Shipping trends: Technology as driver of change

By Edwin Schuijt, Technical Director at ShipitSmarter

Digitalisation has increased enormously in 2020. Now is the time to focus on accelerating your digital transformation. Which innovative technologies will help improve your logistic processes and make your business future-proof by adapting technology ? You must take all relevant technological drivers into account, technology as driver of change. Here are the 3 main technology related shipping trends logistic managers should consider:

1. Electrification will increase rapidly

As the technology maturity in manufacturing electrical engines and batteries increases, vans and small trucks are being replaced with electric versions on a large scale. Making the last mile green, delivery efficient is becoming fact, not fiction. Concurrently, other parts of the supply chain will favour electricity over fossil fuels, shifting the preference to short distance hauls and expanding the need for local knowledge and third-party involvement.

2. Data is only valuable when put into action

Data is often listed as a business asset. We believe that it’s what you do with the data that is the asset, especially how the data integrates with your daily decision-making processes. Increasingly, the digital toolset to create useful insights from this data is becoming richer and faster. Along with the extended possibilities of real-time data sensors, a whole new outlook on the shipping industry is evolving. For you as shippers, this is an additional layer of abstraction, but you get to see what matters to you with tantalizing solutions that provide you and your customers, highly detailed and accurate shipping information in real time. A good example of applied technology as driver of change.

3. Streamlining strategy to increase shipping flexibility

Traditionally, batch processing rules the world of road logistics: calculating routes at fixed times, sending truck load & unload data upon completion, arranging end of day shipments using bulk shipping or manifests. But why wait? Our industry is ready for a continuous stream of information, keeping everybody updated all the time. In a 24/7 global economy there is no need for restrictions due to traditional optimisations. Flexibility in shipping will improve by making the batch size equal to 1, meaning the exact size of a shipment. Responding to change as it happens is key to staying relevant in the ever-dynamic digital transport and logistics market.

Most of your success depends on how fast and how well your organisation can adapt to external circumstances. Focus on shipping trends that define the marketplace. Are you able to harness technology that will both enable your workforce in the “new normal” and embrace IT-technology that contributes to the growth and development of your organization?  What does your digital future look like? Are you able to adopt technology as driver of change?