CeMAT Insider

The industrial internet of things (IIoT) is a hot topic in manufacturing and supply chain management, promising real-time visibility of the entire supply chain through a vast network of advanced sensors, thereby supplying invaluable insights that can be used to optimise processes and workflows across the business.

In a challenging economic retail climate, there is one retailer that is crushing sales and swooping in for global domination. You may have heard of the international giant Zara, but if you haven’t, their supply chain management strategy is worth noting.

Many supply chain professionals are on the cusp of an existential crisis; automate or become extinct. However, looking for the right technologies and building a fully automated and intelligent supply chain is a colossal task to say the least.

Self-driving cars are inevitable. Well at least according to futurist and Google’s Director of Engineering, Ray Kurzweil.

Those already on the bandwagon know that Gartner wasn’t far off when they stated: “now is the time for digital transformation”. Across the globe, business leaders are introducing digital initiatives to ensure their organisation doesn’t fall into a technology chasm.

New research has revealed that grocery retailers in the UK are struggling to meet customer requirements and are at risk of failing to deliver on their brand expectations.

Sounds like a retailers worst nightmare, so what’s the cause behind this? Retailers say it comes down to poor-decision making and legacy supply chain infrastructure.

Ideas like Truck Uber are so simple in design, but they make a world of difference to the industry. Uber Trucking connects shippers with nearby trucks in the US, and it’s been astoundingly successful because it’s modelled off an already successful idea; Uber.

It’s not new that highways in the sky will soon be an incredible force in our automated logistics future, but as with everything, the devil is in the detail.

Digitally-enabled technologies are drawing attention across industry because of the value they provide users. The nexus between products like smart cars, and data tools and analytics technologies, has spurred innovation within Industrie 4.0, and it's gaining global attention.

“What do we need to do to help customers face the challenge of omni-channel?”

Michael Kemeny, Business Area Manager – Australia at Knapp posed this question at the CeMAT Knowledge Theatre to demonstrate the importance of placing customer demands at the heart of logistics automation.