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REDUCING VOLATILITY
The evolving role of tech and AI in sustainable supply chain management .
By Josh Pitman
The pandemic spurred great volatility in the ecommerce market for retailers , manufacturers , and suppliers . At Priory Direct , managing fluctuations in the sustainable packaging market has always been extremely challenging , particularly with our customer base of 21,000 businesses , primarily retailers . You either risk running out of stock and losing customers , or you pay large sums to store excess stock . As such , we are always exploring ways to harness technology and AI to better anticipate customer needs and improve how we manage our stock . Greater efficiency also leads to better environmental outcomes , by minimizing excess stock and half-empty lorry journeys .
As part of this , we have two technology projects underway in collaboration with the University of Kent , and backed by Innovate UK , which are teaching us about the immense potential impact of technology and AI on the future of the ecommerce industry .
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