Article by Fashion Network
According to the Paris Agreement, businesses across the supply chains need to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50 percent by 2030 and eliminate it completely by 2050.
Companies that are actively integrating sustainability principles into their businesses, according to a recent CPD report, can also benefit from cost reduction as well as minimising risk and vulnerability – over €28 billion were saved in 2020.
They also discovered that more than €1 trillion of revenue will be at risk if businesses fail to mitigate and adapt to climate change by the year 2025.
Here are 7 Supply Chain Tech trends that are shaping a sustainable future:
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
These technologies bring new automation power – such as facilitating planning activities, demand forecasting and more. As a result, AI capabilities can help reduce error rates significantly, decrease operational costs, and optimise supply chain flow.
Robotics and Automated Things
With the help of robotics and automation – such as drones, delivery robots, inventory management robots, and disinfection robots – businesses can increase productivity, efficiency, and product quality, as well as become more sustainable since they are extremely accurate and do not require as much energy to operate as humans do.
3D Printing or Additive manufacturing
This new technology allows companies to maintain virtual inventories and manufacture stock on demand. This means that businesses can eliminate a large amount of shipping and packaging costs, as well as energy.
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
IIoT solutions empower real-time data collecting, sharing, and analysing, and ultimately optimise machine performance and automate maintenance to reduce energy usage and eliminate redundancies in workflows.
Blockchain
Blockchain technology can make businesses more secure and transparent by providing a record of immutable truth across the supply chain – products and materials can be accurately traced back to their places of origin.
Smart Sensors
The use of smart sensors in the supply chain includes real-time behaviour status location, the temperature of vehicles, the pressure of vehicles, and more.
ERP Systems
Implementation of a state-of-the-art cloud-based ERP solution could improve efficiencies with the company while streamlining the supply chain.
A ‘Close to The Core’ Approach
In the quest to recover from multiple disruptions, businesses must unlock supply chain visibility by investing in information technology to ensure economic efficiency and sustainability.