Technology

The Future of Supply Chain Automation

Published

4 years ago

May 5, 2020

Dorothy Neufeld

How Fast Are Supply Chains Truly Automating?

The Future of Supply Chain Automation

As Amazon continues to set the bar for efficiency by integrating an astounding spectrum of automation technology, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that traditional supply chain models are ripe for disruption.

For this reason, companies around the world are now rethinking their warehouse and distribution systems, with automation taking center stage.

Today’s infographic from Raconteur highlights the state of automation across global supply chains, while also providing an outlook for future investment.

Long Time Coming

Let’s start by taking a look at what supply chain technologies are priorities for global industry investment in the first place:

Rank	Technology	% of Companies* Investing in Tech
#1	Warehouse automation	55%
#2	Predictive analytics	47%
#3	Internet of things	41%
#4	Cloud logistics	40%
#5	Artificial intelligence	28%
#6	Blockchain	22%
#7	Autonomous vehicles	16%
#8	Machine-learning	16%
#9	Fulfillment robots	11%
#10	3D printing	10%
#11	Augmented reality	7%
#12	Drones	7%
#13	Crowd-sourced delivery	6%
#14	Virtual reality and digital twins	6%
#15	Delivery robots	4%

*Based on survey of supply chain professionals in retail, manufacturing, and logistics fields

As seen above, warehouse automation has already received more investment (55%) than any other supply chain technology on the list, as companies aim to cut delivery times and improve overall margins.

Interestingly, other areas receiving significant investment—such as predictive analytics, internet of things, or artificial intelligence—are technologies that could integrate well into the optimization of supply chain automation as well.

Smoothing the Transition

While fully automated supply chains in most industries may still be a few years away, here is how companies are investing in an automated future today:

Timeline For Acquiring New Automation Tech	% of Warehouse Managers Surveyed
Already have	23%
Have, looking to upgrade	8%
Within 12 months	10%
One to three years	21%
Three to five years	8%
Over five years	3%
Not looking	26%

According to the above data, over 70% have already integrated automation technology, or are planning to within the next five years. On the flip side, over a quarter of warehouse managers are not currently looking to integrate any new automation tech into their operations at all.

Adoption Rates and Growth

As supply chain automation gains momentum and industry acceptance, individual processes will have varying adoption rates.

Take order fulfillment, for instance. Here, only 4% of current operations are highly automated according to a recent survey from Peerless Research Group:

Order Fulfillment Operations (Picking and Packaging)	Percentage of Respondents
Highly automated	4%
A mix of automated and manual processes	42%
Mostly or all manual	49%
Not applicable	5%

Meanwhile, 49% of operations were primarily manual, illustrating potential for growth in this particular area.

It’s worth noting that other individual supply chain components, such as conveyor belts, storage, automated guided vehicles, and shuttle systems, will all have differing trajectories for automation and growth.

Post-COVID Supply Chains

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that complex supply chains can become fragile under the right circumstances.

As supply chains see increased rates of automation and data collection becomes more integrated into these processes, it’s possible that future risks embedded in these systems could be mitigated.

Related Topics:investment tech amazon supply chain future of work

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Technology

Ranked: The World’s Top 10 Electronics Exporters (2000-2021)

Here are the largest electronics exporters by country, highlighting how electronics trade has increasingly shifted to Asia over 20 years.

Published

2 days ago

December 3, 2023

Marcus Lu

Visualized: The Top 10 Electronics Exporters in the World

Top 10 Electronics Exporters in the World (2000-2021)

From personal computers to memory chips, the electronics trade plays a vital role in the world economy. In 2021, global electronics exports reached $4.1 trillion according to McKinsey Global Institute.

This graphic shows the 10 largest electronics exporters in the world, based on data from McKinsey, and how they’ve changed since 2000.

Ranked: The Top 10 Exporters of Electronics

Which countries are the leading exporters of electronics, and how has this shifted over the last two decades?

Rank	Country	Share of Total 2021	Share of Total 2000
1	🇨🇳 China	34%	9%
2	🇹🇼 Taiwan	11%	6%
3	🇰🇷 South Korea	7%	5%
4	🇻🇳 Vietnam	5%	N/A
5	🇲🇾 Malaysia	5%	5%
6	🇯🇵 Japan	4%	13%
7	🇺🇸 United States	4%	16%
8	🇩🇪 Germany	4%	5%
9	🇲🇽 Mexico	3%	3%
10	🇹🇭 Thailand	3%	N/A
	Other	20%	30%

We can see in the above table how global electronics trade has become more concentrated in Asia, specifically China and Taiwan. As an electronics powerhouse, 34% of the world’s electronic goods in 2021 came from China, representing $1.4 trillion in value.

Home to leading firms like TSMC, Taiwan also plays a major role due to its prowess in semiconductor manufacturing—highlighting the island’s global importance.

But not all of Asia has been thriving. In 2000, Japan was a global electronics powerhouse responsible for 13% of the industry’s exports, but has seen its share shrink to 4% in 2021. The U.S. has also sheen its electronics lead shrink, with exports down from 16% of the global total in 2000 to just 4% in 2021.

Several factors have driven this shift. Instead of manufacturing electronics domestically, the U.S. has outsourced technology to countries where manufacturing, production, and labor costs are lower. However, recently, the U.S. is focusing on reshoring semiconductor production specifically given its role in national security, as seen through the $52.7 billion CHIPS Act.