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【2020 Application Example】 Textile Industry Challenges Fast Fashion, AI Inventory Forecast Reduces Error Rate by 35%

Fast fashion in clothing, small quantities, diverse styles, short delivery times

The textile industry faces the impact of the fast fashion trend among clothing brands, affecting the entire supply chain. Global brand channels are promoting zero inventory, short delivery periods, and small-scale customization. Balancing production time, quality, and cost is challenging. Often, there is a discrepancy between ODM predictions and actual demands from brand owners, causing issues in material management and excessive inventory costs.

Due to inaccurate demand forecasts from customers, it often leads to difficulties in material preparation. Excessive materials can increase leftover stock, while insufficient materials may delay delivery. This project aims to establish an AI-based material demand forecast model specifically for major domestic manufacturers.

AI calculates sales trends to further predict demand

The advisory team collaborates with Shentong Information Technology to mainly use the LSTM algorithm for the AI foundation. The goal is to predict the next sales cycle based on past sales records, utilizing simple regression to complex 'Time Series Analysis' in statistics. Usually, a period's sales volume closely relates to the previous period's, unless there is a major event, in which case it would typically follow a pattern.

There are various patterns of sales volume forecasts, including revenue, profit, customer counts, park visits, sales number/amount, etc. This will take the example of a factory's monthly shipment batches, using the LSTM model to predict the next month's shipment batches.

Material Demand Analysis Execution Framework

▲Material Demand Analysis Execution Framework

This project plans to establish a customer-specific material demand AI prediction model. During the planning phase, three different machine learning algorithms were used to prototype the AI model:

 Logistic Regression Algorithm

 Gradient Boosting Algorithm

 Deep Learning Algorithm

Material Demand AI Prediction Model Planning

▲Material Demand AI Prediction Model Planning

Demand forecast error reduced from a maximum of 70% to 35%, significantly reducing inventory volumes

This project estimates customer demands, required material types, supply sources, and customer delivery dates using machine learning to establish a primary material procurement prediction system. It reduces the prediction error of demand from the top five international customers from a high of 70% to 35%, significantly lessening the amount of inventory needed.

「Translated content is generated by ChatGPT and is for reference only. Translation date:2024-05-19」

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【導入案例】挺進智慧物流50 新竹物流醫材配送班表超高效率
Advancing to Smart Logistics 5.0: Hsinchu Logistics Delivers Medical Materials with Ultra-High Efficiency

