Role of Knowledge, Learning and Innovation in Enhancing Sustainability of Cloud-based Supply Chains

Current financial and political systems have led to a dramatic change in the world economy and in particular in the use of Information Technology (IT) that has affected the way businesses and organizations operate. One of the changes is the obvious shift to the extensive use of technology in supply chains. For instance, the use of supply chain drones such as Amazon PrimeAir has the potential to revolutionize the future of supply chain delivery systems. Amazon.com is piloting the use of drone aircraft for supply chain package deliveries. Similarly other supply chain firms such as Rolls-Royce are currently working on the concept of driverless trucks through the use of drones or using unmanned ship navigating through Intelligence in Networks (MUNIN). The key benefit is, of course, reduction in valuable operating costs. Air drones and drone ships would dramatically reduce those labor costs. It should be noted that these drone utilize sophisticated knowledge platforms. Additionally, the deployment of cloud systems in supply chains could enhance supply chain competitiveness as well as reducing the costs of IT infrastructure, utilizing sophisticated knowledge management programs. As the need for speed, to save costs and to reach remote locations increases, drones have emerged as a possible transportation carrier to solve some of most complex logistics problems. Some analysts are already referring to the use of drone logistics as “the next paradigm for transportation.” This shift in supply chain transportation modes has led the company Amazon (the creators of the Amazon Web Services, which is one of the largest and earliest public cloud providers) to embark on developing new and revolutionary method of supply chain transportation using drones. One of the Amazon PrimeAir Drones for supply chain transportation is shown in Figure 14.1.