Highlights from the 2024 High Tech Connect

October 15, 2024, San Mateo

On Oct. 15, 2024, Blue Yonder and Snowflake hosted the High Tech Connect in San Mateo, CA. This brought together over 60 supply chain leaders from 13 High Tech companies for a day of networking and engaging speaking sessions. This annual event facilitates sharing ideas on supply chain innovation, and has been a draw amongst our customers. With many repeat attendees from past years, the room was near capacity.

Puneet Saxena, Corporate Vice President, Global Manufacturing Industry Strategy at Blue Yonder, kicked off proceedings by welcoming attendees and setting the stage for the speakers and the panel discussion that were to follow.  Puneet highlighted some of the top technology trends driving interest, innovation and investment such as Cloud and Edge computing, Applied ML and Generative AI, Renewable energy and Robotics. Most of the customers and companies in attendance are key contributors to the development and adoption of these technologies. These are also the underpinnings of key innovations that Blue Yonder is bringing to the market with our significant R&D investments and recent acquisitions including that of ONE Network Enterprises.  Blue Yonder’s vision for Autonomous Supply Chain is built on the three cornerstones which are our End-to-End capabilities, AI and the Network. Hence our themes for this year’s connect: the Power of the Network, AI and ML with collaboration-enabling resilience, and how high-performing supply chains drive sustainability.

Journey toward autonomous supply chain management

Geoff Annesley, VP of Solutions Strategy at One Network Enterprises, was the first presenter with his talk, The Digital Supply Chain Network – Journey toward autonomous supply chain management.  Geoff highlighted the Blue Yonder + ONE High Tech network’s role in optimizing ecosystems of collaborating companies by enhancing predictive capabilities and decision-making. He emphasized the importance of multi-party permissioned networks in controlling data visibility and functionality, which is crucial for AI and ML model training. This network model integrates directly with the physical supply chain, providing high-quality, high-volume data essential for predictive models that can identify potential issues and guide resolution across complex networks.

ONE Network’s capabilities are  applicable to various actors in the High Tech value chain, including semiconductor manufacturers, equipment suppliers, and cloud data centers, spanning application industries such as Telecom, Automotive, and Medical Devices. Geoff illustrated multi-party challenges and decision-making scenarios, showing how issues are presented to users with resolution options and scenario workbenches for exploring alternatives. The collaboration between different types of agents (AI, optimization algorithms, heuristics) to detect and resolve issues in near-real-time was highlighted, generating significant interest.

The presentation concluded with a discussion on Blue Yonder’s vision for the future, focusing on the integration of strategic planning with the enterprise with network collaboration to achieve higher automation and better decision-making, advancing toward the next generation of intelligent, High Tech supply chains.

Building smarter supply chains with AI and collaboration

Tim Long, Global Head of Manufacturing at Snowflake, in his session, Building Smarter Supply Chains with AI and Collaboration, gave an overview of how leading companies are driving significant supply chain improvements through AI and collaboration. Snowflake’s mission is to break down data silos and enable real-time decision-making, helping businesses minimize risks and seize new opportunities. Tim described how high-performing supply chains leverage Snowflake’s platform to collaborate seamlessly with suppliers, customers, and third-party experts, enhancing both resilience and efficiency. Blue Yonder has partnered with Snowflake on our Platform Data Cloud upon which our Cognitive solutions are natively built. The three main benefits of this partnership to our customers are 1) Faster and easier data exchange with bi-directional data sharing minimizes latency, 2) Access to Snowflake’s library of third-party data for Blue Yonder solutions to leverage for higher forecast accuracy or scenario planning, and 3) Reduced cost,complexity and time required to transform data while gaining the ability to collaborate across clouds, regionally and organizationally.

