Broadening Viewpoint of Logistics & Supply Chain Tech Trends

Emerging tech trends in logistics & supply chain provide a huge leap to do more with less, improve the use of automation within the supply chain, get detailing from the tons of data and find ways to create more engaging CX in a today’s digital world. Multiple emerging technologies have taken the centrally important position including the AI/ML, IoT, cloud, blockchain, and even NXT-Gen Analytics. However, understanding the ROI of emerging technologies remains tough.

True execution of automation within the supply chain will help experts to realize key benefits within their business ecosystems. Few direct benefits include:

Enhanced CX levels, further help in brand loyalty and profitability
Intuitive systems and controls enable faster, more efficient planning for maintenance and avoiding downtime
Increased warehouse savings derived from faster order fill rates and increased order accuracy
Improved worker satisfaction & contributing to lower turnover rates
Cost avoidance such as better space utilization and reducing demand for more warehouse space

Meanwhile, the full line-up of emerging technologies has many types of publicity but they offer limited proof of value. To have better clarity of this situation, shippers need to understand what emerging tech trends of the T&L industry to expect and their impacts for the coming period of time.

The use of AI is moving to become more influential and controlling in the supply chain. AI-guided controls will make decisions on the move, eluding the need for human interceding, transforming exception management and streamlining supply chain processes.

Shipment exception management has various challenges, like:

Inefficacy to understand how market demand will translate into available capacity and shipping
Abrupt weather events which may inundate travel and lead to significant problems
Govt./political mayhems, such as global trade tariffs that delay freight shipping, as well as freight moving through vital routes in war-torn areas
Poor communication and collaboration with carriers to intervene when crises arise

Ways to Enhance Exception Management by following these best practices:

Take AI precedence to automatically handle recurring exceptions
Create real flow scenario sets to define what actions to take when an issue arises
Choose a mature platform which provides automated exception management
Use large data pools of exceptions to investigate why part, how to prevent it for future, and what necessary steps are there to ensure continued success and reduction in shipment expenditure spend
Leverage ML to increase the level of automation in exception management further
Handle the unpredictable exceptions with maturity; relying on all the facts to make an informed decision and reduce delays
Integrate all shipping systems within a comprehensive platform to ensure data is timely, accurate and reflects the needs of your supply chain

Cloud’s upsurge signalled the end of on-site data storage and freight management. Businesses were no longer chained to their systems and hardware; they could leverage the cloud to unlock more space, more testing opportunities, and more innovation.

The cloud is the ultimate way to attain scalability, flexibility, agility, responsiveness, disaster recovery solutions etc. through hyperconverged architectural cloud infrastructure. Hyperconverged architecture means using the virtual frontier as the beginning, end and stadium for all processes. Using the limitless power of the cloud, users can connect with more people and systems, making more informed decisions and staying ahead of the latest trends and demands in the business ecosystem.

The fifth generation of wireless technology (5G), assures faster download and upload speeds will play directly into the IoT talking points. The IoT gives shippers access to more data about product location, shipment status, delays, damage, and many more. The volume of data is almost immeasurable and through the IoT; shippers will have awareness which contributes to better contract negotiations leverage with carriers, reduced inventory concerns, improved operational management and better client service through real-time information of delivery at customer’s fingertips.

More IoT-enabled devices will trigger a transcendence of the supply chain, creating the Internet of Everything and uniformed supply chains, people, customers, cloud-based technologies and everything else into one network.

A digital supply chain twin is a digital representation of the relationships between all physical entities of end-to-end supply chain processes — products, customers, markets, distribution centers/warehouses, plants, finance, attributes and weather. They are linked to their real-world counterparts and are used to understand the state of the thing or system in order to optimize operations and respond efficiently to changes. All physical entities have a digital twin and the twin relies on historic data, including entry of real-time data, to appropriately mirror physical reality. The sole objective of artificial intelligence and machine learning is to enable the development of a digital twin of the production segment. The creation of the digital twin would take place as an effort under a model-based system engineering process using the machine learning algorithms. The digital twin would serve as a platform for running what-if scenarios. The digital twin can also serve as an end-to-end model to be used in designing higher reliability parts and adjusting the interactions between production line machinery to improve performance. The digital and physical worlds continue to merge, and machine learning will be necessary to bring the digital world the closest to our actual reality.

Distributed Ledger Technology will remain one of the most propitious emerging logistics technology trends of 2020. Blockchain is based on the distributed ledger technology which is #immutable or destroyed, so it would stand to reason the technology carries a strong backup. Unfortunately, the results just seem still hidden behind the scene. It defined to be a powerful solution for shipment tracking and to manage digital payment within supply chain partners once their role in the chain gets over.

Here are some examples from the market who already started using blockchain in their supply chains: