Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com teams up with US firm Blue Yonder on AI supply chain transformation
- Blue Yonder is an Arizona-based digital solution provider that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop supply chain solutions
- The partnership with JD Logistics will help Chinese merchants improve their efficiency and reduce resource wastage, the companies say
Under JD Logistics’s partnership with Arizona-based digital solution provider Blue Yonder, both parties will work together to “provide supply chain transformation solutions for merchants in China to solve a series of business pain points in order to improve efficiency and end-to-end supply chain collaborative management,” JD.com’s logistics unit said in a statement on Wednesday.
The US company can create simulations based on forecast data using AI and machine learning (ML), JD logistics said in the statement. JD Logistics, for its part, can complement this predictive data with real experience and insights relating to front-line execution, the Chinese retailer added.
“By integrating Blue Yonder’s capabilities, JD Logistics will be able to help its partners and merchants increase their ability to monitor and respond to ever-changing customer needs while predicting and preventing potential supply chain disruptions,” it said.
China, the world’s largest manufacturing economy, has been urging factories to digitalise their operations to more efficiently make use of resources as businesses work to recover from disruptions caused by lockdowns, travel restrictions and the temporary closure of factories due to the coronavirus outbreak. Beijing is also pushing digital infrastructure and industrial upgrading to retool its economy for the future.
Xie Shaofeng, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said last month that there is huge demand in “digital infrastructure,” including the use of 5G, data centres and the industrial Internet of Things.