It’s easy to think of technologies such as virtual reality, data analytics and autonomous mobile robots in the future tense. But that would be a mistake in 2018. Here’s where those and other NextGen technologies are already at work in the warehouse or knocking on the front door. Sometimes the NextGen Supply Chain is already
Drones are finding their niche in the supply chain, says Matt Yearling. It just might not be where you expected to find them. Five years is a lifetime in the world of technology, but maybe you remember how Jeff Bezos turned the supply chain world upside down in December 2013. That’s when he dropped a bombshell
In this time of digital transformation, Supply Management professionals must continue to improve and innovate Editor’s Note: Jim Baehr is Group Leader of Sourcing Strategies Group LLC Technology will be key to maintaining a competitive advantage in tomorrow’s supply chains states the SCMR promotion for its upcoming 2019 NextGen Supply Chain Conference. While this is undoubtedly true, Supply Chain
IBM is using Artificial Intelligence on the cloud to understand and interact with supply chain data. We spoke with Tom Ward, cognitive project leader at IBM. A 30-year IBM veteran, Ward appeared in the pages of Supply Management Review in early 2014 when he was leading global development and deployment of the company’s Integrated Supply Chain cloud computing strategy
The good news is that the use of AI/ML, driven by specific algorithms, can unlock the potential for companies to anticipate and shape future demand and predict the likelihood of future risks. Editor’s Note: Christopher G. Caine is President of the Center for Global Enterprise, a New York based nonprofit organization dedicated to the study of the
Autonomous supply chains will create a sea change in the way businesses operate Coming soon, supply chain management will experience a sea change in the way businesses will operate. We will see an era of hyper-connectivity where everyone in the ecosystem will exchange real-time information through connected devices. Information will be mostly de-materialized with every
It’s time to think of automation in the supply chain differently. Quite simply, the purpose of automation is expanding as new forms of automation evolve and transform how work gets done. To begin, the purpose of automation is changing. “The last twenty-five years was all about who could make things cheapest, and the next
Global supply chains are under pressure. In the long run, that could be a good thing. Supply chains are on the move. Literally. Consider four quite different companies that bet big on China years ago. Hasbro is moving some production to India and Vietnam. Harley Davidson is at least partially on its way to Thailand.
This month we spoke with Rosemary Coates about the impact of tariffs on NextGen supply chains. She is the executive director of the Reshoring Institute and president of Blue Silk Consulting. NextGen: Tariffs on Chinese and American goods are hotter than hot right now. What’s your view on the impact tariffs are already having and
We’ve all heard the buzzwords: Robotics, artificial intelligence, predictive and prescriptive analytics, blockchain and digital transformation. In fact, every day, we read about a new technology that is going to revolutionize the way business gets done and supply chains get managed. Based on the press accounts, it’s easy to think that every competitor in a given industry is
