Technology is changing our lives
every day, from grocery shopping to robotics, innovation in how we exchange
money to how we learn, earn and spend our time, technology is touching almost
all walks of life. And we talk about the different industrial sector, then
technology is seriously affecting nearly all the sectors be it health care,
public transport, goods transportation or logistics, the future is going to be
much more innovative, efficient and amazing. But today, I am going to talk
about some of the biggest future trends in transportation and logistics
industry that coming and that may change a lot for better.
And if you are in to transportation
and logistics industry and you are wondering about the future trends in
transportation and logistics industries, then here’s a detailed post that talks
about such amazing technology trends.
Future trends in transportation and
logistics industry
The transport and the logistic
sector are undergoing a major and important transformation today. The
political, social, economic, environmental, technological and legal changes are
amazingly influencing this sector every day. The transportation and logistics
companies of today have to stay competitive and are made to add improved and
advanced technologies in order to improve their warehouses, distribution
centers, shipping and transport management. There is a new wave of startups in
different segments of the logistics space that are helping to shape a modern
supply chain marketplace that supports game changing technology.
Some of the biggest future trends
in transportation and logistics industries are listed hereunder:
Digitization
Digitization is having a strong impact on all the industries around the world. And, transportation and logistics industry is no exception to it. If you observe carefully, you will notice there is a rise in digital literacy, and awareness among the consumers regarding the use of the various online platforms as far as customized purchasing decisions are concerned. There is more customer satisfaction and trust, because the information is widely available in various forms and formats.
The usage of digitization in the logistics sector is expected to lead to a very significant decrease in the procurement and supply chain prices, along with giving a substantial boost to the overall avenues.
With logistic sector being more
digital mature, the various processes in business are becoming simplified.
There is lesser risk and the revenues are also getting derived with much more
efficiency.
Blockchain technology
With the arrival of the blockchain
technology, it has led the companies in the transportation and logistics sector
to failsafe the digital contracts. This technology allows the various stakeholders
of the logistics industry such as suppliers, manufacturers, auditors,
customers, warehouse managers etc. to form a very efficient and transparent
system as far as tracking assets, recording the transactions, and handling the
documents involved in the processes of logistics are concerned.
Blockchain distributed ledger
technology will not just help in the improvement of service levels by giving
visibility of the status of each and every shipment end to end, but it can also
better the on-time rates, and lead to more proactive and dynamic incident
management.
Last mile deliveries
With the increasing number of
e-commerce companies, the provision of last mile deliveries is seeing an upward
trend in becoming the most important aspect of creating service differentiation
among all the competitors. In fact, getting the package on the same day of the
delivery has become very common today leading to the rise of the same day
delivery market.
A lot of emphasis is being put to
incorporate same day delivery options in various industries like food,
beverages, pharmaceuticals etc.
Besides same day delivery, there is a lot of expectation among the consumers for greater relocation and delivery services. The large retailers like Amazon and Walmart are also being asked to add DIY last mile delivery divisions in their own companies rather than outsourcing.
So, the constant effort made by the logistics service companies in order to offer efficient last mile deliveries is one of the very promising trends that is expected to offer a lot in the growth of the logistics market. There will be more customer satisfaction as well.
Big data and data analytics
With the usage of data analytics
and big data in the logistics sector, the stakeholders in the business are able
to take informed purchase decisions. The companies are taking the help of big
data to figure out the potential shortage in future supply, busy periods, fuel
consumption, route optimization etc. that in turn, are allowing them to make
decisions strategically to improve their positions in the market.
They are also able to offer a much
better competitive advantage over the other companies.
Elastic logistics
Elastic logistics is creating a lot
of buzz in the logistics and supply chain industry. It refers to the ability to
shrink or expand capabilities on demand within the supply chain in accordance
to the peak periods. Its usage is one of the latest trends in logistics that
can aid the companies all over the world by improving customer experience,
adding real-time visibility, giving agility and scalability and connecting all
the processes in business.
