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A growing question in today's automated society is whether an autonomous supply chain is possible – and if so, when will it become a reality. While the transportation industry is spending billions of dollars in developing autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles, the concept of a completely automated supply chain seems to be more science fiction than fact. However, the question put forth is whether it's possible – and how a Modern 4PL approach like Redwood's can help you navigate this evolving landscape. In this blog post, we'll explore the hurdles your supply chain must overcome to permit autonomous operation and examine why you might want to proceed with caution.
Noted below are a few of the hurdles your supply chain must overcome to permit autonomous operation, and a few reasons why you might want to stop it in its tracks.
How Do We Define the Autonomous Supply Chain?
In theory, an autonomous operation is self-efficient, requiring no input or support from you or your team to be fully automated. An autonomous supply chain needs to have the ability and capacity to process an order request, gather the commodity from the location, and deliver the unit to the desired delivery point – without a single human intervention.
Specifically, your supply chain automation process must complete several individual steps:
• Order interpretation: Interpret the order request and have the capacity to recall information in real-time.
• Location identification: Locate the components location within a warehouse.
• Inventory management: Maintain the inventory by receiving, storing, and monitoring inventory control.
• Picking and packing: Pick components from a storage area and pack the component for specific shipping.
• Loading: Load the component onto the individual transportation system.
• Transportation: Transport the commodity via multiple platforms including trucking, air freight, trains, and boats.
• Offloading: Offload the part and transfer to specific delivery systems.
• Delivery: Deliver the component to a customer.
If each of the steps above can be completed, without requiring any human involvement – then you could truly state that your supply chain is fully autonomous.
Is an Autonomous Supply Chain Practical?
When you consider the items listed above, what's missing? You'll notice several support items that are very much needed in your supply chain. For example, for air cargo, a fully-autonomous network would remove human air traffic controllers, safety and emergency response teams, cargo and warehouse personnel, customer service and sales specialists, and even supply chain management. When you look at it in this way – it simply isn't practical for your entire supply chain to be fully autonomous.
A real-world fully autonomous supply chain also needs to process thousands of individual requests in a quick period of time (which modern computers are more than capable of completing). However, they would need to physically complete the manual labor tasks that humans can complete quicker and more accurately than today's machines.
Additionally, a fully automated supply chain would remove the human element for maintaining equipment, completing software and hardware changes, or other vital maintenance functions that technology requires to maintain efficiency. Another question you must ask is whether or not autonomous equipment can ship commodities in all weather conditions – and in smaller, closed space locations (like a grocery store for example).
Current Autonomous Technology Used in the Supply Chain
Shippers, carriers, suppliers, and others within your supply chain have been integrating autonomous technology for several years to improve employee productivity and safety records. Some systems like ERP and MRP are used to control manufacturing by identifying parts required to assemble a product. In fact, many of today's modern cars, trucks and SUV's are fully autonomously assembled. There are other organizations like large e-commerce retailers who use autonomous technology to pick parts or commodities from smaller containers, package them, and prepare for shipping.
Some of the specific components and equipment that is being automated to improve efficiency include:
• Parts picking equipment: These machines read sensors and barcodes to identify components needed for assembly or shipping.
• Robotic picking: There are several automated forklifts and other autonomous equipment already in use to pick products from steel and other storage.
• Transportation equipment: There are some autonomous vehicles (typically in warehouses) that are used to transport equipment and supplies throughout the warehouse.
That's pretty much the extent of our current autonomous capacity.
Final Thoughts
While a fully autonomous supply chain remains years away from reality, the integration of smart automation and strategic technology can transform your operations today. At Redwood, our Modern 4PL approach helps you identify the right balance between automation and human expertise – optimizing efficiency without sacrificing the flexibility and oversight your business needs. Ready to explore how autonomous technology can work for your supply chain? Contact Redwood today to discuss your logistics strategy.
FAQs
What is an autonomous supply chain?
An autonomous supply chain is a supply chain that can process an order, locate inventory, pick and pack the item, load it, transport it, offload it, and deliver it without human intervention. In its purest form, it runs end to end on automation alone. In practice, that level of autonomy is still more theoretical than real.
Is a fully autonomous supply chain practical today?
No, a fully autonomous supply chain is not practical today. Current technology can handle many individual tasks, but it still struggles with the manual work, equipment maintenance, software changes, weather variability, and small-space handling that human teams manage every day. A complete human-free network is still closer to science fiction than standard operations.
What steps would have to be automated for a supply chain to be fully autonomous?
A supply chain would need to automate order interpretation, inventory location, receiving and storage, picking and packing, loading, transportation, offloading, and final delivery. Each step would have to happen without any human help. If even one of those handoffs still requires intervention, the supply chain is not fully autonomous.
What current autonomous technologies are already used in supply chains?
Today’s supply chains already use autonomous tools in limited ways, such as ERP and MRP systems for manufacturing control, robotic picking equipment, autonomous forklifts, and warehouse vehicles that move goods internally. These systems improve productivity and safety, but they still support parts of the operation rather than replacing the entire supply chain.
Why is human involvement still necessary in an autonomous supply chain?
Human involvement is still necessary because supply chains depend on more than machine movement. People handle maintenance, hardware and software updates, customer service, sales, emergency response, and many of the physical tasks machines do not yet perform as quickly or accurately as humans. Those support functions keep the system working in the real world.
Could an autonomous supply chain affect jobs in logistics?
Yes, a fully autonomous supply chain could significantly affect jobs because the U.S. supply chain employs about 44 million people, or 37% of the workforce. The article argues that removing human labor at that scale could create major economic disruption. That is one reason full autonomy is not just a technology question, but a workforce question too.
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