Drones, underwater warehouses and creating an intelligent supply chain fit for the future

By Mike Danby, CEO, Advanced Supply Chain Group
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Mike Danby, CEO of Advanced Supply Chain Group, discusses Amazon’s commitment to innovation and the importance of creating an intelligent supply chain...

Mike Danby, CEO of Advanced Supply Chain Group, discusses Amazon’s commitment to innovation and the importance of creating an intelligent supply chain that is fit for the future.

Whether pioneering drone deliveries or patenting underwater warehouses, Amazon continues to lead the way in supply chain innovation. While most consider its latest solution more than a little pie in the sky, its ingenuity is to be applauded. It’s ideas like this, however futuristic, that will lead to new, genuinely workable solutions that will revolutionise the supply chain.

Amazon sparked the imagination with its drone delivery service but the technology isn’t without its challenges, such as privacy issues for example. We still have some way to go. And while discussion around supply chain innovation is to be welcomed, most professionals still aren’t making the best use of the technology that exists right now.

We must make greater strides and do so more quickly if supply chain systems and capabilities are to keep pace with continued innovations in e-commerce.

While possibly unworkable, Amazon’s latest solution is a step in the right direction – we need more vision, more ambition. We could be harnessing state-of-the art technology that is available right now, using data in a much more sophisticated way. The coming years will undoubtedly see significant, groundbreaking innovation – most likely pioneered by the likes of Amazon – but we’re not quite there yet.

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In the meantime, supply chain professionals must focus on using the capabilities we do have to their fullest, focusing on improving operational efficiencies, making systems more accurate and improving employee safety.

Take Advanced Supply Chain’s intelligent approach, for example - it applies technology and analytics to deliver the most efficient intelligent supply chain. It brings complete visibility, control and traceability, increasing productivity and facilitating seamless systems integration, accurate stock management, scalability and fast, cost-efficient fulfilment.

Put simply, it’s faster, cheaper and better. It’s an approach that revolutionises the supply chain, yet we’ve only scratched the surface and the external pressures continue to grow.

The technology has made our workforce more efficient, creating a truly intelligent supply chain. The technology hasn’t replaced jobs, but has instead made them more fulfilling – roles have moved away from manually reporting data to instead analysing it.

It’s crucial that we think seriously about future innovations and begin to build a picture of how the supply chain of the future might look – but let’s first channel our efforts into better utilising the capabilities that exist at our fingertips.

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