Once digitization reined in every business process under the sun; it was more obvious than ever that the logistics industry was next. 94% of supply chain leaders have said that Digital Transformation will fundamentally alter Supply Chain Management. Businesses are taking one quantum leap after another in the assay to streamline processes, metamorphose services and business models and decrease the footprint of talent gaps by digitizing every aspect of operations and development, and so have we. Kuwait & Gulf Link Holding Company’s (KGL) travail to undergo large-scale digitization cuts costs and augments product availability, in turn, unravelling a glut of undiscovered markets and business opportunities.
Digitization is changing the milieu of end-to-end customer interactions and making headway with new technological developments one supply chain at a time. The following article takes the lead on the integration of the supply chain with pioneering technology and sustainable business practices. The most crucial feature of the Supply Chain 4.0 in KGL has been the evolution of conventional supply chains to a resilient, connected, smart, and streamlined supply chain ecosystem.
Advanced Robotics Are the New Power Stance
Supply chains, when non-mechanized, are monotonous and cumbersome. However, when backed by advanced robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI), supply chains evolve to become more consistent, smooth, progressive, and lucrative. Advanced robotics are programmed to replace human taskforces to perform tasks much more efficiently especially in scenarios where the tasks go beyond human safety levels and call for robots to take the bullets instead. A report says that only 4% of organizations are using AI in their supply chain.
AI is being implemented in KGL for the reduction of human intervention and workforce, automating monotonous warehousing and manufacturing tasks with RPA, corralling big data to execute SCM, and reducing worker time to optimise productive tasks that boost customer satisfaction.
Big Data for an improved Supplier Selection Process
According to research by Forbes Insights, 50% of respondents state that advancements in technologies are wielding a strong influence on the company’s logistics, supply chain and transportation operations. Big Data simplifies the supplier selection process to make sure we're working with the suitable suppliers. Big Data compilation is the centrepiece and a significant benefactor in the wealth delivered to supply chain through digitization. The entire process of selecting suppliers can be a lengthy one filled with glitches of passive relationships and indirect communication channels. Big Data eliminates this administrivia and paper shuffling, therefore making the selection process efficient.
"Digitally-Enabled" Supplier Enabled Innovation
It also accelerates innovation and collaboration, by generating grounds for articulating goals and values on the spot and regularly. KGL ensures good relationship management and believes that it will prevent the 'Silo-Effect', enhancing communication which will lead to collaboration and then innovation.
Sustainability: A Forthcoming Surmise
Digitization of the supply chain is a promising future, but is sustainability part of the nirvana? The typical consumer company’s supply chain creates far greater social and environmental costs than its own operations, accounting for more than 80% of greenhouse-gas emissions and over 90% of an impact on air, land, water, biodiversity, and geological resources. Companies can thus reduce those costs significantly by simply focusing on their supply chains. Supply chain sustainability has gained growing attention from organisations on a global scale. The ways that logistics is operating are wasteful and exploitative, guaranteeing doomsday not only for the environment but also for the businesses themselves. To combat the above, KGL as a green corporation is taking a stand.
• Collaborative shipping espouses the use of shipping and transport methods among organisations by pooling resources and transport facilities collectively. By gathering GPS data, this algorithm records the collection and drop-off points of shipping organisations with which it remains constantly conscious of the environmental position in line with shipping, transport methods and costs.
• Deep reinforcement learning is an underlying abstract of machine learning which constitutes training an algorithm for rational decision-making. This is done by delivering a series of positive feedback to the robot regarding its actions. Through positive reinforcement, the robot will be conditioned to contemplate its actions beforehand in order to repeat only those that are beneficial to our business.
References:
- Bowes, T. (2019, May 22). Top 10 Shocking Supply Chain Statistics. Retrieved from https://jigsawbusinessgroup.com/top-10-supply-statistics/
- Farkas, C. (2018, October 11). 15 top supply chain statistics — and the 5 related trends that will impact your business. Retrieved from https://ealchemylabs.com/blog/top-supply-chain-statistics
- Gigante, M. (2019, June 11). 30+ Impressive Supply Chain Statistics for 2019. Retrieved from https://learn.g2.com/supply-chain-statistics
- Titia Bové, A., Swartz, S. (2016, November). Starting at the source: Sustainability in supply chains. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability/our-insights/starting-at-the-source-sustainability-in-supply-chains
