Supply Chain Management

Assignment Submission: Autonomous Supply Chain

Submitted to
Prof. Harpreet Kaur

Submitted by
Siddhant Mohapatra – MBA07227
 Autonomous Supply Chain
Introduction-Autonomous supply chain
An autonomous supply chain needs to have the ability and capacity to process an order
request, gather the commodity from the location, and deliver the unit to the desired delivery
point – without a single human intervention. To do that, an autonomous supply chain needs to
know where all inventory and even all individual components are at all times.
The supply chain automation procedure must finish the following separate steps:
• Understand the order request and be able to recollect details instantly.
• Determine where the component is located in the warehouse.
• Keep track of inventory control by receiving, storing, and maintaining the goods.
• Select the parts you need from a storage location, then pack them for a particular delivery
method.
• Place the component on the particular transit system.
• Transport the product using various methods, such as trucks, air freight, railroads, and
boats.
• Offload the component and move it to a specific delivery system.
• Give the customer the component.
There are a few support components that are lacking from the items mentioned above but are
nonetheless crucial to a supply chain. Additionally, a completely autonomous supply chain in
the real world must quickly process hundreds of different demands (which modern computers
are more than capable of completing). However, they would have to physically carry out the
manual labour duties that today's technology cannot do as quickly or as precisely as people can.
The supply chain is changing. Their future is in automation, both in the real world and online.
The technological advancements that are forming all around businesses, such as robots, A.I.,
and machine learning, offer indications of this future. These technologies might work
together to create a fantastic supply chain that runs independently of conventional manual
procedures. How goods are produced, distributed, and delivered will fundamentally change in
this automated and streamlined future, which is both thrilling and inspirational.
Benefits of Autonomous Supply Chain

It saves time – It resolves a lot of the bothersome daily difficulties so that people may spend
more time and energy to longer-term and more strategic activities.
It lowers overheads – A frictionless information flow will enhance logistics and inventories,
allowing working capital to be reduced.
It increases agility – When information is openly exchanged, supply chain teams can better
predict and respond to exceptions, increasing their overall flexibility and resilience.
It improves customer service – According to the NelsonHall poll, 98% of the respondents
believed supply chain automation was crucial, and they were correct. Intelligent automation
decreases exception levels, which lessens the requirement for customer involvement in
problem-solving while also lowering expenses. Consequently, more events occur without
interference or fuss, allowing more consumers to decide, click, and continue their day
specific that their order is being handled with care.

