Supply Chain Technology

The 34th Annual Study of Logistics and Transportation Trends uncovers the "great disconnect" in logistics, revealing that leaders recognize the importance of AI, workforce development, and technology integration but struggle to translate insights into action. This year’s findings offer actionable strategies for bridging the knowing/doing gap, helping supply chain and logistics professionals improve performance, adoption of emerging technologies, and operational resilience.

In a deal that meshes logistics and supply chain technology with AI, Atlanta-based Logility, a leading provider of collaborative supply chain optimization and advanced retail planning solutions, said this week that it has acquired Antwerp, Belgium-based Garvis, a SaaS services provider that combines large language models (ChatGPT) with AI-native demand forecasting.

Oracle officials said that the updates are for subsets in Oracle Fusion Cloud Global SCM—Oracle Transportation Management (OTM) and Oracle Global Trade Management (GTM)—and are geared towards helping shippers increase efficiency and value across their global supply chains, as well as reduce cost and risk, improve customer experience, and also become more adaptable to business disruptions.

The company said that through this partnership project44 will become the first strategic partner for real-time transportation visibility to integrate its capabilities into the Google Cloud Supply Chain Twin offering—which optimizes planning and decision-making by orchestrating supply chain data from enterprise business systems, partners, and public sources and enables shippers to bring together data from multiple sources and require less partner integration time than traditional API-based integration—and is a major cog of the Google Supply Chain platform.

A little more than one month after reports surfaced suggesting that global electronics giant Panasonic was set to acquire, in Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Blue Yonder (formerly JDA), a provider of AI-driven and end-to-end supply chain management services, a report in the Wall Street Journal indicated that Blue Yonder instead plans to become a publicly traded company.

Chicago-based FourKites, a provider of real-time tracking and visibility solutions across transportation modes and digital platforms, and Infosys, a global next-generation digital services consulting services provider, said this week they have partnered up to form an alliance focused on accelerating the delivery of best-in-class supply chain process innovations and technology offerings.

Oracle has rolled out new updates focused on helping shippers augment global supply chain efficiencies in its Oracle Fusion Cloud Global Supply Chain & Manufacturing (SCM) suit offering, which connects shippers’ supply networks with an integrated suite of cloud business applications. Oracle officials said that the updates are for subsets in Oracle Fusion Cloud Global SCM—Oracle Transportation Management (OTM) and Oracle Global Trade Management (GTM)—and are geared towards helping shippers reduce costs, make better planning decisions, and improve customer...

SAP Ariba Discovery allows any buyer to post immediate sourcing needs and to enable any of the four million suppliers on the Ariba Network to respond with their ability to deliver the goods and services required.

Ryder officials said that this new offering integrates data from multiple transportation and warehouse management systems into a single, synergistic platform, to create a better, faster, and smarter process. And they added it allows all parties to more easily see potential problems and inefficiencies while enabling them to then take real-time action to course correct in advance of delays and problems arising.

In terms of the biggest pain points, or things shippers need to focus on, regarding how the coronavirus can have a negative impact on their global supply chain operations and processes, Hull explained that, unfortunately, the real opportunity to mitigate the impact of this outbreak has passed for most companies, with proper preparation and flexibility serving as key parts of contingency planning.

Discover how AI and other emerging technologies are driving performance gains even higher.

Looking ahead to the future can be scary but it can also be exciting, too. When it comes to the supply chain, though, it falls into the latter category, especially when looking at the 2020 predictions for the supply chain, which were issued this week by Framingham, Mass.-based market research and consulting firm IDC.

Walmart’s announcement of a food safety blockchain solution, and Nestlé, Unilever, Tyson Foods, and Starbucks’ blockchain trials also show possibilities.

As the technologies for intelligent analysis and data visualization explode, it is a great time to look at what your business can achieve through a comprehensive supply chain analytics strategy.

As savvy forwarders embrace and utilize more sophisticated digitized solutions to set them apart from the pack, industry analysts are seeing the race narrowing. Evidence of this trend is made clear when the Top 25 features nearly a half dozen players vying for the same coveted ranking.