Supply chain management is behind so much of what companies that source, manufacture, package, move and ultimately sell products do. Managing supply chains has evolved with technology, and much like just about any other discipline these days, AI (and its subset machine learning) can help. On this episode of InTek Freight & Logistics: The Podcast, we welcome Dr. Naren Agrawal, professor at Santa Clara University and co-author of the recent Harvard Business Review paper titled “How Machine Learning Will Transform Supply Chain Management,” to discuss the article, its so-called “optimal machine learning (OML),” and why using it for decision-making rather than just as a data input is key.
Dr. Agrawal goes over what he and his co-authors developed and how implementing it improved the fortunes of two very different types of businesses. He tells us why using machine learning only for forecasts limits its effectiveness and why many companies still struggle with supply chain management decisions – with different stakeholders bringing not only different viewpoints, but even different data to the table.
We also touch on his background consulting with major companies, sharing a common trait of success they each possess, and his thoughts on how the field has changed over the years – as well as his future outlook for the students he teaches about it. Find more about (and from) Dr. Agrawal at https://www.scu.edu/execed/custom/universitypartnerships/faculty/naren-agrawal-phd, and look him up on Google Scholar as well.
Watch this episode to see Dr. Agrawal’s interview with host Kevin Baxter on YouTube where you can also check out our playlist for our 34 previous podcasts.
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