Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic threw global supply chains into chaos, it seems as though supply chain leaders have been fighting to find a way back to normality.
However, if the last four years have demonstrated anything, it’s that the stability, speed, and predictability of pre-2020 supply chains are a thing of the past. Resilience, efficiency, adaptability are the new cardinal virtues of an industry fighting on multiple fronts—against economic unrest, geopolitical conflict, and the climate crisis.
Supply chains are experiencing serious pain points as they try to stay afloat while restructuring to be more agile and resilient. Many are turning to automation as a potential solution to some of the most common problems affecting supply chain organisations.
Among different types of automation, supply chain managers are increasingly turning to robotic process automation (RPA) for its ability to alleviate supply chain pain points.
“RPA serves as a driving force for process improvement and task automation, covering everything from order processing to inventory management. The adoption of RPA software in the supply chain marks a significant shift towards improved visibility, precision, and speed,” says Alina Filatova, Head of BA Department at Innowise. “These elements are essential for attaining excellence in logistics. This integration acts as a vital link, bridging the gap between conventional logistics methods and the growing needs of today’s supply chain landscape.”
Siloed data and legacy systems
Despite ongoing digital transformation efforts, many of today’s supply chains are mired with siloed organisational structures and legacy technology. Vital aspects of organisational procedure all too often rely on emailing spreadsheets and PDFs back and forth. Relying on these methods to track and utilise often critical information creates silos, inefficiencies, and reduces the potential for collaboration.
On top of that, ERP systems can lack the flexibility to support more agile, fast moving businesses. This results in wasted labour as supply chain professionals spend time moving documents around, inputting data across multiple digital platforms, and otherwise performing repetitive, error-prone tasks.
By using an RPA tool to automate data entry, simple communications between supply chain staff and other stakeholder, and standardise information across all platforms, supply chain operators can dramatically increase efficiency and reduce errors.
For instance, an RPA tool can handle the whole process of updating customers about their order status faster than a human. It can automate multiple tasks involved in processing, checking, and tracking orders by pulling data from different systems. It can then monitor those orders based on predetermined sets of rules, and provide customers with real-time updates.
This has the potential to reduce the amount of manual work being performed, increases the accuracy of orders, and gives better visibility across multiple otherwise siloed and legacy elements of the supply chain tech stack.
- AI in Supply Chain
- Digital Supply Chain
