GenAI for Supply Chain: A Beginner's Guide
GenAI has been a ubiquitous topic of conversation over the past six months, but when it comes to the actual implementation, details are surprisingly sparse.
How are supply chain and procurement professionals approaching the work of implementing GenAI, and what advice do they have for those just starting the journey?
One minute insights:
You’re not as far behind as you think: many organizations are still integrating GenAI, and most have been using it for less than six months
Many hands make light work: consider leveraging the power of cross-team Center of Excellence to support your GenAI roll out
The devil is in the details: respondents say unrealistic expectations and unclear goals are the primary cause of roadblocks
You don’t have to do it alone: many are turning to third party vendors for the GenAI tools they need
While GenAI is a hot topic in Supply Chain, few organizations have have a mature implementation
While only 16% of respondents have fully integrated GenAI across supply chain functions, 45% have it at least partially integrated.
Which of the following best describes your business unit's engagement with GenAI?
Among respondents who have integrated GenAI or are testing it (n=52), 81% have been using it for less than 6 months.
How long has your business unit been using GenAI?
n = 52
Note: May not add up to 100% due to rounding
Question shown only to respondents who answered “Fully integrated across all supply chain functions” to “Partially integrated across select supply chain functions” or “Testing integration before roll out” to the question “Which of the following best describes your business unit's engagement with GenAI?”
The majority of respondents (62%) are using GenAI for analytics and resource management.Which of the following high-level use cases best describes how your business unit is currently using GenAI?
Note: May not add up to 100% due to rounding
n = 52
Question shown only to respondents who answered “Fully integrated across all supply chain functions” to “Partially integrated across select supply chain functions” or “Testing integration before roll out” to the question “Which of the following best describes your business unit's engagement with GenAI?”
Can you briefly describe one of the ways your business unit has actively adopted GenAI?
We have used GenAI to run different models for potential supply chain functions. We analyze what we do and compare that to different inputs. And because we can generate so much data so quickly we are able to visualize doing things in a completely different way and see the true cost and time impact it would have on service.
It has been adopted to help with our customer support processes, it has entirely ensured that our customers receive immediate assistance, 24/7.
Supplier network optimization and proposing the best supply options
Understanding of consumption patterns to help create structures for refurbishment of raw materials and goods.
Data collection and preparation, generating forecast scenarios, risk assessment with scenarios generated
Bringing together the Supply Chain, IT and InfoSec teams in a cross-departmental Center-of-Excellence is a popular way to manage the GenAI roll out process
More than two-thirds of respondents (69%) say they leveraged a cross-departmental team or Center of Excellence for their GenAI roll out.
Did your organization leverage a cross-departmental team/Center of Excellence for your GenAI roll out?
Question shown only to respondents who answered “Fully integrated across all supply chain functions” to “Partially integrated across select supply chain functions” or “Testing integration before roll out” to the question “Which of the following best describes your business unit's engagement with GenAI?”
n = 52
Among those who have leveraged cross-departmental teams or a Center of Excellence for their GenAI roll out (n=36), 83% said the supply chain team was involved, 53% said IT was involved and 44% said InfoSec was involved.
What teams are involved in the implementation of GenAI at your organization? Select all that apply.
n = 36
Question shown only to respondents who answered “Yes” to the question “Did your organization leverage a cross-departmental team/Center of Excellence for your GenAI roll out?”
Respondents advise setting clear goals, and implementing robust training and change management programs to ensure GenAI success
When asked what roadblocks they’d advise others to watch out for, respondents most commonly selected unrealistic expectations (58%), rushing implementation (38%) and a lack of clear objectives (37%).
What roadblocks did you encounter during your GenAI implementation that you'd advise others to watch out for? Select all that apply.
Overfitting 23% | Underestimating maintenance needs 21% | Insu fficient collaboration 21% | Insuff icient data privacy and security 17% | Not outlining and addressing specific needs 17% | Insu iffcient change management 12% | Not validating outputs 10% | Neglecting ethical considerations 2% | Vendor lock-in 2% | We didn't make any mistakes during our implementation 0% | Other 0%
n = 52
Question shown only to respondents who answered “Fully integrated across all supply chain functions” to “Partially integrated across select supply chain functions” or “Testing integration before roll out” to the question “Which of the following best describes your business unit's engagement with GenAI?”
What advice would you give to a supply chain team on where to start with their GenAI implementation?
Figure out what are your long-term goals that you want to achieve with the use of GenAI, study how it aligns with your current goals.
It's important to keep an open mind and be willing to learn what AI models can teach you. You might go in with very specific goals but I promise if you have an open mind you will see new avenues open up that you did not initially envision.
Invest in training!!!
It's essential to define the goals and pain points of your organization, identify specific challenges in your supply chain that could benefit from AI-driven solutions.
Proper change management and project management are needed to have a properly personalized experience and avoid implementation delays
Start now, implementation will take a while until then enjoy lessons learned!
Proper documentation is required to be in place for efficient implementation
Many organizations are turning to third-party vendors for their analytics and resource management GenAI tools
The majority of respondents (62%) say they’re outsourcing some (27%) or all (35%) of the building of GenAI tools to vendors.
Is your business unit building GenAI tools in-house or outsourcing to vendors?
n = 52
Note: May not add up to 100% due to rounding
Question shown only to respondents who answered “Fully integrated across all supply chain functions” to “Partially integrated across select supply chain functions” or “Testing integration before roll out” to the question “Which of the following best describes your business unit's engagement with GenAI?”
Respondents who are using vendors for some of all of their GenAI tools are most commonly turning to them for analytics and resource management (75%) and process automation (56%).
Which of the following GenAI use cases is your business unit outsourcing to vendors? Select all that apply.
n = 32
Question shown only to respondents who answered “Outsourcing entirely to vendors” or “A mix of both” to the question “Which of the following GenAI use cases is your business unit outsourcing to vendors? Select all that apply.”
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Respondent breakdown
