Supply Chain 4.0 - Challenges and Opportunities

Human hand shakes robotic hand

What significance do digital technologies have for operational excellence? How can digital technologies be used to optimize processes in the supply chain and which mechanisms work with which technologies? These questions were the center of attention of two half-day workshops held on 6 June 2019 at Kühne Logistics University in Hamburg.

The professional event was organized in cooperation with Bundesvereinigung Logistik (BVL). The programme was aimed at practitioners in logistics and supply chain management in the field of production, retail and service. The initiators of the workshop, Kai Hoberg, Professor of Supply Chain and Operations Strategy at Kühne Logistics University in Hamburg and Professor Matthias Holweg of Oxford University, are convinced that digital technologies are not a short-term trend but have a lasting impact on our lives. Digitalization is also having an increasingly rapid impact on all processes in logistics and supply chain management. Additive manufacturing, internet-of-things devices and big data analytics - recently a vision of the future, are already in practice. 

Kai Hoberg welcomed the participants and outlined the current technology trends in supply chain management. In the following lecture on artificial intelligence and the future of work, Matthias Holweg presented a current study by Oxford University. This shows that up to 47 percent of work will be displaced by automation, in the areas of manufacturing, administration, or sales. However, in creativity and social intelligence, man is far superior to an algorithm. "We need to ensure to that humans and artificial intelligence enhance each other in a productive way", Kai Hoberg sums up the area of tension.

The workshop offered sufficient time to exchange views and discuss topics in depth. In small working groups, the participants analyzed and measured new technologies such as Internet of Things, Advanced Analytics, Machine Learning and Digital Manufacturing. The participants attached particular importance to Advanced Analytics and Machine Learning in order to improve processes through the use of the latest technologies.

 

More information:

Dr. Kai Hoberg/Professor of Supply Chain and Operations Strategy