As part of Quest’s 2019 Cloud Webinar Series – SCM Cloud Day, Shirley Lum, Product Marketing Director at Oracle, spoke about AI and other emerging technology for supply chain management (SCM). She also covered how Oracle Platform services can make it easy for SCM to adopt exciting innovations that transform traditional business models and add unique value for both customers and employees.

Emerging Technology for Supply Chain Management

Emerging technology in today’s world allows organizations to:

• Reimagine the possibilities through simplification, enrichment, and elevation
• Optimize operations through data integration, process automation, and collaboration
• Outperform intelligently through data visualization, intelligent analytics, and extensions
• Exceed expectations through conversational UI, smart devices, and smart transactions

Emerging technologies are creating new opportunities through interfaces like AR/VR, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT). These technologies can help organizations outpace the rate of change in today’s world. By leveraging emerging technology in your organization to accelerate the pace of innovation, you will reap benefits like enriched engagement, an easy and intuitive interface, predictive insights, secure, trusted, and transparent transactions, and faster and better visual development.

Immersive Experiences

Immersive experiences can be achieved by leveraging emerging technology like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and the Internet of Things (IoT).  Virtual Reality is where the user’s reality is completely replaced with a simulated environment. Augmented Reality is where objects that reside in the real world are enhanced by computer-generated perceptual information. Internet of Things uses everyday physical devices that are connected to the internet to collect and share data.

Immersive experience opportunities are countless. You can bring content to life with AR through contextually rich and natural experiences. Enhancing mobile applications with AR to recognize objects and augment is another opportunity. Another opportunity to create immersive experiences includes extending simulations with real-time data to create a digital twin for the IoT. You could also improve usability and insights by illustrating data through immersive user interface visualizations.

Internet of Things (IoT)

Some of the new business challenges in today’s workforce include:

• Global production and distribution
• Reliance on outsourced partners
• Increased supply chain risk and volatility

These challenges demand new solutions, some of which can include:

• Real-time visibility and responsiveness in the supply chain
• Anticipating and resolving exceptions
• Managing multi-tier supply chain performance
• Getting better leverage from customer, supplier, and internal relationships

Oracle IoT Cloud includes the IoT applications and capabilities for enabling the digital thread. Connected devices and equipment provide real-time visibility and responsiveness in all of the areas of the supply chain. Analytics on IoT event streams provides insights for product improvement and predictive maintenance.

In addition, Oracle IoT Cloud applications make IoT signals actionable. The IoT Cloud Platform is designed to connect, analyze, integrate, and learn. Some examples of actions that result from IoT signals include:

• Asset Monitoring: Monitor assets, their health, utilization, and availability through Asset Monitoring
• Production Monitoring: Monitor manufacturing equipment and production line monitoring and prognostics
• Fleet Monitoring: Monitor shipments, fleet vehicles, driver behavior, and costs
• Connected Worker: Enhances worker safety through monitoring of workers and environment
• Monitor Connected Assets: Automate asset monitoring and customer service to enhance customer experience

Digital Assistants

Digital assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Siri, and Microsoft Cortana provide support services virtually using voice, text, or gestures to answer questions, perform actions, and make recommendations. Digital assistants are made smarter by using advanced natural language processing (NLP) algorithms and AI. Lum explained that by 2021, there will be an estimated 1.8 billion assistant users and a $16 billion market size.

There are at least four different areas for opportunity and growth in regard to digital assistants.

1. Deliver rich conversational experiences: Oracle’s own AI voice is working on delivering rich conversational experiences through natural conversation.
2. Be a true assistant for the user: Providing a digital assistant that has knowledge, memory, and reasoning allows it to be a true assistant to the user.
3. Understand users: Digital assistants can understand the user through behaviors, preferences, and proactively take action simulations with real-time data.
4. Channel agnostic: Digital assistants can serve multi-channel across public and private messaging and voice channels to channel agnostic.

Digital assistants can be leveraged within any of the Oracle applications that customers might be using. Skills are provided within SCM, ERP, HCM, CX, and third-party applications. Once digital assistants are configured to fit your business needs, they can be dispersed into conversational channels. Being used through conversational channels allows the user to use multiple skills without opening new tabs.

Blockchain

Blockchain is an incorruptible, distributed ledger that enables trusted and transparent business transactions. It provides a single source of truth among parties who may not fully trust each other – without the overhead of intermediaries. In its May 2018 edition, Inc Magazine wrote, “Blockchain technology will improve all industries. Supply chains will enjoy a boost in performance that’s comparable to the change from hand-written paperwork to electronic databases.”

There are numerous opportunities that result from leveraging blockchain, including:

• Real-time visibility in business networks: Ability to provide a single source of truth in diverse partner ecosystems
• Trusted transactions: Speed up business with no intermediaries and a reduced need for reconciliations
• Automate validations and business events: Use smart contracts to enforce SLAs and trigger events
• Tamper-proof transaction history: Replace audit, reduce fraud, and improve transparency and traceability

Oracle Blockchain solutions can be leveraged on the platform or in applications. In the platform, the user is ready to build. It is a fully managed enterprise-grade Cloud platform that leverages the latest open-source innovations. The platform also enables rapid experimentation and production readiness. In applications, the user is ready to go. Applications are built for business users and provide intuitive dashboards. They use case-specific solutions and have faster business outcomes across a blockchain network.

Conclusion

Unleash your innovations by leveraging emerging technology in supply chain management on Oracle Cloud. Oracle Cloud is ready to use in order to deliver solutions that are designed by domain experts with no risk and are focused on immediate business value. Emerging technology in Oracle Cloud provides open development and efficiency that provides integrated tools and frameworks and delivers holistic and integrated platforms. Oracle Cloud emerging technologies also optimize enterprise infrastructure by being purpose-built for solution areas and designed for enterprise throughput, peak and price performance.

For more information about emerging technology for supply chain management, check out the SCM Cloud Day presentation and additional resources attached below. To access all of the session recordings from SCM Cloud Day and the rest of the series, check out the 2019 Cloud Webinar Series landing page.