Supply chain set for 'explosive' AI growth, says OpenText

Smart business ecosystems and actionable insights will be absolutely vital for businesses looking to thrive in the year ahead, says one of the world’s largest information management companies.

Mark Morley is Senior Director of Product Marketing at OpenText, who help businesses tackle complex digital transformation programs.

He says that 2024 will see more companies looking to obtain greater value and insight from the data being exchanged across their business ecosystem. 

“Big data has been around since 2010 but in 2024 we will see explosive growth in the use of generative AI solutions in the supply chain sector,” says Morley.

He adds: “The ability to have a conversation with a business network connected not only to your business systems but also your external trading partner community will be of tremendous value to companies of all sizes.”

He says supply chain improvements this is likely to deliver include: 

• Accelerated supplier onboarding to optimise logistics flows
• Better inventory management, to accelerate payments between parties. 

Morley also says intelligent command centres will provide supply chain leaders with actionable insights on a much wider scale in the coming year.

Supply chain control towers 'will see overhaul'

“Traditional supply chain control towers will be increasingly replaced by intelligent command centre capabilities that allow users to access more insight and get guidance on where they need to focus,” he says.

“This will require bringing together technical capabilities, including role-based access, diverse data integration, specialised user interfaces and AI-assisted analytics features.” 

But he warns that, as with most complex IT solutions, “one size will not fit all, and flexibility and adaptability will be crucial for success”.

Morley also sees digital product passport technology simplifying the journey towards a circular global economy.

“Digital twins have gained traction in product design, testing and usage but adding identity-centric models – such as a digital passport – adds 

new use-cases and also some new challenges,” says Morley. 

He adds: “I think 2024 will see digital twins leveraging digital passports in order to drive sustainability projects, especially those mandated by government regulations.” 

Morley says the European Union’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) is a good example of such regulations. 

“The ESPR proposal is the cornerstone of the EC’s approach to more environmentally sustainable and circular products. One of the key challenges will be governing who should have access to the digital passport data, such as location, or the personal data of the user of the product.” 

Morley says this could prove problematic in highly regulated industries such as healthcare, where patient data must be protected, but can still be utilised by the authorised groups. 

“The digital passport needs a strong governance and authentication system for its true value to be realised,” he says. 

“If implemented with strong security, digital passports will give manufacturers of any size, valuable data that can be used to improve product design as well as enhance the customer experience.” 

• For further insight check out other issues of Supply Chain Magazine, as well as Procurement Magazine & Sustainability Magazine
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