The business environment of today’s day-to-day operation is full of dynamicity and supply chains are impacted continuously by different sources of this dynamicity. The present scenario is being engraved with geopolitical conflicts, climate-related events, and labor disrupts, therefore companies need to get ready for unannounced challenges. Luckily, it is some of the organizations that knew how to utilize AI and make it a tool that ensures supply chain resilience and, thus, mitigates the risks.
AI’s role in supply chain resilience
AI technology is the key force that transforms the supply chains when it is used to analyze better data and increase visibility and accuracy. Hence, the resource use becomes predictable through these systems and organizations can take proactive measures to manage the risks in the supply chain.
AI stands out as one area where a tremendous effect is being witnessed. It is helping to make supply chain mapping effortless. The prevalence of indirect suppliers is overlooked by most companies and this is the stage where most of the disruption takes place. Using the AI-powered map and diagram, firms will get a quick view of their business’s whole supplier community, which is made of the direct and indirect tiers. That comprehensive transparency helps to see in advance of interruption to foresee the obstacles and then take some preventive measures.
To illustrate interruption in the shipping line in the Red Sea region induced long delays in shipping and consequently, many industries affected from furniture to automotive took a hit. While a global semiconductor shortage forced Tesla, a renowned electric vehicle company, to cease production at its factory near Berlin, sometimes lengthy deliveries of needed input materials led to an extended shutdown of the site. AI-based mapping is a tool that enables corporations to emphasize supply chains the supplies which are susceptible to geopolitical conflicts regardless of the level of detail these parts have With continuously updating datasets from international sources, AI-driven monitoring systems can spot potential risks, predict their severity, and alert management.
Real-time risk identification with AI monitoring
AI-based predictive models present a valuable option for identifying and foreseeing disruptions in the system that can be anticipated. Examples like Resilinc’s EventWatchAI can globally provide warning for disruptive factors in supply chains from analyzing broad volumes of data. The early alert layers ease an organization to anticipate the disruption after its initial occurrence.
On top of that predictive AI models can monitor purchase orders and chase commodities precisely in real time. This makes it possible to see whether the orders are delayed and the recent prices of commodities. utilizing taking on a very careful observation of commodities, companies can foresee future product shortages and new supply channels in advance.
AI particularly comes to the rescue in terms of providing security measures and locating the weak points of the logistics. This innovation is risk scoring noting such conditions as Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region XUAR in China, which is the ethical concern zone, the fate of suppliers with hazardous practices will be grim.
The AI-examined deep supplier audits can find vulnerabilities in such fields as violations or cyber attacks on information technology and operational technology systems. This arranges for suppliers and businesses to join forces to tackle the issues, or if the risks remain high, there should be a way for alternative sourcing to be arranged for the business to comply.
Preventative approach instead of cure-all solution
The role of data will be seen growing from a daily routine to more operational functions hence a preventive strategy for the SCRM scheme is subsequently needed more than ever. Cyber-attacks today represent an array of complex threats that appeared in the semiconductor industry in Taiwan. The act of tackling deficiencies before they become serious problems is useful because it enables businesses to tackle disruptive factors in advance, thereby mitigating the risks altogether.
Artificial intelligence is playing the role of savior in risk management within the supply chain and enables organizations to be more flexible and stronger. To harvest the beneficial effects of AI in supply chain risk management companies should invest in tools that include multi-tier mapping and the AI-equipped 24/7 risk monitoring. In this way, they can make it effective in identifying threats, weaknesses, and improper handling, hence they can always enhance the supply chain resilience even in the event of future disruptions.
This article originally appeared in Supply Chain World
