Artificial Intelligence In Fashion Supply Chain

Fash­ion supply chains are evolving and growing with artificial intelligence (AI). Fashion brands can now evaluate a huge volume of data more speedily than ever, courtesy of AI, which identifies the potential of the commodities that are already driving significant attention or revenue. As a result, the supply chain process flows much more swiftly and businesses may better allocate their resources. For instance, brands can adjust their orders if there is a spike in demand for any particular type of wear. Both the warehouse and the logistics are benefiting from AI in this regard.

According to a McKinsey survey conducted in 2019, the majority of businesses using AI saw a rise in sales: Spend analytics and sales and demand forecasts are frequently mentioned by respondents as use cases in supply-chain management that result in income.

Hundreds of data scientists are employed by big fashion brands to identify and forecast trends. It's AI algorithms collect data from blogs and search engines to determine fashion trends. Everything that customers buy, when they buy it, and where it should be positioned in the store is based on this information. It's significant to note that AI not only predicts future trends that a company's buyers should be aware of but also tells them whether to refill presently popular goods. This is also directly affecting the supply chain management for making better shipping decisions. And, enables these big fashion brands to cut waste and make more environmentally friendly decisions. Similarly, AI has touched on logistics management in the fashion industry intensively as well.

Why AI in Apparel Supply Chain?

From order management to last-mile delivery, AI and data science technological breakthroughs have the potential to improve the fashion supply chain in a variety of ways. Fashion shops may significantly analyze the demand patterns of their consumers along with their browsing and purchasing experiences by introducing engaging and user-friendly AI interfaces and inventory management software. Simplifying inventory management is made possible by the use of cloud warehousing like one at WAAS in AWL India which made the warehousing management system (WMS) faster and more effective in supply chain management.

1. Route Planning: Intelligent route optimization software at AWL India aids in the prior planning of daily order deliveries, the proper assignment of duties to the transporter, and the quick and timely delivery of the consignment to their B2B clients, delivering a positive logistics experience overall. AWL India’s AI technology discovers the best and most efficient delivery routes and provides them to businesses using sophisticated algorithms. Route planning just doesn’t help in cutting transportation costs but also aids in business productivity, improved customer service and safety of the moving consignment.

2. Real-time Fleet Tracking: Thanks to highly efficient AI-powered logistics management systems, businesses and their customers can now keep a track of their orders at every stage, from the order placing to shipment, transit, and delivery, with the help of technologically advanced supply chain tracking solutions. Because of the wonderful business intelligence at AWL India, real-time data is shared with the B2B customers through a single-window platform for great insights into the movement of customers’ consignment, no matter wherever the distribution and delivery happening around the world.

3. Insightful Auditing: Through predictive analysis with the help of cloud warehousing and AI-driven inventory optimization, insightful information from historical data, including buying patterns, past transactions, and rise or fall in the demand of a product is efficiently predicted. This solves the very basic problems of out-of-stock and over-stock. Businesses may now conduct a better buying and planning of their products. And because the businesses can easily read the data AWL India sends them through a single dashboard and do predictive analysis, they can better plan their product selling proposition like offers, sales, discounts and rise and fall in the products’ prices.

Re-innovating Fashion Logistics Industry

Even if it is hoped that the worst of the COVID – 19 pandemic is behind us and that retail will soon accelerate in the world, excess inventory in the fashion industry continues to be its biggest burden in terms of both missed income potential and brand reputation. Lacs of tonnes of wearable apparel, or the equivalent of crores of rupees in stock, are thought to wind up in India each year. This is garbage that neither the businesses making those products nor the environment needs.

WASS (Warehouse As A Service) innovated at AWL India also offers businesses the chance to rethink warehousing in the apparel industry in a way that fully negates the need for manual inventory in the excel sheets. Excessive stocks or out-of-stock culture of yesterday is gone because of the use of autonomous solutions like robotics, AI-powered insights, inventory optimization, and automation in allocation and replenishment at WAAS.

According to 2021 estimates, an AI-enabled supply chain's degree of efficiency results in over sixty per cent effectiveness in decreasing risks and overall costs. AI-enabled inventory management technology has simplified a lot of processes at warehouses and logistics operations in the fashion industry. Businesses can predict buying and planning of top-selling items in advance by switching from conventional, outdated formulas to new technological models.

Using technology to automate manual activities is not something that people haven’t heard of; examples include the Industrial Revolution and the robotics employed in manufacturing, logistics, and distribution today. However, the term "Industry 4.0" refers to a much broader and more significant set of technologies than ever before: hybrid cyber-physical systems driven by AI that produce and consume enormous amounts of data, with the potential to revolutionize the way we think about fashion industry supply chain management.

Conclusion

Supply chain management in the fashion industry is now different from those from ten years ago. Demand planning has gotten more analytical and iterative as product life cycles have shrunk and fashion trends are regularly and speedily changing. The demand for quicker deliveries from customers is rising, and logistics is now a significant differentiator rather than just a cost centre. Today's fashion businesses are beginning to structure their supply chain operations on logistics, historical data, and demand and promotion-driven planning. And their logistics partners like AWL India are helping them tremendously in gathering, understanding and using real-time data by optimizing inventory management systems and using cloud warehousing.

The biggest supply chain interruptions are caused by consumer requests for greater flexibility, expediency, and convenience. It is now well acknowledged that logistics and distribution play a significant role in the system and have a significant impact on a company's profitability and overall customer satisfaction. Fashion businesses must plan their distribution operations, including infrastructure and handling units, based on customer demands using the AI retrieved data. Effective choices must be made, such as whether to have big warehouses or little cross docks or the best way is to collaborate with a warehousing management company like AWL India which incorporates a 10 million sq. ft of warehouses in India that functions on robotics and AI technology with the help of automated software, drones and high-technology equipment. More adaptability in distribution and delivery networks would be highly desired in the future as per numerous supply chain and logistics experts. For a supply chain to run smoothly, technology is no longer just nice to have but has become a must-have need. Even in difficult economic times, supply chain organizations like AWL India are flourishing because of AI and automation in complete warehousing and logistics operations.