TAKEAWAYS
SMALL MANUFACTURERS, BIG AI REWARDS One common misconception is that only large businesses can take advantage of artificial intelligence initiatives. A recent whitepaper from The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, focusing on how AI can enhance supply chain resilience for small and mid-sized manufacturers (SMMs), helps to dispel that myth. 1. Data privacy preservation: Ensuring that AI implementation does not compromise sensitive information.
2. Secure data sharing:
Developing standardized methods for selective and secure data exchange among organizations.
The paper, Artificial Intelligence to Improve Supply Chain Resilience Throughout American Manufacturing, shares two case studies demonstrating straightforward, cost-effective AI solutions—including advanced sensing, blockchain, and machine learning tools—that SMMs can adapt to prevent supply chain disruptions. These solutions helped the two SMMs recognize the advantages of utilizing operational and product data to fuel AI models, leading to scalable solutions for common manufacturing challenges.
Underscoring the need for expanding public-private partnerships to accelerate AI adoption for supply chain resilience, the paper also highlights recent federal AI initiatives, including advancements from the Department of Commerce’s Supply Chain Center and AI standards developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The whitepaper also identifies two key challenges impeding AI adoption in manufacturing:
February 2025 • Inbound Logistics 15
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