After incorporating AI technology, traditional logistics companies have seen significant improvements in transportation efficiency and reductions in transportation costs, especially in the transfer of medical materials which involves timely service and rights of hospitals and patients The implementation of intelligent logistics can save medical material businesses the cost of constructing GDP warehouses and other expenses up to millions A major domestic logistics leader, Hsinchu Transport HCT, owns a fleet of 3,500 vehicles and a storage area of 60,000 square meters, providing customized logistics solutions including logistics, commerce, finance, information, distribution, storage, and processing The company handles up to 580,000 parcels per day, with a maximum capacity reaching 900,000 parcels, making the enhancement of transshipment efficiency crucial for HCT Medical materials transportation at hospitals need optimization of current operational processes and enhancements in systematization and intelligence Especially the transportation of hospital medical materials, which encounters various challenges Medical materials suppliers need to cater to varying customer product demands, temperature requirements, and delivery times through multiple logistics providers This highly depends on the experience and careful control of operations staff Whether it is the product shipment or actual logistics process, each step must be interconnected Any human errors can impact the service timing and rights of the hospitals and patients Thus, all concerned businesses, along with the government and hospitals, are working to optimize current operational processes and elevate the level of systematization, automation, and intelligence to minimize service errors and cost losses HCT's distribution process prior to AI implementation Currently, with the government's push for standardized platform operations on the demand side of hospitals, supply-side businesses collaborate through data coordination to improve the accuracy and efficiency of product shipments, enhancing operational quality and management benefits at the demand side At the same time, some businesses are also investing in the standardization and systematization of internal operational processes, thus enhancing operational efficiency and quality In the freight logistics sector, logistics companies' warehouse staff need to expend labor to control different logistics shipment operations If they often receive emergency task notifications for shipments to medical facilities, they usually depend on small regional logistics providers to provide customized delivery services Although this improves delivery times, it does not allow for integrated informational services The new GDP regulations for medical materials require suppliers to undergo GDP compliance certification Therefore, Hsinchu Transport, assisted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs' AI coaching program, not only extends existing logistics services compliant with GDP regulations but will also use data integration and optimized AI technologies to help medical material businesses streamline and improve their logistics operations Complex logistics issues are solved using the Simulated Annealing SA algorithm To meet the 'Good Distribution Practices for Medical Devices,' Hsinchu Transport is not only actively introducing new logistics vehicles but will also implement artificial intelligence-based mathematical optimization technologies to assist in intelligent scheduling at nationwide business points and transshipment stations They aim to optimize the routing of medical materials between business points or regions thereby enhancing efficiency in the distribution process Currently, during the transshipment process of medical materials at Hsinchu Transport, detachable tractor heads and containers are used Each business point and transshipment station differ in location design and staffing, impacting the throughput per unit of time Furthermore, daily cargo conditions size, destination vary, and due to these fluctuating and distinct demands, the deployment of tractor heads and containers changes accordingly Under these circumstances, Hsinchu Transport relies on past experiences to schedule departures at each satellite depot and adjusts daily according to the cargo needs Due to the reliance on empirical scheduling, it is often difficult to consider all variables and considerations, leaving room for improvement in the current departure schedules The cargo delivery planning inherently constitutes an NP-Hard problem, difficult to solve with traditional analytical methods Hsinchu Transport, in collaboration with Singular Infinity, utilizes the Simulated Annealing SA algorithm to find solutions The new logistic service introduced by Hsinchu Transport is 'GDP Container Shift Planning' This planning involves estimating future volumes of medical materials between stations and scheduling container truck shifts accordingly, ensuring timely and quality delivery of medical materials while maximizing operational benefits and reducing travel distances Hsinchu Transport introduces AI-optimized shift planning, constructing the most efficient route from its origin to destination Hsinchu Transport introduces 'Optimized Shift Planning' service, reducing transportation costs by 5 The introduction method involves using cloud software services Hsinchu Transport regularly inputs 'Interchange Item Tables' from station to station into the 'Optimized Shift Planning' service After setting the algorithm parameters, a GDP container shift schedule is generated At the same time, developing a Hsinchu Transport medical material scheduling system allows Hsinchu Transport's medical transport units to compile suitable schedules through the Interchange Item Tables Under the same level of service, it's estimated that this can reduce transportation costs by 5, saving medical material businesses millions in construction costs for GDP warehouses and distribution Due to its requirements for sanitation, temperature, and its fragility, the transportation and transshipment of medical materials should be minimized to reduce exposure and risk However, logistics efficiency and costs must still be considered AI designs the most efficient route for each cargo from its origin to destination, effectively completing daily transportation tasks In response to the future high development demand of industrial logistics, distribution and transshipment AI optimization will be a key issue Through this project, a dedicated project promotion organization will be established, staffed with AI technology, IT, and process domain talents After accumulating implementation experience, the application of AI will gradually expand, comprehensively optimizing and transforming Hsinchu Transport's operational system, and partnering with AIOT and various AI domain partners to accelerate and expand the achievement of benefits「Translated content is generated by ChatGPT and is for reference only Translation date:2024-05-19」

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AI Assists the Red Cross for Smarter Emergency Response

