HYPE VS. REALITY
S ome people say arti cial prosperity. Some fear it will wipe human life off the earth. Between those two extremes lie myriad claims about the bene ts AI can bring. While some of those claims are hype, this still-evolving technology offers a great deal of real value in the world today, including in the supply chain. Supply chain professionals are intelligence (AI) will produce an era of unprecedented approaching AI with caution. Just 25% of organizations are using new applications or insights from AI, nds a survey of 145 shippers conducted by Odyssey Logistics in 2024 ( see chart below ). When marketing rm RRD surveyed more than 300 supply chain decision- makers, it found that while AI is gaining interest, it’s attracting less investment than several other technologies, such as real-time visibility and the Internet of Things. Companies that have embraced AI, though, apply it to some of their most central supply chain functions, RRD says: 59% use it to support supply forecasting, 56% for visibility and tracking, and 56% to help optimize their operations. Among the supply chain solutions built on AI, many are designed to quickly extract insights from large, ever- changing databases. For instance, AutoScheduler.AI, a technology provider in Austin, Texas, offers an AI platform that synthesizes data from a warehouse management system, enterprise resource planning system, transportation management system, and/or other solutions to orchestrate warehouse operations. “We are continuously planning, dynamically prioritizing what needs to happen, nding where the bottlenecks will be, and what is the best way to run each facility to maximize throughput and minimize cost,” says Keith Moore, the company’s CEO. FROM SUGGESTION TO TRANSACTION
A skilled warehouse manager can achieve something similar, but experienced talent isn’t always available. Also, humans can’t respond to changing conditions as fast as a well-trained AI solution. “In some cases, every ve to 10 minutes the AI says, ‘The world has changed. Here is what to do now,’” Moore says. As AI attends to the details, it frees humans to manage staff and deal with exceptions. It also automates communications among various supply chain functions. “We can tell the transportation team what to communicate to their carriers around load readiness for every individual trip,” Moore says. “We can tell the manufacturing team how the warehouse will support them with raw materials, as well as the out ow of nished goods.” UP.Labs in Santa Monica, California, has worked with Porsche to launch a new company, called Sensigo, that applies AI to improve auto diagnostics and repairs. “We are able to bring together dealer and OEM [original equipment manufacturer] data to bring the most likely x to the service technician,” says Katelyn Foley, president of UP.Labs. Are you currently applying any new AI applications or insights in your organization? your organization?
Dell leverages AI technology from Aera Technology to optimize its supply chain processes and improve decision-making.
The AI also detects patterns that point to problems with certain auto components, which Porsche can use to provide feedback to vendors. As a “venture lab,” UP.Labs works with transportation companies to create startup rms to address those companies’ biggest challenges. These partnerships focus on technologies driven by AI and machine learning. Computer maker Dell uses AI decision support tools from Aera Technology of Mountain View, California, to enhance several supply chain processes. In 2023, Dell started using Aera’s solution to help manage nished goods in the United States, said Sasha Pailet Koff, Dell’s senior vice president, digital supply chain, speaking at the AeraHUB 2024 conference. These days, Dell often lets the technology not just make suggestions to humans, but also trigger transactions automatically. And Dell has applied Aera’s technology to more processes. “We’ve added a demand-sensing skill, and one that’s looking at aging inventory,” Koff said. Also, Dell uses Aera’s AI to help its supply chain organization and its commercial organization collaborate more closely. Nearly 9% of recommendations its commercial more from the AI result in transactions. “That represents roughly 30,000 of what we call truly signi cant decisions that theoretically would have been in the hands of human capital,” Koff said. from represents call theoretically hands automatically. Aera’s skill, inventory,”
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Source: Odyssey Logistics & Technology Corporation Source: Odyssey Logistics Odyssey Logistics & Technology Corporation Technology Corporation
104 Inbound Logistics • January 2025
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