3 Technologies that are Rapidly Changing the Supply Chain Landscape

At Generis’ 2017 American Supply Chain Summit, Dave Malenfant, Director of the Center for Supply Chain Innovation at Texas Christian University, shared with us the three most disruptive technologies that are changing the supply chain industry today: 3D printing, drones, and driverless trucks. 

3D Printing

Malenfant told the audience, “As you can see in this video, 3D printing is here, it’s being used in the medical field to print heart valves. It’s being used in adaptive manufacturing. It’s being used to quickly print spare parts.

Now just imagine in the future with IoT that your appliances can tell when they’re broken, and order a spare part, which can be 3D printed on its way. This is the kind of future of supply chain we need to think about.

There are actually companies now that are looking at 3D printing now, in the back of the van, as they come to repair an item.”

Drones

“So can you imagine that? That’s happening now. And can you imagine possibly using drones to move our containers? There’s a lot of testing going on now with drones to make this a reality.”

Driverless Trucks

“In 2016, Uber acquired Otto, a driverless truck company. Anheuser Busch is now using driverless trucks to deliver their beer from their factory to their warehouse (maximum distance is about 300 miles).

In Europe, they are using platooning, which is not legal in most states in the US. Platooning is where the first truck will have a driver but be followed by a series of driverless trucks.”

How will these new technologies affect how you manage your supply chain? 

Join the conversation on the future of supply chain at this year’s American Supply Chain Summit.