From the initial assembly lines to today’s advanced robotics solutions, supply chain technology has evolved multi-fold. However, a company’s risk culture plays a critical role in determining the readiness to explore and adopt emerging offerings. When companies implement impeccable supply chain practices, consumer needs are met in a more expeditious and timely manner. Consequently, customer relationships and loyalty are strengthened, translating into revenue boost and acquisition of new customers through positive word of mouth. Hence, modern companies consider supply chain processes to be vital for their success, making them constantly look for new supply chain technology developments to enhance their operations. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest supply chain technology innovations for this year:

Immersive technologies

Supply chain technology trends that include immersive technologies like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) allow supply chain businesses to enhance employee and customer digital experiences. Furthermore, it will also help companies to enhance repair and maintenance capabilities in manufacturing, and better logistics and warehousing. Though these technologies are already in use in several other industries, it in the pilot stage for supply chain process. However, AR and VR will soon become a mainstream supply chain technology in the next five to ten years.

Conversational systems

Virtual personal assistants (VPAs) and chat bots are conversational systems that are taking interaction to the next level with the addition of conversational commerce. Virtual agents will also be more empathetic, understanding, and able to manage high-volume complex interactions without a human referral. These systems can prove to be highly beneficial in supply chain and will eliminate the requirement of manpower in operations such as handling payments, delivery, and customer service.

Autonomous trucks

Autonomous vehicles are the new buzzword in town. However, there is a long way for this technology to go before they hit the roads in a full-fledged fashion, completely replacing human drivers. Businesses are taking inspiration from this technology to build autonomous trucks for industrial and supply chain and logistics uses. It is predicted that once autonomous trucks become operational, it will be one of the most popular supply chain technology that will be widely adopted. This is due to the cost and fuel savings that autonomous trucks would offer.      

Mobile robots in warehousing

The use of mobile robots in warehousing is a supply chain technology that has been put to use by E-commerce giants Amazon. The company has proven they can be used at scale with a solid ROI. This advanced technology has also been proven to be a good alternative for the labor shortage in warehouses. Robotics in supply chain technology is also believed to make processes faster and more efficient when compared to the manual labor. Several other companies are already in talks to establish this innovation as a part of their supply chain operations.

To learn more about the challenges of implementing the latest supply chain technology