Consumer Goods Technology - October 2018 - 10

1 5 T H

A N N U A L

TECH

TRENDS
REPORT 2018

FI G U RE 1 1 :

Keys to Future Success

Which technologies does your company consider critical to
future success?
55%

Mobile applications

48%

Cloud-based architecture

39%

AI/machine learning tools

F I G U RE 1 2 :

AR/VR tools

18%

Robotics

18%

IoT tools

12%

Blockchain

12%

Other

12%

Priorities for Artificial Intelligence

In which areas has your company implemented AI tools?

50%

Insights/analytics

43%

Marketing

30%

Sales
Supply chain

20%

Other

20%
13%

Manufacturing
R&D

3%

to let consumers virtually test products in stores and at home.
Robotics is spreading beyond manufacturing and the supply
chain. Edgewell is exploring the technology for process automation in areas such as customer service or accounts payable.
"Certain steps in that process are very clearly defined in
terms of the rule set," says Bender. "When these conditions
occur, those kinds of things can be automated. You don't have
to have a human do them." Edgewell already uses chatbotstyle technology in service management to create a self-service
experience for IT's internal customers.

Help (AI) or Hype (Blockchain)?
AI is already impacting many functions across the enterprise,
but none more significantly than insights/analytics (Figure 12).

10

CGT | OCTOBER 2018 | CONSUMERGOODS.COM

Other areas of heavy application include marketing (43%), sales
(30%) and supply chain (20%).
KitchenAid is among the companies enjoying material results from AI in marketing. One year after implementing AIbased social media management tools, the company reported
90% growth in its fan base and 143% growth in consumer
interactions, the company said recently.
Successful companies will use AI and machine learning to
break down existing cross-functional teams and form new
dynamic networks, leveraging insights from massive amounts
of data that reside in distributed environments - sometimes
in different languages, formats and platforms, according to
Michael Forhez, global managing director for consumer markets at Oracle.
"In principle, we're far more capable of moving along this
course expeditiously, efficiently and effectively through advanced technology than was scarcely possible only a few years
ago," says Forhez. "The question is, will we?"
These are much earlier days for blockchain, which might be
why 33% of respondents called it "an overblown, over-hyped
technology that probably has a few useful applications." Still,
45% of executives said it is "a promising next-gen tool that
will deliver significant business value," and 21% called it a
"potential game-changer."
"There are a lot of initiatives underway," says SAP's Kenney.
"I expect that, once we see early success with a few high-value
applications, application and adoption will accelerate rapidly."
Applications have varied widely, from Chinese e-commerce
giant Alibaba tracking the details of production, logistics, customs, inspections and third-party verifications, to AB InBev
preventing fraudulent ad campaign reporting.
Enjoy Life Foods envisions blockchain aiding consumers
with allergy concerns, the type of track-and-trace application
that also appeals to Smithfield Foods to offer greater product
transparency. But Smithfield's Anderson also sees blockchain
simplifying processes such as exporting; the company has
joined several industry consortia with partners (like Walmart)
exploring those possibilities.

Shaping the Future
Delivering to that informed, demanding, technology-empowered consumer is challenging companies to reorganize, retool
and rethink almost every aspect of their traditional business.
Fortunately, technology is also capable of enabling that change.
The challenge comes in crafting the best strategy to select,
adopt and leverage the available solutions to become the agile,
customer-centric organizations that will succeed in this vastly
different marketplace. CGT
Consumer Goods Technology - October 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Consumer Goods Technology - October 2018
