JDA begins research collaboration with MIT to accelerate digital supply chain innovations

JDA Software has announced a multiyear collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) focused on joint research to create new and innovative capabilities within the supply chain utilizing intelligent edge technologies like machine learning, AI, IoT and advanced analytics.

JDA will work closely with MIT’s Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), a research and innovation team led by MIT’s David Simchi-Levi, professor of engineering systems and renowned supply chain expert, to develop new solutions that predict supply chain demand, increase cognitive responses and embrace the intelligent edge.

“It is more critical than ever to infuse innovation into every aspect of the supply chain, as edge technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) are essential to digitally transforming supply chains. This collaboration allows us to tap into the extraordinary mindshare at MIT to accelerate the research into more intelligent and cognitive capabilities moving forward,” said Desikan Madhavanur, executive vice president and chief development officer, JDA. “We are excited to be working on the future of supply chain with MIT to double-down on researching enhanced, innovative and value-driven supply chain solutions.”

The research will be conducted in concert with JDA’s product development team as well as JDA Labs team, a dedicated research and development group committed to delivering patentable innovations and new products to the market.

JDA and IDSS will create real-world use cases to expand predictive demand, intelligent execution and advanced supply chain and retail planning that will yield a unique, prescriptive supply chain.

These use cases will explore new data science algorithms for predictive behavior and prescriptive cognitive optimization that go a step further than current processes by not only taking into account past behaviors but also determining the likely future behaviors based on countless demand signals. Tapping into the technological power of these algorithms will yield a higher value for customers’ supply chains.

JDA Labs and JDA’s product development teams have made progress toward the delivery of sophisticated capabilities that have resulted in over 400 patents granted and pending for the supply chain – the largest patent portfolio of any company in the field of supply chain management.

In addition, JDA is the only company to have been named a leader in all five Gartner Magic Quadrants focused on supply chain and retail.

Simchi-Levi is the former co-director of Leaders for Global Operations at MIT. He is considered one of the premier thought leaders in supply chain management and business analytics. His research focuses on developing and implementing robust and efficient techniques for operations management. He has published widely in professional journals on both practical and theoretical aspects of supply chain and revenue management.

Simchi-Levi says, “I am very pleased JDA has entered into a multiyear research collaboration with IDSS to develop sophisticated machine learning algorithms that may accelerate research in this area as well as JDA’s digital solution offerings. The collaboration will leverage multiple data sources and emphasize the combination of machine learning, optimization, and consumer behavior modeling.”

Simchi-Levi will speak at JDA’s annual customer conference, JDA FOCUS 2018, in Orlando, May 6-9, 2018. Learn more and register here.