TECHNICAL & LEGISLATIVE update

The following article has kindly been provided by one of our members, Trade Interchange.

Artificial intelligence: the smart supply chain

Artificial intelligence already features in our daily lives often without us realising it; Google’s predictive searches, online maps and directions, Siri and Netflix recommendations are all the result of artificial intelligence. 50%* of companies already use AI within their business, however the speed with which new technology emerges suggests those not embracing artificial intelligence and its benefits could easily be left behind.

Media attention largely portrays AI as a force for good, able to predict heart attacks** five years in advance and revolutionise the health sector. While the majority of AI is as yet futuristic idealism, it can be implemented within your business to ensure supplier compliance and adherence to company and government legislation. AI can help to reduce supply chain risk and create a first line of checks for key documents, instilling confidence in the information and certificates uploaded by the supplier.

ARCUS® SIM is Trade Interchange’s supplier information management module, part of the ARCUS® Supply family, which uses built-in artificial intelligence to verify the accuracy of key documents uploaded by the supplier at the point of submission. AI’s machine learning functionally in SIM contextualises documents within the system, with a 99.5% accuracy rate.

Using SIM, responsibility is placed on the supplier to upload all company and government specific information which is then centrally stored, providing key stakeholders with remote access to all documents at any time. SIM’s artificial intelligence checks key documents and industry specific accreditations at the point of upload, verifying

48 | insurance documents, health and safety certificates and modern slavery statements to ensure they are correct and valid, while matching other previously gathered information.

If there are any inaccuracies or inconsistencies within the document, the supplier will be alerted before being given the opportunity to change the document. If the supplier decides to proceed regardless, an automatic alert will be sent to the company which they supply, allowing the appropriate professional to prioritise erroneous documents for review. This increases the confidence in documents uploaded by suppliers, reducing risk, creating an auditable system and ensuring there is evidence of due diligence.

Trade Interchange’s survey of managers and above working in UK food and drink companies shows 68% of managers do not currently use artificial intelligence in a significant way within their organisation. With the remainder considering AI to be an integral part of their company, there is an opportunity for some companies to grow far faster than others based on their confidence in suppliers, protection from risk, accuracy of information and automatic prioritisation of documents.

Artificial intelligence can revolutionise the supply chain, a sector which has thus far not benefitted from the advantages of industry specific software systems. Trade Interchange’s survey found that, as a result of the lack of solutions within the industry, 32% of businesses still use paper-based systems to manage their supplier information, while another 33% use simple spreadsheets. While it is necessary to gather large amounts of documents and information to be confident in the supply chain, this method of supply chain management can be time-consuming and tedious, resulting in silos of information and no single source of data. Using SIM’s built-in artificial intelligence, the process of collecting documents can be automated, reducing the time it takes to chase information and allowing the appropriate professional to prioritise documents for review.

Numerous staff within businesses spend far more time than necessary using these paper-based systems; Trade Interchange’s study found employees, on average, spend the equivalent to almost 163 weeks per year on supply chain tasks, which can be easily automated using artificial intelligence. 48% of those surveyed believe assessing supplier and contractual risk takes up the most time, which is yet another process which can be easily automated using SIM.

Using AI to help manage supply chains not only saves time and money, but also increases the accuracy of information which can help protect your brand from risk and instil confidence in your suppliers’ documents.

By eliminating the need to rekey data, information held on suppliers is far more likely to be accurate. A detailed, cloud-based system allows companies to prove due diligence has been employed throughout their supply chain, minimising the potential risk of noncompliant, unethical, or uninsured suppliers. SIM automates compliance with industry, government and company legislation, ensuring suppliers have correct and valid certificates qualifying themselves and their

sites. Furthermore, automatic reminders sent before a document or certificate is due to expire ensures compliance throughout the supply chain, which can easily be overlooked using paper-based systems.

Trade Interchange can help your business reduce risk in the supply chain by using artificial intelligence to verify suppliers’ key documents at the point of upload. The ARCUS® software can provide the resources necessary to deliver supply base confidence through a streamlined solution.

For more information about how Trade Interchange can use AI to help reduce risk, please visit us at www.tradeinterchange.com/bfff or call us on 03333209933.