IoT – The Future of Supply Chain Management

 

There was a time when it was believed that computers were machines that relied totally on human Intelligence. It was said that computers could not take decisions of their own, hence needed to be programmed for efficient working.

However, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) has changed everything. These two technologies have revolutionised computing and changed the way we work and do business.

 

How is IoT changing the world?

IoT is bridging the gap between man and technology and bringing this relation to a stage where we can monitor and control everything at the tap of a button. A simple example working in modern intelligent home setups is Amazon's Alexa or Google Home. Using these technologies, one can connect domestic appliances like a fridge, washing machine, TV, AC, and ceiling fans; essentially, anything can be switched on and off. We can control all these devices through a smartphone or even voice commands!

 

IoT and Supply Chain:

IoT, as a technology, has been around for quite some time. It has been used in the business world to modernise how we control and monitor the supply chain. And in today's competitive world, supply chain management is vital for every business looking to survive and grow.

 

In simple language, a supply chain is the movement of anything and everything your business needs for its running, operations, and growth. This includes raw material, finished products, and everything in between. The supply chain involves putting together a lot of incoherent activities and processes, which till some time ago, have been the reasons for a lot of problems and inefficiencies. The recent technological innovations have plugged all these gaps and provided new ways and means to improve efficiencies and make the work easy and quick.

 

How IoT helps in supply chain management?

The use of IoT is changing the overall business landscape. It not only offers businesses convenience and ease of operation but a competitive advantage over their competitors. Apart from making the companies tech-savvy, IoT helps supply chain management in the following ways:

 

• Better Logistics and Transportation: With IoT, one can easily integrate the various aspects of the supply chain. The technology allows multiple systems to interact with one another. This warrants better coordination from ordering till final delivery.Using IoT, one can quickly implement a simple tracking device and attach it to the software. This allows you to monitor every aspect of a supply chain, sitting at a remote location. The technology enables tracking the movement of goods from one point to another, which is critical in the case of perishable or time-sensitive goods. It helps a supplier accurately predict the expected delivery time and keep the customer informed of potential delays.

 

• Warehouse Management: Managing a big warehouse with several products in stock can be quite a challenge for a large corporate. This could lead to delays in identifying, packing and even wrong products getting shipped.IoT makes this seemingly difficult task a routine and straightforward activity. It helps a warehouse keep the stocks in such a manner that it's effortless to locate them at the time of dispatch. This saves much time in finding and sourcing the products to prepare for pre-delivery. These days, technology has made available bots, which can do this task quickly without getting tired or making any errors. Once programmed, these bots can collect and deliver items to their storage stations. Using this automation helps save a lot of time and money and makes the process more transparent.

 

• Gaining customer insights: IoT at retail stores is of great importance. The retail store is the place where the customers interact with the products. At the store level, installing an RFID tagging system along with a CCTV camera can help you track customers’ hands and eyes movements. This enables you to gain invaluable insights into consumer behaviour. The technology monitors what products the customer looks at, how their eyes move, and what products hold their gaze. It also tracks what products the customers pick up, check the price, and keep it either on the shelf or in their shopping basket. This can help you gain insights regarding what products the customers like, and that can help plan the product packaging, pricing, and its placement on the shelves.

 

Supply Chain and AI:

The other technology that is changing our lives a great deal is Artificial Intelligence (AI). Moving beyond movies where we see robots performing many seemingly impossible tasks, today AI is being used in possibly all sectors, where critical decisions were being made. AI helps process a large amount of data and performs efficiently without making any errors.

In The field of Supply Chain also, AI is doing wondersMachines using AI can help make a supply chain process easy, quick, and error-free by simply automation. It saves many person-hours while inputting and outputting data. Some of the specific areas where AI is helping supply chain management a great deal are listed below:

 

• Chatbots for Communication: So, you are a large corporate with a large customer base, potential customers, and suppliers. And you have to deal with routine queries with most of them. In such cases, using chatbots can be a great way to offer automated responses and save a lot of time and money. Chatbots can be a great tool to procure information and give solutions from a database of possible answers collected over some time. A chatbot also can speak to customers and suppliers on your behalf, take orders, place orders, and even convey essential instructions.

