Your smartphone, wearable health tracker, smart watch, voice command system and even your car if it’s connected are all a part of IOT. 62% of US adults own at least one connected device, with nearly half of American adults owning at least one of the most popular, a Smart TV.

It’s only natural that Americans want the same level of efficiency at their job that they have become accustomed to in their home and personal life.

A digitized supply chain is one of those areas where both shippers and carriers can make an investment to reap future rewards.

Shippers are requesting connected, efficient, intelligent supply chains. It’s a matter of not only increased knowledge and insight, but greatly improved efficiency as well.

Better technology is not one-sided; the application of the benefit varies between the shipper and carrier, but it’s a benefit all the same.

Digitize the Supply Chain

eBOL (Electronic Bill of Lading)

One area where shippers can make a real impact for carriers is to switch from paper bills to e Bills of Lading. eBOLs save mistakes from transcribing manually, reduces staffing, and prevents shippers from writing something on the bill after its been processed, potentially causing additional errors and manual labor to correct on the carrier side.

Big Data

“Big Data” is providing greater data accuracy, clarity, and insights across supply chains. Analytics are being integrated into optimization tools, demand forecasting, and integrated business planning and supplier collaboration.

At the very least, Big Data is allowing shippers and carriers to understand freight patterns and identify necessary trends. But perhaps the most prominent area Artificial Intelligence (AI) is making the biggest impact in logistics is in customer service. AI is able to provide faster and more efficient reaction times to supply chain issues.

Smart Pallets

Imagine your favorite fast food Mexican restaurant learns customers in North Carolina are becoming ill from eating their guacamole. In a panic, they pull every avocado from all of their restaurants throughout the country and stop selling guacamole for 2 weeks.

Customer satisfaction takes a nosedive. Sales plummet. Now imagine if their pallets of avocados were electronically linked to its exact origin and destination? The company would have been able to pinpoint the distributor and destination restaurants, saving public relations crisis and of course avocados.

This may be an extreme example, and avocados may not be a part of your supply chain, but you can see what kind of positive impact a smart pallet could have on anyone’s business. Smart Pallets give much more visibility into events from the time it starts moving to its final destination giving you a more precise view of everything that has happened between “shipped” and “received.”

Business is booming for many, but so are costs. In some cases, costs have grown further and faster than that of revenue. In logistics, shippers have become accustomed to rate increases, but smart carriers know that their customers cannot continue to accept rate increases of 6% or greater.

Carriers who are using technology will not only be cutting-edge differentiators, but they will also be more efficient and around a lot longer than those not paying attention or making the right investments in technology.

Partner with your carrier and start by having strategic conversations about how you can use technology to digitize your supply chain and improve efficiency.