Everything You Should Know About the Logistics Industry Digital Plans
The logistics industry deals with the planning, organization, storage, and transportation of goods, services, or information from the place of origin to the destination. It is an essential component of the supply chain. The main aim of a logistics company is to ensure that goods, services, or information always arrive at the right location on time and at an economical cost. When digitalization is introduced in the logistics industry, it will be no less than a revolution. There must be an integration of logistics industry digital plans.
The Logistics industry also deals with the control of stock, storing goods in warehouses, and checking the flow of goods. The value of a business is enhanced by logistics which ensures that products are timely delivered. The customer’s demands are increasing every day, and they expect to receive goods faster and at an everyday cost. The logistics industry has to take proactive steps to cope with the changes in the market. Digitalization will help the industry to provide better service at low costs. Hence, the logistics industry digital plans must be introduced to every company to ease out the processes of timely delivery to the customers.
The Logistics Industry in Singapore
The Logistics industry in Singapore is a vital part of its economy, and it performs the crucial function of connecting suppliers to producers and merchants to consumers both locally and globally. Singapore has become one of the top centres for logistics in Asia. The main reason for this is its strategic location combined with its expertise and know-how in transportation and shipping. Hence to function efficiently, implementation of the logistics industry, digital plans are vital.
The logistics industry is a significant contributor to Singapore’s GDP, and nearly 10 percent of the total workforce is employed in this sector. Singapore realizes the importance of evolving to retain its position as a leader in the logistics industry. The government is taking a keen interest in the development of this sector. Thus, the opportunities for the logistics industry to tremendously grow are endless. To cope with the changing markets and other challenges facing this sector, Singapore realizes that digitalization is the need of the hour for the logistics Industry.
Introducing Logistics Industry Digital Plans for Singaporean SMEs
Singapore launched The Logistics Industry Transformation Map (ITM) in 2016 to help Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) meet the industry challenges by adopting digitalization. The Industry Digital Plan (IDP) for SMEs has been launched for attaining the objectives of the ITM.
The IDP comprises of the following:
- The Industry Digital Guide to assess your position on the road to digitalization.
- Receiving consultancy on digitalization and getting access to pre-approved digital solutions.
- Achieving growth by partnering with companies who are leaders in the industry.
- Enhancing the digital skills of the employees by providing training.
The Industrial digital guide is a roadmap that will provide support to SMEs on their digitalization journey. It consists of three stages which are getting digital economy ready, growing in the digital economy, and leaping ahead.
Getting Digital Economy Ready
It consists of solutions or tools that will help you in choosing the right logistics industry digital plans:
- Integration and optimization of the fleet: Solutions that will enable to track the fleet in real-time. This will help to monitor the fleet and use the fleet in the most optimum manner by proper planning.
- Optimization of routes: Tools that will analyze criteria like toll charges, conditions of traffic, load capacity of vehicles, etc., and use the insight to direct the cars to the best possible routes. This will reduce operating overheads and enable optimum use of assets due to decreased distance and lesser time between stops.
- Assignment of jobs: Tools that will program the criteria for jobs, thus enabling us to allocate them in an optimum way. This will help to meet any requirements for specific jobs speedily and also cope with increases in job demand.
Digital Management
These logistics industry digital plans will help your business to perform better and efficiently.
- Integration of freight management: Tools that will digitize the data from freight forwarding operations related to shipments made by air, water, or land for import and export. This will enable us to cope with the increased number of transactions. It will also help to give quick responses to changes in business by reuse of data related to shipment and trade.
- Management of driver behaviour: Use video recordings and sensors for recording data of driving patterns. This will help improve safety while driving, reduce the insurance costs, and result in lesser accidents. The data collected will help to maintain good driver behaviour.
- Warehouse management: Tools that will enable to track in real-time the levels of stock, locations, movements, and also the availability of space. This will help in the optimum use of space, resources, and assets.
- Management of inventory: They are tools that provide real-time tracking of the movement of stocks, their levels, and their locations. This will help to prevent losses arising due to wastage created by product expiry or excessive stocking.
Growing in the Digital Economy
- B2B e-payment: Use e-payment for transactions in business which will help to avoid wastage of time and resources spent in activities related to cash and cheque transactions. This will enable quick updates of all financial dealings and help in the better flow of cash due to speedy settlements.
- Integrity management of supply chain: Use sensors to check and gather information on the environment while goods are being moved. This will help to transport goods that are perishable or dangerous and help in increasing the earning potential.
- Federated lockers network integration: Utilizing the open access Federated Lockers network to meet the increasing needs of e-commerce. This will help to avoid traffic during peak hours, use the resources in an optimum manner, and increase the earning potential. There will be a reduction in the number of re-delivery trips on account of unsuccessful deliveries.
Other Digital Economy Alternative Platforms
- Join with In-Mall distribution channels: Utilize the In-mall distribution services for goods and/or products. This will help maximize the last mile delivery to malls. In addition, such mechanism will help companies to be more productive on account of decreased turnaround time for trucks undertaking deliveries into malls.
- Resource aggregation platforms: This will help in the collection and sharing of resources like workforce, fleet, or cargo space. It will also help in reducing costs and make maximum use of workforce and assets.
- B2B Trade facilitation platforms: During international import/export shipments and declarations, these platforms will enable the electronic flowing of data among trade partners and their related agencies. The improved flow of data and trade processes will help to be more efficient. There will also be lesser reliance on the workforce and fewer mistakes during data entry. It will also help in the reduction of rework and the penalties created by inconsistent declarations.
Leaping Ahead
- Automated warehouse operations: Utilize robotics, sensors and Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS) for automating the processes in warehouses. This will enable the maximum utilization of warehouses and reduce the reliance on employees for warehouse functions. It will help to significantly improve storage and retrieval functions and allow warehousing functions to be carried on 24/7.
- Use of automated guided vehicles: Goods can be moved between specified areas by using computer-guided vehicles. This will lead to less reliance on people and significantly reduce the possibility of accidents due to mistakes or human fatigue. It also dismisses the need for ‘holding areas’ while moving goods to particular regions.
- Predictive distribution management: This enables the analysis of collected data for efficient planning and business operations. It will help in the optimum use of resources because of planned and well-informed decisions. It will lessen the lead times for fulfilment and decrease the interruptions in the stock supply. There will also be lesser holding costs on account of improper stocking decisions or stock expiry.
- Providing Digital skills: Logistics job roles can be classified as non-ICT and ICT job roles. Digital skills are needed for both these job roles.
For Non-ICT Job Roles
- Light, digital users like Inventory assistants or Logistics coordinator who performs logistics support and operations functions will be provided broad-based digital skills and awareness.
- Heavy digital users like chief executive officers or IT Business solutions managers who use digital solutions to achieve business goals will undergo training to acquire higher-level digital skills.
For ICT Job Roles
ICT professionals in the logistics industry like data analysts or application developers will receive training programs for upgrading and mastering their skills.
Support will be provided at each stage of digitalization. SMEs can either self-assess using a self-assessment checklist or get in touch with the business advisors at the SME centres.
Contact us if you want to know more about business digitisation and brand innovation. Our professional will gladly assist you.
