Introduction
The world is undergoing a digital transformation today. This transformation is disrupting old industries and creating new ones, all while improving efficiency in many sectors of the economy. Statista’s latest report forecasts the global digital transformation market to amount to $2.3 trillion by 2023. The logistics industry is no exception — innovation in this industry is helping companies keep up with a rapidly changing market and customer expectations in order to gain an edge against competition. Companies are competing amongst each other to get ahead of the curve and become future ready. Below are four examples of technological innovation transforming the logistics industry:
Process Automation
The pandemic has pushed companies to adopt process automation to reduce the need for manpower. The logistics industry deals with vast amounts of data, such as fuel consumption and distance travelled, leveraging on which can help better the processes of the company. Automating some of these key processes, like timesheets, payroll, and billing makes the data more accessible and usable in real-time. It can also give companies a lot more organisational control as they can shape the the systems around company’s rules to ensure that internal and external users follow policies.
Process automation improves customer service by tracking factors such as real time cargo, auto pick-up, and cargo accounting — which can be incorporated into order specifications.
Blockchain
While blockchain technology is typically associated with cryptocurrencies in public imagination, it has wide-ranging uses that go beyond the same. For example, it can help make logistics more efficient. It adds process integrity in logistics, meaning any block or transaction added to the chain cannot be edited. It allows for an irreversible audit trail that is viewable to any person who can see the blockchain, bringing in traceability and transparency. James Gonzales discusses how having smart contracts can be profitable for those in logistics as it removes the need for a legal team and the fees that go with it because they’re self-renewing.
Smart contracts can detect fraud and malfunctions as well, increasing trust among clients.
Location Intelligence
Location Intelligence is an amalgamation of your location data with your business intelligence. It is a system that lets you get critical business insights through processing, enrichment, and spatial analysis on top of geospatial data.
For a logistics company, employing location intelligence to the decision-making process can totally transform their operations and help them attain operational efficiency. A location intelligence tool like Locale.ai can help companies in the industry maximize their resource utilization, minimize the user churn by fulfilling SLAs, close their supply-demand gap and optimize their RoI.
Internet of Things
Connectedness is key to efficiency. Customers expect goods to be delivered at the right time and place in the best condition. For this to be possible, sensors in various parts of a vehicle can be placed to positively influence driving. Sensors within the vehicle can work with GPS services in order to calculate the best route for the driver. For example, an OEM-based Linux connectivity gateway in a vehicle can monitor and manage vehicle activities while also being tracked by a GPS system. The information collected can be analysed and stored for future reference, such as when looking for trends in vehicle speed, fuel consumption, and engine efficiency. Sensors in the seatbelt can determine if the driver is fatigued or intoxicated and if such is the case, the vehicle will become inoperable.
The logistics industry deals with problems such as asset underutilization and connectivity. With increasing competition in the space, it’s pertinent for logistics companies to undergo digital transformation to improve their efficiency and remain competitive.
(Disclaimer: This is a guest article. The views and opinions in the guest article are of the author and they do not necessarily represent views of Locale. We have verified the information presented here before publishing but we don’t guarantee authenticity and completeness of the same.)
Originally published at https://blog.locale.ai on September 7, 2021.
