*A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to write a guest blog post for Supply Chain Insights Global Summit blog to discuss the power that IoT and Big Data have on building better, smarter supply chains. This post was originally shared on their blog.
The moment I wake every morning, data is being generated about me. By the time I stretch and take a few paces around my room, the fitness bracelet on my wrist has already documented that my sleep cycle broke at 7:23 a.m. I check my phone for the weather, and it opportunely alerts me that it will take approximately 13 minutes to drive to work at this time of day.
Sure, I use applications that access my current location, such as apps for mapping directions or for finding the closest Mexican restaurant, so I know that my phone has the ability to spot my location. But it’s surprising to me that my phone has been tracking my daily routine so precisely that it knows the exact address I head to every morning. Using this information, it is serendipitously predicting how long it will take me to get to work while taking into account the current traffic load on my daily route.
This is possible because my phone is an active participant in the Internet of Things (IoT), a network that connects physical objects, communications, software, and sensors to allow machines to transfer data over a network without human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. More and more devices are regularly connecting through the IoT, and little bits of data are being generated about me via the IoT and the interconnectivity that it—too conveniently—affords. If you have a Smartphone or another device with sensor technology, data is being generated about you, too.
Although, the small pieces of data aren’t what’s interesting—the fact that I woke up at 7:23 a.m. is irrelevant by itself. Rather, a concentrated look into the complete collection of data streams may yield trends and patterns that have the ability to unlock an unforeseen potential of information. A month’s data on the time of day that I wake could provide detailed insight into my sleep cycle so that I can make changes to my sleep habits that could improve my general health.
That’s why at Savi we want to help you understand that there is immense opportunity to leverage what is possible with the IoT, and the Big Data that it generates in current supply chain operations. We know that there are vast insights into your supply chain waiting to be discovered.
With the connectivity that IoT affords, your supply chain organization is probably already generating data. You just need to access the data and make sense of it in order to derive intelligence that will allow you to optimize your growth and supply chain operations.
Complex, raw data streams can be transformed through the use of applied predictive and prescriptive analytics. Predictive analytics uses modeling and machine learning strategies to reveal trends and patterns to predict an outcome. For example, in your supply chain, it may reveal trends that calculate late arrivals based on time, day of the week, or routes taken.
Taking it a step further, prescriptive analytics offer suggestions and insights into the outcomes of different actions using trends and patterns as reference. Based on the example above, a prescriptive analysis could forecast that a shipment has less disruptions and better on-time arrival when it leaves at 8 a.m. on a Tuesday vs. when it leaves at 3 p.m. on a Friday.
This is just one possible scenario. That’s why, at Savi, we are busy revolutionizing our analytics solutions to unlock the full potential of IoT and Big Data, and we are passionate about leveraging new technologies to help organizations gain actionable insights into their supply chain operations.
We know that the IoT and Big Data are helping to craft today’s interconnected supply chains. Yet it is only with advanced analytics solutions that offer predictive and prescriptive insights that these supply chains will thrive in the digital marketplace.