5 Ways Augmented Reality Is Disrupting the Supply Chain
An article that appeared on Fortune.com on March 1 2018 by Jay Samit, tells us 5 ways in which augmented reality is disrupting the supply chain.
Businesses involved in supply chain activities account for 7.5% of US GDP. Because of the high costs of moving goods, corporations are always on the lookout to save money in addition to improving service. Emerging technology may be an answer.
Augmented reality will now help truck drivers, warehouse workers, and management keep track of products from the second they leave the factory until the moment they arrive at your door.
Using sensors on packaging, company managers will be able to perform advanced analysis of how a company’s products are doing. In real-time, a factory can increase or decrease production based on that day’s sales at thousands of retail locations. Data scientists working on the digital supply chain can generate new insights from their products regardless of whether the shipment is sitting in the back of a delivery truck or on a distributor’s warehouse shelf. If sales are as robust as forecast, manufacturers can cut losses by making fewer products and redistributing items to where the demand is.
With over one billion AR-enabled smartphones and tablets already in use, companies don’t have to wait for low-cost augmented reality glasses to start reaping the benefits of augmented reality.
The 5 ways in which AR is transforming the supply chain into a nimble tool for global distribution are listed below and explored in detail in the full article:
1) Pick-and-Pack Services
2) Collaborative Robotics
3) Maintenance
4) Last Mile Delivery
5) Procurement
Big data drives the decision making behind the world’s distribution of products throughout the supply chain. Augmented reality is now poised to exponentially increase the speed at which data can be analyzed and acted on. The insights augmented reality bring to the supply chain can be used to power the next generation of the supply chain, which will feature autonomous vehicles and delivery drones.
The author of the article, Jay Samit is independent vice chairman of Deloitte’s Digital Reality practice and author of the bestselling book “Disrupt You!”