Amid all the “is this a bubble?” talk about artificial intelligence, the supply chain and logistics industries have become breeding grounds for seemingly genuine uses of the technology. Flexport, Uber Freight, and dozens of startups are developing different applications and winning blue-chip customers.
But while AI helps Fortune 500s pad their bottom line (and justify the next layoff to Wall Street), the right use of the tech is proving useful to smaller businesses.
Netstock, an inventory management software company founded in 2009, is working on just that. It recently rolled out a generative AI-powered tool called the “Opportunity Engine” that slots into its existing customer dashboard. The tool pulls info from a customer’s Enterprise Resource Planning software and uses that information to make regular, real-time recommendations.
Netstock claims the tool is saving those businesses thousands. On Thursday, the company announced it has served up one million recommendations to date, and that 75% of its customers have received an Opportunity Engine suggestion valued at $50,000 or more.
While tantalizing, one of those customers — Bargreen Ellingson, a family-run 65-year-old restaurant supply company — was initially apprehensive about using an artificial intelligence product.
“Old family companies don’t trust blind change a lot,” chief innovation officer Jacob Moody told TechCrunch. “I could not have gone into our warehouse and said, ‘Hey, this black box is going to start managing.’”
Instead, Moody pitched Netstock’s AI internally as a tool that warehouse managers could “either choose to use, or not use” — a process he describes as “eagerly, but cautiously dipping our toes” into AI.
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Moody says it’s helping avoid mistakes, in part because it’s sifting through myriad reports his staff uses to make inventory decisions. He acknowledged the AI summaries of this info are not 100% accurate, but said it “helps create signals from the noise” quickly, especially during off-hours.
Image: Netstock
The “more profound” change Moody’s noticed is the software made some of Bargreen Ellingson’s less-senior warehouse staff “more effective.”
He highlighted an employee in one of Bargreen’s 25 warehouses who’s worked there for two years. The employee has a high school diploma but no college degree. Training this employee to und …