AI and Blockchain in Supply Chain Management

Image Source

If there is actually something very important when it comes to the commerce world and generally the system of buying and selling, I will say it is the aspect of supply chain management. It have a whole lot to do with how goods and services are actually transferred from one point to another. For many years, we have been having issues about the traditional supply chain and recently there have been more better innovation in that aspect. The major issue that has been surrounding the aspect of the market is how those goods and services flow.

When I mean flow, I mean flowing from the supplier to those who need it in demand. We have been familiar with the traditional supply chain for many years but you will agree with me that it has it's own challenges such as lack of transparency and the fact that it can be subjected to fraudulent activities. But not with artificial intelligence who helped to address those challenges and that was also much more possible making use of the Blockchain technology so that Transparency and trust can be achieved at the end of the day.

Most of the time, whenever we talk about the supply chain, I think a large portion is just focused on the positive side or let me say the advantage that it offers. Most of the time, we are not able to see the challenges that is involved in supply chain. One of the challenges is the fact that it works on complex networks most especially the modern type of supply chains that we have right now. Most of the time, those complexity can lead to inefficiency and even affect the flow and communication between the supplier to the distributors at the end of the day.

Not only that, one of the constant issues also has been in the aspect of transparency that is not really consistent in the world of the supply chain. And a lot of criminals makes use of this lack of transparency to carry out their fraudulent activities. In fact there have been cases whereby counterfeit goods have been produced because of it and this can lead to environmental negative effects.

In the midst of all those challenges I have mentioned above, that is where Blockchain technology comes in as a solution to help address it. The first is in the aspect of transparency. The fact that Blockchain technology runs making use of Decentralised nature helps to tackle the aspect of transparency. There is full accountability structure created within the supply chain all thanks to the Decentralised nature of the Blockchain technology.

Image Source

Not only that, the fact that it runs with the Immutability nature which makes it difficult for it to be altered most especially whenever there is a transaction that is recorded on it, that immutability nature will help to give security. This aspect of security have always been a major issue also when it comes to supply chain. With these two major features, the world of blockchain technology makes sure that every transaction that is carried out within the supply chain can be traced and not only traced but also been able to be verified.

Of course it is no longer news that the world of AI have been able to penetrated a whole lot of sector and industry in the world. We have the example like the retail, we have the example of pharmaceutical where Blockchain helps to check the quality of drugs and many more. There are a whole lot of applications whereby Blockchain technology partners with artificial intelligence to enhance the efficiency of the supply chain.

Let me talk much more in details the role of AI in supply chain as it were. AI goes a long way to helps to make sure that decisions taken are well accurate and that is because because AI works on data analytics most especially a huge amount of data to help know the demand attention and many more. With AI, we can be able to even predict the price movements of a particular goods or services in supply chain based on how it has perform in time past.

Not only that, with AI, it helps to make sure that everything is automated in a way whereby there is no need for humans to be involved. Everything is automated and this helps to minimise errors and also enhance massive productivity at the end of the day. This is very needed also I must confess. Highly needed.

If you will ask me, I will say the future is definitely here. We are in the era of AI and Blockchain and whether we like it or not, it is here to stay. We will still see the combination of AI and Blockchain in the nearest years to come. The future is definitely bright as I am so sure of that.