Technological Innovations: Impacts on Supply Chains

Supply chains have benefitted tremendously from digital and transportation technologies over the years. Advanced IT systems have enhanced inventory and demand visibility and facilitated communications with global partners and customers, while transportation technologies have improved the speed and efficiency necessary to transport goods globally. However, dramatic changes in both of these areas are on the horizon. The emergence of new technologies such as 3D printing, virtual reality, autonomous vehicles, drones, and the Internet of Things (IoT) will force the next big wave of changes in global supply chains. While some of these technologies have been adopted by individual firms, many questions remain concerning how these technologies will drive new supply chain policies, business models, and regulations in the future. To illustrate, while technologies such as autonomous vehicles and IoT facilitate supply chain efficiency and transparency, they also increase the risk of compromising data security. In this chapter, we offer a brief overview of each of these emerging technologies and summarize the impact on the supply chain. We intend for this chapter to spur interest and research into not only these technologies and their impact on supply chains, but also into envisioning the supply chains of the future.