With the advent of new technologies, the latest trends are enabling digital transformation across multiple industries. In all industries, the transport, logistics and fleet management sectors are definitely amongst the biggest beneficiaries of the entire transformation. This is defined because of the scope of transport, logistics and fleet management. And with logistics 4.0 new avenues are unfolding.
No matter what the medium is, transportation and logistics are crucial components for enterprises, as it ensures and promises timely delivery of goods to destinations.
The transportation and logistics sector is subject to market regulations, and with ever-changing regulations. As a result, the sector has to ensure that it produces more with fewer resources or else the profitability is affected.
However, with the involvement of digital technologies in personnel, equipment and transactional areas, enterprises can easily perform better and support peak operations in real time, hence improving operational efficiency and performance of their logistics function.
There have been many new trends introduced in the market but the Internet of Things (IoT) proved to be the most innovative one.
Enterprises now accelerate productivity, profitability and operations with solutions designed specifically for their processes and interests. With the right IoT solution in place at the right time, they can easily and instantly connect with all the devices across a centralized cloud network. They can also capture and share their process-critical data to gain real-time visibility of their ongoing and forecasted operations.
Organizations involved in transportation, logistics and fleet management are expanding their horizon on mobility services, big data and the Internet of Things (IoT) to automate their services along with process management and cloud-based applications too.
Here, we look at how the internet of things (IoT) can help transform logistics and transportation, bringing efficiencies and improving productivity.
Internet of Things (IoT): Understanding the value in the Logistics Sector
In logistics, transportation, and fleet management, the Internet of Things (IoT) is providing highly integrated and streamlined “Transportation and Warehouse Management Solutions” that connect in-vehicle sensors and other cohesive digital devices over the network. Installed sensors in transport vehicles, containers etc. will continuously capture and process data that can be acted-upon in real-time.
“Logistics associates now aim to move from a traditional approach of managing orders and logistics to a highly advanced digital tech tactic. The major goal is to improve the quality of customer service, merge laws and regulations for smoother flow and reduce liability cost.”
There are many innovative use cases of IoT where provider trust the use of initiatives like sensors, RFID chips to transmit critical information and store it to the cloud for further consumption.
Because of the technological developments assisting the logistics industry in experiencing rapid transformation and expansion, the IoT in the logistics market is flourishing globally. The size of the global IoT in logistics market is anticipated to increase significantly, with a CAGR of 14.0%, to reach USD 93.85 billion by 2028.
Source: Yate Blog
Let’s see how IoT transforms the transport, Logistics and Fleet management industry so that it proves to be an essential aspect of the entire industrial segment which brings immense benefit to both industry and end customers.
Real-Time Visibility: The involvement of IoT services in transportation, logistics and fleet management industries has made inventory management more transparent. The transparency supports real-time information about inventory and prevents certain situations like out of stock circumstances and manages to ensure the quality. It helps in supporting the upper-level managers or the decision makers to analyze the live field data, thereby assisting in real-time decision-making.
The ability to track and receive updates about the freight has made fleet management easier for executives. There has been a relief in various concerns like vehicle idle time between routes, analysis of traffic conditions, and fuel consumption. Nonetheless, IoT development companies have familiarized digital IoT technologies which with time have improved the performance, safety, and communication with customers eventually helping executives to make quick decisions.
“Many transportation and logistics companies using RFID today are reaching nearly 100 per cent shipping and receiving accuracy.”
Warehouse and Yard Management: Warehouse & Yard management is one major concern in transport, logistics and fleet management. It may look like a small task at the peripheral, but it’s deep inside. The warehouse or yard is the core of any transport, fleet and logistics businesses. A well-managed warehouse/yard directly impacts the cost of business and the ability to compete and stand against the competitors in the market.
In such scenarios related to warehouse/yard, IoT-enabled mobile devices have come to the rescue. These technologies are designed to track inventory data, equipment and vehicles etc. This gives an exact idea to enterprises about the current situation of warehouses.
Implementing the power of converting physical to digital warehouses are given the freedom to capture and share critical data across the cloud, ensuring they have the right products in the right place at the right time. IoT intervention in transport, logistics and fleet management has tremendously reduced human intrusion and enabled more machine-to-machine interaction and information sharing, improving enterprises efficiency and accuracy.
Enhanced productivity and efficiency: Involving digital and IoT technologies in transport, logistics and fleet management industries can enable seamless, continuous multi-platform collaboration to pave the way for greater efficiency and productivity gains. In the current scenario, digital initiatives have impacted in gaining top notch improvement in managing the entire process in a timely manner with real-time access to inventories, vehicles, workforce etc. The decision makers can make quick decisions and impact the business on a positive note easily.
Considering the instance of driver downtime, distance and time overruns can cause huge costs for firms.
Customer engagement: Creating a great customer experience is the major agenda of any organization. Though transport, logistics and fleet management may not have a direct touch point with end users, it eventually plays a major role in connecting enterprises with them. Having satisfied customers is important at all stages of the supply chain, both for B2B and B2C services. IoT enables enterprises to work and improve their process efficiency and experience – by providing real-time access to delivery information easily and intuitively. A well-established customer engagement is planned with the involvement of a robust delivery chain that provides real-time information access to both enterprises and consumers.
Minimize Risk, Maximize Trust: Transport, logistics and fleet management companies need to adopt an adaptive security strategy. This is required because of the current obligation of the shift from an ‘incident response’ mindset to a ‘continuous response’ mindset. For transport, logistics and fleet companies, there are four stages in a security lifecycle: preventative, detective, retrospective and predictive. Security is needed at each stage of the entire process be it to inventory, data storage, cloud, warehouse etc.
The requirement ranges from having access to IoT data that is kept secure over a private network to asset monitoring and effective policy controls. Organizations have already started to implement robust IoT security services that safeguard businesses from cyber threats. The added advantage of having a secure mobile connectivity environment ensures greater protection for data – and greater peace of mind for owners.
New Possibilities with Inventory Management: There are tons of challenges that transport, logistics and fleet management companies have to undergo every day. Inventory management is one of them. It’s becoming really difficult to track trucks that are arriving for pick-up and delivery of goods. It’s important for warehouses to be aware of the transactions and be prepared with the inventory for the delivery or pick up.
For instance, IoT technology embedded trucks or goods carriers that are coming towards the warehouse can be easily tracked the moment they enter into the geo-fencing area. The security of inventories is further managed by registering the truck and drivers on the IoT app using an appropriate ID and then a barcode is generated on the driver’s app for further processing. All manual transactions are now transitioned into digital steps with the support of IoT technologies.
Wrapping Up
Transport, Logistics and Fleet management companies use IoT technology not only to increase efficiency and productivity of operations but also to enhance the way operations take place. The Internet of Things will fundamentally transform the way cargo and merchandise are tracked, and cost reduction. The extensive use of robotics in large warehouses, and to handle hazardous goods is already widespread, as is the driverless, remote-controlled vehicles.
