Warehousing and Distribution
Article | July 11, 2023
Carrier management systems have undergone much evolution thanks to the exponential development in shipping and logistics technology. Although its primary mission was to assign, control, and track shippers and carriers, the industry's post-pandemic trends have reflected a variety of new best practices.
Traditionally, many carrier management systems were manually operated and made extensive use of paper processes that didn’t provide perks like real-time data, reporting functionalities, or the visibility to make informed decisions. Today’s carrier management systems comprise these features and go even further. They offer tangible improvements and advantages that impact the bottom line. Here are three things you should look for in a carrier management solution to make sure your digital transformation goes as well as possible.
Support for a Diverse Range of Carriers
To effectively manage your carriers, it’s essential to be able to keep up with technologies used by everything from small to large carriers. The ability to support modern technologies and EDI that are routinely used by larger carriers while also offering online portals and mobile-readiness is integral. A platform that supports a diverse range of carrier sizes helps streamline processes and eliminate friction between operational groups. It also offers all carriers on the system the ability to stay in the loop and access the same data for load and freight boards to keep the freight moving.
Performance Mapping Capabilities
The ability to track performance and keep an eye on crucial metrics is an important consideration for a carrier management system. Real-time data bolsters carrier relationships and equips you with the ability to control and manage factors like load capacity, location of your fuel and fleet, and intimate teams on issues like inventory, sourcing, forecasting, and dispatching in real-time. Not only does this positively impact shippers, but carriers as well. With an overview into their own performance, carriers are empowered to course-correct and respond to sudden hurdles in time. Shippers must be able to get access to the following metrics in order to have the upper hand in rate negotiations with carriers:
On-time performance
Data accuracy
Compliance
Status update timelines
Collaboration-Friendly Platforms
A flexible solution that allows shippers to work collaboratively ensures strategic flexibility. Monitoring the performance across different modes including truckload, intermodal, and LTL as well as parcel consolidators and shippers. Today, carrier management systems and other digital solutions are able to integrate these modes and offer superior capabilities when it comes to receiving updates from all modes in real-time. When combined with cloud-based solutions, carrier management can take efficiency to a whole new level.
To Conclude
The success of your supply chain and company depends on your partnerships with your carriers, which can also have a significant impact on your ROI, particularly as the market continues to transform further towards third party partnerships. In order to foster carrier performance, carrier management should be a significant part of your strategy.
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Management
Article | June 21, 2023
Leveraging technology and resources within a network is key to supply chain optimization. While supply chains are inherently complex, this complexity can lead to significant technological benefits.
Contents
1 Overview and Importance of Emerging Technologies in Optimizing Supply Chain
2 Advantages of Incorporating Emerging Technologies in Enhancing Optimization
2.1 Autonomous Delivery
2.2 Cognitive Automation
2.3 Blockchain-enabled Traceability
2.4 Predictive Maintenance
3 Key Challenges in Adopting Emerging Technologies
3.1 Cost and Budget Constraints
3.2 Skills Gap in Talent
3.3 Privacy and Data Security Concerns
4 Overcoming Challenges
4.1 Adopting Technologies for Managing Budget and Cost
4.2 Developing Talent Pipeline
4.3 Implementing a Zero Trust Security Model
5 Future Outlook
Supply chain optimization involves maximizing the utilization of technology and resources within a supply network. Although supply chains are inherently complex, this complexity can yield significant technological advantages, particularly when leveraging the combination of blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies.
1 Overview and Importance of Emerging Technologies in Optimizing Supply Chain
Emerging technologies have transformed the supply chain industry and revolutionized business operations. AI, IoT, blockchain, and robotics are getting prominence with the ability to streamline supply chain processes, reduce costs, increase efficiency, and ultimately boost customer satisfaction. Implementing these technologies can give businesses real-time supply chain visibility, reducing waste and enhancing inventory management. Understanding the potential benefits of these emerging digital supply chain technologies and how they can be implemented within the supply chain is essential for any business that intends to stay in a competitive and rapidly evolving market.
2 Advantages of Incorporating Emerging Technologies in Enhancing Optimization
Blending operations with emerging supply chain technologies can significantly improve the speed and accuracy of information flow, minimize manual intervention, and reduce lead times. Additionally, these technologies can provide enhanced visibility into supply chain operations, enable effective risk management, and facilitate proactive decision-making.
2.1 Autonomous Delivery
Incorporating autonomous delivery that comes with self-driving vehicles benefits businesses beyond faster delivery times, lowers costs and reduces human error. It offers increased safety, greater flexibility, and improved resource management. It benefits industries like e-commerce and logistics, where quick and efficient delivery is crucial.
2.2 Cognitive Automation
Businesses face significant challenges due to unpredictable fluctuations in supply and demand, which can strain their existing technology. To mitigate these risks, executives have increased their investments in risk management. Cognitive automation offers three key benefits in supply chain management: identifying challenges and opportunities, gathering demand signals, and utilizing data for decision-making. Cognitive automation makes balancing supply and demands more efficient and effective, allowing businesses to act faster.
2.3 Blockchain-enabled Traceability
Blockchain technology, a distributed ledger system, enables secure, transparent, and traceable record-keeping across a supply chain network. By providing a tamper-proof record of product movement and quality, blockchain technology can enable businesses to verify the authenticity and integrity of their products at each stage of the supply chain. In addition, blockchain technology allows businesses to quickly trace product origins and identify affected batches during recalls.
2.4 Predictive Maintenance
Predictive maintenance is a technology that uses machine learning algorithms and Internet of Things sensors to predict impending equipment failures. By analyzing equipment performance data, predictive analytics enables businesses to reduce equipment downtime, lower maintenance costs, and increase reliability. With predictive maintenance, businesses can transition from reactive to proactive maintenance, preventing equipment failures and extending equipment lifecycles.