Micron, a leader in innovative memory and storage solutions, has achieved significant milestones in their supply chain transformation through their collaboration with Blue Yonder over the years. Their commitment to supply chain excellence and the ensuing results has positioned Micron as a resilient and agile company in the High Tech industry. Industry analysts have recognized Micron as one of the top High Tech Supply Chains. Shiva Esturi, VP of Global Supply Chain Management at Micron, continued where he left off last year, when he spoke about People Centric Transformations. This year’s presentation was based on their recent work around Enabling Sustainability through Circular Supply Chains led by Matt Draper, Sr Director, Supply Chain Optimization. Micron’s success in becoming a Quad A Value Chain – Agile, Adaptable, Aligned and Accountable – has enabled their business to have a competitive edge in tough market conditions. Micron’s Accountability to our planet has the companym aspiring towards net zero scope 1 and scope 2 emissions by 2050 and using 100% renewable energy and 100% water conservation. By incorporating an objective in their Supply Planning Linear Programming solver runs to minimize transportation movements between their assembly and test sites, Micron was able to achieve a 32% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions with increased plan over plan stability. Shiva also spoke about how Micron is working to reduce waste, extend product life and drive greater reuse and recycling. A key to their success continues to be the people angle, with innovate-a-thons and a people centric focus on sustainability. We are looking forward to Micron getting recognition yet again for their work this year!

After the break, Puneet moderated a panel discussion with Esther Hammerschmied,  Director Supply Chain Planning at Analog Devices, Shiva Esturi, Vice President of Global Supply Chain Management at Micron, and Kehat Shahar, Vice President Integrated Planning at Google. This panel represented a microcosm of a High Tech value chain since it included power management and memory solutions providers and a data center/public cloud provider. The participants provided their perspectives on topics that covered the themes of the event:

  • Reconfiguration of their supply networks post Covid: what has changed in the networks themselves, how they collaborate with their partners, and the challenges and opportunities they saw in this area.
  • Eliminating data siloes within their organization: how they are dealing with this in their company and the results they have seen
  • Points along the journey with AI and ML use cases in Supply Chain and specifically, with Generative AI – where it has been successful and where it has not
  • Importance of sustainability from their customer and investor perspective and how they are justifying investments related to sustainability.  Companies are pursuing net-zero emissions targets over the coming years, so investments in sustainable and circular supply chains are not just being seen from traditional ROI lenses, panelists explained to the audience.

Application of agents and conversational AI

In a compelling late-afternoon presentation, Matthew Getman, Sr. Director of Blue Yonder’s GTM Strategy, delved into the transformative potential of Generative AI in his talk, Application of Agents and Conversational AI in the Integrated Business Planning Process.  As supply chains reconfigure and continue to encounter increasing disruptions, the workforce landscape also continues to evolve. Conversational AI is poised to enhance efficiency in managing complex processes. Blue Yonder showcased how finely tuned AI agents can streamline operations by delivering daily digests that highlight specific issues and opportunities. These agents not only identify problem areas but also guide users to potential solutions, significantly improving decision-making processes.

Building on the Cognitive Integrated Business Planning demonstration at last year’s Blue Yonder High Tech Summit, Matt illustrated the progression of exception management within Integrated Business Planning. He presented a scenario where a gap to the financial plan was identified, pinpointing a contract manufacturing capacity constraint as the root cause. AI agents trained to operate without making decisions themselves, offer a range of solutions, enabling users to explore multiple scenarios simultaneously. Upon completing their analysis, these agents present the user with well-evaluated options. Users can then interact with the system through voice commands, instructing it to implement a chosen solution. With KPI-driven dashboards providing robust support, users can make informed decisions swiftly, reducing the need for extensive manual intervention.

Innovating with AI tools

The final session of the day leading to the networking happy hour was Innovating with AI Tools in the Artistic World of Wine by Teresa Lutwak of Palmaz Vineyards. Some industries are better prepared for the AI revolution than others. When Christian Palmaz, COO of Palmaz Vineyards, spearheaded the development and implementation of FILCS, an AI-driven fermentation technology, and VIGOR, a vineyard remote sensing system, the wine industry’s response was mixed. However, by focusing on innovation principles that emphasized enhancing the human element of winemaking, an initially contentious and misunderstood tool evolved into one of the most lauded advancements in modern winemaking. This talk touched on the AI and ML applications and sustainability themes of the event. To cover the Network angle, Puneet invited the attendees to close out the day by joining in the complimentary wine tasting hosted by Palmaz Vineyards and networking with other attendees!

Curious about what’s next in AI and supply chain? Join us at our upcoming events to discover groundbreaking insights and connect with our experts.