Dive Brief:
- Dick’s Sporting Goods is expanding its use of artificial intelligence with supply chain software provider Inspectorio to create production efficiencies, according to an Oct. 2 press release.
- The retailer aims to increase supplier engagement and reliability as well as observe production processes for risks and inefficiencies. It will do so through Inspectorio’s AI-powered platform by integrating traceability and transparency, production monitoring and lab testing capabilities.
- Inspectorio had already provided responsible sourcing and inspections services to the retailer for more than three years. The previous offerings were meant to streamline sustainable supply chain processes by eliminating manual tasks while helping identify high-risk suppliers.
Dive Insight:
Dick’s Sporting Goods is leveraging AI to unite its sourcing functions within one platform.
Inspectorio’s platform weaves traceability and responsible sourcing into broader sourcing operations, Antonio Leon de la Barra, VP of strategy, growth and innovation at Inspectorio, said in a statement.
According to the release, some of the key functions Dick’s Sporting Goods plans to achieve in terms of sourcing and production operations through its expanded partnership with Inspectorio include:
- Connecting traceability data with the rest of the brand’s sourcing operations.
- Automating manual processes with AI-driven insights to help the retailer scale and evolve.
- Enhancing lab testing under one system so that the retailer can identify which raw materials are being used across multiple purchase orders and test the materials once at the source, eliminating redundant lab testing further down the supply chain.
- Enhancing visibility into performance and production changes to increase the brand’s supply chain resilience, connectivity and predictability.
- Streamlining audit management to eliminate the manual processes and paperwork associated with ESG audit management while gaining insights into audit details.
As the retailer evolves its sourcing technology, it aims to have products flow in the most efficient and fastest way possible throughout its network, even as its top-line business grows, CFO Navdeep Gupta said in a Q2 earnings call. “So we look at it and say that we need to make some fixed investments into our supply chain,” he added.
Dick’s Sporting Goods recently began construction on a new distribution center in Fort Worth, Texas, to boost capacity. The company plans to add another one in Dallas in early 2026, Gupta said.
