Can ChatGPT completely transform supply chains?

Technology is continuously advancing and Artificial Intelligence has already taken several industries by storm. The changes in our market and the evolution of technology have brought in the recent overwhelming popularity of ChatGPT, a generative AI created by OpenAI.

Gartner’s hype cycle for Artificial Intelligence predicts that generative AI will become a mature mainstream technology in non-supply chain applications in the next 2-3 years. As supply chain models are quite complex in the way ChatGPT fundamentally learns, Gartner’s Supply Chain Vice President believes that it will take at least 10 years to completely overtake mainstream supply chain applications. 

Even if slow, Generative AI will enter the supply chain mainstream. How can ChatGPT transform the supply chain industry? 

Real-time data to manage their inventories

With the help of ChatGPT manufacturers can manage their inventory levels with real-time data based on demand and supply patterns. Jean-Baptiste Clouard, CEO of Flowlity said “ChatGPT can help improve communications between the manufacturers and their suppliers to get real-time updates on the delivery of their raw materials.”

Valuable insights on demand trends: 

ChatGPT can easily analyze large amounts of data and provide valuable insights into customer behavior, demand trends, market uncertainty, etc. This can help businesses make better-informed decisions about their supply planning and marketing strategies. 

Customer Satisfaction: 

The tool can enhance the customer experience by providing real-time delivery updates to their customers. Moreover can answer common questions, provide recommendations, and personalize demands. For instance, a global logistics company, DHL uses a chatbox powered by ChatGPT to answer their customer queries. 

Increasing transparency  in delivery: 

ChatGPT can assist with order management. Tasks include tracking shipments, updating MOQ, improve communications between the warehouse and the drivers. Hence, improving transparency and efficiency. 

Even though generative AI is quite promising, Gartner believes the application of generative AI in terms of supply chains is some way off, due to the way the application fundamentally learns. Information reliability and accuracy, providing end-to-end visibility, and integration capabilities are major concerns for logistics with ChatGPT. Currently, experts believe that generative AI can be fully successful only if combined with existing AI software until these concerns are rectified.