Achieving Supply Chain Success in 2024: Perspectives from the AI Trenches

January 15, 2024

Now is the time to be thinking about supply chain success in 2024. Optimizing your company’s supply chain to drive maximum efficiency and cost savings over the next few years is no easy feat. Still, the good news is that Firstshift brings technologies and best practices to make it possible to build a supply chain that’s faster, smarter, and more responsive than ever before.

We’ll explore the key innovations to unlock supply chain success in 2024 and beyond. From AI and automation to blockchain and holistic risk management, the tools at your disposal are more powerful than anything we’ve seen before. But technology is only part of the story.

Collaboration, agility, and sustainability will also be essential to building a world-class supply chain. The future is bright if you start planning today. Read on to find out what it will take to achieve supply chain success in 2024.

The Digital Supply Chain Revolution: Automation and AI for Supply Chain Success in 2024

AI will have a huge impact on making supply chains more responsive. We expect 2024 to be the breakout year for leveraging AI in supply chains. As a supply chain leader, you must prepare now to unlock the benefits of AI-enabled supply chain planning.

Automate repetitive tasks

Automate as many repetitive, routine tasks as possible, like tracking shipments, processing orders, and managing inventory. Not only does automation reduce errors, it frees up your resources to focus on strategic work.

AI-driven business intelligence

Though many companies have invested heavily in business intelligence tools, they often find their planners and analysts sifting through data on spreadsheets and looking for the “needle in the haystack”. AI-driven anomaly detection and alerting as well as AI driven recommendations can help planners focus on supply chain issues that need immediate attention and take corrective action faster.

Collaborate in the digital ecosystem

Your suppliers, logistics providers, and customers are digitally connected in an ecosystem. Ensure your systems are interoperable so you can collaborate seamlessly with other entities in your network. Firstshift seamlessly integrates with major platforms and connects via APIs.

The digital supply chain revolution is here. Take steps now to implement AI and automation in your operations. You’ll be poised for supply chain success in 2024 and beyond with the right technologies and strategies.

Machine Learning and Predictive Analytics Transform Supply Chain Management

Machine learning and predictive analytics are transforming supply chain management. Companies leveraging these technologies gain a competitive advantage with optimized, data-driven supply chains.

Machine Learning Improves Forecasting

Machine learning algorithms analyze huge amounts of data to detect complex patterns and make accurate predictions. Supply chain leaders are using ML to improve demand forecasting, anticipating customer needs more precisely. ML models get smarter over time, continuously improving forecasts.

Predictive Analytics Mitigates Risks

Predictive analytics examines data to determine the likelihood of future outcomes, helping companies mitigate risks. It can pinpoint potential supply chain disruptions and delays, allowing companies to take corrective actions in advance. Leaders are harnessing predictive analytics to reduce waste, cut costs, and build more resilient supply chains.

A More Proactive Approach

With machine learning and predictive analytics, supply chain management is becoming proactive rather than reactive. Companies can foresee challenges and spot opportunities earlier, enabling them to optimize their supply chains in a forward-looking way. In 2024, the most innovative businesses are using these technologies to turn their supply chains into a competitive advantage and driver of growth and profitability.

The future of supply chain success is data-driven and powered by AI. Machine learning and predictive analytics provide the insights companies need to boost efficiency, improve customer satisfaction, and gain a leg up on the competition. Supply chain leaders looking to unlock greater success should leverage these technologies today.

Key Takeaways for Supply Chain Leaders Looking to Future-Proof Their Operations

As a supply chain leader in 2024, several key takeaways will set you up for success:

Adaptability is Essential

The supply chain landscape is constantly evolving. Leaders must stay on the cutting edge of new technologies and strategies to adapt to changes. Keep an open and flexible mindset, ready to pivot as needed.

Data Utilization is Key

Harness the power of data and analytics to gain visibility into your supply chain. Look for trends and insights to optimize processes and address pain points. Data-driven decisions will help future-proof your operations.

Risk Management Matters

Closely monitor risks and have contingency plans in place to minimize disruptions. Natural disasters, geopolitical events, labor shortages, and more can wreak havoc on supply chains. Proactively identify, assess, and mitigate risks to build resiliency.

Sustainability is the Standard

Eco-friendly, sustainable practices are becoming the norm. Choose suppliers and transportation partners with proven sustainable operations. Implement green initiatives like reducing waste and lowering emissions in your operations. Sustainability will be vital for long-term success.

Talent Investment is Worthwhile

Attracting, developing, and retaining top talent is key. Invest in ongoing education and skills training for your teams so they are equipped to navigate the complex supply chain of the future. Competent, forward-thinking employees will drive innovation.

