Technology in Supply Chain Management

Technology in supply chain
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Institution
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Executive Summary
This report explores the use of
modern technology in supply chain
management. Supply chain management
involves the handling of supplies, raw
materials, and finished products in the
process that runs from the supplier through
the manufacturing process and the
distribution chain to the consumer. The
methods can be improved and optimized
through the use of innovative technology.
This report explores the technology behind
the use of robotics drones and
implementation. The report further gives a
summary of examples of companies that use
this technology and explains how robots and
drones can be used in supply chain
management.
Introduction
In an attempt to reduce the costs of
production and the costs of delivery,
companies have spearheaded innovation and
creativity to enable them to automate the
process of production. The technology is
being adopted in many production firms to
manage inventory to conduct material
handling and even to handle some of the
steps in the production process. adoptions
rates are shown in data attached in
appendices. Companies are transiting
towards industry 4.0, which is an era of
completely autonomous production systems
with high efficiencies and very low
expenditure [1]. The same technology can
be adapted to run supply chains to the extent
that makes them more reliable and stable
without the errors associated with human
accountability.

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Technology
Robot technology is the technology
of creating and using machines that are
programmable by computers to perform a
complicated series of actions without the
input of a human entity. Robots are either
controlled by control chips embedded in
their design or by an external control center
connected via wired or wireless networks.
The robot can take shape and form of a
human being, but most of them are designed
for action regardless of their aesthetics.
Robots are either fully automated or semi-
autonomous. The technology and science
that is concerned with the design and
construction of robots is robotics.
Robotic technology ranges from
simple tasks such as pushing a component
along a production line at specified speeds
to manipulating the shape of a component
along the production line. Robots are
replacing humans to do tasks that are often
performed in hazardous environments and
tasks in which humans are limited due to
size and force requirements. Some scientists
consider this a case of technological
unemployment, while others find it a relief
for persons working in extreme conditions
[2].
There are two major methods to
develop the knowledge and science of
robotics. The first is evolutionary robotics,
in which a number of robot designs are
modeled and subjected to tests. From the
range of models tested, the model that
performs best is used as a foundation for
subsequent generations of robots. The other
method id developmental robotics; this
method monitors the changes within a single
line of models in the critical areas of
concern such as performance optimization,
problem-solving, and other individual
functions. The advancement of robotics
further sees the development of a new
operating system called robot operating
system.

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Drone technology, on the other hand,
is concerned with uncrewed flying vehicles.
Drones are commonly known as Unmanned
Aerial vehicles (UAV). The basic technique
of a drone is the incorporation of a ground-
based piloting system with an airborne
vehicle irrespective of size. Drones could be
semi-autonomous, meaning they have an
aspect of human control or fully
autonomous, meaning they are controlled by
onboard computer systems or ground-based
computer systems.
Drone technology is divided into
several major categories. Research and
development drones are used in the
improvement of UAV sciences. Civil and
commercial drones are used in aerial
photography, data collection, and
agriculture. Combat, target and decoy
drones are used in the military to surveil
enemies or provide aerial support to ground
troops.
Internet of Things is the integration
of computing devices, digital equipment and
mechanical settings and special unique
identifiers to create a capacity for transfer
and sharing of data in real time without
engaging a human interface. The use of
Internet Protocol address to transfer data
over wide area networks, the use of
microchips and sensors to monitor real time
parameters and communicate to the
managing human interface whenever there is
need. The Internet of things is basically an
information monitoring and control system
that can be integrated in businesses to
improve performance and efficiency.
Implementation of Robotics, IoT and
Drone Technology in Business.
Within a company, there are
hundreds of stakeholders who are likely to
be affected by the implementation of
robotics in the company. It is, therefore,
necessary to solicit company-wide support

