Streamline Supply Chain Operations with Intelligent Automation

There’s been a lot of buzz surrounding the announcement of Microsoft Copilot, the AI-powered solution being incorporated in Microsoft 365, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, and Dynamics CE (for starters). The smart assistant promises to help organizations change the way they work by intelligently automating many routine tasks, freeing time to unleash creativity, unlock productivity, and uplevel skills. Here, we consider Copilot’s landing in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management.

Successful supply chain management requires a company to continually monitor a wide range of conditions, pivoting quickly when needed to keep processes flowing. It’s an area ripe for some intelligent automation, and Copilot is bringing it to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management. Here’s a look at what Copilot is doing now and a glimpse into what could be its future.

Monitoring the Action and Sounding the Alerts

Within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, Copilot will monitor weather and world events (think finances and geography), looking for happenings that could impact your key supply chain processes — for example, the recent rain and snow events in California and tornados across the South. Copilot then uses its predictive insight capabilities to highlight impacted orders across materials, inventory, carrier, distribution networks, and more.

Armed with this information, your organization’s supply chain planners can then automatically draft an email generated by Dynamics 365 Copilot to alert impacted partners to mitigate potential disruptions before they happen. Granted, this appears to be a modest rollout, but it’s just the beginning of Copilot’s journey.

More Intelligent Automation is Coming

This release of Copilot for Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management is the start of something big. Microsoft is all in on AI and intelligent automation, and we expect to see Copilot gaining broad new capabilities soon, potentially including these:

• Inventory Optimization. Optimize inventory levels by providing real-time recommendations based on demand forecasting, historical data, sales, lead times, and other factors.
• Order Fulfillment. Offering insights into order status, delivery schedules, and shipping options to help organizations streamline their order fulfillment process.
• Supplier Management. Delivering real-time insights into supplier performance, enabling you to identify potential issues and take corrective measures.
• Demand Forecasting. Leverage machine learning algorithms to provide accurate demand forecasting, enabling you to optimize their production and inventory planning.
• Logistics Optimization. Optimize your logistics operations by analyzing data on shipping routes, carrier performance, and inventory levels to reduce transportation costs, improve delivery times, and increase efficiency.
• Route Optimization. Optimize delivery routes using AI-powered logistics optimization models that can reduce transportation costs and improve delivery times.
• Predictive Maintenance. Predict when equipment will need maintenance, reducing downtime and improving overall supply chain efficiency.
• Quality Control. Automate the quality control process using machine learning algorithms to analyze data from sensors and cameras. This can help you detect quality issues early and reduce the risk of defective products reaching customers.

Again, these are possible avenues for incorporating intelligent automation into supply chain management. Microsoft has yet to formally announce its next steps. We’ll keep you posted with each new development.

Intelligent Automation is the Future of Supply Chain Management

Intelligent automation refers to using advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, the Internet of Things (IoT), and robotics to automate business processes and tasks. In the context of supply chain operations, intelligent automation can help companies streamline workflows and increase efficiency in myriad ways. Velosio sees intelligent automation and tools like Copilot as critical to the future of successful supply chain management.

For example, a McKinsey study found that applying AI-driven forecasting to supply chain management can reduce errors by 20-50% percent — and translate into a reduction in lost sales and product unavailability of up to 65%. Additionally, the study found warehousing costs can fall by 5-10%, and administration costs can drop by 25-40%. A separate survey by Accenture found that companies using AI in their supply chain operations can achieve up to a 20% reduction in procurement costs, up to a 50% reduction in supply chain forecasting errors, and up to a 50% reduction in lost sales.

However, the benefits of AI-powered technologies can seem out of reach for many small and mid-sized companies that don’t have unlimited budgets or an in-house team of developers. While 70% of large companies invest in AI and advanced analytics for supply chain management, only 28% of small and mid-sized companies do the same. Cost can be a barrier to technology adoption, as can the complexity of implementing and integrating the technology.

It is here that Velosio sees Copilot proving its value — by integrating intelligent automation and AI right within the applications your teams use every day, all day, and making them accessible, relevant, and relatable. As a result, organizations like yours can gain visibility, agility, and resiliency surrounding your supply chain that might previously have been unattainable.

Let Velosio Be Your Copilot

Velosio is here to help you navigate Copilot, explore its capabilities, and maximize its value to your organization. We’re leveraging our elite status with Microsoft and deep AI and supply chain expertise to stay out in front of the technology and help you better understand its capabilities and how to incorporate them into your business. We’ll post on the topic frequently to share what we’re learning. In addition, our experienced consultants can answer your questions, provide in-depth demonstrations, and help you discover how this powerful tool can transform your business.

Everyone loves an assistant. Contact us to learn how Copilot can be your personalized AI assistant to boost productivity, spark ideas, and transform your business with the power of AI.

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