The role of artificial intelligence in supply chain management: mapping the territory

Abstract

The study aims to identify the current trends, gaps, and research opportunities in research pertaining to the disruptive field of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in supply chain management (SCM). Since SCM represents managerial innovation due to its new way of integrated system thinking, SCM has emerged as one of the most fruitful business disciplines for AI applications. The study utilises bibliometric review in tracing the evolution of AI research in SCM and further synthesises decades of past AI research efforts to develop viable solutions for various supply chain problems and then proposes promising future research themes that would enrich supply chain decision-aid tools. The study identified five main research clusters through scholarly network and content analysis. The identified themes were: (a) supply chain network design (SCND), (b) supplier selection, (c) inventory planning, (d) demand planning, and (e) green supply chain management. As the role of AI in SCM continues to grow, there is a growing need for exploiting AI as a way to add value to supply chain process. The study proposes a research framework which will help academicians and practitioners in identifying current research patterns of AI in SCM.