A step-by-step process to achieve an autonomous supply chain

1. Achieve visibility of the end-to-end supply chain across silos: Given that sound
judgment depends on being aware of all potential threats, opportunities, and dangers,
an objective, end-to-end perspective on the supply chain is necessary to support
autonomous decision-making. This visibility needs to be comprehensive and
impartial, taking into account both external and internal factors as well as all signals.
In addition to being the first step toward reaching complete autonomy, recognizing
and comprehending all opportunities along the supply chain may also yield
outstanding financial rewards for the majority of firms.
2. Gather and interpret data in real-time: huge amounts of data regarding customer
demand, costs, inventory levels, limits, outside circumstances, and other elements that
affect end-to-end supply chain performance are produced by today's intelligent, linked
supply networks. Threats, opportunities, and dangers are revealed by this data,
allowing the firm to take strategic action before performance is adversely affected.
 IoT technologies, predictive analytics, and other tools enable businesses to gather,
analyze, and use this data, laying the groundwork for supply chain autonomy.
However, real-time data gathering and processing also have noteworthy solo effects.
Retailers may have a real-time perspective on all of their colleagues' duties, arranged
by priority, by utilizing modern store technology. Gross margin increased by 7% for
one sports goods company, while shop associate productivity increased dramatically.
Standard check-in and put-away chores were completed more than twice as quickly,
and stock replenishment operations were up to four times faster than previously.
3. Empower employees with AI capabilities to proactively mitigate risk: The
concern that robots, industrial automation, machine learning, and other cutting-edge
technology would lead to a decrease in the number of human employees across the
supply chain has received a significant bit of media attention. However, as competent,
linked supply chain technologies proliferate, workers are becoming more strategic
decision-makers, which raises the value of their contributions. Employees are
liberated to concentrate on more important responsibilities due to technological
solutions managing more chores and a more significant number of analyses. To
proactively identify service level failures in its supply chain and to learn from
correlations between millions of data points, for example, a worldwide leader in tyre
manufacturing with headquarters in Europe turned to machine learning. The
innovation's capacity to identify and prioritize service level concerns two weeks
before they actually happened made the program ground-breaking.
4. Increase collaboration with suppliers and trading partners: Autonomous
technologies depend on fluid linkages and information exchange outside the
organization, just as they do to eliminate functional barriers to produce the best
outcomes possible. Companies and their numerous trade partners, such as retailers
and suppliers, may benefit from real-time connection and an expanded perspective of
all the aspects that could possibly influence the global supply chain by utilizing
standard technology platforms and applications. Because it removes boundaries
between retail trading partners and reduces risk exposure, the idea of flow casting
creates much interest. Sharing a single, continually updated forecast allows all parties
to see supply and demand imbalances and take pre-emptive action before out-of-
stocks and other problems, which reduce sales and earnings, arise. Trading partners
may also reduce the amount of money they spend on buffer stock and replace it with
more focused inventories that reflect demand in the real world. Businesses with real-
time visibility, collaboration, and intelligent response capabilities may cut their
investment in inventory by up to 10%, lower their costs for accelerated logistics by up
to 30%, and increase the productivity of their planners by up to 60%.
5. Reimagine standard workflows and processes: The autonomous supply chain
requires businesses to re-evaluate some of their core workflows and procedures since
it represents a new way of conducting business. To enable ever-increasing degrees of
autonomy, new connections, new technological interfaces, new staff roles, and
accountabilities, and other significant changes may be necessary. New strategies may
be required to store and analyze all of this data as information volumes rise and real-
time analysis becomes more prevalent. The majority of enterprises will need software
as a service that incorporates machine learning algorithms, as well as elastic
computing capabilities like those provided by private and public clouds. It is essential
 to find and collaborate with technology vendors that are equally committed to
supplying chain autonomy.
6. Begin to implement autonomous technologies strategically: Supply chain
autonomy is not an abrupt, all-or-nothing occurrence; instead, it results from the smart
deployment of value-added technologies over time. Organizations should start by
analyzing their data to determine which decisions are the most important and then
create a link between the data and decision-making. Companies may gain immediate,
significant benefits for a quicker return on investment by integrating artificial
intelligence and machine learning into their most crucial processes, such as
forecasting and predictive inventory management, to generate increased sales. With a
clear goal in mind, advanced technology should always be used to provide bottom-
line value. The ideal illustration is Amazon's projection for predictive shopping.
Because promptly matching products and customers are the basis of Amazon's
business model, the internet giant estimates the expected demand for distinct goods in
particular zip codes on certain days. Amazon can move items efficiently and precisely
so they can ship quickly, yet prices and safeguarding margins are still under control,
thanks to their 20-day supply and demand forecasting.
7. Remember that achieving full autonomy represents a journey: Even though
supply chain autonomy appears futuristic and unattainable to many firms, best-in-
class enterprises are making substantial headway in this direction. No matter where
your firm is in its development, it is crucial to remember that gaining full autonomy is
a journey that starts with implementing a single technology in vital business areas.
Companies should collaborate with a supplier that provides a broad range of
capabilities across the end-to-end supply chain whether they want to explore
autonomy for the first time or increase their degree of automation and real-time
decision making. From standalone solutions and cloud hosting to the most cutting-
edge machine learning capabilities, providers who can support all phases of the
autonomous trip will be by your side till the journey is over.

