The aim of the smart supply chain technologies is to increase efficiency in the supply management processes, to balance the company’s market stocks, to provide material cost regulation and reduction, and to keep quality high in order to provide the services that customers demand. Especially according to Industry 4.0, smart supply chain technologies’ variations are: production methods, product control, product development, and design, ordering method, mobile technology tools to support the sales system and manage this information, etc. In other words, connecting physical networks created for supply chains to digital models in order to decide under uncertainty and provide optimization, to expand the range of control and simulation can be presented as the most basic concept description.
Some of Smart Supply Chain Technologies in Our Lives
First of all, with today’s development of technology advantage, in the race to advanced robotic systems, supply chain technologies are constantly operating and continue to shape our present and future. The whole process in supply chain technologies focuses on a smart and technological-approach problem solution to reduce operating costs and increase productivity time. Such processes and changes make an important contribution to the immediate ownership of emerging technology and the establishment of leading smart supply chains in the advanced order.
If we want to give examples of today’s IOT in supply chains technology:
- Computer Network
- Artificial Intelligence
- Real-Time Process Control Systems
- Cloud Computing
- Wireless Communication
- Computer Graphics
- Embedded Systems
- Machine Learning
- Sensor Networks
- Bar-coding/ Automatic
Identification
- Computer-Aided Engineering
- Automated Material Handling Systems
- Internet-of-Things (IOT)
Computer Network
Information sharing and logistics in the supply chain involve economically specific processes. This situation in supply chains comes together to create a smart network between industrial processes. A modern computer network, built in the future for this network and its activities, will be the perfect support for intelligent route optimization.
Internet of Things (IOT)
IoT is a shortened version of the Internet of Things initiative and means “Internet of objects”. Historically, this concept was first used by Kevin Ashton in his presentation to a company in 1999. If the most simple way is to be explained, IoT is a single platform for all devices that communicate through the network and connect to each other and share information and implement the necessary helpful communication protocols.
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is one of the most important ways of influencing the development of IoT and supply chains. It includes the most basic support to prevent scheduling and associated cost losses from the storage space and reducing upgrade impact from an innovative perspective.
Real-Time Process Control Systems
Real-time process control systems specifically increase focus during supply chain operations and provide functional optimization. Real-time process control systems as one of the most basic features for recording, controlling and future planning in all kinds of operations.
Artificial Intelligence
One of the most common ways to address the problems of iot and supply chain planning is with artificial intelligence. Predictive analysis and customer behavior based on which issues can be helped by knowing the increase in supply in the market process and early preparation of products and delivery time to provide a reduction in greatly helps.
How is the IoT’s Transforming Supply Chain Management process?
Internet of things is a bunch of collections of physical devices that process as reporting, monitoring, and sending exchanging data. Most of the IoT systems are connected to the cloud through the computer via a data or a WiFi network connection.
Internet of things supply chain devices are commonly using sensors for measuring data through the globe around themselves which are mostly including locations, movement calculations, temperatures, and any ambient factors. These things are mostly come the main form as smart devices, mobile sensors or RFID smart chipsets.
Relationship Between Each Other With Pros
- IoT devices should be attached to a specific depository after then IoT devices transmit the location of itself and can be tracked by a GPS.
- Real-time shipment.
- Planning specific locations.
- Better quality management monitoring for marketing.
Relationship Between Each Other With Cons
- Relying on a stable network connection.
- It is not as effective as in specific areas like transmitting a lot of electrical signals.
- It should check-up by a trained person.
- It can be damaged if it is not used properly.
Smart Supply Chain Future and More
The most important principle of smart supply chain managers today is to be able to perform operations at the same time and to be able to be in mass production at a cheaper cost. It holds a different place in the supply chain in the challenges of the return of this. For example, because firms are a self-renewing structure day by day, and it is a great possibility that the crisis in another firm will affect themselves and even the whole world. Because the fact that smart supply chains continue in a traditional way by re-imagining various processes and feeding them with technology will encourage them to continue in their problems to be experienced in the process. In order to cope with the risks that will arise, supply chains need to make multi-site sensible decisions. So, what are these problems can be?
- Risks
- Getting the right information
- Maintaining costs
- Globalization
- The following customer preferences
Supply chain managers must take the principle to protect their costs and take measures to address this problem. But sudden wage increases in the market system with cheaper workforces could be one of the problems supply chain managers will face.
The failure of supply chains to get the right information and the failure of cost reduction and cooperation in problematic configurations are among the other factors that increase the risk factors too.
Smart Supply Chain Iot Applications
Having played a role in factoryization and intelligent supply chain applications, iot now connects the emerging industrial system to intelligent automation systems.