Effects of Big data in Logistics Industry

The Council of Supply Chain Management has defined logistics as “that part of supply chain management that plans, implements, and controls the efficient, effective forward and reverses flow and storage of goods, services and related information between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet customers’ requirements.”

The global logistics industry involves various participants such as

• Shippers make or sell the products that need to be stored or moved. It includes Manufacturers, Retailers and Distributors.
• Logistics Service Providers store and move products. It consists of third-party logistics providers (3PLs), 4PLs, freight forwarders, ocean shipping, trucking, rail, air cargo, drayage.
• Logistics Hubs which is Airports, Sea ports and Rail terminals.
• Regulatory Authorities such as Customs.

The year 2012 has experienced the rise of Data deluge — the flood of near real-time data that businesses are collecting through a variety of sources, ranging from sensors and smart phones to business-to-business data exchanges. Logistics industry requires assistance from IT companies in order to deal with Big data by introducing new hardware appliances and software tools that process and analyze the data. With the right infrastructure to acquire, organize, and analyze this information, companies can equip executives and operations personnel with whole new insights into their customers, operations, and partner networks. These are insights can help them make better strategic and real-time decisions that offer a “real differentiating” competitive advantage.

There are new data sources supplying real-time supply-chain data everywhere we look. Electronic On Board Recorders (EOBRs) in trucks, sensors and RF tags in trailers, RF readers in distribution centers, and the massive numbers of new handheld devices (smart phones and tablet PCs) are all sending, receiving and processing huge amounts of data that have not been part of our business world until now. Big data represents a whole new source of competitive advantage for shippers, 3PLs, and carriers. Companies that put in place the infrastructure and processes to acquire, organize, and analyze this data will get enhanced visibility to assets and personnel, the ability to adjust in real-time to demand and capacity fluctuations, and insights into customer buying patterns that enable smarter pricing and better products. Positive train control, EOBRs, RF tags, and mobile devices will have an increasing impact on the amount of data that shippers, logistics service providers, and carriers need to process to manage logistics.

Source	Opportunity
Weblogs	Insights into the customer shopping patterns (quote requests, types of loads, origin-destination pairs), going beyond confirmed bookings.
Trailer Tags	Insights into container transit times and dwell times, temperature, integrity of loads.
Pallet/Case/SKU tags	Insights into transit and dwell times from source to destination — on the road, in the yard, at a warehouse.
EOBRs	Insights into travel times, load/unload times, and driver hours
Mobile devices	Insights into mobile application usage by customers, partners, and employees.

It is very challenging for Logistics Industries in order to implement these changes such as following new regulations, handling upcoming data deluge and growth in mobility. Leaders in logistics who are in the process of re-engineering and automating processes, and building out more flexible, configurable, and scalable IT platforms, will be able to handle changes and uncertainty.

http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/profit/opinion/021512-sswaminathan-1523937.html