 

• Managing Warehouses efficiently: A warehouse is another place where there is a large amount of data and movement of men and material. When handling this vast data, the human brain is limited in processing and fetching it accurately when required. Installing an AI-based warehouse management tool can quickly learn your entire template and then help you efficiently run the warehouse. This tool is of great help for companies dealing with a large number of product SKUs.

 

• Data Analysis: Today, businesses have a large amount of data. The challenge is to process the data and get meaningful information out of it. For example, a company has several potential suppliers for every single thing. The critical thing is to compare all these suppliers rationally and then select the supplier you want to work with. AI comes to your rescue here also. Predictive Analysis and Machine Learning help you meet new suppliers and choose the best-suited one for your specific needs.

 

• Processing with AI: The natural Language Processing (NLP) feature helps you build a dataset based on several languages, including foreign languages. This enables you to overcome language barriers in doing business efficiently. This also gets rid of misunderstandings in dealings and stops lost and misconducted business. This also helps build a healthy relationship with your suppliers and customers. 

 

• Planning: Planning is an essential aspect of the supply chain. One needs to forecast demand for your product and then stick inventory accordingly.. AI uses intricate tools involving technology to learn your consumption patterns and then proactively suggest inventory requirements. This keeps you one step ahead and allows you more time to focus on more important things.

 

Intro to Varuna Logistics:

When it comes to providing world-class logistics solutions, Varuna Group is a name to reckon with. In their journey spanning 25 years, they have gained deep customer insights and used these insights as foundations to build robust operational capabilities. High transit times, lack of in-transit visibility, and real-time tracking are critical challenges that they address. They have done an incredible amount of work to significantly reduce incidences of en-route damages and rampant malpractices in goods handling. As owners and operators of the country's largest dry cargo container fleet comprising 2000+ vehicles, they are well-supported by a robust digital infrastructure and a team of highly trained professionals. This helps them offer customers a logistics management experience they can trust.

 

Some of logistic services are:

• Primary Transportation Service
• Secondary Transportation Service
• Expedited Transportation Service
• Project Cargo Service

 

Varuna logistics and use of IoT and AI:

At Varuna Group, technology is a strategic focus area. That’s why they have invested heavily in technology to strengthen  rapidly evolving supply chains. They are developing and leveraging digital technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Intelligence, among others, to develop capabilities that help experience complete visibility, enhanced efficiency and greater profitability.

Artificial Intelligence helps reduce redundancy, errors and slow-downs. It improves and enhances the accuracy, productivity and cost-effectiveness of supply chain operations.

IoT tools like Beacons, sensors and RFID ensure high visibility and accurate data capturing. This drives more predictability, efficiency and reliability within the entire supply chain ecosystem.

Data analytics optimises various operations, enabling better forecasting and planning by structuring and analysing big chunks of data sets captured at multiple points in the supply chain.

 

Varuna Logistics

Varuna Group has India's largest dry cargo container fleet. They ensure delivering on time, every time. Their support structure includes:: an advanced fleet diagnostic and maintenance system. A team of 400+ OEM certified maintenance staff ensures vehicles are always in running condition.

• IoT enabled dashboard to track all vehicles and offer automated notifications on a real-time basis.
• Vehicles c with custom-built bodies and extra safety features like a one-time lock, which opens only at the delivery location.
• Panic button in all vehicles and on-road accident and maintenance team to provide safety to vehicles in case of any mishap.

 

Conclusion:

Due to the rising use of IoT and AI in businesses, businesses are adopting new ways of infusing technology. Very soon, these technological tools shall be a great power of humanity and enablers of increasing the efficiency of the business.

If you have any requirements to address any logistics or warehousing challenge, call us or drop a mail. We shall be glad to have one of our representatives meet you and explain how to add value to your business.