The world has witnessed a series of technological innovations in the last one decade ranging from the internet, the world wide web to neoteric mobile technologies, and now the internet of things or as we better say- IoT.

The Internet of Things is indubitably proving to be one of the strapping disruptors in the tech so far. As perceived by many, it may be still in its nascent stage, however, it already encompasses 7 billion devices and is anticipated to swell up to 50 billion objects by the end of the year 2020. Cutting the long story short, IoT is definitely going to stay long and it’s significantly going to have a strong impact on nearly every industry possible.

Moreover, as per the the recent studies, approximately 70 percent of the retail logistics companies have already started embracing IoT with a scope to amplify decision making operations and boost performance so as to maximize the overall returns.

Logistics and manufacturing are landscapes where IoT can potentially discover extensive avenues of adoption straightforwardly owing to a greater number of objects that are there to connect.

What Is IoT And How Important Is It?

The Internet of Things is a huge network of man-made and natural physical items such as digital machines, animals, computer devices, human beings, plants, and mechanical objects, that are connected using application programming interfaces (APIs) and sensors in order to share crucial data and information over the internet. Nevertheless, the IoT application development banks on other technologies as well, like AI, cloud computing, Big Data management, predictive analytics, RFID, etc and acts like a bridge between information and operational technology.

What Are The Benefits Of IoT In Logistics?

IoT has been drastically reducing the manpower required to carry out a certain task and nevertheless, it should be recognized as a tool to reduce underutilization of resources & to ensure a smooth flow of operations so as to maximize the total profits. The new technology will, therefore, help the modern logistics companies in the following ways:

• Nullify security issues such as cases of theft and counterfeiting
• Enable correct monitoring of the workflows and resources
• Optimization of asset utilization
• An accurate response to events and real-time visibility
• Boost overall customer experience
• Identifying new frameworks by researching on buying patterns and behaviors
• Reduce time wastage
• Eliminate manual data handling
• Increase accuracy
• Determine real-world data for insights
• Inform decision making

Also Read 4 Ways AI is Facilitating The Existing IoT Revolution

How Can Logistics Companies Embrace IoT Technology?

Transportation Management

If fully or partially IoT enabled, the transportation management system will be metamorphosed into a super tool after linking to your system. It will drive functional efficiency of the product deliveries, tracking, and other transportation-related elements-- and obviously, it is a welcome news.

The heightened connectivity between GPS technology, truck fleets, and different Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) will enable fleet management systems to seamlessly track varied metrics such as speed, idle-time, ETAs, etc.

Asset Tracking

Being able to track & monitor products throughout the delivery process will primarily boost security as well as improve the quality of the products. Using modern RFID sensors and GPS vehicle tracking can be inculcated to collect valuable data about the location of the assets, current temperature & weather conditions, and other figures of data about the specific products. This will allow the logistics companies to ensure timely deliveries, effectuate better quality controls, minimize thefts, and have a 360-degree view of the comprehensive journey.

Inventory Management And Forecasting

IoT sensors can be utilized for rendering data and track inventory that will assist in analyzing trends and in order to foretell the future inventory requirements. Further to this, it will also help you to prevent over-stocking and under-stocking situations.

A Final Note

More than anything, the Internet of Things is all set to transform major industries- logistics & supply chain is one of them. It will doubtlessly streamline all your logistics operations and cast a magic spell on the bottom line.

Wish to leverage the disruptive IoT for your business as well? Let us know.