There is a reason why B2B businesses are skeptical of emerging technologies in supply chain management processes. Every time a new piece of innovative tech has come along promising the stars, it has often fallen flat on its face because of being hugely expensive and non-scalable.
Do you remember how Radio Frequency Identification Tags (RFID) or Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) made quite the buzz when they first hit the market, only to fade away later?
For the supply chain industry, cost control scalability, integration, and time are the four most important considerations that technology has to take care of.
In this article, we want to shed some light on new innovative technologies that take the above four considerations and create a realistic, affordable, and performance-oriented piece of tech.
AI-Powered Inventory Management Systems
Most B2B businesses are struggling to maintain inventories in the right fashion. This has been primarily because the rise of digital platforms has opened up multiple touchpoints that need to be integrated into inventory management systems.
According to Verusen, modern and AI-powered inventory management software can help in-
- Helping businesses with financial tracking and tax processes
- Satisfying the multiple sales points and integrating both offline and online mediums
- Creating a streamlined organization with better tracking and monitoring ability
- Reduce wastages in terms of maintaining bad stock and restocking at the right time
The aim of a good and effective inventory management software is to ensure a seamless experience that is simple, easy to understand, and can be adopted by organizations without much fuss. It should also integrate into the existing mainframe of ERP, Ecommerce, and other platforms.
Data Management and Analytics
Businesses have at some point or the other in history maintained data in rudimentary form. In 2021, Data Management is a core policy that is driving business processes, decision making, investment opportunities.
On a little more advanced level, businesses are using workflow and task assignment software, including working with external data management vendors. At the end of the day, data analytics and management can open a new worldview for businesses in 2021-
- Allowing the higher management to take effective decisions and identify problem areas that need attention
- Making employees aware of their performances and what they need to do to improve not only their output but that of the organization as well.
- Identifying areas that can help the business grow in terms of reaching and engaging with customers, improve sales and generate more revenues for the business.
Robotics and Automation (Manufacturing and Warehouses)
Storing, Sorting, Selling!
Three things look supposedly easy but can become a supply chain nightmare for the best B2B companies in the world. One area that required a major overhaul was manually picking, sorting, and moving goods and products from the factory floor to the warehouse, and then for final delivery.
This is where bigger companies, with larger resources, have been able to employ robotics and automation to sort, place and move products. This has not only been helpful in cutting downtime but also lead to the limiting of workplace-related injuries in bigger and heavy engineering industries.
Robotics and automation are being encouraged massively because they can become a viable ally and tool to handle omnichannel presence. With demands for quicker turnaround times, exchanges and cancellations, automation can be the next big thing driving change.
The Final Word
Every piece of tech that finds application in the manufacturing and supply chain industry needs to be efficient, affordable, and have the potential for scalability. It should also be something that smaller businesses would be able to easily integrate without breaking the bank.
In this list, two of the three innovations mentioned are definitely scalable, efficient, and cost-affordable. We leave it to your better judgment to identify them and answer us in the comments section below.