He Left a Successful Career in Supply Chain to Improve the Industry with AI
AI is coming to the Supply Chain, but few companies understand its benefits and how it can augment current workforces while reducing costs and inefficiencies in the warehouse and logistics industry without incurring new infrastructure costs. All possible by a startup with the core belief to use AI ethically.
Immigrant Innovates an American/Global Industry
A first-generation immigrant living in Chicago, Nilay Parikh graduated from the University of Southern California with a Master’s in aerospace engineering and worked in the 3D printing/additive manufacturing space for more than seven years.
A chance career change took him to Iowa and the opportunity to travel to more than 30 countries and work in three continents over the next few years. While working at a global manufacturing firm in Denmark he traveled extensively to supply chain sites worldwide, including China, Europe, the United States and India, visiting more than 60 different warehouses and distribution and manufacturing centers.
Parikh noticed that despite all of the advancements of industry 4.0 and digital manufacturing, supply chain operations in warehouses and distribution centers were extremely inefficient and not in step with the automation revolution surrounding it. Motivated to develop a simple solution that was easily adoptable and compatible with existing infrastructure, and software, he launched Arvist in 2022 and today, the company goes far beyond its safety foundation to provide more real-time analytics and operational insights for supply chain operations by building digital twins of these environments.
Remarkably, the company bootstrapped to revenue in just 14 months and was part of the Techstars Industries of the Future Accelerator.
“The supply chain industry is the central piece to our economy, ” said Parikh. “It has a direct and tangible impact on people’s daily lives and everything we do relies on an efficient and effective supply chain. We need to continuously innovate to ensure that our supply chains remain resilient to global changes and disruptions. To do that, we have to develop technology which can be adapted and transitioned easier and faster”
AI Is Coming to the Supply Chain Quickly
AI is coming to the Supply Chain, but few companies understand its benefits and how it can augment current workforces while reducing costs and inefficiencies in the warehouse and logistics industry without incurring new infrastructure costs. All possible by a startup with the core belief to use AI ethically.
According to Supply Chain Brain (May 2023) complexity in the supply chain has increased exponentially over the last decade and amidst an unpredictable pandemic, and decision-making and data are moving faster than ever. AI technology is transforming the supply chain industry by improving the efficiency of operations, reducing costs and increasing customer satisfaction.
Moreover, market analysis shows AI-enabled supply chains are 67% more effective than their non-AI counterparts, thanks to reduced risks and lower overall costs.
The adoption rate of artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to grow in companies operating in supply chains and manufacturing industries from 2022 to 2025. In 2022, over a third of executives expected their companies to have a widescale adoption of AI in their companies. (Statista 2022)
It is anticipated that over $80 Billion will be spent in the next five years towards digitization of warehouses, which continue to dominate the industrial real-estate market in the US.
Making AI Adoption in Supply Chain Affordable, Fast and Easy
Arvist is making mass adoption of AI technologies easier by building the brains of warehouses. by enhancing overall efficiencies in the supply chain, transforming reactive safety processes into proactive ones leveraging AI, reducing costs and inefficiencies in the warehouse and logistics industry without incurring new infrastructure costs. All while maintaining its core belief to use AI ethically.
The company transforms warehouses and distribution centers with real-time digital twin technology with AI to unlock cost savings, drive up efficiencies and elevate safety without any additional infrastructure costs. It can do this by using existing infrastructure, data and security camera video combined with Arvists’ unique marker technology with AI providing unprecedented visibility into the operations, gaining real-time insights on productivity, safety, and response.
“Seamlessly and simply connecting to existing on-site security cameras and bringing in data from their existing platforms like WMS (Warehouse Management Systems) or ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems, Arvist’s proprietary artificial intelligence system provides critical real-time insights that help operators identify ways to reduce costs, worker downtime and increase warehouse productivity.” Parikh said.
Solving Industry Challenges
According to Parikh, the supply chain has always been a mess. And the last few years of disruption should not have come as a surprise. All it did was bring the flaws or weaknesses of our supply chain to the forefront.
He says that Arvist’s software was specifically designed to solve these current industry issues.
Lack of integration: Many supply chain systems consist of multiple standalone systems that don’t communicate with each other well. This leads to data silos, inefficiencies and a lack of visibility into the entire supply chain.
Inefficient processes: Supply chains often involve manual, time-consuming processes that can lead to delays and errors. For example, manual data entry, manual order management and manual reconciliation of data.
Limited visibility and traceability: The lack of visibility into the entire supply chain can make it difficult to identify bottlenecks, track the movement of goods, and quickly respond to problems. Even with end-to-end visibility solutions, there are many dark spots especially inside the warehouses, distribution centers and manufacturing.
Inadequate risk management: Supply chains are exposed to a variety of risks, including natural disasters, pandemics, geopolitical events, and supplier failures. This lack of risk management ties into limited visibility. Another major risk which is becoming more common is cyber risk. Supply chains are increasingly reliant on technology, but this also makes them more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. A breach in one part of the supply chain can have ripple effects throughout the entire system, putting sensitive information and critical operations at risk.
The Future of the Supply Chain from a Job Perspective
Like most industries, the supply chain has been affected by the challenge of finding, hiring and retaining employees, making it harder to deliver goods in a timely manner to store shelves and hence customers. While automation will help fill some roles, new technologies should enhance current workforces rather than simply replace them.
Parikh says that people often associate supply chain jobs with low wages, low impact and outdated technology, but a recent report from the Association of Supply Chain Management says, “the average median supply chain salary is $98,570 (including base and additional compensation), up more than 3% from the previous year’s survey.” Moreover, “seventy-one percent of respondents reported receiving some form of additional compensation. That compensation ranged from cash bonuses (55%), profit sharing (13%) incentive pay (10%), overtime pay (8%) or other cash compensation (6%).
“We have to get the next generation to understand that supply chain work has a direct and tangible impact on people’s daily lives, as it helps to ensure that essential goods and services are delivered to where they are needed. By highlighting the impact of supply chain work, we can help young people understand the important role that they can play in making a difference.”
He adds that the supply chain is a diverse industry that offers a range of career paths, from logistics and transportation, to sourcing and procurement, to supply chain planning and management. “These are good jobs that are part of the backbone of America. They are crucial to our society.”
Since founding Arvist, Parikh has quickly become an industry expert on AI speaking at industry and tech events about AI in the supply chain and will speak at the upcoming IWLA Safety and Risk + technology conference, Parcel Forum, Techstars FounderCon and Supply Chain Forum.
