Wanted: a bionic supply chain?

Want to find out more about a bionic supply chain that leverages the best that both machines and humans have to offer and allows them to work together seamlessly? Book your spot at the 45^th annual SAPICS Conference right now!

The supply chain is the backbone of almost every business. If it breaks, an organisation may never recover from the lost time, money, and customers. A bionic supply chain – which harnesses the best that humans and machines have to offer – may sound like something out of science fiction, but according to SAPICS (The Professional Body for Supply Chain Management in Southern Africa), this is what African businesses should be building to future proof their supply chains in an increasingly volatile, uncertain, and complex environment.

The latest technology being leveraged in bionic supply chains will be in the spotlight at the upcoming 45^th annual SAPICS Conference, the organisers have announced. The conference, which will take place in Cape Town this year from 11 to 14 June, is Africa’s foremost knowledge sharing and networking event for the supply chain profession. Local and international experts will examine technology like generative artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous drones, and business intelligence tools, and share their insights on how and why these advances are revolutionising supply chains.

AI will grow

According to 2023 SAPICS Conference presenter Johan Steyn, generative AI like ChatGPT will continue to grow. With more advanced algorithms, this technology will increasingly be used in supply chain and logistics – for predictive maintenance, automation in warehouses, in supply chain finance, and to enable more collaboration between companies.

“Organisations that capitalise on these trends will be well-positioned to thrive in a competitive marketplace,” Steyn asserts. Generative AI, he explains, is the latest advance in the rapidly maturing smart technology era: “At its core, this is a type of machine learning that focuses on creating new and unique outputs rather than simply recognising or classifying existing data.”

In his SAPICS Conference presentation, Steyn, who is a human-centred AI advocate and thought leader, will help attendees to understand generative AI and its potential in the supply chain, including offering them a practical roadmap to embrace it in their organisations. He will also examine the practical applications of the technology and outline the pitfalls to be avoided by supply chain professionals on their AI journey.

Enter the drones…

Automated inventory management powered by self-flying drones is on the 2023 SAPICS Conference programme, in a presentation that will focus on pushing the boundaries of inventory management through innovation. “A zero-error warehouse is no longer a luxury. Improving inventory accuracy has become an imperative for big-box retailers, third-party logistics providers (3PLs) and manufacturers competing for customer loyalty,” says presenter Judy Bezuidenhout, national inventory manager at DSV Solutions. 

“Drones can scan inventory in warehouses and distribution centres over weekends and at night – literally while we sleep – identifying inventory discrepancies and distilling that data into valuable insights. They offer a sustainable way in which to manage our man hours and resources. This presentation will highlight the importance of inventory management and the benefits of having the correct stock in the correct location physically and systematically,” she explains.

Bezuidenhout will address the downstream impact of inventory errors and the potential risks, while introducing conference attendees to the innovation of fully autonomous drone cycle counting. “This technology is awesome because it can replace unsafe and arduous manual barcode scans, provide accurate inventory reporting, and reduce inventory investigation,” she stresses.

Big data and analytics to the fore

Big data and analytics have been ranked among the most important topics in supply chain in 2023. They are also on the agenda for this year’s SAPICS Conference. Supply chain specialist Lee-Ann Bartlett, for example, will share her experience and expertise on leveraging data analytics to optimise supply chain management.

“Businesses are making use of several information systems to manage their respective business functions, such as transport management systems, enterprise resource planning systems, and warehouse management systems,” Bartlett notes.

“A lot of data is captured and gathered by these systems daily. This data is then used by management to create the required monthly management reports. They typically use spreadsheets to consolidate the data and transform it into an acceptable format, but these spreadsheets can be corrupted, while finger errors are unavoidable,” she says.

“Using business intelligence tools, this process can be streamlined by automating the gathering of data, calculations, and data transformation to drive insightful decision-making. Investing in these tools will provide organisations with peace of mind regarding data cleanliness and standardisation of key performance indicators (KPI) calculations,” she states.

Bartlett’s SAPICS Conference presentation aims to create awareness about the amount of data gathered daily and enable supply chain professionals to understand what is and isn’t useful. She will explain the flow of data from the myriad available information systems to create insightful reports and will outline how to merge the continuous improvement of data analysis cycles to achieve high process efficiencies. “The savings that can be achieved through investing in data analytics outweigh the cost associated with the development,” she emphasises.

For further information, or to register for the 2023 SAPICS Conference, call the Conference Secretariat at Upavon Management on 011 023 6701 or email info@upavon.co.za. Up-to the-minute information is also posted on the SAPICS Conference website.