The 2024 Agility Index research study from Epicor and Nucleus Research reveals that nearly half of surveyed companies across the make, move, and sell industries cited concern over escalating costs as the foremost challenge confronting supply chains.
To address these challenges, more than half of the companies are already using artificial intelligence, automation, or machine learning for at least one supply chain management application.
Among businesses experiencing revenue growth of 20% or more over the past three years, 63% have already integrated generative AI into their respective supply chain operations to manage cost and operational challenges.
According to Vaibhav Vohra, chief product and technology officer at Epicor, "When workers are empowered to spend more time innovating—what humans do best—that's where the real value creation happens. That is agility."
The 2024 Agility Index underscores the growing adoption of AI and other automation technologies as an essential factor in enabling supply chain businesses to better thrive and compete. These cognitive capabilities are coming together to empower workers and their businesses to more readily adapt to shifting market conditions and better serve their customers.
The survey respondents indicated that they are integrating generative AI into digital supply chain operations across various functions such as product descriptions, customer service chatbots, natural language querying, reporting, and in-application assistance.
Additionally, 67% of organisations currently employ generative AI for crafting product descriptions, and 45% and 40% are implementing machine learning in inventory optimisation and demand forecasting, respectively.
The greatest hope for the impact of automation technologies lies in increased efficiency and productivity (32%), cost savings (26%), and improved supply chain automation (23%).
