Electronica 24: AI and Digital Transformation in Supply Chain Management with Sourceability's Rob Picken

EMS@C-LEVEL · 3 Dec 2024 · 12m

AI in practice: 2 real uses of AI described

What this episode covers

Rob Picken, Sourceability's SVP of Digital Transformation, explains how AI-driven data transparency can repair strained relationships between OEMs and EMS partners exposed by the pandemic. He details how Sourceability's platforms, including Source Engine and Data Link, help consolidate supplier choices and eliminate human error in data normalization to improve decision-making. Picken highlights the use of an internal SaaS team to deploy AI for parsing unstructured customer data and predicting supply chain trends to prevent issues like double-ordering.

AI in practice

Where this conversation describes AI being used to build or deliver a product. Part of the AI in practice tracker.

Sourcing & supply chainSourceability AI system

The AI system extracts and structures component data from unformatted customer emails, eliminating the need for standardized input formats and reducing manual data normalization efforts.

“So we use AI to , at the moment , strip out information from customer unformatted emails . So , instead of having to have a customer send you a bill of materials or a list of components in a pre-agreed , defined format that works for us , we're able to take information from a customer in whatever format they choose and use the AI system to make sense of it…”

Speaker 2 · Hear it at 9:02

Sourcing & supply chain

AI is used to normalize manufacturer part numbers and clean data errors (such as confusing '1' with 'I' or '0' with 'O') instantly, removing human error from analytical reports.

“Ai can do that in the blink of an eye and put it in the right context for you . So one of the things that we struggle with when providing data to customers is that we can't control the level of experience that a customer has…”

Speaker 2 · Hear it at 6:49

Mentioned

Companies
Sourceability, IPC, Koh Young, Global Electronics Association
Products
Source Engine, Data Link

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