Do IoT influence transportation and supply chain

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a new generation of embedded ICT systems connected to the Internet in a digital environment that seamlessly integrates supply chain and logistics processes. The integration of emerging IoT projects into today's advanced systems can be unique due to its intelligent, autonomous, and ubiquitous applications.

A connected ecosystem for the logistics industry with IoT:

IoT implementation is relatively high in asset-intensive industries such as manufacturing, transportation, and utilities. Whether stationary or mobile, these assets are now part of a connected ecosystem, where they can interact and share vital information. Expedition vehicles such as trucks and ships are mobile assets that become a crucial part of the IoT network and leave a lasting dent in the logistics and transportation industry. This early adoption has allowed these sectors to thrive and empower other industry segments to revamp their supply chain management and other end-to-end processes.

 Logistics management requires monitoring multiple activities at once - supply chain, warehousing, etc. The Internet of Things, among other technologies, provides businesses with the tools to plan, monitor, and strengthen security operations. The Internet of Things in logistics has driven the industry forward with its advanced telemetry capabilities and monitoring solutions. The IoT for the logistics industry is a blessing. Its implementation has allowed a logistics company to change the way it operates and achieve high results. It has transformed web development and other facets of digital design. If you're interested in knowing what impact IoT architecture can have on the supply chain and transportation industries, you've come to the right place.

Do IoT Redefine Transport Sector? 

If you've ever traveled on public transport, you know how painful it can be. Waiting for the bus to arrive, jumping on an already loaded bus with passengers, traffic jams, quality ticketing systems are just some of the hardships we face regularly. With the implementation of IoT, all of that is about to change for the better.

The expected benefits include:

•  Increase inefficiency.
•  Ensure the safety of work and property.
•  Reducing operating time.
•  Reduce accidents.
•  Minimize the number of workers.
•  The decrease in counterfeiting, fraud, and theft.
•  Help companies improve their forecasting with the availability of accurate data.
•  Real-time data helps make decisions.
•  Improve the overall performance of companies.
•  Internet of Things improving the transportation industry
• Logistics and transportation have always been areas of risk due to a lack of control over weather conditions, high probabilities of scams, and a wide range of assets to manage. In a nutshell, here are the benefits of using the Internet of Things in transport:

Reliable vehicle tracking: 

The Internet of Things careers also helps businesses track the location and compare the most economical route taken by a driver.

 Being keenly aware of the ins and outs of the delivery process helps business owners. To assess employee performance, encourage best practices, proactively react to issues on the road and manage them with as little loss as possible.

Reduce shipping costs:

 Automated order processing and status updates help companies reduce the number of employees in charge of shipping, thereby lowering overall operating costs. Amazon has benefited from standalone bots and drop shipping lockers for over long years, improving the convenience of delivery and generating profit.

Improve supply chain planning: 

The Internet of Things provides businesses with multifaceted data: how long it takes to sell a given amount of product in inventory, ways to optimize deliveries, which employees have the best track records on the distribution that have higher conversions. As a result, business leaders can plan operations and predict the outcome of business decisions quite accurately.

Employee monitoring:

For some managers, such in-depth monitoring may be overkill. However, it does give you a better understanding of employee motivation and time management skills. Prevent product theft and monitor transport conditions.

1. Improved security and theft detection:

 Connected apps increase control over who enters the warehouse at any given time, help track all items, and alert the sales manager to any loss. Examples of IoT-based applications are connected video surveillance, applications that allow warehouse managers to block facility doors remotely, asset tracking logistics applications that help monitor deliveries, etc.

2. Increased employee safety: 

Unreliable machines expose companies to the risk of endangering the lives of their staff. The effects of the Internet of Things on logistics include protecting employees by detecting equipment problems long before a human interacts with a tool. IoT sensors dramatically increase response time, in case something happens to an employee. A laptop immediately detects a critical change in items and transfers data to a dedicated platform that alerts the manager and even calls an ambulance.

3. End-to-end product tracking

 Increasing the transparency of the delivery process is the goal. The business leaders want to achieve with the implementation of IoT. Able to track the product from the warehouse to the customer's door builds the manager's confidence that all supply chain is going smoothly.

It also builds customer confidence in the brand and saves support agents a lot of time as customers no longer disturb customer support with delivery status update requests.

4. Provide business leaders with advanced analytics: 

With a wide range of applications, the Internet of Things gives business managers a holistic view of managing the operations.

 IoT use cases in the logistics industry:

1. Site management systems:

In logistics, IoT devices can create an intelligent location management system that will allow businesses easy track driver activities, vehicle location, and delivery status. Once the goods are delivered or arrived, a manager notified by a push message. 

2. Inventory tracking and warehousing

Allow businesses to track items to monitor their condition and position, and create a smart warehouse system. The minimization of human errors is also becoming possible thanks to IoT.

3. IoT technology and predictive analytics

To improve the decision-making process, gain intelligent business insights, manage risk, and more again. Internet-enabled devices collect large amounts of data and transmit it to the central system for further analysis. IoT solution applied for planning routes and deliveries and identifying various faults before something goes wrong.

4. IoT supply chain management

Supply chain management involves a variety of challenges, from illegal food practices to compliance with product conditions. While blockchain can solve many IoT security issues, it can also add value to supply chains. By walking hand in hand, they can meet the need for supply chain security, transparency, and traceability. The data recorded and saved in the blockchain. IoT companies and their customer’s ability to follow the product lifecycle - from the origin of goods to their transport to the hand's customer.

Four pillars of a connected logistics company

This ecosystem developed a need for the industry to track their delivery vehicles from remote locations and ensure timely delivery of the desired destination. Due to this need, four aspects or systems of the logistics industry have been reorganized and considered to its four main pillars. They are:

1) Communication systems:

 Cell phones are used to strengthen communication between these two participants and share information that could affect the delivery of goods.

2) Vehicle tracking:

 Vehicle tracking solutions typically monitor the current location of the trucks moving the merchandise to its destination. Using GPS tracking tools, logistics industries track their trucks and estimate the likely time of delivery.

3) Supply chain monitoring systems:

 The opposite of this statement is also simple. Logistics companies manage the entire supply chain process, from collecting raw materials to distributing finished products.

4) IT security:

 According to IBM, cybersecurity threats grow in the transportation industry. It also affects IoT companies in the logistics industry. Hence IT security protects valuable data from external cyber-attacks.

Conclusion:

IoT applications in the logistics industry are now emerging at an unprecedented rate. IoT companies can develop data and process it to create useful information, which further increases the mobility and speed of goods transport. IoT for logistics will act as a new pillar and improve its existing rudimentary aspects. The elements of the supply chain that contribute to the success of any industrial organization. IoT infrastructures are classified into four layers; the perception layer, the transmission layer, the compute layer, and the application layer.

Future research should implement this framework on a real warehouse and compare the benefits expected from this proposal with the actual results; a simulation model developed to show the benefits of applying this framework.