Managing Director at Boston Consulting Group. Reflections on the Future of Supply and Demand Chain
AI is the darling of the moment and the corporate meme-stream. So much so, it’s forcing some CFOs into tough discussions with executive teams that are overly anxious to gamble with current assets in hopes of gaining future competitive advantages. How can companies avoid overspending in AI? AI certainly holds serious potential, even as research continues to… Continue reading How to Avoid Overspending on AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a fast-moving technology with a long road ahead of it. For all its surrounding hype, AI is still in its infancy. Intelligent systems have moved from simple, rule-based tasks such as spell-check into narrow machine-learning activities such as predictive maintenance and work automation, but they remain far from their ultimate destiny… Continue reading Will You Embrace AI Fast Enough?
I gave a panel presentation at the Bernstein "Motor of eCommerce" Conference last week in London. We discussed two trends that will significantly impact on the eCommerce supply chain dynamics in the near term horizon Direct-to-Consumer: Brands across many categories are accelerating their pace of selling directly to consumer (DTC). In the past several years, Brands… Continue reading Bernstein Motor of eCommerce Conference
I held a podcast this week with Supply Chain Management Review on the topic of AI in Planning. We discussed the structural complexities facing demand and supply planning functions today and the imminent role of AI and machine learning. You can view the podcast below: Key takeaways Businesses across all sectors are pressuring supply chains to… Continue reading AI in Supply Chain Planning – Podcast
In our recent article “US E-Commerce Trends and Impact of Logistics”, we assess the current state of the last mile fulfillment market and key supply side drivers of eCommerce. The US eCommerce industry is expected to post 12-14% growth in 2017, from $375B to $420B. At this rate, eCommerce is conservatively expected to account for 14-16%… Continue reading US eCommerce and Impact on Logistics
One question we often get from clients is “Will Amazon disrupt my sector next”? – be it in Fresh, CPG, Beauty, Apparel, or even Industrials. Amazon recently made several strategic moves, that taken in unison, strongly suggest that Fast Fashion is square and center in its disruption cross-hairs. Can Amazon be a Zara slayer? First… Continue reading Amazon the Zara Slayer
Consumers today are spoiled for choice. No matter where they live they have at their fingertips a vast assortment of products, a wide array of delivery options, and a never-ending parade of exclusive products and special offers. The consumer journey is becoming increasingly frictionless thanks to advances in technologies and disruptive innovations from the likes of… Continue reading Building an Omnichannel Supply Chain for Brands & CPG
AI progress has been uneven in the past 5 decades, with spurts of breakthrough followed by “winter-like” stagnation. Barriers like technology cost, organization capability and ineffective policies held back AI from going mainstream. Yet, this trend shifted starting in 2005 with performance breakthroughs across numerous cognitive applications. Convergent advances across three enablers: computing power, training data,… Continue reading Artificial Intelligence Coming of Age
Last week, I facilitated a cross-functional workshop with The World Economic Forum, and several tech startups (Noodle A.I., Rage Framework, Enterra) to investigate the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on global production and value chain. WEF NY Workshop 1) The very definition of A.I. itself is vague - we had many different definitions of AI,… Continue reading AI + Future of Production with WEF
Advances in smart automation is increasingly disrupting both B2B and B2C supply chains. The patterns of digital supply chain disruption will likely manifest in two waves. Wave 1: Localized Disruption In the next 3-7 years, supply chain functions such as planning or warehousing or delivery will be transformed by innovative applications of smart automation. For… Continue reading Patterns of Digital Supply Chain Disruption
Machine Intelligence has made significant advances recently in areas of supervised learning such as image and speech recognition, question & answering and shopping recommendation. These so called “weak A.I.” apps are expected to transform how consumers search, socialize and shop. Consumers are increasingly likely to ditch the current type & swipe, folder based apps on devices to a… Continue reading The Rise of A.I. Could Be the Fall of Uber
I had a great time as a guest lecturer at Babson College this week where we discussed best practices and emerging trends in omnichannel supply chain. Very engaging class and lively discussion. Key topics included: - The importance of fulfillment as a source of strategic differentiation - The need for segmented customer promise to define a… Continue reading Guest lecture at Babson
I had a great experience co-presenting with Michael Kors, Google and Instacart on the topic of same day delivery at the 2016 GMA Supply Chain Conference last week. We discussed the underlying supply and demand side drivers of same day delivery and emerging models (see figure below). Here are a few key takeaways from the session: 1) Same Day… Continue reading Same Day Delivery at TPA/GMA 2016
Advances in digital technologies such as the Internet of Everything, Deep Learning, 3D Printing and Big Data are disrupting business models and their respective supply chains. As supply chains become more digital, they increasingly benefit from platforms. A set of common digital technology powered processes, tools and approach allowing users to create value by adding… Continue reading The Rise of Digital Supply Chain Platforms
Omnichannel retail sales have consistently doubled every 4-5 years since 2001 and is expected to become a $1.8 trillion dollar market by 2016 and hit $7 trillion by 2025. Part of the growth is driven by consumers taking their shopping online. However this is just one side of the equation. The other enabler is the… Continue reading 6 Trends Shaping Omnichannel Supply Chain
Michael Hu | BCG 