Technology application

In the last 3 years, it is considered to mark remarkable progress in the application of IT in logistics in Vietnam, reflected through the increase in local application solutions, especially the emergence of integrated solutions, application of artificial intelligence. Currently, there are 4 main areas of application of new technologies as follows:

Firstly: IT applications in road transport with the aim of optimizing vehicle capacity, planning and controlling routes, schedules, time, and improving the rate of full truckload. The strong rise of companies such as Grab, Be, Gojek has clearly shown signs of this new wave.

Second: E-commerce warehouse automation solutions, last-mile delivery and express delivery. The first applications of Lazada have appeared on the market today and are continuing to attract the attention and participation of many large companies in the industry.

Third: Some large manufacturing companies have also launched operating systems that combine production automation with lean production principles, which operate very efficiently. Samsung's manufacturing plant is a typical example with the appearance of robots in the process of bringing components, semi-finished products, inventorying goods by drone, etc.

Fourth: A small number of retailers in the country are implementing a combination of information systems - automation - artificial intelligence in supply chain management from purchasing to distribution to consumers.

Difficulties in applying technology in logistics activities

Difficulty in choosing the right supplier

Many businesses providing forwarding services currently do not have international freight forwarding management software (FMS) because large software provided from abroad is expensive, usually not less than 100 thousand USD. Meanwhile, FMS software developed in the country has a supplier selling for only 1,000 USD, customers are worried about not having enough features and reliability. This makes it difficult for both foreign and domestic suppliers to survive because either way they will not have enough sales to develop in the current market.

Difficulty in capital and effective investment requirements in logistics technology

Having a good technical solution is a necessary condition but businesses often have to calculate whether their investment in technology will bring financial results. It is the requirement – the payback period, for example – that is the second and most difficult challenge to overcome. Funding for equipment procurement is often still a source of bank loans or internal mobilization, but there are costs and the required payback period for technology investments is no more than 3 years. While the productivity improvement or the advantages created from the application of technology is unclear because domestic enterprises have no precedent or experience, their investment decision is very difficult.

Human resources for administration, operation and maintenance

Many enterprises have a team of leaders and administrators who lack the ability to update knowledge and information about technology applications, so it is difficult to decide on a solution. The operation team has never experienced, the maintenance team has not been trained and the suppliers are often difficult.

Lack of consultants and managers of technology application projects

Domestic enterprises do not have the habit of paying for design consultancy, technology application project management which make the project management consulting market in logistics still very small and primitive.