As geopolitical tensions increase and companies face pressure to end links with environmental and human right abuses, they are increasingly turning to artificial intelligent to help them navigate the increasingly complex supply chain.
Unilever Siemens and Maersk use AI to find new suppliers or to help identify people connected to certain issues, such as the alleged repression against Uyghur Muslims living in China’s Xinjiang Region.
The development of generative AI technology, which is a form of AI that can be used to automate processes further, has increased the possibilities for automation.
As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and rising geopolitical tensions, multinational companies are now more aware of the importance of keeping up with their customers and suppliers.
The new supply chain laws in countries like Germany, which require companies monitor environmental and human right issues in their supply chains have increased interest and investment.
Navneet Kapoor, Maersk’s chief technology officer, stated that “things have dramatically changed over the last year with the advent generative AI”, as it can be used to create chatbots and software that responds to human prompts.
In December, the second largest container shipping company in the world provided $20mn of funding to Pactum. The San Francisco-based business claims that its ChatGPT bot is negotiating contracts for Maersk and Walmart, as well as distribution group Wesco.
Kaspar Korjus said that when there are disruptions in the supply chain, such as Covid, or war, it is important to contact suppliers. The chatbot of Pactum was negotiating deals up to $1mn for “tens” Fortune 500 companies. “With] disruptions occurring all the time, humans are taking too long. . . Walmart doesn’t have the time to contact tens or thousands of suppliers.”
Siemens, a German conglomerate of industrial companies, has increased its efforts to decrease its dependency on Chinese suppliers.
Seit 2019, Siemens uses the services of Scoutbee. A Berlin-based start-up, Scoutbee launched this year a chatbot which it claims can answer requests for alternative suppliers or vulnerabilities within a user’s own supply chain. Michael Klinger is a supply-chain executive at Siemens. He said that the geopolitical element was a major topic.
Gregor Stuhler, the chief executive of Scoutbee, said that Unilever, a customer who makes Magnums and Marmite, was able to find new suppliers after China went into a lockdown due to the pandemic.
Evan Smith, CEO of New York-based Altana said that the company’s customers included Danish shipping group Maersk and the US border authority. The company scoured shipping documents, customs declarations and other data in order to create a map linking 500mn businesses globally.
Smith said that customers can use the platform, which is AI-enabled, to track products back to their suppliers in Xinjiang or to see if any of their products are used in Russian weapon systems.
You’re dealing with billions of datapoints in multiple languages. AI is the only way to work with all of that raw data.
According to a recent survey of 55 executives conducted by Freightos Logistics, 96 percent of supply chain professionals plan to use AI, but only 14 percent are already using it.
Nearly a third of respondents believed that AI would result in significant job losses for their company, highlighting concerns about the impact technology will have on job security.