The speed of technology adoption is increasing as supply chains become more complex and scramble to keep up with demand.Jean-Pierre Viljoen, Customer Champion: Forte Data Solutions, says that while companies are increasingly realising the necessity of updating their technology, the upfront cost of converting from legacy solutions continues to be a limiting factor in the take-up of new technolog y.“It does, however, also present an opportunity for cost-effective and innovative solutions to f lourish. Solutions such as our FLOW Portal – which provides integration platform-as-a-service (or iPaaS) – offers exactly that: a bespoke solution for workers’ needs and their environment,” he explains.Viljoen says the top trends at present include automating business processes and going paperless, especially for aspects such as proof of delivery as well as real-time track and trace for orders in progress. “We are also seeing a demand for technology that allows for integration between a freight company and its immediate suppliers and customers, and of course, technology that eases cash-f low constraints.“The speed and necessity for the adoption of these trends has only accelerated. As supply chains have become more complex, the need for technology to make sense of the convolution has also increased. Finding ways to rationalise and order data down to the transactional level is now a critical need.”He says the increased adoption of technologies such as 5G, web-based or mobile apps and business process automation continues to be a source of opportunities for technology companies. “It is all about technology that allows for the seamless movement of data between data sources, people and processes so that the data is presented where and when it is most needed within the clients’ environments.”Furthermore, says Viljoen, the adoption rate can also be correlated directly with the extensive uptick in broadband speeds; the increased speed of data generation and gathering; and the need for data analytics and visualisation. These factors have resulted in the industry needing to keep pace.“Translating technology advances to a direct business impact, however, continues to be a challenge as each business is unique.”He says with Forte having partnered with independent, best-of-breed applications on behalf of its clients, the need for an integration platform arose. This led to the development of the FLOW Portal, which fills the gap where this range of applications was previously unable to interact or integrate. “On top of the integration, it can make the data within the customer environment centrally visible. It is designed to allow enough f lexibility and customisability to extract the most value from the data so that our customers can focus on what is important: their business.”Ultimately, he says, it allows for better decision-making in real-time as and when challenges or opportunities arise.
