Real-time tracking
COVID-19 has disrupted supply chains – and logistics companies in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region are responding by investing in connected systems.
That is the finding of a white paper, The State of Movement, put together by HERE and Frost & Sullivan.
It shows that a third of logistics companies in the APAC region are considering IoT (37%), warehouse automation (33%) and electric vehicles (32%) as key investment priorities in the next two years.
More than half are also using map-based solutions with real-time location data for fleet tracking.
While GPS (77%), RFID (31%), and QR codes (20%) are commonly used in fleet management, IoT is swiftly gaining popularity with 21% of respondents having adopted it. Two out of five logistics companies will be implementing IoT solutions across all assets over the next two years.
The research involved 152 companies in six key countries in APAC: Australia, Indonesia, India, Japan, Singapore and Thailand.
Combining IoT with location data and location-based services can help logistics companies achieve real-time tracking. They can therefore reduce issues and misplacement of assets while improving operational efficiency.
This is especially important for condition-sensitive shipments such as cold chain items and dangerous goods.
The study shows:
- Over a third (36%) of logistics companies use IoT to monitor cold chain items
- A third (33%) use IoT to monitor dangerous goods, with 30% using it to monitor solid/liquid bulk shipments
- A fifth (20%) of them use IoT to monitor courier, express and parcel shipments
Real-time events that happen daily can impact route planning and delivery times, and most companies are moving beyond traditional methods. More than three-quarters, 77%, said they want to achieve better route planning and real-time routing. At the same time, 75% said they wanted the convenience of real-time tracking and data reporting. They would also like to use these tracking solutions to achieve improved capacity planning, trend visibility and forecasting.
Meanwhile, 71% hope to gain improved efficiency in fleet utilization and productivity, with the same proportion aiming to increase customer satisfaction with fleet tracking solutions.
Half of the respondents said they would be looking to cloud shipment monitoring solutions to integrate these tools with their current systems, with 27% opting for a hybrid set-up. Using the cloud avoids costly system overhauls and allows companies to pay for the cloud services without having to build and maintain a data center.
Our white paper shows that in today's connected world, optimizing your supply chain is critical. Only companies that invest in digital technologies to achieve end-to-end visibility will succeed.
Digital disruption is taking place in the logistics industry, and traditional approaches will no longer work. This white paper demonstrates that companies in the Asia Pacific region are welcoming future technologies to help them build resilient and efficient supply chains and drive their business forward.
Our white paper shows that in today's connected world, optimizing your supply chain is critical. Only companies that invest in digital technologies to achieve end-to-end visibility will succeed.