The world around us is shifting rapidly. There are urban centers getting more and more
and denser. Considering the demographics, the population across is aging in developed countries and the middle class is expanding in the emerging economies. It is also visible that consumers are showing a growing interest to reward businesses for operating in ways they perceive as sustainable or eco-friendly.
Along with that, the traditional business models are at the forefront of disruption by new technology-driven businesses who are seeking to revolutionize every industry from transportation to healthcare.
Each change and trend in the industry directly or indirectly affects the supply chain and logistics management. Within warehousing, organizations are embracing new approaches to warehouse automation that enable greater speed and flexibility.
With this growing trend, logistics and supply chain industry will likely respond with fast paced automation and integrated systems in order to meet the rising demands. Let us look at the challenges that will likely occur in the ecosystem down the lane.
The Human-Machine Integration
In order for use to churn out the positive effects of flexible and networked machinery and systems,understanding and use of complex technologies intuitively between people and machines should be enabled. It is imperative to keep human-machine interfaces simple and intuitive. Whether for programming, commissioning, operation, analysis or servicing.
In major parts of the world across many warehousing and supply chain ecosystems, there is a lack of more adaptive production. It requires a perfect combination of operational technology and information technology. This will help push back the existing boundaries of production systems.
While OT or operational technology is the hardware and software responsible for detecting or causing a change through the direct monitoring and control of physical devices and events in the enterprise, information technology driven developments are responsible for inculcating modern technologies like artificial intelligence, big data and cloud platforms. Both of them when working in unison can create a seamlessly operating business paradigm.
Organizations will require increased automation in intralogistics processes in order to leverage this evolution since manufacturers are facing the reality that further investments in manufacturing automation will not pay dividends unless intralogistics processes are addressed.
More and more companies will adopt the Amazon human-machine collaboration model where their production environments can embrace modular and robotic systems resulting in efficient process control and visibility upstream and downstream from production, optimized inventory levels and inflated production capacity.
Software-enabled connectivity
The production intralogistics systems we discussed about, can become even more valuable and sophisticated when the software platforms used in material handling environments can be extended to intralogistics systems.It is also equally significant and valuable to push production environments while enabling easy integration to production management and other business systems with the help standard but intricate APIs.
There are major programming technologies like ASP Dot NET, C# and similar backend languages that are perfect fit for enterprise grade integration. And these technologies are ever-evolving, ASP.NET web development services and C# developments are being embraced across major industries for long-term benefits.
As the research in the field of Artificial Intelligence gains traction, intelligent software will be the key to success when the question is about creating smart networks and to effectively integrate all the systems involved.
It includes a number of benefits:
- It enables greater integration across business systems.
- Provides the ability for production and logistics systems to become self-learning and keeps on improving their performance autonomously.
- Combination of technologies like machine learning, predictive processes, augmented reality, and virtual reality will leverage the entire ecosystem.
Data-driven warehousing
The world has now realised that data is immensely powerful. A fantastic tool in supply chain management that can work wonders for the ongoing processes. However, the entire industry is yet to harness its complete power.
Right from barcodes on products to sensors on equipment and vehicles, there is a gargantuan amount of data available with us which can help enhance the equipment availability and efficiency, personnel productivity and safety.
How can one harness this data? The key to lies in warehouse management
and execution software. We are seeing increased warehouse capacities with better warehouse software over time. This has led to better siloes with warehouse management, warehouse execution and automation control
systems all operating. But all of these processes leave the data isolated, limiting its potential to improve operations.
In comes the next generation data capability. These next-gen warehouse management softwares and processes can integrate various warehouse functions into a single platform to unleash the power of the existing data.
Data also acts like the fuel for arti£cial intelligence systems enabling logistics
systems to learn and evolve on their own. The combined power of data and arti£cial
Intelligence together can make supply chain systems learn to recognize patterns, regularities, and interdependencies from structured and unstructured data to anticipate demand and adapt, dynamically and independently, to new situations.
Conclusion
Working with intelligent production systems can make self-learning supply chain systems. They enable organizations to meet global customer requirements with greater speed, customization and efficiency.
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