LENDING INTELLIGENCE TO SUPPLY CHAIN

If you’re shipping millions of dollars’ worth of pharmaceuticals, high-end electronics, expensive seafood, or precious metals, what would you be willing to pay for the ability to ‘ask’ your shipment where it is right now and whether it’s ok? What would you pay for a freight smart enough to raise an alarm before it spoils? Artificial Intelligence enables that and much more…

- OMER AHMED SIDDIQUI

The world finds itself in the grip of an unprecedented pandemic. In many countries, the manufacturing of most commodities, apart from essential goods has come to a complete halt. Shipping and logistics operations too have been greatly affected, which is why industries world over are placing more emphasis on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation. In a nutshell, the idea of an autonomous supply chain that offers unprecedented information security finds immediate appeal.

But for those who are not tech savvy, a quick look at the basics first: The simplest way to define AI is to have a software mimic human behaviour that includes ability to learn, think and decide. If you’d extend that simplest of definitions to logistics, there are several opportunities that spring up to enable self learning, correction and decision making in the logistics industry. Logistics in general has at least two distinct resources - the freight/cargo and the firms that move that freight. There is reassuring evidence that both firms and freight are increasingly becoming smart at their atomic levels. This accelerated adoption of technology is due to the inherent desire of knowing the status of freight - where is it, how is it and when will it arrive?

For a supply chain network that covers large geography, AI can provide the much needed granular visibility into where and how your cargo is, learn to recommend corrective actions such as route optimisation, intervention to save the condition of cargo and predict accurately the flow of goods through touch points. “Artificial intelligence is the ability of machines to make smart decisions with the available datasets. By implementing AI in logistics and supply chain, companies can save up to $2 trillion every year,” reveals Purnendu Shekhar, CEO, Cogoport.