TECHNOLOGICAL TRENDS IN LOGISTICS

Logistics is the part of supply chain which involves planning, overseeing, implementing of storage of goods and its transport from one point to another till it reaches its final destination.?

Logistics includes executing 4 major components efficiently.?They are: -

1. Planning – Ordering and transporting the right quantity of materials at the right price with maximum efficiency within the estimated time.
2. Materials and its storage – Involve storage of materials and goods so that they can facilitate easier transport and also to keep up with the demand and supply.
3. Management of inventory – This involves the analysis and calculation of how much quantity of materials is needed to keep up with the demand and supply also including the maintenance of the accessories and storage spaces like equipment’s and warehouses.
4. Management of transport – Involves selecting the mode of transport for the best efficiency also keeping a tab on how cost effectively they can get it done. Compared to the last two decades the importance on the logistics domain in the Indian economy is rapidly increasing and around 10 percent of the economy is set for the logistics department. The challenges faced by the logistics domain are -

1.Transparency in the flow of information and data that supports the planning and supply chain activities.

2. Speed and efficiency as getting the right material/goods transported to the right place at the right time is very important.

3.Traceability of the package and providing transparency to customers

4.Transfer of payment efficiently and with reliable documents.

During the pre-pandemic era logistics and supply chain management was a domain that was having a linear technological boost and implementation. The onset of the pandemic resulted in the industry to force to adapt to the new changes and keep up with the demands as the e-commerce and shipment demands were sky-rocketing. Hence the pandemic not only tested the logistics domain it also paved way to new trends in technology that started to get implemented into this domain. Let's efficiency and bettering the logistics domain.

1.Automation

Automation helps in manage and optimise an expansive amount of goods and its transport with minimum manual interaction playing a pivotal role in increasing the efficiency of the supply chain domain as a whole. The inexorable rise of online sales have shifted the industry to automate the process from storage to distribution has resulted in being able to keep up with the demands. Automation gives better visibility and data is recorded and shared in real time which helps in facilitating better communication and collaboration. Automation can be implemented in logistics in

i) Office and administrative tasks

ii) In Warehouse for storage operations

iii) Management of inventory and its transportation

2. Blockchain

Blockchain is not just related with cryptocurrency. The digital ledger which can be used to save or store all the information is a perfect platform to store data being transparent. This helps in making the transport and storage of materials more transparent for the customers who can now track the shipment from start to end of its journey. Implementing blockchain in logistics comes with various advantages, they are -

i) Blockchain helps in transparency and traceability

ii) Blockchain ensures security and authenticity

iii) Blockchain reduces complexity of the whole process

iv) Blockchain improves efficiency in operations

3.Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine learning (ML) Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning is now used in the domain to analyse large amount of data from logistics and supply chain which is later used by organization to understand the trend in the industry and wants to keep with the competitors and also bring in new innovations.AI is used in decision making in order to reduce the human errors and also is now implemented in managing the warehouse which has made it more efficient.AI has also proved to be an excellent tool when it comes to demand predictions from the current data as well as the past experience information. This helps them in forecasting and helps them separate materials that will be in demand in the future.

4.Internet of Things (IoT)

With the advent of Industry 4.0, the role IoT plays in the logistics domain is nothing short of being pivotal. Implementing IoT in logistics has resulted in exponential growth in various steps as in procurement, storage, transportation etc. IoT helps in providing important data which is shared among the network between resources at real time and also at low cost. It not only helps to track objects but also helps in transferring current data of the object that is being transported also while being able to be controlled remotely. This helps in saving time at various stages of transportation can be combined with blockchain to track the packages hence providing transparency to customers.

Logistics industry since has been significantly benefited from these recent technological trends and will be continuing to improve with further advancements made in this domain.

Author: Nandakishore Mohan (IIM Kashipur)

Management Intern, Nevoxel Consulting