How A.I. and DNA Are Unlocking the Mysteries of Global Supply Chains>
New York Times
At a cotton gin in the San Joaquin Valley, in California, a boxy machine helps to spray a fine mist containing billions of molecules of DNA onto freshly cleaned Pima cotton.

That DNA will act as a kind of minuscule bar code, nestling amid the puffy fibers as they are shuttled to factories in India. Customers are also demanding proof that expensive, high-end products â like conflict-free diamonds, organic cotton, sushi-grade tuna or Manuka honey â are genuine, and produced in ethically and environmentally sustainable ways.

âSupply chains are like a bowl of spaghetti,â said James McGregor, the chairman of the greater China region for APCO Worldwide, an advisory firm. âThey get mixed all over. You donât know where that stuff comes from.â

Given these challenges, some companies are turning to alternative methods, not all proven, to try to inspect their supply chains.

Applied DNA has used its synthetic DNA tags, each just a billionth of the size of a grain of sugar, to track microcircuits produced for the Department of Defense, trace cannabis supply chains to ensure the productâs purity and even to mist robbers in Sweden who attempted to steal cash from A.T.M.s, leading to multiple arrests.

In addition to the DNA mist it applies as a marker, Applied DNA can figure out where cotton comes from by sequencing the DNA of the cotton itself, or analyzing its isotopes, which are variations in the carbon, oxygen and hydrogen atoms in the cotton. Some firms, for example, are using blockchain technology to create a digital token for every product that a factory produces. As that product â a can of caviar, say, or a batch of coffee â moves through the supply chain, its digital twin gets encoded with information about how it has been transported and processed, providing a transparent log for companies and consumers.

Other companies are using databases or artificial intelligence to comb through vast supplier networks for distant links to banned entities, or to detect unusual trade patterns that indicate fraud â investigations that could take years to carry out without computing power.

Studies have found that most companies have surprisingly little visibility into the upper reaches of their supply chains, because they lack either the resources or the incentives to investigate. In a 2022 survey by McKinsey & Company, 45 percent of respondents said they had no visibility at all into their supply chain beyond their immediate suppliers.
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/07/business/economy/ai-tech-dna-supply-chain.html