Today, SC face challenges from diverse stakeholders, intricate interactions, and frequent disruptions. Current risk management practices often lack proactive response mechanisms, needeing an evolution to better understand and manage the impact of unforeseen events on production. Organizations need to adapt swiftly, thrive under new conditions, and capitalize on emerging opportunities.
To address these needs, NARRATE conducts cutting-edge research to integrate advancements in AI, Machine Learning (ML), Big Data, IoT, and DT aiming to create a logically centralized hub: the Intelligent Manufacturing Custodian (IMC) that is designed to provide end-to-end visibility and control over SC operations. It will leverage advanced AI capabilities, coupled with trusted models, simulators, DTs, and sophisticated decision-making and planning technologies, and will be powered by data from various sources (product, production, supply chain data, real-time information from machines, sensors, and IoT devices). By collating these data, the IMC will enable proactive decision-making functioning as the brain of a supply chain network, facilitating real-time monitoring and coordination of intelligent manufacturing processes and logistics.
Integrating the IMC into an SC network will transform traditional SC operations into a Smart Manufacturing Network (SMN), that is envisioned as an interconnected, end-to-end ecosystem equipped with programmable MaaS capabilities, designed to deal with disruptions effectively. Within this framework, SC partners will be seamlessly integrated into a next-level, modular, and resilient SC ecosystem.
Utilizing DT, the IMC will empower an SMN to continuously adapt and morph itself. Under human supervision, it will achieve this by dynamically switching services between multiple external partners in response to external risks and disruptions. This adaptive capability is vital for maintaining operational continuity and resilience towards unpredictable events. The IMC is poised to enhance manufacturing and logistics agility through two mechanisms. 1.- it will reduce the risk of disruption and improve business continuity by fostering a proactive stance, anticipating disruptions, and continuously learning and self-calibrating based on experience, rather than merely reacting to events. This continuous learning loop will enable the system to refine its responses over time. 2.- the IMC will provide the crucial ability to reinvent and reconfigure the SMN ecosystem in direct response to unexpected events and disruptions.
