AUTOMATING SMALL TASKS TO IMPROVE SUPPLY CHAIN EFFICIENCY

The history of large-scale automation was pioneered by Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company. Ford revolutionized the production of automobiles by introducing the moving assembly line in 1913, which reduced the assembly time of a Model T from 12 hours to 90 minutes.

Supply chain automation is the use of technology to perform or streamline supply chain tasks without direct human intervention. Automation can involve various types of tech, such as AI, machine learning, robotics, internet of things, and digital process automation. Supply chain automation can help businesses improve efficiency, accuracy, agility, and customer satisfaction by automating manual tasks, minimizing human errors, collecting and analysing data, and responding to queries.

BENEFITS OF SUPPLY CHAIN AUTOMATION

It helps businesses save money by reducing labor, inventory, warehousing, and overhead costs associated with inventory storage and management. Automation can also help businesses optimize their resource allocation and avoid wastage and human error.

Automation can help businesses increase their output and throughput by speeding up processes, eliminating bottlenecks, and enhancing quality and consistency. Automation can also help businesses free up their employees' time and focus on more value-added tasks.

Automation can help businesses reduce the risk of disruptions, delays, and losses caused by human errors, accidents, thefts, or external factors. Automation can also help businesses improve their compliance and security by enforcing rules and standards and protecting sensitive data.

SMALL TASKS THAT CAN BE AUTOMATED WITHIN A SUPPLY CHAIN INCLUDE

Order processing

Automation can help businesses process orders faster and more accurately by capturing customer information, verifying payment details, generating invoices and receipts, sending confirmation emails, and updating order status.



Inventory management

Automation can help businesses track and manage their inventory levels by using sensors, RFID tags, barcodes, or QR codes to monitor the location, quantity, condition, and expiration date of their products.

Document processing

Automation can help businesses handle various documents involved in the supply chain, such as purchase orders, delivery notes, bills of lading, packing lists, customs forms, etc. Automation can use optical character recognition, intelligent document processing, or natural language processing to extract data from documents and store them in databases or systems.

Transportation management

Automation can help businesses plan and execute their transportation activities by using GPS devices, route optimization software, real-time tracking systems, or autonomous vehicles to optimize routes, monitor shipments, reduce fuel consumption, and ensure timely delivery.