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A recent survey revealed that 60% of professionals worldwide believe process automation will impact supply chains by 2025. In our fast-paced and competitive world, supply chain management professionals must invest in the right technology to adapt quickly to challenges, demands or delays.
Microsoft Copilot, integrated into Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management (SCM), enables professionals to overcome various product and geographical challenges with AI-driven predictions. In addition, generative AI within Microsoft Copilot can drive innovation by suggesting actionable insights to inform decision-making.
Copilot also brings tangible benefits to warehousing and logistics employees, helping them work more efficiently, complete time-consuming tasks, and gain insights faster.
This blog will break down the key features of Copilot and how this can benefit businesses across the supply chain, especially when coupled with cloud-based ERP solutions. Keep reading to find out more!
Microsoft Copilot can work directly within Microsoft’s Supply Chain Centre to provide additional benefits to users. In 2023, Microsoft introduced a series of new Copilot capabilities, including enhanced inventory visibility, real-time insights through Copilot chat and AI-driven support to identify patterns and anomalies in the supply chain.
The software benefits businesses across the supply chain by proactively flagging external issues such as weather, financials, and geography that may impact delivery times and overall customer satisfaction. Let’s take a closer look at some of those capabilities.
Harnessing available data within a business is key for sustainable growth; Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management supports organisations by using AI to reveal potential improvements in the supply chain.
Users can use natural language to ask Copilot various queries to support the overall efficiency of the supply chain. Natural language queries allow employees to access product information with ease - just as if they were chatting with colleagues. Copilot uses unique algorithms to retrieve and display the information in a practical and informative way using refined visualisations and summaries.
Stock management
In particular, manufacturing businesses can easily access information about inventory stock levels in a user-friendly way. This empowers all users in your organisation to access data insights for themselves, improving their autonomy and streamlining daily tasks. Organisations can also give different usage rights to different business areas to enhance visibility while considering.
For example, sales staff can quickly identify in-stock products for an order by typing a query into Copilot to find the information for them, which can more effectively inform lead times. Manufacturers, engineers, or production businesses could also enable third-party apps to quickly query on-hand inventory and share this information further down the supply chain.
Stock replenishment
Copilot can assist with stock replenishment by providing automated alerts for low stock levels or potential sell-outs, which benefits warehouse and logistics professionals as the items are more likely to move into the delivery stage, and they can avoid passing along delays in lead times to the consumer. This improvement to supply chains is crucial, as more than two in five (44%) brands worldwide see increasing the speed of the overall supply chain as a priority.
Marketing alignment
Inventory insights would also benefit the retailer as they can align sales and marketing activity with stock levels, ensuring they are pushing out accurate messaging about available products. For example, if an eCommerce business has a Black Friday sale on a specific set of items, it can use real-time inventory insights and stock alerts to halt the promotion of out-of-stock items and avoid customer disappointment. (More about how Copilot enables collaboration across the entire supply chain in point five.)
Copilot’s new demand planning capability for Dynamics 365 SCM enables professionals across the supply chain, including warehousing, logistics and retailers, to predict demand and act quickly to ensure they can continue to fulfil customer orders.
Copilot provides many useful AI-driven features and insights, such as:
For example, a Warehouse Operations Manager could use Copilot’s supply chain management technology to identify potential demand fluctuations based on historical data. Then, they can use these insights to ensure the site has sufficient stock during busy periods while avoiding over-purchasing in quieter seasons. This would likely enhance the precision of stock management and save the Operations Manager time through automated forecast reporting.
Overall, by optimising production schedules, streamlining procurement processes, or enhancing warehouse operations, the AI-driven insights by Copilot help supply chain professionals efficiently manage and assess changes required for procurement on a large scale.
Another helpful feature of Copilot within Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management is the help and guidance professionals can access anytime through the platform. Users can consider Copilot an extended team member there to support them with day-to-day tasks when they need context-aware support. Users can ask questions related to their current circumstances and gain more bespoke or specific guidance.
The software acts as an effective supply chain management tracking system. It can recommend efficient routing paths to provide the best outcome for specific challenges, such as if a shipment is delayed due to unforeseen circumstances. In addition, Copilot provides real-time insights on inventory levels to give a quick overview for warehouse teams and flags any potential issues much faster.
Copilot can also analyse historical data and industry best practices to offer tailored recommendations, which improves efficiency and helps to avoid mistakes. One real-world example of using Copilot’s supply chain management technology would be if a procurement manager needs guidance on choosing an alternative vendor due to price increases, so they can ask Copilot for support in the first instance to narrow down new prospective sellers.
In addition, using Dynamics 365 SCM’s live output tracking on the factory floor, Coplot can help optimise production schedules based on machine utilisation rates and employee activity levels. This would be extremely beneficial when a production business has an increase in demand for a product; the Production Manager can gain fast insights into the optimum schedules and processes to ensure they can meet deadlines.
The supply chain encompasses many moving parts, including logistics, manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution, which must collaborate efficiently to identify potential issues and find new ways to streamline the product lifecycle.
With Copilot in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, users can collaborate with key stakeholders across the supply chain ecosystem in real-time:
Procurement and logistics
Logistics professionals responsible for sourcing and moving the raw materials for products can collaborate more closely with suppliers and manufacturers by providing more detailed information about product lead times, potential bottlenecks on the delivery journey and accurate demand forecasts through Copliot’s supply chain management system.
Copilot can look at risks involved in changing conditions within procurement and logistics businesses and analyse the potential impact further down the supply chain to support the team mitigate any risks.
Production
Then, when production businesses have more detailed information about the lead times and potential issues with the product, they can use this to more effectively plan production schedules, optimise employee schedules and ensure they have the correct working machinery to keep up with demand. Production businesses can next use Copilot internally to provide more accurate product lifecycles based on the output reports and recurring product issue reports and pass this along to distributors and retailers.
Distribution
Finally, when distribution and retail professionals have more insight into product lead times, they can plan sales timelines and empower their customer service teams with more accurate information about specific client orders.
Greater collaboration across each element of the supply chain can bring long-term and sustainable benefits to businesses, increasing the efficiency and satisfaction of work for each player and benefitting the consumer, who can enjoy shorter lead times and less chance of product issues.
At Essenkay, we are experts in Microsoft ERP and can provide advice and solutions to streamline the supply chain.
We have experience supporting businesses in production, manufacturing, and logistics and will work with your team to provide tailored training and support following the implementation of the new technology.
Interested to see how an ERP-based supply chain management technology solution could streamline your business and foster greater collaboration with key stakeholders? Get in touch today.
