Introduction of AI in Food & Beverage Supply Chain

The key factors in attaining a true end-to-end supply chain visibility are having transparency and traceability by embracing it with the power of IoT.

We all know how difficult it would be for a supplier catering to the food supply chain, and we also know how difficult that it would be to deliver perishable goods to their ultimate destination in the right quality, quantity and condition, at the correct place and time.

Speaking of the fact, unfortunately it is very common that the goods arrive at their destination damaged due to a deviation in temperature, or other mishap, during shipping.

Food & Beverage Supply Chain:

Based on the recent BCG (Boston Consulting Group) report it says that every year about 1.6 billion tons of food worth a sum about $1.2 trillion are lost or dumped as waste. Which is one-third of the food volume produced around the globe. The most alarming fact is that it is estimated that this number would hit 2.1 billion tons of food valuing $1.5 trillion annually by 2030.

These are caused due to violent truck hijackings, which account for about 24% of the cargo theft incidents happening around the globe, which was based on the Global Cargo Theft Intelligence and Advisory Report in 2018. Whereas the most targeted sector in the truck hijackings is food and beverage which is accounting for almost 27% of all the incidents around the globe.

When this kind of incidents happen when the goods are in transit, food and beverage companies suffer not only monetary losses but also the risk of losing their customer’s trust. However, the good news in that is that supply chain infrastructure and efficiency alone could reduce the amount of annual food waste by $270 billion around the globe.

Thus, leading for a need on the shipment condition, quality and ETA monitoring not only in the food and beverage industry, but also in many others. In fact, the capability to track and trace the shipments that which are in transit across the supply chain is quickly becoming a customer demand, rather a mere request. Because the global supply chains get bigger and more complex day by day, customer expectations have also been jacked up for timely deliveries leading to the up-to-the-minute order.

So, in order to overcome such pitfalls what if we could know not only the location of the product during transit, but also the condition such as temperature, humidity and damage. This kind of crucial information need AI and IoT for a smooth monitoring of the above-mentioned criteria or factors.

Supply Chain visibility through software:

As said above “The key factors in attaining a true end-to-end supply chain visibility are having transparency and traceability by embracing it with the power of IoT”.

But just having visibility wouldn’t be enough for such complex systems. Ultimately, the value comes from the capability to leverage the visibility to quickly react for the pitfalls and respond to problems that arise.

That’s where AI and IoT comes into the picture. Here we are taking an example of a software tool called Trace.ai by Bristlecone used by many companies to overcome these issues.

Trace.ai is an operational intelligence tool that empowers businesses to leverage 100% real-time visibility in their supply chain. Its features include:

Trace.ai provides a leading US-based manufacturer of accessories with the ability to:

• Monitor real-time conditions like temperature, pressure, humidity and shock with the help of sensors. (Which answers the question “How is my product?”).

• Track their product. (Answers “Where is my product currently?”).

• Track orders and returns. (Answers “How is the customer experience?”)

Adding to that as a real time example Trace.ai provides service for a global manufacturer of glass panels for the telecommunications industry, where it enables

• 100% real-time visibility on product condition and location.

• Monitoring of product damage due to breakage and contamination.

So, with the help of such software that work based on the AI and IoT would prevent all the food and beverage loss in the global supply chain which is already in existence and being followed by many companies avoiding the wastage of food.

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