Delays, lost shipments, and stockouts don’t just cause customer displeasure; they impact your operations, hurt brand loyalty, and add costs. Behind this frustration is usually a mess of antiquated systems, manual processes, and a lack of visibility throughout the supply chain. Today’s supply chains are not just a network for getting goods from Point A to Point B; they are not fast, accurate, high-cost and sometimes do not meet ever-increasing customer expectations.

This is why supply chain automation is important. It forces businesses to think differently about their entire process, from procurement and inventory to fulfillment and logistics. It removes inefficient processes, reduces human error, and helps people make decisions with real-time insights. And now, AI-powered automation platforms like Indite.io can be the solution.

In this article, we will walk through supply chain automation, why it matters, and how Indite.io can help you build a faster, smarter, and stronger supply chain.

What Is Supply Chain Automation?

Supply chain automation uses technology to perform actions within the supply chain with little human intervention. Such automation usually makes use of AI, machine learning, robotic process automation (RPA), the Internet of Things (IoT), and digital process automation: the technology thus considers real-time data, owning every step of the process, from raw material procurement to delivery and returns, without human touch.

The primary objective of automation is to help human beings rather than to replace them. With such systems, humans will be able to dedicate themselves to high-value tasks and decrease the risks of errors and delays. The market condition is such that turmoil keeps on disrupting our supply chain, as we have seen in COVID-19 and geopolitical changes, with significant transformations going on continuously. Therefore, automation in supply chain will change every aspect in every industry.

Examples of Supply Chain Automation

Automation can enhance almost every segment of the supply chain:

1. Automated Inventory Management: Use real-time tracking with IoT/RFID to know how much stock you have, who should be placing orders, and when action is required. The optimal stock level will be maintained, and orders will be triggered automatically when stock is running low. This improves efficiency, reduces the risk of stockouts or overstocks, improves overall accuracy within the inventory process, and enables just-in-time replenishment.

2. Warehouse Automation involves using robotic and automated guided vehicles (AGV) to pick, pack, and sort goods. Automated systems can run continuously, process picking orders faster, and do not make picking mistakes, as humans so often do. They also use storage space with maximum efficiency.

3. Order Processing: Robotic Process Automation and Machine Learning are used to automate order entry, invoicing, and ERP system updates. This means orders are entered into the inventory system, invoiced, and purchasing orders are entered automatically. Automation ensures orders are always processed quickly and with the same level of accuracy every time, which reduces order fulfillment time and minimizes costly errors.

4. Demand Forecasting: Artificial intelligence analyzes historical demand, trends, patterns, and conditions to generate accurate demand forecasts and schedule future procurement. Forecasting improvements lead to improved planning, improved inventory levels, and less waste throughout the supply chain.

5. Logistics Optimization: Logistics functions include route planning, shipment tracking, and delivery scheduling, where AI-driven analytics improve speeds and reduce costs. This streamlines the speed of deliveries, allows for disruption to adapt in a more agile approach, reduces fuel consumption, improves on-time performance, and always improves customer satisfaction. 

6. Intelligent Document Processing: Automating workflow tasks such as procurement, reporting, compliance, and shipping based on digitization capabilities. This process automates digitization, categorization, and validation with little to no human error, which returns new levels of speed and trust because of shortened approval loops.

7. Supplier Management: Automating the communication with suppliers in their onboarding process and tracking performance and compliance. This automation keeps your supplier data current, provides real-time performance measures, and measures compliance.

Why Is Automation Important in the Supply Chain?

Automation is essential in today’s supply chain because:

Reduces Manual Dependency: minimizes errors, speeds up the process, and creates an efficient process for repetitive tasks and cyclic actions, which will allow staff to focus on higher value work such as exception management, strategic planning, and higher specific details.

Boosts Resilience: The ability to move fast when confronted with disruptions or sudden changes in the market. An automated process reads the reactions and can quickly reroute orders, manage happenstances for changes in inventory, and run reschedules.

Supports Scalability: Increases the ability to manage larger or more complicated processes and operations without increasing human labor to match the business’s increase proportionally. An increase in workload/volume in a business means that the automation will manage the increased flow of data and transactions with very little increase in resources.

Enhances Real-time Decision-Making: Offers the ability to make fast, data-driven decisions based on real-time visibility of information. By having immediate access to true and complete supply chain data, managers can address problems and seize new opportunities before they arise. 

Improves Customer Satisfaction: By speeding up processes while increasing order accuracy, organizations can and will meet customers’ high expectations for fast and reliable service. Enhanced reliability means fewer delivery delays and errors, creating lasting trust and customer loyalty.

How Supply Chain Automation Benefits Various Industries

Supply chain automation enables efficiency in operations such as procurement, inventory management, demand planning, and delivery. It allows for less human intervention and error, more visibility around data, better and quicker decision-making, and, ultimately, time and cost savings.

• Manufacturer sectors can automate inventory management and production schedules. This enhances production capability, improving available resources while reducing downtime on production lines.
• Retail sectors can take advantage of the flexibility for product restocking based on current sales. This helps ensure popular products are available, leading to increased customer satisfaction.
• Healthcare sectors employers can track the appropriate medical supplies and drugs more accurately. This minimizes waste and ensures compliance with laws regarding health standards.
• Automotive companies can improve just-in-time delivery models. This will reduce warehousing costs and utilize a more active supply model.
• Food and beverage sectors can track sell-by dates and maintain health status, which ensures food remains fresh and safe during the distribution process.

Challenges in Supply Chain Automation

Despite its transformative advantages, automation presents several challenges:

• High Initial Investment: The cost of technology investment, integration, and training is a significant investment upfront.
• Integration Complexity: The challenge of integrating new automation tools with established systems and platforms introduces greater complexity for computers.
• Cybersecurity Risk: The increased connectivity caused by integrating automated processes increases the risk exposure for cyberattacks and data breaches.
• Workforce Resistance: People inherently fear their jobs will be replaced, creating an unreasonable environment for change unless companies invest in programs to re-skill employees and provide for change management.
• Regulatory and compliance complexities: Automated systems that provide reliability have to have processes that account for regions and the ever-evolving legislation associated with them.

How Indite Benefits Supply Chain Automation

Indite.io, an AI automation platform, can benefit every sector that is connected to the supply chain.

• No-Code/Low-Code Workflow Automation: Indite.io enables organizations to automate repetitive supply chain workflows without soliciting deep IT technical expertise.
• Real-Time Dashboards: Provide immediate access to data from different parts of the supply chain so your organization can make more informed planning assumptions and remedy problems faster.
• Seamless Integrations: Quick and easy integration with ERPs, inventory management systems, and transportation platforms to unify data and automate cross-platform processes while overcoming the integration challenge.
• Better Compliance & Data Audit Trails: Automated processes ensure regulatory compliance and allow for audits to be seamless.
• Flexibility of Process: Easily pivot, adapt, and scale processes and workflows to keep up with changing business requirements and enable business continuity.