siliconindia | | July 20199ing AI based technologies like RPA, RFID, Internet of Things (IoT) gives organizations access to structured data which supply chain should be able to utilize in making strategic de-cisions to ensure continuous process improvements. These technologies will also assist in improving demand forecasting accuracy, resulting in lower inventory investment, improved operations and optimized routes.Today's businesses need technologies like Predictive Analytics, which will assist supply chain to plan their op-erations resourcefully. In this era, it's of utmost importance for organizations to be proactive than reactive, making them more reliable.You may see a lot of investments raking in autonomous vehicle companies, and this will have major impact in shap-ing the future of supply chain. However, fully autonomous vehicles being utilized in supply chain is still some years away due to various challenges like weather and visibility condition, road infrastructure, challenges around navigating streets/pedestrians and the ability to communicate with traffic signals. We see that a lot of inefficiencies are caused due to roads planning and intersecting highways, that result in less distance covered by trucks. This significantly impacts effi-ciency of trucks which currently stands less than 50 percent compared to developed world.Indian market for warehouse (WH) is growing and has good growth potential for automation. We've already seen autonomous warehouse robots and indoor drones being test-ed in select e-Commerce giants. Automation within the WH includes picking, packing and an advanced sorting system which reduces dependency on labor, managing high volumes and fulfilling deliveries faster.There are a host of other AI technologies making impact in supply chain globally like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) which are helping supply chain executives make informed decisions, that is assisting them to see the future automation processes before they're implemented. It will be unfair if Blockchain isn't mentioned here, which is already making waves. World Economic Forum report predicted that by 2025, 10 percent of GDP will be stored on Blockchain or Blockchain-related technologies. Globally big businesses are already conducting trial of these technologies in supply chain.While options are plenty in AI, it is important to under-stand how we implement the right technology based on its ability to solve existing business problems and predict future challenges. Supply chain companies including 3PL need to evaluate best fit technology considering ROI and problems on hand. Consumers are expecting quality products, lower cost and faster delivery with complete traceability. Consum-ers should be updated real-time from the starting process till completion of transaction including reverse logistics, if appli-cable. 3PL plays an important role in supply chain manage-ment and this together with AI helps to increase the speed of implementing and reduce prevailing inefficiencies in this sec-tor. This collaboration would not be too expensive or cumber-some, especially with the wide-spread usage of smartphones and 4G.With the transformation that we are seeing in supply chain, we'll need right talent to assess, test and implement AI successfully. There's immediate need to relook at the existing curriculums to ensure that they are relevant to this fast-chang-ing environment. To explore the massive talent pool in India, supply chain companies will require to partner with educa-tional institutes to have dedicated curriculum together with experienced faculty to increase employable talent base.As automation absorption increases, logistics costs are expected to fall by 30 percent. We may want to believe that most of the surplus will move to consumers, in the form of lower prices. With keenness from businesses and com-mitment from the Government of India (National Logis-tics Policy), our supply chain operation is about to reach standards that haven't been witnessed yet and it'll be here sooner than you think. Amin Mevawala
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