Manufacturing logistics and procurement – August 2024

Strengthening supply chain management
WEF has published a paper (2.60 MB) on rewiring global value chains in the face of continued disruption. Global value chains continue to face challenges ranging from the climate crisis to geopolitical headwinds and next-generation technologies. Manufacturers must decide how best to reconfigure their supply chains to safeguard their operations well into the future.
DHL has published a report about how supply chain diversification is enabling organisations to increase resilience, agility, sustainability, and responsiveness for the future. This includes elements such as multi-shoring, multi-sourcing, additional modes of transport and diversified logistics operations. You can download the report after filling in your details.
In its annual report (summary, 572 kB), CSCMP offers a snapshot of the American economy via the lens of the logistics sector and its role in overall supply chains. The report is a compilation of leading logistics intelligence from around the world and shines a spotlight on industry trends and key insights on ever evolving supply chains across a number of sectors.

AI technology in production
MIT has revealed a technique for more effective multipurpose robots. With the support of generative AI models, researchers combined robotics data from different sources to help robots learn better.
Research from Accenture finds that companies with the most mature supply chains are 23% more profitable than their peers. These leaders are six times as likely to use AI and generative AI widely across their supply chains, which allows them to generate additional business value.
New analysis by McKinsey highlights the adoption, development, and industry effects of advanced technologies. The two trends that stood out in 2023 were GenAI and electrification and renewables.
According to a report (6.55 MB) by Capgemini organisations are accelerating their use of generative AI, and there has been an increase in investment in the technology over the last 12 months. The report found that 24% of organisations have integrated generative AI into some or most of their locations or functions.
A survey (486 kB) by Deloitte shows that increasing AI use across the organisation (43%) and investments in technology (37%) are the top two private company business priorities over the next 12 months.

Machine Vision to improve manufacturing
A Tarbiat Modares University study (1.11 MB) entitled ‘Machine Vision for Detecting Defects in Liquid Bottles: An Industrial Application for Food and Packaging Sector’ has been published in Cloud Computing and Data Science.
Results from VIL’s (in Dutch) Smart Vision project show that Smart Vision technologies, such as advanced cameras and smart glasses can demonstrably increase the productivity and efficiency of logistics operations. They can add value in further digitising manual processes.
A report published by Copia Automation reveals that industrial coding errors cause manufacturing shutdowns lasting 30 hours on average. Half of all downtime is caused by industrial code changes, code confusion, lack of visibility into industrial code, and issues with programmable logic controllers. You can download the report after filling in your details.
 

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