South African online spend is
forecast to grow to over R53bn
by 2018, according to recent
statistics by PayPal – and
this dramatic rise is driving
an increased adoption of
technology by the transport
and logistics industry.
“Globally,
and locally,
the transport
and logistics
industry is
facing more
and more
e-commerce
demands and
increased
investment
in technology
is one of the
key ways in
which they
can optimise
their operations to meet these
demands
efficiently
and costeffectively,”
said Daniel
Dombach,
director of
strategic
sales for
transportation
and logistics
at Zebra
Technologies.
He told
FTW on the
side lines of a supply chain
conference recently that these
demands included increased
parcel volumes, escalating
parcel processing, faster
delivery expectations and
rapid responses to seasonal
deliveries. “These demands in
turn place logistics businesses
under a number of pressures,”
said Dombach.
“The first of these is cost
pressures where the per
delivery mile expenses go
up as you have to factor in
added fuel, increased vehicle
maintenance costs and higher
labour costs as you need more
staff to get the goods out very
quickly,” he explained.
Secondly, there is a higher
safety risk as an increased
quantity of orders – and
thus more boxes to load and
unload – leads to more parcel
damage and the potential for
more workforce injuries and
downtime.
“Lastly, there is an
environmental impact with
more CO2 and other harmful
gases emitted as more vehicles
are deployed. This also impacts
on cost competitiveness,”
commented Dombach.
He pointed out that while
there were several ways in
which technology could help
minimise the impact of the
pressures, small changes such
as adding tracking and data
analysis could make a huge
difference.
“Real time tracking gives
one immediate insight into a
logistics supply chain – from
the warehouse to delivery
– and allows operations
managers to see where the
problems or opportunities are
and make small adjustments,”
he said.
INSERT & CAPTION
Increased investment
in technology is one
of the key ways of
optimising logistics
operations.
– Daniel Dombach
