It seems everywhere you look you see AI. There are 70,717 AI startups and counting. AI chatbots are everywhere. And there’s even AI in refrigerators.
Love it or fear it, Artificial Intelligence appears to be the new normal in everything, including supply chain and logistics operations.
In this post, Stord’s team of supply chain experts shares insights and predictions to help you prepare for AI’s impact on logistics and how high volume e-commerce, DTC and B2B brands can be prepared to capitalize on this new technology.
From improved customer experience to greater inventory planning and forecasting, AI promises to make all of our lives easier and reduce those all-too-common supply chain headaches.
How will AI and related technologies impact supply chain / logistics operations over the next 12-24 months?
(And what are the opportunities for e-commerce / DTC &B2B companies?)
Efficiency in Customer Experience
Over the next couple of years, AI and related technologies will significantly impact supply chain and logistics operations for companies.
This influence will be evident in improved demand forecasting, enhanced last-mile delivery through autonomous vehicles and drones, and streamlined warehouse operations with AI-driven robotics.
The opportunities lie in leveraging these technologies to optimize inventory management, ensure transparency, and provide personalized customer experiences, ultimately leading to increased operational efficiency and competitiveness.
Tony Scharff, WMS Super User
Partner with AI-First Providers
AI will be heavily utilized in Customer Service & Consumer Experience areas. Additionally, this technology will make demand planning & forecasting more accurate. The best approach is to partner with SaaS providers who are prioritizing embedded AI into their platforms.
Josh Monski, Solutions Architect, OMS & WMS
Reporting With Ease
I think AI will impact reporting and analytics in every industry. Specific industries measure specific KPIs, and AI is an easy way to pull data in and get real, usable and actionable metrics back.
Brandon Goldstein, Solutions Engineer, OMS & WMS
Get a logistics partner to help you sell more, save money and eliminate headaches.
The End of “Where Is My Order” Tickets
AI functionality integrated with order management and customer support systems could significantly boost consumer satisfaction. This new tech could lead to more self-service capabilities to better respond to WISMO (“where is my order”) inquiries, and seamlessly provide tracking information to a brand's customer service team.
Imagine that when a consumer’s typical WISMO request comes in, your system could automatically query your OMS, see exactly the current state of her order and where it is in the delivery flow – and then automatically respond directly to the consumer via chat or email – in seconds, without any manual effort. Your CS team is freed from time consuming and mundane order tracking tasks, and generating responses, and can instead focus on more complex issues that require human intervention and/or help drive upsells.
Ben Daugherty, Senior Account Executive
Smarter Inventory Forecasting
Historically, inventory forecasting has challenged most growing brands. Brands typically have data on consumer and market "signals" relevant to forecasting. However, many lack the ability or tools to understand how these "signals'' affect demand. This is the "true magic" of great forecasting!
Modern AI models are built to identify these abstract relationships. Brands should consider using AI-based tools to simplify and drastically improve inventory forecasting.
And this goes beyond future predictions. Generative AI tools will also help brands gain immediate insights into their current inventory situation, proactively highlighting problematic scenarios.
Ajit Sreenivasan, Senior Product Manager
Proactivity in Customer Support
Forecasting and demand shaping/planning could benefit from greater use of AI in the supply chain domain. Customer service also could likely see improvements as this technology becomes more widespread (e.g., answering customer questions, proactively contacting customers when there’s a problem).
Steve Swan, Chief Operating Officer
Vastly Improved Data Management
Today a massive amount of time and resources are deployed across the industry to answer basic questions around orders and inventory. Data collection, cleansing, and consolidation is a massive effort as a result of brands using disparate providers and technologies.
All this time and energy can be drastically reduced using AI technologies that can sift through excessive amounts of data to get information that brands can use in a timely fashion.
Instead of reactive analysis AI, can be used to proactively highlight opportunities for improvement without taking up significant bandwidth of teams.
Ryan Andrews, Group Product Manager
If you read our recent blog post about MODEX 2024, Kyle VanGoethem, VP of Network Planning, shares a bit about currently available AI technologies within automated robotics enabling them to accurately select optimized case selection for container unloading.
Much like the internet in the ‘90s, social media in the ‘00s, and smartphones in the ‘10s, AI is clearly the next massive sea change that will impact everything, including your supply chain. You can either embrace it and be prepared for the improvements (and potential drawbacks) or get washed out with the rising tide of innovation.
Confused how your brand can start to embrace AI and improve your technology?
Stord is a technology-first company that provides DTC & B2B fulfillment, and transportation for high growth, multichannel brands through integrated technology solutions. Our team of experts are ready to help you modernize your supply chain.
If you're serious about transforming your supply chain to better compete, let's talk.
