The future of transportation’s role in supply chain and logistics
The objective of this study is to examine the significance of transportation concerning technological advancement and also to reflect the future transportation aspect implications to the supply chain and logistics Industry. The transportation system plays a treasured and dynamic role in this field. It determines the efficiency of moving raw materials in and within the industry and also the delivery of finished to end-users. It is, therefore, a sensitive aspect that dominates the evaluation of the logistics industry and supply chain in general. In real-life situations, there must arise various challenges in due course of implementing these inventions. It requires that the strategies which are in existence to be re-designed and the paper have also reflected on the negative perspective of these inventions and advancement.
Keywords: Transportation, Technology, Supply Chain, and Logistics
Surname 3 Introduction
Transportation can be referred to as the act of matching things in time and space. Transportation had evolved through various models through days when we had wheel-carts-wagon-steam power-internal combustion engine up to date when we got autonomous vehicles. These are enabled by smart technology, electrification, and autonomy. Supply chain and logistics have got various elements that make up the whole system. The transportation system, in particular, occupies more than one-third of the amount of the logistic. Subsequently, the transportation aspect is entirely dependent upon by the whole production units. Basically, from the point of moving raw materials in and within the organization to far as the delivery of finished goods to customers is concerned. Regarding this aspect, transportation determines the efficiency of moving products, delivery speed, operation costs, service quality, and thus should be closely linked up with logistics for success. Transportation, Logistics, and professional of distribution should work hand in hand and embrace the advancing technology for the future management of the supply chain.
As far as technology is concerned, the automation, use of mobile gadgets, and the visibility with sensors have enhanced companies in sharing information globally, minimizing human input and intervention. It has allowed people to be engaged in more important tasks and operations of the organization, thus maximizing resources. Improved technology has increased productivity and minimized operational costs in supply chain and logistics. Underlined technology has enabled the shift because supply chain visibility requires a joint combination of various tools (Daniel, Sohal, and Amrik 2013). For instance, master data must harmonize with the transport management system, warehousing system multiple resource planning systems and other departmental stakeholders, to make it less challenging in transporting goods from one location to another. Subsequently, the idea of cloud, the internet of things (IoT), and other supportive devices are opening up opportunities in the future of transportation, shipment, and supply chain and logistics in general. Through the internet of things, sensors are built-in trucks, cargo ships, and trains, and they are synchronized to the dispatcher, who is the position of monitoring and tracking. It has led to a more accurate in-transit visibility and delivery of goods. This system can control and optimize transport flows as they can cheaply access the information concerning each aspect of an intended shipment, which entirely includes the shipper, movement of goods, and traffic conditions that are prevailing.
It is anticipated that the automation technology on car and truck sectors that triggered some most and major car manufacturers like Uber and Lyft to share hold in the field, is now happening in the freight sector. Being at a juncture where visibility is drastically advancing, also data transmission, communication, and computing systems upgrade, leading to improvements in the traveling and transportation industry. It has been enabled by a tool known as the supply chain control tower, which is a hub that provides visibility through gathering and disseminating information to intended users, thus facilitating response concerning the information. This supply control tower works hand in hand with various systems or tools .They are in the position of capturing, monitoring, organizing and storing data, relating to every single merchandise ordered by the customer, generation of the document, overhead costs as a result of the transaction and all invoices that results from product in processing stage to delivery stage. The use of the internet on things (IoT) plays a vital role as a visibility tool that works jointly with smart devices technology like the use of the bar encryption requests, which are assimilated with a scanning device. The combination of these applications can measure the performance of drivers and scan accuracy of functions. Another upcoming know-how that is adversely contributing to transportation’s role in the logistics and supply chain in the invention of Drone.
