Digital Evolution of Logistics
From Ape to Apex: Driven by Technology
The wheel of time moves more slowly in the logistics industry, but it does move forward even when it feels like it’s standing still. While it’s not a market of early adoption, digitization has had a foothold in the logistics industry for quite a while as clients more frequently look to find providers who offer real-time updates; accurate inventory and arrival / departure times; state-of-the-art security; and electronic logging devices that make their lives and recordkeeping options easier.
It took a while for logistics to get on the path to digitization and there are still too few offices that work in paper-free operations, but those of us who live in the space remember that not long ago we were beholden to dot matrix printers, carbon copies, and printing every single email to cover ourselves and complete files with all of the information we had. In the beginning, the idea of going paperless was laughable; relying on digital records of inventory and check-ins was a concern; even moving earlier generations away from styrofoam cups was met with resistance.
Change is terrifying; more so in logistics where we’re confronted with disaster scenarios of what can go wrong in the event of a mistake. Container documentation errors can lead to deadly fires. Airfreight mishaps can cost countless lives. Truck driving hours and efficiency are a constant battle between safety and common sense. In fact, here in logistics, almost every digital improvement has been met with a litany of reasons it won’t help and will actually hinder the people who work in the industry.
If people think the topic of automated trucks gets the public rankled, they should imagine the blowback we got when we introduced scanners into warehouses to check-in cargo. The everyday items we use to improve our businesses each represent a fight we had with a team who gleefully pointed out myriad ways that moving away from paper and ink to iPads and RF scanners. In a way, it’s precisely those concerns and that feedback that has helped logistics companies slow down in adoption and prepare the necessary contingencies for errors so their move away from analog systems would be smoother and less prone to failure than many other industries.
Thankfully, logistics isn’t the place where digitization runs rampant and companies improve just for the sake of living on the cutting edge. Our updates and integration are each adopted after months if not years of education, evaluation, and training so moves forward are accompanied by twice as many moves back.
From upgraded Warehouse Management Solutions to 24/7 security solutions and more eco-friendly business practices, digitization in the logistics industry is typically slow to catch fire but burns through the industry rapidly. Blockchain was gossip and technobabble for many years until companies understood that it could be used to safely and securely track cargo and relay critical information back to the warehouse, carrier, shipper, and other invested parties. Digital identification protects secure locations from tampering and pilferage while electronic logging devices provide enhanced data and feedback to make trips faster, safer, and more convenient for truckers. (They still hate it but once all the kinks are ironed out and concerns validated and understood, it will be just as popular as RFID and clocking in with a fingerprint instead of a signature.)
The goal in logistics should be to make processes easier, faster, more efficient, and suitable for the people who do the job every day. Any person with a penchant for technology can wax poetic on ideas that will eventually move the industry forward but it’s the responsibility of we who work here, who manage staff and see the places where jobs can be improved, who understand where the most egregious pain points lay, to bring forward solution-based ideas that have been suggested and supported by the very employees who uniquely understand what they need to do better in the workplace. A bottom-up approach to advancement, with an understanding of the reluctance, keeps our industry focused on the paramount concerns.
Carbon neutrality came about as a result of customers asking for ways to reduce their footprints with regard to shipping. Listening to the needs of our clients and customers ensures SecurCapital will remain in a position to improve where we can and avoid the bells and whistles that can detract from the focus on efficiency. It’s our calling to listen, interpret and support our logistics community by operating in a way that improves the everyday lives of the employees who do the job, on the job, with the tools we’re looking at. By listening more than we talk, by giving the voice to those who actually do the jobs, we are unquestionably improving the best practices that make logistics a critical component of the technology and digitization of the planet.
If you want to hear more about how SecurCapital can work with your team to determine what the future needs in your organization, contact us today for a consultation.