Data – the new oil

While fuel has
had the most
overbearing
inf luence on
assets and f leets, data is set
to be the most far-reaching
element in future changes
to the supply chain.
How we use data will
determine
how markets
evolve. It
will facilitate
better
decision
making,
which is
becoming
increasingly
complex.
It will
help make
decisions in shipping,
forecasting and demand
and shape our responses to
customer feedback.
The biggest change we’ll
see will be the integration
of huge amounts of
unstructured data which
will be used to make
important commercial
decisions.
Data will help us become
less reactive and more
predictive in our analysis of
our businesses. Companies
will anticipate change better
and be equipped to respond
earlier.
However, the move
towards predictive
applications can only
be possible through the
provision of real-time data
flows, from
material flows
to driver
monitoring to
inventory.
Data will
allow service
providers
to adjust to
changes in
demand and
create end-toend
visibility,
while assisting with risk
mitigation.
Amazon is taking
predictive analytics to the
next level. It now wants to
ship products before people
even order them, patenting
what it calls ‘anticipatory
logistics’, where packages
will wait with shippers or sit
in transit on trucks until the
orders arrive.
The company plans to
box and ship products it
expects customers within
specific areas to want,
based on a number of
factors. These include
previous orders, product
searches, wish lists,
shopping cart items,
returns, and even how long
your mouse cursor hovers
over particular items on its
website.
Online market places
and mobile-based services
will continue to be highly
disruptive to middle men
and brokerage firms.
Companies will
continue to combine
different aspects within
entire eco-systems. For
example, Flexport, which
describes itself as a
“freight forwarder for the
internet age”, collaborates
with credible freight
forwarding companies that
need sea and land freight
fulfilment.
By providing a webbased
app, it offers
real-time visibility of
shipments, so they can be
considered a cloud-based
global control tower that
provides
access
to a
network
of global
logistics
players.
The app
allows people to book
shipments, while providing
real-time tracking of
freight movements.
And it manages all the
product data as well.
Transportation
visualisers like TransViz
and Uber Freight are
further examples that
fall under mobilebased
service models.
Uber Freight is a mobile
app designed to match
truck drivers to shipper
needs while calculating
factors like rates,
routes and schedules.
Applications like Uber
Freight will fulfil a number
of processes within
transactions, including
delivery status, despatch
load finding, driver
payments as well as critical
real-time information on
consignment, from pickup
to delivery.
In North America alone
$20 billion is lost on empty
miles and excess capacity
on trucks annually.
The pay-off from
business models like this
is pretty obvious when
we look at improved
asset utilisation and fuel
efficiency across company
fleets.
INSERT
Amazon is
patenting what it
calls ‘anticipatory
logistics’.