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LAS Vegas -Unilever wants not to turn stones when implementing artificial intelligence throughout the ice cream supply chain, Sandeep Desai said in the panel of Manifest 2025 last week.
According to the January press release, CPG large companies use AI to analyze weather data to develop more accurate volume predictions and restricted waste. It also uses AI in the freezer cabinet for real -time inventory updates and more efficient production in factories.
“We are trying to integrate it to the end,” said Desai, the EVP and the chief product supply chain of the company’s ice cream business.
However, emerging technology did not solve all the challenges of the supply chain of the ice cream supply chain. According to Desai, as long as the company is trying to improve visibility, the area is generally in the final shipping miles from the customer’s distribution center to the freezer. He said the company can get additional tracking functions through a connected sensor that “directly talks with the cloud”, but the cost -effective deployment of the technology remains an obstacle.
Desai said, “If we transport diamonds, it is inexpensive, can be skilled and there is there. We can do it. “When transporting ice cream that all moms and pops can make ice cream, it is a game that is sensitive to margin, so technology costs are needed (down).”
According to Desai, vehicle management remains the “most demanding side” that integrates the AI function into the supply chain. Implementing real -time monitoring in all trucks carrying Unilever’s ice cream means working with a sculpture mix of large truck carriers and owners.
Desai added, “Today’s Ocean Cargo and Ocean Cargo a few years ago have made significant progress.”
Desai said it is important to experiment and control new technologies despite cost and integration. The supply chain management said the cost will decrease as the initial program progresses and scale.
Desai said, “We must have faith in the process. We cannot give up the pilot. We can’t give up scaling, ”Desai said. “You have to find the right partner to see a long -term vision. It’s not a short -term game. It’s about organs.”
One of the long -term priority of Unilever’s ice cream business is more automation within the warehouse network. Desai is a highly automated “dark” warehouse that uses technology like drones for stock management, and it will become more and more important in cold chain logistics. In particular, it offset the hiring problem that helps to work in a low temperature environment.
In the Unilever’s ice cream business, about 10%of the warehouse is now dark, and the company has been increasing its ratio over the next few years.
“My vision is 100% dark,” Desai said.
Unilever’s ice cream business will be separated from the rest of the CPG giants by the end of this year, which is a movement that can introduce supply chain efficiency. According to the profit release in 2024, the basic sales of this sector increased by 3.7% due to “strong innovation and improvement of operation.”
