Background
The success of businesses increasingly depends on functional supplier networks and supplier relationships. With the growing number of suppliers, the amount of associated information has skyrocketed, leading many companies to seek ways to manage supplier information more efficiently. At the same time, companies are continuously transitioning towards more digital operations, and new artificial intelligence solutions are constantly emerging in the market. The AI-SIM project identifies a significant opportunity for business growth through AI-based tools and business models that leverage supplier data.
Many of the relevant perspectives on leveraging AI in procurement and managing supplier-related information are novel in the academic world. Previous research has yet to cover the various ways organizations transform new technology into practical business benefits and how this benefit can be assessed and measured. With the advent of smarter supplier information management, there is a need to understand how new solutions are utilized in various operational environments and supplier relationships. The ongoing AI-SIM project significantly contributes new, tested knowledge to fulfill this need.
Goal
The key objective of the project is to explore artificial intelligence-based digital applications and methods to radically transform supplier information management and business, enabling international growth. The project focuses particularly on Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology, which has been identified within participating companies as a key method for making text-based latent signals related to supplier networks visible and thus providing substantial value to the business processes.
Funding
The project is funded by Business Finland’s co-innovation funding.
Partners and co-operators
The project consortium is build upon an intensive collaboration between Tampere University (Industrial Engineering and Management), Turku University (TurkuNLP research group) and three companies AGCO Power, Sievo and Integrata. AGCO Power’s role is to represent the client company in the application of AI-assisted solutions. Sievo, on the other hand, represents the developer company offering and piloting its solutions to companies within the AI-SIM network. Inregrata serves as a research platform for exploring new business opportunities for NLP solutions.
The project network also includes Houston Analytics as a provider of AI expertise, Bronto Skylift as a tool applicator, and Tietoevry and Fortum as partners providing an ecosystem perspective. The central idea of the business network is collaborative development and piloting among the companies. Additionally, the research parties engage in high-level international cooperation with Freie Universität Berlin and Aarhus University.