They seem to be cost-effective in terms of energy because they are made light enough only to carry charged cells together with the payload when traveling. The invention of this system has led to reduced costs, for example, costs concerning driver’s payment and protect drones eliminated and be used in other sensitive units in the organization. It is anticipated that in the nearby future, the Drone and autonomous vehicles will be installed with mobile computer vision –and-image-recognition capabilities, which will replace the physical human input, thus allowing these employees to deal with other urgent tasks of the company. This invention and technology have resulted in low operational costs, time-saving, and useful delivery. As time goes by and global e-commerce activity continues to expand day in day out, there have been a lot of impact on the market, and also several challenges have been experienced as a result of the advancement in the said technology. Some of the bending challenges include re-structuring and re-designing strategies to replace the ones that are in place and also the implementation process (Rajeev, A., et al., 2017 p.305)
Despite the outlined challenges the benefits brought about by the advancements seems to override them significantly. For instance the idea of antennae and smart devices for automation data capture which digitalizes last-mile the delivery process from the dispatcher point has led to a significant decrease in operating costs increased efficiency and also timely delivery not only to transportation role but also to the logistics and supply chain industry. The idea of enhanced GPS accuracy is also playing a significant role in the transportation and traveling industry. It is a technology whereby digital software is inbuilt in transportation and delivery vehicles, which can locate mapping and be able to tell specific locations in which the vehicles are. They are not only crucial to frustrated and lost drivers but also assist the transportation managers in monitoring the performance of drivers and also track the vehicles. It has dramatically improved the supply chain and logistics world due to effective delivery and time saving. Also, social media, on the other part, has influenced the way communication is done in the supply chain and logistics industry. Urgent information is disseminated to various stakeholders in the industry, followed by instant responses leading to high quality and timely delivery.
The future of transportation in logistics and supply chain has also been influenced by the shipping tracking systems. It is evident from the experience of the recent past that various customers were to book the shipment and just received estimated delivery date. These criteria seem to be uncertain to a great extent, unlike today, whereby the internet on things and software advances have made it easier for the various stakeholder to access shipping and tracking systems. This access allows them to monitor the movement of their consignment at any time of the day, which leads to high confidence, certainty, time-saving and reduced costs resulting in transportation efficiency in the industry. In addition to the invention of autonomous delivery vehicles and driverless cars, which is drastically influencing the transportation and delivery industry, there is also the invention of magnetic levitation (maglev) technology, which has been on operation for up to a decade now. This technology involves powered delivery electric trains on the railways (Gunasekaran, Angappa, Nachiappan Subramanian, and Papadopoulos 2017, p. 18). They are characterized by their high speed of delivery because it is said that it capable of delivering a consignment within just forty minutes at a distance of 350km. According to statistics, in the recent past, various countries and cities have considered this maglev train system, which has, in reality, improved their transportation and delivery infrastructure. It is because the technology has led to reduced costs. After all, these trains run in parallel with the existing conventional lines. There are also benefits, such as eased congestion, smoother, faster, and safer transportation. On the negative point of view of these fantastic advancing technology and inventions towards the future of transportation ‘s role in supply chain and logistics, professionals in the industry have projected that there would be up to 40% job layoffs by 2030 when this invention is entirely in place (Silvestre, & Bruno 2016, p. 241). There will also be a high demand for software developers and robotic engineers who are high-cost employees. Subsequently, it will not be a smooth move to drop the systems that are on existence to replace them with automation technology. It must be a gradual process starting from the rural areas which are not yet designed because urban areas must be re-designed before this invention is implemented.
In conclusion, according to transportation transformation chronology about statistics, up to date, there exists a freight truck convoy with only one human driver leading a group of autonomous trucks. By the year 2025, autonomous trucks and freight trains will be delivering goods themselves without human input. As the inventions and technologies are getting spread to various countries, it is anticipated that the supply chain and logistics industry will be at an upper hand due to increased efficiency, timely delivery, and reduced costs, among other advantages.
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Rajeev, A., et al. “Evolution of sustainability in supply chain management: A literature review.” Journal of Cleaner Production 162 (2017): 299-314.
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