‘You need smart people to drive systems’

Technology in freight
is not new. What
is new is how we
use it, says TSI
Central Station CEO Clifford
Blackburn.
“There is a revolution in
the freight industry. First
to market with one view,
connected to multiple
platforms, with the ability
to use dashboards to change
or make decisions, order or
re-direct goods is the only
way clients will operate,” says
Blackburn who believes that
embracing technology is nonnegotiable.
It’s a far cry from the
technology of the past few
decades.
“Every client wants a
‘portal’ so that they can log in
and see where
their shipment
is. As South
Africans we
are either too
busy or lazy to
go and look for
our goods. We
want to be told
and we want
to be told in
the format we
want.
“We want
one platform
that allows us
to plan, execute and monitor.
Virtual warehouses are a
reality. Whether the client’s
goods are in a warehouse,
container, truck, train or
bakkie, they are part of
their inventory and need to
be reflected as such. The
luxury of having excessive
stock holdings is over – gone
are the days of keeping a
warehouse full of stock
in the hopes of selling it.
Shop fronts have changed
to websites, deliveries are
expected in hours instead
of days or weeks," says
Blackburn.
“Trucks are smarter (they
drive themselves), ships
have greater intelligence
than before, and systems are
smarter too; they can tell
you when to order and how
to order. Reporting is live.
Clients want the information
and they want it live and now.”
For the past ten years,
TSI has been developing a
system that does exactly what
the industry
requires
today, says
Blackburn.
And while
one of the
biggest
fears is that
technology
will replace
people, this
could not be
further
than the
truth, in
his view.
“You need smart
people to drive
the systems –
people with
experience
to get the
programmers
to write the systems. The
success of our business
over the past ten years has
been the combination of
experienced people and a
system that acts like their
personal assistant, telling
them what to do and when.”
These instructions are
currently relayed in text
format – but that’s also about
to change.
“Iphones have Siri, and TSI
hopes to deliver something
similar when it comes to
freight. We may have to wait
a year or so but soon you will
be able to ask your device
for a costing, a rate and an
expected delivery time – and
your device will let you know
when it is on the
way, just like
the food apps
do today.”
INSERT
Iphones have Siri, and
TSI hopes to deliver
something similar
when it comes to
freight.
– Clifford Blackburn