Indian Air Force chief VR Chaudhari on Tuesday urged stakeholders to exploit digitisation, automation, and data analytics to overcome global supply chain disruptions and enhance one of the tri-services’ logistic capabilities.
Speaking at the National Logistics Management Seminar, LOGISEM-23, Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari said “global supply chains have become increasingly complex and interconnected, driven by the manuscripts of international trade and advances in technology. The defence sector is not an exception to this trend. The IAF relies on global supply chains for delivery of critical components, equipment, and services to maintain its combat potential at an optimum level”.
“In recent times, the world has witnessed multiple and varied disruptions like the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, trade barriers, tariff wars, and environmental compliance policies. Such events have highlighted the vulnerability of supply chains to disruptions,” he told the gathering.
Chaudhari was of the view that “to mitigate such disruptions, leveraging emerging trends such as digitisation, automation, and data analytics should be exploited to enhance IAF logistics capabilities”.
Prominent speakers deliberated and discussed issues related to the theme of the seminar over three sessions. The discussions ranged from the future prospects of the domestic aviation industry to modern trends in supply chain management and warehousing and public procurement initiatives through the government procurement portal, GeM, as officially stated by the IAF.
Through the seminar, ideas were exchanged between civil and military logisticians, which is expected to assist the IAF in tailoring its supply-chain needs based on modern technologies and global trends, it stated.