The ongoing COVID-19 crisis, global unrest and surging consumer demand have thrown supply chains into a tailspin. From Boeing to Grey Poupon Mustard, few if any businesses have been immune to this ongoing struggle. According to Bloomberg, musician Jack White even named his summer 2022 tour the “Supply Chain Issues Tour.” 

As the summer winds down, global supply chains seem to be on the mend. However, we’re never far from a new crisis. Softening demand, inflation, labor disputes and so much more continue to threaten supply chain recovery and resilience, especially in the retail sector. 

In order to accommodate the ups and downs of increasingly volatile global markets, forward-edge organizations such as Amazon and Walmart are combining automation with robust data analytics to build highly agile and resilient supply chain strategies. As to who is doing this better, read on, decide what you think, and let us know at @AiiA_Network .

Amazon

The words “Amazon” and “supply chain innovation” are virtually synonymous. Not only have they deployed over 520,000 warehouse robots across more that 1,200 fulfillment centers, they also leverage advanced applications of artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics and automation to optimize last mile delivery routes, predict customer demand and further enhance its distribution/warehousing strategies. 

While business boomed for Amazon’s e-commerce site during the pandemic, as people have returned to in-person shopping and the demand for PPE has plummeted, overall sales have been slowing throughout 2022. In addition, Amazon’s own research warns that they may exhaust its entire available fulfillment center labor pool in key areas such as Phoenix, Memphis and Wilmington, DE. As more and more competitors enter the fulfillment center market, it’s likely that Amazon will have to rethink its “churn and burn” attitude towards warehouse workers. 

When it comes to fortifying its supply chain against potential future disruptions, Amazon is leaning hard into new technology. To start, the company recently announced it would be investing $1 billion in companies developing supply chain technologies. According to Silicon Angle, “The Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund has several focus areas. The fund will back companies with technologies that can help improve worker safety throughout an organization’s supply chain. Additionally, Amazon will invest in startups with products that make supply chains more efficient, for example by speeding up package delivery times.”

Walmart

Not to be outdone by its rivals at Amazon, Walmart has poured billions of dollars into reinventing its supply chain to deliver a “seamless omnichannel” experience. Though you could write an entire text book on the sophistication of Walmart’s supply chain, some areas where they’ve been especially innovative include:

• Establishing a blockchain partnership with Dole, Kroger, McCormick, Nestlé, Tyson Foods, and Unilever to build new applications that could help increase food traceability. One such product is the Hyperledger Fabric, an open source digital ledger technology that tracks fresh produce.
• Launched NTransit, a driver workflow application that coordinates last mile deliveries
• In partnership with DLT labs, Walmart Canada uses blockchain to automate invoice and payments processes of its 70 third-party freight carriers.
• Launched Project Gigaton, an partnership-driven initiative to eliminate one billion metric tons of greenhouse gasses from its global supply chain by 2030.
• Similar to other major retailers, Walmart’s e-commerce and digital businesses experienced unprecedented as well as unpredictable levels of demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, the company expanded its partnership with AI-provider Symbiotic to automate dozens of its distribution centers in the DC area and beyond.
• As explained on Walmart’s corporate blog, the Symbiotic “system uses a complex algorithm to store cases like puzzle pieces using high-speed mobile bots – operating with a precision that speeds the intake process and increases the accuracy of freight being stored for future orders. By using dense modular storage, it also expands building capacity. And by using high-speed palletizing robotics to organize and optimize freight, it creates custom store- and aisle-ready pallets, which take the guesswork out of unloading trucks.” 

Walmart’s next steps? If the recent patent they filed is any indication, it looks like Walmart is working to develop an air-to-ground autonomous system complete with both autonomous ground vehicles (AGV) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), aka drones. 

But will all this be enough to not only beat Amazon, but withstand the tides of change. Case in point, it was recently revealed that Walmart overstocked its shelves by about 20% in 2021. Though Walmart’s inventory miscalculations may benefit consumers this holiday season, it has cost the company. 

As explained in Business Insider, “Just as it did for many other big-box retailers, the pandemic created a stocking whirlwind for Walmart. What started as runs on products like toilet paper — leaving Walmart's shelves empty of many items — turned into the world's largest retailer ordering a surplus of goods above their customers' overall demand.”