As a supply chain professional with over a decade of experience, I‘ve seen firsthand how complex and vulnerable modern supply networks have become. Globalization means more opportunities for disruptions to reverberate across entire value chains.
That‘s why over 70% of enterprises are initiating automation projects according to Gartner. However, siloed, uncoordinated automation yields limited benefits.
True supply chain resilience requires a strategy of hyperautomation – combining technologies like AI, RPA, IoT sensors, and more to automate processes holistically.
In this post, I‘ll share my insider perspective on how hyperautomation can drive major improvements across five key areas of supply chain management in 2024:
1. Boost Productivity Through Back-Office Automation
Back-office document processing makes up over 60% of typical supply chain work. Manually handling invoices, shipping notices, purchase orders, and other documents is incredibly tedious, expensive, and prone to human error.
For example, processing a single invoice manually costs $15-40 and takes up to 25 days on average (sources: Adobe, G2).
With an average of over 200 invoices processed per month in typical supply chains, those costs and delays quickly add up.
However, the unstructured data in these documents makes basic automation ineffective. The solution lies in combining intelligent technologies like:
- RPA – Automating repetitive human tasks
- AI – Extracting data and understanding document context
- OCR – Turning scanned documents into machine-readable data
- Process Mining – Mapping processes to identify automation opportunities
Together, these technologies enable intelligent document processing (IDP) to automate complex back-office supply chain processes like:
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Document Processing – AI can extract relevant info from invoices, shipping notices, etc and input that data directly into company systems. This slashes processing costs by over 80%.
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Inventory Management – Bots can track stock levels across locations, predict optimal quantities, and even automatically reorder items when needed. One food distributor achieved over $8 million in cost savings from automating reorder points.
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Customer Service – Chatbots can instantly respond to shipping inquiries, send status updates, and answer frequently asked questions. Implementing conversational AI drove a 20% increase in customer satisfaction scores for one retailer.
Back-office automation can free up employees for higher value work and significantly boost productivity. One analysis shows a 200-800% ROI from automating key order-to-cash processes (source: McKinsey).
For more details, check out my in-depth guide on supply chain back-office automation.
2. Increase Visibility Through Data Integration
As a supply chain leader, visibility has always been my top priority. Real-time tracking of inventory and shipments enables me to identify issues, mitigate risks, and delight customers with fast deliveries.
Unfortunately, research shows only 21% of supply chain professionals have end-to-end visibility across their network (source: Gartner). Limited visibility leads to $1.6 trillion in excess inventory across supply chains according to IHL Group.
Based on my experience, hyperautomation can close these blindspots by seamlessly integrating data across technologies like:
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IoT Sensors – Track real-time product locations, condition, delays and more. Walmart saw 16% faster delivery times after implementing IoT.
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Digital Twin – A virtual "copy" of the supply chain that ingests sensor data and provides simulation and forecasting. Companies using digital twins report around 10% of improved service levels.
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Integrated Systems – Break silos and enable partners to share timely data and coordinate responses via APIs. Unilever improved demand forecast accuracy by 18% through better systems integration according to Harvard Business Review.
As supply chains continue to expand globally, harnessing hyperautomation strategies for end-to-end visibility will only become more crucial. See my complete guide to increasing supply chain visibility for more details.
3. Improve Forecasting Through AI and ML
In my experience, accurate demand forecasting is one of the most impactful yet challenging aspects of supply chain management. Even minor forecast inaccuracies lead to costly excess or insufficient inventory.
That‘s why Gartner predicts 50% of supply chain organizations will invest in advanced analytics for forecasting by 2024 (source: Gartner).
The key is leveraging real-time data from IoT sensors and digital twins and feeding it into machine learning algorithms. This enables more granular and accurate predictions around:
- Demand changes – By location, product, time period
- Pricing fluctuations
- Equipment failures – Enabling predictive maintenance
- Promotions/discounts – Adjust inventory accordingly
One food manufacturer achieved 99.7% forecast accuracy using IoT and AI, leading to a 17% reduction in inventory costs.
Bots can also monitor these forecasts and trigger automated actions like order replenishment when certain thresholds are reached. Overall, AI and ML can minimize guesswork and empower data-driven supply chain planning.
For more on applying AI for demand forecasting, see my articles on demand forecasting and predictive maintenance.
4. Increase Sustainability Through Optimization
Supply chains account for over 80% of greenhouse gas emissions according to the World Economic Forum. With consumers and regulators demanding sustainability, optimization is crucial.
The real-time visibility and forecasting accuracy enabled by hyperautomation directly support these efforts:
- Optimized inventory – reduces waste by 10-30%
- Route optimization – reduces mileage and emissions by 8-15%
- Predictive maintenance – decreases machine downtime by 8-12%
Walmart estimated that improving fleet efficiency through route optimization could save 100 million gallons of fuel. Better demand signals also minimize overproduction and unsold inventory.
I‘ve also seen sensors effectively track energy and water usage patterns in warehouses to identify savings opportunities. Overall, hyperautomation strategies align sustainability with cost efficiency – a win-win outcome.
For more details, see my full guide on using hyperautomation to improve supply chain sustainability.
5. Enhance Customer Experiences
Ultimately, all supply chain improvements must translate into superior customer experiences. Hyperautomation enables this through:
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Faster delivery – Optimized inventory and logistics speeds up order fulfillment by 15-30%.
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Real-time tracking – IoT sensors provide up-to-the-minute shipment locations and status.
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Proactive communication – Chatbots instantly notify customers of delays or issues.
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Instant support – Bots can answer questions, reschedule deliveries, and handle returns 24/7.
In fact, 63% of customers expect instant, self-service support options from brands (source: Salesforce). AI-powered chatbots meet this demand.
One retailer saw online sales increase by 4.5% after launching a conversational commerce chatbot. Read more in my guide on supply chain customer service chatbots.
Getting Started With Hyperautomation
In today‘s complex, global supply chains, siloed automation provides limited benefits. True transformation requires an integrated approach combining:
- Process intelligence
- RPA
- AI and advanced analytics
- IoT and digital twins
- Data integration
Together, these technologies enable comprehensive hyperautomation to optimize productivity, visibility, sustainability and customer experiences.
To recap, hyperautomation drives value across supply chains by:
- Optimizing productivity
- Increasing visibility
- Improving forecast accuracy
- Enhancing sustainability
- Delivering superior customer experiences
Want to get started with supply chain hyperautomation? Browse my guide to top intelligent automation software solutions. Or see my hand-picked list of supply chain technologies.
I hope this article provided valuable insights into hyperautomation‘s immense potential for supply chain leaders. Please reach out if you have any other questions – I‘m always happy to chat more!