Challenges and pressures in autonomous supply chain

Supply networks are complicated because of the interactions between many components. It
involves understanding how raw materials, sub-assemblies, and completed items are
impacted by various issues, including finance, marketing, human resources (HR), and many
more. The connections between these many components cannot be obvious, and in certain
instances, the connections might not even exist. Additionally, it's possible that some of the
procedures are still done by hand. In a recent analysis for Capgemini, NelsonHall questioned
supply chain leaders, and 66% of them reported having significant levels of manual
processes.
This has many repercussions. The first problem is that communication is through email since
information is compartmentalized and doesn't flow as it should. This hinders overall
responsiveness and resilience since it is sluggish and burdensome. Consolidation and
centralization are lacking in the company, which results in high expenses, low productivity,
governance issues, and a lack of potential to grow.
Another difficulty is that it can be challenging to identify, cultivate, and maintain the proper
people in an industry with new digital technology and intense competition.
Customer expectations have also been higher and higher. People are becoming accustomed to
having many options and receiving goods quickly, and the best practices of innovative
suppliers are increasing the standard for the competition.
• Integrating end-to-end visibility using tools like the internet of things, digital twins,
simulation software, analytics, AI (including machine learning), and alarms for risk
management.
• Developing agile networks by reassessing the supply chain's geographic and strategic
design. What should be local, regional, or global? is a straightforward question, but in a
complex partner ecosystem, balancing a network of warehouses, manufacturing facilities,
transportation, procurement, and the other supply chain pillars is never simple.
• Securing backup supply sources. This entails not just diversifying your supplier portfolio
but also incorporating diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) pledges into your procurement
strategies.
• Creating a resilient workforce "by equipping employees with the knowledge and abilities
needed in the next five years and ingraining a problem-solving attitude into all aspects of
work, right down to the operators of the shop floor machines."
• Establishing a safe and reliable supply network. "If a supply chain is to be robust in an era
where everything is interconnected by technology, cybersecurity is crucial."
Pressure
All of these elements would provide a sizable set of obstacles for enterprise-level supply
chains even in the best of circumstances. But as we are well aware, the circumstances have
not been ideal. Import restrictions, higher taxes, and Brexit have all disrupted international
trade; on top of that, the COVID-19 epidemic has had seismic consequences worldwide.
As a result, supply chains have been put under more stress than anybody could have
reasonably anticipated, and many of the ineffective and frequently manual operations we just
saw have been put to the test.
As a result, it should come as no surprise that there is a growing and urgent need to change
the supply chain digitally, standardize procedures where appropriate, and integrate them
entirely as part of what we at Capgemini refer to as the Frictionless Enterprise.
In fact, over two-thirds of respondents to the poll for the NelsonHall research stated they
wanted to be able to react to global trade volatility better (64%), and a similar percentage
(62%) said they required more flexibility and scalability to deal with capacity limitations.

Industry efforts to achieve Autonomous Supply Chains.

1. Using autonomous robots to drive supply chain innovation: Drone aircraft, often
known as aerial robots, are part of a rising class of gadgets that can be programmed to carry
out tasks with little to no human assistance. They can range significantly in size, capability,
mobility, dexterity, artificial intelligence, and cost, from flying vehicles with full picture and
data capture capabilities to robotic process automation. Autonomous robots are increasingly
being built with artificial intelligence to identify, absorb, and decide for themselves about
their environment.
Autonomous robots are no more the thing of science fiction; they are already bringing
innovation to the supply chain and adding substantial value, especially because they can:
• Boost regular activities' speed and accuracy, especially in manufacturing and warehousing
• Increase efficiency by working alongside others.
• Lower the possibility of worker injuries in hazardous situations
By assisting businesses in lowering long-term costs, supplying labor and utilization stability,
increasing worker productivity, decreasing error rates, reducing the frequency of inventory
checks, optimizing picking, sorting, and storing times, and increasing access to challenging or
hazardous locations, autonomous robots are contributing to the definition of the supply chain
of the future.
2. digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI): Digitalization and artificial intelligence
(AI) have changed the competitive environment in numerous sectors over the last ten years,
and this transformation will only continue. The automobile sector is one of the most
prominent examples, as autonomous product functionality is swiftly developing from cruise
control to self-driving cars. Autonomous vehicle systems supported by AI can collect many
data, evaluate it, and react quicker and more consistently than people with constrained
cognition. These sophisticated autonomous systems can make well-informed choices that
safeguard passenger safety, save fuel, cut emissions, handle maintenance, and keep the inside
of the car comfortable.
3. A transformation of planning horizons from periodic to real-time:  Batch-level
planning with functional silos was typical a decade ago since automobile consumers'
expectations for service and delivery were lower. However, the "Amazon effect" has
conditioned consumers to demand high levels of timeliness and customer service in every
industry, including the automobile, whether they are purchasing a new car or replacement
components. Planning on a weekly, monthly, or even daily basis is insufficient nowadays.
Automakers today want "always on," real-time planning capabilities that remove the lag
between detecting customer demand and acting on it. Only AI and autonomy can provide this
degree of real-time response, which may result in an increase in top-line revenue of several
million dollars and cost savings at the bottom line due to reduced working capital.
4. An evolution from uniform products and processes to personalization:  The "push"
make-to-stock (MTS) approach of the auto industry has historically been predicated on long-
term demand projections for standardized product designs. But modern buyers want their
products customized. This tendency will only get stronger when more hybrid models, electric
drivetrains, and intelligent technologies are released, giving buyers more alternatives. All
parties involved in the end-to-end supply chain must now be able to take part in a "pull-
based" assemble-to-order (ATO) or configure-to-order (CTO) environment where goods and
procedures are tailored to fit particular customer demands. Profitable OEMs can only be
those that can effectively predict customer wants and intelligently structure (and modify) the
supply chain, necessitating the need for process automation and autonomous decision-making
using AI.