4 Supply Chain AI Considerations to Think About

While moving forward with the ever-consistent advancements in the realm of artificial intelligence and computer learning is only going to continue to help the global supply chain and the economy as a whole, many people are distrustful of the impact it may have.

In fact, so many people are seemingly shaken up by this idea that the term has become synonymous with robotic automation that threatens to replace human workers en masse and create some sort of upheaval between humans and machines. This idea comes from the fear of laborers who believe that this step toward more AI in the workplace could mean AI devises ways to more efficiently accomplish tasks normally assigned to a human operator thereby rendering the human worker much less beneficial.

We have indeed come a long way with things such as the rapid advancement of AI and robotic process automation, but we are also a long way from being replaced in the workforce.

What really needs to be emphasized, is the fact that technological innovation and AI is a long-term game, and typically helps society in many ways. It can at times be a double-edged sword in industry and really as a whole, but if it is applied and managed properly, it will continue to be massively beneficial and potentially create new jobs that didn't exist before the adoption of this tech.

We, humans, are essential to the success of our own businesses, and with AI technology we can reach our full potential by reducing mistakes, lowering injury risk, and improving efficiency.

Important Supply Chain AI Considerations for Businesses 

Businesses should take into consideration a few of these as they begin to expand their use of AI tech:

Maintain Flexibility as New Tech Becomes Available

It’s important to keep in mind that technology is constantly evolving. Companies should be ready to adjust with the times and have a system that is prepared for the constant improvements in AI. AI systems that allow for change and modification as either the tech grows or your business scales should be the primary focus when first getting started. 

Human and AI Integration

Since much of the discussion around AI is centered around fear of automation replacing humans in the workplace, it’s important to emphasize to all of the team members on your staff that they know how essential it is to keep up with modern standards in the industry and this means utilizing AI not as a tool to replace human jobs but rather as a tool to augment those jobs to help the humans tasked with doing those jobs, complete them in a more efficient way.

Integrate AI Into Scheduling and Processing

These parts of the supply chain can be easily automated and efficiently handled by supply chain AI framework. As a matter of fact, most of it already is handled by various software algorithms, with AI being just around the corner. Anytime you fire up your scheduling software, you are relying on a suite of digital tools to help you perform your task much more quickly than you could run through the process yourself. Furthermore, having your scheduling efforts backed up via smart algorithms, reduces the risk of mistakes being made.

This sort of tech is nothing new but it will continue to grow alongside the industry. Machine learning and artificial intelligence have not completely stepped into the realm of scheduling in any large way, but it will be the new standard in the next few years.

Utilize Supply Chain AI with Current Technology

Not all of your AI changes need to be brand new programs. In fact, much of the time you may be able to make small additions and changes using AI to further optimize your current programs and ensure you are getting the most value out of them. There is nothing worse than having overpowered suites of software and not being able to get them to speak to one another as you do with all of your other IoT devices.

Before you jump in and start revamping your warehouse, store, or overall supply chain processes with all-new supply chain AI tech, run through a list of all the systems you have in place currently and put together a game plan to get everything synced up properly. Doing this ahead of time will save you a lot of headaches in the long run.