By following these key takeaways, supply chain leaders can future-proof their operations for success in 2024 and beyond. Building an adaptable, data-driven organization focused on risk management, sustainability, and talent investment will put you at the forefront of the industry. The supply chain of the future starts today.

Partner with Firstshift for Success

This is just a glimpse into the future of supply chain management and what it may take to succeed in 2024. The path forward will be challenging, but with the right technology partner like Firstshift, your supply chain can be poised for great things. Start today building the supply chain that will change tomorrow. Schedule a demo to get started!

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December 4, 2025

Firstshift Launches Demandshift: Demand Planning Reimagined

Newark, CA – December 4, 2025 — Supply chain teams are done waiting. After years of “quick time-to-value” promises that never delivered, Firstshift is challenging the status quo with Demandshift, a new AI-powered demand planning and forecasting solution with a fixed fee implementation that goes live in less than six weeks — guaranteed.

Demandshift is built for supply chain leaders who have been burned by lengthy, expensive implementations and disappointing ROI. Designed to replace outdated tools and cumbersome spreadsheets, it brings speed, accuracy, and confidence back to demand planning.

“Supply chain teams have heard the same pitch for years. Easy implementations. Rapid ROI. Then reality hits. Missed deadlines, ballooning budgets, and frustrated planners,” said Hari Menon, Firstshift CEO. “With Demandshift, we engineered a better way. Fast, fixed-fee deployments, full post-launch support, and measurable results within weeks, not years.”

Built as a cloud-native, AI-first SaaS solution, Demandshift combines the sophistication of enterprise forecasting with the usability and agility modern planners expect. The platform leverages over 20 forecasting algorithms to automatically select the best-fit model for each demand pattern, while providing intuitive, spreadsheet-like interfaces that drive fast adoption.

Customers implementing Firstshift have reported:

15–20% improvement in forecast accuracy
Improved inventory positions and working capital efficiency
Higher service levels and customer satisfaction
Measurable impact on revenue and margin

Every Demandshift engagement is delivered under a fixed fee, includes hypercare support for three months, and integrates easily with existing ERP systems which eliminate the risk and uncertainty that often derail digital initiatives.

“Speed and value are the new competitive edge,” added Menon. “We’re proving that AI-powered planning can be implemented rapidly, adopted easily, and scaled seamlessly without the pain the industry has come to expect.”

Ready to make the smart shift? Move fast. Win faster. Schedule a demo today to get started!

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News

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November 19, 2025

Firstshift and Alloy.ai Partner to Bring Retail POS Data Directly into Firstshift’s AI-powered Demand Planning Platform

Newark, CA – November 19, 2025 — Firstshift, the AI-powered supply chain planning platform, announced a strategic partnership with Alloy.ai, a leading AI and data solution for consumer brands, to give consumer brands the ability to leverage direct point-of-sale (POS) and channel inventory data in their forecasting and planning processes. The partnership enables real-time demand sensing that transforms forecasting from a static process into a living, adaptive capability that aligns supply, inventory and execution with true market demand.

The partnership allows Firstshift customers to seamlessly connect to POS, inventory and pricing data across more than 400 retailers and external data providers at SKU and store-level granularity. This continuous visibility into real-time market activity helps planners detect demand shifts early, anticipate stock risks and respond faster with greater precision. Traditional planning systems and legacy tools cannot leverage POS data at this scale or speed.

“Our mission has always been to help supply chain leaders see, decide and act faster,” said Hari Menon, CEO of Firstshift. “By integrating Alloy.ai’s retail data with Firstshift’s AI-powered forecasting engine, we are giving planners a level of visibility they have never had before, right down to what is selling, where and why.”

With access to real-time POS data, Firstshift customers can improve short-term forecast accuracy by up to 50 percent, optimize replenishment and improve service levels while reducing safety stock and carrying costs. It also enhances collaboration across sales, operations and finance by providing immediate visibility into promotion performance and market shifts.

“Most demand planning still relies on historical orders and shipments, which are often noisy and don’t reflect how quickly products are actually selling,” said Joel Beal, Cofounder and CEO of Alloy.ai. “That’s why monthly or even weekly planning cycles tend to lag behind reality. Bringing POS data directly into the planning process gives teams the real-time signal they’ve been missing, helping supply stay aligned with true consumer demand.”

“The ability to sense demand continuously instead of waiting for the next S&OP cycle gives our customers a real competitive advantage,” Menon added. “Combining Alloy.ai’s data network with Firstshift’s AI-powered insights allows supply chains to move with the market, not after it.”

