The future of Supply Chains
I work in this industry as a Software Developer. You may think "Software, oh dude, you're safe!" And, maybe I am. Sort of. A lot of that depends on how adaptive the company I work for is, and how transferable my skills are. Not all developers and not all companies are created equal.
Automation will change the landscape, even for technology centric jobs. Period.
But, as a generalization, yes, I think Software Development will remain a critical role for the foreseeable future. I just think that a lot of current companies will vanish and a lot of types of development will fall out of prominence.
The company I work for is highly acquisitive. So I have had a chance to see a great many aspects of software in the supply chain industry, and I foresee some changing more than others.
Before I dive in though... software IS automation. Though, it is more about the automation of data than of labor. Of course, some labor is assumed by the software. And so software, like robotic automation some times meant the loss of jobs. I think some people have already forgotten that. And, I think long term, robotics will assume a similar role. For now, people just see the potential for job loss and see it as a threat and refuse to think rationally about it.
Today, the vast majority of software is tailored to what I'll term "human agents". Heck, there are probably an army of products out there within this industry with ZERO integration to automation hardware, or even other applications. In fact, I KNOW this is the case. Prediction one; GONE. If your software can't integrate now and you can't adapt to that reality fast, then as robotic automation rolls in you'll be left in the dust by companies which do. If you only sync with human agents and not software and robotic ones, then as companies start phasing out human labor... you have nothing to offer.
Software integration will likely be a niche market. Obviously, as humans are phased out by robotics, it will be the companies with existing hardware integrations and knowledge which will have a leg up. And many of those will also have some sort of software integration (though, perhaps not all).
What will this software do? Two things primarily I predict; data analysis and dynamic task assignment.
There is a simple reason for this. Supply chains often meet diverse demands. These aren't simple manufacturing plants. These are places meeting the needs of customers. A robot which needs to be re-assembled or even simply re-configured to perform a new task will be a baseline model. And once they achieve prominence, the only way to out compete will be to analyze data to know how to best utilize your fancy hardware and then be able to rapidly act upon it.
For this reason, analytics will probably become one of the hottest areas. It will be the area where different companies can leverage different solutions to potentially out compete your customers.
Let's create a hypothetical situation. Let's say there are 2 different companies, but with the same business models and general level of activity. And both need to send a truck load of stuff across the country, and any delivery is time sensitive. Company A has no fancy analytics software and sends 1 full truck. Company B on the other hand has some software with some decent analytics. And let's say both companies will pass another DC on their way to their final destination. But neither has empty trucks there and both will need transport more goods and this knowledge is predictable based on historical trends.
The smarter software might suggest that there is a very high likelihood of this situation occurring and recommends sending 2 trucks instead. And may even suggest a distribution of goods to reduce that odds that both trucks need to stop. As the trucks near the interim DC, the software decides based on the analytics whether one, both or neither truck should stop to pick up additional cargo based on factors such as the length of the delay, the value of the transfer and how many of the trucks are needed.
The worst case happens, and both trucks are needed. However, while they arrive at the final destination after Company A, they aren't delayed by much and Company A is much further behind on delivering the goods from the interim warehouse. If A and B are in competition and the deliveries are time sensitive, Company B would have an edge.
Depending of course, on certain factors.
So, it is a bit of a contrived example, but you can see... both companies are automated. Better analytics and ability to automatically act upon them give Company B an edge over Company A even if they have the exact same hardware. Especially in industries as complex as Supply Chain Management, while automation is great, if everyone has it, it stops being the differentiator.
I could be wrong, but I think as it becomes more ubiquitous, the battle will shift to data mining. And, I don't think AI is yet up to the task. In fact...if that too becomes too ubiquitous, "hand cranked" heuristics will again be where one company can differentiate.
Automation will change the landscape, even for technology centric jobs. Period.
But, as a generalization, yes, I think Software Development will remain a critical role for the foreseeable future. I just think that a lot of current companies will vanish and a lot of types of development will fall out of prominence.
The company I work for is highly acquisitive. So I have had a chance to see a great many aspects of software in the supply chain industry, and I foresee some changing more than others.
Before I dive in though... software IS automation. Though, it is more about the automation of data than of labor. Of course, some labor is assumed by the software. And so software, like robotic automation some times meant the loss of jobs. I think some people have already forgotten that. And, I think long term, robotics will assume a similar role. For now, people just see the potential for job loss and see it as a threat and refuse to think rationally about it.
Today, the vast majority of software is tailored to what I'll term "human agents". Heck, there are probably an army of products out there within this industry with ZERO integration to automation hardware, or even other applications. In fact, I KNOW this is the case. Prediction one; GONE. If your software can't integrate now and you can't adapt to that reality fast, then as robotic automation rolls in you'll be left in the dust by companies which do. If you only sync with human agents and not software and robotic ones, then as companies start phasing out human labor... you have nothing to offer.
Software integration will likely be a niche market. Obviously, as humans are phased out by robotics, it will be the companies with existing hardware integrations and knowledge which will have a leg up. And many of those will also have some sort of software integration (though, perhaps not all).
What will this software do? Two things primarily I predict; data analysis and dynamic task assignment.
There is a simple reason for this. Supply chains often meet diverse demands. These aren't simple manufacturing plants. These are places meeting the needs of customers. A robot which needs to be re-assembled or even simply re-configured to perform a new task will be a baseline model. And once they achieve prominence, the only way to out compete will be to analyze data to know how to best utilize your fancy hardware and then be able to rapidly act upon it.
For this reason, analytics will probably become one of the hottest areas. It will be the area where different companies can leverage different solutions to potentially out compete your customers.
Let's create a hypothetical situation. Let's say there are 2 different companies, but with the same business models and general level of activity. And both need to send a truck load of stuff across the country, and any delivery is time sensitive. Company A has no fancy analytics software and sends 1 full truck. Company B on the other hand has some software with some decent analytics. And let's say both companies will pass another DC on their way to their final destination. But neither has empty trucks there and both will need transport more goods and this knowledge is predictable based on historical trends.
The smarter software might suggest that there is a very high likelihood of this situation occurring and recommends sending 2 trucks instead. And may even suggest a distribution of goods to reduce that odds that both trucks need to stop. As the trucks near the interim DC, the software decides based on the analytics whether one, both or neither truck should stop to pick up additional cargo based on factors such as the length of the delay, the value of the transfer and how many of the trucks are needed.
The worst case happens, and both trucks are needed. However, while they arrive at the final destination after Company A, they aren't delayed by much and Company A is much further behind on delivering the goods from the interim warehouse. If A and B are in competition and the deliveries are time sensitive, Company B would have an edge.
Depending of course, on certain factors.
So, it is a bit of a contrived example, but you can see... both companies are automated. Better analytics and ability to automatically act upon them give Company B an edge over Company A even if they have the exact same hardware. Especially in industries as complex as Supply Chain Management, while automation is great, if everyone has it, it stops being the differentiator.
I could be wrong, but I think as it becomes more ubiquitous, the battle will shift to data mining. And, I don't think AI is yet up to the task. In fact...if that too becomes too ubiquitous, "hand cranked" heuristics will again be where one company can differentiate.
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