Samsung SDS taps generative AI to counter logistics risks

Samsung SDS Co., the information technology service unit under Samsung Group, actively incorporates generative artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to enable its clients to counteract any risk in global supply chains.

The company announced on Monday that with the latest upgrade to its digital freight forwarding service platform Cello Square, its clients have been able to reduce the time to come up with countermeasures against any abrupt global supply chain risks to two hours from the previous 24 hours, according to the company.

The company said its advanced Cello Square automatically detects potential logistics risks from more than 60,000 global news stories aggregated worldwide daily by using machine learning technology. It then uses generative AI to classify those risks into three levels.  

Samsung SDS has developed a model that can analyze and rank the level of supply chain risks based on about 20,000 logistics risks collected over time and has trained generative AI with the model to determine the degree of each risk, the company explained.

This system enables Cello Square to calculate the total logistics volume projected to be affected by those risks. Then Samsung SDS’s logistics experts prepare measures to counteract those risks through data analysis.

The Korean IT service company said it predicted clashes between Israel and Iran last month through its decision intelligence program and notified its clients that their shipments would be affected by those events.

In preparation for an escalation in the two countries’ military campaigns, it offered its affected clients alternative transportation options and successfully met their shipping deadlines.  

It has also adopted generative AI to enable hyper-automation of its customer and logistics management services, the company explained.

Samsung SDS has upgraded Cello Square to enable its forwarding freight service customers to get quotes and obtain logistics volume and freight cost data via simple chats with the platform’s generative AI.

The company also offers its clients the predictive estimated time of arrival (ETA) information of their freight delivery. Predictive ETA uses historical data to estimate when freight will arrive at its destination.

Samsung SDS is accelerating digital transformation in its logistics services to meet its clients’ growing calls to reduce uncertainties amid heightening risks in global supply chains since the COVID-19 outbreak, said Oh Gu-il, vice president of Samsung SDS, vowing to use AI and digital technologies to provide seamless and sustainable logistics services to its clients despite any major changes in the global supply chain.

Global supply chains currently grapple with several challenges, including the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war and Israel’s military campaign against Hamas, crippling the Red Sea shipping route.

The growing protectionism in the US and Europe and climate change issues have also led to major global supply chain restructuring.

Cello Square offers one-stop digital freight forwarding services. Samsung SDS also runs an integrated logistics platform dubbed Cello to provide its clients with logistics services.

Write to Kyung-Ju Kang at qurasoha@hankyung.com

Sookyung Seo edited this article.