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and consultation. The company needs to be
fully involved in the integration process.
The next step in the implementation
of the technology is the determination of
success measures. These are guiding
principles that will be used to judge the
success of the technology. Performance
costs involve the efficiency of the
conversion of raw materials to a valuable
product. The goal of technology is to reduce
the cost of production per unit, and therefore
the change in production cost should be
included as a measure of success. Besides
setting the success of measures, the
concerned should set standards that will be
used to determine failure and the decisions
variable upon which choice of whether to
continue with implementation will be made
[3].
The most important thing for
implementation is the use of customized
designs. The operating principles of the
drones and robots could be the same, but the
specifics of operations could be different.
Therefore, every company planning to
implement such technology in its operations
should go through the design process all the
way from the first to the last step. Given that
no business uses the exact same processes as
another one, it means that every company
must implement custom tweaks for the
technology to work effectively [5, 6].
IoT is implemented through the use
of smart devices, embedded systems ,
sensors and processors, software’s and
applications and communication hardware at
all stations of the business [6]. These
devices and processors are connected via
networks which can be wired or wireless to
collect ,process data and send it to the
network from their locations or operation
centers, the devices also receive data from
other and process the same to display or use
in the analysis and operation at their
stations. The sent data can be used over the
cloud or on locally installed platforms

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through a web-based gateway. The use of
IOT is largely dependent on the web-based
applications running in a particular system.
The company seeking to implement IOT
must therefore endeavor to develop
applications that can manipulate and manage
information in a way that is very specific to
the company. In IoT , the sensors and
devices serve to collect data but the
processing and manipulation of the data is
done by software applications that run in the
hardware.
Use of Drones, IoT and Robots In Supply
chain management
The concept of using drones in
manufacturing, distribution chains, and
warehousing is gaining popularity in many
supply chains, mostly to aid work-in-process
inventory management [7, 8].
Researchers have found that drones
have the capacity to track inventory
anonymously. The combination of RFID,
IoT, and barcodes combined can equip
drones with the capacity to take inventory
on a scheduled or random basis [9, 10]. In
light of these, Walmart stores are using
drones to monitor inventory. In the same
concept, drones can move small size items,
and this eliminates the necessity of heavy
forklifts in warehouses. Walmart has tested
and approved the use of UAVs to take
inventory [9]. Proper inventory keeping
crucial for the success of a supply chain.
The use of drome in inventory management,
therefore, improves the dependability and
reliability of a supply chain [11].
In supply chain logistics, the last
chain is always the most challenging and
most expensive undertaking. Shipping
companies such as FedEx and UPS have
conceptualized the use of drones to provide
Realtime information on traffic and use the
information to optimize their routing options
[9]. Multinational companies such as
Google, Amazon, and DHL are developing
drones that can deliver a customer’s orders

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to their doorstep. In the endeavor to use
drones for the delivery of orders and cargo,
Boeing has developed a UAV that has the
capacity to carry up to 500 pounds in
luggage. The company plans to establish a
large-scale cargo service that provides
service to deliver solutions through the use
of autonomous aircraft [9]. Companies are
using drones and robots for logistics, which
ensures the delivery part of the supply chain
is sustainable.
Drones are also being used to assist
customers in stores to locate the products
they are searching for. Lowe introduced the
LoweBot in its San Francisco stores [12]. In
these stores, the customers find the items
they want to buy by speaking to a robot or
using a touch feature. Best Buy and par
Systems partnered up to build a robot code-
named Chloe, a robot that is used to retrieve
items from shelves for customers. These
robots help improve service delivery and
customer satisfaction in a supply chain. In
New Zealand, an autonomous drone named
Domino’s Robotic Unit is used to bring the
store to the customer [12]. All these work
towards realizing 100% customer
satisfaction and reducing the complexities
associated with last-mile delivery.
Amazon is using IoT to manage its e-
commerce platform whereby customers can
order products and monitor shipping
progress through a web-based platform [12].
This improves convenience for the client
and makes the supply chain more reliable.
This is achieved through the integration of
GPS technology in logistics. Maersk Line,
one of the leading logistics companies in the
world partnered with Ericson’s to enable
real time monitoring across is entire fleet
using mobile and communications satellite
built and managed by Ericson’s [12]. This
technology enables Maersk monitor vital
statistics and conditions of containers and
orders in transit. Volvo is using cloud based
IoT to support logistics in ordering from

