Supply Chain transformation is a key issue for many companies. The procurement process plays a critical role in the customer experience, cost control, and corporate agility with respect to market opportunities.
Companies seek speed, reliability, and traceability while taking their cost, lead-time, and inventory optimization requirements into account.
Supply chain managers therefore work hard to monitor the situation and avoid incidents and other factors that could interrupt the procurement process, from the most common incidents such as storms, late deliveries, and quality issues, to major incidents such as political turmoil, natural disasters, and suppliers’ financial instability.
It’s a challenging mission! Particularly when dealing with an international supply chain that involves a vast network of suppliers and distributors.
84% of surveyed supply chain managers explain that the lack of visibility regarding their supply chain is their main preoccupation.
Artificial intelligence transforming the supply chain: 3 key issues
In this article, we take a look at three key issues in the supply chain, and how using artificial intelligence helps companies optimize processes and achieve higher performance.
Artificial intelligence, a competitive advantage
Artificial intelligence is a highly promising technology for supply chain optimization. Artificial intelligence makes it possible to process and correlate high volumes of data, make it easier to understand that data, and anticipate the impact of external events.
By improving all the processes involved in supply chain management, artificial intelligence provides better visibility throughout the logistics chain, facilitates decision-making, and brings greater agility.
Taking action faster, with better control over incidents
Artificial intelligence enables the implementation of predictive approaches that can evaluate scenarios quickly and effectively minimize risks and disruptive events that may arise at any point along the logistics chain. Crisis situations can be handled faster, with handling reduced from several days to just a few minutes.
With AI, supply chain managers can work faster, identify key information, and achieve the visibility they need over the entire logistics chain in order to react quickly if an incident occurs, regardless of the incident type.
Using artificial intelligence makes it possible to analyze the operational and financial consequences of potential events. This powerful technology can correlate all relevant information about a client or supplier to rapidly obtain a 360° impact analysis. This enables supply chain managers to leverage a complete impact report and align their actions with business stakes and client expectations.
Knowledge and business experience
Artificial intelligence and machine learning offer business solutions specially designed for the supply chain. Supply chain management solutions integrate a repository of best business practices, perfecting their “knowledge” over time by learning how logistics problems are solved.
The solution therefore improves continually, making it possible to react to various events faster, with greater precision, and more efficiently when they arise.
Benefits of a well-designed supply chain
From accurate event analysis to operational cost reduction, AI enables companies to implement a smart supply chain that is more agile and more client centric.
Integrating artificial intelligence into business solutions brings greater understanding of internal and external events that can impact the supply chain.
By making it easier to steer, manage, and optimize the supply chain, artificial intelligence helps reallocate resources more effectively and improve the company’s overall performance.
