Leveraging Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial intelligence (Al) to Optimize Supply Chain Systems

Some emerging technologies transforming supply chain management (SCM) include the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Their abilities provide the tools companies need to evolve and meet the changing needs and business conditions, ensuring they remain afloat. The challenge, however, is understanding how companies can incorporate the technologies into their systems. There are also concerns over the low adoption rates among small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and the paper looks into the issue to assess the barriers and solutions. The other goal is to determine strategies companies use to optimize AI and IoT to ensure proper supply chain management. This paper contributes to supply chain management by providing a structured framework for integrating AI and IoT technologies to enhance operational efficiency, real- time decision-making, and supply chain visibility. It addresses barriers faced by SMEs, such as financial constraints and lack of skilled personnel, offering strategies like innovative leadership and collaboration through ecosystems to overcome these challenges. Additionally, the research highlights how AI and IoT strengthen supply chain resilience, optimize inventory, and ensure seamless operations, especially in adapting to post-pandemic vulnerabilities. The literature review was done on recent scholarly research papers and case studies. The findings showed that SMEs can overcome challenges such as limited funds and human resource constraints by collaborating with others and getting innovative leaders to lead the supply chains. Supply Chain Systems (SCS) that adopt AI and IoT can leverage them to ensure optimized inventory management, tracking and quality control, predictive analysis abilities, and continuous monitoring, which provide constant system improvement.