As we transition further into the age of Industry 4.0 and enterprises across the globe utilise the power of data analytics, optimising supply chains can feel simultaneously attainable and still entirely inaccessible. After all, how do you collate and organise performance data from fleet to fleet?
By nature, supply chains are inherently decentralised, scattered across different fleets, shipping facilities, and warehouses. So it stands to reason that the key to smart supply chain management is developing autonomous logistics systems that creates an operational workflow and connects all the individual components of your supply chain together. And that’s where AI comes into the picture.
Today, our solutions specialists here at Rayven will be breaking down how AI is used in supply chain tracking. We’ll be sharing how AI and machine learning capabilities like generative AI can aid in data interpretation and improved decision-making for supply chain managers – and we’ll also be covering all the potential pitfalls or obstacles that you may come across when looking to integrate AI tools into your supply chain operations. Let us help you prepare for the impending digital transformation of your organisation’s own supply chain.
Key Areas for AI Integration in Supply Chain Management
If you’re wondering how AI can be used in your supply chain, then let’s begin by outlining the key operations where our AI solutions at Rayven are currently being utilised to improve operational efficiency.
Data Interpretation for Improved Decision-Making
The overarching benefit that AI technology brings to supply chain management is the ability to make faster, better-informed decisions surrounding the continuing development and optimisation of your supply chain. The ability to communicate with generative AI technologies like LLMs (large language models) that are continuously trained on your company’s real-time data, allows supply chain managers to ask hyperspecific questions that are relevant to their operations.
Early adoption is vital to ensuring your company can benefit to the fullest extent from generative AI-powered real-time data collection and analytics tools. As these generative AI tools are trained on your company’s unique data sets, maintaining a robust record of historical data can help ensure your generative AI tool becomes more sophisticated earlier on. Staying ahead of the curve regarding generative AI data insights can help ensure your enterprise stays a fierce competitor in both local and global markets.
Demand Forecasting to Reduce Overstock & Stockouts
Ideally, there’s no limit to the questions you’ll be able to ask of your supply chain tracker’s generative AI interface. From your delivery times to your fuel consumption rates, any area that you’ve been able to gather performance data on is an area that you can optimise with the support of your AI tools.
And even if you don’t have the right performance data, your AI solution can still utilise predictive analytics capabilities to project or forecast trends within a margin of error – including when your enterprise can expect high product demand, so you can ensure you have an adequate supply on-hand to maximise profits. This can be done in a few key ways, including analysing historical data year-on-year and considering retail sales periods to accurately identify high-demand periods.
And just as AI supply chain tools can aid in forecasting demand to reduce stockouts, these solutions can also aid in reducing risks of overstock. Avoiding both of these supply risks can help your enterprise better optimise its budget, both within and outside of your supply chain operations.
Inventory Management for Warehousing Optimisation
Cutting down on inventory carrying costs is an evergreen concern for both B2B and B2C business owners. For organisations that don’t rely on third-party logistics services and instead manage their own warehousing spaces, utilising AI tools can aid in not only tracking stock units by the use of RFID scanners, but also monitoring and optimising inventory levels to effectively reduce carrying costs over the long term.
Effectively, these AI-enabled advancements in inventory management can provide both economic and environmental benefits, reducing carrying costs and eliminating the environmental impacts of overstocking (i.e. stock waste, facility energy consumption, etc.).
Risk Management to Improve Safety
The real-time interactive dashboard of our AI supply chain tracking software allows site managers to both track inventory levels internally as well as fleet activities. With IoT wearable technologies, our AI supply chain solutions can take real-time asset management and site monitoring one step further: by also supporting improvements to site safety.
In other words, smart supply chains allow for the customisation of your own safety control solution for your warehouses, fleet yards, and the other facilities that comprise your supply chain. By being able to keep track of on-site worker and driver movements in relation to machinery/vehicle movement and risk detection, your AI supply chain tracking tools can support your facilities and wider supply chain operations in maintaining compliance with industry safety standards as well.
Autonomous Planning & Logistics
On top of supporting risk management processes, the task of risk identification can also feasibly be conducted autonomously with AI supply chain management software. This potential for autonomous logistics planning was recognised by our engineers and designers at Rayven, which is why our AI supply chain tracking solutions also allow for easy route optimisation, real-time traffic monitoring, and autonomous machinery/vehicle support.
Intelligent diagnostics capabilities also play a prominent role in logistics planning. For instance, establishing predictive maintenance regimes on key assets like machinery and fleet vehicles can aid in reducing machine downtime or breakdown risks, allowing you to maintain production quotas whilst freeing up human resources. By reducing the need for site workers to manually attend to machine or vehicle maintenance, predictive maintenance capabilities can also support site and worker safety.
