IBM’s Sterling Supply Chain Adds New Tracking Features
- Firms such as Salesforce and Publicis Sapient will help with the development of the Sterling platform’s new features.
- The collaboration will not only increase the platform’s AI capabilities for returns, but will also improve the accuracy of shipment ETAs.
IBM logo on a building. Tomasz Bidermann/Shutterstock
Enhanced solution capabilities are being developed for the IBM Sterling supply chain platform by firms such as Salesforce, Publicis Sapient, IBM Services and others, the technology giant said in a press release on 13 January.
According to the press release, the collaboration will help IBM’s blockchain and AI-based platform to quickly solve its returns and logistic challenges. The recently launched Sterling supply chain platform is focused on integrating data between the various participants on the supply chain.
In order to simplify the process of organizing returns, and the need to bring products to the correct location, Publicis Sapient plans to increase the IBM Sterling AI capabilities for returns through the use of a control tower blueprint.
In order to automate inefficiencies across the supply chain, project44 has developed an Advanced Visibility Platform, which could be used to improve the accuracy of shipment ETAs, identifies important bottlenecks in the supply chain and helps respond to events quicker.
Will Hansmann, Chief Technology Officer at project44, said:
“This relationship between project44 and IBM Sterling Supply Chain Insights combines the most precise transportation data and AI to unlock the value of supply chain visibility in an entirely new way.”
With the support of MuleSoft, IBM Services and Bluewolf have started jointly developing a Connector, which will help integrate IBM Sterling with Salesforce Commerce, Service and Marketing Clouds, enabling retailers to blend the offline and online shopping experience.
Neeracha Taychakhoonavudh, EVP Industry Go-To-Market at Salesforce, commented on the collaboration:
“By integrating with IBM Sterling through the MuleSoft Connector, retailers can deliver omnichannel customer experiences to help reduce operational costs. Salesforce is excited to collaborate with IBM to help enable a scalable, efficient, profitable and trusted way to unify digital and physical store operations.”
The IBM Sterling platform is not the first that the tech giant developed for the supply chain industry. The company also has a strong presence in the food industry, thanks to its Food Trust blockchain platform, which both Swiss food giant Nestle and French retailer Carrefour have been using since last year.
- Spanish olive oil producer Conde de Benalua and Argentinian olive oil supplier Rolar de Cuyo are the latest companies to join IBM’s Food Trust network.
- IBM has claimed that 73% of consumers are ready to pay premium for products that are transparent about their production.
Close up of IBM sign at their headquarters located in Silicon Valley in Foster City, California, USA on February 19, 2020. Shutterstock
- IBM will establish an R3 center of excellence to focus on developing interoperability solutions for blockchain networks.
- The company expressed their desire to further collaborate with other blockchain operators in order to advance their ecosystem.
- The new IBM app, called Digital Health Pass, will be able to use multiple data types to generate an individual’s pass.
- The pass puts privacy first, allowing its users to control the amount of data that is being shared with others.