Logistics’ need for digital tech shifts from efficiency to agility

January 5, 2021: Announcing Infor’s top technology predictions for 2021, Cas Brentjens, vice president, Infor Nexus, Asia Pacific & Japan, noted that the reasons for digital adoption in the supply chain are shifting from efficiency and cost to agility and resiliency. He also predicted that managing real-time supply and demand matching and forecasting are not human tasks anymore and technology will take over them.

Infor is a New York-headquartered multi-national enterprise software company.

Supply Chains will rapidly become digital
“As a direct result of Covid-19, we are going to see the acceleration of digital supply chains in 2021. While supply chain leaders have traditionally viewed digital transformation in the context of efficiency and cost, the focus will now be on agility and resiliency. That’s where digital technology comes in. A multi-enterprise, digital supply chain enables better end-to-end visibility, better predictive analytics, and better and smarter automation. Leaders will be able to customize and flex their supply chains based on market demand and make better use of ecosystem partners. These digital tools are as far ranging as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and robotic process automation and are expected to shift early promises to impactful value propositions.”

Artificial intelligence will be critical for real-time supply and demand matching
“As the incredible supply chain disruptions of 2020 unfolded, it became clear that managing real-time supply and demand matching and forecasting were no longer tasks humans can take on alone. It’s no longer reasonable to expect a supply chain leader to predict when one country’s market will suddenly close and another’s will open, or account for ever-shifting materials and costs — especially as government restrictions on transportation and travel change rapidly. In 2021, we will see supply chain managers accelerating their adoption of AI to augment workers’ instincts and experiences and provide them with intelligent insights into changing market conditions, letting them accurately forecast supply and demand in real-time.”