Companies unable to evolve and adapt to technological advances are fast finding themselves obsolete. Perhaps even more so in a world impacted on all fronts by a global pandemic.Bigger, better, faster. That is the expectation for the modern supply chain. Improved mobility and increased productivity are the goals of almost every logistics company. Speak to the managing directors and they tell you that innovation is the name of the game.Few industries have been impacted to the same extent as the logistics industry in the past year. E-commerce has boomed and the industry has found itself having to deliver more parcels to more destinations around the world than ever before – this with closed borders, restrictive operational barriers, and most of the world’s airlines grounded.According to Michael Henning, sales manager at Easyclear, service providers involved across all modalities – air, sea and road – are exploring industry 4.0 concepts and how data can be collected, shared and leveraged to bring value and benefit to the supply chain. “There is no ceiling for the advancement of technology and it is evolving at such a pace that to stand still for even a moment is to be left behind,” he says. One of the biggest challenges of this technological revolution sweeping the globe, says Henning, is in making it accessible to everyone on a scalable and affordable level.“The challenge is not uncommonly related to communication infrastructure, particularly in the more remote areas of the country, but equally affected are those businesses that don’t have the means or wherewithal to access the technology to integrate a supply chain as some can do.”According to J-L Koekemoer, Ship-Shape general manager, the impact of industry 4.0 is being felt by the industry.“There are many components that work together to achieve what is collectively known as Industry 4.0, all of which affect our industry quite extensively. Take for example authentication and fraud detection, which are aspects neatly covered through co-operative blockchains such as GSBN and TradeLens, mobile devices consolidating into a single device the roles of multiple legacy devices, as well as augmented reality which is often still regarded as one of the more “exotic” components of Industry 4.0.”Cloud-computing or better yet SaaS (software as a service) applications, artificial intelligence and robotics, the IoT (Internet of Things) and cyber-physical systems are quite possibly the hot topics in technology that are impacting or will impact this industry in the not-too-distant future if not already, says Henning.According to neutral consolidator CFR’s James Britz, big data and analytics are right up there on the trend list. These can be used to revolutionise a business, giving transparency to the entire supply chain.At the same time companies are being advised not to shy away from risk management software to deliver resilient and secure supply chains from beginning to end.
