Analysis of the Challenges of Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) for the Smart Supply Chain (Case Study: FMCG Industries)

In today’s competitive world, supply chain management is one of the fundamental issues facing businesses that affects all an organization’s activities to produce products and provide services needed by customers. The technological revolution in supply chain logistics is experiencing a significant wave of new innovations and challenges. Despite the current fast digital technologies, customers expect the ordering and delivery process to be faster, and as a result, this has made it easier and more efficient for organizations looking to implement new technologies. “Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT)”, which means using the Internet of Things to perform intelligent tasks with the help of artificial intelligence integration, is one of these expected innovations that can turn a complex supply chain into an integrated process. AIoT innovations such as data sensors and RFID (radio detection technology), with the power of artificial intelligence analysis, provide information to implement features such as tracking and instant alerts to improve decision making. Such data can become vital information to help improve operations and tasks. However, the same evolving technology with the presence of the Internet and the huge amount of data can pose many challenges for the supply chain and the factors involved. In this study, by conducting a literature review and interviewing experts active in FMCG industries as an available case study, the most important challenges facing the AIoT-powered supply chain were extracted. By examining these challenges using nonlinear quantitative analysis, the importance of these challenges was examined and their causal relationships were identified. The results showed that cybersecurity and a lack of proper infrastructure are the most important challenges facing the AIoT-based supply chain.