How technology can unlock the full potential of supply chain

Today, we are more conscious than ever of the vital importance and the vulnerabilities of global supply chains and their economic, social and environmental impacts.

As processes, practices and financial models transform, and the world addresses the next major global challenge – climate change – there is an opportunity to embed sustainability into every link of the chain.

Enterprises are rethinking their supply chains to balance the needs of society, the planet and profit. There’s a role for digital technologies which can help reduce losses, trace product origins, and control quality.

We are fortunate to be sitting at the maritime and aviation crossroads of the world and a global logistics hub.

The UAE is among the top 12 countries in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index 2023, which measures the logistics capabilities of countries including ‘track and trace’ technologies as one of the indicators that make a location attractive to source goods from.

This is important. According to the OECD (the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), around 90 per cent of traded goods globally are carried by ocean shipping (which also represents 2.9 per cent of total greenhouse emissions).

As demand for global freight increases, maritime trade volumes are set to triple by 2050, highlighting the need for more efficient and sustainable maritime transport – and all other modes, of course.

For supply chains, digitalisation can accelerate response times, reduce carbon emissions and change the economics of production. Enterprises are now digitally controlling and managing sustainability metrics such as energy, fuel, carbon emissions and water usage.

Gartner’s 2023 top supply chain technology trends include actionable artificial intelligence (AI), smart operations, cyber-resilient supply chains and supply chain integration services. Speed, agility and efficiency are all central to supply chain optimisation, and automation plays a crucial role not only in individual companies and modalities but across entire ecosystems.

Building resilience and sustainability into supply chains through digitalisation and real-time data insights is a priority for transformation strategies and essential to the survival of many companies.

I would argue that hyper-automation (combining robotic process automation with other technologies such as AI, machine learning, chatbots, IoT and blockchain) is needed to accelerate high-volume business processes along the supply chain and deliver the real-time intelligence and orchestrate the entire supply chain ecosystem for long-term sustainability.

Hyperautomation can help address challenges and mitigate risks and inefficiencies in the supply chain.

Hyperautomation refers not only to the tasks and processes that can be automated but also to the level of automation – automation is vital to empowering both employees and supply-chain partners with data insights.

Artificial intelligence-enabled supply chain planning and execution systems can increase the visibility of supply chain systems, enabling businesses to act and make decisions using real-time information.

However, it is important to remember that processes are not always simple, routine, repetitive and stable.

Hyperautomation is already being adopted in daily supply chain operations around the world, and RPA is being used for all kinds of functions.

Complex supply chain functions can now be processed more quickly and more easily across ERP, transportation and warehouse management systems.

It can help companies save hundreds of staff hours per day on repetitive tasks, and by helping eliminate paperwork, it even brings environmental benefits.

Supply chains: Addressing inefficiencies in interconnectivity and data

Digitally transforming supply chains can help address a lack of interconnectivity and data inefficiencies, arising where data is misaligned between customer and supplier.

Policy and people inefficiencies create blockages and siloes in an organisation and companies often have separate systems to manage transportation, warehousing and third-party logistics.

Without effective collaboration, inefficiencies can arise in the handovers between the transport modalities – sea, rail, road and pipeline – and delays may result in penalties. It is not just in global, or regional, logistics that real-time data has become increasingly essential. Without real-time visibility, accurate demand forecasting is challenging.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are continuous learning systems that take data collected from within the supply chain and update automated systems dynamically, with an exponential effect.

This reduces the time required to build and deploy new process models so that process management gets faster and more efficient on an ongoing basis. These marginal gains are precious – seconds saved on individual processes all add up to significant improvement.

Automation provides transparency, satisfying the growing demand for more ethically- and environmentally-friendly products. Consumers are also embracing the circular economy, which designs out waste and enables recycling.

Smart logistics provide enterprises with real-time data, AI-enabled analytics and digital work instructions for decision-making and driving sustainable growth, increasing efficiencies and reducing waste.

Technological enablers will now play important roles in strengthening supply chains through enhanced planning and execution. I expect to see hyper-automation become central to an end-to-end supply chain strategy and deliver the data dividend.

Sahem Azzam is the vice president Middle East, Africa and Turkey at Orange Business