In today’s economic climate, businesses are faced with recession, generational changes and globalization. However, many recognize the benefits of technology to improve business productivity, increase profitability, and drive innovation. Here are two trends set to shape the future of logistics.
Coming to terms with Industry 4.0
This refers to the current trend of automation and data exchange in supply chain technologies. It includes cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing. Industry 4.0 creates what has been called a “smart warehouse”. Industry 4.0 and digitization are about companies orienting themselves to the customer through e-commerce, digital marketing, social media, and the customer experience. Ultimately, every aspect of business will be transformed through the vertical integration of research and development, manufacturing, marketing and sales, other internal operations, and new business models based on these advances.
In effect, we are evolving toward the complete digital ecosystem. Companies that get there first will gain a difficult-to-challenge advantage in the race to Industry 4.0, and will be able to set, or at least influence, technical standards for their particular industry. The advantage will by no means be limited to the greater efficiencies. The real reward will be the many new business models and revenue streams the digital supply chain will open up.
Industry 4.0 in practice
Through the use of robotics and radio frequency identification (RFID), YCH deployed autonomous drones that were equipped with RFID scanners and video analytics capabilities to fully automate the manual cycle counting process and relieve the warehouse operators from the task.
The estimated savings are 245 man-hours per month. Most of the time savings are derived from the elimination of the need to move stock to and from racks using forklift. There was also a reduction of time needed to locate the stock by a drone, when compared to humans carrying out the task manually.
Strengthening last mile delivery
With the rapid growth of e-commerce in the region, more online stores will prioritize last-mile delivery, factoring it as part of business strategy. This is because last mile delivery is often a company’s first touch point for its end-customer. As such, having a smooth and efficient last mile fulfillment will enable e-commerce companies to build stronger levels of trust and brand loyalty with its rapidly expanding consumer markets.
Last mile delivery in practice
With the aim to help brand owners fulfill a full end-to-end process across Asia Pacific, YCH’s proprietary The Last Mile (TLM) solution increases the reach into unprecedented grounds while raising the level of service excellence YCH provides customers. Embedded with several of YCH’s core proprietary supply chain optimization as well as business intelligence and analytics tools, the TLM solution dynamically connects critical information in the areas of routing, delivery, vendor resourcing and ordering to provide its customers with benefits that will increase the efficiency of their end-consumer distribution.
With the TLM solution, YCH can meet the challenge of serving diverse groups of consumers located in an exceedingly vast network across the world. Its business intelligence and analytic tools can help optimize the supply chain and help companies stay competitive.
Source: http://www.logasiamag.com/2017/02/the-future-of-logistics/
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