摘要: |
Our friends at Gartner have done a terrific job defining their "hype-cycle methodology" that leads to a graphical representation of the maturity and adoption of a technology. They set out to answer: "When new technologies make bold promises, how do you discern the hype from what's commercially viable? And when will such claims pay off, if at all?" It's our duty as a B2B media outlet to track the early stages of any hyped technology and its potential impact on logistics operations, but it's not until we can see it in action that it starts to make sense. Or, as Gartner puts it: "Separate hype from the real drivers of a technology's commercial promise." On this month's cover, we hit the jackpot. Contributing editor Bridget McCrea shares the success Kimberly-Clark is having by putting a combination of machine learning and optimization algorithms to work to optimize its transportation networks-and it's saving the company millions of dollars a year. Without giving away the store, Kimberly-Clark's new Al-enabled platform examines demand forecasting, transportation capacity and customer service requirements to generate plans that minimize costs while still meeting all customer commitments. |