How Blue Yonder is Reimagining Supply Chain Planning

Blue Yonder enjoyed a glittering 2024, further establishing itself as a world leader in digital supply chain transformation.
Now, with the new year still in its infancy, the supply chain planning specialist has unveiled significant updates to its AI-powered platform in a bid to help organisations streamline operations, expand globally and achieve their business objectives.
The update represents the culmination of two years of innovation, involving more than 8,000 integrated workstreams across supply, demand and business planning, according to Duncan Angove, CEO at Blue Yonder.
“This release enables customers to build out and support new market opportunities or adjust their entire supply chain model as priorities shift, in a fraction of the time, while maximising profits," Duncan continues.
"It also allows our customers to grow their business while navigating geopolitical tensions, disruptions, economic shifts or anything else that may come their way."
Here's how the new release addresses critical areas of supply chain management.
Unified planning for greater profitability
Blue Yonder's latest updates focus on breaking down traditional silos, enabling seamless collaboration across demand, supply and business planning.
This holistic approach improves decision-making and maximises profitability.
Integrated demand and supply planning: By combining demand and supply planning into a single, integrated process, the platform leverages AI and machine learning (ML) to optimise efficiency. The solution analyses demand patterns and supply availability simultaneously, aligning these with capital resources and sourcing factors to reduce costs, improve resource utilisation and minimise waste. For demand planners, the system provides AI-driven recommendations to allocate inventory effectively by region or customer segment, enhancing cost efficiency and ensuring timely, full deliveries.
Enhanced integrated business planning (IBP): Blue Yonder’s updates also refine IBP, enabling near real-time recommendations for supply chain and financial alignment. The platform supports tailored risk and opportunity scenarios, empowering organisations to adapt swiftly to changing circumstances.
Support for vertically integrated retailers: Retailers with integrated supply chains can benefit from a unified platform that consolidates retail, manufacturing and supply planning. This cohesive system reduces inventory waste, optimises capital utilisation and simplifies the planning process.
Supporting omni-channel commerce
As consumer behaviour shifts between online and in-store shopping, Blue Yonder provides tools to adapt supply chain operations efficiently and sustainably.
Single inventory view: The platform offers a unified view of inventory across online and physical channels, enabling planners to adjust assortments and bridge gaps between digital and in-store experiences. This reduces inventory holding costs while meeting customer demand.
Returns orchestration: Integrations between warehouse management, commerce and returns solutions enhance inventory control. By combining order and returns data, organisations can streamline returns processes, minimise waste and cut costs.
Pre-and in-season planning: Updates to allocation and replenishment capabilities allow companies to adjust order quantities in response to market trends. This ensures inventory is aligned with real-time demand and digital influences.
AI and ML form cornerstone of Blue Yonder enhancements
The latest release embeds AI and ML across Blue Yonder’s platform to improve decision-making speed and accuracy.
AI-driven data model: The platform’s AI-enriched data model enables detailed insights, faster recommendations and root cause analysis. These capabilities are designed to integrate with external generative AI agents for seamless data utilisation.
Customised ML: With a new ML Studio, users can fine-tune models to suit specific business needs – flexibility that ensures organisations can test and implement solutions tailored to their unique challenges.
Expanded AI integration: New AI capabilities enhance inventory, demand and supply planning, enabling organisations to model thousands of scenarios quickly. These insights support businesses in adapting to global shifts and aligning supply with demand effectively.
Logistics and warehouse optimisations
Blue Yonder’s updates extend to transportation and warehouse management, aiming to boost efficiency and scale operations.
- Freight billing and logistics: Transportation solutions now allow for simultaneous reconciliation of multiple customers, ensuring accurate billing and preventing overpayments. Updates also enable quicker responses to logistics disruptions, minimising customer impact.
- Enhanced warehouse operations: Improvements in robotics management and warehouse tasking help logistics service providers resolve operational issues efficiently. These advancements allow for seamless scaling of complex transportation routes and large-scale warehouse activities.
Improved user experience
Finally, Blue Yonder's release introduces enhancements to the user experience (UX) and user interface (UI).
Key features include:
- Up to 40% faster load times to improve workflow efficiency
- A density mode to maximise screen use, reducing decision fatigue
- Accessibility updates with light/dark modes and better browser compatibility
- Embedded collaboration tools for planners and managers to streamline workflows.
An innovation leader
Blue Yonder's latest innovations set a new standard for digital supply chain transformation. By leveraging AI and ML, the platform integrates demand, supply and business planning into a unified, adaptive solution.
Enhancements in omni-channel commerce, logistics and user experience empower organisations to respond to dynamic market shifts while maximising profitability.
With tools designed for scalability and resilience, Blue Yonder enables businesses to thrive amidst economic, geopolitical and operational challenges, solidifying its leadership in supply chain innovation.
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