How technology is changing the Logistics industry

Logistics companies are surrounded by a plethora of challenges. They face the rising expectations of businesses and consumers to have deliveries faster, more transparency and at ever lower costs, as well as responding to the wider challenge of changing supply chains and shopping patterns.

In the consumer world, the rise of the internet and global e commerce continues apace. The global parcels delivery market was worth €392 billion in 2019, up from €347 billion in 2018, according to Research and Markets. On the face of it, good news for logistics businesses, but along with this rise in business and required capacity, comes the added expectations of faster, cheaper and more transparent.

In the business to business world there are different dynamics driving the change in business needs but they are no less challenging. With organisations streamlining supply chains and reducing warehousing capacity to save on costs, the need for logistics companies to be able to deliver “just in time” in ever tightening time windows continues.

For many logistics companies, the answer is better and more wide spread use of technology. According to PWC research:

“There is no other industry where so many industry experts ascribe a high importance to data and analytics in the next five years than transportation and logistics – 90% in Transportation and Logistics compared to an average of 83%. The sector has never had access to more data. There are vast opportunities here to improve performance and serve customers better, and LSPs who are part of a digitally integrated value chain can benefit from significantly improved forecasting to scale capacity up or down and plan routes.”

Rather than circle the wagons and defend their traditional way of business, logistics companies are responding to the challenges through the innovative use of technology. The leading logistics operations are building resilience and flexibility into their businesses, whilst driving down costs.

Raben Group, the international logistics company, has equipped its drivers in 11 countries with rugged Panasonic TOUGHBOOK N1 handheld devices to record and share transport information in real-time.

Approximately 4000 Panasonic devices have been deployed in 65 branches of the Raben Group. The project covered 11 countries (the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Hungary and Ukraine). The 4.7-inch rugged TOUGHBOOK N1 handheld combines the functions of a tablet, phone and a barcode reader. The devices are used to collect and provide real-time data on the status of shipments to provide customers with accurate arrival times.

In addition, the handheld is used by drivers to navigate, communicate with the transport dispatcher and customer service department as well as support additional applications that facilitate their daily work. The angled barcode reader enables efficient scanning of labels all the way through the whole loading and transporting process. The device also allows signature capture confirming the delivery of goods and creating electronic Proof of Delivery dates. In addition it saves the location of each delivery and maps the route the truck travels, monitors the start / end time of the route, the number of kilometres travelled, stops visited and each operation performed on the shipment.

From these examples alone, you can see that the digitisation of the logistics industry is well underway but with the promise of additional new technologies, such as blockchain, autonomous vehicles and drones, the technology transformation looks set to continue for many years to come.