Ongoing supply chain disruption means AI-driven businesses intelligence has never been more important, says Jeff White Founder and CEO of Gravy Analytics

There’s no real end in sight to the disrupted global supply chain. Labor shortages, geopolitical conflicts, severe weather, and lingering inflation threaten to keep supply chains unsettled for the foreseeable future. To keep things flowing as smoothly as possible under challenging circumstances, businesses are seeking solutions that will help them minimise disruptions. While many professionals gravitate toward traditional supply chain planning methods, many have not yet considered leveraging a game-changing tool: location analytics. Location analytics provides insight into how consumers move about and interact with the world around them. Utilising a location analytics-based strategy can help with all facets of the supply chain, from site planning and risk assessment to staffing and predicting consumer demand.

When it comes to selecting a new site for a factory, manufacturing plant, or distribution centre, location is key. As such, organisations want to make sure their new site fits within their existing network. This means accounting for factors like consumer behavior patterns, population density, and transportability. For example, would this new site be in a densely populated area or a rural town? How close would this location be to transportation hubs most important to the company, such as ocean ports, railroads, or airports? How might all these factors impact the pool of potential employees? By analyzing location analytics, enriched with other key datasets, organisations can learn more about possible site locations, as well as the businesses and residents of these areas, to evaluate their options and determine the best location for a new site.