• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile

  • CORONAVIRUS
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Supply Chains in Crisis
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • REGIONS
    • Asia Pacific
    • Canada
    • China
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East/Africa
    • North America
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Q&A | The New World of 'Software Intelligence'
Video

Q&A | The New World of 'Software Intelligence'

July 23, 2019
SupplyChainBrain

Spencer Askew, chief executive officer with Teknowlogi, offers his definition of the term "software intelligence," and discusses how it enables new developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning.

SCB: How would you define “software intelligence”?
Askew: As we look across the supply chain, we recognize that being able to harness decades of knowledge into the DNA of a software platform, to help organizations move forward with the next-generation supply chain, has become a critical path for organizations.
SCB: How do you go from software as a series of codes to this whole concept of intelligence? At what point does the system actually become intelligent?
Askew: There are tools around machine learning, but we also need to be able to transfer head knowledge from an industry expert into the DNA of the software, to help the company make better and more proactive business decisions.
SCB: Is the term “head knowledge” synonymous with expert systems, which have been a key element in the development of artificial intelligence over the years?
Askew: Absolutely. The application of intelligence is contextualizing information that resides within organizations, and converting it to tasks and recommendations that benefit the organization's profitability. We call it a logistics expert system, or LES. We want everybody in the industry to think beyond a WMS [warehouse management system] or TMS [transportation management system], with bits and bytes of functionality.
SCB: At what point does the system start making decisions, instead of just recommendations for humans to execute?

Askew: It's like climbing a mountain. Part of the issue in A.I. and machine learning is the trust factor. A lot of times organizations don't want to dive in head first. You want to combine user intelligence with machine intelligence – we use the term applied intelligence – to move from predictive to prescriptive capabilities.

SCB: It’s interesting you used the word trust. Does the human user understand how the system came to a particular conclusion? Or is there just a “black box” in the middle?

Askew: The user doesn't necessarily know how the machine came to the prescriptive recommendation, but the user cares about the results. It’s about trust initially, but what you're really evaluating is whether the machine produced better business outcomes. A user can understand and comprehend that. It's kind of like digging a ditch. Would you rather do it with a shovel, or would you like a machine to help you? You don't necessarily know how all the components work, but if you can see it working and you can see the results, you’ll come to trust the machine to make better business decisions on the organization's behalf.
SCB: Does this lead us to assume that in the future, the percentage of decisions made by the machine versus those by humans is going to increase?
Askew: We see that evolution. It’s a mindset shift to change the trajectory of how organizations across the supply chain evaluate their systems. They need to ask themselves, Is my software more intelligent than my users? We see a future where the machine, the software and the platforms are able to make better decisions. When you can pool all of the data from a WMS, TMS and ERP [enterprise resource planning system], and have an intelligent application analyze that data, advise the user, and help execute decisions, then that's a world where I think we're going to see some gained efficiencies.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Technology Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain) Transportation Management Supply Chain Planning & Optimization Supply Chain Visibility Artificial Intelligence Quality & Metrics Warehouse Management Systems
KEYWORDS artificial intelligence Data Management (Big Data/IOT/Blockchain) ERP & Enterprise Systems SC Planning & Optimization Supply Chain Visibility transportation management system warehouse management system
  • Related Articles

    Q&A | A Vision of the Supply Chain of the Future

    Q&A | The Evolution of Supply-Chain Optimization Software

  • Related Directories

    Kuebix

    SnapFulfil

    Parsyl

SupplyChainBrain

NRF Supply Chain 360: A Preview

More from this author

Wake up to live
“Supply Chains in Crisis”
updates and the latest Supply Chain News!

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • Warehouse worker

    Why Higher Wages Alone Won’t Solve the Supply Chain Labor Shortage

    Warehousing
  • Adidas

    From Sneakers to Teslas, China Lockdowns Upend Global Supply Chains

    Coronavirus
  • Mobile App

    Podcast | Companies Are on a Shopping Spree for Supply Chain Software

    Technology
  • ESG Guide

    Confronting the ESG Imperative in Supply Chains

  • SEC building seal

    Get Ready for the Next Phase of ESG: Mandatory Corporate Due Diligence

    Regulation & Compliance

Digital Edition

Scb feb 2022 sm

2022 Supply Chain Management Resource Guide

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • 3PL Doubles Productivity With Robots to Fulfill Medical Supply Orders

  • E-Commerce Company Cuts Order Fulfillment Time by 40%

  • Fashion Retailer Halves Fulfillment Time With Omichannel Automation

  • Distributor Scales Business by Integrating Warehouse Automaton Software

  • Fast-Growing Fashion Brand Scales E-Commerce Fulfillment With Whiplash

Visit Our Sponsors

Yang Ming Alithya Barcoding
Blue Yonder BNSF Logistics Generix
GEP GIB USA GreyOrange
Here Honeywell Intelligrated Inmar
Keelvar Kinaxis Korber
Liberty SBF Locus Robotics Lucas Systems
Nvidia Old Dominion Parsyl
Redwood Logistics Saddle Creek Logistics Schneider Dedicated
Setlog Holding AG Ship4WD Shipwell
Tecsys TGW Systems Thomson Reuters
Tive Trailer Bridge Vecna Robotics
Whiplash    
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright ©2022 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing