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Supply chain management is a wide area for lots of activity — including pilot initiatives and full-scale rollouts, says a new Epicor survey of executives in the field.

Supply chains aren’t quite ground zero for how B2B organizations deploy generative artificial intelligence (AI).

But supply chain management is a wide area for lots of activity — including pilot initiatives and full-scale rollouts, says a new survey of 1,700 supply chain management executives from Epicor, a developer of enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications.

Supply chain managers benefit from generative AI

The survey found that a higher percentage of businesses (63%) that identify as high-growth have already integrated generative AI into their respective supply chain operations to manage cost and operational challenges. It defines high-growth businesses as those with revenue growth of 20% or more over the past three years.

Supply chain managers are integrating generative AI into digital supply chain operations across various function. According to the survey, those include:

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  • Product descriptions
  • Customer service chatbots
  • Natural language querying
  • Reporting
  • In-application assistance

At this point, 72% of organizations are using generative AI in customer service chatbots, survey data shows.

“This widespread implementation is attributed to the technology’s ability to streamline customer interactions across various sectors,” Epicor says.

Meanwhile, 67% of organizations currently employ generative AI for crafting product descriptions, leveraging the technology’s capacity to analyze customer sentiment and forecast market demand.

“This enables a more informed approach to product design and feature development,” according to the survey.

Additionally, businesses are also implementing machine learning most frequently in inventory optimization (45%) and demand forecasting (40%).

A big priority for the impact of automation technologies lies in increased efficiency and productivity (32%). Priorities also lie in cost savings (26%) and improved supply chain automation (23%).

“This reflects a strong belief in the potential of these technologies to drive significant improvements in supply chain management,” Epicor says.

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