Warehousing robotization
With the arrival of the new age
fulfillment centers like Zalando and Amazon, the integration of robotics into
picking, sorting and shipping products and cargo will lead to lot of transformation
in the warehousing processes in logistics. Constant efforts are being made to
integrate robotics in such a manner that will support the existing workforce
efficiently.
Drones and smart glasses
A significant rise in the
integration of drones and smart glasses in the logistics sector is happening, and
it has helped a lot as far as improving the flexibility and delivery speed is
concerned. This in turn, has also contributed to the last mile logistics
growth. Autonomous vehicles, self-driving vehicles and trucks could maintain
really high reliability. There was on-time and also same day delivery in both
rural and urban areas. It is also good for keeping the roads safer by decreasing
the traffic.
The integration of smart glasses
with the backing of augmented reality will help to make the deliveries in the
transportation and logistics much easier. This is possible by face recognition
for mistake free deliveries, hands- free route searches and personalized
deliveries.
3PL and 5 PL
Third party logistics (3PL) and
fifth party logistics (5PL) is expected to have a great impact in the logistics
market. In 2017, 3PL contributed maximum to the logistics market globally. 3PL
encompassed a wide range of needs of end to end transport and logistics. This
includes the transportation of goods, maintenance of inventory logs and travel
insurance and offering protection against loss of property. 3PL also helps in the
reduction of delivery times and decreased procurement costs.
With the
increase in the complexities in the supply chain market globally, it is
ensuring that adoption of 5PL in which the providers, many a times, link the
e-businesses for achieving minimal cost targets.
Automation and Internet of Things
Automation
is gaining lot of popularly in the logistics sector, and also with the adoption
of IoT, that is, Internet of Things. Logistics 4.0 is a very promising trend
that is bringing a lot of positive transformation in the supply chain market
globally.
Faults
like operator errors, delays in transportation, outdated IT failures, bad cargo
monitoring and thefts are getting managed really well with the adoption of
Internet of Things in the logistics sector.
There is
a lot a lot of expectation that the next generation of the supply chain
management will leverage Internet of Things and edge computing in order to
yield real-time automated insights. Like for example, Internet of Things based
system has been introduced in US based Union Pacific in order to predict the
failure of the equipment and to reduce the risks in derailment with the help of
acoustic and visual censors on the tracks.
With the
increasing adoption of Internet of Things and logistics automation has led to
the emergence of connected logistics.
Chatbots and Collaborative Robots
Voice-controlled
chatbots were made to interact with the consumers and perform important tasks
at purchase points in a supply chain. This includes ordering, shipping, picking
etc. and this thing as per the Logistics Bureau, is trending a lot in the
logistics industry.
Robotics
is also believed to create a revolution in the logistic sector along with
e-commerce giants like Amazon. A lot of development in logistics robots will be
done to make them perform several other functions in the warehouses like
storing, packaging, and picking.
Collaborative
robots will be utilized for increasing the effectiveness in warehousing and
delivery operations. The RaaS model that is the Robots-as-a-Service
Subscription model will help the third-party logistics firms, retailers, and
e-commerce sites to utilize the robots in order to address the fulfillment
needs. This will lead to huge growth in the transportation and logistics industry
globally.
Conclusion
The
transportation and logistics industry is undergoing a huge transformation. We
have already discussed about some of the biggest technology trends that
include:
Blockchain technology
Digitalization
Big data and data analytics
Warehousing robotization
Last mile deliveries
Elastic logistics,
Drones and smart glasses
Automation and IoT
Chatbots and Collaborative Robots etc
These future trends are going to change the industry for better. The movers and packers industry is also a part of this, and therefore, in near future, one can expect a lot of modernization and improvement in service delivery.
What do you think of these technological future trends in transportation and logistics industry? Which of these technology trends you are excited about?