More Preparation Less Loss The Taiwan Food Bank Association, a non-profit organization, collects donations daily from wholesalers, retailers, manufacturers, and even kind-hearted individuals across Taiwan They also rescue consumable materials that are about to be discarded, properly allocate and deliver to households in need, aiding local underprivileged populations When natural disasters such as earthquakes, landslides, mudslides, typhoons, floods, and droughts occur in Taiwan, the food bank's resources can be immediately deployed for disaster relief This field verification unit is the Nantou County Red Cross AssociationOne of the food bank locations, hereinafter referred to as the Nantou Red CrossIs responsible for tasks like pre-disaster supplies preparation and disaster relief material distribution, helping the government bear the responsibility of disaster relief and aid In Taiwan, various natural disasters have characteristics of different duration and spatial coverage, wide or narrow With the normalization of extreme weather, the scale and number of disasters are gradually increasing and becoming harder to predict The required amount and type of materials differ by disaster, and they must address the lifestyles of the affected areas, rescue needs, traffic conditions, geographical restrictions, and other factors for varied material allocation, facing numerous challenges Typhoon Kanu severely damaged transportation in Nantou mountain areas Nantou County Red Cross planned the mountainous route Puli gt Fazhi Elementary School gt Qin'ai Village gt Aowanda to deliver supplies Disasters happen repeatedly We need to be prepared at all times Effective disaster preparedness can mitigate the impact, including swift response to material needs in affected areas, aid distribution, and even psychological support, providing added security for life and property of those in disaster zones Lack of Timeliness in Disaster Information To improve the living conditions and address the lack of supplies in remote areas, the Taiwan Food Bank Association has partnered with the Nantou Red Cross and has successively established food bank points in Nantou City, Puli, and Ren'aiLixing, Ruiyan, XinyiWangmei, Tongfu, Shuili, Lugu and Caotun among others9establish food bank locations, providing supplies worth a certain amount per household every month6001000in New Taiwan Dollars However, many challenges still need to be overcome during natural disasters For example, when typhoons, earthquakes, and landslides occur, the information source for disaster relief dispatch systems relies on post-disaster reports The time lag between reporting, response, and execution prevents timely adjustment and distribution of 'disaster relief' supplies based on the needs of affected areas, affecting rescue efficiency due to lack of timely information The 'preparedness' supplies of the Nantou Red Crosssuch as dry food, water, instant noodles, etc,are recorded manually in terms of stock, expiration dates, and distribution,When a disaster occurs, there is a chance that 'preparedness' supplies have expired and cannot become 'disaster relief' supplies It’s also possible that both conditions mentioned above occur simultaneously, leading to a need for more time to reassign 'preparedness' supplies into usable 'disaster relief' materials On the other hand, upon receiving information about shortages in disaster areas, the supplies donated by the public often grossly differ from the actual needs of the disaster zone, leading to an excess of supplies The Process of Material Operations Before and After a Natural Disaster AIAnticipating Natural Disasters Reinforcing the Accuracy of Preparedness Material Dispatch Application API Technology connects to compute the state of the climate, the intensity of disaster rescues, prioritizing the main tasks of the Nantou Red Cross and the needed areas of search and rescue Coordinated with the existing heavy rain and typhoon simulation disaster training of the Nantou Red Cross, a 'Natural Disaster Emergency Preparedness Material Dispatch and Supplement Decision System' is establishedreferred to as the Emergency Preparedness Material System。 In material management, inventory data along with immediate supply data are entered into the Emergency Preparedness Material System for comparison and analysis, helping the Nantou Red Cross quickly recognize materials like cookiesdry food, beverages, frozen food, toilet paper, etc, and determining whether they should be 'preparedness' materials or regularly distributed materials Adding to this, information forecasting understands the potential disaster conditions in remote areas, facilitating food delivery, addressing both front-end food wastage and backend practical needs When a natural disaster occurs, it enables faster response and decision-making, completing material deployment, hence increasing the speed of material operation transition20。 AI Emergency Preparedness Material System Helps Rapidly Adapt Material Distribution Through the field verification of the Nantou Red CrossAIthe system, material management, and related applications are promoted to more emergency response organizations in different areas, while continuously improving the alert functions within the Emergency Preparedness Material System, strengthening the technological foundation for alerts, enhancing prediction accuracySystem immediacy, and optimizing the data collection and analysis process Simultaneously, it can collaborate with government agencies, meteorological departments, or other rescue teams to discuss integrating more data sources, establishing a mechanism to share resources and data promptly, sharing information in real-time, helping more emergency response organizations enhance their disaster response abilities, seizing the golden rescue time 「Translated content is generated by ChatGPT and is for reference only Translation date:2024-12-12」

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CCTV Intelligent Video Search System

