How Mobility and IoT are Transforming the Project Logistics
Like any function in business, the project transport & logistics is beset with challenges. Rising expenses, volatile fuel cost, increasing competition, large volumes of data, and ever-changing industry demands all come together to make this function tougher than most.
An opportunity is afforded by the digital revolution though. This technology-based crusade is set to have a profound effect on the project transport & logistics industry. The increase of mobility, the Internet of Things, and software is revolutionizing the way companies are managing their project logistics operation.
According to a report from 2016, more than 80% of the companies were aggressively considering strategies and technologies for project logistics management digitization. It stands to reason that those companies who do not apply the power of digitization are likely to be left behind in the competition – and likely could run out of business at some point.
Here is how the whole project logistics management landscape is being transformed by mobility, IT, and software.
Mobility is the new norm
With the explosion of mobile devices and expansion on the available network infrastructure, mobility is expected to become the first choice for those seeking to digitize the entire project logistics. According to some studies a few years ago, less than 8% of the companies use mobile technology to transform the customer experience and close to 14% use it for operational purposes.
With such a wide scope, more and more project transport & logistics applications are likely to become available for progressive companies in the coming years. Mobile platforms allow two-way interaction, which not only speeds up the communication process, but also extends the communications lines to the very end of the project logistics – to jobsites, in transit, and other previously determined connecting points in the process.
Furthermore, it allows companies to transparently view and access information about their projects, to capture and validate data and process and project updates – all within a mobile friendly environment. All this helps to drive faster decisions and higher productivity.
IoT will become routine
The Internet of Things is a revolution data-gathering. Thanks to an abundance of real-time data available to the companies, IoT is poised to transform the project logistics processes. Companies are leveraging IoT technologies for collecting critical information and smartly managing assets. This drives up operational efficiency in addition to proactively fulfill the demands of projects and customers.
Technologies such as project tracking can have an impact on billions of dollars in the capital project logistics sector. And, this transformation is unquestionably happening.
XELLZ is already working on additional technological solutions on top of the ones already implemented. A few IoT-enabled technologies that XELLZ is working on have the power to transform the project logistics sector over the next few years. Some of these are:
- Internet-connected trackers:
These let XELLZ track items throughout the delivery to site voyage. They provide crucial location data, health check information, and in some cases using satellite communications, even in areas with no cellular coverage.
- NFC tags:
Near field communication tags reduces the cost of identifying the goods, which improves the overall delivery process.
- Bluetooth tags
These help in tracking data in confined areas. This is the last-mile of the project logistics supply-chain. These tags could monitor the freight inflow into the marshaling yard, giving stock status, and proactively allow restocking and replacements by communicating with the warehouse.
Keep an eye out for more on these technologies and their impact on the performance of the project logistics.
Mobility is the new norm
Cloud computing, big data, and robotics – all have applications in the project logistics management. And it is projeXsmart™ that is driving all these movements. Cloud services allow a company to flexible and scalable. projeXsmart™ is helping our project logistics management teams become more agile in responding to dynamic project and customer requirements with higher quality and on-time performance.
Clearly, XELLZ has not ignored these benefits of mobility, IoT, and software. The three technology-based movements are slowly becoming our backbone in the project logistics management.
Darwin said that only the fittest will survive, in the context of the project logistics management, being fit may involve harnessing the power of technology to the fullest!