Industry experiences of artificial intelligence (AI): benefits and challenges in operations and supply chain management

Abstract

This editorial aims to present the papers accepted for the special issue (SI) 'Industry experiences of Artificial Intelligence (AI): benefits and challenges in operations and supply chain management.' First, we provide a brief introduction considering the relationship between AI and operations and supply chain management (OSCM) by highlighting some companies already using and practical insights. In sequence, we introduce the papers selected for the SI. The last section gives some intriguing and challenging research directions for scholars and industry practitioners by highlighting potential topics, research opportunities, and possible benefits. Through this SI, we look forward to helping industry practitioners, policy-makers, scholars, and all interested in this field to gain more knowledge about AI applications and insights in relation to OSCM.

Keywords:

• Editorial
• artificial intelligence
• AI
• industry experiences
• operations and supply chain management
• production systems

Acknowledgments

This special issue results from an excellent and intensive collaboration of scholars, industry practitioners, guest editors, contributing authors, and the journal's staff. We especially thank all the reviewers who provided exceptional feedback in all rounds for the authors. We would also like to give special thanks to Mrs. Heather Childe, Assistant to the Editor of Production Planning & Control Journal, Taylor and Francis (staff), and the Editor, Prof Stephen J. Childe. Their assistance was just wonderful during the whole review cycle to release this special issue on time.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Samuel Fosso Wamba

Samuel Fosso Wamba is a Professor at Toulouse Business School, France, and Visiting Professor of Artificial Intelligence in Business at The University of Bradford, UK. He earned his Ph.D. in industrial engineering at the Polytechnic School of Montreal, Canada. He also holds two master’s degrees: one MSc in mathematics from the University of Sherbrooke in Canada and another MSc in electronic commerce (major: computer science) from HEC Montreal, Canada. His current research focuses on business on the business value of I.T., inter-organisational systems adoption, use and impacts, supply chain management, electronic commerce, blockchain, artificial intelligence for business, social media, business analytics, big data, and open data. His work has been published in several international conferences and journals, including the following: Academy of Management Journal, European Journal of Information Systems, International Journal of Production Economics, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, International Journal of Production Research, Journal of Business Research, Electronic Markets, Technology Forecasting and Social Change, Information Systems Frontiers, and Production Planning & Control. In 2017, he won the Best Paper Award by The Academy of Management Journal and by The Electronic Markets: The International Journal on Networked Business. He has been serving as a member on the editorial board of five international journals. Moreover, he is a CompTIA RFID + Certified Professional, and the Academic Co-Founder of RFID Academia. Apart from teaching and conducting research, He leads the newly created Artificial Intelligence & Business Analytics Cluster. In one of his areas of research, he has been recently recognised as the most influential scholar in big data analytics and enterprises based on the number of published articles and the number of citations, and among the 2% of the most influential scholars in the world based on the Mendeley database that includes 100,000 top-scientists. He ranks in ClarivateTMs 1% most cited scholars in the world for 2020, from the ‘Highly Cited Researchers™’ list that identifies global research scientists who show exceptional influence-reflected in the publication of multiple papers frequently cited by their peers. Furthermore, his current Google Scholar h-index is 46, with 9 085 citations by November 29. He tweets at @fowassa.

Maciel M. Queiroz

Dr. Maciel M. Queiroz is a Professor and Researcher of Operations and Supply Chain Management at Paulista University – UNIP. He earned his Ph.D. in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. His current research focuses on Digital transformation, including Digital supply chain capabilities, Industry 4.0, AI, Blockchain, Big data, and IoT. He has published papers in top-tier international journals and conferences, including the International Journal of Production Economics, International Journal of Production Research, International Journal of Information Management, International Journal of Logistics Management, Supply Chain Management, Annals of Operations Research, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Business Process Management Journal, Benchmarking, among others. His research also appeared in the Proceedings of the IFAC-MIM, IMAM, TMS, ISL, among others. He serves as a reviewer for international journals and conferences. He has been serving as a Guest Co-Editor for top-tier journals, including Production Planning and Control, Annals of Operations Research, International Journal of Information Management, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Industrial Management and Data Systems, etc.

Cameron Guthrie

Dr. Cameron Guthrie is an Associate Professor in decision and system sciences at Toulouse Business School. He earned his Ph.D. in management science at the Université de Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne. His current research focuses on electronic commerce, digital strategy and technology adoption. He has published papers in a variety of journals including Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Knowledge Management Research & Practice, Business Process Management Journal, Industrial Relations, Accounting & Finance, Journal of Management History, History of Economic Ideas, Journal of Entrepreneurship Education and Journal of Information Systems Education.

Ashley Braganza

Professor Ashley Braganza is the Deputy Dean of the College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences in Brunel University London. He holds the Chair of Business Transformation. In 2018, he founded Brunel’s Centre for Artificial Intelligence. The centre is truly interdisciplinary – with members from engineering, health, life sciences, social sciences, law, business and management as well as computer science and education. The Centre for AI has extensive national and international relationships with universities and organisations in the public, private and third sectors. The overarching purpose of the Centre is to study the effect of AI on societies, organisations and individuals. More recently, he and a team of Brunel scholars have won funding to create AI Lab within the Centre. In addition to leading and directing Centre activities, he has pioneered the development of an interdisciplinary Master of Science in AI Strategy. He is currently working on two funded projects examining the effects of AI on employment, productivity, business models and graduate skills. He has a strong track record of winning research grants and has published over one hundred double blind refereed journal and conference papers. He has consulted with numerous multinational companies in the UK and internationally, working with board directors, on a wide range of issues including technology strategies, transformation programmes and culture change initiatives.