IoT- Redefining Logistics

Predictive Analysis

Today, we can see predictive analysis has made a mark in various industries and has helped corporations and conglomerates in creating an effective business development strategy. All this has help and will continue to help in improving the decision-making process, make smart business insights, manage risks and a lot more.

Internet-enabled devices are here to collect large data amounts and transmit them to the central system for further analysis. IoT and predictive analytics solutions can be applied for route and delivery planning and identification of various defects before something goes wrong. The results are a timely replacement of machinery parts, prevention of any crashes and efficient vehicle/equipment maintenance.

To address these applications, FarEye Transportation has brought to the users a platform that empowers businesses to achieve increased on-time deliveries. It enables predictability in freight movement and seamlessly integrates with disparate systems like TMS, WMS, ERPs, 3PL systems, etc. to ensure greater visibility of logistics processes and benchmark KPIs accurately.

Current Challenges

Global logistics are hard to manage due to the lack of transparency in the supply chain. While technology has progressed in recent years, many companies still only receive data about the transport of their goods days or even weeks after their goods were delivered at the destination.

Consolidating the huge amount of data in fact is a tough task and resolving any issues within the supply chain is nearly impossible as it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where and when something went wrong.

The three biggest pain points in global logistics now are:

Counterfeiting or fraudulent imitation has been worrying the industry for a long time. What the counterfeiters do is that they misappropriate someone else’s brand, falsely label products or use fake or inferior components to make a product. Lack of consumer confidence in the provenance of goods can really hurt a manufacturer’s ability to sell their products.

Counterfeiting is also an issue that is becoming worse each year as ordering goods on the internet is increasingly becoming the new norm. This encourages a lot of counterfeiters to enter the arena and sell fake products, which in turn leads to further decreased consumer confidence.

For manufacturers, it is very difficult to figure out where the theft may have occurred as information about the shipment of their goods is usually only available days or weeks after (most of) their products have already arrived at their end destination.

Numerous products are transported within pre-set environmental conditions, such as within certain temperature parameters. As there is no way for manufacturers to see shipping conditions in real time, some logistics companies tend to give inaccurate information on how they’ve shipped certain goods.

IoT devices can connect trucks, ships and warehouses with the internet and report on GPS and environmental conditions, such as temperature, humidity, and pressure. Some thirdparty logistics providers have already started employing IoT devices in their trucks, ships and warehouses and have started reporting those conditions back to manufacturers.

Speaking about the challenges that the industry faces, Nahata points out that IoT has passed the “Peak of Inflated Expectations” and now supply chain executives are looking for practical implementations. Some organizations are piloting IoT in functional areas to quantify the benefits of the technology and build stronger business cases. “So, it can be said that IoT adoption is still at an “adolescence” stage, but will surely move up the ladder fast, especially with regards to the supply chain and logistics industry,” explains Nahata.