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foreign countries to shipping of products to
suppliers across the whole world. This helps
in material planning and supply chain
improvement especially in speed and
reliability of delivery. Decathlon is using the
track and trace functionality of IoT in
conjunction with RFID to ensue products are
delivered to vendors with 100% efficiency
[12].
Conclusion
Autonomous machines and vehicles
are slowly becoming the norm of today's
logistics and supply chains. The proper
implementation of robotic technology and
drone technology can see the supply chain
become a more efficient system at lower
costs and with improved delivery.
References

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[1] B. Tjahjono, C. Esplugues, E. Ares and G. Pelaez, "What does industry 4.0
mean to supply chain?," Procedia Manufacturing, pp. 1175-1182, 2017.
[2] A. V. Wynsberghe, "Drones in humanitarian contexts, robot ethics, and the
human–robot interaction," Ethics and Information Technology, pp. 43-53,
2020.
[3] E. Companik, M. J. Gravier, I. Farris and M. Theodore, "Feasibility of
warehouse drone adoption and implementation," Journal of Transportation
Management, p. 5, 2018.
[4] M. Wilson, Implementation Of Robot Systems: An introdcution to Robotics,
Automation, and Succesful Systems Integration in Manufacturing, 2015.
[5] M. J. Liberatore and J. O'Neil, "Planning Succesful Robotics Implementation,"
Journal Of Operations Management.
[6] J. B. Acieta, "5 steps torobot Implementation Success," 12 December 2017.
[Online]. Available: https://www.plantengineering.com/articles/5-steps-to-
robot-implementation-success/.
[7] K. Ghaffarzadeh, "New Robotics and Drones 2018-2038: Technologies,
Forecasts, Players," [Online]. Available:
https://www.idtechex.com/en/research-report/new-robotics-and-drones-2018-
2038-technologies-forecasts-players/584.
[8] t. krajnik, V. Vonasek, D. Fiser and J. Faigl, "AR-Drone as a Platform for
Robotic Research and Education," Communications in Computer and

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Information Science , pp. 172-186, 2011.
[9] M. Doyle, "The Impact Of Drones On Suppply Chain Management," 2018.
[Online]. Available:
https://www.americanexpress.com/us/foreign-exchange/articles/drones-impact-
supply-chain-management/.
[10] S. Suzuki, "Recent researches on innovative drone technologies in robotics
field," Advanced Robotics , pp. 1008-1022, 2018.
[11] M. Yearling, "Digital inventory powered by drones and robots," Journal of
Supply Chain Management, Logistics and Procurement, pp. 41-47, 2018.
[12] S. Krishnan, "How World's Bigges Companies USe RObotics in Supply chain,"
27 March 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.analyticsinsight.net/how-
worlds-biggest-companies-use-robotics-in-supply-chain.
[13] F. Roberts, "Delivering the goods: 8 examples of IoT transforming Supply
Chain," Internet Of Business, 14 November 2016. [Online]. Available:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/internetofbusiness.com/8-real-life-examples-
iot-supply-chain/amp. [Accessed 10 April 2020].
Appendices

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Figure 1:Chart 1: The volumes of industrial
robots manufactured and the forecasts thereof: Souce:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.supplychainquarterly.com%2Ftopics
%2FStrategy%2F20190819-rise-of-warehouse-
automation-changes-site-selection-plans-for-e-commerce-
dcs
%2F&psig=AOvVaw3aYcdWvn6U89MBs2sp6HE5&ust=1
586942221620000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQ
jRxqFwoTCOCzs83K5-gCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD
Figure 2:Chart 2:Potential of drone adoption
with respect to industries: Source:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.weforum.org%2Fagenda
%2F2018%2F09%2Fchina-drones-technology-leader
%2F&psig=AOvVaw3aYcdWvn6U89MBs2sp6HE5&ust=1
586942221620000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQ
jRxqFwoTCOCzs83K5-gCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAJ
Figure 3:Chart 3: The recent technology
divisions that have been implemented in business. Source:
https://sipmm.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/healthca
re-promise-digitization.png