Opportunities and Challenges for Society 5.0 in Procurement

Abstract

The new technologies continue to evolve at a breakneck pace. If digital solutions and artificial intelligence will not reduce us all to inactivity, their impact on our lives will increase. Digital is already reshuffling the cards for the organization of our daily lives. The supply chain is a rapidly evolving field. We don’t manage a supply chain today as we did 10 or 20 years ago because working methods are changing very fast, so are customer expectations, as well as supplier requirements in an unstable geopolitical environment subject to strong pressures. And this, not to mention the rapid development of technologies that are reshaping the world of work. This is why supply chain professionals must constantly train themselves to work more efficiently to prepare for the future. And in terms of the future, trends are emerging and becoming more refined every year. This is therefore the perfect opportunity to carry out a prospective inventory of the supply chain. Fast progressions in digital transformation are reforming global supply chains and changing the present models of the procurement inside companies. Vastly, procurement involves the exchange of data and information between the actors of the supply chains. As the complexity increases, numerous inventions are developed to support the procurement in the form of automated solutions for different industries. These solutions enclose blockchain, data analytics, robotics, Internet of goods and smart contracts, etc. Therefore, this chapter aims to explore the possibilities of these technologies in intelligent procurement and the main obstacles against their adaption.