Search for a specific person, find someone with a suitcase entering the factory in Gao'an area Color features of the person and the object confirmed, person in blue and black top, suitcase in black color, throughCCTV the intelligent video search system, by setting object and color retrieval conditions, it can successfully locate three video clips containing the target subject This greatly aids operational staff in finding the target items, and through this system, search speed can far surpass manual effort6fold Pain Points The CSE-Kaohsiung Plant is densely equippedCCTVto monitor every corner of the plant area, but when an incidenthappens, it's impossible within a limited time throughCCTVvideo playback to find the incident, the implications and risks behind this are self-evident Many areas that are usually unmanned can easily become security blind spots Thus, how to monitor a vast plant area more intelligently and effectively is one of the crucial aspects of building a smart plant for the semiconductor industry The AES Plant in Kaohsiung covers a vast area, with many important sites requiring monitoring of personnel movements to ensure corporate secrets and employee safety 1 Automated production lines and warehouses In semiconductor enterprises’ automated production lines and warehouses, oftenAGV(Automated Guided VehicleAGVs automated guided vehicles travel at high speeds if plant personnel inadvertently enterAGVthe moving area and cannot issue a warning to the person, then the regrettable accidents that occur will be too late to reverse 2 Material and product storage areas Materials used in semiconductor-related processes are costly if areas storing materials or products are breached, there is a risk of loss of high-value materialsproducts 3 High-security areas Trade secrets relate to the core technological competitiveness of semiconductor-related enterprises if someone breaches the high-security areas, there is a risk of corporate secrets being leaked The safety of trade secrets has always been one of the most critical issues for semiconductor enterprises 4 Loading docks At AESLButthe dock area often has loading vehicles coming and going if someone intrudes into the dock area, there is a risk of vehicle collisions and accidents Additionally, goods awaiting shipment at the dock area could be stolen or potentially damaged from collisions, thus causing significant reputation and financial losses for the company, further leading to production and shipping inconvenience When an abnormal event occurs, how to quickly search for the relevant key footage from massive data Many important locations within the AES Kaohsiung Plant need to be equippedCCTVfor safety checks, butCCTVWith thousands to tens of thousands of cameras, manually searching through footage for an event requires laborious frame-by-frame review which is time-consuming and inefficient In light of advancements in computer vision, it's beneficial to utilizeAIto replace manual playback and searching Problem Scenario Object Detection The data source for object detection comprises two parts Open-source datasetsOIDv4and AES Kaohsiung PlantCCTVImage files For these files, search for usable data, specificallyOIDv4image files For these files, extract the defined nine major categories of objects for training data among them, two object categories, knives and gasoline barrels, were not found inOIDv4found usable data for knives and gasoline barrels, while the remaining seven categories of objects are available fromOIDv4useful training data found for the remaining seven categories of objects, all marked Regarding the Kaohsiung PlantCCTVimage files, select some frames Frame of the footage, and manually annotate the objects to be_detected for training and testing data Nine Major Objects Color Recognition The data source for color recognition is divided into two partsInternet image screenshots, and Kaohsiung PlantCCTVimage files Currently, no publicly available open-source datasets specifically for color recognition applications have been found, so images are collected from the web Search the web for images of the defined nine major object categories, save the images after separating the objects from the background, keeping only the object sections, and mark the images according to color Additionally, for the Kaohsiung PlantCCTVimage files, use the already-markedbounding boxextractCCTVimage files from variousFramesections of objects identified by color, and finally, visually identifiable images are marked according to color Each object category has its specific color definition, depending on the usual colors seen in these objects in real life Dynamic Ignore during Training FromOIDv4during the training of the object detection pilot model, since each image in this dataset is only marked for a single category, but the image may contain other desired detection categories unmarked For such cases, dynamic ignore techniques will be employed during training to avoid confusion Next, use the extracted training data from the Kaohsiung Plant toFine-Tuneenhance the detection rate of the object in specific designated areas Finally, select the model that computes the lowest loss value in the test set during the training process as the main object_detection model Dynamic Ignoring AIHelp You View CCTV The intelligent video search system primarily serves as an assistive system for searching surveillance footage, capable of speeding up the process of finding target events by setting search conditions for objects By simply defining the search conditions, you can quickly produce thumbnails of critical objects and playback for review, shortening the time required for manual case retrieval of the past The search time is quickly6doubled, allowing the front-end security unit to use this platform to strengthen the first line of risk management supervision and take timely preventive measures 「Translated content is generated by ChatGPT and is for reference only Translation date:2024-12-12」