By all means, consider embracing technology to supercharge all aspects of your supply chain. But never underestimate the power of human-driven partnerships to yield the best and most valuable results.

An OMS should enable granular decision-making based on eligibility, labor availability, replenishment windows and SKU velocity.

With global trade frictions and rapid policy shifts set to continue, companies can no longer afford to treat tariffs as a short-term challenge

Even traditional automation of assigning HS codes, in the form of digitally stored and searchable codes, is of limited utility. Enter artificial intelligence.

Goldman-Sachs predicts that AI will drive a 160% increase in data center power demand by 2030, and require an estimated $720 billion in upgrades to global power grids to account for that growth.

Without access to sales trends, the supplier can’t see actual demand, making it difficult to respond quickly to changes and forcing them to hold excess inventory as a “safety buffer.”

Companies will need to implement powerful governance frameworks, invest in training, and ensure transparency in AI-driven processes.

Demand-sensing is important, and is much improved by AI. But pricing and inventory modeling are important too.

The challenge for manufacturers of complex configurable products is that configurable options and rules are defined in multiple systems. 

Supply chain leaders interested in implementing AI agents should start with clearly defined, limited-scope projects addressing specific pain points.