Customer Service Management
Supply chain management for consumer products (or even B2B products) typically requires a substantial investment in customer service infrastructure. With the transition towards smart supply chains and digital transformation technologies, however, supply chain managers now have the potential to not only automate their customer service channels and processes by the use of chatbots, but also to utilise predictive analytics to reduce risks of customer dissatisfaction in the future.
Supplier Relationship Management
As supply chains operate on a linear workflow, you can programme your AI supply chain tracking tool by using our integrated Workflow Builder to trigger follow-up tasks upon confirmation of stock orders being received, or even of stock being depleted, or other measurable events. If you’ve identified that you schedule repeat orders with some suppliers, your supply chain tracking software can automate the placement and even the payment of supplier orders.
By ensuring that supplier communications are maintained and payments are made promptly, our AI supply chain management software can effectively streamline supplier relationship management, ensuring you spend less time in your email inbox and more time focusing on big picture development for your business.
ESG Performance Monitoring
And speaking of ‘big picture development’, managers and business owners who are looking to swap out their traditional bottom line approach for a triple bottom line approach will find that Industry 4.0 supply chain management tools like Rayven can aid here as well. By using connected IoT technologies like sensors, air quality monitors, and weather stations, your AI supply chain tools can provide real-time ESG insights that allow for effective environmental performance monitoring.
At Rayven, we’ve leveraged these environmental monitoring technologies to design tailored solutions like our smart ventilation solutions and carbon accounting features, making it easier than ever for you to calculate your company’s carbon footprint within a precise margin of error.
How AI Creates Smart Supply Chains: Top Case Studies
Want to see how our AI can be used in supply chain optimisation in real-world scenarios? Here are just some of the case studies we’ve recorded following the implementation and tailored development of our AI supply chain tracking solutions in supply chains across Australia.
Cold Storage Monitoring for Perishable Goods
For cold chain fleets, environmental monitoring is a must, as optimal storage conditions must be maintained at all times. This is primarily because a breakdown in cooling units for refrigerated vans and trucks has the potential to result in upwards of thousands of dollars’ worth of product waste – all of which you may be responsible for as the supply chain manager.
Thankfully, with Rayven’s cold storage monitoring solution, cold chain fleets across Australia have been able to monitor storage temperatures, humidity levels, and even asset energy consumption, ensuring optimal environmental performance and ideal transport and storage conditions for foods, beverages, pharmaceuticals, and other perishable goods. These cold storage monitoring systems are now widely used by supermarkets and wholesale food, beverage, and pharmaceutical traders to transport perishable goods from coast to coast.
Yellow Goods Management for Machinery/Vehicle Rental Providers
One of our more unique case studies included developing a bespoke yellow goods management solution for a materials supplier and vehicle rental provider. The supplier in question came to us seeking to improve control over the location and utilisation of their assets, and ensure customers are staying compliant with the terms outlined in their rental contracts.
The solution utilised real-time CANBus, OBD-II, and GPS data sets and vehicle performance data (i.e. accelerometer readings) to not only monitor assets, but also detect asset misuse and alert rental customers via SMS or email if vehicle behaviour was recorded as being non-compliant with rental contracts. In reinforcing customer accountability, our client was able to better safeguard their construction vehicles and other rented assets.
Dynamic Fleet Monitoring for Suppliers
For fleet yards, monitoring vehicles when they’re out for deliveries or on routes has been a constant pain point for supply chain managers. Traditionally, fleet performance was recorded by filling out fleet log books upon the vehicle’s arrival to or departure from managed facilities.
Today, Rayven’s fleet monitoring solutions provide a far more elegant and effortless approach to fleet management, allowing supply chain managers to see at a glance:
- which vehicles are out on the road,
- which vehicles are undergoing repairs,
- vehicle condition data like coolant temperatures, brake and clutch usage,
- trip durations,
- and even fuel consumption trends across both individual vehicles as well as holistic data recorded across all assets in your fleet yard.
AI-powered smart supply chains also provide the opportunity to monitor vehicle loads and how cargo weight or cargo storage may affect fleet performance. This particular feature paved the way for the development of i4 Mining’s EYEMine sustainable solution for the mining sector, a tool that’s able to determine load efficiencies in relation to load volume, material density, placement of loads on truck/vehicle beds, and other variables. For raw materials suppliers, these AI-powered load monitoring capabilities can be equally valuable when it comes to fleet management and performance optimisation.
Port & Terminal Logistics
For shipping facilities like ports and terminals, the development of smart supply chains provides facility managers with the ability to monitor on-site machinery, ships, infrastructure, and staff as well as environmental conditions (i.e. tides, weather forecasts, humidity, etc.), to improve storage conditions for cargo.
Like our AI supply chain tracking solutions, our real-time monitoring solutions for ports and terminals combine asset management capabilities with site monitoring features. This allows supply chain managers the ability to oversee performance both on-site and off-site, optimising vehicle and machinery use as well as internal storage and staff considerations.
Challenges & Solutions to AI Implementation in Supply Chain Management
Having partnered with supply chain managers operating across a range of industries, our developers and design teams here at Rayven are well-versed in addressing perceived obstacles to the implementation of our AI supply chain tracking solutions. Here are just some of the more commonly observed barriers to AI implementation in supply chain management, and how these obstacles can be surpassed with some tailored digital transformation planning and mindful tech integration.
The Challenge: Ensuring adequate time and human resources in interpreting real-time data sets
The primary perceived obstacle that many supply chain managers face is simply ensuring that they can see a prompt return on their investment. As the main benefit of AI-powered industrial solutions is the ability to harvest more dynamic, whole-systems data sets, it’s natural for supply chain managers to seek confirmation that understanding and utilising these data insights won’t require additional time or cost investments.
The Solution: Use generative AI to make data interpretation effortless ad intuitive
Rayven’s AI supply chain tracking solutions utilise generative AI capabilities to streamline the process of data interpretation and presentation. By harnessing the power of generative AI, supply chain managers and their personnel can attain all the data insights they need without even needing to pore through the figures themselves. Simply ask your AI tool through its integrated generative AI platform to secure answers to a dynamic range of questions, like:
- Which vehicle had the longest delivery routes last week?
- What products maintained the lowest profit margins over the last quarter?
- How many machine breakdowns did we record over last week?
- What’s our average spend with supplier ‘X’?
By making data more accessible to supply chain managers and their staff, our generative AI capabilities can not only provide a prompt return on your investment by facilitating rapid data-driven decision-making; they can also empower your team to take full control over your enterprise’s development initiatives.
The Challenge: Supply chains are naturally segmented, so tracking solutions cannot be holistic
As far as monitoring business performance goes, overseeing supply chains manually can be a bit of a headache. As all supply chains of any scope or scale are innately composed of at least two different parties exchanging resources, there’s naturally a lot to consider when optimising these operations. There’s also only so much control that you can have as a supply chain manager, as variables like delays or carbon emissions generated by your supply partners can affect the quality of your own internal processes.
The Solution: Invest in scalable supply chain tracking tools that outline all controlled variables
Rayven’s supply chain tracking tool has been designed specifically to provide superior interoperability and scalability, ensuring supply chain managers can start with just one device and scale their supply chain platform up from there until it encompasses all the fleets, machinery, facilities, and other assets and personnel that comprise your supply chain. In identifying the scope of your supply chain, our AI-powered tracking tools allow supply chain managers to record ESG metrics directly related to their assets and infrastructure. From there, further optimisations can be made by evaluating supplier performance – something that can also be monitored directly through our AI supply chain management platform.
The larger your tailored supply chain solution grows, the stronger your ability to make data-driven decisions that deliver the results you’re looking for, be they performance-based, profit-based, or ESG-based for solidifying the sustainability of your supply chain.
The Challenge: Supply chain managers don’t have the time to invest in AI implementation
Supply chain managers are typically required to maintain multidisciplinary skill sets, including a keen attention to detail and stringent organisational capabilities. Managing delivery timeframes, staff activity, fleet maintenance, and all the other minutiae of facility operations and customer/supplier relationships has resulted in supply chain managers not having very much time to allocate towards their own digital transformation efforts.
The Solution: Invest in ready-to-deploy real-time solutions
By using fully no-code interfaces, Rayven’s AI supply chain tracking tool stays fully robust and ready-to-deploy. Our supply chain tracking solutions are also SaaS-based, meaning that supply chain managers don’t need to rely on their IT department for set-up. With our clean and simple user interface and drag-and-drop set-up functionalities, supply chain managers can enjoy an intuitive installation process that allows them to start customising their supply chain management platform right ‘out of the box’.
How to Harness the Power of AI for your Supply Chain
It’s evident that using AI in supply chain management demonstrates truly transformational effects that are set to revolutionise the way we oversee supply chain operations from sector to sector. In this regard, AI will unequivocally play a vital role in the continuing Industry 4.0 transformation of supply chain management.
Getting in on the ground floor can help position your supply chain and wider industrial operations to stay ahead of the curve as industry practices continue to evolve. And considering that AI solutions are looking to be the future of supply chain management, the earlier you adopt these solutions for your supply chain, the more historical data you’ll have to draw from over the long term.
If you’d like to start harnessing the power of AI and real-time data for your supply chain, then contact our experts at Rayven today for more information on our AI supply chain tracking solutions and how they can be tailored to fit the needs of your enterprise. Check out our Fast Start Brochure for additional information on how easy it is to implement Rayven solutions into your organisation and daily operational processes.
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