Due to overarching challenges in the supply chain and logistics industry, the aims and goals of companies have shifted drastically. The onus is increasingly put on research and development in freight transportation and how consumer interaction and expectations can be better met with. In this article “IoT Applications in Supply Chain and Logistics Industry”, we list down various IOT application in these vertices.
Logistics
The top priority of every logistics company employee is to ensure timely delivery, transparency in the supply-chain mechanism & product lifecycle, and truthfulness in services. This can be ensured if the inventory, warehouse, and internal business processes run most efficiently with proper synchronization. The proper functioning of these departments require few changes on the Information Technology front to maintain the principle of 7 Rs – right product, right quantity right condition, right time, right price, right place, and to the right consumer.
With the help of smart connection and cases, the Internet of Things (IoT) can successfully and swiftly revolutionize all these processes. IoT offers a plethora of advantages and opportunities that are increasingly benefitting the industry. Not only this, aspects like supply chain monitoring, tracking of vehicles, the safety of products and goods under transportation and the fluent automation of the operations are where IoT has a crucial role to play. The places where logistics uses IoT are as follows:
1. Location Management System
Equipping the management system so much so that the customer can trace with transparency the delivery activities, vehicle location, delivery status and at the same time, is able to mutate the time and place of delivery after the order has been placed – can all prove to be an essential development in the logistics sector of a company aided by IoT. Such a solution is proved to be an irreplaceable assistant technology helping in the delivery planning, compilation, and viewing of the schedules. Further, the changes made can be detected and monitored in real-time with the help of improved location management and streamlined business process.
2.Inventory Tracking Warehouse
One of the most connected parts of the logistics ecosystem includes the inventory mechanism and the warehousing sampling. Inexpensive and petite sensors placed in the warehouse help track packages in the various sections of the warehouse and the inventory along with the quality status of each item. During the time of checkouts, the items can further be categorized with the help of separate digital sensors to reduce human errors and perform tasks with precision and accuracy.
3.Predictive Analysis
The logistics industry is ripe with structured and unstructured data that impregnates the potential of reaping benefits in future operations. Predictive analysis is swathing across different genres of companies aiding them in making well-informed business development decisions, strategies as well as public relations proceedings. This is done by providing the organization with company insights, developing competitor analysis, market analysis, and an in-depth audience-study.
The internet enabled devices play an important role here by helping transfer the data from various nodes into the central data bank of the company for further analysis. The analysis can be employed to the planning of the shortest route and the most efficient delivery system for it. The end report communicates about the 7 Rs along with prevention of any crashes over the course of the delivery.
Supply Chain Management and IoT
Irrespective of whether the company is a manufacturing unit, or of shipping, planning, or simply managing the transition and transformation of raw materials, supply chain management finds applications in every genre. The Internet of Things (IoT) helps ease down and simplify the process by including Real-Time Location System (RTLS).
This also includes combating issues like illegal food practices and keeping a check on the quality and the quantity of the goods. The customers, as well as the manufacturers, desire to trace the goods from the place and time of their origin to the final action of reaching in the hands of the client. Using radio-frequency identification tags and sensors also aid in monitoring things like product temperature, water content, vehicle location, and the stage at which the transportation process has reached. Each and every product is given a separate digital ID that helps secure all information about the product and its product cycle.
Other options include the use of self-driving vehicles and drone-driven delivery system. Technical giants have started testing and even applying self-driven vehicles powered with new age technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning in making near-by deliveries. In-house warehouse transportation of goods is also using vehicles that are self-driven in nature.
In the age and tie of globalization and ‘glocatization’, businesses are increasingly using ways and methods to automate and digitalize the operations inside as well as outside of the work infrastructure. The Internet of Things finds extensive applications in logistics and Supply Chain Management for similar reasons.
