What is the Internet of Things:

The Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming an increasing topic of interest among technology giants and business communities. The Internet of Things revolves around increased machine-to-machine communication; it’s built on cloud computing and networks of data-gathering sensors; it’s mobile, virtual, and instantaneous connection; and they say it’s going to make everything in our lives from streetlights to seaports “smart.”. This includes everything from cell phones, coffee makers, washing machines, headphones, lamps, wearable devices and almost anything else you can think of. According to a report by Gartner, there will be 30% increase in the number of connected devices in 2016 as compared to 2015 with 6.4 billion IoT devices entering the realm of the Internet of Things. The number is further expected by 2020:

How Does This Impact the logistics market?

For a long time, one of the key challenges for effective supply chain management is its complexity. Multiple tiers of suppliers, manufacturers, service providers, distributors, retailers, and customers made it extremely hard for every party to effectively communicate and execute on the same level. If multiple regions, different languages and intricate custom regulations are taken into consideration, which is often true for global freight forwarders, the whole system will just get more complicated. This is where IoT can make a big impact. By incorporating the IoT network into the supply chain, we can harmoniously connect people, processes, data, and things via devices and sensors. Today, in most cases, this process is carried out by enormous unsynchronized emails and phone calls between relevant parties, wasting valuable time and sometimes creating misunderstanding. The end-to-end visibility will help customers balance supply and demand and optimize inventory level and improve future planning and forecast, which will directly result in cost savings.

Systems and smart objects with embedded intelligence will be able to make certain decisions and adjust automatically to complex situations, with managers focused on optimizing global capabilities through the orchestration of the global logistics. Business processes in supply chains that are currently based on static data analysis and data structures will need to evolve so that they can adjust in near real-time in pursuit of new value creation. IoT’s ability to monitor continuously, sense constraints and respond almost instantaneously under the guidance of an autonomous system or an intelligent network, will create significant opportunities for cross-enterprise process optimization and innovation. In turn, this would concurrently drive cost containment, as well as improve time to market.

Decision making capability of smart machines in an IoT enabled supply chain would also impact the supply chain organization structure. Conventional global freight forwarders tasks in planning, procurement, and logistics in general, would be better addressed by data-driven intelligent systems in a collaborative cross-enterprise environment. Skill sets for logistics professionals will need to go through a transformation, and their primary role would focus on designing inter-enterprise collaboration, network and capability optimization, risk and disruption management, and supply chain orchestration in order to create differentiation and competitive advantages.

The ongoing digital transformation of worldwide freight forwarders and the supply chain as a whole brings challenges and opportunities for the industry. Some questions global freight forwarders professionals facing are making sense of the massive amount of data generated by IoT, streamlining internal business processes to fit into the digital network and adapting to the new business model. On the other hand, for those with the resources to implement IoT in their logistics business, it’s a great opportunity to gain more market share, increase the sales and provide better service to customers.We have already given other tips about increase freight forwarder sales here.

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