George Richter

Prospects of supply chain automation have the industry abuzz. It’s even become a major sticking point in the International Longshoremen’s Association contract negotiations with the United States Maritime Alliance. The dockworkers do not want ports to automate processes out of fear they will lose their jobs to machines. Today, there are seemingly endless possibilities for optimization. Terms like generative artificial intelligence and machine learning have become commonplace in discussions about ways to gain efficiencies and reduce costs. Can man and machine work together as businesses leverage automation for optimization? Beyond the Buzz: Understanding the Automation Imperative Machine learning, a subset of artificial intelligence (AI), is described by Business News Daily as a later-stage development in which machines take in data on their own and then analyze it. Automation, on the other hand, is fixed on repetitive tasks; after a job is performed, an automation system “thinks no further.” The Business News Daily article explained that “automation involves an entire category of technologies that provide activity or work without human involvement,” while AI involves “a machine exhibiting and practicing something similar to what we describe as human thinking – that is, the ability to interact in thousands of ways with the…

This week at Supply Chain Now has been full of great conversations and key takewaways you don’t want to miss. Check out all the latest episodes, interviews, conversations, and livestreams right here! On Saturday, Scott & Greg Chat Automotive & Leadership with Jim Liegghio & Elba Pareja-Gallagher   On Monday, Scott and Greg welcome SAP business leaders that are fueling industry 4.0, Mike Lackey and Robert Merlo, who share key takeaways from a wide variety of initiatives right here.   On Tuesday, Scott and featured guest Jonathon Karelse, CEO of Northfind Management, lead the conversation surrounding the next big idea for decision making and planning in most companies: Behavioral Economics.   On Wednesday, Scott and Greg hosted welcomed Kara Brown and Will Haraway from LeadCoverage to Supply Chain Buzz where they discussed recent developments in supply chain, key takeaways surrounding customer experience, democratization in the TMS space and technology trends.   On Thursday, Scott and Greg welcomed two business leaders from OMNIA Partners, Lisa Wittmer and Dan Grant, for a discussion on how modern GPO is future-proofing the global supply chain.   And we ended the week with an episode of TECHquila Sunrise. Featured guest Jason Perez, CEO of YARDZ,…