3 3 Key Challenges in Adopting Emerging Technologies
3.1 Cost and Budget Constraints
The executives in the supply chain industry face a significant challenge when adopting emerging supply chain technologies due to the associated costs and budget constraints. While these smart supply chain technologies offer long-term benefits, the upfront investment can deter businesses. Businesses need to consider the total cost of ownership, including implementation, training, ongoing maintenance costs, and the potential return on investment.
3.2 Skills Gap in Talent
Incorporating emerging technologies and trends in supply chain operations management is a complex and costly investment that demands a highly skilled workforce to implement and operate such supply chain technologies successfully. A significant skills gap while adopting technology in the supply chain industry poses a challenge for businesses in finding and training competent personnel with technical, analytical, and business skills required to handle emerging technologies.
3.3 Privacy and Data Security Concerns
As supply chain operations adopt cutting-edge technologies, companies must address privacy and data security issues. The use of technology requires the collection and dissemination of sensitive data across multiple parties, which raises security and privacy concerns that can be exploited by cybercriminals or unauthorized personnel. Failure to adequately address these issues may result in reputational harm, legal and financial penalties, and a loss of customer confidence.
4 Overcoming the Challenges
4.1 Adopting Technologies for Managing Budget and Cost
To overcome the challenge of budget and cost constraints in adopting technology in the supply chain, businesses can leverage innovative tools, such as cost management software and advanced analytics tools, which can provide real-time visibility into cost drivers and enable better decision-making to optimize resource utilization. With the top three technologies in supply chain such as AI, IoT and blockchain, businesses can reduce costs, boost supply chain performance, and maintain market competitiveness. AI predicts demand, maximizes inventory and improves transportation; RPA automates manual tasks, reduces labor costs, and cloud computing provides a flexible and scalable IT infrastructure with reduced upfront investments.
4.2 Developing Talent Pipeline
Businesses must invest in building a talent pipeline to ensure a steady supply of skilled employees to narrow the skills gap in the supply chain industry. Collaboration with educational institutions, in-house training programs, and managed service providers from the technology industry can all be part of the answer. The organization's competitiveness and success can be increased by creating a talent pipeline to fill the skills gap between the current workforce and the needs of emerging technologies. Businesses can keep their workforce current and ready to adopt new technologies in supply chain by investing in a talent pipeline.
4.3 Implementing a Zero Trust Security Model
As businesses adopt emerging technologies for supply chain operations, privacy, and data security, concerns have become a formidable obstacle. The implementation of a zero-trust security model can aid in addressing this difficulty. Before gaining access to any data or system, all users and devices in this model must be authenticated as potential threats, per this model. This strategy protects data and systems from unauthorized access and enables businesses to comply with regulations such as the GDPR and CCPA. In addition, it can provide supply chain visibility and control over data access in real-time, making it more effortless to detect and respond to security threats.
5 Future Outlook
Supply chain leaders view emerging supply chain technology as a competitive advantage and as a means to address digital transformation. In addition, there is a focus on supply chain technologies that improve human decision-making and manage assets at the edge. Organizations should unify their technology portfolio and update legacy systems for greater efficiency. As supply chain complexity increases, we can expect even more advanced technology solutions leveraging big data, machine learning, and robotics to create agile, flexible, and sustainable supply chains.
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Supply Chain
Article | May 22, 2023
Warehouse logistics is the heart of any supply chain operation, assimilating and dispatching goods to ensure availability and timely delivery. With more consumers turning to e-commerce, it’s important for businesses of all sizes to bolster the supply chain to handle the e-commerce business model. According to research conducted by BigCommerce, the top three factors that influence consumers’ online purchasing decisions are convenience, cost and free shipping. In fact, the National Retail Federation (NRF) found that 75% of consumers expect delivery to be free even for orders under $50.
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Software and Technology, Logistics
Article | July 16, 2022
The logistics sector is experiencing a significant technological shift similar to that of all other industries due to the growing need for remote work solutions. Social networking, the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud-based logistics, and other technological advancements are reshaping the logistics industry and moving it in a new direction. Additionally, the supply chain and logistics as a whole are greatly influenced by factors like transportation and digital transformation.
Modern digital technology is fundamentally altering how various sectors function. Increased connectivity amongst the people has also increased the needs of customers, created new purchasing habits, and gave birth to an entirely new industry as a whole, e-commerce.
The Shift Towards the Could Technology
Over the past few years, the transportation and logistics industry has witnessed a shift towards digitization as more and more people have access to the internet and computer for day-to-day work.
From online grocery stores to local delivery apps and even on-demand airport shuttle services, the adoption of cloud technologies has given a viable solution to customers and businesses at a lower cost than before. As a growing number of businesses reevaluate their use of innovative technologies, cloud computing is becoming an increasingly serious and practical choice.
The cloud is of significant use in the world of freight transportation and logistics, as it stores crucial shipping information that can be accessed at any time via transportation management systems from anywhere. The technology is emerging as a game changer for the businesses operating in the logistics industry. Here is a list of benefits cloud technologies offer:
Logistical space planning
Real-time package updates
Leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)
Vehicle health monitoring
E-ticketing management
Final Thought
Cloud-based solutions have enormous potential to improve operational and financial efficiency in the transportation and logistics industry. Some facets of cloud-based solutions also have the ability to transform the overall shipping experience altogether. Assessing the merits of this technology, a large number of leading businesses are incorporating it for applications such as fleet-specific planning, shipment optimization, faster delivery, and others. In the coming years, cloud-based solutions are likely to become very popular in the supply chain industry as they keep getting better.
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