Increasing market volatility, uncertain supply chains and growing sustainability obligations are constantly increasing the challenges in supply chain management. Companies need to act now and use innovative technologies to future-proof their processes and supply chains. REMIRA presents four key supply chain trends for 2025.
The importance of resilient supply chains is not new - after all, events in recent years have highlighted the impact of unexpected disruptions along supply chains. However, despite this awareness, the implementation of effective risk management is still not sufficiently advanced in most companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises. This was recently confirmed by the BME Logistics Study 2024: more than two thirds of the companies surveyed have not yet structurally anchored the topic of supply chain risk management, and only 31 percent are satisfied with its effectiveness. Manufacturing companies in particular are threatened with drastic consequences if material deliveries fail to materialize, including unavoidable production interruptions. In addition to diversifying the supplier base or multiple rather than single sourcing, software solutions such as those from REMIRA can provide support. They create transparency through access to data in real time, the automatic creation of AI-based forecasts and precise analyses. With the help of synchronized supply chain planning and scenario simulation, potential risks can be better anticipated.
Artificial intelligence is also playing an increasingly important role in supply chain management. This development will continue in 2025. It is important to consider the diverse potential of machine learning and generative AI for your own company and to actively try out such technologies. Agile projects can be implemented in small steps and the results regularly reviewed and adapted. One example is the AI Forecasting Service from REMIRA. Based on internal and external data, it trains itself and recognizes patterns and trends for even better demand forecasting. This allows inventories to be further optimized, reorders to be planned more precisely and both out-of-stock items and excess stock to be further reduced. The potential applications of artificial intelligence extend to many other areas, including replenishment, supplier search, collaboration, allocation decisions, route optimization and inventory. In addition to machine learning, large language models - a sub-area of generative AI - offer new possibilities for interacting with customers and suppliers via agents, as well as for further automating processes across company boundaries. Seamless integration of such tools into existing processes and systems is required in order to exploit the potential of AI. With the right software partner and modern cloud platforms, such as those from REMIRA, this can be easily achieved.
The rapid introduction of modern SCM tools or even AI is crucial in order to keep pace with technological progress and competition. The cloud plays a crucial role here. Instead of purchasing hardware, installing and rolling out systems and building up resources and expertise, a company can simply rely on cloud services. Not only are the tools available almost ad-hoc, but the provider also covers other relevant topics such as security, operation and data protection.
With the new REMIRA platform, the proven software products can also be booked as advanced SaaS solutions or individual services. As a result, SCM teams benefit from the cloud and its scalability. For example, the training of AI models requires a lot of computing power, which no longer needs to be provided exclusively thanks to the cloud. Another example of this is the annual inventory: the required services can be called up at exactly the right time without having to provide your own resources throughout the year. At the same time, participants and systems can be orchestrated along the supply chain via the cloud. REMIRA's Supplier Collaboration Service, for example, integrates suppliers via a user-friendly web platform and enables bidirectional data exchange in real time. Thanks to the cloud, companies are ideally equipped for fast-moving developments.
Sustainability is not only a key issue due to the large number of regulations and stricter requirements, such as the EU Supply Chain Directive. The expectations of customers and other stakeholders regarding the responsible use of resources are also constantly increasing. It is therefore more important than ever to optimize processes and supply chains in a targeted manner in order to avoid residual stocks and their cost-intensive reduction, reduce waste volumes and lower the carbon footprint. Reliable forecasts, which are automatically provided by cloud services such as REMIRA's software solution for sales forecasting and procurement, are an important basis for this. Tailored to actual demand and taking into account all relevant influencing factors, the software generates automatic order proposals that ensure an optimal balance between inventory minimization and high supply capability. In this way, excess stock is avoided from the outset and the retention and spoilage of residual quantities, and thus the resulting waste, is effectively reduced. At the same time, appropriate SCM tools create a high degree of transparency, for example by querying sustainability and risk-relevant criteria as early as the supplier selection stage, thus helping companies to make forward-looking decisions. Last but not least, measures such as optimizing the capacity utilization of trucks and shipping containers help to protect the environment. Solutions such as those from REMIRA enable the automatic bundling of orders, taking into account parameters such as delivery service level, item classification and minimum order quantities. In this way, load carriers are optimally utilized, individual deliveries are avoided and CO2 pollution is reduced.
says Dirk Bingler, CEO of REMIRA.
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