all the way from sourcing raw materials to the customer?
- Is all of the information about your supply chain in one place, and is it shared across your whole company?
If you answered no to these questions, you are behind the curve of digital transformation for supply chain management, and the opportunities other companies are taking advantage of already.