The integration eliminates manual data aggregation and costly middleware while ensuring that customers retain full control of their data. Alloy.ai’s normalized data feeds are continually updated and optimized for analytics, enabling Firstshift to deliver predictive and prescriptive insights for faster and more confident planning decisions.

About Firstshift

Firstshift helps supply chain leaders plan smarter and act faster through an AI-powered supply chain planning platform that delivers speed, impact and scale. Built to eliminate spreadsheets and outdated tools, Firstshift connects data across the enterprise to provide real-time visibility, predictive and prescriptive insights and flexible collaborative workflows that improve forecast accuracy and decision-making.

About Alloy.ai

Alloy.ai is an AI platform purpose-built to help consumer goods brands sell more products, save time, and solve complex supply chain challenges. Alloy.ai ingests point-of-sale data from hundreds of retailers, ecommerce partners, distributors, and a brand’s own ERP. Users can quickly surface insights and make decisions using AI, or integrate normalized, real-time data into analytics, planning, and reporting tools. Alloy.ai is trusted by companies ranging from the Fortune 500 to digital natives, including Crayola, Bic, Valvoline, RTIC, Bosch, and Melissa & Doug. Customers routinely achieve a 35%+ reduction in out-of-stocks, a 5%+ bottom-line impact, and millions in incremental retail sales.

Insights

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September 29, 2025

Why Tribal Knowledge and Spreadsheets Stall Supply Chain Growth

Every supply chain team has its heroes: the spreadsheet “wizard” who manages dozens of tabs with precision formulas, or the planner who remembers three years of seasonal patterns without looking. These people keep the business moving, but the truth is, they’re holding more responsibility than your systems can support.

When knowledge lives in individual heads and personal files, the business becomes fragile. Decisions slow down, risk multiplies, and growth is capped. Not because of talent, but because of the tools and processes surrounding them.

The Hidden Risks of Spreadsheet Dependency

Turnover risk
When a planner leaves, years of nuanced knowledge disappear with them. The spreadsheet “wizard” leaves behind customized reports, broken formulas and circular references. Recreating their models, assumptions, and workarounds can take months. Business continuity suffers, and suddenly the supply chain is in recovery mode instead of growth mode.

Error risk
Spreadsheets are powerful but brittle. A miskeyed formula, a hidden circular reference, or a forgotten update ripples across plans. These errors don’t always show up in small variances. They surface as stockouts, lost sales, or overproduction.

Speed risk
Spreadsheets are static data and seldom integrated into systems of record, like your ERP. By the time a complex spreadsheet is updated, validated, and circulated, market conditions and demand and supply constraints have already shifted. Competitors who can see and act in real time move faster, capture more revenue, and better serve customers.

How Tribal Knowledge Creates Bottlenecks

For planners: manual reconciliation, late nights before executive meetings, endless checks for formula errors, and the pressure of being the only one who truly understands the model.

For leadership: delayed visibility, limited collaboration between functions, and critical decisions dependent on a small number of people instead of a systemized, repeatable process.

The result? Growth stalls. Expansion into new markets, new channels, or new products exposes the limits of spreadsheet-based planning. Teams can’t scale, and executives can’t make bold moves with confidence.

AI Unlocks Both Speed and Scale

AI-powered demand planning platforms reduce reliance on tribal knowledge by capturing intelligence in a system, not in a single person’s head. That means:

Fewer errors, faster updates. AI-powered demand planning and automation eliminate manual reconciliations and fragile formulas, cutting risk while freeing planners for higher-value analysis.
Real-time visibility. Integrated data across ERP, sales, and operations means every function sees the same truth. No more lag time waiting for the “master spreadsheet.”
Scalable knowledge. AI learns from historical patterns and live inputs, making forecasting more accurate and demand planning more adaptive. The system gets smarter as the business grows.
Collaboration at every level. From planner to CFO, everyone works from the same platform with intuitive workflows and scenario modeling that support quick, confident decisions.

The Bottom Line

Tribal knowledge feels like an advantage until it becomes a growth ceiling or worse: a liability. If your supply chain depends on a handful of experts and spreadsheets, you’re betting your future on tools that were never designed for today’s complexity.

By shifting to AI-powered demand planning, you turn personal expertise into organizational intelligence. You de-risk turnover, reduce errors, speed up decision cycles, and give both planners and executives the visibility they need to scale with confidence. Give your experts the tools that elevate their value and ensure your business isn’t slowed down by the limits of spreadsheets.

Ready to see how fast you can move beyond spreadsheets? Book a demo.

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