{Super SCM Makers} ABFRL: Optimizing Supply Chain with AI & Analytics

Swaminathan Ramachandran, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail said that in the future, technology and supply chain will be intertwined and become the key pillars that drive supply chain sustainability and effectiveness. Therefore, organizations must begin to focus on building a digital shadow/footprint throughout the supply chain. This will serve as the foundation for introducing technologies across the chain that use digital twins to become smarter and more effective.

“It is also important not to implement technology for the sake of technology, but rather to align efforts with the organization’s goals,” he asserts.

Maintaining an Efficient Supply Chain

ABFRL follows these three practices for an efficient supply chain:

• One key initiative is using Artificial Intelligence to detect demand. It is important in fashion forecasting to get the demand projection right. The brand’s recent initiatives to deploy AI for demand sensing have the potential to significantly improve its performance.
• Its preproduction lead time has substantially improved with 3D modeling in design and preproduction.
• Create a supply chain that is agile and flexible.

“One of the main challenges in supply chain management is the siloed functional approach that optimizes each function rather than the entire chain. I have focused on aligning functions and goals with the organizational goals, and bringing the teams together to share a common view of the performance,” explained Ramachandran.

Top Supply Chain Trends

Building Agility in the Supply Chain: Forecasting demand accurately is becoming increasingly challenging in the VUCA era. It is critical that organizations develop the capability to respond to demand signals with agility.

Digitization: The digitization of the supply chain provides organizations with capabilities that were previously unthinkable. Organizations can be smart, sustainable, and efficient as a result of digitization and artificial intelligence.

Sustainable Supply Chain: One of the most important trends is making products and operations more sustainable. Introducing greener products and decarbonizing our value chain are some of the most important tasks ahead.