TECHNOLOGY
Innovative
approaches How smart wearables, IoT and AI-powered software can enable and enhance remote operations across the supply chain. By Rami Darwish
A
painful experience from more than two years of worldwide disruption is identifying the vulnerability of the supply chain model that was shaped by past globalization. While by the end of 2021 more than half of office workers had relocated their workstations to their homes to keep up productivity even during a pandemic, it is the digitization of deskless workers – comprising about 80 per cent of the global workforce – that is now moving into the focus of public attention. How to make global supply chains more resilient? With exogenous shocks expected to occur – Covid-19 and the invasion of Ukraine just being the most recent examples – enhancing supply chain operation’s efficiency, adaptability and nimbleness is imperative for companies who want to navigate the new reality of a less predictable global market. Employing smart solutions in workflow management of field services is a crucial aspect of achieving the efficiency gains necessary to profit in this challenging environment. The awareness that smart wearables, IoT- and AI-powered software can open new sources of revenue in industries traditionally constituting the backbone of supply chains – manufacturing, oil & gas, logistics, infrastructure, raw materials, maritime or construction – has enticed a wave of technological advances.
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