The logistics industry is constantly changing, driven by technological advancements, process automation, and environmental preservation. To succeed in this competitive landscape, logistics companies must quickly adapt to cutting-edge technologies, innovative processes, and strategic approaches. As logistics technology continues to evolve, we can expect a future where agility and reliability will be essential for success in the industry.
Here are some specific examples of how logistics technology is changing the industry:
1. Supply Chain Agilityet
The never-ending stream of technological advancements and changing supply chain trends means business needs to be conducted at a breakneck pace to keep up. Companies and their supply chains must be adaptable in order to remain or become competitive in today’s digital environment. To achieve supply chain agility and stay ahead of the curve, logistics companies can leverage self-service onboarding, change, and exception management.
Self-managed services provide businesses with direct, hands-on control, rather than relying on outside entities to complete tasks. For example, consider a scenario where your company wins a major new client. If your business relies on managed services, your team will need to submit an onboarding ticket to the service provider. This ticket will be placed in a queue behind all of the other requests that have come in from other companies. This means that it could take days or weeks for the managed service provider to onboard your new client, which could cut into potential revenue and damage your relationship with the new client.
If your business is self-managing its integration solution, your team can begin the onboarding process right away. There are no prior requests that must be completed, so your business can begin trading with your new client in as little as a few hours.
Change and exception management is another area where the same principle applies. Data discrepancies, incorrectly coded order fields, and inaccurate inventory levels can all be detrimental to a business. With self-service change and exception management, your company can address issues as soon as they arise, minimizing or eliminating their impact on your business. Additionally, any updates to your processes can be handled internally. Otherwise, your company would be reliant on the managed service provider to identify and resolve any issues that arise in your system.
2. Global Labor Shortagesad
The logistics and 3PL industry is facing a major problem: a persistent global labor shortage. This shortage is significantly contributing to higher costs of goods, impacting their production and delivery.
To combat the labor shortage, manufacturers and logistics providers are turning to automation. Warehouse processes are seeing an increase in automation, with machines now responsible for picking products and initiating packing. Transportation is also embracing automation. Europe is leading the way in experimenting with automated trucking. Companies are starting to venture into driverless trucks, beginning with two-truck units where the first truck has a human driver, while the second truck mimics the driving patterns of the first.
3. Embrace Complexity Through Automationuch you transport
Automation is a valuable tool for modern businesses. It can reduce costs, increase efficiency, and free up staff to focus on other, more productive tasks. Logistics companies can take advantage of automation by implementing end-to-end integrations between their backend WMS/ERP systems and the many eCommerce solutions that are becoming increasingly popular.
As companies adopt more platforms and systems, they accumulate more data than ever before. This data is valuable for making business decisions, but it is often spread across different locations. This requires users to switch between software solutions to find and compile data, which is a time-consuming and tedious process. Additionally, human data entry introduces the possibility of errors.
Integrating WMS/ERP and eCommerce can streamline your business’ dataflows by automatically collecting and organizing critical information from various locations. This information is then presented in a single, central location, reducing the amount of time users spend searching for relevant data. The data is also up to date because it is gathered in real-time. Additionally, the data is presented in a structured, visually appealing, and easy-to-understand format.
Streamlined dataflows allow your team to optimize operational monitoring and management. By integrating your WMS/ERP and eCommerce, your team will have access to more complete data and greater insights into business processes. These insights will highlight areas where your business can improve. Your business can then analyze this data to optimize your processes. For example, the data can be used to optimize supply chain management, forecasting, quality control, and delivery management.
Conclusion
More than three trends will shape logistics in 2024. As the technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see even more innovation in the months to come. In a future article we will explore more about this.
In every industry, there is an unspoken rule: disruptive forces are constantly at work, altering how businesses think about technology, do business, and plan for the future. The logistics sector is no exception, as market trends have a significant impact on it.