11/08/2013

Logistics in 2020: Role of IT

Key areas where IT will support logistics companies in achieving success in 2020:
Data-sharing; now more than ever before, information is power. The electronic exchange of information (including documentation) and financial data with supply chain partners, including regulatory bodies, will be becoming mandatory in many regions by 2020.

Strategic supply chain planning; for simulating network design and sourcing decisions.
Any device, anywhere; BYOD and the effective utilization of platform-neutral apps (for example delivery tracking by courier) require increasing levels of collaboration between IT systems, both internal and external, and a bigger picture approach to policies.
Better planning on multimodal transportation; to meet both green and efficiency targets and handle hub-and-spoke networks. Estimated breakdowns of potential routes will be required, by CO2 emissions and cost as well as speed, as LSPs increasingly need to substitute routes and parts of routes with alternative modes of transport for cost, environmental impact or access.
Better utilization of resource; via granular cost allocation and detailed efficiency analysis by route, modality, carrier and type of goods.
CO2 reporting compliance; impossible to achieve without effective allocation, tracking and measurement of costs and resources down to individual shipment level.
React to traffic conditions; linking of Trade Management Systems and Transportation Management Systems to live traffic conditions with process flows and automation that can influence route planning in sufficient time to divert.
Track and trace visibility; vision is end-to-end visibility of the supply chain from factory to the end customer or consumer.
Inventory management; first by minimizing the inventory required in each location to meet customer demand and secondly by optimizing every last cubic centimetre of warehouse space, with agile systems that enable rapid put-away, selection and processing, as well as integration to warehouse equipment such as forklifts, high bay racking systems, etc.
Mobility; systems must be quick and easy to rollout, with flexible set-up and configuration, to cope with new customers, new routes, new regions, partnerships and alliances, mergers and acquisitions.
Standards and interoperability; increasingly connected supply chains to enable the sharing of information with customers’ and subcontractors’ systems as well as connections to industry Hubs such as INTTRA and TRAXXON, and traffic information sites.
Streamlining of cross-border and compliance processes; multi-country customs, AES submissions,
hazardous goods checking, denied party screening and other regulatory compliance.

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